Let us pray. [ Acts 12 v5 ]

I often speak at a fellowship ,a small fellowship,all who attend are elderly,the usual procedure when I arrive is for a brother to pray with me before I commence taking the service. But the last time I attended I asked would I like to join the prayer meeting,I was somewhat surprised,but delighted as I entered the prayer meeting of 5 elderly people praying,and it was as if hope suddenly came into my heart in relation to the future of that small fellowship. You  see I believe when people start to pray things will happen,do I mean that those 5 elderly people can make a difference? , surely not,my answer is yes,yes, yes.. One man prayed and stopped the rain ,he prayed again and the rain started[James 5 v17-18],just one man,let us give ourselves unto prayer, the hour is desperate the darkness is closing  in,blind reasoning is on the thone,men love darkness reather than light,and resent the light,and would extinguish it,one of our leading politicians, boasted about the things his party had accomplished,and one of those things was same sex marriages.Such is the blindness and the darkness of the hour,Islam is  becoming more and more militant,many of Gods people are enduring more and more difficulties,oh dear Christian let us pray.
A  prayer......Dear God as the darkness appears to increase,help us pray in Jesus name Amen /

Poisonous roots of bitterness.[ 1 Corinthians 13 ]

I am not a keen gardener,but I do a little bit,I do love our little garden,I was doing my little bit the other day,and one of the things that took up my time was digging up thorns. Now like all weeds I know that the most important thing if you want to rid your garden of them is to dig up the roots. In this case I found it extremely difficult to do this,I think I succeeded.This reminded me of what the writer of the Hebrews wrote chap12 v15,of the destructiveness of a root of bitterness coming into our lives,one translation puts it like this,/Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you./ How many lives have been poisoned by roots of bitterness,how many churches have been ruined by roots of bitterness. Life being what is will bring many unfair things into our lives,we all suffer unfairness at times,the devil is quick to ponce on such things,and will use our perceived grievance, and cause us to become bitter. So in order to prevent a root of bitterness coming into our lives we must ,I stress ,we must forgive, If we allow things to develop it will only become worse,and will become all the harder to deal with.It will be like poison in our lives,and what does poison do it kills us,we will become self murderers,and we will also have an affect on others.
A  prayer...../ Dear God grant us grace to forgive,to rise above disappointments,and losses,help us to rid ourselves of all bitterness,keep us sweet, in Jesus name Amen /

A God shaped vacuum. [ Ecclesiastes 3 v11] [[NKJV]

Lets think a little bit more about Pascal and what he believed, / He said  there was a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every human being/. In Ecclesiastes 6 v 7 we read,/All the labour of man is for his mouth,and yet the soul is not satisfied/[ NKJV],our Saviour said that mankind is continually taken up with what they are going to eat, and what they are going to wear[Matthew 6 v 31-32]. Then He added ,/But seek ye first the kingdom of God,and His righteousness   [v 33]As Christians we should know this, we should know that none but Christ can satisfy,the unsaved in their spiritual blindness run with those things ,that cannot fill that God shaped vacuum in their hearts. We will wonder lonely as a cloud ,until we find the true source of life,and its true meaning , until that happens we will continue to be empty and life will have a pointlessness to it. You see I have been there did it, I know it is true,one of the most silly absurd things anyone has ever said ,was uttered by a famous football manager, when he said football was more important than life. Which side are you on?if you were making that statement what would put in place of the word football,only you can answer that, and there is coming a day when  you will have to give an answer for your choice.
A  prayer..../Dear God we thank You for Jesus, that He is the answer to humanity's deepest need Amen/

Blaise Pascal. [ Hebrews 11 ]

In  the 17th century there lived a French man called ,Blaise Pascal,he was a scientist who is credited with inventing a calculating machine,which was an essential step in the subsequent  development of the modern calculator. He came into a true experience with God and became a true Christian,as a Christian he was called a heretic by the Jesuits,but he challenged this by stressing he was only teaching what Augustine taught.Pascal taught that you cannot prove the existence of God,and that faith and faith alone was the key to knowing God,human reasoning did not play any part of our relationship with God and Christ. He taught some thing which became known as Pascal's wager and it goes like this,/ How can anyone loose who chooses to become a Christian. If when he dies there turns out to be no God, and his faith is in vain,he has lost nothing,in fact,he has been happier in life than his non-believing friends. If however there is a God, and a heaven,and hell,then he has gained heaven, and his sceptical friends will have lost everything in Hell./ Looking at the Christian life ,like this, tells us simple,the Christian cannot lose out.
A  prayer ....../ Dear God grant faith in Jesus,to the many who will otherwise loose out,for all eternity, in Jesus name Amen/

Walk the walk, and talk the talk.[ John 15 v 5 ]

How can we face each day?,how did those saints in the Bible face each day with all the challenges that each day brought?. The answer is very simple, with Gods help,it is so easy thinking that those mentioned in the Bible were different than us,but they were not,they were men and women just like you and me. They did not walk around with a halo over their head,,no they were flesh and blood just like you and me,how did they cope?well here is the answer,they walked the  walk, and they talked the talk.in other words they walked with God, and they talked with God.As we face this day are we prepared to do this?.The people in the Bible had their ups and downs,but they sought to be consistent,they at times they felt like giving up,at times they even wished to die,that didn't mean they did not know the Lord,yes they did.Here is the important thing He knew them and loved them, and forgive them,and enabled them to face whatever each day held .These ordinary people were blessed by God,and in turn they were a blessing to their generation,so dear child of God their God is your God, He loves you to bits,and what He did for the saints of old,He will do for you and me.So face this day with a confidence in your loving heavenly Father.
A  prayer..... / Dear God help us to walk and talk with You everyday,and to have complete confidence in You, in Jesus name Amen.  /

Humility. [ Philippians 2 v5-11]

In his book called /The Unsearchable riches of Christ/,  Thomas Brooks writes in depth on humility,he quotes a aged saint who on hearing of a brother who had sinned said ,/He fell today I may tomorrow/. He wrote,/ humility is the first,second ,and third grace  in the Christian/,in being humble we are following in the steps of Jesus.Our Saviour taught, let him who is greatest, be servant of all.[Matthew 23 v11].It is one thing writing and reading about humility,and another living it out,as it is with,all godly characteristics,be it love, forgiveness,giving,sacrificial living,and yet that is the challenge,every sermon we hear brings a challenge,every devotional we read,all these brings a challenge,that we are called to rise to.Being humble is a challenge, for we all have a nasty streak of pride running through our lives,we are born with it,and that is what God aims to eradicate.1 Peter 5 v5,exhorts us to be clothed with humility,consider the humility that our Lord manifested,again it is Brooks who writes of an Earl called Eleazarus,that being given to immoderate anger, was cured of that disordered passion by studying of Christ and His patience.He still dwelt upon Christ and His patience,until he found his heart transformed into the similitude of Jesus Christ.
A prayer..../ Dear God grant us grace to be humble ,and in all things to be conformed to Jesus Thy son Amen /

Doing what we are told. [ 1 Samuel 15 v22]

I  heard something in work that made me feel anxious,so I have prayed about it,why?, because that  is what  we  are told to do.Do you remember your mother or father telling you to do something,something that you should have listened to and obeyed?and you didn't,and you got into all sorts of bother Well as a Christian we could save ourselves a lot of bother if we would simple do what God said.Take king Saul, if only he had simple done what God said, he would have remained king,he would have been blessed by God,instead of coming under Gods disfavour.Jonah experienced a nightmare because he did not do what God said. Even Moses lost out by not doing what God said[Numbers20 v8 ff],Solomon brought such disaster upon Israel by not doing what God said[1 Kings 11],the Bible is full of such illustrations. Consider the awful, awful,consequences brought about by Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, by not doing what God said,Eve was tempted ,then she looked how many wrong things have started by a look,[ Genesis 3 v6]if only she had followed Jobs example[31 v1]when he made a covenant with his eyes,but she didn't,alas..
A  prayer..../ Dear God forgive us for disobedience,grant us the grace to trust and obey You in all things ,in Jesus name Amen/