Weak in faith.[ Mark 9 v 23-24 ]

Thomas Brooks in his very profitable book ,/The unsearchable riches of Christ/,wrote of those who are weak in grace,that they dwell more upon what may discourage them in the ways of grace and holiness,than they do upon what may encourage them. We all fall into that habit at times ,yes it is an habit,and it is a habit that we need to break,until we do,life will fill us with dread.I know we are all different, some are quick to worry,others are not so quick . The Christian life is not  escapism,nor is it meant to be Abraham was promised a son,but the promise took a long time happening,to the point it did not appear that could happen.Abraham looked at himself an old man and Sarah an old woman,he did not give way to despair,or fear. He did not weaken in faith,no distrust caused him to doubt the promise of God,he was fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised[Romans 4 v 19ff] His heart and mind where fixed on God and His promise,and so it came to pass,if we are weak in faith,then we will, easily become discouraged,every time a problem arises,we will imagine all sorts of negative things.When Israel left Egypt ,in spite of all,they had witnessed of God's power,they continually panicked, imagining that all sorts of terrible things were going to happen.If we are like this then we must get closer to God,get to know God in a more intimate way,if we do God will honour our seeking,and I believe cause our faith to grow.
A   prayer ...../Dear God grant us the grace of strong faith in Jesus name Amen /

Upheld. [ Proverbs 16 v18]

When a child is beginning to walk it will hold on but it will also be held up by the parent,so it is with the child of God,in our walk with God,we hold on to God,but unseen to us, He is all the time holding unto us,without that we would fall flat as it where on our face. In 2 Chronicles 32v 31 we read how God left Hezekiah to himself, in order to test him, unfortunately it showed Hezekiah to be a proud person cp 2 Kings 20 v12ff ,pride is often our downfall,as it was Hezekiah's.If God left us alone what would be our response ?,if he took his hand away,I wonder what would be the result?.  The fact that God Holds us up has a two fold application, first of all it is a comfort, God continually seeks to comfort us His people,He tells us we are kept by the power of God  [ 1 Peter 1v5],in every  situation,we are kept by Gods power,upheld by our sovereign God. This is something to rejoice in,but, secondly, it is no reason to cause us to act like Hezekiah,and loosen our hold on our God,if we do we will suffer the consequences. Compare what happened to Samson, he lost his eyes,and his freedom,[Judges 16v21] let not prosperity,or success ,blind us to our dependency on our God compare Proverbs 16 v 18]
A  prayer...../ Dear God we praise You for upholding us day by to day, yet help us to hold on to You, 24/7,help us in Jesus name .Amen/

Hold on My child.[ Isaiah 43 v2 ].

The words of an old hymn come to mind,/Hold on my child/, sometimes life is difficult,many Christians are under so much pressure,especially those living in Islamic countries.People being fined,imprisoned ,abused, murdered,difficult, does not even begin to describe what many dear people are experiencing. Life without those things can also be challenging,moral pressures,material needs,the pressures to conform,bullying,frustration,unemployment,and so the list goes on.God's word for all who are having to cope with whatever is, don't give up,you are not on your own,you may feel you are,but you are not. Remember Jesus was with the disciples in the storm[Mark 4 v35ff],He was with them in their devastation[Luke 24 v13 ff],consider Paul ,who experienced so much,he wrote that nothing could separate God's children from God and His love.[ Roman 8 v38-39].So dear child of God, hold on,you are not on your own,
A  prayer..../Dear God we thank You for being with us,in all our difficulties,dangers,and trials, for You have said You will never leave us or forsake us, we thank You in Jesus name Amen /

Porn [ Matthew 6 v9-13]

A young lad aged 11 was being interviewed, about of what he had seen on the Internet,he had unintentionally clicked unto a pornographic site. He said that what he had seen had robbed him of his  childhood.He went on to say he wished he could unsee what he had saw,it was sad to hear this young lad talking and it made me angry,and especially after his interview, a person involved in the porn industry was interviewed,I found myself becoming more angry. It seems that USA and our country are the biggest user's of porn,although many countries are not far behind.Now I don't want to sound holier than thou, I am 69 and during my life time I have battled with temptation mainly of a sexual nature,continually I pray ,create in me a clean heart, renew within me a right spirit ,these words are found in a psalm of repentance,from a godly man who had acted in an ungodly manner,by committing adultery,and murder[Psalm 51]For those making a business of porn they would say it is nothing personal ,but it is very personal,it personally affects so many people,mankind being as they are,can become addicted ,they can become desensitised, to what is doing to them and to others.I end by saying,dont be drawn into porn,and if you have, seek forgiveness and forsake it.I believe God not only forgives but also sets free.  [Isaiah 61v1 ]
A  prayer.........../Dear God help us to see that porn is wrong,either by being involved in it, but also participating performing ,thank you for Jesus who died to forgive us, and delivering us in Jesus name Amen

Welcome home. [Psalm 23v 6 ]

My wife brought me home a card which she had made,with the word welcome on it,it is a nice word,it conjuring up a place where everyone knows your name,and you feel accepted. There are places where we are not welcome,did Jesus welcome everyone?, how welcoming am I?.We have a new neighbour moving in,we have spoke to her,trying to be welcoming, will she be welcoming if she plays loud music,or acts in an unsociable way?.God I believe is welcoming, Jesus mixed with everyone, sought to make them welcome,but with that welcome,there was often a challenge,and then the roles became reversed and Jesus Himself was  not welcome. I know I may be welcomed by certain people,but if I speak to them about Jesus I will not be welcome,they will avoid me. The offence of the cross still applies,if I went to certain countries, where I may be welcomed as a tourist,but if I witnessed about Jesus, I could find myself in prison,or even dead. There are churches where If I was to criticise the minister or the in group I would not be liked,although let me stress I should do everything I can the promote the unity of the body of Christ. It is nice to feel welcome,but the reality is we may not always experience a welcome,the fault may not be ours. One of the things I am looking forward to ,is when I step on heavens shore ,to hear the words of my Saviour saying welcome home,my what a day that will be.
A  prayer..../ Dear loving heavenly Father we look forward to that day when You will welcome us home ,Amen.

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 /