How long.[James 1 v4]

In Daniel 8,Daniel receives a vision of things that will come to pass,and there is a point in the vision,when the question is asked ,How long,before its fulfilment?[v13] . How long?,when the Israelites where in Egypt as slaves, I can imagine that many may have asked that question,how long before they would be freed.When Joseph was in prison for something he did not do,he must have wondered .how long?.It is a question the Jews may have asked as they waited on the promised Messiah,how long?.It is a question that many believers are asking ,how long before Jesus returns?,how long?,it seems to me it is a question,that may be on the lips and in heart of many people.Today you may be experiencing a deep trial,and you have prayed, and prayed ,and you are crying out to God,how long before Gods deliverance?.There are a number of things we can apply to this question,Gods deliverance and answer will come in Gods time,Christ did not die until His hour had come,Gods timetable is in keeping with Gods purposes.We may be wondering why is God permitting me to endure a particular trial,well the word of God makes it clear that God is developing godly character in His children's lives,that important quality of patience [1 Peter 1v7,/James 5v11],also trust in God,the question that the book of Job asks is ,would Job trust God in the trial.Also to trust God to fulfil His word,If God has given you a promise, trust Him to fulfil it,the words of a Bill Gaither song comes to mind,/Hold on my child joy comes in the morning,the darkest hour is just before the dawn/.[Psalm 30 v5] A prayer..../Dear God,grant us the grace to persevere,to have patience,and to believe that Your way is always best, in Jesus name Amen.

Conservative certainties.[ Job 19 v 25]

Next year will be the 100th anniversary of the first world war,and I suppose there will be a glut of new publications. I am never to sure as to the reason for that war, a war that would result in 37million ,people being killed,and had a great bearing on the next great war ,that would result in over 60 million people being killed.It is Paul Ham in his book,/The eve of war/,who makes this telling comment as to one of the reasons for the first world war.Many of the leaders spoke of the need for a good war,that would preserve,the old worlds conservative certainties,and that the prospect of war offered a grand opportunity to ignor difficult domestic reforms/.The term conservative certainties is a very telling remark,and it seems to me when I think of so many things,events,this term could apply to,many medical discoveries have been held back because of those in power wanting to hold unto conservative certainties. In many areas of life people refuse to accept the need of change because of conservative certainties,we have always done it that way,is the cry of many.One of the reasons I believe the powers that be, rejected Christ was because they saw Him as a threat to their conservative certainties.Those so called conservative certainties ,had blinded them to the need to change, many of the practices and beliefs that had crept in, contrary to Gods word.Those who embraced Christ would be set free,from those conservative certainties,into the freedon and liberty of Gods kingdom. A prayer...../Dear God we praise You for sending Christ,who through His death and resurrection ,has brought us forgiveness and freedom Amen /

It will survive.[ Matthew 16 v18]

It is Jeremiah[ chap24] who was shown by God two baskets of figs,one basket had good figs the other had bad figs,the bad figs represented those who would suffer Gods judgement when Jerusalem would eventually be destroyed by the Babylonians.The good figs represented those who where taken to Babylon before this would happen,[ cpv1], and among those people were 4 young men,who would take a stand for their God,and a witness that would inspire and encourage Gods people. Although they where removed from their home,from the place of worship,they stood firm even when it could have cost them their lives. God who is sovereign would preserve His elect, I read the following recently,/The end of the church in Syria?/ ,well is it?,no the God who preserved the church in the OT,will preserve the church in Syria in the 21st century. So many regimes have and are trying to extinguish Gods church but they will not succeed ,the gates of Hell,the powers of Hell shall not win. The church will survive and grow,because God is in control,secularism, materialism.fanaticism in the form of religion,and political despots, will not succeed,for Jesus said I will build my church and all the powers of Hell will not conquer it.[Matthew 16v18.] A prayer ..../Dear Lord build Your church ,preserve Your church,in all this world,help us to not despair about Syria,or wherever the power of Hell manifest itself against Your church, Amen /

Broken and falling apart. [ Mark 5 v1ff]

A friend of mine who is an artist said,that he found things broken and falling apart are more interesting to paint,than the apparent near perfect.Christ our Saviour during His earthly ministry appeared to favour ,the broken and falling apart, a man possessed with demons,[ Mark 5 v 1ff ],no one could fix him ,no one could help him Christ did. His last saving act was to save a thief, who hung beside Him on a cross,all the authorities could do was kill him, Jesus heard this broken man ,cry out to Him,and He responded by assuring him of eternal life.The thing about broken people,and the worlds full of likewise falling apart people, so often society is at a loss to change them,or even help them. There was a time when my first wife Eileen and I wanted to emigrate,but she was turned down because ,she had suffered a breakdown when her mother had died.They did want someone who had a brokenness about them, when most people fall in love, smoke as the old song goes gets in their eyes,but when they get married they find that the person they married is anything but perfect,and soon the marriage is over.All of us are to some degree broken,and yes falling apart,one of the things Cromwell is remembered for,is when he was having his portrait painted,he instructed the artist to paint warts and all,you see even he was,broken and falling apart,as we all are.Here is the good news Christ came into world to save all of us,broken and falling apart people. A prayer..../Dear God we praise and thank You that Jesus came to save broken and falling apart people. Amen/

The Good Woman. [ Matthew 5 v16 ]

I  have just finished reading a brief yet informative account of the life of Gladys Aylward an English lady who served God in the land of China. She was born in London in 1902.The writer describes her as being neither pretty,nor clever,and small in stature,she had a dream  of becoming an actress. God had other plans for this little woman,was it  Oswald Chambers who said,/give up your small ambitions?/. She read a missionary magazine about China,of their poverty and of the many who never heard of Christ.She spoke to her brother,would he not go to China?,he replied, not me,why don't you go yourself?,it is  funny how God calls.We cannot shift the burden which God has placed on our hearts ,unto someone else,well  Gladys decided she would go to China,and so she did.She had many obstacles to overcome in getting to China,and getting to the place where she would serve the Lord,Yangcheng,where an elderly lady called Jeannie Lawson was.The Lord preserved and protected her, and eventually she arrived in the place of Gods appointment, to a  life, of serving God in what was a very inhospitable place,where white people where known as foreign devil's,But by her Christian example and ministry many people where helped and came to know Christ,Glady's became known as, Ai-weh-deh ,the Good Woman.
A  prayer.... / Dear God help us to respond to those burdens You place on our hearts,and help us to so serve You that people will see our good works and glorify You, in Jesus name Amen /

Stepping outside the norm.[ jOHN 2 V 5]

God sometimes asks us to do things that may appear strange,take the prophet Ezekiel among a number of things he was asked to do was to preach to a valley of  dry bone.Or what the Lord told the disciples, to feed thousands of people with a few loaves and fish[Luke 9v13],and for Moses to go back to the place he had run away from, because he had killed an Egyptian.What God tells people  if they want to be saved sounds very strange to many in this world to believe on a person who died on a cross, and to accept Him as their Saviour.To believe that the dead will be raised up again. Elijah also comes to mind ,he was told that birds would supply his food [1 Kings 17v4],for Ananias to go and pray for Saul,one who was known for hating Christians[Acts 9 v10ff].God not only works in mysterious ways but also in strange ways.Now of course we must not run with our imagination,,and we must be very carefully not to do something silly or dangerous,no let us work not on our own initiative,but as God directs. That means we do only what He directs us to do,let us as God directs be willing to step outside the norm,Ezekiel did, and so did our Saviour,when He left heaven, for planet earth.
A  prayer...../ Dear God help us to obey whatever You tell us to do,even it means stepping outside the norm, in Jesus name Amen/

Truth for our souls.[John 14 v6]

We must stand for the truth,of the word of God,now Shakespeare,Churchill,and Gandhi,and many other great people said many great things,here is a number of sayings by these three people,Shakespeare, said,/Tell Truth and shame the Devil/ , next Churchill,/This  truth is incontrovertible,people may resent it,ignorance may deride it,malice may distort it ,but there it is/ This is what William L. Shier,said,/ What did Gandhi teach me?, I suppose the greatest single thing was to seek the truth/.How important is the truth?,  to you, to me?. It is important that we all see the vital importance of truth, when one finds oneself before a judge,one swears to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth,so help me God. A couple where arguing,and the wife turned unto her husband and said,you wouldn't know the truth if it was staring you in the face.Are you a seeker after truth?well consider, you may not like what you find, you may think it is not really important,and yet today there are people who are in prison,have been tortured, why? because of truth. Gods word is truth,it tells us what we would rather not hear,of our condition,and of our final destiny,if we reject Him who is the truth,even Jesus.
A  prayer....Dear God of truth,open our understanding to truth,open our hearts to receive Him who is the truth even Jesus. Amen/