The praying non religiuos person. [Acts 17v 23ff ]

I was listening to the radio, and I heard a doctor being interviewed,he sounded a very genuine man,he had just returned from Syria,and he spoke of the awful things that where going on. He spoke how many dear civilians are being killed,and that no one government was doing anything to stop it,he himself had tried to get people to listen,but they didn't, and so the slaughter continues.The person who was interviewing him,asked him a personal question, was he a religious person,?,as he had mentioned prayer. The doctor said he wasn't, but there where times ,he suddenly tuned into another wave length,and would pray. He said that he did not pray all the time, and that he did not need God all the time,but when he did pray God was always there to help. I must confess I found it a bit of a strange thing to say, I wonder what you think of it ?. It appears to me that he was saying a number of  things,that in fact , he was religious,and he believed in prayer,it may surprise us if we knew the many people who pray,who do not appear religious. Secondly he bears out the truth that there are no athiests in a foxhole,now while this doctor was a religious praying man,he did not appear to know Jesus as his saviour,if he did then he would realise how prayer is the Christians vital breath,not just for emergencies.
A prayer...../Dear God have mercy upon so many who have confused ideas as regards You,and yet they pray,in Jesus name Amen/

Come [ Matthew 22 v37]]

In our town we have what is known as food banks,where people who are struggling to meet there needs, can go and receive help,I do not know who started this up,but many churches are involved.As it was Christmas it was decided to put on a Christmas dinner,our church allowed the use of our cooking vacillates,and premises.It was reckoned that about fifty people would come,imagine their disappointment when only six turned up. Our Saviour tells of  a man who prepared a great feast and invited many,and none of them turned up,[ Luke 14 v15]. The story He told  related to the many who receive the gospel invitation,for various reasons ,and do not accept Christ.I am sure those who were involved in the food bank are disappointed, but consider Christs disappointment,He came unto His own, and they did not receive Him.CP. His lament in Matthew 22v37,how often would I have gathered thy children together,.....and ye would not. How often I have preached the gospel,how often I have witnessed to people,and how few have come to Christ,Such is the fallen blind nature of mankind,,for this is the condemnation,that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness, rather than light,because their deeds were evil[John 3 v19].
A prayer...... Dear Lord help us to overcome our sense of disappointment when people reject our acts of kindness ,yet help us to see how You feel as You offer Your son ,and He is rejected,and help us not to give up,knowing the work we do for you is never in vain,we shall reap if we faint not Amen/

2014 [ Psalm 27]

We have left 2013 behind,and are now moving into 2014,we have experienced blessing, God has been faithful in 2013,but perhaps you have experienced pain,failure,a word for all of us,let us not be held a prisoner of the past. The apostle Paul wrote forgetting those things which are behind,and let us press on towards Glory,onward and upward. As to 2014 we do not know what lies ahead, but we have one who is with us who changeth not,His love will not change,His care for us will not change.In 1939 King George the 6th made a broadcast to the nation and the empire,we as a nation where on the brink of war, he read a poem by L. Haskins,
                I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year,give me a light that I may tread
                 safely into the unknown, and he replied.
                 Go into the darkness and put your had into the hand of God,that shall be to you,
                 Better than the light,and safer than the known way.
A  prayer...... Dear God we thank You that You are with us,that Your love and care will not change,that we are not alone,come what may,and so we put our hand into your land,as a child does with its father,trusting You our loving heavenly Father through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen /
            

She looked back [Genesis 19 v26]

She looked back, why one may ask,curiosity?,what ever the reason,she disobeyed God,so it is with us, God commands us not commit adultery.In other words we not to get involved with someone who belongs to another,but you can think of many reasons why you should.Maybe you have been denied a physical relationship by the person you are married to,or you feel they neglect you, your reason may be legitimate.Yet God says thou shalt not commit adultery, He means just that. She did not obey God, she must not have taken God seriously,if she had , she would not have looked back,God is not double minded ,like we are,He must be taken seriously,and no matter how we try to rationalise disobeying Him,we will suffer,when Aarons sons offered their own mixture of incense to the Lord He slew them[ Leviticus 10],this must have shocked their father Aaron,they were his sons and he would have felt sorrow,he was told not to show any outward signs of mourning, hard thing to do, but they obeyed.She looked back and suffered as a consequence,what ever her reason, she disobeyed God,she was not ignorant,just disobedient,so today let us remember Lots wife .Genesis 19 v26/Luke 17 v32/
A  prayer ...../ Dear God grant us the grace to obey, help us not to lean upon our own understanding,in Jesus name Amen/

Sodom,Gomorrah, and judgement [ Romans 1 v 18 ]

Sodom and Gomorrah are remember for not only being a very wicked people ,but also for the judgement meted out them by Holy God.Some people wince at this account,delegating it to the God of the OT, which is not only a shame,but an unbiblical way of interpreting this whole event.for if we read various scriptures, we see that God changes not....CP/ 2 Thessalonians 1 v8-9/ 2 Peter 3v10./   In Gen 18 v20 we read the reason for the judgement, /their sin is very grave/, let us look on sin as God looks on it,society can change its laws,as it sees fit,but God does not change His law to accommodate man. As we read this account of God destroying these cities ,be very careful not to charge God with wrong doing,Abraham reminds us,/Shall not the judge of the earth do right?[Gen 18 v25 ]. The answer is an emphatic yes,let none of us forget this,in chap 16/19 we read of the mercy of God,why was only three people saved, in Exodus33v19/Romans 9 v 18,we read God declaring that he will have mercy, on whom He will have mercy. F.L.Godet writes of a free initiative on Gods part....but without a shadow of arbitrariness.The God of love desires that all men may be saved and that they may come to a knowledge of the truth,He is long-suffering to us ward, not willing that any should perish,but that all should come to repentance.Remember God knows the whole story,we don't,those people had a righteous man living in their midst, Lot,whom they ignored[2 Peter 2 v8-9 ].
A  prayer...../ Dear God we praise You for Your mercy,and acknowledge that You will have mercy on whom You will have mercy, through Your dear Son Jesus Amen/

Is anything too hard for the Lord? .[Genesis 18v14 ]

Children have an expectation that their dads can do anything,but they cant,people have an expectation that science,and the medical profession have all the answers ,but they don't.A very elderly couple were told something by God that appeared impossible,but it wasn't,they were told they were going to have a child a son.The man questioned it and the women laughed at such a thing,but then they were challenged with the following words,/Is anything too hard for the Lord?/.[Genesis 18 v14 ]. Has God promised you something and it has not come to pass?,do you you thing it has gone beyond the point were God can do what He promised.Have you lost sight of the promise?,has it become buried in the history of the past?. Do you think it does not apply to you now?you have learned to live with that problem,whats the point of hoping?,you may be asking yourself ,forget about it,it will not happen. Maybe like Sarah as you read this blog you are think God is mocking you,well He is not,first of all what he says He will do,and what He says He can do,time will not change that fact,it has not weakened His power to do what He promised you. Is there anything too hard for the Lord?,what He cant do, is lie,His character forbids that,no matter how hard it may appear to you, and me, God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or thing according to the power that worketh in us[ Ephesians 3 v20]
A  prayer..../ Dear God grant us faith to believe what You have promised,that You will make it good,help us to grasp the truth that there is nothing to hard for you, in Jesus name Amen /

Our exceeding great reward.[ Genesis 15 v1 ]

/The word of the came unto Abram in a vision,saying,fear not,Abram, I am thy shield,and thy exceeding great reward /[Genesis 15v1] Let us consider these wonderful words,spoken to Abram,he is called Abram, but that would change to the more familiar Abraham,meaning father of many nations.God spoke in a vision,the general way He speaks to us now is by the Bible,now we cannot rule God out speaking us in a vision,or a dream,but the norm is through the Bible.This is the safest way,as the word of God is a finished revelation,so it rules out any other so called word of God,the Koran ,book of Mormon,etc. In speaking to Abraham,He declares I am thy shield,in other words God would protect him,as with Abram so with every dear child of God,you may not have a big brother to protect you ,but you have a big God. As J .Calvin wrote,/He will defend us,preserve us,and protect us by His power.Next He says that he is his ,exceeding great reward, mankind myself included have an on going appetite that never appears to be satisfied,the natural man try to satisfy there lives with everything and anything,the words of our Saviour are so true, the natural things cannot satisfy[John 4 v13]. So God reminds Abram that He is his exceeding great reward,and these words remind us,as so often we need to be reminded,that He is our exceeding great reward,let us continually bear this in mind,and not be blinded to lesser things.
A  prayer..../Dear God we thank You for the many blessings we enjoy,but most of all we thankful for You,in Jesus name we pray this Amen/


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