The gift too wonderful for words.[ 2 Corinthians 9 v15 ]

I received a number of gifts at Christmas,a camera,telephone,books,man bag,sweets,clothes,shoes,and other things,I do have five sons. Receiving all these gifts reminded me of a verse in the Bible in 2 Corinthians 9 v15.Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift. The apostle is lost for words in relations to Gods gift to us of Jesus,consider the greatness of that gift,the cost of that gift ,the wonder of that gift.How truly blest we are as Christians,in reminding us how blest we are by Gods giving, Paul is challenging us  to respond, by being generous in our giving,we have received so much more than the things of time.W Barclay writes a number of things that are worth considering,/ It does something for others.a gift in a time of need is something which brings not only our love, but also God's love into the lives of others/Our giving should be for the glory of God,J. Piper writes/Every good work should be a revelation of the glory of God/ I believe Christians are very generous in their giving and that is the way it should be,our Saviour taught that it is more blessed to give than receive.[Acts 20 v35].
A  prayer..../ Dear God thank You for Jesus ,Your indescribable gift, help us to respond by being generous to others in Jesus name Amen/

Gone [Jeremiah 31 v 31-34 ]

I am amazed as I watch TV quiz programes of the knowledge  that many people have,and how they remember the things they do.I am a person who reads,but many of the things I read,I will not remember.  The other day I spoke to a lady who seemingly worked with me,or in the team I worked in,and I could not remember her. I was speaking to my younger brother ,on the phone,he mentioned the principal of the school we attended,who remembered me,I remember him and liked him,even though he caned me and another for smoking.I remember part of my very early childhood ,a little about my father,and school as  an infant,about fallen asleep in class and being very abruptly awakened by the awful teacher.There are many things I remember ,a lot of things I don't remember and there are things I don't want to remember.One of the great blessings of the salvation that we come into when we trust Jesus as Saviour is forgiveness of sins,and with that forgiveness comes the wonderful promise from God, who declares,/I will forgive their iniquity,and I will remember their sin no more[Jeremiah 31 v34] As far as Gods concerns when are sins are gone they are gone,He will not cast them up at us, he will not judge us by our forgiven past.Buried in the deepest yes that's good enough for me,I shall live eternally,praise God my sins are gone.
A  Prayer....../Dear God we praise Your name for forgiving our sins,and choosing to never remember them anymore in Jesus name Amen /

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/