The distance between [2 Corinthians 3 v18]

Today I have been thinking of the distance between what I would desire to be, and what I am,can the gap be closed?. It is just a thought that has crossed my mind,who is the man I want to be?,a more sacrificial man,a man of great spiritual gifts,of great spiritual knowledge,of great faith,that could remove a mountain. I wonder could I be trusted with those things?,even though I may want them.Say I had the gift of healing could I cope with the demands that would bring?.What if suddenly souls started to be saved under my ministry?all these things have an attraction about them,but it does not close the gap between what I should be ,and what I am?. Possible I may always be conscious of that gap,is that a bad thing?,or a good thing?.One day a group of young people in their enthusiasm spoke to D.L.Moody the great evangelist of their achievements,they had spent hours in prayer,and he said, Moses wist not that the skin of  his face shone [Exodus 34 v29]. Could it be what we, in all sincerity call greatness,or see as greatness in spiritual growth,is but a deluded self promotion, a self-aggrandisement?.Whereas true spiritual growth has about it a true lack of self promotion,like Moses we will be unaware of the gap closing.
A  prayer....../ Dear God close the gap between what we are, and what we should be ,and don't tell us,in Jesus name Amen/

Lets call her hope. [ Psalm 42 v11]

In one of G.K.Chesterton books, a doctors and his young wife have experienced a lot of trouble,it ends with the doctor finding out his young wife was pregnant. They look at each other filled with joy at the forthcoming event,and they ask each other,what are we going to call the baby,if it is a girl?. The doctor replies,/Lets call her hope/,yes indeed what a lovely name,hope,and it made me thing of the many who must be despairing,because there appears no hope. In Acts 27 we read of a boat in a storm,and how it came to the point that the sailors lost hope [v20].Life for so many is tragic,we read of so many children being harmed by beast of men,for them there appears little hope,we read of murders,rapes,and so many awful things happening,that can so easily squeeze the hope out of us. Again so many people have hope solely relating to this world. Now life on planet  earth will only  give us a limited time scale ,that is why Paul writes,if in this life only we hope in Christ,we are of all men most miserable,[1 Corinthians 15 v19]. Many ,yes even Christians,can loose hope,because they have their eye's fixed on this life,and  the things of this life ,as a Christian, we have Christ in us the hope of Glory.In Psalm 71v5 we read,You are my hope,O Lord God,if that is so, no matter what our situation is,we need not despair,as to time or eternity.
A prayer ...../Dear God thank You that in Jesus we have for time and for eternity, hope. Amen/

Gods word.[ Psalm 119v11]

In Psalm 119v11, we read,/Thy word have I hid in mine heart,that I might not sin against Thee/. Consider first of all ,we are talking about Gods word,not mans,we must continually remind ourselves the importance of Gods word in our lives.I, like many Christians read the bible everyday,if I don't I am starving my soul.Next the writer speaks of hiding Gods word in his heart ,if you where to ask me my mobile number,I could not tell you,likewise my car reg number,the reason being I have not consciously made the effort to memorise them. So it is we can read Gods,without really thinking about it,or memorising it,but the writer of this Psalm stresses the importance of hiding Gods word in his heart,  the ancient Israelites where told to remember all the commandments of the Lord[Numbers 15v39] The writer then tells us that he puts to good use ,that word, which he has hid in his heart,the answer that he may not sin against God.Our Saviour used the word God when tempted by Satan [Matthew 4].The ungodly will do all sorts of wrong things,in relation to sex,in relation to money,because Gods word has no influence on them,but the child of God must not run with the crowd,or the flavour of the month,the Christian is called to live according to Gods word.
A  prayer...../ Dear God ,help us to really listen to Your word,to hide it in our hearts,and to be guided at all times by it, in Jesus Name Amen/

God does speak [ 1 Samuel 3 ]

Does God speak to us?,and of course we would say yes,He speaks to all humanity through creation, cp Psalm 19,so much so, that they are without excuse,cp Romans1 v20.The guro scientists in their blindness ,have accumulated a world of followers whom it could be said that they have blinded with science. Yes God does speak,not only through creation, but through His word,the Bible,this word is the only true revelation from God,that can bring us to know God.The central message of this book,is mans sinfulness,and Gods remedy,the sacrifice of His son Jesus,for mankinds sin. It appears stange that for a great deal of the time ,those who represented the church kept the word of God hidden from millions of people. In recent history many political powers have suppressed, and banned the word of God, why?,a good question. I am privileaged with many others to have the Bible,but of course having the Bible,is not enough,we must embrace its message,of salvation through Christ alone,and having done that,to get to know Him through that book.As a Christian God does speak to me,when I am afraid,He tells me to fear not,when I am dismayed,He reminds me, that He is my God,and ,He will strengthen me,He will help me, He will uphold me[Isaiah 41 v10]. Yes God does speak,if we are prepared to listen.
A  prayer......./Dear God have mercy upon us,make Thyself  known to us through Christ,and us the grace to listen when You speak in Jesus name  Amen /

This poor man cried. [ Psalm 34 ]

I winder have you every felt like Jacob,to the point where you cry out all these things are against me[Genesis42v36],may be you feel like this right now.Why did Jacob say such a thing? should we judge him?no, judging is Gods role,what should we do?we can pray for that person.Jacob was suffering from a deep sorrow,he had lost a son,some things are hard to recover from,it is possible,but people have died of a broken heart. Yet it appears to be possible,Job suffered so much,the words of Jacob could be applied so easily to him,yet if we read the end of Jobs life ,we see how he appeared to recover.David experienced a great deal of suffering , and out of that suffering prayed to God,and wrote his prayers down,they are known as Psalms,that would put to music, and sung, by Gods people. A man  experienced a great loss,it effected him so much ,that he left home,and became one of the homeless people.One day he wandered into a great cathedral,he felt no one cared,yes he was hungry,dirty,but the burden on his heart was greater that his bodily needs,so he slipped into a pew. As he sat there the choir where practicing and they where singing a Psalm,as he listened ,light shone into the deep recesses of his heart. They where singing the 34th Psalm ,it was v6 that touched him,/This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him,and saved him out of all his troubles/.So that poor  man cried unto the Lord,and the Lord heard,and healed his wounded broken spirit.
A prayer..../ Dear God  we thank You that you do not close Your heart, to those who need You, You lift the heavy burden, and heal the broken in heart ,through Jesus Your Son Amen/

The value of a person. [ Genesis 1 v 27]

I read this recently,what is Nigella Lawson worth?,think about this question,what is she worth?,now of course what they are really asking is, how rich is she?.If we were to ask her children what she is worth?,what would their answer be,to them she is priceless,and it has nothing to do with how rich she is.The same could be said of her parents,their daughter is everything to them,and that has nothing to do with her riches. To often, sad to say people are evaluated,according their possessions,or their standing in society. I remember saying to a local lord mayors wife, that I had never met a lord mayor, and she replied ,oh we are just normal human beings,well of course I knew this,I was just saying that I had never met a lord mayor before, It is unfortunate that our values can become so distorted,our worth ,meaning how rich we are,how powerful we are,or how gifted we are.Our Saviour never took into account a persons riches,or position,he was basically concerned about the person. The sad thing about history is,Napoleon,Hitler,Stalin,and the like,.never really cared for people,likewise the bankers,and the rich. The story in Luke16 v19ff is a very telling story,as to the attitude of the rich in this world,they look at people,without really caring.
A  prayer...../Dear God  help us to see people as You see them,to not be blinded by false set of values, in Jesus name Amen/

Shine [ Matthew 5v14 ]

I looked out on my garden,while it was still dark,now we have many solar lights,but only one was shining. Only one , but it shone in the dark,the word of God declares,that the whole world lieth in darkness[1 John 5v19].  As I read history I soon become  aware how truly dark things can become,likewise if I read a paper,there is a darkness,  darkness in banking in politics,the sad commentary of the human situation we love,yes love darkness rather than light.[John 3 v19] One can feel so overwhelmed by the darkness,what can be do?,very simple we can shine,as lights in a dark place.That is the challenge,to shine by our good works,to shine in being holy. Yes be holy,William Gurnall wrote,/ The people who will not love you because you are holy, cannot help but respect and fear you for the same reason/.Let us remember light can be an influence for good,a lighthouse will be the means of saving many lives,so we can be like a lighthouse ,by simply shining,God can use us to bring sinners into the light,to know Him who is the light of the world,even Jesus.Shine wherever God has placed you,that is why He has placed you there,stop looking at other places,shine today,in the place you are at.
A  prayer...../Dear God a simple request help us to shine in Jesus Name Amen /