Refecting God [ Matthew 5 v 14]

I  received birthday cards on my recent 70th birthday,I am thankful for them all,there was two I want to highlight,one was of trees reflection in water,my son Brian wrote the following,/I saw this card, and it made me think how well you have reflected God over the years/.It goes without saying that those words coming from my son blessed me. As a parent I confess I feel often that I have at times failed, I am sure Brian and my other boys can remember times when I did not reflect God. Lets face up to it none of us are perfect parents,we are at best earthern vessels,yet we are better people,better parents because of Jesus,and inspite of our imperfections,we can in a measure be reflections of God and His love.Let us seek to be sincere,but also recognise when we are sincerely wrong,Let not our obvious failures, crush us,but rather let it be a spur to look to God who will perfect that which concerneth us,we are all a work in progress. In our brokenness,let us seek to the one who can still use us and cause us to be reflections of Gods love ,to our families,friends and whoever we come in contact with.
A  prayer by  F.R. Havergal/ Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord to Thee. Amen /

A love that satisfies.[John 4 v 6ff]

It is reported on the net that there is a man who is addicted to eating,bricks,mud, and gravel, the fact of the matter is humankind are prone to addiction,of one kind or another. The list is endless and I am sure that I do not need to remind you of the different addictions,eating,bricks ,mud,or gravel is taking the need of roughish in his diet a bit to far. Addiction is all about taking things to far,and it is with sadness to see people being destroyed by an addiction.As an Ulsterman I could admire the skills of one of the all time greats of football,but was so sad when he died of alcohol addiction. Is not addiction an indication  of a great need people feel?,I think it is,Jesus reminded a woman who appeared to be addicted to men, that like the water she drew from a well she would never be satisfied.Jesus told her as he tells us that only He can satisfy the deepest longings of the human heart[John 4v14]I trusted Jesus when but a child, but backslid,in others words I tried to have the need of my heart fulfilled in other things.Then one Sunday evening 50 years ago I heard a sermon, I cannot remember the words, but I do remember one thing, a deep,deep need of Christ, for I realised that only He could satisfy that need within my heart.I like sport,films,reading,and many other things, but I love Jesus,and that love satisfies me totally.
A  prayer...../ Dear God free us from those lying addictions,that can destroy us,open our minds and hearts to see that only Your Son Jesus can meet the deepest need of our hearts Amen /

Over the next hill. [ 2 Corinthians 5 v 7-11]

This is my birthday week and on Sunday I was presented with a lovely cake which had these words on it,/Over the hill/,which caused me to smile.I don't think I am over the hill yet,but those words reminded me of the words of an old gospel hymn which reads,/Over the next hill I will be home/.I was speaking to a dear friend recently and he was saying about the tremendous blessing, it is ,that he was ready,as indeed every Christian is ready for eternity.When Christ is our Saviour then we have a sure and certain hope of salvation,but sad it is, that the many who know not Christ are without hope and God.R.C.Sproul write how the Lord spoke to him,and brought him to a saving knowledge of Himself,from Ecclesiastes 11v3,/If a tree fall toward the south,or to the north,in the place where the tree falleth,there it shall be/.He writes,/As I heard those words,suddenly I was overwhelmed by thinking about myself, as a tree that had fallen and was lying inert,torpid,rotting in the woods. I saw that I was in just that spiritual position; I would lie there forever unless God did something/God the Holy Spirit brought conviction,which lead  him to trust Jesus as Saviour.For me over the next hill means I will be with Jesus,and with all the saints that have gone before.
A prayer....../Dear God we praise You that there is hope for all who trust Jesus as their Saviour. Amen/

Seventy.[Psalm 90]

Today I have reached the grand old age of  seventy,for fifty of those years I have been following the Lord,and I am only to conscious that I am still  a work in progress.When one reaches seventy, ones mind turns to those well known words in Psalm 90,written by that man of God, Moses,who lived 120years..This Psalm is a prayer,it commences with a general statement,it reminds us of the everlasting God,that while we are creatures of time God is not.It passes on to remind us of the uncertainty and brevity of life,yes I may have reached the age of seventy,and may live beyond that,but my life will soon end.Moses reminds of this as R.C.Sproul writes that we need to be saved by God,but also from Him,why to be saved from Him?,because of His wrath.A dear friend who is older that I,said isn't it wonderful to be saved,yes it is,saved from wrath to come.In the light of these truths ,Moses writes ,/So teach us to number our days,that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom[v12].Let all of us live in the light of eternity,for us who know Christ,let walk in godly wisdom, and for you who know not Christ, trust Him before it is to late,that will be the wisest thing you will ever do.
A  prayer...../ Dear God forgive our foolish ways,grant us grace to live wisely,and grace to choose wisely,in Jesus name Amen/

Witnesses [Acts 1 v 8 ]

I recently visited a place called Rayleigh which is in the county of Essex, and I stood before a monument,erected to a number of people who were burnt to death for their faith.I will share with you their names,Thomas Causton,John Ardely,Robert Drakes, and William Tyms,each of these brothers stood for truth,to them truth mattered. Truth does matter we must not compromise as regards the truth,I believe it was John Ardely,who in reply to Bishop Bonner declared,/If every hair of my head were a man,I would suffer death in the opinion and faith I now profess/ These dear brothers suffered martyrdom,in many countries today,many are following in their footsteps,and so it will always be.The word witness in Acts 1 v8 ,comes from the English word  martyr, in other words bearing witness by ones death. In Jude v3 we read,/that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints/. The question we need to be always asking is,what about truth?,it is not the popular question,but them we are not in a popularity contest. It was the apostle Paul who wrote of the offence of the cross [Galations 5 v11],things have not changed,and will not change,and as Christians we must not change,we are to be witnesses to Him who is the way the truth and the life[John 14 v6]
A  prayer...../ Dear God help and empower us to be witnesses for the truth for Jesus sake. Amen /

Spared. [Romans 8 v32]

A man was out driving, a child ran in front of his car,he managed to stop in time,the child was soon snatch up by its mother,relieved the man drove unto his destination.That night he thanked God,for sparing that child's life,for sparing the child's mother from the pain of losing her child,and from  sparing him from the pain he would have felt if he had killed that child.When he had finished praying he opened his Bible and his eyes lighted on Romans 8 v32./He that spared not His own son,but delivered him up for us all/.His mind turned to the passage in Genesis 22,where Abraham was told to sacrifice his son Isaac, and how he was spared from doing that,but in that story we read that a ram was sacrificed instead of Isaac.Isaac was spared from death but the ram was not,so it is that Christ was not spared by his Father,in order that all who trust Christ as Saviour, would be spared from Gods righteous judgement,the hymn writer put it ,this way, the wrath of God that was my due upon the Lamb was laid.
A  prayer....../Dear God we praise You for such love,that spared not Your Son from Calvary,that we would be saved eternally, thank You in Jesus name Amen /

The central point is [ Romans 12 v1 -2 ]

We read in Acts 16v6, that Paul and his companions were forbidden of the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia.Now why  was this so?,I do not know,I do not know why I was stopped going to Brazil,or other places,does it really matter were one goes to preach Gods word?,seemingly it does. It is at times difficult to know why we are not allowed to do certain things,noble ,honourable things   important things, and yet God the Holy Spirit says no.I find myself asking,is it possible to know Gods will ,in all things, and to keep in step with the Holy Spirit?. These words remind us first,about a Sovereign God,we can see the need,that is as far as we can go,but God see's the whole He has a plan.That plan in relation to us is, His will,His will, not ours,so if He forbids us to not go to a certain place,or to not speak to a certain person or people,thats part of His plan,and perfect will for us..The central point of Christ's coming is, that the will of God may be fulfilled,so likewise the central point of our Christian life is to yield our lives in total surrender to His will whatever the cost.
A  prayer ......../..Dear God forgive us for choosing dross instead of the perfect pure gold that is your will in Jesus name Amen /