Praise. [Psalm 150]

A dear friend of mine recently had to have an operation for an hernia,the operation was a success,later when he was recovering on the ward,a nurse who attended at the operation,came to him,and asked him what church he attended.My friend was somewhat puzzled,and he told her,and then he asked her why she wanted to know?,she said when he was coming round from the operation,he was praising and thanking God, for His goodness. My friend was not aware that he had done this, but knowing him,I am not surprised,he is a fine man of God,what he did is not so much about what church he attends,but his walk with God,and he has walked with God,and does walk with God, every day.Our praise is not restricted to our church,praise should be in our hearts,wherever we are.There is a song, which goes,/Wherever I am ,I'll praise Him,whenever I can I'll praise Him,for His love surrounds me like a sea. I'll praise the name of Jesus,lift up the name of Jesus, for the name of Jesus lifted me/[ Anon]. People praise so many worthless things,is it not but right that we should praise Him who alone is worthy of our praise.
A  prayer..../Dear God oh for a heart to praise You,You who alone are worthy of our praise,we ask this in Jesus name Amen/

Sometimes right away,sometimes not. [Nehemiah 2 v 4]

Recently I heard a dear sister testify of a prayer being answered,a reconciliation had taken place within her family,she had been praying about this for 15 years. In this society of the instant,we as Christian get sucked into its mind set,where as, if we read the scriptures we see ,that Gods ways are not always instant,far from it,oh yes God will answer quickly,in Isaiah 65 v24, we read,/And it shall come to pass,that before they call,I will answer,and while they are yet speaking,I will hear/. Yes God answers ,can be instant, but often they are not,but here is the important thing ,He does answer prayer.One of our sons lost his job recently ,but within a short time he another one,we all had prayed,God answered. Let us have confidence in God  to hear and answer our prayers.Our prayers may be answered in an instant ,or in 15 years,but we can be sure that if our prayers are according to His will He will answer. We drink a lot of tea in our country,tea comes in little bags,and you just pop the tea bag into hot boiling water,and you have an instant cup of tea,but years ago tea came loose,and one would use a tea pot,fill it water,boil the water ,then put in the loose tea.Most people left the tea pot on the heat for some time,in order to get what they felt was a proper cup of tea.the point is whiter it was instant or not,the same result,  a cup of tea.So it is with answers to prayer,we pray once  or we pray for a long time,the  result is the same,prayer is answered.
A  prayer...../ Dear God we praise You that You hear and answer prayer,sometimes right away, sometimes not,in Jesus name. Amen/

Money. [ Matthew 19 v 16-22]

Recently it was reported that a well known sports person,declared themselves bankrupt,they had earned over 20million  pounds during their career. In 1 Timothy 6 v17,we read,/Charge them that are rich in this world,that they be not high minded, nor trust in uncertain riches,but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy./ The Times news paper has published a list of the riches people in our country,seemingly London has the most millionaire's in the world.Having a lot of money is not a sin ,nor is being poor,it is placing our affections on our money,that is a great problem,[1Timothy 6 v10].A person may have a lot of money yet be a miser,because they love their money,but you do not have to be a miser to love money. We can broaden things out a bit more,what do we love?,now it is not wrong to love,but the problem is that our love can be an unbalanced love,pushing out God,eroding our relationship with Him,and even cause us to have wrong values,forgetting eternal values,to the point of forgetting that we have a soul,and my that is very ,very ,serious.In Titus 1 v11,we have the words ,/filthy lucre/,used in respect to money,many people are living of filthy money,they have ,cheated,lied,robbed,and even murdered for it. Let us all take note of where we place our affections,we may not be rich,but we can so easily,think that if we were rich all would be well, we would be secure,our security lies in God,
A  prayer...../Dear God forgive our foolishness,so often we replace You in our lives and in our hearts,with money,and things money can buy,in Jesus name,Amen /

So near,yet so far a way. [ Matthew 11 v 20ff ]

Following on in relation to whom I spoke to about knowing the Lord,and her honest reply, that she did not know Him. There she was working in that building ,a place of worship,that has stood there for centuries and yet she did not know the Lord,so near,yet so far.There are so many people like that lady,attended church,brought up in a Christian family,and yet they do  not know the Lord.There where two thieves crucified with Jesus,both could see Him,talk to Him, but only one trusted Him, the other died in his sins,so near yet so far a way.Such a tragedy ,it is not the advantages one has that matters it is entering into the truth of those advantages.Our Saviour spoke to many with spiritual
advantages but many of them like that lady I spoke to,never came to know the Lord,it need not be so.There are many who have been born with that proverbial silver spoon in their mouths,but have wasted advantages,their advantages.I was born in a place of spiritual advantages, a place where many have heard the Gospel,but are not saved. Being near Jesus is of no avail,it is knowing Him,that counts,of calling on Him, to save,that is what counts.Let me remind you that Jesus came for the supreme  purpose of saving people,knowing that fact,is not enough, and unless He saves us we will be lost ,eternally. The fact that we have been near Him, will only bring us into grater condemnation.
A  prayer..../Dear Lord have mercy on those who may be near You yet do not know You as Saviour,Amen/

He will only do you good [ Numbers 10 v29]

While on a short break this week, my wife and I visited an ancient church building,the completion of this magnificent structure goes back to the 15th century. It holds about 600 people ,although the attendance now is much smaller,the uncle of Lord Nelson and family are buried there.The cost of  running these ancient  buildings especially this one is considerable,within a corner of this building there is place where things are sold. I got into conversation with the lady who worked there on a voluntary bases,once a week,prayerfully I asked her a question,did she know the Lord?,to this she replied no.There followed a short conversation on the importance of knowing Him,one of the things I said to her about the Lord,He will only do you good.I believe that is important to remember that the Lord wants whats best for us,when we come to the Lord,we can truly say goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives [Psalms23 v6]. It is true that many people think that the Lord wants to rob them of joy,when in actual fact he wants to give us joy unspeakable,they think that He wants to take away pleasure from them,instead He wants to give us pleasures for evermore [ Psalm 16 v11]. It seems that they think that He wants them to go to Hell,when in fact His  hearts desire is that they should be,saved from Hell and go to Heaven [Psalm23 v6] 
A   prayer...../Dear God open the eyes of the blind that they see the riches of Your grace in Jesus Amen /

The answer. [ 2 Corinthians 12 v1-10]

I was reminded of the words in2 Corinthians 12v 9/My strength is made perfect in weakness/,when I heard a preacher say about his mother,that when she experienced a great deal of illness,God caused her to exercise a ministry,that blessed many.I think we need to be continually reminded that that God will permit weakness in our lives,not to hinder us,but that we may be used to bless others.We desire to serve God ,to be used to win others for Christ,we think the last thing in the world we need is weakness.Yet that is exactly what was granted unto the apostle,a thorn in the flesh whatever that was, and my, how he prayed and prayed,and prayed,pleading that the Lord would remove this weakness,he pleaded,and the Lord said, no.Remember the 300,who were used to defeat a great army[Judges 7],remember the young man who slew a giant[1 Samuel  17]. God who grants us weakness,has a purpose,that He will be glorified,Christ our dear Saviour was crucified through weakness [2 Corinthians 13 v4],and in that weakness glorified His Father.It is one thing singing,I am weak but Thou art strong,and another to accept our weakness,and glorify God in our weakness,but that is what the apostle was called to do.and that is what we are called to do.In despair as you read this,you may be crying out how,oh how is it possible for me to do this?, the answer God gave Paul,/My grace is sufficient for thee,for my strength is made perfect in weakness[2 Corinthians 12 v9]/,is the answer He gives you,and me.
A prayer....../ Dear God grant us grace,that inspite of our weakness we may glorify You, in Jesus name, Amen/
[ I will resume my blog Saturday DV, every blessing]

God smiled [ Hebrews 11 v 5]

Did you see the photo of the elderly lady in Ukraine on the internet? ,the photo also showed Pro;Russian armed men waiting to ambush Ukrainian forces. The woman appears totally oblivious to the danger she was in,why?, she was reading her Bible,now I am not saying we should follow her example and walk into danger,or to read your Bible while driving. No but I do believe we can learn something from this old lady,she appears to show that she thinks reading the Bible is very important.Now let us ask ourselves how important is reading the Bible ,now reading the Bible is not  a competive activity,nor is the Bible a good luck charm. First of all it is Gods word in which He speaks to us,you and I don't need voices in our head,but we do need to  read the Bible, and to hear it with our hearts,not just with our ears. Now I know life can be very busy ,if you have a young family,children can be very demanding 24/7,but ask God to help you to fit in a time when you can read your Bible. If you have a limited desire to read the Bible ask God to give you a desire,He will,for He delights to give good things to His children. I will always remember that dear old lady,many may laugh at her,but I am sure God smiled at her with pleasure.
A  prayer..../ Dear God we praise You for Your word,help us to see it not as museum piece,but as something that we should value,read,and live by, in Jesus name Amen /