Nothing ventured nothing gained. [2 Kings 7]

I received an e-mail recently from a dear Christian ,telling me that he and three others are going to commence a door to door ministry in the area where their church meets.I have preached to that church many times,and gradually the numbers have declined,till there is now but a few people present.One wonders why?,for they have been faithful to the word of God, so now they are stepping out,my reply to that e-mail was,nothing ventured ,nothing gained.[Do pray for them] In  2 Kings 7,we read that the city of Samaria was being besieged by the Syrian army,in the city people where starving,Elisha the prophet forecast deliverance,and so God panicked the Syrians causing then to flee,leaving behind their booty,which included food.Outside the city where four lepers,and they decided they had to do something,or they where going to die of hunger,so they  decided they throw themselves on the mercy of the Syrians.Of course when they came to the Syrian camp,the Syrians had fled,the result was plenty to eat.There is a saying nothing venture nothing gained, those dear folk in that church,could easily do nothing,saying whats the point,but they have decided to venture out,who knows, God may bless their efforts as they prayerfully go forward .
A  prayer...../ Dear God help us to look beyond despair,and give us the grace,to venture out in Your name, Amen /

The why question again.[ Psalm 35]

Here is a poem I read, I do not know who wrote it.
           Why must I weep when others sing?.....To test the deeps of suffering.
            Why must I work when others rest? ....To spend my strength at Gods request.
            Why must I lose while others gain?......To understand defeats sharp pain.
            Why must this lot of life be mine,when that which fairer is thine?
             Because God knows what plans for me,will blossom in eternity.
Maybe you, as I do, ask the why question. God has a path for all of us to walk,sometimes it is a painful path. A marriage that is lacking in love,a work that is overlooked,a service that goes unrewarded,a thorn in the flesh that will not go a way,even after much prayer.Whatever difficulties we may have on our journey to glory,God is in control,and it is He who allows us to test the deeps of suffering,to understand defeats sharp pain. There is a need to remind ourselves that all is working together for our good[Romans 8 v28] God will use our brokenness, and in that, will receive all the glory,and that in the eternal glories ,what plans will blossom.
A  prayer....../ Dear and Father,grant us grace to bear those things we experience which are hard to bear,help us to live always with the long view,in Jesus name Amen /
                  

Commentaries [ 2 Timothy 4 v 13]

Recently I visited Scotney castle in the county of Kent,part of it was built in the 19ty century,and part in the14th century,the part built in the 15thcentury had books and more books,lining the walls,3000 all told. Now  I love books,and as a minister,I have a  small library of my own, I treasure my Bible commentaries,there are those who say one does not need commentaries,we just need the Bible.Now there is a very real sense that this is true,but from early on in my Christian life I have found the writings of Godly men helpful.Often in reading ,studying the Bible I have received help in understanding certain passages in the Bible,and wise applications also. Of course we should choose are commentaries carefully,they are God given tools,to help us in our understanding of Gods word. Surely this is what we need, is to understand Gods word,I know a man who boasts of studying Gods word for two hours each day,he does not use commentaries,and having listened to him ,one only wishes he would . We need all the help we can get in to understand Gods words,from gifted teachers,from our ministers,and especially the Holy Spirit.
A prayer...../Dear God we thank You for those godly people who have written commentaries on Your word,or had their teaching put into print,in order to help us in our understanding of Your word,in Jesus name. Amen /

Solomon's downfall [ 1 Kings 11]

One of the saddest things I read about in the Bible is the end of  Solomons glorious reign,was its inglorious end,the wise man acted a fool. The problem came about because of the foreign wives he married,at the very start of his marriage he married Pharaohs daughter,politically it appeared a good move.Many heads of Europe did this,queen Victoria's children married into other royal families,the Kaiser was related to her.Solomon continued to marry foreign wives,it may have appeared sound political sense,but it was going against Gods word. Deuteronomy7 v3-4 ,clearly forbid this practice,and gave the reason,/for they will turn away thy son from following Me,that they may serve other gods/. Yet Solomon knowing this, disobeyed ,and the consequences to say the least was catastrophic, he loved these wives,and they turned his heart to worship other gods.Solomon did many wonderful things,he wrote the book of Proverbs,and of course he did display wisdom,but what a sad end. We can learn from Solomon,the importance of right relationships, wrong relationships can have sad consequences,the Bible instructs us not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers[2 Corinthians 6 v14],we can easily rationalise in our minds,that it will do no harm to us,let us remember what Solomon did and its consequences.
A  prayer..../ Dear God help us to be truly wise by obeying Your word,and when we are tempted to act unwisely,help us to remember Solomon,we ask this in Jesus name Amen /

Replacing fear. [Psalm 23]

I know a man whose wife is a back seat driver,although she sits in the front seat,he says it is becoming more and more stressful,as she suddenly at times,as it were cries out,when she perceives there is danger.It frightens him and makes his driving with his wife a very stressful experience, one wonders why his wife is acting in the way she does,possible a lack of trust in her husbands driving, he is a reasonable but would admit not to being a perfect driver. What can we do when fear begins to rule ones life?yes you possible guess what I am going to say,trust in the Lord,a simple answer,when that couple get into the car,God is with them,my friend says that he always prays before they start their journey. Yet trust in God appears to be missing from his wife's life,as they go on their journey. As Christians we should seek to place trust in God at all times,when our jobs are threatened,
  the answer to  fear is, trust in the Lord. If we read the Psalms many written by David who continually lived with the threat of death by King Saul,how did he cope?,his answer ,/I will fear no evil for Thou art with me/Psalm23 v6]
A prayer...../ Dear God help us see that the answer to fear is trust in You, in Jesus name we ask this Amen /

Ordinary things [ 1 Thessalonians 5 v16-18 ]

I wonder how many times we say thank you every day,as a habit,not really thinking about what we say?,and I wonder how many times we don't say thank you,when we should?. As I sat down to write this blog,I thanked God that I do not live in a hovel,but if I did, would I still thank God?.I thank God for His overruling even in little things,yesterday at the group that a colleague and I  run,in which  we cook those attend a meal,we discovered that I had omitted to count two people ,this was after the meal was given out,but my colleague managed to work things out, and they got their meal. I give out the afters,little fruit salads bought earlier,only to discover one of the clients had gone out for some shopping,then I looked at that one fruit salad I could have so easily given out, but didn't, so the person had their afters. These happenings are simple things ordinary things,but is this not what most of life is about,and is it not important to see Gods hand in the ordinary things?. Not only to see it but to thank Him for His help in the ordinary things like the making of a meal,in doing the shopping,in making the bed,and so on.The Word of God instructs us,/Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus  Christ. [Ephesians 5 v20]
A  prayer....../ Dear God we so often pray and praise You for the major things ,and rightly so,but help also to pray and praise You for the minor things,in Jesus name Amen /

Forward ever forward [ Hebrews 11 v 13ff.]

I wonder what you think of this saying I heard today,/With one hand the past moves us forward,and with the other hand it holds us back./ I do not know who actually said this,but there is a truth in it,that makes one think,a sense of being pulled in two directions,at the same time, and yet in another sense going nowhere.There are so many people whose past have sought to move then forward,they make new lives for themselves.Our country is full of many,new people from all over the world,the hand of the past has moved them forward,poverty,hopeless situations,violent situations,oppressive situations,pushed forward by the hand of the past There are people from strong religious backgrounds ,who have been moved forward,and yet the same hand that  has driven them forward is the same hand that holds them back. The Jewish people remind me of a people who have moved forward by the hand of the past,consider all they have suffered,and yet they are held back by the their traditions,and their failure to move into the thing they should embrace ,a relationship with their Messiah, Jesus. Much an all as I found that saying interesting, I know God wants us to move forward,into a life that is not held back, by the hand of the past,or should I say the dead hand of the past. I jokingly said to someone recently onward,onward,upward,upward.we must not be backward Christians,we must be forward ever forward  Christians.
A  prayer...../ Dear Lord help us ever to be pressing forward,to the eternal glory that awaits every Christian in Your name we ask this Amen /