He sinned not. [Job 1 ]

At the beginning of the book of Job,when one disaster after another is happening to this godly man,on receiving word of one disaster,his servant says,/The fire of God is fallen from heaven/.I wonder what I would think if I like Job was told these words, if like Job I was suffering. We may well ask what have I done to deserve this,Job was a godly man,the Lord had blessed him,he was a man of great wealth,and prosperity.He did not let his prosperity go to his head,or touch his heart,he maintained a godly relationship with God,and had his children's spiritual well being at heart.Yet we read these words,/The fire of God had fallen,/what would think?,would you reject those words?,resent them?,
yes even reject God,you may say God is good all the time,these are not the words,to be associated with a good  God. Consider the words of Job,when he heard of all the disasters that had befallen him,/the Lord gave,and the Lord hath taken away,blessed be the name of the Lord[1v21],and then we read,/In all this Job sinned not,nor charged God foolishly[v22]
                                  Believe and trust,through stars and suns,
                                  Through life and death, through soul and sense,
                                  His wise, paternal purpose runs,
                                   The darkness of His Providence,
                                   Is starlit with Divine intent.
A  prayer...../Dear God we bow to Your perfect will,in Jesus Name . Amen/

I cannot do the impossible.[ Acts 16 v31]

As a Christian I am continually reminded that I am called to a life of faith,faith in God, I have never seen,we have that desire within us all to see,to know. We are called to believe, in creation,that God did actually make this world,we are called to believe in salvation ,being completely of God,that we cannot in any way or any degree save ourselves.It is not Christ plus,it is Christ alone who saves, the reason we cannot save ourselves is simple we cannot,we are not able to save ourselves. As the hymn writer wrote ,Not the labour of my hands could fulfil Thy laws demands,could my zeal no respite know,could my tears for ever flow,all for sin could not atone ,Thou must save and Thou alone[A.M.Toplady] Surely we reason I must do something to be saved,yes, admit that you can do nothing,
absolutely nothing,no good works[Ephesians 2 v8-9].The only one who can deal with sin is Jesus,oh yes sin is the problem,what do you think if I said that all of us are sinners,but let us describe what that means .It that means there is none righteous ,in Gods eyes, none of us do good,the good we do is tainted instead of being done for the glory of God,it is tainted with self. There is no fear of God in peoples lives,none,if there where,things would be different.Until we see our sinfulness we will never see our need to be saved,never look to Jesus as your Saviour.
A  prayer...../Dear God we thank You for your mercy and grace,that saves us Hell deserving sinners,we thank You in Jesus name,the Saviour of the world. Amen /

Doing nothing .[ Matthew 25 v31-46]

I feel a bit guilty,during the week I took someone shopping and when I returned, I parked in the nearest spot,to the persons home , which just happened to be in a disable parking spot,It was only for about 5 minutes,but when I returned to my car a disabled lady told me off,saying I should have consideration for others. Well what one can say I had done something that I should not have,what are the consequences?well I suppose if this person new I was a Christian,she would call me a hypocrite.We all make mistakes do what we shouldn't,break the speed limit,speak words we shouldn't,but what about the sins of omission?,the things that we ignore,I should have helped that person,and I didn't,I should have spoken up against a wrong,I  am sure you get the idea,remember sin not includes what we do but what we neglect to do.Many stood around the cross and said nothing,we point the finger at Peter,for his denying Christ,but we are equally guilty,when we simply, do nothing.We pass a beggar in the street,we do not pray for those who are suffering,or for those Christians who are being persecuted.There are many needy children in the world,many needy causes,we are called to do good works,as an evidence of our Christian faith,doing nothing is not an option.
A prayer...../Dear God help us to see the importance  to do something where there is a need ,in Jesus name. Amen /

The invisible hand [Romans 8 v28]

In  his book ,/The invisible hand/, R.C. Sproul writes,/The doctrine of the providence  of God leaves no room for fate,blind or otherwise.God is not blind,neither is He capricious.For him there are no accidents. With God there are no cases of chance events, indeed there is no such thing as chance/ He describes providence as the invisible hand of God,we rarely hear the term providence used these days, I wonder why?.I believe that God is sovereign,it is something I have believed from my early days as a Christian, it is something that the Bible teaches,and again as R.C.Sproul writes,/What are the chances that things happen by chance?the only appropriate answer we can give,is not a chance/. Now the sovereignty of  raises all sorts of questions which we may not be able to answer,but to remove that doctrine leaves bigger questions which we cannot answer. As I look out in a world ,and the daily tragedies that are happening,I do not have the answer,but God does, as I look back in my life,to some extent I can see how God was undertaking,and guiding,and bringing me through to this point in time,but I do not know why my first wife died, of cancer.But in Gods sovereignty,and with his invisible had of providence,He is working all things out,be they sad or painful,and to all His Children,He assures His them that He is working out all things for their good.[Romans 8 v28 ]
A  prayer...../Sovereign God we worship You,and ask for grace,to trust You, in all that is happening in our lives, in Jesus name Amen /

Where will it all end?[John 3 v16 ]

One wonders where will it all end,three young Israeli lads murdered in Palestine ,then a young Palestine lad murdered.. Was it Gandhi who said,that if  we all start taking an eye for and eye then we would all end up blind.Coming from Northern Ireland I know a bit about such things,and I know that the only way to stop it,is to forgive,and seek to resolve the problems by talking,none of this is easy,but what is the alternative?,more pain,more young people being murdered.South African whites had to see that apartheid could not continue,and the black population had to learn to forgive.Many Americans had to learn that racial equality could not continue,Islam will have to learn to agree to disagree with other Islamic groups,and Islam will have to see that others have a right to live on planet earth,who are not Muslims.I must learn to forgive ,those who hurt me,and not to hate,believe it or not it is so easy to go down the road of unforgivenss.There is so much pain in this world,so many grieving mothers,so many people being hurt,I just pray that God will intervene, and that this world may come to know Jesus,who taught us to forgive and love all ,irrespective of race,or differences.
A prayer....../Dear God ,You who love this world,grant an out pouring of You grace into the lives of  those who hating and hurting others,that they  may come to know Jesus Your son. Amen /

Is God enough? [Psalm 23]

Jill Briscoe asks the question is God enough?,it is a very good question,is God enough when my world is crashing down on my head?.When the person one has been married to for a what appears a life time is no longer there,and as we wake each day with an numbness of heart.,is God enough?.Is God enough when the child we love has grown up and left us?or when that child has turned into a prodigal?.Is God enough when we are told we have cancer?,or the plans we have made fail to materialise,or our ship never comes in.Is God enough ,when we hear the challenge of God to step out in faith,to go where others care not to be?is He enough to protect us and guide us,and provide for us,and our little children?.Is God enough when we feel lonely,and friendless,or when the friend we had no longer wants our friendship?.Is God enough when our hearts are failing us for fear,or when we are struggling with some temptation?,or have fallen  to that temptation?,is God enough?
A  prayer....../ Dear God life is full of many difficulties ,help us to see that no matter what we are facing,You will be with us,and that You are enough,we ask this in Jesus name Amen/

He will answer.[Nehemiah 1]

When the Jews returned from the 70years in exile in Babylon the walls of Jerusalem needed rebuilt,
this made them vulnerable,for they had enemies.Nehemiah a Jew lived in Babylon,God had placed him in a position of influence,and when he heard of the plight of the Jews in Israel,and the condition of Jerusalem,he reacted by shedding tears,then he fasted and prayed.Eventually God answered,and granted him favour with the King who granted him permission to return to Israel ,with the purpose of building up the walls of Jerusalem.Consider ,when he sought God earnestly God answered, he wept he fasted , he prayed,we read that the effectual fervent prayer, of a righteous man availeth much[ James 5 v16]What is distressing you today?what is breaking your heart?,seek the Lord earnestly,and He will be found,and He will answer,call upon Him in your time of trouble,nothing is to hard for Him.
A  prayer...../Dear God in Thy mercy we come with problems great and small,and ask that You would answer our prayers,in Jesus name Amen/