Little sinners. [ jOHN 3 ]

I am sure you have heard of the term,saved by the skin of ones teeth,well just recently I read an account of an incident that happened in Ibiza in my sons new book,about a young man while on drugs, jumped in the sea.He was pulled out with great difficulty,by a friend ,who eventually give up  trying,leaving the young man to drown. My son Brian went over put his hand on the young mans head and pulled him out of the water by the hair on his head,so saving his life. He and others held him down till the police came and took him away,so we have a young man who was saved by the hair on his head.The question I ask myself  was he saved only to be lost when he dies. Being saved physically is one thing but being saved spiritually is another thing. People are brought to the actually experience of being saved in different ways,and in different degrees of repentance. Some people where drunkards,adulterers,thieves,even murders, cp...1 Corinthians 6v 9-11,but what about at the other end of the spectrum?,the clean living church going people,who get saved,sometimes such people appear disappointed ,no drinking,no drugs etc,there testimony is not very exciting.Now all have sinned to a lesser or greater degree,because a person did not indulge in the baser sin, is no reason,to think that their salvation, is any less important than the drunkard.Let us remember many sins or few sins brings us under Gods condemnation, and wrath,which leads only to one place HELL.
A  prayer........Dear God we are amazed and thankful for saving us sinners,help us never to underestimate that miracle of Grace through Jesus Your Son Amen/

Stop fretting [ Psalm 37 ]

So many times I have found myself waiting ,when I desired to be working,even at this time I feel a degree of frustration,feeling so much ,wanting to minister God word. God has his reasons for the waiting time,we possible need to  rest,let us remember how kind and considerate God is,He will never cause His children a needless pain. In Mark 6 v31, we read,/And He said unto them ,come ye yourselves apart unto a desert place and rest awhile./He knoweth our frame,He knows we need to rest,to rest in Him,when Elijah the prophet felt exhausted,he rested,but he was ministered to by angel ,even feeding him[1 Kings 19v5-7]. God was not finished with him,no he was teaching him  valuable lessons,before his next task.Psalm 37 v7 ,reads,/Rest in the Lord wait patiently for Him,fret not/We see others being used,and we fret,and we say why not me,there must be some work that I can do,fret not,the sovereign God has not forgotten you,waiting time is never wasted when God is in it. Moses had to wait 40years before God at last called him to greater service,Paul had to spend time in Arabia,So today rest in the  Lord and wait patiently for Him,yes focus on Him,and stop fretting.
A  prayer.../ Dear Lord we commit all our waiting time to You,help us not worry or fret Amen

King Canute. [ PSALM 100 ]

King Canute was a Viking who became king of England in 1016,he is seen  in two ways,as a fool or else was a very wise man.It all relates to him ordering the tide not to come in,,and of course it just did the opposite.He was also know as a wise king ,now a wise king would be foolish to try and order the tide not to come in,it appears he was just trying to show,in the words of a poem by Paul Berro, that,/Not even a king can control the seas/. Which reminds all of us that no one can control the sea,indeed there are so many things we cannot control.We cannot control the common cold,or a tummy ache,or where we where born,etc,because we are not God.  Friedrich Nietzsche,believed that God was dead, I  believe he replaced God with man,and the Nazi es ,followed this through, placing man at the centre of the world.Canute had the right idea,the truth is, only God controls the tide,only God is truly in control. The Bible tells us ,the fool has said in his heart there is no God[Psalm 53 v1 ] ,for goodness sake don't be a fool,don't accept a God replacement policy,we are not equipped to be a god. Embrace the one who is truly in control,of our lives and our destiny
A  prayer....../Dear God we bow in humility before You,as our God and Saviour Amen/

Thorns.[ 2 Corinthians 12 v10]

I was feeling upset about an on going problem, which does not go away,yes I have prayed about it continually ,now just recently I have bought a daily devotional called ,/Streams in the desert/,which  I would recommend to you. So I read a reading from it,and the whole reading touched my heart,I want to pass on part of that reading./George Matheson the well known blind preacher from Scotland, once said,/My dear God,I have never thanked You for my thorns. I have thanked You a thousand times for my roses but not once for my thorns.I have always looked forward to the place where I will be rewarded for my cross,but I have never thought of my cross as a present glory itself./ Then George ends with a prayer,which we can all pray.
  /Teach me, O Lord, to glory in my cross. Teach me the value of my thorns. Show me how I have climbed to You, through the path of pain.Show me it is through my tears that I have seen my rainbow. Amen/

How long.. [ 1 Thessalonians 4 v 15-18]

Sin has effected not only mankind,but the very creation,the apostle Paul writes in Romans 8 v22,/ For we know that the whole creation,groaneth and travaileth in pain,together until now./ Here are
comments from my study Bible,/Sin has caused all creation to fall from the perfect state in which God created it. The world is in bondage to death and decay/The words of the old hymn proclaims  this truth,/Change and decay in all around we see/.I wonder do you, like me ,ever utter the words ,how long?.I know I do,as I read daily on the suffering of so many,suffering which we all will experience to some degree. How long before we see the end of wars and more wars,how long before we see the end of child abuse,and women being down trodden in many countries.How long before we see the end of injustice,to end of greed,and so we could go on,saying how long. As a Christian I have a sure and certain hope,and it is summed up in the words of that old hymn.My eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.Yes that is my hope,it is called that blessed hope, and rightly so,for when He comes back again, he will make all things new.For those who have trusted Him,we will enter into that new heaven and that new  earth.No longer will I utter those words how long,no longer will Satan and sin rule,no ,our Saviour will rule eternally in righteousness and holiness.
A  prayer..../Dear God help us not to loose hope of a better day coming ,when Jesus returns Amen /

When I was a child.. [ 1 Corinthians 13]

Do you remember the games you used to play when you where young?,blind mans bluff,hide and seek,kick the tin,cowboys and  Indians.I remember swinging  around a lamp post,of climbing trees,these where the days when no one had TV,I remember my friend and I playing with his train set, playing football in the street,not so much traffic in those long lost days.Now I am a seventy year old man,I don't do those things any more,if I did I suppose people would doubt my sanity,no,now no more childish things.It is the apostle who wrote,/When I was a child, I spake as a child,I understood as a child, I thought as a child,but when I became a man,I put  away childish things[1 Corinthians 13 v11] He contrasts three aspects of our being,speech,,our understanding,and the way we think,now in this chapter we are being challenged about love.Let us apply this  to those things ,speech,understanding,and the way we think,as I speak to day will my speech be that of love?,will my understanding be guided by love?, and will  my thought life be controlled by love?.
A  prayer...../Dear God so often we are childish,forgive us,grant us grace that we nay grow into mature and loved controlled Christians,in Jesus name Amen/

Words are so easily spoken. [ Proverbs 15 v 4 ]

Did you ever say to yourself,why did I not keep my mouth shut?you say something that you wish you hadn't said,something said in confidence,something that was said for your ears only, I am sure we all
can identify with what I am saying,and the words of James come to mind,the tongue can no man tame[3 v8]. Words unfortunately are so easily spoken,if only we would think before we speak,or better still, pray before we speak. Much, so much good can be accomplished by words,as in the case of our Saviours word,consider the things He taught ,the sermon on the mount,contrast with Hitlers speeches,he had a wonderful ability to give speeches,and yet consider how those speeches inflamed men's hearts to hate,destroy, and to kill. Tony Campolo has written a book ,let me tell you a story, and it has as it's content 15 chapters ,/What we overhear about/,it would be a challenge to write a book with the contents being, /What we should not have said about/.I leave this verse with you for your prayerful consideration,/Let your speech be always with grace,seasoned with salt./[Colossians 4 v5] A  prayer........./Dear God forgive our foolish ways and foolish words,right now we consecrate our tongues to You in Jesus name Amen /