God personal or inpersonal ? [ Romans 8 v 15]

I was listening to a discussion on the radio about the Islamic State movement, as to what they believed,and it sounded as if the god they worship is unknowable.It means they believe in a god,who is really distant,seemingly the gods of Greece,where thought of, in a similar manner.The Christian faith is one of knowing God,but not only knowing about Him,but of knowing Him in the most intimate way.It is R.C. . Sproul  who points out that Jesus gave us the incomparable privilege of calling God Father, when He taught his disciples to pray, He used the term our Father [ Matthew6 v9],the word he used was the Aramaic word Abba,best translated Dad,or Papa.Now again as R.C. Sproul points out,/the cry of alarm from the disciples would have been one of astonishment.You don't mean it Jesus,You can't be serious. We are not allowed to speak the name of God aloud.We don't even call Him Father,much less Dad/God is mighty,majestic, and all powerful,and yet as W.Barclay wrote/He is the one whom Jesus taught us to call Our Father/Not only did Jesus teach us that God is our Father,He through His death made it possible,for us to come into a very personal relationship with almighty God,who is our loving heavenly Father.
A  prayer...../ Dear God  and Father,we worship you with a holy reverence,and also with a holy Joy,
for our very personal relationship with You,in Jesus name Amen/

The Kingdom of God. [ Matthew 6 v10]

As one looks back on history we see mighty kingdoms that are no longer,empires that have ceased to be,there is no longer a Roman empire,the third Reich, thankfully is gone,there is no longer a British empire.Even our beloved united kingdom is under threat,as Scotland vote on independence.None of this should surprise us,kingdoms will not only wax and wane,but will cease to be,but there is one kingdom that shall not cease to be,will not be relegated to dusty history books.The kingdom I speak of is the kingdom of God,it is an everlasting kingdom,it shall not pass away,cannot be destroyed.[Daniel7 v14] As we survey the kingdoms of this world,with their massive arsenals of destructive weapons,of their mighty armies,of their financial clout,there is no guarantee that they will last.They are all without exception temporary kingdoms,and it can be said of them here today gone tomorrow.Dear child of God let not your heart be troubled as to the ranting and raving,and pride of earthly rulers,and their supposed invincibility. They remind me of what our Lord taught as to the foolish man who built upon the sand,the building collapsed,their kingdoms are built upon sand,.Consider what Jesus said,My Kingdom is not of this world,[ John 18 v36],but His kingdom will come,He is king of kings and Lord of Lords,and one day maybe soon ,every knee shall bow to Him and every tongue confess that He is Lord.
A  prayer...../ Dear God we worship You,and pray that Your Kingdom may come,in all its fullness,in peoples lives,in Jesus name Amen./

Father forgive. [ 2 Chronicles 7 v14 ]

I want to share this prayer which I read at the foot of that wooden cross in Coventry.
 The hatred which divides nation from nation,race from race,class from class.
                                    Father forgive.
 The covetous desires of people and nations,to possess what is not their own.
                                      Father forgive.
The greed that exploits the work of human hands,and lays waste the earth.
                                    Father forgive.
 Our envy of the welfare and happiness of others.
                                     Father Forgive.
Our indifference to the plight of the imprisoned, the homeless, the refugee.
                                      Father forgive.
 The lust  which dishonours the bodies of men,women,and children.
                                      Father, forgive.
The pride which leads us to trust in ourselves and not in God.
                                    Father forgive.
                           ........................................... 


    

Disappointed with self. [ Romans 8 v1]

So often there is a distance between what I think and what I believe,especially when it comes to my belief as regards the sovereignty of God. I feel at times a sense of frustration when things appear to be against me,my desire to preach is limited,doors are not opening.I hear that faint voice reminding me that God is sovereign,that should quieten my spirit but, it doesn't,one still frets and feels frustration.Also the distance between ones beliefs and ones life involves other things,holiness,love,one knows about these things,but so often what one is , and what one should be ,does not line up.It is not that one neglects prayer or Gods word,or attending a local fellowship, oh yes I do that,but there is still that distance between ,what I am and what I should be.So what can one do?well the fact of the matter is,we all have our inconsistencies,I don't say that lightly,they grieve me,I am never disappointed with God but I am disappointed with myself.So what can I learn from this?,well I am saved by grace,not just in the past but in the here and now,that God still loves this naughty child,and by His grace He will perfect that which concerns me.
A  prayer....../Dear God, we thank you that You love us naughty children,grant us grace to stop being naughty,in Jesus name Amen /

A jouney of faith. [Hebrews 12 v2 ]

On a visit to a cathedral I spoke to a young man,I asked him, when did he come to know Christ?,he replied,/I am still on that journey/.I thought that was an interesting answer, I am still on that journey,
in other words he was seeking, he did say the minister was helping him.This man was making a conscious effort on his journey to faith,he is full of doubts,uncertainties,questions,the journey will not end when all these are answered,it will end when he simple exercises faith.You see there will always be the unanswerable,be it about creation ,suffering,and so on,I have been following Lord for 50years I still have questions,that are still unanswered,this will never change.The people in the Bible were the same as you and I Iikewise many great Christians,when Bishop Ambrose ,mentor of Augustine,lay dying ,was asked whither he feared facing God at judgement,/We have a good master,he relied with a smile.I learn to trust God with my doubts and struggles by getting to know Jesus/.
A  prayer...../Dear heavenly Father we come to You in simple faith in Your son Jesus,help us as we journey to heaven,to focus on Him ,in whose name we ask this Amen/

Father forgive. [ Luke 23 v 34 ]

Recently while on holiday I visited the city of Coventry and its cathedral,it is really two cathedrals,
the old and the new.The old is but ruins,a result of being bombed in the second world war,by . Most of the industry of Coventry was in the centre of the city,so the cathedral
was not spared. They recovered from the ruins,two pieces of charred wood,nailed them together so making a cross,they placed it in the ruins,and on the wall behind this cross ,they put the words ,/Father Forgive/.This reminded me, that at the centre of the Christian faith,there is a message of forgiveness,for all,God is the forgiving God,he desires to show mercy,in fact He delights in it.The gospel is a message of forgiveness.The words Father forgive,come from the words spoken by Jesus,from a cross,on which He was being nailed to,by wicked men. Let us never loose sight of the truth,that we who have been forgiven,need to forgive,and desire forgiveness for all.
A  prayer...../Dear God we worship You with thanks given for the fact that You are the forgiving God,help us who are Your children,to always desire the forgiveness of all mankind,in Jesus name.Amen/

The price of change.[Isaiah 6 ]

One of my favourite movies is Gladiator,and yet the gladiatorial games where ghastly,men fighting to the death,in the name of entertainment. One day a man felt God telling him to go to Rome,he was a  Christian hermit,called Telemachus,he found himself at the games,and was horrified to witness the slaughter that went on,horrified he rose from his seat,and tried to stop two men killing each other.They tossed him aside,but he kept coming back,the 80.000 crowd became angry,throwing stones at him,but he kept coming back,to stop the killing.Then the command rang out,for him to be put to death,a sword flashed in the sunlight,and Telemachus was dead. Suddenly a hush fell over the stadium, Rome at that time was nominally Christian,and they realised a holy man lay dead.From that day on there were never anymore gladiatorial games.A godly man had to pay the price for this to happen,so it is ,if this world is going to change,if wrong is to challenged,if people are going to be saved,there is a price that has to be paid,are we willing to pay that price?
A  prayer...../ Dear God help us to be willing,to pray the price,for things to change,in this sinful world,in Jesus name Amen /