Tears of forgiving. [ Luke 23 v24 ]

On our onward walk with Christ,we are met with ungoing challenges,one the biggest challenges we are sure to be face with is forgiveness. The very nature of life will mean that people will hurt us,someone has come into my life recently that hurt me,I had been kind to that person,then one evening I received a phone call from that person,and they where angry,and where very unpleasant,I in all honesty did understand why they said what they did,but it hurt me,now they have come back into my life. I have tried to accept them,but would like them to keep their distance. Now if God acted that way I would never get near Him,so the challenge is for me to forgive that person,as God forgive me,and to accept them.To harbour a spirit of not forgiving others  is a very distructive thing,it hurts us,and hinders us,no matter what others do to us.Now it comes to mind what P. Yancey said about Joseph, when as a ruler in Egypt,his brothers stood before him,his brothers who had hated him,wanted to kill him,and sold him into slavery,what would he do?well he forgave them,but it was not easy,for we read that Joseph wept tears,as P.Y,writes/ it was the cry of a man ,forgiving/.Better tears of painful forgivning, than tears of bitterness.
A prayer..../ Dear God to our shame we struggle to forgive those who hurt us,inspite of the fact that You continually forgive us,help us Lord ,to forgive, in Jesus name Amen/

Sandpaper [ 2 Corinthians 1 v 8-9]

I was talking to a person when he said if he had  sandpaper,he could rub of all the rough bits in his life,and I said to him life is like sandpaper,if we are Christians, God will use the trials and difficulties we experience ,to deal with rough things in our lives. Diamonds do not come out of the the ground smooth and brilliant,no they must be smoothed, and polished,by master craftsmen.We read in Psalm31 v 15,/My times are in His hands/ and in His hands He will perfect that which concerns me[Psalm 138v8 ]. How does he do that? by using life's happens as a sand paper,as I look back in my life I can see how much of a rough diamond  I was ,and in many ways still am,I needed and still need to be changed,and so He applies the sandpaper experiences of our lives to smooth us down ,to make us better people. None of us will escape this,we can pray and pray, but God will have His way in our lives ,the secret of this process in our lives is to be still and to trust in Him who will never cause His child a needless tear.
                                        With the shade and with the sunshine
                                         With the joy and with the pain,
                                         Lord, I trust You, both are needed,
                                          Each your wayward child to train,
                                          Earthly loss, if we will know it,
                                          Often means our heavenly gain.[I.G.W]
A  prayer...../Dear God,not my will but Thy will be done in my life.Amen /

Sex...../ Isaiah 1 v18 /

Continuing on the theme of brokenness,and its causes,look at all the people around you,look at your self,and you will see so much brokenness.I believe there is one that can heal and help us with our brokenness and it is Jesus.If we read the gospels we see Him touching the lives of mulitudes of people,the questionis are you prepared to seek Him?. Our greatest need is to receive forgiveness of our sin,I am continually reading of people who are involved in sinful sexual activities,seemingly respectful people.I also hear of  those who sell there bodies for money saying they are working in the sex trade,and speak of it as if it is a nine to five job ,it is not. Let us not try and rationalize these things,if you are involved in an adulteries relationship ,brokenness will follow,or whatever wrong sexual activities you are involved in, you are a broken person, and need to see the wrongness of what you are doing,you need to seek forgivness,by coming to Christ,He can set you free,what I am going to do is write a prayer you can pray.
 A prayer....../Dear Lord Jesus forgive me ,for I have sinned,I am filled with shame at what I have done,and what I am involved in,please ,please forgive me and set me free,be my Saviour.Amen /

Brokenness. [Genesis 6v 5-6 ]

My son John said this to me,/We live in a broken world,of broken people,who are breaking things/,
for all our advancements we continually see all around us brokenness. This brokenness  manifests itself in a multitude of ways,the list is endless,likewise the pain,every suicide,every addiction,be it sex,dope,alcoholism,food,wars and conflict of all sorts,lying,cheating,and as I say the list is endless.What is the cause of all this brokenness?,the Bible calls it sin,many don't like this term,but like all problems,for instance illness,we want to know why we have these symptons,for is it only if the cause is dealt with, will there be any chance of healing.Likewise if there is a plane crash the investigaters look for the black box,to find out the cause of the crash.Sin is all those things that God considers wrong ,all those wrong actions,wrong thoughts,that offends a holy God, the middle letter in the word sin is I,so appropriate ,for sin is what I am  guilty of. The I in us by our wrongful desires,wrongful emphases,and so on,brings us under Gods wrath,we may not even take God into account when we sin,we should,for one day we shall stand before Him and be judged, to a just judgement. So our sinful actions are a cause,or result of sin,and so as my son said we live in a broken world,of broken people,who are breaking things,tomorrow we will consider Gods remedy for our brokenness.
A  prayer....../Dear God we live in a broken world,that we cannot fix,nor can we escape the consequences, of our part in this brokenness,have mercy in Jesus name Amen /

Underminding grace. [ Luke 18 v9-14/Ephesians 2v8-9]

I recently asked a JW  who he was trying to save,you see there is a tendency within all of us to, as D. Kidner writes, to undermine  grace.Now as a Christian of many years it is vital that I hold on to the truth that it is grace from start to finish in my relationship with God. For all my praying,Bible reading,church going ,giving,it is by grace I am saved through  Jesus,as I have said,grace ,grace ,
grace,even  in heaven it still will be grace.The JW,Mormons,RC ,Muslin's,all walk in a path of deception,for they seek to undermine the truth that we are saved only by the unmerited favour of  God.
I witnessed to man recently,he said he tried to live by Christian principals, I have heard this many times,and all they are saying is underminding ,the truth that we can do nothing to save ourselves.
That mans statement underminds the truth that salvation is of the Lord,every time I sin,I am
reminded that I can do nothing to save myself. This hits at our pride we all think salvation is a do it yourself job,it is not , from start to finish it is the grace of God that saves us.
A  prayer.....// Dear God thak You for reminding us that we are saved by Grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ Amen ./

The wind [John 16 v8-11 ]

   There it was sitting up on my gate and fence the large trampoline which belonged to my neighbour,
the tail end of a hurricane has hit our country ,and so the wind had lifted the trampoline unto my fence. One lady was reported killed when the wind blew a tree down on her, it is while Jesus is speaking to a man about the new birth,that He says,/The wind blows  where it wishes, and you hear its sound,but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of  the Spirit ,it was the hymn writer who wrote I know not how the Spirit moves. We are being taught a lesson from our Lord in which He uses the wind to illustrate the Holy Spirits workings. There is a mystery to the Spirits workings, in relation to the new birth,He cannot be tied down He being God the Spirit is sovereign,working when He will,and how he will ,as D.A.Carson puts it,we can neither control Him, nor understand Him. I am somewhat surprised when I hear of someone getting saved,I never thought of that person coming to know the Lord,but God did,So the Spirit moves in saving  power,it is He who convicts the world of its sin,and of Gods righteousness of the coming judgement[ John 16 v8].
A  prayer...../ Dear God we pray that Your Spirit will move in the hearts and lives of unsaved people,in Jesus name Amen/.

Holy objects. [ Matthew 5 v16 ]

I read this recently by Derek Kidner,/ People have always focused more passionately on holy objects, than appeals for holy living/ This is so true,the Muslim's who are murdering poor people,not just IS ,but those who are murdering their Christian neighbours,have their holy places. Of course the history of Christianity is full of  Christians valuing holy relics,and so called holy places,these same Christians burnt people alive ,or tortured those they believed to be heretics.I wear a little cross but there is nothing holy about it,it is merely a symbol,a statement to those around me that I am a Christian,and yet I know that it is by  my life that I show that I am a Christian. Our Saviour said ,let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify Your Father which is in heaven [Matthew 5 v16 ]
A  prayer...../ Dear God help me to see that so called holy objects are of no value or importance,they have no bearing on our salvation,and can never be a substitute for a holy life,in Jesus name Amen/