Trust [ Proverbs 3 v 5 ]

I received a nice scarf for Christmas ,it was a Ted  Baker,I was not  to
interested in its designer label,but it is a nice scarf. I looked at the label ,and
read these words,/Trust Ted/.Trust Ted ,I do not even know Ted,I suppose
what the label is telling us,that when you buy a Ted Baker item,be it a scarf
or whatever you wont be disappointed.
     On the American dollar we have the words,we trust in God,I hope that is so,many nations trust in their vast armies,their military might.Israel was warned,about multiplying horses,they related to military power,Psalm20v7,
reads,/Some trust in chariots,and some in horses,but we will remember the
name of the Lord our God/.
     Now these words come as a challenge to all of us,what or who are we trusting in?.First what are we trusting to be saved?yes we need to be saved,
is it our good works,our supposedly good life,or are we trusting in Jesus,
to save us?.
      Again are we trusting in our wealth ?,health,friends,etc,or are we trusting in the Lord?.
      It was the apostle Paul who wrote,/Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits.......we were forced to trust God totally.[1 Corinthians 1v9]
      We need to totally trust in God to save us,and then , we must
continually ,totally, trust Him every day ,every hour,all our lives.
                                    A  prayer.
Dear God forgive us for not trusting You,for not seeing that it is the safest,and best thing to do, help us in Jesus name, to be more trusting Amen.

     

He is working behind the scenes. [ Psalm 96]

It is R. Fyall in his commentary on Ezra, states that the fundamental theological principle underlying this book,is providence and human responsibility.It is John Flavel who wrote a book called the mystery of providence,and this is a very important truth.Fyall writes,/providence is not visible in the way that human activity is.Outwardly nothing may appear to be happening,yet in His providence God is working behind the scenes./
    We live in a fallen world,a world that is in rebellion to God,all things have been affected by this,evil is ever at work,but so is God,who is sovereign
                             Hast thou not known,hast thou not heard,
                              That firm remains on high,
                              The everlasting throne of Him,
                              Who formed the earth and sky.?.
                              Art thou afraid,His power shall fail,
                              When comes the evil day?
                                Supreme in wisdom as in power,
                                The rock of ages stands,
                               Though Him thou canst not see,nor trace,
                               The working of His hands.
                                          [Isaac Watts]
                                         A prayer
Dear God we rest on You, our sovereign God, help us to not only to live,
by faith,but in that life of faith,to rest in Your providential sovereign purposes,in Jesus name. Amen .

Their only hope.[ Romans 1 v16]

We live in a changing world,and one the great changes is the Internet,in many ways a great invention,but it has its downside.One of the downsides
is the effect it is having on our children,children are bullied,they are influenced by their friends,to send inappropriate images of themselves to
others and also inappropriate messages.There is a site that has been set up so whatever photo or message you send will quickly disappear.People having affairs use this site,the evidence disappears,no one can check up on them.
    It is a very frightening to hear  about such things,I have grand-children
,and I am very concerned about them,but not only them ,but young people  of  today.It appears morally things are becoming worse ,children today have very little contact,with church,very few of them have heard the Gospel.They have no concept of sin and its consequences, they blindly follow their peers and their sinful nature,not thinking or caring about the consequences.
     The voice of God is not listened to,I write these things out of concern for our young people,and for all people, we need to pray,and to preach the truth,that our young people may come to Christ,He is their only hope.
                                   A  prayer.
Dear God have mercy on our young people who are bombarded with so many things,so many wrong influences, we pray for their salvation,through
 Jesus Your son Amen.
                                        

Here I am. [Isaiah 6 v 1- 13]

 The call of Isaiah was to say  least very dramatic ,it commenced with a vision of the Lord,of angelic beings praising God,and the door posts of the temple shaking,and smoke filling the temple.Isaiah felt overwhelmed and unworthy,this is followed by him being cleansed.Then he heard the Lord speaking,/Whom shall I send and who will go for us/[Isaiah 6v8 ].
    Why did God ask such a question?it appears He wants volunteers,it is
H.C.Leupold who writes,/The Lords question is addressed to no one in
particular,.....but to those who will respond,in perfect freedom and without a trace of unwholesome compulsion./
     While we admire Gods patience with Jonah,His attitude of reluctance
to obey is sad to say the least,even when God blessed, all he wanted to do is die,[Jonah 4 v8].Jonah had to be pressed ganged into service, not so Isaiah,hear his instant reply,/Here am I,send me [6 v8 ].When Jesus called the disciples, we read,/They  immediately left there nets and followed Him[Mark 1 v18 ]
      Is God calling you?what is your answer?,what  is your response?,in the words of and old song are you willing to be willing?
                                    A  prayer.
Dear God we ask for discernment as to Your will for our lives,whatever that
call may be,help us to be willing to be willing,in Jesus name Amen.

The graveyard of our hopes.[ Hebrews 11]

Robert  Fyall writes in his commentary on Ezra and Haggai the following,
/When we come to an apparent graveyard of our hopes,we need to renew
our trust in a God who knows His way out of the grave/.When a giant called
Goliath came on the scene,we read,/When Saul and all Israel heard those words[the challenge by Goliath] of the Philistine,they were dismayed,and greatly afraid.[1  Samuel 17v11]/The enemy of our souls wants us to
loose faith,to believe the worst,to cry out woe is me I am undone,he hopes that we change gear,from faith to unbelief.The only way we will be more than conquerors is by faith, John  writes ,/This is the victory that overcometh the world , even our faith[1 John5 v4]/
    Israel trembled, nobody was willing to face this giant, well not quite,a young man came unto the scene,his name was David,a man after Gods own heart,a young man of faith,who spoke how the Lord had helped him kill a
lion and a bear,believed that God would give him victory over this giant.
     Here is the good thing He did,here is his battle cry as he faced that big, big ,big giant,/I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts........This day
the Lord will deliver thee into mine hand[1 Samuel 15 v45-46]/
      Consider those words by R.Fyall.../When we come to an apparent
graveyard of our hopes , we need to renew our trust in a God who
knows His way out of the grave.
                                             A  prayer.
Dear God of all hope You know that often we fail to trust You and so we loose hope,forgive us,help us to see our situation with the eyes of faith,
and so get the victory, in Jesus name Amen .

His Mercy endures forever. [Psalm 136]

Psalm 136 commences,/O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good,for His mercy endureth for ever./The next 2 verses begin with similar words,to give
thanks,and each verse repeats the words,/for His mercy endureth for ever/
    Have we thanked the Lord this day?,and how often have we thanked Him?,sometimes we talk to people and they have no spirit of thankfulness
to God.
   He thanks God for He is good,so many are of the opposite opinion,but one thing I will always say the Lord is good,He is good to me,in fact goodness and mercy has followed me all my Life,can you not say amen to that?.
    Then he adds the reason for his thankfulness,he declares 26 times, for His mercy endureth for ever.These words are a response to Gods mercy in his past history. Stop and let us consider all the good things God has done for us,sins forgiven,eternal life,adopted into Gods family,and at what a cost,why ?because He loves us. This is no ordinary love,this a love which goes beyond our deepests feelings,goes beyond any love that we  can describe,all other love in comparison is but a faint shodow,this love is Jesus.
                                     A prayer.
Dear God we gave You thanks ,yet not nearly enough,but such as it is we
give it,for You are really, really good,and Your mercy in Jesus Christ, endures for ever.Amen.

Vengence.[ Romans 12v 19-21]

The bible tells us that when it come to vengeance we are to leave it with God. Stalin the Red Tsar was a very vengeful person. When the three major leaders were discussing what should be done with Germany, when defeated,Stalin said that 50,000 Germans should be shot.Dear old Churchill
protested,I think he  said it wasn't cricket,the American President laughed ,
thinking Stalin was not serious,but of course he was. Churchill knew he was serious,it was said when the the Germans were defeated Churchills hatred went,not so Stalins.
    In the book of Esther a man called Haman felt slighted by Mordecai the Jews ,he wanted vengeance,so he managed to persuade the King to pass a law to kill all the Jews in his empire. The more he thought on Mordecai,the more angry he became,he wanted to destroy this man, and at the advice of his wife he had a gallows erected ,to hang Mordecai on.
    Things changed very dramaticly,and quickly in Gods Providence ,Haman
ended up on his own gallows,Mordecai was promoted,and the Jews were saved from extinction.
                                           A prayer.
Dear God save us from a vengeful spirit, in Jesus name Amen.