Holding on by a thread. [ 2 Corinthians 4 v 7 ]

A man who is suffering from  a serious illness,when asked about his strong faith,he replied,that as regards a strong faith,he saw himself holding on by a thread. Imagine what that means ,for he meant it,maybe that describes your faith. It  is  not something you would tell others,but it really sums up how you feel,but of course,He knows,and maybe you have told Him,and then maybe you have not, but as I have said He knows.
     Consider ,you and I are part of a church,of mighty saints,is that right?or is it?, no we are part of church made up of those who sing with great
fervour,about,that amazing grace that saves wretches.Yes the grace of God
makes all the difference in all our lives,I am what I am by the grace of God.
The fact is we are all holding on by the grace of God,even if it is holding on by  a thread,how strong is that thread,that thread when endued by Gods grace is unbreakable.
 Continually the word of God reminds us of a need to rely on God and His strength,otherwise the true self will manifest itself ,in pretty awful ways,as so many of Gods choicest saints have found out. Remember we are earthen vessels, or fragile clay jars[2 Corinthians 4 v7]. There is no room for pride,boasting excluded ,pride I abase,we are only sinners saved by grace.
   Now this does not mean we should give up,or despair,no, no, no,it really is amazing,but God who knows the worst about us,will use us in  all our weakness, even if we are holding on by a thread.
                                    A  prayer.
Dear God You know everything about us,how truly weak we are,Lord help us in our utter weakness,Amen.

You can decide. [ Hebrews 11v1]

I usually go out into my garden at night and look up at the stars,to observe the glory of Gods creation. The other evening as I looked up I found myself singing ,He's got the whole in his hand,it is in the book of Job, we read,/He .hangeth  the earth upon nothing[26v7]. The scientist speaks with his flawed ,from a flawed mind,never giving glory to God,while the multitudes,believe there flawed giro's.
  As to scientific knowledge,I know very little,but I would rather hold unto the certainty of faith,rather than the blindness of the freak accident theory.
It is not that I despise scientist,we owe under God much to them, but unfortunately they do not think that they are under God.When do you hear any of them ever mention God,the evolutionist,speaks how animals somehow grow feathers,and somehow fly,yes ,truly somehow.
    If  you want you can go down the godless scientific road,but were is it leading ?or you can decide to follow Him who is the way the truth and the life[John 14 v6],it is a  path of faith,strange path,but it is the safest path,
                                    A  prayer.
Dear God have mercy and grant us grace to follow Your son Jesus,as He leads us to glory,in His name we ask this Amen

Mercy [Luke 18 v 9-14 ]

Even though I am a Christian of many years,in someways I am very much still a rough diamond,the old Billy still manifests itself.I still have times when I manifest a temper,still dwell on wrong thoughts,still worry,need I go on,oh  yes I have changed but it appears sometimes ,not enough.
   It reminds me  that I am part of the gap theory,the gap being what I am and what I should be.It also reminds me of the word I use so much in my prayers,mercy,as I pray for people I request mercy,and when I pray for myself ,I pray  for mercy.The word of God continually uses the word mercy,for that I am so grateful,grateful that God is merciful.How can we approach such a holy God?well we are told, let us come boldly unto the throne of grace,that we may obtain mercy[Hebrews 4 v16]
     It is because of Gods mercy we  are not consumed,it is by Gods mercy
we are saved,it starts with mercy,and continues with mercy,until the day we
die.When we stand before Him it will be by mercy,and as we look back and see ,the path that we have walked on in our earthly pilgrimage ,it was a path called mercy.
     Our Saviour told a story about two men, one was very religious,and consider others inferior,I saw this many years ago when the barber was cutting my hair,and well know gypsies went to come into the shop,and they were told in no uncertain terms ,to get out.
     The other man was a notorious person,I will call him a loan shark[the bible calls him a tax collector,they collected taxes for the Romans,and they abused their position.
      They were both religious so they went up to the temple to pray,the very religious person ,prayed thanking God that he was not a sinner like the loan shark,he fasted twice a week and he abstained from wrongful sexual behaviour,he was thankfully that he was not like the loan shark.
     The loan shark ,unlike the very religious person ,who stood up praying,
stood at distance,not daring to lift his eyes heavenward,he was very distraught,very sorrowful,and all he could pray was ,God be merciful to me
a sinner.
     Now who do you think was accepted by God?,very simple, the one who
sought mercy.
                                       A  prayer.
Dear God have mercy upon us poor sinners,and grant us forgiveness ,
through Jesus the Saviour of sinners, Amen

Retirement. [Psalm 48 v14]

I will be retiring from working with social services,at the end of April,I have worked there for 23years. I believe it is the right decision,but it brings with certain concerns,what will I do when I retire?,I shared this with a friend whose reply was very helpful,he said,I am retiring from work,but I am not retiring from the Lords service.Yes we never retire from serving the Lord,there is always something for us to do,the words of an old hymn comes to mind,/There's a work for Jesus none but you can do/ So I must not think because I am retiring that God will put me on the shelf,no we are not meant to be ornaments.
    I love the words from Psalm 48 v14,/For this God is our God forever
and ever,He will be our guide even unto death./ In times of uncertainty these are words of assurance,especially as one grows older,and at times when one is entering retirement.It is lovely to be able to retire,but it is unknown territory,a path we have not tread before.Abraham went out
not knowing whither he went, but he knew who was going with him.
    Years ago when little children would have to work at cleaning chimneys,
when they could it no more,they would be discarded,they where no longer
of any use. Such is the human situation,thrown aside,like a old TV,that no longer works.but God is never in the business of discarding anyone.
                                           A  prayer
Dear God we rest in You,knowing that we are precious to You,at every
stage of our lives,that you will never discard us,and will always use us in some measure in your service,in Jesus name Amen.

Send down the fire. [ Habakkuk 3 v2 ]

The book of Haggai is written in the context of Israels second exodus,when
they had returned from the Babylonia exile.They returned with a purpose of rebuilding the temple,that they would worship God in His appointed way.That way foreshadowed in its sacrificial system,the coming of the Lamb of God,who taketh away the sin of the world.It is Robert Fyall who writes the following,/ In Exodus25v8 ,we read,/Have them make a sanctuary for Me,that I will dwell among them/This command remained valid,and failure to rebuild the temple would have been tantamount to saying, that they did not want God dwelling among them./
  Unfortunately the people had lost their way,and had neglected this task[CP Haggai 1],the neglect was serious.Again referring to this R.Fyall, he makes
the following comments ,/They were in fact saying the time to build the temple would never come.They were accepting the state of spiritual deadness as normal.....their loyalty to God had withered....they were allowing time to drift past,whereas God spoke to them of urgency of the
present time....They had grown cold and were not giving priority to Gods presence among them/
     As I read these things ,I wonder could much of what we have read be applied us,neglect,spiritual deadness,loyalty to God withering,a lack of
spiritual urgency,cold spiritually,not giving priority to God.
                                            A  prayer
Dear God revive us ,Your people today,send down the fire and burn up the dross in our lives,for Jesus sake Amen.

All of lifes eventualites.[Psalm 23]

Worry,we all worry,God knows,I suppose that is why He put so many fear not's in His word, why he gave us the 23rd Psalm,and many other reassuring
scriptures. Yet we still worry,anxious thoughts fill our hearts,what if?,what will happen?,how can I manage?,these and many other thoughts crowd our mind. Yes our mind,how easily we slip into the lower gear of fear,I remember learning to drive,then I drove a manual,and one of the things ,we had to learn was a hill start.It was so easily to roll back,and it is like that in
life,we come to the hills of difficulties,and we struggle,and we roll back to the the place of unbelief,to the place of fear,and concerns,and instead of
experiencing ,peace perfect peace,we experience fear.
     I love the character Elijah ,what a mighty man of God,when he prayed things  really happened,miracles were performed.Boys a dear, what a man,
 stop there ,he was a man,and like you and I, he experienced,depression,
and despair,he wanted to die.How did God respond? did He tell him off,no,
did He reject him ?, no.So what did he do?He spoke with a still small voice,
a gentle whisper,God was not in the strong wind,or the mighty earthquake,
or the fire. None of those things harmed him,fearful though they may have been,no,and none of those things that we are worried about will harm us,they may alarm us,but God,whispers,fear thou not,for I am with you,
be not dismayed,for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee,yea I will help thee,yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness[Isaiah 41 v10]
                                    A  prayer
Dear God in our utter weakness we cry unto You ,that You will grant us peace,and faith for all of life's eventualities in Jesus name Amen.

Sleepless nights. [Luke 15 v11ff]

I was watching a documentary on the second world ,a exsoldier was relating his experience he had been fighting for two years,and was demobbed, and was returning home.He was very emotional as he spoke of that moment when he came in sight of his home,one of his three sisters spotted him,she ran indoors and told the family.They all ran out to greet him ,and his father said,son now we can sleep at night.Now we can sleep at night,my thoughts turn to the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15v11ff.A story of a young man leaving home,a young foolish man with money in his pocket,who got into
all sorts of difficulties.Think about the father how many sleepless nights he must have had,praying ,wondering,worrying about his youngest son.When the man got into serious trouble,financially,was going hungry ,dressed in rags possible no shoes.It was then he came to his senses,he was a sorry mess
so he decided he should return home to his father.He would acknowledge
his failings,and would work as a servant.So off he went and his dear father,
when his father saw him afar of,this son whom he loved was alive,this son who caused him many sleepless nights,was coming home, and my that father was glad.
     Now God does not have sleepless nights,but He has a heart bursting with love for us,He see's the mess we  make of our lives,and if we would but come to our senses,if we but acknowledge the mess we have made,He will run to us and embrace us,and say this is ,[put your name in there],
who was dead,and is alive again,was lost and now is found.
                                         A prayer.
Dear loving Father we thank You that You love all Your wayward children,
and if they but return to You,in  Jesus ,You would welcome them home,Amen