God speaking. [ Revelation 1 v8]

As one surveys the scene of the far east,in the Land where Islam holds sway
, there could easily be a feeling of despair ,filling our hearts,the church is under tremendous pressure, to capitulate.Whats the use of taking stand IS to powerful.Even this morning I read of another attack on Christians in Nigeria ,85 at last where killed in a village.the writer describes the scene in the following way,/The entire village is like a killing field,with
the stench of blood everywhere/.This is not an isolated case,it is happening
in many countries now I am not seeking to inflame hatred against Islam,no
as a Christian,I am seeking to encourage that prayer be made on behalf of
our Christian family. Plus I want us all to lift our sights beyond earthly
powers, be it poltical,or religious ,to our Sovereign God. He has not forsaken His people,He is on the throne,even when He is most invisible.
Yes He is on the throne,how is that you say?,because His word tells me so,
our God reigns. Evil will have its day,but God will have the last and final say.Christ is the Alpha and Omega the beginning and the end,we often use the term' humanally speaking',as Christians we must move beyond  that,to
God speaking,the one who reigns over all,and all things.
                                            A  prayer.
Dear Lord Jesus ,You who have been given all power in heaven and upon earth,have mercy upon your dear children,who are being persecuted,grant
them grace to endure,and in all things to glorify You. Amen.
                                    

My desire. [John 12 v 24 ]

When I came to live in England I met a lady a Mrs Barber,she was a lovely
Christian.I was a minister and visited her for the first time over 30yrs ago,but I remember her quoting words from an old hymn,should I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease.She experienced a divorce from her unfaithful husband,and later on ,one her sons died,he was a young man.She had brought her four children up on her own,in later life she and one of her daughters returned to her native land, the West Indies.That must have been
about 12 years ago,and then I heard that she had died,I prayed for the family
Then to my surprise I met her daughter,from the West Indies,I spoke to her and she told me that two people where saved at her mothers funeral.I honour that dear lady,and I hope that when I die God will save people at my funeral.But it is also  a challenge and a reminder that we can live such a Godly life that it will speak to the unsaved even when we die,but I am not satisfied with that,I want,yes I want to see people been saved while I am still alive.
                                        A  prayer.
Dear God thank You for Mrs Barber a godly child of yours,and that at her funeral two people got saved.Lord help us to live ,such lives ,that even when we die,our lives will leave,a powerful witness,but we ask for more,we ask that while we still are living You will use us to be fishers of men,in your name Lord Jesus we ask this Amen.

Ye fearful saints. [Habakkuk 3 v 16 -19]

Sunday was the longest day in the year,as to where we live in the world,and so it was still light late evening,and instead of seeing the stars,I saw the clouds,and it looked to me that we were going to have rain.As I viewed them , the words of the poet came to mind ,/Ye fearful saints fresh courage take, the clouds ye so much dread,are filled with mercies and will break with blessing on your head[W . Cowper]/ I am reading the Psalms at this
time,and of course I love them for their honesty,those who wrote  them
 felt despair,when they focused on their enemies,and circumstances.
Which led them to think very negatively, take  Psalm 77,we have a man in the depths,humanally speaking with good reason,he feels rejected by God,God's unfailing love appears to have failed,for all time,He questions God,as regards to  His mercy,and to withholding His compassion.Here we have self focus, We then come to v10, which one calls the hinge of the Psalm,for now we have to then end of the Psalm, the God focus.Verse ten commences,Then I thought,what did he think ?,He thought on God and how
He had acted in a miraculous way for His people,He thought on His power,and his miraculous works. In shifting the focus from self, and to focus on God,and His  word , He as M  Wilcock writes,/is equipped to
cope with the most desperate circumstances/
                                     A prayer
Dear God help us to keep our focus on You,instead of self,in Jesus name Amen.

His way. [ ISAIAH 55 v 8 - 9 ]

In Isaiah 55v 9, we read /For my thoughts are not your thoughts,neither are
my ways your ways,saith the Lord.  Michael Wilcock in his book on the Psalms ,writing on Psalm76,which he believes  may have been written to
celebrate the deliverance of Jerusalem from Assyria[2Kings 18-19/Isaiah
36-37] /It is human nature for us to  tell God how to help us,it is divine wisdom to recognize that He may well achieve the same ends by quite different means/ Israel often, wrongly looked to other nation for help,but in the case of deliverance from the massive army of Assyria ,God would send His angel to put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian army/This is a theme throughout scripture,He saves Israel by a young lad[ 1Samuel 17]He uses ravens to supply Elijah the prophet with food, and then He also uses a poor widow  to do the same [1 Kings 17], He uses a young lads lunch to feed 5,000, plus[ John 6 ].We are called to trust God to do for us,in ways that He see's fit,and most important, where He will receive all the glory.
                                           A  prayer.
Dear God we acknowledge that we presume to ask you to answer our prayers in our way,forgave us Lord,answer our prayers in ways that give you all the glory, in Jesus name Amen .

Parables [ Mark 4 v1-20]

In Mark 4, Jesus speaks the parable of the sower,when He had finished His disciples came to Him and asked Him to explain the meaning.He tells them
that they where permitted to understand these parables,but to those who were not His disciples,they would only have the parables,and then He quoited a scripture from Isaiah 6v9-10,which reads,/ that they be ever seeing but never perceiving and ever hearing but never understanding,
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven/ What is He saying?does that mean He does not want them to be saved?.Of course not,for God  our Saviour wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth
[1 Timothy 2 v4].M .Wilcock writes/ His hearers have to have a willing spirit,the parables would only make sense to the teachable but remained riddles to the self-willed./He quotes words from a hymn by ,Sir Henry
Baker'Who recount the treasure,by Thy word implanted ,to the simple -
hearted'.Any teacher would bear witness to the fact,that there are children
who do not want to be taught,the teacher is willing to teach them,but they just do not want to be taught,and so condemn themselves,of an education.
                                     A  prayer.
Dear God help us to be of the simple hearted,teachable, in Jesus Amen.

Kept. [Psalm121]

Before we go out in the car I usually pray,for there is such dangers on the roads,from other drivers,but also from oneself,I am not the perfect driver.A
number of years ago my wife and I where driving home,when I decided to overtake a lorry,when I realised that I was in trouble,as a car was heading towards us,we just about made it,it was a very scary moment.Later I wrote
in a journal I was keeping at the time,how God keeps us safe more than we realise,that does not only apply to our driving but to all evil, the evil tendencies of our own hearts. In 1 Peter 5 v5,we read, /Kept by the power of God/another translation puts it,/protected by the power of God through faith/.We are not to act irresponsible,but the fact is we are often in situations that could cause us harm,physically,materially,and spiritually. So go prayerfully not fearfully but trusting in your Lord to keep you from dangers within and dangers without.
                                          A  prayer.
Dear Lord we praise for  You for your saving and keeping power ,and ask in faith that You will watch over us this day. Amen

Injustice [ Romans 8 v28]

God in His word speaks out against injustice,the Bible society a few years ago brought out a Bible that highlighted those passages concerning injustice
There is a lot of injustice in this world,we have it daily mentioned on the TV or in the papers, a lot of its frightening ,none of it is nice,the poor being exploited,people being taken advantage of.The list is endless ,I think of dear Joseph,treated so unfairly treated by his brothers,then being unjustly imprisoned. Also David being hunted by king Saul,and David's adulteress
affair ,and his wicked treatment of Uriah. Think of the unjust treatment involved in adultery,how the children suffer,consider the treatment of the unborn child that is aborted.Also the treatment many supermarket chains
commit against their suppliers,as I buy very cheap milk,I wonder how much the diary farmers are receiving ,often they are receiving less than it takes to produce it. I am just touching the tip of the iceberg. Often not much can be done,though that does not mean we should not try. I know someone
who is being overlooked as regards promotion,he is a Christian,and I reminded  him  that God is sovereign,that man rules but God overrules,He is in control.This truth is something we must hold unto,when as children of God we experience injustice,we must rest in Gods sovereign rule.
                                               A  prayer.
Sovereign God help us to rest in the truth that You reign,and are in control,
especially in the lives of Your dear children in Jesus name we ask this Amen .