He makes all the difference. [1 John 4 v19 ]

I found my self singing ,oh yes we can sing unto Lord without the musical
instruments,or worship leaders,and outside the church building.Wherever I
am I'll praise Him ,after all He is worthy of our praise,is this not so?.In 1 John 4v19, we read,/We love Him,because He first loved us/,yes we do love Him,was not always so,do you remember those times?.Well I do ,yes I
remember those days when I did it my way,my wrong thought patterns,my
carelessness,yes I did it my way. That well known song ,I did it my way
 has become top of the pops at funeral services,it is obvious that people are going into eternity and not appreciating the significance of the words.
Yes they did it their way,not Gods,such was my life once,not appreciating the danger I was in.Then something wonderful happened ,in loving kindness
Jesus came and with the cords of love drew me to Himself.As I look back
I can now see the great danger I was in,only a breath a way from a lost
eternity. I was rescued from a life that in essence had no meaning,to a life that has a purpose,yes there have been the struggles,the disappointments.
Everybody has struggles,and disappointments,but not everybody has the Saviour with them ,and let me assure you,He makes all the difference.
                                  A  prayer.
Dear God, for sending Jesus we thank You, we thank You that His coming to are lives has made all the difference Amen.

A nightmare. [ Job 1-2 ]

She was getting very annoyed,and I heard her say this is a nightmare,it was
to do with something very simple,and of little consequence,she was getting
herself into such a state.It was then I spoke to her and reminded her that it was not nightmare,and that there are many things could be classed as nightmares.I can think of so many nightmare situations in this world,
recently I was speaking to a Christian whose young son died of cancer,and
he said it was a nightmare.The challenge so often for us is to keep things in proportion to not let the insignificant things become what they are not.I could mention so many awful things that many people are suffering,and
facing.I mention one family and what they are going,the husband has Parkinson,then the daughter was diagnosed with cancer,the daughter is married and has two little children,and then the wife has been diagnosed with cancer.Now all that is serious ,very serious,let us all try to not let things get out of proportion,that problem that was seen as a nightmare was easily solved.
                                        A  prayer.
Dear God help us to keep things in proportion,and help us to remember those who are in what one could call nightmare situations,to pray for them
and to support them in whatever way we can in Jesus name Amen .

Thou God seest me. [Psalm 34 v17]

All through his life David experienced many difficulties,as a young shepherd ,he faced a lion and a bear,which he killed,later a giant,then the
Philistines. One of his greatest enemies was Saul king of Israel,who out
jealousy and fear sought to kill him.On one occasion he fled and hid in a cave in Adullam [1 Samuel 22],he was on his own,his friends and family
had not yet joined him,and my he felt utterly alone.It is in Psalm 142
we read how he felt,he felt no one was concerned  for him,do you feel this,we all do at times. He felt no one was cared whither he lived or died,he felt desperate ,like a prisoner. We turn to another soul who was in difficulties,her name was Hagar,she was pregnant and alone,at that moment
the angel of the Lord visited her and spoke to her,reassuring her. When he left her ,she called the name of that place,Thou God seest me[Genesis 16 v13].There are times like David we may feel very alone,feel no one cares,no one is concerned for us,feel desperate,be assured that God has not forgotten you,nor has He forsaken you. In Psalm34 v 17, we read,/The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry/.
                                        A  prayer.
Dear God we thank You that will never leave us,nor forsake us,and that You are not a million miles away,we cast our burden upon You,knowing that You will care for us,in Jesus name Amen.

Easy or Right. [ Exodus 20 v 1-17 ]

There is coming a time when we will have to choose between what is right and what is easy,these are words spoken in a popular movie. It is easy to do so many things, that may not be right,for example eating habits,so easy for all of us,to over indulge. It is so easy to watch the wrong things on TV, but it may not be the right thing.Its so easy to ignore what Gods word says about sexual behaviour,and tolerate secularism.  Right decisions, are not easy decisions, consider a young man in Pakistan who was asked what religion he was,when he answered,that he was a Christian,he was beaten up,then petrol was thrown over him,and he was set on fire,four days later he died.His right decision in declaring he was a Christian was right,but it was far from being easy. It is easy for us to justify our lack of prayer, neglect of Gods word,or not going to meet with Gods people,but it is not right,because in making the easy decision,we are suffering spiritually.
                                      A prayer.
Dear God help us to make the right decisions,in Jesus name Amen

Begone unbelief. [Hebrews 11.]

John Newton wrote a hymn which starts ,/Begone unbelief,my Saviour is near,and for my relief will surely appear/.We read how the disciples often fell into unbelief,in spite of the fact that Jesus was with them,and witnessed
many miracles.[Mark 16v14] Israel in the wilderness  likewise had hearts full of unbelief,in spite of the wonders and miracles they had witnessed.
[Hebrews 4v6].Unbelief can open the door to many things,it can be the door to  disobedience,and can shut us out of the blessings of God. The opening words of Newtons hymn,/Begone unbelief/,paints a picture of him speaking to it ,things are difficult,there are needs,challenges to face,his reply is to take a hike.He is refusing to let unbelief rein in his life,he is declaring you are not coming in,I do not want you in my life.Those words are not just bravado,but are spoken of one who believes that his Saviour is with him,
and will help him.This is not a passive thing,no, he writes of wrestling in prayer,we can only advance on our knee's,George Orwell  visited the coal mines,and saw the hard labour that was needed to extract the coal,in those days,the miners literally worked on their knees. So it is if you and I are to advance in our Christian life,it must be on our knees in prayer.Our heart must be in that place of humble [as it were on our knees]dependence on God to undertake for us.
                                         A  prayer.
Dear God preserve us from a heart of unbelief,in Jesus name Amen.

Covenant love. [Psalm 136]

In Psalm 136 we have a line that is repeated through out the Psalm,the AV has ,/For His mercy endureth for ever/,other translations have,/His love endures for ever/.The word mercy Plummer points out is often rendered ,
loving kindness,goodness,favour.I suppose if God was not loving there would be no mercy,but because He is loving we receive mercy.These words
are used as response to what God has done,the writer stresses,Gods creation,
redemption,provision.Modern man does not acknowledge God in any of these things mentioned,instead of creation we have evolution,instead of redemption we have superman,or some fictional character,and a denial of
mankinds need of redemption,and as to Gods provision,when is the last time you heard an unbeliever acknowledging God.In a well know movie one of the characters thanks God for deliverance,an other character,rather points to the rifles that had done the trick.What a sad surprise they will have one day,but those of us who by Gods grace and mercy ,can lift up our hearts ,and voice praise Him,M  Wilcock,stresses the covenant love of God,
he writes,/That love is both indestructible,and boundless,because it endures for ever.As you look around at all that He has made,and follow through all
that He has done,at every point of the Psalm is saying,Covenant love did this/
                                              A prayer.
Dear God we give thanks to You for your covenant love to your children,in Jesus name Amen.

Bless the Lord. [Psalm 134 ]

Psalm 134 commences by saying ,/Behold ,bless ye the Lord/,likewise in verse 2 we have the words ,/bless the Lord/.The Psalm ends with a prayer that God would bless ,the question is what does it mean to bless the Lord?.
It is Kidner writes,/To bless God is to acknowledge gratefully what He is,but to bless man,God must make of him what he is not,and  give him what he has not/.That acknowledging God, is I believe an act of praising
Him. It is Plummer who wrote,/Because our mercies are ever new,our praises should be continual.Now here is the challenge for all of us,to praise
God continually,even in the night seasons of our soul.Spurgeon wrote,/Let
others flatter their fellows,or bless their stars,or praise themselves;as for us,we will bless Jehovah ,from whom all blessings flow/.
                                      A  prayer.
                    Fill Thou my life,O Lord my God,
                     In every part with praise,
                     That my whole being may proclaim
                    Thy being and Thy ways.
                     Not for the lip of praise alone,
                    I  ask, but for a life made up,
                      Of praise in every part.
                            Amen.
                [Words by H. Bonar]