Malta [ Acts 27 - 28 ]

My wife and I went went to the Island of Malta  situated in the Mediterranean,near Italy,we enjoyed our holiday it was sunny .Their second language is English,and they drive on the left hand side of the road.Malta was a British colony,before that the French ruled, of course they have their own language,and culture. It was on Malta that the apostle Paul was shipwrecked,and the Maltese have named a bay after him,to commemorate that event on a small island  the Maltese have erected a statue of the apostle Paul. I could see this statue as I sailed past it our way to the island of Goza,I thought of this wonderful man Paul,of his dramatic and totally unexpected conversion,of his phenomenal missionary activity,of his sufferings for Christ,of his writings to which we are so indebted.I would sum it up with three headings,/The challenge that he brings us,/The courage he showed,/
the compassion and love he manifested.
                                    A   prayer
Dear God we thank you for your servant Paul and all you enabled him to do,and we pray for the people of Malta, that you would visit them with your salvation,in Jesus name Amen

Not appropriate [ 1 Corinthians 6 v 12]

When I was a young Christian,there were certain rules one was expected to keep,one did not smoke,or drink alcohol,  I even used to judge people,,who engaged in such activities, doubting their salvation. Thankfully I don't do that now,but I am glad that I stopped smoking,and drinking alcohol.Because I smoked and drank alcohol before I come back to the Lord,I do appreciate
the difficulty of stopping smoking,and the effects of over indulgence in alcohol. I realise that people are prone to addictiveness,especially when it
comes to those two drugs.The apostle Paul had to write to the church in Corinth,the city of Corinth was a very evil place,yet God had saved souls,
and brought a church into being.Unfortunately they were doing things that
were not necessary wrong,but was unhealthy as to their spiritual well being.So Paul writes the following,/You say ,I am allowed to do anything,but not everything is good for you.And even though,I am allowed to do anything,I must not become a slave to anything/. My study Bible has this to say,/Some actions are not sinful in themselves,but they are not appropriate.because they can  control our life and lead us away from God. Some actions [activities, I would add ] may hurt others.Anything we do that hurts rather than helps others is not right./
                                        A  prayer.
Dear God we praise you for saving and setting us free when we trusted in Jesus ,your Son.Grant us grace to strip off every weight that slows us down,especially the sin that so easily trips us up,in Jesus name we ask this. Amen.

Forgave me. [ Matthew 18 v23ff]

Recently while on holiday I became angry with my wife,I overreacted,and when the dust subsided,I realised that what I had done was wrong,and I said I was sorry.What I had done was a needy reminder that the old Billy is still around,that no matter how long one is a Christian,there is a continual need
to rely on God. It was interesting that this happened,for I had during our holiday been witnessing to a number of people saw .I believe Satan used this incident to try and hinder my activity, and to discourage me.During
our holiday we attended a fellowship,where the Pastor spoke about forgiveness,and not just saying  sorry. During the service the breaking of bread was held, and I thought on what the Pastor had said,and so I turned to my wife with tears in my eyes ,and said,forgive me. It is right to say ones sorry,but I feel those two words, forgave me,have a deeper meaning to them.I see a twofold result,first the one who asks,is exercising humility and secondly the person who is being asked to forgive,is being asked to respond out of a heart that has been forgiven.[  CP.  Matthew 6 v 12/14-15] Let us
remember the importance of asking forgiveness,and equally the importance
of forgiving those who have wronged us.
                                             A  prayer.
 Dear Heavenly Father as you have in your great mercy forgiven us, help us to forgive others in Jesus name Amen .

The glory has departed. [ 1 Samuel 4 v21 ]

Before and during certain sporting events certain songs are sung,some football teams can be identified by songs they sing.West Ham's sing 'Im forever blowing bubbles,and that great Liverpool sing, 'You'll never walk alone.When Wales play Rugby often the Welsh who are noted for their male voice choirs, sing that wonderful old hymn,'Guide me ,O Thou great Jehovah'.It is wonderful to hear it sung,and yet it is unfortunately only a tradition,and has no bearing on the Welsh nation now.The spiritual decline in Wales is very sad,as it is in the whole of the United kingdom.Hymns sung at sporting events are reminders of past spiritual glories,alas the glory has sadly departed.There are many reasons, what ever the reasons so the decline goes on,more and more.Whatever the reasons the reality is this ,the church that remains must  not compromise as regards truth,they must continue to walk in holiness,to love God and others with a Christ like love,The church must walk and live in unity,be open to the Spirits leading,and be obedient in all things to their Lord,and never forget they are called to be witnesses .What applies to the church applies to us as individual,may it not be said of any of us ,you did run well,what did hinder you.
                                         A  prayer.
Dear God  have mercy upon those nations that have gone back spiritually,be pleased in your great mercy to visit such, in Jesus name Amen.

I have a dream. [ Revelation 21 ]

Do you know that there is one Ireland,and yet there are two Ireland's,one is called Eire and the other Ulster.Most people have heard of the conflict that
the people of Ireland have suffered in the 20th century,to some extent it continues.There are those who want with all their heart that there was just one Ireland,this was borne out  just recently,when the two Ireland's ,won important football matches.A man who wants one Ireland spoke of there being one world beater united team.That's his dream, but it goes further than football, Dr . Martin Luther King had a dream of freedom,but surely slavery
finished,at the time of the American civil war.Not so, racism continued and I am sure still does,we have it in sport,we have in it many countries,we had in Germany,Japan,we have it in India, we have it in Islam the way women are treated .Will this world never change?well a little,but not really,until that day in which Jesus will return,I am not passing judgement,only observations,but one day ,yes one day He will pass the perfect judgement,and bring in, an eternity of perfect harmony,where there will be no strange fruit hanging on tree's.
                                     A  prayer.
           Even so come Lord Jesus Amen.

Battling on. [ 1 Thessalonians 5 v 16-19 ]

Recently a Christian spoke of her struggle with the fact that she still is prone to yield to temptation,why this sinful tendency still persisted?. She wondered why ,seeing we have Spirit of God dwelling.why that should be?.
There are people who foolishly think that we can reach a place of sinless
perfection,in spite of all we read in the Bible that stresses the fact that as long as we are in this body of flesh we will be tempted.[CP.  Romans 7./I John 1 v 8.Enough said, the Christian life is on going,till the day God takes us home we will have to contend with the world ,the flesh,and the Devil,and the fact is we will not always win. But we need not despair,there is victory in Jesus ,and when we sin ,there is forgiveness.[1 John 1 v 9].In Galations 5v16 ff,the apostle Paul writes how there is a constant battle going on,and
the importance of relying on Gods Spirit to gave us the victory.This why each day we need to be filled with the Spirit,if we surrendered to the Spirit,then we will not be overcome. Yes it is an ongoing battle that is why
the Apostle tells us not to be weary in doing good[Galations 6 v9],and our Saviour exhorts us to keep praying and not give up. [Luke 18 v1 ]
                                           A  prayer.
Dear God help us to rely upon Your Spirit every hour of every day,in Jesus name Amen.
  [I will return to my blog on Tuesday 20th.  Every blessing]

Offensive religion [Micah 6 v 8]

As we face life with all its challenges the thing we need is,what would you say we need?,what do need we today.?We read in Micah 6 v 8,/He has showed you ,O man,what is good.And what does the Lord require of you?. To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God/.One commentator writes,/This verse is considered to be one of the most comprehensive and all embracing statements in the Old Testaments/.Micah is responding to Israel's condition ,it was the opposite of 6v8, [CP Chapter 7]In 6v7, Micah asks the question ,does God want us to be more religious,and the answer is no, religion that is devoid of ,justice[Doing that which is right],Mercy [Kindness] ,and humility,is an affront to God. When our Saviour was arrested they brought Him to Pilate,but they would  not enter Pilate's house, to enter a Gentiles home would have meant defilement ,
would have barred them from participation in the Passover celebrations.
[John 18 v28]Yet at the same time they were participating in the murder of Jesus.such religion is an offence to God.
                                              A  prayer.
Dear God and Father,help us to act justly,to love mercy,and to walk humbly
before You,in Jesus name Amen.