Constant vigilance. [ Philippians 4 v 11-13 ]

Two things I ask of you,O Lord, do not refuse me before I die; Keep falsehood and lies far from me before I die.Keep falsehood and lies from me
give me neither poverty nor riches,but give me only daily bread.Otherwise,
 I may have two much and disown you,  and say,'Who is the Lord?'. Or I may become poor and steal and so dishonour the name of my God.Here is a man who sees the danger of certain things effecting his relationship with his
God,riches how many people want riches,and the supposed happiness,and security they think they will bring. But this man was concerned that he would loose out in his relationship with his God,let us remember our greatest happiness, and security are to be found in our relationship with our
God. He also sees the danger in poverty as we have mentioned before,and so he prays this wonderful,challenging, and meaningful prayer.Consider his request ,yes it is right to make requests unto God, before I die ,yes consider
until the day we die there are dangers to our spiritual well being,one only has to look at the aged Solomon, [1 Kings 11v1-12].
                                           A  prayer.
  Dear God help us be on our guard as regards anything that could harm us spiritually,to hold lightly to your blessings,to trust you when things are
difficult,please keep us by your grace in Jesus name Amen .

Dishonour God. [ 2 Samuel 12 v14]

Two things I ask of you O Lord;do not refuse me before I die.Keep falsehood and lies far from me,give me neither poverty or riches,but give me only my daily bread.Otherwise I may have two much and disown you,and say,'Who is the Lord?'.Or I may become poor and steal,and so
dishonour the name of my God. Yesterday we considered his first request
that he may be truthful,the words before I die,have a sense of urgency about
this is not a half hearted prayer.This is not Solomon who is praying,if only it had been,no this is a man called Agur.He is very conscience of his weakness,none  of us want to  experience poverty, in that situation who knows what any of us would do.maybe we would steal.Given  our fallen nature,we may do all sorts of things,women sell their bodies, Man know thyself,better know what the Bible tells us about ourselves,the potential for evil is always there in one shape or another,let none of us think we would not fall give a given situation.The concern he expresses goes further than
doing something wrong,he considers the possibility of acting in a way that would dishonour God,this is a noble concern,the one above else that should
fill our hearts and thoughts in all that we do.
                                                A  prayer,
Dear God like Agur we ask that you lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from all evil, in Jesus name Amen .

Speaking the truth [ Ephesians 4 v25 ]

In the book of Proverbs 30 v7-9, we read,/ O God I beg two favours from you; let me have them before I die. First , help me never to lie. Second ,give me neither poverty nor riches,give me just enough to satisfy my needs.For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say,who is the Lord,and if I am poor, I may steal and thus insult God's holy name./ Consider his first request ,that he may be truthful,he see's that as very important,how important it is to you and me?.In Proverbs 12 v22,we read,/The Lord detests lying lips,but He delights in men who are truthful/.People tell lies for a number of reasons,
when a person is wanting to hide a wrong that they are doing,to take
advantage of someone,or to deceive.Hitler was a liar on a massive scale
a life of nation or a person,that is built on lives,will have consequences.The
word of God tells us , /be sure your sin will find you out[Numbers 32v23]
While some lie's have more serious consequences than others,that does not
give us an excuse to tell what we think are white lies,God is not colour blind
a lie is a lie for all that.
                                           A  prayer.
Dead God ,help us not to live a lie,or tell a lie, in Jesus name Amen .

Available. [ Exodus 4 v 10- 11 ]

Jean serves God in Austria,I met Jean many years ago when she and my wife were at Bible college.Her ministry is among the deaf, and God has
blessed her ministry,deaf people have been saved,and are very bright in their witness. Many years ago I read of a deaf and dumb person in South Africa who was a Christian and yet was used by God to win many to Christ.
What limits people have,  does not stop them from coming to Christ,and
it does not stop them from serving Christ and being used by Christ.The
apostle Paul had a weakness we do not know what it was ,but it not stop him from serving God, people are turned down from serving in the armed forces because of  whatever,but not so with God. Every Christian can serve
God,in spite of their weaknesses,let us not make our weaknesses a reason
for not serving God. Consider we are not Christians because, we are perfect,but because of Gods mercy,love,and grace.So it is in spite of our weaknesses ,there is a work for Jesus  that we can do,let Him choose that work,whatever it is, all He asks is,are we available,are we willing to be willing?.
                        O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness,
                         bow down before Him,His glory proclaim;
                         with gold of obedience, and incense of lowliness,
                         kneel and adore Him,the Lord is His name.
                       
                          Fear not to enter His courts in the slenderness,
                          of thy poor wealth thou wouldst reckon as thine;
                          truth in its beauty and love in its tenderness;
                           these are the offerings to lay at His shrine.
                               [Words by J S B Marshall]
                          
                          


                       
                        

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 .