Grace [ Ephesians 2 v8- 10]

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran pastor ,he also was a lecturer in Berlin.
he opposed Nazi's.He made a broadcast which  he used to speak against  Hitler,but he was cut of before he finished it.He joined the resistance movement,and was involved in the plot to assassinate Hitler,he was arrested,and was executed shortly before the defeat of Germany.He
believed different things like a religionless Christianity,and that we see Christ as Lord of the religionless.I have heard Christians saying that as Christians we are not religious.He also  wrote a book called,/Cost of discipleship/,where he distinguished between,cheap and costly grace. One
has rightly pointed out that his concept of cheap grace was at odds with Luthers doctrine of Justifcation by faith.I believe Bonhoeffer was seeking to
counter the error, that because we are saved by grace alone, we can live whatever way we like. The fact of the matter , grace should not be turned into a work salvation,grace saves us,works should follow as an evidence of our salvation.It cost God everything to save us,it cost us nothing,yet love so
amazing, so divine demands my soul my life my all.
                                        A   prayer.
Dear God,we worship you the God of all grace,we acknowledge that we are
saved by your grace,and we ask for grace to follow our Saviour your son Jesus Amen.

One of the saddest verses in the Bible. [Matthew 23 v 37]

In Matthew 23 v37 , Jesus said,/O Jerusalem,Jerusalem, thou that killest the
prophets,and stonest them which are sent unto thee,how often would I have
gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under
her wings, but ye would not./ This is one of the saddest verses in the Bible,
it is God speaking testifying against those who were his people.W. Barclay,
writes,/This passage shows us four great truths.
                                [1] The patience of God.
                                [2] The appeal of Jesus.
                                 [3] The deliberation of the sin of man.
                                [4]The consequences of rejecting Christ .
God is patient,so very, very ,patient,and that is clearly seen in his relationship with Israel,and let me add with you and me.
The appeal of Jesus, W. Barclay ,/Here Jesus speaks as a lover,standing with outstretched hands of appeal,they had as we have the awful responsibility of accepting or refusing.
 As to the deliberation of sinful man,Jesus was speaking to Jerusalem,but it can be applied to all humanity.In my lifetime I have continually prayed for
Christians who are being persecuted,a evidence of mankind's fallen nature
and enmity towards Christ.
 The consequence for the Jews has been awful,judgement would fall,as W. Barclay wrote,/It is a fact of history-even in time-that the nation which
rejects God is doomed to disaster./ This of course applies to everyone not
just nations.
                                     A  prayer.
Dear God have mercy upon Israel even though they still reject your love in
Christ,but also have mercy upon this world,in Jesus name Amen.

Who can meet our deepest need?. [ Romans 5 v 6 - 8 ]

My wife and I were visiting her sister,and daughter,during the evening the daughter started asking questions about the Pope.I was doing my best to answer her ,but I found it hard as the young girl is not the easiest to communicate with,so in the end I said,it is not important about the Pope,or whatever,whats important is knowing Jesus personally as ones saviour. It is the nature of humanity to want to know,but sad to say ,not the knowledge of knowing the Christ of the Bible,with the result they go deeper and deeper,
into the quagmire of unbelief,and darkness.As a great Theologian said when he was asked to tell of some deep spiritual insight,he simply replied,Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so. As a child I trusted Jesus as
my Saviour,I did not know any deep spiritual truths,but I found in Jesus,even as a child the one who saved me and met my deepest need.I
wandered away from Him,and as a young man I attended a church service,I do not remember what was preached,but again I came in all my need,to the only one who can meet that need, Jesus.
                                     A  prayer.
Dear God we praise and thank you for Jesus who alone can meet the deepset need of the human heart ,Amen.

The mind. [ 2 Timothy 1 v7 ]

Recently I read of a lady who wanted to be blind,and in the end she succeeded,strange but true,why would anyone want to be blind?.A psychologist once told me it is was impossible to change a person who is
obsessive .When an obsession takes hold of a person,no amount of reasoning can change their mind set,I knew a man who was convinced he was Jesus, yet he spent hours reading his bible.Anorexia is a very serious condition,a condition in which a person refuses to eat,because of a fear of becoming fat, thankfully some people do break free from that condition. Today let us lift our thoughts and our prayers,for those who are mentally ill,
of course there are different degrees of mental illness. Let us remember it is not a sin to be mentally ill,no more than a physical illness.Although in some cases sickness be it mental or physical can be the result of our sinful behaviour.Young people need to be more aware of the dangers in taking drugs,it can most differently be a cause of mental illness,it is so sad mental illness,and especially sad when one see's a young person who because of drug taking,has become mentally ill,they are stuck with it for the rest of their lives.
                                       A  prayer.
Dear God have mercy on those who are suffering from mental illness,and for those who are caring for them,we ask that in your mercy,you would heal
for your word assures us that there is nothing impossible with You,in Jesus
name we ask this Amen.

Amazing [ 1 John 1 v 7 ]

My son was leading an Alpha course,which is a means of introducing people to the Christian,told of a young lady who was moved to tears, when
she was told that all of her sins would be forgiven,by trusting in Jesus. People often sing amazing grace,that saves a wretch like me, and yet not fully grasp how truly amazing it really is.Yet guilt lies heavy upon many peoples hearts,it may surprise us ,for we can only see the outward,the laughing apparently lovely person.Yet behind the front,lies a  heart full of guilt,caused by abusive practises,lying,,cheating,yes and many other things. The good news is there is a person who can forgive every sin,no matter how many,and no matter how gross,and that person is Jesus. This is truly amazing,but it is true,the death of Christ,on a cross was Gods answer to mankind's greatest dilemma, sin.The good news is this it works,when we by simple faith trust in Jesus,God whose holiness is offended by our sin,in mercy forgives us every sin we have or will commit.I leave a wonderful
verse from Isaiah 1 v18, with you,/ Come now, let us reason together says
the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow,though they are red like crimson,they shall be like wool/.
                                         A  prayer.
Dear God for your amazing love,in sending Jesus your son,to die on the cross for sin,we thank you.It is truly amazing that when we trust Him all our
sins can be forgiven .Amen .

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 .