We have a helper. [ Psalm 143 ]

Whatever task,whatever difficulty we may have to face,God is sufficient,he is in control even though it may not appear so.Listen to the whispers of Jesus,there is so much noise in this world,so many sounds in our head,so stop ,and listen,to that still small voice of your Saviour.Are you panicking?
are you struggling?,like the disciples in the storm,stop and remember Jesus was with them and He is with you,you are not on your own,Jesus is with you,and makes all the difference.Now raise your thoughts heavenward,like the Psalmist who said ,I lift up my eyes to the hills,but he did stop at the hills,he went on to say,my help cometh from the Lord who made heaven and earth[Psalm121v1-2]Who did he say was his helper?,I remember times when there was no food in the house,literally no food,and there was no money to buy any,and my children needed fed,my help came from the Lord.I remember so many times facing so much,that was beyond me,but not beyond the help of my Lord . Whatever trial you are going through ,your Lord knows all about it ,and he has the situation in hand,There is an old hymn with following ,words,about reaching the end of Our hidden resources
,consider and be encouraged that your Gods resources never run out,never.
                                      A prayer.
 
                       O Lord,hear my prayer,listen
                       to my cry for mercy,in your
                       faithfulness and righteousness
                        come to my relief.
                                      Amen
                             [ Psalm 143 v1 ]

We cheapen the Gospel.[John 3 v16 ]

In James 3 v1,we read,''Not many of you should presume to be teachers,my
brothers,because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly''
The call of God to a Christian ministry is very challenging,and bears with a tremendous responsibility.The prophet Ezekiel is told by God,'I have made you a watchman,'[3 v17],a watchman in ancient times was one who stood on guard,and would sound a warning if an enemy was approaching.If he failed in this he would be held responsible.Ezekiel is warned to be faithful in speaking Gods word ,if he did not do this God would hold him responsible.Every Christian is called to be a witness[Acts 1 v8], I read this recently ,'If we do not tell them who will',an the answer is no one'.Those called to be ministers are given by God the challenge to regularly proclaim Gods word,in a public manner.And like Ezekiel they will be held accountable,as to their faithfulness in ministering to the saints,but also to the unsaved.We must warn them of the wrath that is coming,John Stott writes,'We cheapen the gospel if we represent it as a deliverance only from unhappiness,fear,guilt and other felt needs,instead of as a rescue from the coming wrath'
                                         A prayer.
Dear God we thank you that you so loved the world that you gave Jesus,that we may believe in Him,and not perish. Amen.

All Gods children are special.[Romans 2 v 11]

In the life of Jacob we see the dangers of parents having favourites,it made
the others feel unloved,and the favourite son, Joseph becoming a focus of
hatred.It hurts when one member of a family is a favourite child,and it is wrong.A lady in the church in which I was a minister felt that our Saviour had favourites,now it is true that certain of the disciples are highlighted more than others,in fact we do not read much about some of them.Because they were chosen to particular leadership roles,does not mean that our Lord loved them more than the others. Let us remember that although our saviour was human,it was not a flawed humanity,being also divine he would reflect
a love for all.In Romans 2 v11 we read ,'God does not show favoritism',and
in John 3 v16,we read ,that God loves the world.It is true that God choose Israel,but that was to fulfil his saving purposes,they were loved,as all Gods family our loved.If we are part of Gods family we are loved equally,with an everlasting love,a love that is unconditional,a love from which we can never be separated  from[Romans 8 v37-39].As a loving Father,God will deal with all us in a loving way,according to his will,when we come to prayer,he hears, all his children's prayers.
                                              A  prayer.
Dear Father in heaven I thank you that all your children are special, and that you have no favourites,Amen.

Joseph. [ Matthew 6 v 9-15 ]

One of the most  lovely characters in the Bible is Joseph, you may not know anything about him,you can read about him in Genesis 37-50.He
was hated by his brothers,who sought to kill him,but instead they sold him into slavery,and he ended up in Egypt,were God showed him favour,but he was accused of a crime he didn't commit,and landed up in Jail,But God wonderfully released him,and promoted him to a position of power,after a while his brothers came into Egypt seeking to buy grain,Joseph could have
have had them killed but instead he forgave them.It is Peter who asked Jesus ,''Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me?up to seven times?''. Jesus answered,''I tell you,not seven times,but seventy seven times''.Unforgiveness is not allowed in Gods
kingdom, there will always be reason not to forgive those who hurt us, or
those we love,but there is a greater reason to forgive,and that is,we have been forgiven,by God because of Jesus. W. Barclay writes,''We have been forgiven a debt which is beyond all paying-for the sins of man brought the
death of Gods own son-and,if that is so,we must forgive others as God has forgiven us,or we can hope to find no mercy''
                                      A  prayer.
 Dear God help us to forgive those who hurt us or those we love,let us
remember how in love you forgave us,in Jesus name Amen

Hope. [Psalm 42 ]

How are you all today?,what are you facing?,what difficulties,sickness,
adverse circumstances,concerns for your family,unanswered prayers. So how are you today?,how are you viewing life?,does it all seem to much to take in?.Well here is a word for us all,written by a man who was feeling very low,this is what he said,''Why are you cast down,O my soul?Why so
disturbed within me? Put your hope in God,for I shall yet praise Him, my
Saviour and my God''.[Psalm 42 v5] Contrary to rumours put out by the enemies of our soul,God is not dead,no He still rules and reigns ,He is still in control and always will be.So let us all like the writer of that Psalm,say
to our souls,''Put your hope in God''.Evil will not have the final say,death is not the end,Christ reigns,and one day soon we will be with Him,whither in death,or at his return.As to this life,remember.
                        God is still on the throne ,
                        And He will remember his own.
                        Though trials may press us,
                        And burdens distress us,
                        He never will leave us alone,
                        God is still on the throne ,
                        And He will remember His own
                        His promise is true,He will not forget you,
                        God is still on the throne.

Letting go [ Mark 10 v 17-22 ]

I read somewhere that monkeys are captured by putting a nut into a narrow
neck jar. So when the monkey puts its hand to get the nut,it cannot get its hand out without letting go of the nut. So it is the monkey is taken captive,simple because it will not let that nut go,but it will not let go.Think of a man whose boat has capsized,he is hanging on like grim death,he cannot swim,then he spies a boat coming to his rescue.When the boat arrives ,the person in the boat cries give me your hand,but the man
is so frightened,he refuses,and so the person in the rescue  boat calls to him,I cant save you if you will not let go.So it is ,like the monkey, and the man,unless we are prepared to let go of our idols,of our sins,or whatever,we cannot be saved.We see this in the account of a rich man who wanted eternal life,when he was faced with letting go of his riches,we read,he went away sad, because  he had great wealth, in other words he refused to let go.
                              Oh,what will you do with Jesus?
                              The call comes loud and clear;
                              The solemn words are sounding
                              In every listening ear;
                               Eternal life's in the question,
                               And joy through eternity;
                               Then what will you do with Jesus?
                                Oh,what will your answer be?.
                                     [Words by Nath Norton]

Admit your guilt. [ Luke 18 v13 ]

It  is significant that the first of  the 'twelve steps' of  Alcoholics Anonymous is; 'We admitted we were powerless over alcohol- that our lives
had become unmanageable'.How very few will admit that they are sinners,
and that they need Christ to save them.I have met some,but not a lot ,most people think of the worst sort of people,as sinners.But the fact,that being a
sinner is not an exclusive club,one could name a lot of people who would class as the worst sort of people.When it comes to how God views mankind,
He simple tells us,that all have sinned and come short of His glory[Romans 3 v23 ].I am a key football supporter,I used to play a little bit when I was young, but as I watch the football on the TV,it amuses me that most people
who foul another player,often proclaim their innocence,even though its blatant obvious that they are guilty.So it is, we protest that we are not sinners,like the footballers,oh I am not perfect we may say,in fact no one
is perfect,but we are sinners.So like the alcoholic we need to admit ,that we
are powerless over whatever,be it gambling,sexual perverseness,or alcohol. Nothing can save us,no one can save,until we admit our desperate need.
                                                A  prayer.
Dear God we thank there is a way back to God from the dark paths of
sin ,that there is a door that is open and all may go in,when we come as a sinner to Jesus. Amen.