Worry. [ Matthew 6 v34 ]

D.Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote the following,from his studies on the sermon on the mount./Worry is always a failure to grasp and apply our faith.Faith does not work automatically.....you have to apply it.Faith does not grow automatically either;we must learn to talk to our faith and to ourselves,as the Psalmist in Psalm 42.Look at him turning to himself and saying,'Why art thou cast down,O my soul?' That is the way to make your faith grow......
You must question yourself about your faith.You must ask your soul why it is cast down,and wake it up.The child of God talks to himself,he reasons with himself; he shakes himself and reminds himself of himself of his faith.
,and immediately his faith begins to grow. Do not imagine that because you
became a Christian all you have do is to go on mechanically.Your faith does not grow mechanically,you have to attend to it.To use our Lords analogy,you have to dig around and about it,and pay attention to it.Then you will find it will grow.
                                         A prayer.
Dear Lord help us to work at our faith,and help us to grow in faith, in Jesus name Amen.

A stupendous caravan of. [ Psalm 103 ]

In 1 Timothy 6 v7 we  read,''We brought  nothing into the world,and it is certain that we cannot take anything out of the world''.This is true,there are no pockets in a shroud,our Lord told the parable of a rich farmer ,who  had it made ,until God interviend,and called into eternity,his riches, he had to leave.[ Luke 12 v 16ff]So that's it then,we go out of this world into the next,
and we all live happily ever after,or do we.? I read this recently,''Now I am
going alone......Every torment I have afflicted,every sin I have committed, every wrong I have done, I carry the consequences with me. Strange that I
came with nothing into the world,and now go away with this stupendous
caravan of sin.[Anita Drsai, Clear light of Day]I wonder will that be you?,
I hope not,yet if during this life I have not trusted Jesus for the forgivness
of my sins,I will  have  to face the wrath of God.If  we truly do that then our sins will be truly gone, yes completely gone,and there will be no record of them anywhere[ CP Psalm 103v11-13].
                            
                                  A   prayer
Dear God help us to seek you while you can be found,and have the sin problem  sorted out,by asking Jesus to forgive us .Amen

Faithfulness. [ Romans 10 v9-21 ]

In  Lamentations 3v 23,we read ,'Great is thy faithfulness',these words where written by a prophet,at a time of great suffering.It was a self inflicted suffering,it need never have happened.The people of Israel had continually sinned ,forsaken Gods ways, in spite of God sending prophets,to warn the people,it was all in vain,they refused to change,refused to listen to Gods
pleading with them.The result was ,God said enough, is  enough,when people ignore continually, Gods offer of mercy,what option is God left with?.In Romans 10v21,the apostle declares as to Israel's rejection of Gods pleading,''But to Israel he saith,All day long have I stretched forth my hands
unto a disobedient and gainsaying people''.Let us remember it is not God
who has forsaken man,but man who has forsaken God.From the moment
mankind sinned in the garden of Eden,they have been on the run from God.
So it goes on to this day, I have witnessed to many people,but sad to say
so few have responded,to the message of Gods love in Jesus.It is easy to blame the messenger, for that is all I am ,warts and all,but I know irrespective,of that,I must remain faithful. On that awesome day of judgement that is coming,it will be to late then,to change ,and trust Christ,for only those who have responded to Gods gospel will experience mercy.
                                           A  prayer.
Dear God like Jeremiah of old we declare,great has been your faithfulness,
and we ask for two things,that we your children may remain faithful,and
that in your mercy and faithfulness you will bless our faithful witness,to the salvation of the lost.Amen.

Henry V111. [ Luke 23 v 39-43 ]

One of England's most famous kings,was Henry the 8TH,he is remembered
because of how he treated his six wives,there is a way to help you to remember what their fate was ,which goes,''Divorced,beheaded, died,divorced, beheaded, survived.''He was not a man to be crossed,the nearer one got to him the more dangerous it was, as Thomas Cromwell, found out,when he fell out of favour with Henry,and was executed.  Henry was a religious person,but his treatment of his wives,would throw doubt as to whither he knew the Lord.It was recorded that when he was dying,he sent for the Archbishop Cranmer.When the Archbishop arrived,Henry was beyond speaking,so he asked the king to give some sign,either with his eyes or his hand,that he trusted in the Lord,the king managed to press Cranmer's hand. Did that mean he repented,did that mean he sought forgiveness? ,we cannot tell,we leave the final outcome with God.What I do know is this ,no matter how wicked a person has been,they can be forgiven, even if its at the point of death .The greatest example of that is the dying thief we read of in Luke 23 v 39-43 .
                            
                                 Between the stirrup
                                  and the ground,
                                 I mercy sought,
                                   and mercy found.

I apologize .[ Revelation 5 v 1ff ]

A lady was attending a coffee morning , watching a DVD depicting our Lords suffering,and she started to cry,and she apologized for crying ,the person leading the coffee morning replied,I should apologize for not crying.
 I confess I rarely weep  as I read or hear of His suffering,have I become to
firmilar with sacred happenings?When I read scriptures like Isaiah 52 v14
''As many were astonished at thee;his  visage was so marred more than any
man,and his form more than the sons of men''or the suffering recorded
in Psalm 22.I must confess I would not have wished to view my Saviours suffering.The physical suffering that He endured was awful,but that was only part of it,that other part I cannot even begin to imagine,for we read in
''We had all strayed like sheep, each of us had gone his own way; but the Lord laid upon him the guilt of us all''[Isaiah 53 v6/ he bore the  sin of manyv12]Gods holy justice had to be satisfied,in order that we might be saved, so Jesus endured the wrath of God for sin,in order that we may
not experience it, no wonder that lady cried.
                                          
                                 Wounded for me,wounded for me,
                                 There on the cross He was wounded for me;
                                 Gone my transgressions and now I am free,
                                 All because Jesus was wounded for me.
                                        [ Words by G.W.R.]

Poverty. [ Ephesians 2 v 8-10]

In 1Timothy 6 v7,we read, ''We brought nothing into the world,and it is
certain that we cannot take anything out of the world''.These words are often read at a burial  service,they remind us that all worldly wealth is left behind
when we die.These words bring a challenge to all of us,reminds us that we should not place to much store on material things,that true happiness does
not come with money.Yet that does not mean that there is virtue in poverty,
I receive information from many places in this world were so many dear people are suffering from the results of poverty.There is a mission I know,
and it is called,'The Medical Missionary News',it has kept that title,because
it tells you two things they are involved in supporting the physical and
spiritual needs of mankind.As someone has said,we neglect either to our cost,good works,and the good news of the gospel must always go hand in hand.The challenge for all of us who are Christians is to be generous in supporting ,those whom God lays on our hearts,we cannot give to every cause,but we can help some,and we should.
                                 A  prayer.
Dear God help us, to help those who are in need,and help to never loose
sight of mankinds need to hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ ,Amen.

One message.[ 1 Timothy 1 v15 ]

One man I admire is Billy Graham,one God has used mightily,I know there are those who have criticised him.Be that as it may he has remained faithful in his preaching of the gospel,and many people have been saved under his ministry.In 1954 he held a crusade in Harringay Arena in London.He tells how a Methodist preacher spoke to him,and said,''I have come here every night for ninety three nights,and I have heard one message.'' One message ,yes he preached the same message that the disciples of old preached,it will always be one message.What is that message?,Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,no matter how sophisticated we become,no matter how affluent we become,no matter what,it will always be that one simple message,Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
                              
                                  I love to tell the story
                                  Of unseen things above,
                                  Of Jesus and His glory,
                                  Of Jesus and His love;
                                  I love to tell the story,
                                  Because I know its true,
                                  It satisfies my longing,
                                  As nothing else will do.
                                          [Kate Hankey]