Praise Him [ Revelation 5 ]

As I started to pray,I wanted to praise my Saviour,so I got out a hymn book,
and read a hymn of praise, here is one verse of that hymn.
                    
                 Praise Him, praise Him,Jesus our blessed Redeemer,
                 For our sins, He suffered and bled and died;
                 He, our rock,our hope of eternal salvation,
                 Hail Him,hail Him.Jesus the Crucified.
                 Loving Saviour,meekly enduring sorrow,
                 Crowned with thorns that cruelly pierced His brow,
                 Once for us rejected,despised and forsaken,
                 Prince of Glory,ever triumphant now.
                          [Words by Fanny J. Crosby ]

                   Worthy is the Lamb,who was slain,
                   to receive power and wealth and
                   wisdom and strength and honour
                    and praise.
                           [Revelation 5v 12 ]
                

To cry or not to cry that is the question?. [1 Thessalonians

Recently MP Jo Cox was murdered,I personally have never heard of her,but it appears she was[ believe it or not], a much loved MP,I must  confess I have shed a few tears as I have listened of people speaking about this lovely
young lady.She was married and had two children,it is all very distressing,
and terribly sad.It has started a question as to how we should react to such
an event,should we hold back the tears and signs of emotion,or should we try and maintain a stiff upper lip. What do you think?,well I suppose both can be acceptable,should we not let people do what is best  for them.What we do know is Christ is known as a man of sorrows,and familiar with suffering[ Isaiah 53 v3 ]We read of Him weeping at the  death of His friend,
and we are told ,'Blessed are they that mourn'  [Matthew 5 v 4 ],and in Romans 12 v15, we read,weep with them that weep.Yes it is alright to sorrow and weep when a friend or loved one is taken in death.It is the apostle who writes that we should  not sorrow,as those which have no hope[1 Thessalonians 4 v 13]

                                       A  prayer .
Dear God have mercy upon the family of Jo Cox,and upon those we know who have experienced bereavement,in Jesus name Amen

Free at last. [ Revelation 21 ]

Bruce Milne writing in his book 'Heaven and Hell',points out that evil was in existence before man sinned.He points  to Jude 6,how that the angels
did not keep their positions of authority,but abandoned their home'.[cf2 Peter 2 v 4].He then goes on to write,''Here is a valuable biblical precursor
of  the life of heaven.Humanity can exist in its fullest terms without sin.
And since the devil and his angels will be banished eternally from  that
heavenly order of the fulfilled kingdom of God[cf Jude 6b; Rev20 v7-10],
that future will be secure from any threat in a way the first perfected creation obviously was not''.When we are in heaven we will not be looking over our shoulders ,in case evil in any shape or form ,overtakes us. No ,sins power within us will no longer exist,and satans power to tempt us will also no longer exist.Evil will be banished, for ever,and ever,and ever,Miltons
'paradise lost',will be no more,and it will truly be, 'paradise regained'.
                                    A  prayer.
Dear God,we look forward to that glorious day when we at last arrive in heaven,free from evil,be it the world,the flesh,or the devil,in Jesus name we thank You ,Amen.



'

Trust and obey. [ 1 Samuel 15 v 22 ]

Just recently the Lord spoke to me about a certain something, but I was not sure or maybe willing to deal with. I asked Him to help me,I  ask others what should I do,and still I never dealt with it.This certain thing was becoming a problem,it began to effect my prayer life,what should I do?. Every time I had  a time of prayer,it came into my mind,and so it continued,until I sorted it out. Now the problem is resolved,there is nothing between my Heavenly Father and me,I have peace. Nothing between ,I suppose God was wanting me to simply obey Him,simply obey Him,it may be simple,just do it, left undone,it becomes a very serious problem.It is no good trying to ignore whatever God is saying to you,it may be something very simple,it may also be something very big,but if we ignore what God is saying to us,then it becomes very ,very ,serious,and will have serious consequences .To trust and obey is at the heart of our relationship with God,even though it may cost,but the price of not obeying brings a greater  cost,From Genesis to Revelation,we can read the folly of disobedience,think what we lost when our first parents disobeyed.So if God is speaking to you today,be it on a simple matter,or a large matter,be an obedient child,yes trust and obey,for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus,but to trust and obey.
                                        A prayer.
Dear God forgive us our disobedience,give us the grace to always obey You
in Jesus name .Amen.

Are you rich? [ 2 Corinthians 8 v9 ]

Billy Graham tells how he and his wife Ruth,were invited to the home of  one of the wealthiest men in the world.The man was seventy-five years old,
and as they sat at a meal,the man was closes to tears.I am the most miserable man in the world,he said.''Out there is my yacht,I can go anywhere I want to,I have my private plane,my helicopter.I have everything
I want to make me happy,and yet I'm miserable as hell''Billy  and Ruth,
spoke,and prayed with him,sought to point him to Christ,who alone gives
lasting meaning to life.Later in the day a local Baptist pastor,an English man,aged seventy five,he was a very enthusiastic Christian and had a deep love for Christ,he spent most of his free time taking care of his two invalid sisters.''I don't have two pounds to my name,'' he said,but I'm the happiest man on this Island''.''Who do you think is the richer man?'' Billy asked Ruth
who do you think is the richer man?'' ,we both knew the answer.
                                        A  prayer.
Dear God help us not to be hoodwinked into thinking that the meaning to life,is in things,or whatever takes our fancy,in Jesus name Amen.

I never thought they would do that. [ 1 Corinthians 10 v12 ]

Often when a crime is committed by someone you thought you knew,there is an unbelief about it,and we find ourselves saying ,'I never thought they would do such a thing.I remember hearing that couple who attended the church I was in leadership,that their marriage had broken up.The wife had left her husband for someone else,I never imagine such a thing was going to happen.The disciples did not suspect for one moment that Judas was going to betray Jesus,they may have known that he took money he should not have,but never in a million years would they have thought,he would have done such an awful thing. Who would have suspected David of committing
adultery,and murder,no one,you can hear them saying,I never thought he
would have done that.But just in case any of us are becoming to judgemental,consider the following words./Wherefore let him that thinketh
he standeth take heed lest he fall[ 1 Corinthians 10 v 12 ]/Yes let us all tread softly when we talking about those who fall,for the simple matter is this,we
all can fall,in some way ,make no mistake about it.
                                        A  prayer.
Dear God have mercy upon those who have fallen into sin,and grant us the
grace,that we may not follow in their footsteps,in Jesus name Amen.

Faith is refusing. Matthew 6 v34

Let us continue on at what D.Martyn Lloyd- Jones,and what he had to say about worry and its causes and cure./A large part of faith,especially in this connection,consists of just refusing anxious thoughts. That to me is perhaps
the most important and the most practical think of all. Faith means refusing to think about worrying things,refusing to think of the future in a wrong sense. The devil and all adverse circumstances will do their utmost to make
me do so,but having faith means that I shall say:'No;I refuse to be worried.
I have done my reasonable service;I have done what I believed to be right
and legitimate,and beyond that Iwill not think at all. That is faith,and it is
particularly with regard to the future. When the comes with his insinuations
injecting them into you- all the fiery darts of the evil one- say,'No; I am not
interested.The God whom I am trusting for today,I will trust for tomorrow.I refuse to listen; I will not think your thoughts.Faith is refusing to be burdened because we have cast our burden upon the Lord/
                              A prayer,words by D,Martyn Lloyd-Jones.
Dear Lord in your infinite grace,give us wisdom and grace to implement these simple principles,and thereby rejoice in you day by day Amen.