Changed lives. [ Luke 8 v26-39 ]

I have a friend called Derry,who is lovely Christian,he told me how a number of years,a number of Christians went to the famous Speakers Corner ,at Hyde Park in London..He was ministering,and was hassled by
some atheists, so my friend give them a challenge,he said he would bring six people along next time.These people had been freed from all sorts of sinful condition,they had been transformed  by Jesus.He then said to them,
to bring six people who had been transformed by atheism,they went away in a huff.The wonderful reality millions and millions of people have had their lives dramatically and wonderfully changed when they trusted Jesus as their Saviour. As for atheism it is not in the business of changing people,one day Stalin received a phone call,the person wanted to talk about for the want of a better term,spiritual things.Stalin's response was to dismiss such talk and found it strange,even though he was familiar with such things.
                                      A prayer.
Dear God we praise you for the historical Christ,who has and is transforming the lives of million and millions of  people,open our eyes to see that what He has done for others He can do for us.Amen.

The news from . [ Psalm 46 ]

As I view life with all its uncertains,I need to fix my thoughts on God,this 
again is borne out,just as I write this,when on the news ,it is reported of a man who drove a lorry,through crowds of people,killing at least eighty people.This happened in France,but of course it could happen anywhere,so many things can happy,that we never expect,are you fearful?,I know I was upset,by the news from France,so I will leave the following scripture with you.
                                  God is our refuge and strength,
                                  an ever present help in trouble.
                                  Therefore we will not fear,though
                                               the earth give way
                                  and the mountains fall into the
                                               heart of the sea,
                                  though its water roar and foam
                                  and the mountains quake with
                                              their surging.

                                   The Lord Almighty is with us,
                                   the God of Jacob is our fortress.

                                   Be still, and know that I am God

                                   [Words from Psalm 46 ]

Change can happen. [ 2 Corinthians 3 v 18 ]

I love my garden,weather permitting I love to sit in it,and there I have a time with the Lord.I have been to many different places on holiday,but my garden is my favourite place.When God made man He placed him in a garden,it must have been beautiful,yet into that beautiful place sin entered in.We are told that sin entered the world through one man,and death through
sin,and in this way death came to all men,because all sinned[Romans 5 v12]
The place was not the cause but the people,I used to hear people speak of wanting to move,they felt the move would change everything.Of course the place was not the problem,they would take with them,the fears and personality disorders,and their inability to cope with life,nothing in fact would change.It was not a change of place they needed,no , they needed to change,here is the good news,Christ can help us change,He is in the business of bringing change into the lives of all who trust Him as Saviour.Perfection will only come when we go to heaven,but we can begin
to know a change in our lives,as we follow our Lord.The question we need to ask ourselves are we willing to change,are we prepared to face up to what
that means?.If we are,then with Gods help, change can take place,it will mean a daily desire,a daily seeking God for His all sufficient grace. The
result is,we will change,it will take time,we cannot expect habits of a life
time to go all at once,some may,but others will need continually brought to the Lord in prayer,are you willing to be willing?
                                        A  prayer.

                          Holy Spirit,we[I] welcome You,
                          Holy Spirit we[I ]welcome You.
                          Please accomplish in us[me] today
                          Some new work of loving grace,we [ I ] pray-
                          unreservedly -have Your way.
                          Holy Spirit,Holy Spirit,
                          Holy Spirit,we [ I ]welcome You.[ In Jesus name,Amen]
                              [Words by Chris Bowater]

      [I  will return to my blog Monday,  every blessing]


                                   
                                

Holy love. [1 John 4 v 7-12]

We read in 1 John 4 v8 ,that God is love,now of course we hear the word love continually,people sing about it all the time,Love is a many splendour thing,goes the song,Love and marriage,goes together like a horse and carriage,this I tell you brother,you cant have one without the other,the words of  another song.The great William Shakespeare wrote,''Love is not love,which alters when it alteration finds''.Love ,when we say we love someone,what do we mean?,what do I mean?.Again the words of a song comes to mind,''will you still love me when I'm sixty four?.''Well we could go, on,and on about love,but what does it mean ,when  we read in the Bible,that God is love?.I read this recently by the late Selwyn Hughes,
''Although God is love,we must never forget that He is holy love and will
always challenge His people when they lose their way or walk off in the
wrong direction.He loves us too much to let us continue with anything that
separates us from Him''.The role of the prophets was to remind the people of God, of Gods holy love.A lady in the church in which I was a joint leader,was acting strange,she was married but appeared to have become
infatuated with someone else.She eventually left the church,she complained about being told what to do from those who ministered,she was wrong.
                                       A  prayer.
Dear God we thank you that your love is holy.a love that saves and transforms us,we would have it no other way,in Jesus name Amen.

Idol worship . [ Exous 20 v 3-6 ]

In many countries people still erect idols and pray to them, unfortunately
there are even those who erect idols within the visible Christian church.The
word of God forbids the making of idols [Exodus 20v 4-5 ],Israel found it very hard to break that habit,even king Solomon fell prey to this practise
[ 1 Kings 11 v4ff ]. Now of course we in the West do not make idols,to worship,or do we?Consider what John Stott has written.
''The more sophisticated idols[that is ,God -substitutes] of modern secular cities are equally powerful.Some people are eaten up with selfish ambition for money,power or fame.Others are obsessed with their work,or with sport or television,or are infatuated with a person,or addicted to food,alcohol,hard
drugs or sex.Both immorality and greed are later pronounced by Paul to be
forms of  idolatry,[Ephesians 5 v5 ]because they demand an allegiance which is due to God alone.So every idolater is a prisoner,held in humiliating bondage''. So are we idol worshippers?.
                                         A  prayer.
                             
                              The dearest idol I have known,
                              what're that idol be,
                              help me to tear it from Thy throne,
                              and worship only Thee.
                                          Amen.
                               [Words by William Cowper ]

Men are not gods. [1 John 3 v1]

I was watching a very old movie,called,'Men are not gods',if only people would realise this,yet in their foolishness,they have not.The Romans accepted the Caesars as gods.and killed those who would not acknowledge them as such. Men are not gods,there was a popular song called,''If I ruled the world' I have heard that before, we all have,but men are not gods,none can stop themselves from catching the common cold.We were made in the image of God,but that does not make us Gods,it lifts us above the animal creation,it bestows upon us a dignity,but alas we have chosen the lesser undignified position,of calling monkey our brother,maybe that is why we eat bannas.Yes it is true,men are not gods,but still God,the only God,has as someone has said , a soft spot,for us sinners,inspite of all our dillusions of grander He reminds us that although we in our blindness,have chosen the dark avenues that leads us on a road that only takes us farther and farther a way from him,and He whispers in our ears,that He loves and values us so much that through Him who is truly God and truly man,that He died on a cross,so that we can become  children of  God.
                                            A prayer.
Dear God we confess that we are often blinded with extremes,of  thinking we are gods,and on the other hand we are related to monkeys.open our eyes
to see what we really are, sinners,who can  become children of God,through
Jesus Amen .

Contend. [Jude v3 ]

There are passages in the Bible that I do not understand, even though I have studied the word of God, been to Bible college.The problem with some people this can cause them problems,and it is not helped by those ministers,
who weaken peoples faith.Instead of trusting in what God says in his word,
they give free reign to their intellects,and so cause people to stumble,and even stray from the faith. As a minister of Gods word my desire is to be
faithful to the Bible,and not to cause anyone to stumble spiritually.Our first
parent Eve,was deceived by Satan ,the result was Adam followed her example,[1Timothy 2 v14]. What Satan said appeared reasonable,and what
God said appeared unreasonable,but the devil is liar,and the father of lies
[John 8 v44].Unfortunately Eve doubted Gods word,and so mankind moved away from God,into the kingdom of darkness,which they grew to love,because their deeds are evil.[John 3 v19] Let me emphasise the importance of trusting God ,if we don't,confusion will reign,there are many
who call themselves Christians who accept things they should not,and unfortunately ,many are following their lead. The book of Jude was written
to warn believers as regards those who were seeking to undermine Gods
word,the key verse is v3,where we exhorted to  contend for the faith.
                                             A  prayer.
Dear God help us to contend for your truth,as revealed in your word,help
us for the sake of ourselves and for others,in Jesus name Amen.