Peace .[ Romans 5 v 1-11]

In John 14v27,our Saviour said,''Peace I leave with you,my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your heart be troubled,and do not be afraid.''The Bible tells us of two aspects of peace,the
first is peace with God which comes when we trust Jesus as our Saviour.It is summed up in Romans 5 v1.''Therefore since we have been justified through faith,we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ''.Our state before we become Christians is spelt out for us in Roman 5,we are
classed as,ungodly,sinners,and enemies.Such is our unsaved state we are at war with God,everyone of us,as Leon Morris writes,'' An enemy is not a person who comes a little bit short of being a friend; it means someone in
the opposite camp''.Yes we are not Gods friend,and in that state we are not
at peace with God,if fact He is not at peace with us.William Barclay wrote,
''It was not good men Christ died to save;it was sinners. It was not God's friends Christ died to rescue;it was men who were at enmity with God''.The
wonderful news is through Christ all can be changed,we can be changed, when we trust Him we enter into that wonderful Peace with God.
                                          A prayer.
Dear God we praise You for Jesus the Prince of peace,who died that we may if we trust Him,be at peace with You Amen.

It is His. [ Romans 9 v 21 ]

In his helpful little book on Ruth ,David Atkinson writes about Abraham Kuyper who was Prime Minister of Holland,who was a Christian,said the following''There is not an inch in the whole area of existence of which
Christ, the sovereign of all,does not cry,''It is Mine''.David Atkinson comments,''That all the events of this world's apparent chance and change
are in the hands of a God who has a purpose for his world,a purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time,to unite all things in him,things in heaven and things on earth''.So how do you feel about that?
I  personally receive great comfort to know my times are in His hands,that disappointment are his appointments for me,and for you,sometimes things happen that hurt us,and yet if we receive them aright we can grow.Roses need pruning,we need to cut off the dead wood,cut it back,we are not destroying the rose,that is the last thing I want to do,no I want to improve it,make it a more lovely rose bush.Remember,
                                     ''I'll He blesses is our good,
                                      and unblessed good,is i'll
                                      And all is well,that seems
                                      most wrong ,
                                      If it be His sweet will.
                                    

                       

Do not judge. [Matthew 7 v 1-5 ]

I recently saw a Christian  married  friend,sitting at a cafe with another women,the question is were they involved in an illicted affair?.No the bigger question is should I be judging that situation?,the answer is no,we so
often judge others on our prejudices,our narrowness,and condemn then with so little evidence,''That is one of the reasons why our Saviour told us told,not to judge others,CP  Matthew 7 v 1ff, read these very challenging words,''Do not judge''.Our Saviour lived in a very judgemental religious society,that lived by rules and regulations,quick to condemn.CP Mark 2 v 23-27.Michael Green writes,that when it comes to judging,''We can never know the whole story....but God does.And all too often what we condemn in others are the weaknesses we dare not face up to in ourselves.'' A common fault with us who drive, we judge others even though none of us our perfect drivers.Jesus said before we start judging others,we need to first put ourselves right firstCP Luke 6 v41-42.
                                         A  prayer.
Dear God forgive our critical judgemental spirit,you alone are one we should leave judgement to ,help us ,in Jesus name Amen.

Follow Me.[ Matthew 4 v 18- 25 ]

           

                    Come follow Me [Matthew 4 v19]     

                           Will you come and follow Me
                            if  I but call your name?
                           Will you go where you don't know
                           And never be the same?,
                           Will you let My love be shown,
                           Will you let My name be known.
                           Will you let my life be grown in you,
                            And you in me?

                            Will you leave yourself behind
                             if  I but call your name?
                            Will you care for cruel and kind
                            And never be the same?
                            Will you risk the hostile stare,
                            Should your life attract or scare?
                            Will you let  Me answer prayer
                            In you and you in Me?.

                            Will you let the blinded see
                            if  I but call your name?
                            Will you set the prisoners free
                            And never be the same?
                            Will you kiss the leper clean,
                            And admit to what I mean
                            In you and you in Me?

                            Will you love the 'you' you hide
                            if  I but call your name?
                            Will you quell the fear inside
                            And never be the same?
                            Will you use the faith you've found
                            To reshape the world around,
                            Through My sight and touch and sound
                            In  you and you in Me?

                            Lord, Your summons echoes true
                            When You but call my name.
                            Let me turn and follow You
                            And never be the same,
                            In Your company I'll go
                            Where Your love and footsteps show;
                            Thus I'll move and live and grow
                            In You and You in Me.
                            [Words by, G  Maule and
                              J. L. Bell]

John Wycliffe. [ 2 Timothy 3 v 16-17]

John Wycliffe lived in the 14th century,a time when those who were so to
represent the Christian Church,were acting in deplorable ways,especially the so called Popes,along with clergy.The Bible was in Latin,which very few people could read,and so many awful things were introduced into the Church.The result was as Brian Moynahan writes, '' Religion had come to mean the church itself and its traditions''.The leaders of the visible church,
taught so much that was wrong,so much that was not in the scriptures.They
used their power to enrich themselves,yet some of the going on's of the Popes was laughable it had not been so serious.What Wycliffe did was to bring people back to Gods word,he and his followers began teaching truths
from the Bible.Eventually Wycliffe began the task of translating the Bible
into English,which he finally did.This is what he wrote about the Bible, ''The Bible was the highest authority for every Christian,and the standard of faith and all human perfection.All that was in it must be obeyed,.All that was not-the deep patina of lore,ritual,law,hierarchy and dogma,that had built up for more than a thousand- was mere human invention and
superstition.''One of the things he did say was''there was no mention of the
pope in scripture''.
                                       A  prayer,
Dear God help us to hold fast to your word the Bible,that Word which is able to make us wise unto salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen.

The will of God . [Acts 16 v30-31 ]

Recently in part of our country,large hail stones fell which damage property,and some cars windows,it is strange to me having hail in the summer.It reminds me of the one of the plagues in Egypt,it was so severe
that it could have killed,animals and people.There were ten plagues altogether,it need not have been so,if only the Pharaoh had let the children of Israel go,they were virtually prisoners,and used as slave labour.It was God will and time to leave,but Pharaoh resisted,and so he and his nation paid the price of resisting  Gods will. The reality is,Gods will ,will always be fulfilled, if we resist or ignore it,we will suffer the consequences.We must realise that the will of God is important,and is to be taken very serious,
Jonah ran away rather than to submit to God,and  ended up being in the belly of a great fish.Continually the nation of the Israel,and their leaders
chose to disobey Gods will for them,and the greatest example of this ,was their rejection of Christ.The result was they suffered as a nation,in AD70
the Romans, put down a rebellion,that left Jerusalem in ruins and most of the population sold as slaves,and that not the end of the story,for they died
Christless and entered into a lost eternity.Gods desire is that all men may be saved,in and through the death of his Son, if we reject Him,like the Christ rejecting Jews ,we will pay a pray,to spend eternity in Hell.
                                            A  prayer.
Dear God help to submit to  your good,pleasing and perfect will,in Jesus name Amen.

Prayer and promises.[ Titus 1 v 2 ]

John Stott wrote the following,''God's promises are the only ground of our assurance that God will answer our prayers. Prayer is not a way of inducing
God to do what he has said he will do; it is the God-appointed way of enabling him to do what he has promised to do and enabling  us to inherit
his promises. God's promises and our prayers must not be separated'' Time without number I have faced with difficulties in my life,as many of Gods children have.Take Joshua who accomplished so much,consider the following,he was Moses successor,he was going to lead the nation of Israel, It was then God spoke ,He promised him,that he would be with him and he would succeed in all he had to do.I am sure when he faced difficulties he would claim the promises God had made.Every difficulty a child of God faces is an opportunity,for prayer and to claim the promises, God give you.Peter writes how God has given us great and precious promises[2 Peter 1 v 4].There is a promise on every paper money issued ,it reads,''I promise to pay the bearer on demand,the sum of.....''Unfortionately banks can go bust, I sincerely hope it does not,but it may,and if it did it could not fulfil its promise.Be assured when God gives a promise,no power in heaven or hell can stop him fulfil it.
                                           A  prayer.
Dear God we thank you that when you give your word,no circumstances,
can stop it being fulfilled,in Jesus name Amen.