Joint citizenship [Matthew 22 v 21 ]

He was a superstar of his day,admired by many,had his own fan club,he
lived at a time when amateurism was popular,in other words you performed
just for the love of it. His name was Eric Liddell,known as the flying Scots
man,he was actually born in China,and the Chinese claim him as theirs,and the one who won their first gold medal at the Paris Olympics. In a sense this may have been true,but in another sense he had a higher calling,that was to serve God in China,As Dungan Hamilton writes,Eric considered athletics as an addendum to his life,rather than his sole reason for living it.Like every Christian we have two citizenship's,one heavenly[Philippians 3 v20],the other earthly[Acts 16v37].Both are important, as a citizen of earth ,I should
 honour and obey,the laws of the country I live in,our Saviour never advocated rebellion,but to gave to those who rule the honour due to them then he added,and to give God the honour due to Him[  Matthew 22 v21].There was never a time that Eric did not carry both these truths out,he was a fine citizen of Scotland but he was above all a fine and devoted citizen of  Gods kingdom.
                                    A prayer.
Dear God and Father help us to be good citizens of the country we live in ,and citizens of Heaven, in Jesus name Amen .

Pray. [ Psalm 91 ]

There are so many situations in the world that  are beyond control,dictators who do what they want,and nobody appears able or willing stop them.Then there is ,and you can add a lot of other things,wars,and the suffering they cause.There are countries where many of the population go hungry,drought has ravaged these countries.One could go on and on,plus I have not mentioned,personal problems that you may be experiencing,so many things to cope with.As a Christian I am called not to ignore these things,but to respond,by the most important weapon we have, prayer.The old hymn speaks of taking everything to God in prayer,for only in God is their hope,only through God can these problems whatever they are, be solved. Time after time I read in Gods word ,how God hears and answer  prayer. Psalm 50 v15,tells us to call upon God in the day of trouble ,when we go to God in faith and in the name of Jesus,God will respond.
                                       A  prayer.
Dear God we bring all things to you through your Son Jesus,in faith,Amen

The only safe thing to do .[Galations 6 v11-16]

Dick Lucas writes,''The world cannot do without religion.But since it rejects the truth of Christ it must find its religion elsewhere.The  elemental spirits of the universe are glad to oblige: their leader considers himself the prince of this world,and therefore is happy to provide a religion that can seem to satisfy people while keeping them from God. the closer in language his
religion can be to the truth ,while yet being quite different,the better this wily prince is pleased.He has his emissaries as closely involved with established religious institutions as possible''Consider Islam believes in a virgin birth,and that Jesus is coming again,but they do not believe that Christ is the Son of God,and that He died on the cross.The cults speak of a Christ who is not a Biblical Christ,Gandhi honoured Jesus,but not as Saviour.I want to quote D.Lucas again,what he writes is very Important ''The only safety seems to lie in a faith which glories only in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.To trust Only in that cross for forgiveness of our sins,to know only Christ crucified as our message to the world,and daily take up our cross,is to live as those who no longer belong to the world,nor expect to be honoured by the world''.
                                     
                                Jesus keep me near the cross,
                                There a precious fountain,
                                Free to all,a healing stream,
                                Flows from Calv'ry's mountain.

                                In the cross ,in the cross,
                                Be my Glory ever;
                                Till my raptured soul shall find
                                 Rest beyond the river.
                                    [Words F.J. Crosby ]

Unpayable debt. [ Romans 12 v1- 2 ]

Debt is not a new thing,but it appears to be a massive thing now,most countries appear to survive on what they can borrow,and so their debt increases.In the rich West borrowing is a way of life,and for many this way of  life brings many into great difficulties,which can lead to bankruptcy.
Many are filled with despair,and do not know where to turn to,there is hope,
organisations like CAP,Christians against poverty,are helping many,to resolve their difficult circumstances.Now at this time in my life my wife and I are not in debt,and I give God thanks for that.Yet there is a sense I will always be in debt,and it is a debt which one has called an 'unpayable debt'.The apostle Paul wrote of being a debtor,the fact is when we have been to the cross,and experienced the love of God and when we consider all that this means,forgiveness,freedom and a wonderful future,and being saved from wrath to come we are blest.We  are debtors,but it is not a debt that we can pay,but it demands a response,the question we must each ask ourselves is,how are we responding?
                                             A  prayer.
Dear God we owe you so much,it leaves us stunned,at the extent of your love to us,yet challenged ,as to how we can respond,thank you in the name of Jesus who loved so very much by dying on Calvary Amen.

Jesus is Lord. [John 20 v 28 ]

In Philippians 2 v 11,we read there is coming a time when every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.For a vast multitude this realisation
that Jesus is Lord,will not mean that they are saved,but that simply they will
be faced with a reality that can no longer be denied.For those who are saved it will be that moment of glory which they have long waited for,for they have acknowledge that Christ is Lord during there earthly existence
Now what does it mean that Jesus is ones Lord?.William Barclay writes the following, '' He means that for him[or her] that Jesus Christ is unique,that they are prepared to give to Jesus an obedience he is prepared to give to no one else;that they are prepared to give Jesus a love,a loyalty,an allegiance
that they will give to no other person in all the universe''.He points out this all comes about,out of a heart of love,because Christianity consists less in the minds understanding than it does in the heart's love.
                                          A  prayer.
Dear Lord Jesus ,we bow before you and proclaim that You are our Lord Amen.
                                                  

Hard toil.[ 2Timothy 2 v15] AV.

Dick Lucas in his book on Colossians,writes of those who were causing trouble in the church,of their dissatisfaction with scriptural patterns. ''He writes how as Christians we can begin to rebel against the hardness of the way.questioning the toil involved in Christian service,is there no better way
by which God would do His work among us?'' When C.T.Studd went to Africa,he prayed for the gift of tongues,so he would not have to learn the language.We all want short cuts,but it is not to be,in Psalm 81 v10,we read,
''open wide your mouth and I will fill it''. Good says someone, I don't have to prepare for my preaching engagements,not so the Word of God instructs us to study[2 Timothy 2 v15],which demands effort,and causes us to be weary.[Ecclesiastes 12 v12].While there are times I have had to preach without study,the general rule must be a giving oneself to study.A young man boasted how he rarely prepared for what he was going to preach,and an older wise brother who heard him preach,replied,'yes I thought so'.
                                         A prayer.
Dear God ,grant us grace to do what you call us to do,even though it will usually mean effort,in Jesus Name Amen.

He giveth [ 2 Corinthians 12 v 7-10 ]

Annie Flint was born in dear old USA,at the age of six she lost both her parents,and was adopted by a childless couple.In her teens she suffered from severe arthritis's,she aspired to be a composer,and concert pianist,but was prevented from this by ill health.She went on to write over a hundred hymns,her hand became so arthritic she used her knuckles to type out the words and music.One of her most popular hymns was,''He giveth more grace'',based on James 4 v6,it is a lovely hymn.The story is told how a person sent a lady sent a record to a missionary with this hymn on it.Now in case you may not know the old records could easily get scratched,and so the needle would often stick ,and keep repeating itself.Now the missionary began to listen to this lovely hymn,the needle stuck on the words,''He giveth more grace'',repeating and repeating these words.This missionary was struggling,and these words spoke to her ,in her exhaustion they spoke to her heart,and blessed her,and enable her by Gods grace to carry on.
                                
                       He giveth more grace when the burdens grow
                       greater,
                       He sendeth more strength when the labours
                       increase.
                       To addeth affliction He addeth His mercy,
                       To multiplied trials, His multipled peace.