Why am I here. ( Psalm 48 v 14 )

I was watching a nice old movie, when I heard one of actors say, ''The good Lord Himself has put him there''.  I had been thinking of my earlier years when my wife and I applied for missionary work, and it did not happen, it was all very disappointing, but eventually we ended up in darkest England. Sometimes I think of those days of trying to go ,to the so called mission field and wonder. I wonder what  am I doing in the town of Grays in England?. Yet those words spoke to me, I am here because God put me here , you  may think like me ,what may have been, in your life, if, why does it appear you missed your calling,or so you think. Like me you were willing to go anywhere God would send you,like me you may have gone to Bible college to train for the mission field,but it did not happen. We can broaden it out to different goals,be it whatever,and may not have worked out like you thought,and you wonder why. I mention the sovereignty of  God a lot,for early on in my Christian faith , I have never faltered in my belief ,that God rules and over rules in all the affairs of my life,and so here I am in town that most of you have never heard about, why?, simply because,'the good Lord Himself has put me here'                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             ''Yes the Lord is good''

I shall not die until. ( Psalm 30 v 3 )

It was John Bunyan who wrote,  '' Following Jesus means having the wind in your face'', It appears to me that he had the wind in his face, a great deal. In case you do not know who he was,I will tell you a little bit about him ,he was born in 1628 died 1688. He had a basic education, before he became a Christian,well he was a sinner,but are we not  all sinners?, of course, but some people show it more than others. We read that he was born near Bedford,when he was 15 , his mother and sister died within a month of each other, his father married within a month of their deaths.It was a time of great unrest,and he served time in the Parliamentary army.He recounts how a fellow soldier took his place on sentry duty, and was shot in the head with a musket ball.God is sovereign, and has a plan for a lives,Daniel was spared in the lions den,his three friends survived a fiery furnace, I was saved from drowning as a young boy. Until God degrees we will not die                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Plagues and deaths, around me fly;                                                                                                           Till  He bids, I  cannot die;                                                                                                                         Not a single shaft can hit,                                                                                                                           Till the God of love sees fit.                                                                                                                         ( Words.. John Ryland )

In His hands. ( Psalm 31 v 15 )

                                                                                                                                                                                                                     My times are in Thy hand;                                                                                                                         My God, I wish them there;                                                                                                                       My life, my friends,my soul I leave                                                                                                           Entirely to Thy care.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       My times are in Thy hand,                                                                                                                         Whatever they may be;                                                                                                                               Pleasing or painful, dark or bright,                                                                                                             As best may seem to Thee.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             My times are in Thy hand,                                                                                                                         Why should I doubt or fear?                                                                                                                       A Father's hand will never cause                                                                                                               His child a needless tear.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               My times are in Thy hand,                                                                                                                         Jesus the Crucified;                                                                                                                                   The hand my cruel sins have pierced                                                                                                         is now my guard and guide.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                ( Words.. Henry F, Lyte )

A means of grace. ( Revelation 3 v 3 )

A. Motyer writing on the tabernacle ,that it was a means of grace,they were required to supply the materials,the result being they could have in a very special way ,the Lords presence.In other words they had to do their part,and God would respond ,in a sense it was up to them. . AM  goes unto say the following as to us individually and collectively,''We to have means of grace at our disposal; public and  corporate means like Christian fellowship, the ministry of God's word and the  Lord's table,and  private means like time apart with God for prayer and Bible reading. We can, however , choose to live at a distance, neglecting these things which would bring God near to us and us near to Him. The tabernacle is a depiction of a reality as well as an ideal. In it we can see represented, the indwelling God,  the God near at hand,and the avenues of approach, which can either be cultivated or neglected. Has the chief failing of the Lord's people through the ages always been that we do not live up to our privileges ? ''

Deeds not words. ( James 2 v 18 )

At this time in our country we are remembering the right of women to vote,which the suffragettes fought so bravely for. Yet the fight still goes on for women to be treated in an equal way, in regards pay.Sadly in many places in the world women are still drawing the short straw. No religion has the right to treat women in an unfair way, it is sad that women are still being treated deplorably in the name of religion.One of the cries of the suffragette movement was, ''we want deeds not words'', in other words they wanted something done,they wanted change, and rightly so.We hear a lot about the homeless but it appears to be on the increase,the fact is what we want is deeds not words.I believe it can be overcome, and its time it was,I have often talked to those sleeping rough,one young lad in particular comes to mind,it upset me.There are so many issues in our world that need deeds and not words,there are many governments in this world who need to look at things and say we need to stop that.and then do something about it. I have pictures of  the awful conditions people are living in,it is time  that the cry went up we are going to do something about that situation,there are countries and people are being persecuted and put in prison because they have raised  human right issues,this needs to be stopped. I know that this is a fallen world,there will always be injustice of one sort or another, but those early suffragettes did something about it, the sale of slaves was a blight in our world, but there where those who stood up and did something about it.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Dear Lord help us to do something                                                                                                            about  injustice ,and wrong  in this                                                                                                            sinful needy world in Your name                                                                                                              we ask this  .  Amen.                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

24/7. ( Luke 18 v 1 )

We use the term 24/7 these days,one of my lads is involved in a Christian ministry called 24/7, it involves prayer. One of the things they do is to encourage churches to participate in prayer ,by opening the church premises for one week 24/7. It is not just a novel idea or new, it is, and can be a positive exercise ,reminding us all of  of the truth that prayer.is not just important but vital for us as individuals and collectively as a body of Gods people.Gone are the days in many churches of the prayer meeting, I wonder why?,all Christians I am sure, know that prayer is important.I would like to think that most Christians do pray. There  is so much one can say about prayer ,there is so much to pray about, let us say, anyone can pray.When Jesus spoke about prayer He stressed the importance of  private prayer CP Matthew 6 v 6 ,that does not mean we should not pray publicly,He dealt with the danger's involved when we pray publicly, when we pray to impress, mainly others,we are fools if we think we can impress God . Would it not be a good thing if we had more people ,who we may  think unsuited to pray publicly ,in that they pray from the heart not just the brain,what  if we heard people breaking down and crying when they pray. Such prayers do not embarrass God in the least,God is not given to snobbery ,unfortunately we are.                                                                                                                                                                                            PRAY.

No other gods. (Isaiah 40 )

In Isaiah 46 v 9 - 10,we have God declaring , ''I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is to come''. First of all we are told, ' I am God ,and there is no other'', these words challenge a belief in the existence of other gods. So when the religions of this world ,pray to their gods , they are praying to nothing, for no other god exists. There is only one God, and further still ,there is only one Saviour Jesus, who left us in no doubt of this when he declared ,that He was the way the truth and the life,and no one could unto the Father but by Him. ( 14 v 6 ).Next we read,''I  am God, and there is none like me''.which reminds us that God is unique in His being, yet people do try to make God fit into their little box, such efforts   are forbidden (  Exodus 20 v 4 ). Next we read , '' I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is to come''.Here we have the all known God, who not only knows the future, but also has a plan. Unlike ,Open theism who believe that God does not plan, or know all the future, but leaves much of it, ''open''.God reigns  He has not surrendered  His rule over this world,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            GOD RULES.