Dress code. ( 1 Peter 5 v 5 )

As a preacher I go to churches where they have a dress code,I can  understand that ,and I would try to go along with it. It is when they start to put a spiritual emphasise on it I take exception. When you ask them why one should wear a tie,or why you should not take ones coat off when preaching , you are  told that God expects us to dress in a certain way when we come to minister ,that means wearing a tie. Or they say if  you were going to visit the queen you would not go any old way,let me say this , I dress very nice when I go to preach, because I like to wear those nice clothes that I have bought. but I can assure you God unlike us is not in the least bit interested in how I am dressed when I stand and preach, think about it,when a person stands up to preach without a tie on ,God says how awful he hasn't got a tie on ,I will strike him with a thunderbolt,does He expects me to bless his ministry dressed like that, I will not do it.I wonder how the greatest of prophets would have said to that,dressed with clothes made of camel's hair. (  Matthew 3 v 4 )                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              1 Samuel 16 v 7                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 The Lord does not look at the things man looks at                                                                                   Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord                                                                                 looks at the heart.''

Pray on. ( Luke 18 v 1 )

While all Christians know the importance of prayer,there are times when for different reasons, some quit praying, of course there are reasons why that its so.Our dear Saviour was aware of this,so He spoke to His disciples and to all who follow Him,He said that ,'they should always pray and not give up'. (Luke 18 v 1 ) It was dear William Cowper who wrote,'When we don't pray, we quit the fight,prayer keeps the Christian armour bright, and Satan trembles , when he see's the weakest saint upon there knee's'. Dear Christian don't give up on prayer, pray when things are  hard ,pray when things don't happen,pray when your sad,pray when you have failed,pray when you succeed, pray when you don't feel like it,let not  negative feelings stop you praying,dear fellow Christian, pray.                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Oh how prayer helps the weary,                                                                                                                Prayer will change the night to day,                                                                                                          So when life gets dark and dreary ,                                                                                                            Don't forget to pray.                                                                                                                                            ( Words by M.A.Kidder )                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

A prayer ( Matthew 6 v 9 - 13 )

                                                             Proverbs   30 v 7 - 9 )                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             ''Two things I ask of you, O Lord; do not refuse me before                                                                       I die; Keep falsehood  and lies far from me;give me neither                                                                     poverty  nor riches,but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise                                                             I may have too much  and disown you and say,' Who is the                                                                     Lord?. Or I may become poor and steal  and so dishonour                                                                       the name of my God.'                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Let us consider this wonderful prayer,it is request that God would save him from the pitfall that we all have to face .He realises the  sinful tendencies of his sinful heart,let none of us underestimate how easy it is to fall into sin. We are beset by many evils in the world,and the worse evil is our wicked hearts,The words of the Lords prayer sum it up,'Deliver us from all evil  .' ( Matthew 6 v 13 )Next he prays that he may avoid the extremes of life,he does not want to win the lottery  ,but he also does not want poverty, who does?.Both riches and poverty have there pitfalls.,riches can easily cause us  to forsake God,poverty  can put pressure on us, to compromise . We need to take these warnings very serious ,or we may land up in serious trouble.                                                                                                         

Miracles can happen. ( Mark 11 v 22 )

I watched an old movie, and the title was,' Miracles can happen', I wonder do you believe this?,I wonder do I ?.so many are crying out for a miracle, the list is endless such is the human situation. I watched  a TV program of a lady telling about her parents.They had their differences,but they really loved each other, but they were both very elderly and infirmed,and death was near,we saw photos, of them lying holding hands ,the daughter prayed a simple prayer that the Lord would take them together, and so it came to pass, one died and then other died. Yes miracles can happen ,the miracles we read about in the scriptures,are not fiction,they really happened.Jesus  said to a woman ,'Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God '( John 11 v  40 )

Pray about everything. ( Philippians 4 v 4 - 7 )

A fellow minister found it hard to appreciate that people pray that God would get them somewhere to park their car,when he considered the really serious things  ,wars ,famine,etc, it appeared to him a mockery of  what prayer is supposed to be about, surely we not suppose to pray about such trivia.Common sense tells us that God has more important things,like holding the universe together,and all those other serious things.Then there are people who say you should not ask God for anything, I remember a minister who told  a lady who asked him, should she pray for God to help her make decisions about cooking something?,he as much as said no,use your common sense.Now of course God has endowed most of us with a degree of common sense,so does that mean we should not ask Him for help in even simple things?,does that mean we should not pray for a parking space?,does that mean we cannot ask God to supply a need?.I believe we can pray about all things,the simple things,the unimportant things ,I told my daughter-in -law that God would help my little grandson to use his potty,and she laughed.I need to realise that God is a friendly person,He is not frowning,or angry,no He is a loving heavenly Father,who loves to hear our prayers for simple things. He does not cry out,do they not think I have more important things to do?,no, that's not the God of the bible,He says to all of His children, 'I'm listening.''                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Don't worry 'bout nothing,                                                                                                                        Let it go,see what tomorrow brings,                                                                                                          Don't worry 'bout nothing,                                                                                                                        Pray about everything                                                                                                                                Pray about everything.                                                                                                                             ( Words by Luke Bryon )

I am. ( Hebrews 11 v 13 - 16 / 35 - 38 )

The believer is both pilgrim and soldier,the origin of the word pilgrim comes from the Latin and it meant foreign,when the apostle Paul wrote to the Christians at Philippi ,he reminded them that they were citizens of heaven ( 3 v 20 ).Now Philippi was a Roman colony ,which meant that the emphasis was on ,all things Roman, their dress ,laws,even religion was Roman,they did everything befitting a citizen of Rome.In reminding the Christians of their heavenly citizenship he was challenging them to live as citizens of heaven,in all things,to not be conformed to the pattern of this world.As to being a soldier (  CP 2 Timothy 2 v 3 ) ,we are reminded that  it involves discipline,how disciplined are we in our Christian lives,in prayer,bible reading?. It also means obedience,when I was boy soldier I was put on a charge for disobeying and order,I spent the night in the guard house,are we obedient Christian soldiers?.Then it involves a cost,for many in this life, as followers of Christ, the cost is imprisonment ,torture,even death. The old hymn says as regards Christs death on the cross,' love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all'.

A miracle ( John 11 v 40 )

My friend sitting opposite me spoke to me,'do you want to see a miracle?,now let me explain,my friend a number of years had an illness,that could not be cured, he was told.His lungs were only working at about a quarter of their capacity.So the future was not bright for him,but he began to improve to the point that he was discharged from hospital,his lungs are working fine,back to normal.Now returning to his statement, did I want to see a miracle?,he had two photos of two x-rays of his lungs.One showed the condition of when he was diagnosed,they look very bad, the other showed his lungs now,healthy,I saw a miracle.The age of miracles is not passed,if it is Gods will, miracles will happen.