A cup of water.( Mark 9 v 41)

 It is John the Baptist  who was approached by his disciples who were concerned that more people were  going to Jesus,and not to John. He replied,' A  person can receive only what is given them from God'. Most of my ministry  was with small churches ,small groups, nothing very dramatic, but it is important to remember, indeed very important,as to what God intrusts to us. He give Billy Graham a world wide  ministry,and there are ministers who minister to massive churches,but there many who minister  to the few, In Matthew 10 v 42, we read'And if  you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded', One writer says,'The smallest act of giving 'that's it, the words of a song comes to mind, 'If just a cup of water I place within your hand, then just a cup of water is all that I demand'. ( Words by Ira F. Stanphill ) What has He placed in your hand?, a sick loved one,your children, your husband ,your wife, some small  seemingly insignificant task,that's the cup of water He has placed in your hand,be faithful in it and you will receive  that well done  faithful servant, from your Saviour.

I once was a stranger. ( Ephesians 2 v 19 )

 I was listening to the music of a well known hymn ,'Nearer my God to lead',and I remembered  there was a time that I was a stranger to God and His ways.separated from Him by my sins (Isaiah 59 v2), far away from Him,without hope  and without God .The words of a hymn  by Robert Murray M'Cheyne sum it up,'I once was a stranger to grace and to God; I knew not my danger,and felt not by load; Though friends spoke in rapture of Christ on the tree, ''Jehovah Tsidkenu'' was nothing to me''.That's were I was for many years,but then something profound happened, in the words of that same hymn,'When free grace awoke me,by light from on high,Then legal fears shook me,I trembled to die; No refuge,no safety, in self could I see; ''Jehovah Tisdkenu'' my Saviour must be'.From that moment on I was no longer a stranger 'Now in Christ Jesus I who once was far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ'. (Ephesians 2 v 10.) A man called James Houstan was speaking and was stressing the privilege's we have been granted to the divine life of God',he wrote the following words,

                                                       'So near,so very near to God,

                                                        I cannot nearer be ,for in the

                                                        person of His Son,I am as near

                                                        as He.'

When we see Jesus. ( 2 Timothy 4 v 6 - 8 )

 I  have just finished speaking to a lady on the phone whose husband had died recently, she mentioned that now he was in heaven,and that comforter her,and she wondered  how people with no faith managed.The word of God says for those who believe in Christ,death is not the end, it is the end of suffering,and the painful things in this world ,and it the beginning of an existence that will be perfect in everyway. It will be a place  where no one will lonely or feel left out. We will never have any bad memories ,we will never be frightened  again,no one will ever hurt us,by their words,or by any other means,there will be no bad news, no one will be considered a failure.There will be no cast system, no racialism, no nationalism,no one will look down on anybody,as inferior, the elephant man will be a perfect man. There will be no losers, no homeless, no beggars for everyone will have all they need.there will be no negatives,everything will be positive.  In Romans 8 v18, the apostle Paul wrote,'I  consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.( Romans 8 v 18).So let us not give up hope in our trials,pain and difficulties ,let us keep holding on,and pressing on,for the glory that lies before us,it truly will be worth it all, when we see Jesus.

All our yesterdays ( 1Timothy 1 v1 )

 Let me take you down a trip of memory lane,I am 79 so there have been a lot of changes during my lifetime,so here goes,I remember  air raid shelters in our street, trams,no supermarkets,the corner shop was your only option ,food stamps,that included sweets,pawn shops were popular,horses were still being used a lot,the teacher was allowed to use a cane to punish erring children, libraries were very popular,the main source of entertainment was the wireless,now called the radio,the cinema,and for older people going to dances,real dancing like the waltz,very few went to higher education,especially to university,very few people owned cars, or had holidays,and very few people had phones. So one could go on,down memory lane.It is amazing the changes that have taken place and are still taken place,so quickly,it is hard to keep up with them. Here is something that will never change, man kinds fallen nature,and all that means,the fact is we are born sinners,and from a very early age we manifest that,and the consequences of that is terrible,but let us not despair, there is hope,for Christ Jesus the Lord of glory came into the world to save sinners,to forgive us,change us,to give us eternal life,to save us from hell,and make us citizens of heaven,yes there is hope.

When to obey, and when not to obey' ( 1 Samuel 15 v 22)

 Edmund Burke an 18th century  British statesman parliamentary said the following, ' What is morally wrong can never be politically right'. We think of Daniel and his three friends who disobeyed the powers that be,because they were imposing upon them that which was wrong.Go back further to Egypt  when the Pharaoh commanded the Israelites to destroy their children by throwing male babies into  the Nile, Moses parents did not obey. I wonder can we not see that killing unborn babies in the womb as morally wrong,yet it has been passed politically ,in most countries it is acceptable. We are told in Romans 13 that we are  to be subject to the governing authorities as they have been placed there by God.But we need to qualify what that means, we should pay our taxes, don't drink and drive,don't take drugs,etc.but there are limits in obedience to anyone,those in authority,those we marry,those who employ us.No human authority wherever it is found can be absolute, there must be limits to that authority. The 20th century is full of many examples of governments abusing and going beyond what was morally right, unfortunately many obeyed them, and did unspeakable evils. Our Lord said in  Matthew 22 v 21, 'Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's'.To sum it up, when we are commanded to accept and obey that which is morally wrong,wherever it comes from,we have to obey God rather than man. ( Acts 5 v 29 )

Fatal distractions. ( John 21 v 20 -21 )

 Senator John Kennedy  speaking to President Biden,about one of the problems people were facing, inflation,he made a point by giving an illustration as regards himself. He said that when he was young he played baseball,not very well,he could not cope with the curve of the ball, The coach advised him to ,'keep his eye on the ball',  in other words focus on the ball. It goes without saying there are so many distractions in life,and as Christians we should take that advice very serious. Take marriage, being faithful in marriage, I remember listening to dear Chuck Swindle who said  that when he was away from home,and would go and have a meal in a hotel , he would put a photo of his wife on the table in front of him. It  helped him to keep his eye on the ball, to stay focused on his marriage, so that he would not be sucked into a wrong relationship. So many things can distract us in our Christian journey,we take our eyes of the Lord,and that can lead to serious consequences The artist may say my life is painting, an entertainer may say my life is being an entertainer, and we can add many other things.There is nothing wrong with those things and if you are good at them ,you have to give of your best to them. This is what the apostle Paul said,' For to me to live is Christ',(Philippians 1 v21)we should never be distracted from that.Those other things are legitimate, but we must never allow them to takes our eyes of Christ no matter what they are.

But there are restrictions ( 1 John 5 v 14) 2

 We continue on looking at prayer,I started of  telling you that someone prayed for my healing,'receive your healing 'she said.as yet it has not happened ,one may ask the question why?,There are a number of reasons why prayer is not answered,and one of the reasons is this,'If we ask anything according to His will,He hears us', (1John 5 v14),in John 14v14  we read ,'You may ask anything in my name,and I will do it',yes He will ,if it be His will.John Stott tells us that 5 v14 'underlines and explains the restrictions the Lord Himself placed on asking. It must be according to His will'.  The lady who prayed for my healing did not bring that it into it.Again John Stott comments,''Prayer is not an attempt to get God to see things my way and to extract from Him what I  have decided or want. Prayer is submitting my will to His'.We hear  false prophets shout ,' in the name of Jesus be healed',and those they pray for are not.It is very sad because they are exploiting the vulnerable not caring to give them an answer,they are no better that scam callers,they take the money and run. They are even more brazen for they do it openly.There are other reasons why God will not answers our prayers , if their sin in our lives. ( Psalm 66 v 18)Also God may also say ,not now,Abraham was given a promise of a child but it did not come immediately,likewise Daniel's prayers were not answered immediately (Daniel 10 v 12 -13 )