He is Lord ( 1 Samuel 15 v 22 )5

 'Help us,Lord Jesus not to fool ourselves by only calling you our Lord but not doing the Fathers will,and trying to be your followers in our own terms' (Amen)We come to the last  thoughts by me on the prayer by a lady in the church I attend'. For our Saviour the will of God was vital,not to be trivaled with, not to be taken lightly, the reason He came, was to do the will of God His Father.He knew if He did not fulfill it, the consequences would be unthinkable for all humanity.He never compromised ,and He bore it though to the bitter yet glorious end.We must follow in His footsteps,we call Him Lord,what does not mean for you and me?  The word Kurios (Lord) in the NT has the meaning of deity,(John 20 v28),it can also mean owner  in 1Corinthians 6 v 20 , we read'we are not our own ,we have been bought with a price'.that means His will must be our will it is not optional,to go against it, is rebellion and sinful.The will of God in all our lives is not negotiable,He expects us to do it.The last part of the prayer speaks of trying to be a follower of Jesus on our terms. To think like that is absolute folly,we are not to dictate to God,if he says somthing is wrong then we are not to do it,morally or whatever.When we start to dictate the terms then we are usurping king Jesus rule in our lives.

                                                          ' King of my life,I crown Thee now,

                                                           Thine shall the glory be;

                                                            Lest I forget Thy thorn brow,

                                                             Lead me to Calvary'

                                                               'Words J.E,Mussey'

A need to be changed, ( Job 23 v10)4

     The prayer.'Lord we confess that when we look at ourselves,we must recognise that we are so far from the best  version of ourselves,from the person who you want us to become, because we keep taking steps back and withdraw ourselves from you.' Oh for a consistent Christian life, it's one thing being seen in Church singing lustly, looking like butter wouldn't mealt in ones mouths,we all are to some extent Jekyll and Hyde's .Of course that's where sanctification comes ,in that process that God  uses to make us more like Jesus.Joseph, Jacob son suffered so much ,but before he would be raised out of his suffering and be exalted to be next to Pharaoh ,his character needed to be purged from dross by the  prison experience, that experience   would qualify him for the task that lay ahead,and of course make him a more holy person. God has ways of changeing us,they are often  painful . Before the rough diamond becomes a thing of beauty ,the roughness must be removed, God has a purpose, and its this , as I have said ,that we may be conformed to the image of God's Son.

                                                          ' Have Thine own wat Lord,

                                                            Have Thine own way,

                                                             Hold o'er my being

                                                             Absolute sway,

                                                             Filled with Thy Spirit,                                

                                                             Till all can see,

                                                              Christ only always living in me'

                                                                     ' Words A,D,Pollard'

What you do with the riff raff? ( Romans 5 v 6 - 8 )3

 The prayer,'Dear Lord ,we don't why you chose us; probably  because we are the weakest of all and therefore you can show your great power through our weakness'.Yes is a good question,in 1 Corinthians 1v26 ff gives the answer. 'Brothers and sisters,think of what you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards,not many were influential;not many were of noble birth. But God chose  the weak things of the world to shame the strong.God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things- and the things that are not to nullify the things that are'. So that no one may boast before Him'. We  were chosen from the riff raff of this world,what you do with the riff raff of this world?,what did God do ? He saved them by His grace through Chrst His Son.No one can boast ,no one,whatever we are now as Christians,whatever hights we have been raised to,we are what we are by the grace and mercy of God.

                                                    ' The vilest  offender who truly believes,

                                                      That moment from Jesus a pardon 

                                                       receives.'

                                                           ' TO GOD BE THE GLORY'

Being a disciple ( Matthew 10 v 37 - 39 )

'Thank You that you've called us to be your disciples and that we not left on our own' (words from the prayer} What is a disciple? ,one person describes being a disciple in three ways,(1) Reorientation which means changing our focus and direction  ,before we become a Christian we focus on so many things,often wrong thing following every whim and fancys,but now our focus must be on Jesus (2)One who responds to the call of Jesus,whatever that  may cost,and whatever that may mean.In many parts of the world it means being consider a traitor, being hated,that's the price of being a disciple, Words of a song comes to mind,'I have decided to follow Jesus,though none come with me,still I will follow'. ( 3 ) One who listens to Jesus teaching and lives it out daily.All Christiasns are disciples of Jesus,but the important thing is this,we are not left on our own,He will be with us at all times,strengthening us, guiding us, and helping us.

                                                  'Take up your cross and follow Me.

                                                    though it bring shame and agony

                                                    though men forsake and turn  away'

                                                     

                                    

                                                  

That I may know Him. ( Colossians 1 v 9 -10 )1

 ' Dear Lord Jesus ,this morning we come to praise you for this day and for everyday that is given to us an oportunity to get to know you more and to grow in faith, ' These words are the beginning of a prayer I heard from a lady in our church',her prayer blessed me,I will share more of her prayer with you,in the coming days,She thanks our Lord  for this day and everyday,yes everyday is a gift from God, for it is an opportunity to get to know God more.J.I.Packer wrote a helpful  book called ,'Knowing God',that's important,it is not a hard task, God, believe it or not is friendly,we declare that when we sing that old hymn ,'What a friend we have in Jesus ,'I have two lovely grandchildren ,my son and his wife adopted them,they were very young when they were adopted, so they will never really know their birth parents because they will not have a relationship with them. When it comes to God  we need to develop  a relationship with Him,that means getting to  know Him.We get to know Him in so many ways by prayer that's simple,by reading His word,these will help  us to know God , and also help us to grow spiritually. Also as we trust God every new day we get to know that he is faithful,that He is your loving  heavenly Father , unlike some fathers, He will never do us any harm ,only good.So let us each day use it as an opportunity to know our God more and as we get to know Him more we will grow spiritually.

                                                 ' Let me each day ,know Thee as thow art

                                                                Love Thee supremely,

                                                                 Serve Thee wholly,

                                                                  admire Thee fully'

                                                             From the Valley of  Vision.

The cry of God.( Psalm 95 v 7-8 )

 They made a movie about an American called Desmond Doss,he served as a combat medic in the war against Japan.He was a very brave man  for which he recieved the ,'The medal of honour' by President Trumen.During a battle he was in with all the shooting ,and bombs going off, he prayed,'Father I can't hear your cry',and then he heard a wounded soldier cry out.Where is God's cry coming to you from,or from whom is God's cry coming to you from?,are you listening.,are you listening?are you prepared to respond to that cry?.Great movements start by someone responding to the cry of God in the shape of wounded ,dying, lost humanity.George Mullier,Dr  Barnardo, heard the cry of needy children,The founder of 'Stand by Me' a children ministry  working in eight countries,heard the cry of God when his elderly father said to him ,you must do something,and David responded. William Booth heard the cry of God and he responded ,and the Salvation Army came into being.Isaiah the prophet heard the cry of God ringing out,'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?,and immediately he responded ,by saying ,'Here am I . Send me.!'(Isaiah 6 v 8)In a world full of lost sinners,are we listening to the cry of God,Jesus said the labourers are few,spiritual  darkness covers this world ,and the awfulness dreadful consquences that brings.,the cries can be heard, if one is listening,are you listening?are you willing to respond?

Theocentric. ( Isaiah 40 v 21 -28_)

 I learned a new word today,'Theocentric',it means that God is the central aspect of existence,and having Him as the focal point of our attention ,in our thoughts and feelings. Lets face it most of us leave God out of so much,As regards the unbeliever He is not in their thoughts,from when they get up in the morning,till they go to bed at night. For them He does not exist, they are born,they live their lives,they die and that's it.As  a Christian how do you veiw life?,how do you veiw what is happening to you now?is God brought into it?. When you have difficulties and trials ,what do you see?,just the difficulties and trials,full stop,is God in it all?,or not it all?.I am reading the story of Joseph ,hated by his brothers,sold into slavery,put in prison on false charges. Yes he felt the pain of what happened to him,but it is obivous he never lost sight of God,he never let bitterness destroy him ,or hatred for his brothers,or for the woman who lied and caused him to be put in prison,When Samuel told Eli the high priest that God was going to judge him and his sons,he  brought God into it,and declared ,'He is the Lord; let Him do what is good in His eyes.( 1 Samuel 3 v18) How do you see the worlds situation? chaos,frightering,out of control,and you hear yourself saying where is God in it all?, judge not the Lord by feeble sense.,Yes there is so much in this world ,that declares man rules,and that's it. no it is not so.God continues to be the central aspect of exsistence,and He should be the focal point of our attention, our thoughts,and feelings.