The call of God [Hebrews 11 v8-10]

The call of God , what does that mean?, we have the call of the wild, or the call of the sea, but what does the call of God mean?.I have stood up in a meeting and responded to what I felt was the call of God, that ,hear am I , wholly available, and from that point on I sought to fulfill this. My blog is called Bill the preacher, because from early on in my Christian life, I felt called to preach, this did not come in a meeting, but rather it was something impressed upon me, gradually. This calling has never left me, and so I continually seek to fulfill this calling upon my life, in some ways this has saved me from disappointment, because doors have shut in my face, the places I have sought to go to never materialized, but the call remainded, so I have sought to remain faithful to it. I do believe God led me to England, to Grays, I often wonder, why Grays?,I dont know, I just obeyed. I dont know where God will lead me next, but wherever that may be , I will remain faithful to my calling ,that of preaching the word of God.[ Dear God give us grace to follow where You may lead us in the fulfilling of Your calling on our lives, in Jesus name Amen]

Mirror gazing [Philippians 3v12-14]

In one of the Harry Potter movies, Harry discovers a mirror, as he looks into it, he sees his dead parents, they are standing smiling at him. He becomes engrossed with this mirror until the professor comes and tells him,that the mirror shows the desperate, and deepest desires of the heart. He then goes on to say,that men have wasted away in front of it,and even been driven mad by it, so the professor was going to have it removed.This all reminds me, how many of us have our mirrors , oh yes I have mine, and just like Harry and others, I gaze into it occasionally,many gaze continually into the mirror of past failures, past losses,past hurts, and it all has an negative affect upon their lives, crippling them emotionally, preventing them moving on, even driving them mad.It is the apostle Paul who wrote,/I focus on this one thing, forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,[Philippians 3v13], with Gods help we all need to put our mirrors away,and keep our minds on going forward, too many of us have wasted to many years mirror gazing, [ Dear Lord Jesus it is easy to make excuses for our mirror gazing, help us to stop wasting our lives looking at our past failures, hurts, and help us to put our mirrors away and move forward in victory, Amen ]

Is God sovereign?[ Revelation 19v 6 ]

Is God sovereign? many of us believe He is, or so we say, does our actions and thinking correspond, with our belief?, so often there is a gap between the two. When God tells me to leave something to Him, am I prepared to do that, or will I meddle, if God shuts a door am I willing to accept it, or do I become resentful. If God causes me to wait, do I?,if God takes a loved one, do I spend the rest of my life,in bitterness,and depression. Is God sovereign? do we really believe this, in our given situations?, do you resent me raising this matter?, whatever you or I feel , the fact of the matter is, God is sovereign. If God was not sovereign He would not be God, we all need to read again and again the life of Joseph, or the book of Esther, to see the sovereignty of God in action, and as Christians to hold fast to Romans 8 v 28, which tells us that God causes all things to work together for our good. [ Sovereign God help us to trust You in all situations, to not make rash judgements, about Your ways, help us to trully believe in Your sovereignty, in every situation, in Jesus name . Amen ]

The communion of saints.[ Hebrews 10v 25 ]

The communion of saints is a phrase from the apostles creed, to me it signifies that bond between Christians, while we are all individuals , and we all need to experience personal salvation, Christ died for the church.As part of that body we are to love one another, pray for one another, help one another, to not isolate ourselves from the body, not to become disconnected.The apostle Paul was a strong individual, but he never shut himself off from others believers, he prayed for them, fellowshiped with them ,wrote to them, loved them. Often he faced difficulties from Christians, but he kept on associating with them,and expressing his love for them. The words of the hymn says ,/blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love/, today let us pray for our fellow Christians, let us not cut ourselves of from them, if we do we will be the losers. [Dear Lord Jesus help us to love our fellow Christians, with Your love, help us to stay connected to our Christian family .Amen ]

Pressure [2 Corinthians 4v 8-10]

Many of us live under pressure, money pressures, marital pressures,employment pressures, emotional pressures, and so the list goes on. I am a great admirer of the apostle Paul, he knew what pressure was,we read the following in 1Corinthians 1V1-9-11/ We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it.In fact, we expected to die/, now thats pressure.Then he goes on to say,as a result of this,/ we stopped relying on ourselves, and learned to rely only on God,/ and the result of this was deliverance by God. The comfort zone is not a place were we rely on God, in fact it is a place of relying on others and even ourselves,the result is we do not grow in our relationship with God, and growing is so vital as a Christian. Whatever pressure we may be under at this time, it is an opportunity to grow spiritually, may God grant us the grace to grow, in our pressure times. [Dear Lord ,our times are in Your hands, all our times,the hard times, the difficult times, we ask that You would help us to trust You to deliver and sustain us, Amen ]

The Potter[ Matthew 26v 36-44]

In a number of places in the Bible, God is depicted as being a potter[ Isaiah 29v18/45v9-10/Jeremiah18v1-9/ Romans9v20-24],He is the Potter we are the clay, in other words He is Sovereign over our lives, the one who brings us into being, the one who caused us to be born into the family ,nation, that we found ourselves in.The one who shaped us in the womb, and preserved us, brought us into being, and has brought us to were we are now,the one who is shaping our lives, allowing us to experience joys and pain,preparing us for given roles and purposes.The thing to remember in this, is, the loving character of God,He is not a tyrant, nor is He cruel, whatever difficulty we may be facing at this time,He is working it for our good[ Romans 8v28.av ] and His glory.[ Sovereign God we come to You in all our weakness, we acknowledge that we do question Your ways,we struggle so often to accept Your ways and purposes for our lives, have mercy upon us, we pray that You would help us to trust You, and bow to Your Lordship in our lives , in Jesus name . Amen ]

Ice cream [ Matthew 6 v25-34]

At the club I help to run, they had ice cream , as I am diabetic I couldnt have any ,I would have liked some. When I came home my wife came in from the shopping and in the shopping was diabetic ice cream, so I had some, I am grateful to my wife for getting me the ice cream , but I am grateful to God for prompting her, to buy it. All this reminds me how God cares for us , His love is constant,and ever so thoughtful, in fact the word of God tells us that the very hairs of our head are counted,[Matthew 10v30]. I didnt even pray about the ice cream ,and yet God answered my desire. In Matthew 6v25-34 our Saviour, challenges us not to worry, about what we eat,drink or wear, and to not worry about tomorrow,we all are prone to worry,about something, Jesus tells us not to, the God who give me ice cream, will care for us all.Here is what we need to do, seek the kingdom of God above all else,and live righteously, and He will give us everything we need.[ Matthew 6 31-33].[ Dear Father in Heaven we thank You for your love and care, so often You surprise us with Your thoughtfulness, we bless You and praise You in Jesus name . Amen ]