Witnesses. [Acts 1 v8]

I was in McDonalds and before me in the queue where two young men,one looked at the little cross I wear and asked me was I a Christian?,he asked me how long I had been a Christian I told him.The young lad I was talking to told me he had been a Christian for about a year,he said his friend wasn't,his friend said he was trying to become a Christian.I  told him it was not trying it was trusting,and that Christ saves not us. A chance encounter no,I had prayed that God would grant me an opportunity to witness to someone and He did.It was brief witness,but God can use those simple words, to bring that young man to Christ.It should be every Christians desire to see people come to Christ,on looking back on my life, I see that I have been a sower,yes I have seem people come to Christ, not a lot,but the main thing I have never lost the desire to witness. Let us remember some of the last words that our Saviour spoke, /ye shall receive power,after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you,/rely on the Holy Spirit,/and then our Saviour said,ye shall be witnesses unto Me[Acts 1 v8 ]
A  prayer..../Dear Lord help us to be  faithful witnesses,by our lives and our words Amen/

Preaching [ 2 Timothy 4 v2 ]

I  ministered the word of God on Sunday,and I have come away with a feeling of uneasiness,and I wonder why?,maybe  I preached to long, whatever ,and yet I faithfully proclaimed the word God give. Preaching is very challenging,and  ,it is not easy,and yet it is very rewarding. First of all I preach because I believe God has called me to that task,and  all I am called to do is be faithful. When I stand up to preach I am not performing, I am ministering, in order to do that ,I sought to prepare myself ,by going to Bible college,by reading and studying the word of God.Being a minister of the word of God means a life time of study,one does not just get up and speak,no, we have to give ourselves to study,we must pray our way through our study and our preaching,no matter how gifted one may be,there must be real dependence on God. Our confidence must be in God, and His word,that word I preach will accomplish what God desires it to accomplish, I must by faith leave its effectiveness to God the Holy Spirit,it is God we are told grants the increase [1 Corinthians 3 v6-7 ] .As a preacher I believe Satan will seek to discourage ,in many ways,I had one lady in a church ,where I was leader who caused me so much pain,Satan I believe was using her,to seek to overthrow my ministry.My task is to be faithful,I am called to preach the word,in season out of  season,reprove,rebuke,exhort with all long suffering[2 Timothy 4 v2]
A  prayer..../Dear God help our pastors and all those called to minister the word of God,to be faithful,in Jesus name Amen /

He will not fail you.[ Nahum 1 v7 ]

I was travelling to see a dear Christian couple in my car ,when I got a puncture,I was able to pull over,I was not able to phone the emergency services.What to do?well where I had stopped was  a garden centre,so I got it of the busy road I was on to the garden centres car park.It is long time since I changed a wheel,but I started to do it,and as I did a couple came along and the man offered to help,which he did.It made me think of the  many people God has sent to help me through out my Christian life,so many,from people giving me gifts,3 cars,financial gifts,food parcels,practical help. my wife and children who help me so much,the list it appears to me is endless.I am so grateful to God for all these people He sent. All these things were not chance happenings,they were part of  Gods providential care, to God be the Glory.Be encouraged dear child of God ,God will take care of you, His care for you ,will never cease, He will move the most unlikely people to help you,he will use whatever means He chooses,but He will not fail you.
A prayer...../Dear loving Heavenly Father ,thank You for Your unceasing care for Your children, we praise You in the name of Jesus  Amen /

Gods providence in our lives.[Romans 8 v28 ]

As I said in my last blog,things have been stressful,but as I look back over the last two weeks,I see that we have past through a storm,and I see how God has undertaken,each problem was overcome,we where praying our way through. The Lord was working things out ,we had our unseen pilot on board,we did not flounder on the rocks,one of my reading touched on this,God guiding through dangerous waters,and it caused me to look back over my Christian pilgrimage ,and I am amazed and humbled at Gods unerring leading. Think much on the providence of God,of Gods over ruling,,it is truly amazing,that behind that frowning providence He hides a smiling face. Why do we have problems? well in His providence God sends them that we will keep dependent on Him, and that is the safest place to be,dependent on God.We have come through our time trial,but there will be others,you can depend on it, but the most important thing is, we can depend on our loving heavenly Father to bring us through.
A  prayer...../Dear God we thank You for Your providential care, we thank You tah we are under Your care in Jesus Name Amen /

Stress. [ Psalm 23 ]

I wish I could say that I was always calm,but it is not so,these last two weeks have been very stressful and it all started with us changing our car,and trying to sort  out the insurance,we spent ages on the phone,plus we thought that the car we had bought had a problem.We also had a new couch arrive ,we had arranged for the old one to be taken away by a local hospice, all appeared well until the person came to collect the old couch,and told us he couldn't take it, so there we were with two couches sitting in our living room,we thankfully have sorted it out it was all a bit stressful with one trying to stay calm. So maybe you are feeling stressed out like me,so let us pray this prayer.
                                   Dear God ..../Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
                                                         till all our strivings cease,
                                                          Take from our souls the strain and stress,
                                                         and let our ordered lives confess,
                                                           the beauty of Thy peace/ [ John Greenleaf Whittier ]
                                                          
                                                        
                                              

Old age. [ Psalm 71 ]

A friend of mine was telling me about his church situation,they are so low in numbers,and more and more is being put on him,he is not young ,his health is not great,he feels he may have to leave, and go somewhere else.Things do become more difficult as we grow older,we are not as able as we once were,physically,or even mentally, we have to pace ourselves.I am not a young man anymore ,but I can still manage to do most things,but there will be a time that I will not be up to certain tasks.Yet I do not believe that old age is the finish of our usefulness,we have a lifetime of experience, we should have more of most things,like Bible knowledge,of godliness,wisdom,patience,and skills,God can use all these things in His wisdom and will. He understands that we are older and all that this means,more than we do ourselves,He is not in the business of pushing us over the edge,others might.Moses went on working until he was a 120 yrs,how did he do it? well God preserved him [Deuteronomy 34 v7],and then God took Him home.Most of us will not be blessed in that way,but we will be blessed, and cared for by our loving heavenly father, and one day He will take us home,remember the best is yet to be.
A  prayer..../ Dear God we thank for Your faithfulness,and the fact that it will never change,even when I grow old,receive our thanks in Jesus precious name Amen /

Becoming a child. [Matthew 18v 1-4 ]

I had a Winnie the pooh moment in that I watched on TV a movie where he and his friends try to catch an Heffalump,there was a moment in the movie that I found myself getting emotional and even ,yes, and even found myself shedding a tear.I am in some ways am a 69 year old child..It made me think of what Jesus said,Except ye be converted, and become as little children,ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven [Matthew 18v3].I wonder what you think of those words?now it does not mean that we should act in a childish way,but that we should have a simplicity about us that will respond  to what Christ said.W Barclay points to ,two qualities in a child,dependence,and trust,think upon dependence,adults value their independence,especially from God,one of most popular songs of modern times is,I did it my way.When it comes to God and us we are to do it His way,and His way is Jesus [John 14v6]. Next trust ,one of the most meaningful yet challenging verses in the Bible is Proverbs 3 v5,trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not upon your own understanding. A child trusts their parents,to provide for them, to protect them, to love them. So it is if we are going to enter the kingdom of God there must be trust,in Christ for salvation,and for a life of kingdom living. The biggest obstacle is pride, Christ humbled Himself,so must we,irrespective of the consequences.
A  prayer..../ Dear God grant unto us that childlike trust that is acceptable to You in Jesus name. Amen/