Praise. [ PSALM 150 ]

In Psalm 150 we have the word praise mentioned 13 times,how important is praise in our lives?it should be important.I am very conscious that I do not praise God enough. The Israelites praised God for His deliverance's,but in their difficult times they complained,don't let the difficulties you are experiencing rob God of His rightful praise.Anyone can sing when the sun is shining,but we turn to mourning in the dark and dismal days,very few of us sing Gods praise in the rain. God is worthy of our praise,the world praise so many things,that are not worthy of praise.Surely God alone is worthy of our praise, we may know this,but how hard we find to practise it, often when we meet fellow Christians and they fail to praise God,I include myself in this,the problem takes the place of praise.Of course we don't want just words,there is a popular songs which goes words have all I got,God looks on the heart,and it is heart filled praise He desires,and deserves.Why not all of us take up the challenge of praising God more,and when we do this,we will be glorifying Him.[ Psalm 50 v23]
A  prayer....../ Dear God so many things crowd in upon us,and so we forget to exercise  praise  to You who truly is worthy of praise,we ask that You may give us a heart to praise You,in Jesus name Amen /

The secret is surrender [ 1 Chronicles 29 v 5 ]

In Psalm 147 v 10-11,we read,/He delighteth not in the strength of the horse,He taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man. The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear Him ,in those that hope in his mercy/
These may sound strange words to us,so what are we being told?,well the horse,and the strength of a mans legs speak of man's natural power.When Samuel came to choose a new king,he had to be reminded that God looked on the heart,not the outward appearance [ 1 Samuel 16v7],and the least expected person was chosen,David,a man after Gods own heart.Now of course God will use and choose whom He will,but His choice is so different from ours,He chooses the foolish things of this world,the weak things of the world,the base things of the world,things that are despised[1 Corinthians1 v 27-28].Why ? that no flesh should glory in His presencev29.Christianity came into being through weakness, a man hanging on a cross [2 Corinthians 13 v4].Christianity is not based on human abilities,but rather a reliance on God,and His power,that does not mean we wont have abilities,but we must  make sure that they are surrendered to Him.
A   prayer  of consecration......./All that I am and have,Thy gifts so free,
                                                   in joy,in grief through life O Lord, for Thee.
                                                   And when Thy face I see,my ramsomed soul shall be,
                                                   Through all eternity,something for Thee....Amen.
                                                        [Words by S.O. Phelps]





                                                 

Don't underestimate prayer.[ Exodus 3 v 7-9 ]

In a time of great trouble David prays ,no man cared for my soul[Psalm 142v4],he felt overwhelmed
by his situation,and yet in the midst of  his dire troubles what a wonderful prayer he prays.I visited a dear lady recently,she had just lost her husband of 6o years,can we even begin to understand the depths of her lost.I read regularly of so many of Gods dear children suffering,some being murdered.Someone I know who is very dear to me ,was abused for many years,I cannot even begin to imagine the depths of their suffering. There are so many people suffering in this world,from hunger,homelessness,persecution,wrongful imprisonment,the list goes on, and on. I visit people on a regular bases who suffer from mental illness,I feel so helpless.The question is what can we do well we can pray,is that all we can do?,it may be all we can do,but do not underestimate the power of prayer,David didn't,nor should we. So today whither in your own life,or the lives of others,there are awful things happening pray to God who loves,who hears and will respond.
A  prayer..../Dear God hear our prayer for those who are suffering ,and answer,hear our prayers for ourselves and answer in Jesus name Amen /

Preaching. [ 2 Timothy 3 v1-6]

I felt a call on my life to preach,when doors closed,I held unto the belief that God had called me to preach,this has never left me,but I have never found it easy.To me it has been a great challenge,a continual step of faith,first you pray as to what to preach on,then you study,again prayerfully,then you preach.It is a step by step act of prayer and faith,I believe one needs tools,commentaries,different translations,a concordance,one may not need to be college trained,but one will need to study.I was talking to a young man in training for the ministry,he was complaining about the number of essays he has to prepare,I reminded him what someone once said,being in the ministry is a lifetime of study.That is in keeping with what we are told in scripture,that we are study to show ourselves approved unto God,a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,rightly dividing the word of truth[2 Timothy 2 v15]Study in a sense can be hard work as Solomon points out in Ecclesiastes 12v12,that much study is a weariness of the flesh. I read something that implied if you used notes when preaching one was not relying on God,that is not so,as I have tried to point out,getting a word,and
preaching that word is an exercise of relying upon God,from start to finish.
A  prayer..../ Dear God,we ask for Your blessings upon all those who are called to minister Your word,anoint them by Your Spirit,and equip them for the task in Jesus name Amen/

Who are you looking to?[Psalm121]

There is a group of Psalms with title called,songs of degrees, written by David ,they are 120-134,they would be sung by pilgrims going up to the temple to worship. The best known one is Psalm 121,it commences with the writer lifting his eyes unto the hills,to the mighty God of creation who made the hills,the heavens and the earth.Think of creation ,the awesome power that brought it into being,and it is to the creator he lifts his eyes,and declares my help cometh from the Lord of creation.Who are you looking to for help?  look to God,to bring you the help you need. In v 3 we are told that he not will permit our feet to be removed,we don't need to run to the hills,but to the one who made the hills,stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.In v3-4 we are reminded that God unlike us does not slumber or sleep, continually His eye is upon the righteous and His ears are opened unto their cry,continually.In v5 we see the Lord as our keeper,remember we are kept by the power of God through faith[1 Peter 1 v5] In v6,he writes of the natural creation that they could  hurt us,illness famine sunstroke,God will not permit these to harm us.The last two verses speaks of God preserving our souls,and our going out and coming in,for evermore,not just yesterday,or today,but for evermore.
A  prayer..../ Almighty God we look to You the God of creation and the God of our salvation,in Jesus name Amen /

When You are gone. [ Hebrews 9 v 27]

When someone dies,we often say, they are gone,but the bigger question is this, gone where?in that old classic,the scarlet Pimpernel,we read the following,is he Heaven ?,is he in Hell?,that elusive scarlet Pimpernel.Most people do not give serious consideration as to the after life,nor do they give serious consideration about death,even though everyone of us must die.Maybe they are like smokers who never really think of the possible consequences of smoking,,they take comfort from the story about that their old granny who lived to 100years of age,smoked all her life,40 a day,she never got cancer,if only they could go into a hospice and meet those who are in the last stages of lung cancer,maybe that would make them think,maybe it wouldn't, .I wonder would they  think not only of death,but where they are going to after death. Consider what Solomon wrote, /It is better to go to the house of mourning,than to go to the house of  feasting,for that is the end of all men,and the living will lay it to his heart[Ecclesiastes 7 v2] A feast or a party is not conducive to serious thinking,you go  to such occasion's to eat, drink and be merry, but you think more serious thoughts at  the house of mourning,or one should.  They are gone,and that will be said of all of us,but will it be to Heaven or will it be to Hell?, will it be with Christ or without Him?.Remember when you are gone you are gone, there is no coming back,and there is no second chance,behold now is the accepted time,behold now is the day of  salvation [2 Corinthians 6 v2]
A  prayer...../ Dear God help people to make sure that when they are gone it will be  to heaven,through  Jesus Your Son Amen/

Dwelling on thr dark side. [ Deuteronomy 29v 29]

R.C. Sproul wrote,/We have to learn to think theologically/,in other words think biblical,not to be ruled by sentiment,or our own understanding.I hear people express ideas and questions and they have not considered what the Bible is teaching. Many people in the Bible experienced awful things happening to them,Job,Joseph and Paul,and our dear Saviour.The early Christians were thown to the lions and up to this present day,many dear Christians are experiencing awful suffering.The question many ask why can God not stop it?,well right away we see an error,God can stop it,so why does He not?.It appears that evil must continue in Gods purposes,He is working inspite of evil, redeeming a people to Himself.We only see part of the story,we should not judge things by the half time score.In Deuteronomy 29v 29,we read,/The secret things belong unto the Lord/,in a very real sense we must accept this,that there will always be questions we cant answer,Job never received an answer,God is not duty bound to give us an answer.In all our questioning we must fall back on scripture,and observe the character of God,He is holy,just,merciful,gracious,loving,and most important sovereign.None of us like seeing others suffer,God doesn't,but in His sovereignty,evil must run its course,let us not in ignorance judge God,His way is perfect.
A   prayer ......../ Dear God help us not to dwell on the dark side of our nature,especially within our mind,help us dwell on the light of your word,in Jesus name Amen/