Kingdoms values. [Matthew 6 v 33-34 ]

 Many people suffer from allergies,often there are warnings on certain food
products,that the food one is buying ,may contain nuts.My sister in law is allergic to certain green vegetables,some of these allergies can have serious consequences.I was surprised to hear of a person who was allergic to gold,
if only more of us were allergic  to gold,one of the James Bond movies was called gold finger,one of the main characters in the movie,was addicted to gold.
    People have murdered for gold,there is a famous fairy tale about a king
who  desired gold,one day he was granted a wish,every thing he touched would turn to gold. It was for him a dream come true,until he touched his beloved daughter,and the dream became an nightmare.
    Recently the price of gold has rocketed,with the result brokers were wanting to buy peoples gold.On a recent holiday I met a lady who wanted to
place a time capsule ,in a certain place,so she put gold items within it,things
that were of great value.This lady made light of this,stating that there where more important things even than gold.
  This ladies attitude challenged me,as to whats most important in my life,
gold ,money,sport,I belong to a kingdom ,the kingdom of God. As a citizen
of that kingdom, then I am called to have kingdom values,which are so
different from the kingdom of man.
   Jesus said to a disciple,lovest thou Me more than these?,[John 21 v15 ],what is my answer to that question?, what is your answer?.
                                          A prayer.
Dear God help us to live and keep Your kingdoms values always first in our
lives in Jesus name Amen

Hold fast to the vision. [ Acts 16 v 9]

While on holiday recently in the county of Norfolk,which is known as Nelson's county,we stayed in a chalet on the grounds of what had been ,a priory. A place where those of a religious order lived,it is set in a 35  acre site,when king Henry reigned,he cause a lot of these places to close.
   The site is now owned by a couple,and they have for a number of years,
spent time,effort,and money in restoration.There is a large structure called the gate house which is nearing completion,it was interesting to see pictures of what it looked like before the restoration began,how it was so dilapidated, but now what a difference.
  This had all come about at a cost,financially,and as the couple both confessed,many sleepless nights.Before we left I wrote in the guests comments book,praising them for what they had accomplished,and encouraging them to hold fast  to the vision they had.
     Hold fast to the vision,what vision has God placed in your hearts?,as a young man God placed a vision in my heart to serve Him.In fulfilling that vision there was a cost,but it seems to me there would have been a greater cost if I had not .I would have missed out in so many ways,and I have discovered, that one never looses out when they obey the vision that God has placed in their hearts.
                                     A prayer
Dear God help us not to be disobedient to that vision that You have placed in our hearts, in Jesus name Amen .

The church is not the building. [ Romans 15v 2-3]

  Last night I was attending our house group,this involves discussion ,based on his Sunday message.I felt that last night things were becoming difficult
and I was aware that I may say the wrong things, inwardly I was praying for God to help me in what I should say,so that I would not stir things up.
     As a Christian of many years I have witnessed and experienced difficulties within church situations,and the one thing I don't want,and I say this with all my heart,I do not want to cause trouble in any church.I do not want to be striving with people ,but striving for the spirit of unity, We must take serious what our Saviour said,that we might be one.
    The New Testament church was not a perfect church,the apostles had to deal with those who were causing trouble[ CP 2 Corinthians 12 v20/ 2 John v9-10./Philippians 4 v2].Things have not changed people have not changed.
     I remember seeing a Charlie Brown cartoon and in it ,the character,was taking credit for the building of the church building,simply because he had paid for a couple of bricks. May be we are like that person we see the church as a building,instead of a body of Gods children, and when we cause division,we are effecting Gods people ,and the importance of unity.
                                        A prayer.
Dear Lord help us to strive for unity within Your church ,Amen.
.

A cult. [John 14 v6]

 Following Jesus ever day by day,so goes the old hymn,and that's the challenge,there can be no days when this is not so.What does that mean for
us today?,being faithful,how vital that is in our Christian life,faithful to truth
,yes truth,we may change with the years,but truth does not. There is a world famous evangelist,who I respect,but am concerned that he may in his old age, is loosing sight of being faithful to truth.His son took exception to Mormonism being classed as cult.He said that using such terms is name calling,of course name calling is wrong,but the fact of the matter is they are a cult. Their religion is based on a falsehood the book of Mormon,the Christ they believe is not the Christ of the Bible,likewise many other things which they believe.
   Now in writing about this ,I am not nit picking,I am concerned that if we
are not clear on this,then the issue becomes unclear,people are drawn into
something that will not take them into heaven but to hell,it is as serious as that.
    I do not hate Mormon's,Moslem's,JW's, etc,but I do hate the error which they teach,my heart,and prayers go out to all mankind,that they may come to know Him who alone is the way the truth and the life,even Jesus.
                                       A  prayer
Dear God of truth as revealed in Your word,have mercy upon those ensnared in false religions,and deliver them,and bring them into Thy
kingdom, in Jesus name Amen.

Eugenics. [ Acts 17 v 24- 31]

In the 1930s America was infatuated with the pseudoscience of eugenics ,the science of improving a population by controlled breeding
in such a way as to increase the occurrence of desirable mental and physical characteristics. Now many in Britain were taken up with this also,but we will stick to USA,it is Laura Hillenbrand who writes the following ,/with its
promise of strengthening the human race,by culling the unfit,from the genetic pool. Along with the feeble minded,insane,and criminal,those so classified included  women who had sex outside of wedlock[ considered mental illness],orphans,the disabled,the homeless,epileptics,blind,
masturbators.Some eugenicists advocated euthanasia,and in mental hospitals,this was carried out on scores of people, forced sterilisation
 was carried on about 20,000 people.
     We sit in judgement on the Nazis who considered Jew's sub-human,
likewise the Japanese who considered the Chinese sub-human,but it
appears that many other nations considered much of humanity as sub-human.
      All this is far removed from Gods teaching,which teaches that,everyone is made in the image of God,and are precious in his sight,and it is in, we read ,that God loves the world[ Jn3v16].That means all the world, feeble minded,disabled,etc,all are precious in His sight.Jesus died for
the whosoever,that means you and me,whatever our condition.
                                         A prayer.
Dear God we praise for your non discriminatory love ,that reaches out to all,with the wonderful promise of forgiveness through accepting Jesus as Saviour,Amen.

Agape [1 Corinthians 13 ]

 We have a cushion with words from 1 Corinthians 13 printed on it,as I was having a time of waiting upon God,my eyes focused on the following,/Love beareth all things, other translations read,love bears up under anything and everything,or it bears everything with triumphant fortitude. George Matheson,who lost his sight,and who was disappointed in love,wrote in one of his prayers that he might accept Gods will./Not with dumb resignation but with holy joy,not only with the absence of murmur, but with a song of praise./a writer adds to this by saying,because a fathers hand will never cause his child a needless tear.
      The Christian life brings with it a unique challenge,in a marriage  that is difficult,with child that is rebellious,and so the list goes on,and in all the
challenges,we are called on to love. That special love which we Christians call agape,a love we undeserving people have received from a loving God.
This love is manifested when we look on Christ,nailed to cross,we must make much of that love,but we are challenged,likewise to manifest such love.
     So today Jesus is calling us to bear all things ,in love,even if it means a cross.
                                   A  prayer.
Dear Lord we confess that to bear any difficulty is hard and yet You are challenging us to bear all things in love,help us by your grace to face this challenge Amen.

Shaddai. [ Isaiah 54v 7-8]

   The Almighty hath dealt very  bitterly with me,declares Naomi,but the question is this, was she bitter?. It is a good question,it is D Atkinson who
points out that the word used for Almighty is Shaddai,and that in Genesis17 v1, God reveals Himself  as  God Almighty.He reveals Himself as the God
 who can transform man's helplessness into blessing,for mans good and His glory/.
    Again what  D A. writes,/ It is as if Naomi is saying,/ You can see the bitterness I have experienced,the famine,the bereavements,the questions,the partings,the apparent hopelessness,but I know God as Shaddai,and I can leave the explanation, and even the responsibility,for this bitterness.
    We  only can rise to this by faith,or we can let the bitterness blind us,
control us,if we do this every day will be called lemon day.So whats it to be?,only you can answer this question,if we choose to let the bitter things
make us bitter,we will never move on from it,we will be stuck in that groove for the rest of our lives,it will in fact be a life sentence.
      Let us turn our thoughts towards Shaddai,the one who can transform
our helplessness into blessing,for our good and His glory. He understands how we feel ,not only understands but desires to bless us, There is a hymn
 written by the blind preacher George Matheson,it reads, Oh love that wilt not let me go,yes He loves us even in our bitterness, Matheson goes on to write,/O  joy that seekest me through pain. I cannot close my heart to Thee.
I trace the rainbow through the rain.And feel the promise is not vain. That morn shall tearless be./
                                            A prayer.
Dear God our Shaddai,we come to you,and ask for Grace ,to not become bitter,when experiencing bitter things,in Jesus name Amen.