Who can meet our deepest need?. [ Romans 5 v 6 - 8 ]

My wife and I were visiting her sister,and daughter,during the evening the daughter started asking questions about the Pope.I was doing my best to answer her ,but I found it hard as the young girl is not the easiest to communicate with,so in the end I said,it is not important about the Pope,or whatever,whats important is knowing Jesus personally as ones saviour. It is the nature of humanity to want to know,but sad to say ,not the knowledge of knowing the Christ of the Bible,with the result they go deeper and deeper,
into the quagmire of unbelief,and darkness.As a great Theologian said when he was asked to tell of some deep spiritual insight,he simply replied,Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so. As a child I trusted Jesus as
my Saviour,I did not know any deep spiritual truths,but I found in Jesus,even as a child the one who saved me and met my deepest need.I
wandered away from Him,and as a young man I attended a church service,I do not remember what was preached,but again I came in all my need,to the only one who can meet that need, Jesus.
                                     A  prayer.
Dear God we praise and thank you for Jesus who alone can meet the deepset need of the human heart ,Amen.

The mind. [ 2 Timothy 1 v7 ]

Recently I read of a lady who wanted to be blind,and in the end she succeeded,strange but true,why would anyone want to be blind?.A psychologist once told me it is was impossible to change a person who is
obsessive .When an obsession takes hold of a person,no amount of reasoning can change their mind set,I knew a man who was convinced he was Jesus, yet he spent hours reading his bible.Anorexia is a very serious condition,a condition in which a person refuses to eat,because of a fear of becoming fat, thankfully some people do break free from that condition. Today let us lift our thoughts and our prayers,for those who are mentally ill,
of course there are different degrees of mental illness. Let us remember it is not a sin to be mentally ill,no more than a physical illness.Although in some cases sickness be it mental or physical can be the result of our sinful behaviour.Young people need to be more aware of the dangers in taking drugs,it can most differently be a cause of mental illness,it is so sad mental illness,and especially sad when one see's a young person who because of drug taking,has become mentally ill,they are stuck with it for the rest of their lives.
                                       A  prayer.
Dear God have mercy on those who are suffering from mental illness,and for those who are caring for them,we ask that in your mercy,you would heal
for your word assures us that there is nothing impossible with You,in Jesus
name we ask this Amen.

Amazing [ 1 John 1 v 7 ]

My son was leading an Alpha course,which is a means of introducing people to the Christian,told of a young lady who was moved to tears, when
she was told that all of her sins would be forgiven,by trusting in Jesus. People often sing amazing grace,that saves a wretch like me, and yet not fully grasp how truly amazing it really is.Yet guilt lies heavy upon many peoples hearts,it may surprise us ,for we can only see the outward,the laughing apparently lovely person.Yet behind the front,lies a  heart full of guilt,caused by abusive practises,lying,,cheating,yes and many other things. The good news is there is a person who can forgive every sin,no matter how many,and no matter how gross,and that person is Jesus. This is truly amazing,but it is true,the death of Christ,on a cross was Gods answer to mankind's greatest dilemma, sin.The good news is this it works,when we by simple faith trust in Jesus,God whose holiness is offended by our sin,in mercy forgives us every sin we have or will commit.I leave a wonderful
verse from Isaiah 1 v18, with you,/ Come now, let us reason together says
the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow,though they are red like crimson,they shall be like wool/.
                                         A  prayer.
Dear God for your amazing love,in sending Jesus your son,to die on the cross for sin,we thank you.It is truly amazing that when we trust Him all our
sins can be forgiven .Amen .

Constant vigilance. [ Philippians 4 v 11-13 ]

Two things I ask of you,O Lord, do not refuse me before I die; Keep falsehood and lies far from me before I die.Keep falsehood and lies from me
give me neither poverty nor riches,but give me only daily bread.Otherwise,
 I may have two much and disown you,  and say,'Who is the Lord?'. Or I may become poor and steal and so dishonour the name of my God.Here is a man who sees the danger of certain things effecting his relationship with his
God,riches how many people want riches,and the supposed happiness,and security they think they will bring. But this man was concerned that he would loose out in his relationship with his God,let us remember our greatest happiness, and security are to be found in our relationship with our
God. He also sees the danger in poverty as we have mentioned before,and so he prays this wonderful,challenging, and meaningful prayer.Consider his request ,yes it is right to make requests unto God, before I die ,yes consider
until the day we die there are dangers to our spiritual well being,one only has to look at the aged Solomon, [1 Kings 11v1-12].
                                           A  prayer.
  Dear God help us be on our guard as regards anything that could harm us spiritually,to hold lightly to your blessings,to trust you when things are
difficult,please keep us by your grace in Jesus name Amen .

Dishonour God. [ 2 Samuel 12 v14]

Two things I ask of you O Lord;do not refuse me before I die.Keep falsehood and lies far from me,give me neither poverty or riches,but give me only my daily bread.Otherwise I may have two much and disown you,and say,'Who is the Lord?'.Or I may become poor and steal,and so
dishonour the name of my God. Yesterday we considered his first request
that he may be truthful,the words before I die,have a sense of urgency about
this is not a half hearted prayer.This is not Solomon who is praying,if only it had been,no this is a man called Agur.He is very conscience of his weakness,none  of us want to  experience poverty, in that situation who knows what any of us would do.maybe we would steal.Given  our fallen nature,we may do all sorts of things,women sell their bodies, Man know thyself,better know what the Bible tells us about ourselves,the potential for evil is always there in one shape or another,let none of us think we would not fall give a given situation.The concern he expresses goes further than
doing something wrong,he considers the possibility of acting in a way that would dishonour God,this is a noble concern,the one above else that should
fill our hearts and thoughts in all that we do.
                                                A  prayer,
Dear God like Agur we ask that you lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from all evil, in Jesus name Amen .

Speaking the truth [ Ephesians 4 v25 ]

In the book of Proverbs 30 v7-9, we read,/ O God I beg two favours from you; let me have them before I die. First , help me never to lie. Second ,give me neither poverty nor riches,give me just enough to satisfy my needs.For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say,who is the Lord,and if I am poor, I may steal and thus insult God's holy name./ Consider his first request ,that he may be truthful,he see's that as very important,how important it is to you and me?.In Proverbs 12 v22,we read,/The Lord detests lying lips,but He delights in men who are truthful/.People tell lies for a number of reasons,
when a person is wanting to hide a wrong that they are doing,to take
advantage of someone,or to deceive.Hitler was a liar on a massive scale
a life of nation or a person,that is built on lives,will have consequences.The
word of God tells us , /be sure your sin will find you out[Numbers 32v23]
While some lie's have more serious consequences than others,that does not
give us an excuse to tell what we think are white lies,God is not colour blind
a lie is a lie for all that.
                                           A  prayer.
Dead God ,help us not to live a lie,or tell a lie, in Jesus name Amen .

Available. [ Exodus 4 v 10- 11 ]

Jean serves God in Austria,I met Jean many years ago when she and my wife were at Bible college.Her ministry is among the deaf, and God has
blessed her ministry,deaf people have been saved,and are very bright in their witness. Many years ago I read of a deaf and dumb person in South Africa who was a Christian and yet was used by God to win many to Christ.
What limits people have,  does not stop them from coming to Christ,and
it does not stop them from serving Christ and being used by Christ.The
apostle Paul had a weakness we do not know what it was ,but it not stop him from serving God, people are turned down from serving in the armed forces because of  whatever,but not so with God. Every Christian can serve
God,in spite of their weaknesses,let us not make our weaknesses a reason
for not serving God. Consider we are not Christians because, we are perfect,but because of Gods mercy,love,and grace.So it is in spite of our weaknesses ,there is a work for Jesus  that we can do,let Him choose that work,whatever it is, all He asks is,are we available,are we willing to be willing?.
                        O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness,
                         bow down before Him,His glory proclaim;
                         with gold of obedience, and incense of lowliness,
                         kneel and adore Him,the Lord is His name.
                       
                          Fear not to enter His courts in the slenderness,
                          of thy poor wealth thou wouldst reckon as thine;
                          truth in its beauty and love in its tenderness;
                           these are the offerings to lay at His shrine.
                               [Words by J S B Marshall]