Half full,half empty. [Romams 8]

We are told that an optimist is one who looks at a half filled class and sees it as half full,the pessimist looks at the same glass and he sees it as half empty.The fact of the matter is ,life is both a half empty class,and a half full class and we have to drink of both during our earthly pilgrimage,whither we are a pessimist or optimist.Most us can cope with the half full glass,holidays, sunny days,but life has its cold winter days,and holidays enjoyable though they be,will not remove life with its grim realities.There is so much suffering in this world,yes there is much that is good and nice,but the pictures of those who are suffering hunger war etc,remind us that we live in a fallen world.None of us are allowed to escape that reality,we may try,but we cannot succeed.Thankfully there is greater reality,which one cannot see with the naked eye,it can only be seen with the eye of faith.When
that happens then we have hope ,in spite of situations being hopeless,we have a future that is secure in an insecure world.This will all come about when we embrace Christ  as our Saviour,and follow Him.
                                        A prayer.
Dear God we praise that in Christ your Son we can find hope and purpose
Amen .

Soften my heart. [ 1 Corinthians 13]

I had heard on the radio about an earthquake in the lovely country of Italy,I have spent a couple of holidays in Italy.The day after I heard the news item I bought a news paper,and the cover photo showed  the awful devastation,
and I found myself saying I forgot to pray that morning for those affected by the earthquake.I showed the newspaper picture to someone,and got a very limited response,and I wonder are we becoming indifferent,to those tragedies we see daily on the news.I know we hear continually so many
awful things ,every day we hear of suicide bombers,of people dying in drowning accidents,car accidents,of people with cancer,and so we can go on
Be that as it may may ,I do hope that we will guard our hearts,from turning off from the suffering of others,that as we watch the news we whisper a prayer.Let us broaden this out,everyday we rub shoulders with many people
who are unsaved,Let us remember we will all die,but we will not all be going to heaven,let us never forget,peoples spiritual need,that can only be
met by Jesus.
                               Soften my heart Lord,soften my heart.
                               From all indifference,set me apart,
                               to feel your compassion,to weep with your tears,
                               Come soften my heart, O Lord,
                               Soften my heart.
                                     [Words by G  Kendrick]

Only God can. [ Exodus 14 v13-14 ]

I  received a letter about Christians working in Angola.one spoke of situations that are very hard to cope with,womem getting into trouble during
pregnancy,and the Christian doctors have very little resources to deal with that situation.Samuel the missionary doctor writes the following,''The situation has brought me into a deeper relationship with the people in this community,with local believers,with other health workers and missionaries ,and with God himself,as we face situations where no degree of training or ingenuity will work.Only God can''.We can learn so much from those words 'only God can',in all our situations,for there are so many situations this can apply to.I remember a Christian couple who were in a difficult situation,there appeared no way out,and I received a word from God,and it was,''Now you shall see what God will do''.The Lord did intervene and help that couple,so today look up to Him who can
exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or think[Ephesians 3 v20]
                                          A  prayer.
Dear God we thank that when we reach the end of our hidden resources ,we can rest assured that you are not limited,in Jesus name we thank You Amen

How big is your God.? [ Psalm 121 ]

Selwyn Hughes on his  devotional on the book of Amos ,write,''The prophet never lets the people off the 'theological hook' for one moment. He will not
allow them for a second to domesticate God by reducing Him to human dimensions''Now Israel lived among nations who had their own gods.many worshipped local deities.As we read the scriptures we are continually reminded of the greatness of God,in Genesis we are told the He created all
things,one of the most wonderful chapters is Isaiah 40,written to His people
who were feeling weak and insignificant,The Psalmist prays to the Lord who made heaven and earth[Psalm 121v1],and Job is silenced when he is reminded that he is speaking to the one who is almighty[Job 40 v1]We are earth bound creatures,but we have a God who is bigger than planet earth.
Most nights I go into my garden and look up into the heavens,although I can only see a few stars I am reminded afresh of the greatness and glory of God,who is my God and yours.His wisdom is infinite,his knowledge is
total,His power is awesome,His ways are unfathomable.
                                      A  prayer.
Dear God we worship You,we who are finite worship you our infinite God ,and rejoice in your mercy and love in Jesus Amen

Accepting Gods will. [Romans 12v1 - 2 ]

Accepting the will of God, our Saviour prayed,Father,if you are willing take
this cup from me,yet not my will,but yours be done.[Luke 22 42]There are times in which we like Jesus will be faced with experiences we would rather not go through.No matter what it may be ,Jesus was not refusing Gods will
,but He was finding it hard ,and who can blame  Him . Only He knew the full extent of  what  He was going to face , and knew  just how much his death meant .Jesus had to die , if He  didn't die then  we would all suffer eternal death.Can we pray what Jesus prayed? , yes we can , but if we do , will we be willing  to accept Gods answer? , Jesus did , Are we prepared for the answer He gives ,are we prepared to accept God's will ? . He may heal
but  He may not ,He may deliver but  He may not ,Are we unreservedly 
willing to accept Gods will ? , you may be reading this at a  time of crises
well it is only acceptance of Gods will ,that will bring peace . and blessing .
                                          A  prayer .
Dear God help us accept your will , even it is a no,or a yes , a go or a stay
in Jesus name Amen                                                                                                                        

No adding on[ John 14 v6 ]

Yesterday we looked at as Bishop Handley writes,''That there is no separable ''Gospel of the Spirit''.Not for a moment are we to advance, as it were, from the Lord Jesus Christ to a higher or deeper region,ruled by the Holy Ghost''.There are those who teach this,that we have to go beyond Christ to be fully a Christian,not so,I have Christ what want I more?,what need I more?.Stephen Neil writes about those false teachers in the early church would in essence worm their way ,and tell those early Christians, what you have is quite all right,and a good foundation for faith.Now let us finish it off for you,and you really would be  Christians''Beware of any body who wants to add on anything to our faith in Christ ,You may feel that you are lacking as a Christian,you feel if only I had more power,we have all felt this,but the fact of the matter is we all who are Christ's have the power of God within us,the Holy Spirit, who will and does  equip us for Christian living
                                          A prayer.
Dear God grant unto us all discernment, and help us not to be tossed back and forth by the waves,and blown here and there by every wind of teaching,
and by the cunning and graftiness of men in their deceitful scheming,in Jesus name we ask this Amen.
,

A single experience. [ Romans 8 v 15 ]

When I was young Christian a man said to me,''have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?''.Now these words are taken from Acts 19v1ff,
spoken by Paul to,two disciples of John,they new nothing about the Holy Spirit,they were not Christians,but eventually Paul the apostle explained to them about Christ they believed and were baptised,and when he laid his hands on them they did receive  the Holy Spirit.John Stott writes,''The laying on of hands by the apostles ,followed by tongue speaking and
prophesying were special to Ephesus,as to Samaria,demonstrated visibly that they had become become Christians;the NT does not universalise this''
Roman 8 v 9 tells us clearly that,'' if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ,he does not belong to Christ''.in the same verse we have the Spirit of  God,Stott says,''This is not confusing the persons of the Trinity,but to stress that while they are eternally distinct in their personal modes of being,they also share the same divine essence and will.What the Father does
he does through the Son,and what the son does he does through the Spirit.
Indeed,wherever each is,there are the others also''.
Tomorrow we will follow on with this to show that receiving Christ is not a two  tier experience.
                                          A prayer.
Dear God we thank you that when Christ became our Saviour the Holy Spirit came to dwell in our lives, Amen.