Practice self-discipline!

UCB

'A SERVANT WILL NOT BE CORECTED BY MERE WORDS; FOR THOUGH HE UNDERSTANDS, HE WILL NOT RESPOND.' PROVERBS 29:19

Solomon said, 'Better be a patient man than a warrior' (see Proverbs 16:32 NIV). So, how are you doing when it comes to self-control? Here are some nuts-and-bolts things you can start doing to make it more of a reality in your life: a) begin your day by doing the hard things first. If you get sidetracked, make yourself go back and complete them. For example, make your bed, pick up your clothes and wash the dishes; don't make extra work for others: 'Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might' (Ecclesiastes 9:10 NKJ). Don't start several projects at once; do one thing at a time b) discipline yourself to be punctual. Tardiness is a hard habit to break. To conquer it you must be willing to call it what it is - inconsiderate, selfish behaviour c) plan ahead. Everything takes longer than you think, so don't wait until the last minute then rush around like a chicken with its head cut off. Living under the gun can give you ulcers, whereas allowing yourself extra time is good for your health and brings peace d) accept correction from those who care about you without sulking or retaliating. The Bible says, 'Wisdom is found in those who take advice' (Proverbs 13:10 NIV). If you're wise you'll welcome feedback and seek counsel. Gandhi once said, 'There's always a limit to self-indulgence, but none to self-restraint.' So ask God to help you control your unruly thoughts, feelings, desires and behavior. Identify unmanageable areas in your life, ditch the excuses, face the truth even when it hurts, refuse to feel sorry for yourself, and set a few attainable goals. In other words, 'Learn to sense what is vital... and of real value' (Philippians 1:10 AMP).

Practice self-discipline!

UCB

B Gass

'...BE QUICK TO LISTEN, SLOW TO SPEAK...' JAMES 1:19

Want to become a good leader? Become a good listener! Here are two stories of what happens when we don't take time to listen. The first is from a young woman hurt by a manager who constantly cut her off: 'We expected he would wait and give us answers to serious questions about our work. Many times he walked off when we were in mid-sentence, having heard nothing.'

The next is from a church youth director who was fired: 'After serving the Lord there for two years, I was called into an elders' meeting. They took out a list of all the things I'd done wrong in the past two years. Most of what they said was true, for I was brand new in this work. Then they called for my resignation.

What did I learn?
a) not once did anyone care enough to coach or shepherd me
b) I'd no idea or warning that I was doing anything wrong
c) the church leaders never built a relationship with their staff.'

Why is it so hard for leaders to listen? Because leaders love to talk, and as they gain more authority they think they have less reason to listen. Leaders by their very nature tend to be removed from the frontlines of battle. To win, they must constantly listen to those who are in the trenches and rely on that information to make wise decisions.

Before Ezekiel was qualified to prophesy or lead God's people, he wrote: '...I sat among them for seven days - overwhelmed. At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me' (Ezekiel 3:15-16 NIV).

Are you ready?

Bob Gass

'"BEHOLD, I WILL DO A NEW THING; NOW IT SHALL SPRING FORTH..."' ISAIAH 43:19

God says He wants to '"...do a new thing..." ' for you, so disregard the circumstances and believe the God who cannot lie! The rubbish can be cleared and the bruises can be healed.

Just make sure that when the smoke clears you're still standing. You're too important to God to be destroyed by a trial that was just meant to give you character and direction.

Think: you survived - by the grace of God you made it! God not only brought you through the valley, He caused you to grow in it and come out of it stronger.

If you want to know what God can do, look at what He's already done for you and you'll start feeling better about your future. And that's not all; listen: '"Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth..." ' After feeling like you've waited forever, God will move suddenly. If you're not ready you'll miss the next open door, the next great idea or the next relationship He has for you. You've got to be sensitive to His voice, alert to His movements and live in expectation.

After praying and waiting in the Upper Room for ten long days we read, 'Suddenly there came a sound from heaven...' (Acts 2:2 KJV), and the church was born; a church that would change the world. When God miraculously brought Paul and Silas out of prison we read, 'Suddenly there was a great earthquake...and immediately all the doors were opened...' (Acts 16:26 KJV). God may be getting ready to open some doors for you - make sure you're ready when He does.

A Promise of Protection

Margaret Killingray

Holy Father, protect them… While I was with them, I protected them… I am not asking that you take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. John 17:11,15

In his prayer Jesus asks his heavenly Father to protect his disciples. This is not the kind of prayer request that may be turned down. Jesus and the Father are one in willed purpose. This prayer is promise.

The bible often speaks of God’s protection. The Lord is a fortress, a hiding place, a refuge. But what exactly does protect mean? When the disciples looked back at the end of their lives, where would they have seen God’s protection? James, executed in the early days of the church; Peter, imprisoned and beaten, and probably crucified. They all probably experienced the treatment that Paul lists – flogging and stoning, imprisonment and shipwreck. What kind of protection was this?

Does protection mean that nothing can ever hurt us or tempt us? It is clear from both old and new testaments that we are not taken out of the world and the battle, but that we are protected in it. As we follow him in trust and obedience we are protected from spiritual harm, protected so that we can fulfil his purposes for our life’s service, until we have ‘fought the good fight and finished the race’.

Perhaps we won’t know, until all is revealed, the ways in which he has been protecting us throughout our lives. Where he has pulled us back from the brink of disaster, because our time has not yet come. Where he has protected us from the consequences of temptation and foolishness. Where he has led us down a different path from the one we had chosen, which could have been catastrophic. We don’t know where he has defended and protected us, but I am sure he has.

So when we think about God’s protection, we are called to gratitude for the many ways he has protected us – and will do so. But we are also called to vigilance, so that we do not lay ourselves and our fellow disciples open to attacks from the evil one. When Jesus was tempted to throw himself off the temple, trusting to God’s protection, his answer was, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test’.

Dealing with your fears!

Bob Gass

'SAY TO THOSE WHO ARE FEARFUL-HEARTED, "BE STRONG...' ISAIAH 35:4

An elderly man was once asked what had stolen most of his life's joy. He replied, 'Things that never happened!' Wow!

Our fears are the worst liars in the world; we should never make decisions based on them. Instead we should:

1) tackle them head-on. David did: 'When I am afraid, I will put my confidence in You' (Psalm 56:3 TLB). As a kid, Bill Hybels was very timid. But his dad kept challenging him. Hybels says, 'He'd take me down to our produce company and bark out, 'Billy, back-in that semi'...I'd drag myself into the cab of that 40-foot rig, shaking with fear. Sometimes it would take me 45 minutes and the truck would be half jackknifed...but when I crawled out, dad would say, 'Good job.' And next time...it would be...easier.' How do you conquer your fear? By confronting it!

2) hang out with courageous people. Solomon said, 'He who walks with the wise grows wise...' (Proverbs 13:20 NIV). Success rubs off; so does failure! Don't hang out with people who habitually cave in or play it safe. Hang out with courageous people. If you can't find any, read up on Bible characters like Daniel, Deborah, Esther and Peter

3) go for it. Courage isn't optional, it's foundational. You need it to live each day for Jesus, build a better relationship with your mate, expand your business, and tackle your bad habits.

Today God says to those who are fearful-hearted, '"Be strong..." ' But you can't sit back and expect Him to do all the work. You've got to go for it!

A sound mind

UCB

'GOD HATH NOT GIVEN US THE SPIRIT OF FEAR; BUT OF POWER, AND OF LOVE, AND OF A SOUND MIND.' 2 TIMOTHY 1:7

In Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, there's a line regarding the priest Myriel, who 'was fated to undergo the lot of every newcomer to a little town where there were many mouths that speak, but few heads that think.' The undisciplined mind becomes a lazy mind. And that's dangerous because it easily succumbs to the culture and influences around it.

Little of value is ever learned through a one-way monologue, be it a sermon or a lecture. There are many eloquent speakers today who are relentless in offering their opinions on just about every issue, who weave a spell of thought that relieves the individual of exploring things for themselves.

In the Book of Acts we read that the Bereans '...examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true' (Acts 17:11 NIV). Asking, 'Why? How? Who says so?' is not an act of rebellion, it's godly wisdom!

One walks around today knowing full well that an inappropriate response to a political comment, a doctrinal issue or a matter of social policy can lose you friends, a reputation, or even a job.

The godly mind, however, resists this cookie-cutter approach to thought. It weighs every question and asks if Scripture speaks directly or indirectly to the matter. It examines it in the light of history; how have God's people faced this before? It measures the matter in terms of its ability to reflect the redeeming love of Christ.

It enquires, 'Will this bring credibility or shame to the Kingdom of God which I represent?'

Live at Peace

Wendy Virgo

"Live in peace with each other.... warn those who are idle, encourage the timid,help the weak." 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28...

Twenty years ago, a young Zulu ws thrown into jail for being an ANC (African National Congress) activist. Recently married, lonely and afraid, he cried out to God for mercy. God met him powerfully and he is now a pastor of a church and at peace with Zulu, Africaans and white Christians.

Surely the ideal of every community is that the members can live amicably side by side, without tensions, fights and disagreements. But even in the most congenial places, with acres of space, peace can be lacking, because peace is not just to do with lack of noise or pleasant surroundings. In fact the peace that the apostle is talking about here is to do with attitudes to one another.

In Galations Paul speaks of Jew and Gentile, male and female, bond and free.' The church was therefore inclusive of race, gender and status, a diverse community. In our day, some Christian leaders advocate deliberately targeting certain categories so as to build churches with the sort of people they are naturally comfortable with. But this is not true of the church portrayed in the New Testament. The church should be a rich mix of people from every walk of life, colour, social background, language group and economic status.

It was not easy in Paul's day. Social differences were very marked, and the Jews had centuries of exclusivity to deal with. James had to address some specific issues of rich people behaving in a thoughtless and superior way to poorer brothers and sisters. But it is possible when we remember that at the cross we are all equal, all sinners, all in need of grace. There is none righteous, no, not one, without the sacrifice of the lamb of God, who is sufficient and necessary for all.

Lord I know I carry prejudices in my heart. Please give me a heart that reaches out regardless of money, class or accent.

This reading is taken from Day by Day with God © BRF and Christina Press. For more information visit www.brf.org.uk/pages/639.htm

The truth about worship

UCB

'GOD IS SPIRIT, AND HIS WORSHIPPERS MUST WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH.' JOHN 4:24

There are three things about worship that you need to keep in mind:

1) There is no exclusive style of worship. The worship style you feel comfortable with says far more about your cultural background and personal preferences than it does your theology. True worship employs your right brain and your left brain. It engages both emotion and intellect, heart and mind. Jesus gave only two requirements for true worship '...in spirit and in truth.'

2) You do not need a building to worship God. Now there is nothing wrong with buildings, unless you glorify them instead of God. Note: '...the Lord of heaven and earth... does not live in temples built by hands' (Acts 17:24 NIV). No building, or the lack of one, should ever be allowed to control, limit or distract you from worshipping God. Jesus said, 'Where two or three come together in My name, there am I with them' (Matthew 18:20 NIV).

3) Worship is a powerful witness to others. More people are won to Christ by feeling God's presence, than by all our theological arguments combined. Few people, if any, are converted to Christ on purely intellectual grounds. No, it is a sense of God's presence that melts hearts, exposes and tears down mental barriers. In genuine worship God's presence is felt, God's pardon is offered, God's purposes are revealed, and God's power is displayed. When the spiritually hungry come to church and see us relate to God in heart-felt praise, it creates in them a desire to know Him too!

Stay alert!

Bob Gass

'...THE HOLY SPIRIT...WILL...BRING TO YOUR REMEMBRANCE ALL THAT I SAID...' JOHN 14:26

What do you remember from last Sunday's sermon? The title? An outline? Anything? Well, how about what you read in your devotional last week? Coming up blank? You are not alone.

How come it is so hard to remember, far less apply the principles we read and hear about? Jesus says it is because as soon as the seed of God's Word is sown in our hearts, '...satan comes immediately and takes [it] away...' (Mark 4:15 NKJ). He is the original rip-off artist. He will use any ploy that works.

For example, he will make sure you get into an argument on the way home from church so that everything you heard goes right out the window. Or he will use some work-related problem to get you so wound up that you cannot focus on anything else. And he does not wait a week, or even an hour to do it. No, he does it 'immediately,' so the Word can't take root and produce fruit in your life.

Paul says, 'We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against...the rulers of the darkness of this age...' (Ephesians 6:12 NKJ). Recognising satan's strategies can stop you from falling into traps. That is why Peter writes, '...Stay alert. The devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping' (1 Peter 5:8 TM).

Hey, this is spiritual warfare; you cannot afford to let down your guard for a second! But the good news is you are not in it alone. Your Commander-in-Chief promised, '...the Holy Spirit...will teach you...and bring to your remembrance all that I said...'

There came a man

Helen Parry

There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. John 1:6

Few people in the Bible were so clearly sent as John the Baptist. Born after an angelic vision to an elderly father and apparently barren mother, he was destined from birth ‘to be great in the sight of God…filled with the Holy Spirit…to make ready a people prepared for the Lord’ (Luke 1:15-17).

It would be presumptuous indeed for us to claim to be sent like John, or like Abraham, Moses or Isaiah – who were specially commissioned to fulfil critical roles in the history of God’s people. Still less for us to claim to be sent like Jesus – whom God sent into the world to bring life to the dead.

And yet…didn’t Jesus say to his disciples, ‘As the Father has sent me, I am sending you’ (John 20:21)? He had already warned them that he was sending them ‘like sheep among wolves’, but they would be going in his authority, to do the kinds of things that he did.

And that is one of the keys to what it means for us to be sent today. Since we are his body, we are ‘in Christ’, we go into the world to do the kinds of things that he did: to affirm the marginalised, bring hope to those in despair, encourage the disheartened, witness to the love and grace of God - seeking to be channels for the mighty power of the Holy Spirit.

But there is a second key: God sent Jesus to take on himself the nature and limitations of physical humanity. He incarnated himself: ‘the Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighbourhood’ (John1:14, Message version). He identified himself with us, bearing our griefs and carrying our sorrows. And that is, therefore, what he sends us to do.

Perhaps we don’t feel sent when we leave the house in the morning, when we arrive at work, when we take the children to the playground, when we visit a lonely neighbour. But wherever we go – feeling often in a hostile or indifferent world like sheep among wolves - we may bring the sweet fragrance of Christ, like the sudden scent of a rose in a suburban hedge.

Pray for Peace

Anonymous

"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem" Psalm 122:6

Only God has the wisdom to know how to bring peace to the Middle East. Only He can change the hearts and minds of those involved.. . All most of us can do is to join together to ask Him to have His victory in this region.

SO PLEASE, I URGE YOU, SPEND TIME ASKING HIM…… and let us do our bit, by inviting Him into the centre of this conflict so He can lead the leaders, their troups, the civilians and indeed, the watching world, through it... .

Trading in your old net!

Bob Gass

'FOLLOW ME, AND I WILL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN.' MATTHEW 4:19

When you choose to follow Jesus you always get back more than you give. Always! Do you believe that? Are you living for yourself or to follow Jesus? Have you given your time, talents, treasures, dreams over to Jesus?

When Jesus asked these fishermen if He could use their boat they were happy to oblige. After all, they had fished all night and caught nothing. So no repair was needed for their nets, only cleaning. Using their boat, the life-giving words of Jesus carried over the water to the crowd on the shore.

The fishermen sat in the back of the boat listening as they ran the nets through their fingers. Then the crowd left and the Master said, 'Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch' (Luke 5:4 NIV).They were completely unprepared for what came next. Their net was suddenly filled with fish. It was only with the help of some friends in nearby boats that the catch was saved. By the time the boat reached the shore their net was in tatters - a total loss. What would they do tomorrow? After all, fishing was all they knew. Staring at their tangled net, they heard the Master say, 'Follow Me...'

And today He is saying the same to you. These men laid down the worthless remnants of an old life and followed Jesus into a new one. And before they were through God used them to change their world. What did they give up in exchange? The tattered remains of an old lifestyle that no longer worked. Whatever is keeping you from following Jesus, take a long hard look at it today. If you decide to lay it down and follow Him, you will never regret it!

Between Strength and Weekness

Jean Watson

"Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day...we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen." 2 Corinthians 4; 11 & 12...

These passages identify various strengths and weaknesses and our experiences of living with both. In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul refers to feet of clay; being hard pressed but not crushed; carrying around Jesus' death and life; wasting away yet being renewed. In 2 Corinthians 11 and 12, he speaks of being well born, well educated and privileged but also of having a thorn in the flesh. Can you identify with any of that?

We all live between strength and weakness. Are we honest and humble before God about our strengths and weaknesses - willing to see them as he does and to let him transform and use them as he wants to?

Let's think about weaknesses first of all. Are you aware of yours? As well as qualities of character, there is the fact that we are growing older each day and, also, we can never be sure of what is round the corner in terms of health or illness, happy events or traumas. Whichever of these you might classify as weaknesses, they can all become ways of growing and learning. Can you illustrate this from your own life?

What do you see as your strengths? I have listened to sermons in which the preacher has held up cards with words on them such as: going to church; being a good person; education; status; money... . These cards are then dramatically torn up to make the point that none of those things gain us forgiveness and a relationship with God. Quite right too. But all these, though useless in terms of winning us favour with God, can become useful strengths when we accepts God's gift of forgiveness and new life and put all our resources under his leadership.

This is what happened with Paul. As a follower of Jesus, his scholarshhip, communication and reasoning skills, wholeheartedness and the rest, were able to be used in the work to which he was called.

Lord these are my strengths and weaknesses, as I see them... How do you see them? Is there anything I am unaware of? Anything that hasn't been given to you for changing and using?

This reading is taken from Day by Day with God Â© BRF and Christina Press. For more information visit www.brf.org.uk/pages/639.htm

Money matters

Bob Gass

'...FOOLS SPEND WHATEVER THEY GET.' PROVERBS 21:20

Rather than exercising financial discipline, the Bible says, '...fools spend whatever they get.'

Here are some of their excuses: 1) 'I'm okay, I'm making ends meet.' That's like saying you feel great carrying too much weight. Debt is putting a strain on you, whether you notice it or not. God says, 'Pay all your debts...' (Romans 13:8 NLT), because when you're over-committed, one financial slip can spell disaster.

2) 'interest rates are low, why worry?' Why? Because when rates increase - and they do - property values can decrease, and a hefty mortgage may mean owing more than your property is worth. Plus, when your debt-to-income ratio is too high it stops you from obtaining future credit.

3) 'I plan to work till I drop.' What'll happen if you can't work? Instead of just working to pay off debt, put your money to work for you. The sooner you develop a wise investment strategy, the better. 'A good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children...' (Proverbs 13:22 NIV)

4) 'it's my partner's fault.' Money can fuel your best dreams or your worst nightmares. It's the main reason couples argue, and the leading cause of divorce. Solomon says, 'There is treasure...in the dwelling of the wise...' (Proverbs 21:20 KJV).

Freedom from financial pressure means that instead of always arguing about money, you can plan how to allocate it. So get on the same page, create a financial plan you can both live with - and involve God by honouring Him with a tithe of your income (See Malachi 3:10). Having God's input on your investments and His blessing on your finances, is the only way to go!

Guarding, girding, guiding

Bob Gass

'IF ANYONE DOES NOT PROVIDE FOR HIS...FAMILY, HE...IS WORSE THAN AN UNBELIEVER.' 1 TIMOTHY 5:8

Parent, you've got three major responsibilities: 1) Guarding them: apart from safeguarding your children spiritually, (television, the Internet, paedophiles, and peer groups) you need to look out for their total well-being.

If they're struggling in school, you go and talk to their teachers. If a stranger comes to the door, you answer it. If you hear a noise during the night, you get up. This calls for being sensitive to their needs, sacrificing yourself for them.

2) Girding (surrounding/strengthening) them: Paul says if you don't provide for your family you're 'worse than an unbeliever.' You need to provide them with food, shelter and clothing, as well as making sure your spouse has what he/she needs to do the job. Make your family feel secure by letting them know you're there for them.

3) Guiding them: Solomon writes, 'Train up a child in the way he should go...' (Proverbs 22:6 KJV). Lead your children into a greater understanding of God. Equip them for the future by teaching them to honour and love Him, His Word and His church. And involve them in your long-term planning. They won't have hope if you don't have a plan for something better in the future. For example, if you're struggling financially, tell them where you plan to be in 12 months, in five years, and by the time they reach college age.

Guarding...girding...guiding...make that your motto. And one more thing, ask God to do the same for you, as you work to honour Him in the life of your family. Come on, parent, get serious about it!

Total Inclusion

Margaret Killingray

"After Jesus said this, he looked towards heaven and prayed: Father the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him." John 17:1,2

I suppose there are a fair number of us who, as children, stumbled on a very private and intimate moment between our parents. I remember feeling excluded from something important and mystified as to what that something could be.

In chapter 17 of his gospel John records that kind of moment – the inconceivable depth of intimacy between Father and Son, as Jesus prays. But the disciples in that ordinary room round an ordinary table with him, have not stumbled on a moment from which they are excluded. They may be – and in the nature of things should be – mystified, but they are included.

After talking to them, teaching them and answering their questions, he begins to pray – out loud, looking up, eyes open – the prayer that is both a high-priestly prayer of intercession and a personal prayer of consecration. He invites them into the intimacy of the eternal Trinity. He gives them a glimpse of glory, glory since before the world began, the glory – for the time has come – of the cross and resurrection.

Isaiah understood something of the paradox of a God who is beyond our ‘benumbed conceiving’, and who, at the same time, invites us into an intimate relationship with him. Isaiah 55 begins ‘come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters… give ear and come to me.’ And goes on ‘ …my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’

As he wrote chapter 53, Isaiah glimpsed something of an inconceivable truth. A truth that disciples then and now would find pretty hard to accept had not Jesus, true God, become a real man who died a real death in real time. The reality of his humanity, as he prays in the upper room, helps us to take in the miracle that we are included in the glory, wrapped round by the prayers of the Lord of heaven and earth, and given a place at his side for ever.

Standing in the Gap

Bob Gass

'"I SOUGHT FOR A MAN AMONG THEM WHO WOULD...STAND IN THE GAP...BUT I FOUND NO ONE."' EZEKIEL 22:30

When Chris Milbrath went to work with Co-Mission in the Ukraine, the last thing he envisioned was being hospitalised. He experienced a persistent stomach-ache and his doctor diagnosed a ruptured appendix and told him that without surgery he'd die. Things didn't go well and infection set in.

Halfway across the world a lady who was one of Chris's supporters woke suddenly during the night. She didn't know why, but she knew she had to pray for him. Later, comparing notes and making adjustments for the different time zones, they discovered that her prayer-burden 'just happened to coincide' with the time he was clinging to life. Within 24 hours a missions group in Moscow heard about the situation. A small jet 'just happened to be available' to airlift Chris to Geneva where one of Switzerland's best surgeons 'just happened to be available' to perform additional surgery that saved his life.

Chris later said, 'I can't help wondering what would've happened to me if that woman had just rolled over and said, "I'll pray for Chris tomorrow.'' God says, '"I sought for a man among them who would...stand in the gap...but I found no one." ' Interceding is a lonely business. You don't volunteer; God calls you. True intercessors realise what's at stake and stay on their knees until they sense they've broken through and God's heard them.

James writes, '...When a believing person prays, great things happen' (James 5:16 NCV). So when God prompts you to pray for somebody, don't wait; do it! Your prayers may be the only thing standing between that person and catastrophe.

The Shining Light

Anonymous

"But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shines more and more to the perfect day." Provebs 4:18

What do you talk about? What do you spend time discussing and pondering? Why not make an effort to talk about the things that make people better for having listened to you. Be an encouragement.. be salt that changes peoples flavour for the better... .

What do you spend time doing? What is your entertainment? What gives you light relief? A good benchmark is to let the fun and entertainment you enjoy at night be in line with your morning attitudes and times of reflection.... - the clear light of day often heralds sorrow and regret.... . If our evening attitudes reflect our morning outlook, our path will shine lighter.

How is your character? The inside, invisible one, not your outward measured one? A man's character can be measured by what he would do if he knew there would be no consequences for it... and would not be found out. If you could stop the world for a day and your activities would have no baring on your life at all.... what would you (honestly) want to do??

"But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shines more and more to the perfect day."

Joint Enterprise

Margaret Killingray

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful…fill…and rule.' " Genesis 1:27,28

I have a memory of a scene in some apocalyptic disaster movie with a couple wandering in a world undamaged where nearly everyone else is dead. All the monuments of human achievement are there - the libraries full of books - the machinery silent.

I have no idea what happened next but have sometimes wondered how could they get it all started up again? What skills and knowledge would they need? How many books would they have to read?

We do not often think about it, but everything around us has only come about with a multiplicity of gifts, and enormous human co-operation. Think how many people take part, from the first ideas to the hard manual labour, in producing a diamond necklace or a supermarket, or a zoo! Our first ancestors were blessed together. Over the millennia we have taken hold of the world God gave us together. We have used the brains and inventiveness that he gave us to build civilisations and homes, symphony orchestras and rain dances, nuclear power plants and bicycles.

The goodness of God's good creation still shines through all that we have made, but so does the destructive corrupting power of evil, not least in the way we fail to work together - male and female together, as these verses emphasise, but also old and young together, black and white together, extrovert and introvert together. Too often we keep our ideas to ourselves. Guard our areas of work from others. Protect our skills from 'plagiarism'. Tell our triumphs, but keep the workings to ourselves. Construct hierarchies that hinder co-operation.

How can we restore some of that creative generous togetherness in the way we work?
Who are you going to work with today? Who are you going to spend time with today? Will you do so in harmony, with love, with gentleness????

Loving the unlovable

Bob Gass

'"...INASMUCH AS YOU DID IT TO ONE OF THE LEAST OF THESE... YOU DID IT TO ME."' MATTHEW 25:40

Her parents didn't want her, so at birth they placed her in foster care. Shuffled from place to place, she dreamed of the day they'd return. It never happened. So, she lashed out at the world by attempting suicide.

Then through a series of events she found her parents again. She lived with them but things were strained. When they told her they wanted to adopt a baby and 'start over,' she longed to be included. But when she said, 'I don't want to be a burden, so maybe I should go,' her dad helped her pack. Cramming her possessions in a grocery bag, he pressed £10 into her hand and said goodbye.

Today she lives on the streets, sleeps in doorways and eats from garbage cans. Sadly, her story's not unique. It's been multiplied into infinity. In fact, there's probably somebody just like her in your neighbourhood - forgotten, unloved and isolated. They're usually the hardest to reach because they feel unwanted and useless. They wrestle with inferiority, poor self-image and lack of self-respect. What do we do? Instead of loving them we label them. Instead of caring, we criticise. What should we do? Open our hearts.

Love is much more than shaking hands in church. It takes time to develop and grow. So be gracious. Remember, that tough exterior is just a cover up. Look for new ways to reach out, encourage, and show hurting people you care. Why? Because Jesus said, '"...inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these...you did it to Me."' And that's reason enough!

Gentle Jesus, meek and mild?

Helen Parry

The fruit of the Spirit is…gentleness. Gal.5:23.

Some of us may have learnt to sing in Sunday school, ‘Gentle Jesus, meek and mild’. Perhaps now we would question these adjectives, afraid they give a milk-sop impression of the Saviour of the world. Maybe ‘mild’ does indeed give a hint of weakness. But ‘gentle’ and ‘meek’ – both of which are possible translations for the eighth ‘fruit of the Spirit’ – express a critical element of Jesus’ character.

We know the Jesus whose word stilled the Galilean storm, and who – by the irresistible power that was intrinsic to his very nature – burst out of the tomb. But this same Jesus took a little child on his lap, and turned gently to touch a trembling woman, made ritually unclean by her sickness. Indeed, it was of him that God said, through Isaiah (42:3), ‘a bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick he will not snuff out’.

Then Peter – so quick to put forward his own opinion, and so vehement in denying his relationship with Jesus – years later, mellowed by experience and the Spirit, commended ‘a gentle and quiet spirit’ as of ‘great worth in God’s sight’ (1 Peter 3:4), and urged his readers, when challenged about their hope, to give an answer with ‘gentleness and respect’ (1 Peter 3:15). And Paul – ready to denounce the wavering Galatians as foolish and bewitched – reminded the Thessalonians how gentle he had been with them, ‘like a nurse (or mother) caring for her little children’ (1 Thes.2:7).

Gentleness and meekness are not signs of weakness but of strength. Blustering, bullying, pulling rank and nagging, on the other hand, are the weapons of the insecure. Throughout human history, people have used these means to exercise power over others. And our contemporary society seems sometimes actually to admire roughness and rudeness. Often we are tempted to break and trample on those we perceive to be ‘bruised reeds’, or to snuff out the tentative, struggling spark in people who seem inadequate to the task.

We all need to remind ourselves that the fruit of the Spirit – the Spirit of Jesus – is gentleness.

Is God calling You?

Bob Gass

'...A WOMAN WHO FEARS THE LORD IS TO BE PRAISED.' PROVERBS 31:30

Amy Carmichael was born in Northern Ireland in 1867. From the start she didn't fit the mould. Her unconventional outlook made problems for those who were more dedicated to maintaining tradition than to reaching a lost world.

During her early missionary years, a 'Get-Amy Carmichael-out-of-India' movement was started by those who didn't understand her unwavering obedience to what she believed to be God's will for her life. In her book, Roots, she writes: 'It's not that we think...ours is the only way of living, but we are sure...it's the way meant for us.'

Amy ministered in Japan, China and Sri Lanka before being called to India where she spent her time working with children, especially young girls forced into temple prostitution. Tenderness marked her life, but not the kind associated with weakness and fragility. Hers was more of an 'iron fist in a velvet glove' approach. Burning with moral indignation she'd plough through a mob to rescue a little girl, then weep openly about the child's situation.

When she died in 1951 she was buried under a tamarind tree in a grave marked by the Indian word for mother: AMMA. Ever notice how often single women are called to do some of the toughest jobs? Or that many (though certainly not all) missionaries are women? The Bible says, 'Charm is deceptive, and beauty...fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.'

Today if God's calling you to be another Amy Carmichael, don't be afraid to say yes, because the safest place in the world; is right in the centre of His will.

Blame Blair... or Sven

Mark Greene

'Blame Blair... Blame Sven.... Blame global warming... Blame the dog...'

William Hague's personality, some say, made him unelectable. Still, the way he resigned as leader of the Tories was a model of graciousness in comprehensive defeat. He thanked lots of people and blamed no one. He also made it absolutely clear that he was aware that he had failed to convince the British public not only of the wisdom of Conservative policies but of his own fitness to be Prime Minister.

In an overall culture where no one seems prepared to accept the blame for anything, where it is always someone else's fault, where it is a dangerous admission of liability to say you're sorry in the event of a car crash, where people will sue a local authority for stubbing their toe walking down a pavement, where politicians never make a mistake, where survival means never having to say you're sorry, then Hague's self-restraint was remarkable.

Genesis 3 shows with searing clarity what happens when people sin - and we are challenged. We tend to blame someone else. Adam blames God for giving him the companion that originally evoked humankind's first recorded poetry - "this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh." And Adam also blames Eve. In turn, she, with perhaps rather more justification, blames the serpent. The reason: fear and shame.

No doubt in the next few weeks we will be hearing that Sven or Ronaldo were to blame for Englands demise in the World Cup, and that Blair is to blame for the demise of the English cricket team. But everyone knows that's not true!!

Stay teachable!

Bob Gass

'WISDOM BELONGS TO THE AGED...' JOB 12:12

Wandering through the jungle one day an old dog saw a leopard approaching. So he lay down and started chewing on some old bones. Just then, as the leopard prepared to pounce, the dog exclaimed, 'Man that was one tasty leopard! I hope there are more like that around.' Terrified, the big cat turned and fled.

Meanwhile a monkey who observed all this from a tree, decided to score points with the leopard by telling him he had been fooled. The leopard was furious and told the monkey, 'Hop on my back while I go get that old dog!' As the pair approached him from behind, the old dog heard them and shouted, 'Where on earth's that monkey? I sent him out this morning to find me another leopard and he's still not back!'

The point is this: 'Wisdom...and understanding...' usually win out over youthful inexperience and naivety!

God's Word says, 'Grey hair is a crown of glory...gained by living a godly life' (Proverbs 16:31 NLT). It also says to, '...honour and respect...the elderly, in the fear of God...' (Leviticus 19:32 TLB).

In the New Testament Peter writes, '...younger people, submit...to your elders...' (1 Peter 5:5 NKJ). And Solomon adds, 'Those who listen to instruction will prosper...' (Proverbs 16:20 NLT). So before you decide to just blow-off the advice and experience of your elders, remember, you can learn a lot from those who were around before disposable nappies, face-lifts, open-heart surgery, space travel, the Internet and hair transplants - and who honoured God.

So keep your ears and eyes open, and above all, stay teachable!

The Key to Spiritual Transformation

Anonymous

"I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish." Galatians 5:16-17 (NKJV)

We were all created with desire and this desire is judged in every human being according to what it feeds on - its object.

If the desire focusses on God, then these are to be encouraged. If the desire focusses on earthly things, then these desires need to be put to death.

In order to live in harmony with yourself and your being, you need to live according to Gods ways - for he made us and formed us in His image. The Spirit and the sinful nature cannot co-exist. If we are living by the Spirit of God, then how come we do not see as much of the fruit as we ought to?

A survey was done whereby 1/3 of the population of a country said they counted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. If one pound of meat had 1/3 of a pound of salt added to it, it would most certainly change the flavour. Are we seeing the evidence of this in that country? Where is the difference seen in each of us that we are living by the Spirit? Are we making a difference in our families; our work; our villages; our schools; our universities.... even our local shop?

So what is the key? 1 Timothy 4:7 says" "But reject profane and old wives' fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness." The key is in exercise... . This is not saying we should all renew our gym membership and be there from dawn to dusk. What it is saying is we need to exercise ourselves for godliness - we need to be in training... . The secret to being like Jesus is not in "trying" to be like him, but in "training" yourself to be like him.

The London marathon will be upon us soon. Much as I have a lifetime amibition to run it, and furthermore to complete it, I could stand on the start line in a couple of weeks and try my hardest to run it. It's unlikely I would get past 5 miles. I could try as hard as I might like.... but without the training, I would fail.. for my body has not been trained for such exertion. No matter how hard one might try, without training, you are bound to fall short.

But HOW DO YOU TRAIN? Through practice and discipline we can get spiritually fit. We can practice little acts of love; practice being more patient; practice more self control.... . The more we practice, the more like Jesus we will become.

Choose one thing you would like to practice this week. Furthermore, tell someone about it - someone to encourage you and pray for you perhaps... .

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control." (Galations 5:22-23 NKJV)

David's five 'I wills.

Bob Gass

'I WILL SING OF MERCY AND JUDGMENT...' PSALM 101:1

Notice the five 'I wills' of David in Psalm 101:

1) 'I will sing of mercy and judgment...' (v.1). When dealing with others, some of us are all mercy and no justice; others are all justice and no mercy. God requires both.

2) 'I will behave myself wisely...' (v.2). People are more impacted by your behaviour than by your beliefs. Your children may not always follow your advice, but count on it, they'll follow your footsteps. Those not persuaded by your theology, can still be won by your love and lifestyle.

3) '...I will walk within my house with a perfect heart' (v.2.). Charity begins at home. If your family thinks you're joyless and judgemental, you'll never attract them to Christ. David prayed, '... how I need Your help, especially in my own home, where I long to act as I should' (Psalm 101:2 TLB)

4) 'I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes...' (v.3). Get real. Television is on seven hours a day in most homes. So ask yourself: 'What am I exposing myself and my family to?' What you tolerate, you've no right to complain about! You say you've no time to read God's Word and pray. No, the truth is, you don't have a strong enough desire to.

5) 'I will early destroy all the wicked...' (v.8.). The Living Bible states, 'I will not tolerate anyone who secretly slanders his neighbours; I will not permit conceit and pride. I will make the godly of the land my heroes, and invite them to my home...' (Psalm 101:5-6 TLB). Those are five 'I wills' you should live by.

Generous with...what?

Bob Gass

'MAY THE LORD MAKE YOUR LOVE INCREASE AND OVERFLOW FOR EACH OTHER...' 1 THESSALONIANS 3:12

So, what does it mean to be generous? And generous with...what?

1) Your time. Listen: 'May the Lord show mercy to...Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains...when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me' (2 Timothy 1:16-17 NIV). Wouldn't you love to know more about Onesiphorus? He's the kind who'll stand by you when you're under attack - he'll even visit you in prison. Ever visit a prisoner? Jesus said you should! (See Matthew 25:35-40)

2) Your encouragement. Paul had a friend named Barnabas ('son of encouragement'). It was Barnabas we have to thank (in part) for the incredible success of Paul. When the early church doubted Paul's conversion, Barnabas welcomed him into fellowship. The last we hear of Barnabas is defending John Mark, a failed young man who needed a second chance. Are you willing to do that for others? God did that for you!

3) Your money. Jesus watched folks giving to attract attention. Interestingly, none of them are named in Scripture. Who was? A poor widow. Suddenly Jesus called His disciples and said, '"Hey, I want you to watch this"(Paraphrase). People with little to give, tend to be avoided. Who notices them? Jesus! Listen: '"...this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything - all she had to live on"' (Mark 12:43-44 NIV).

We tend to seek out glamour and power, but the eyes of Jesus seek out true generosity. So you say you're generous? Generous with...what?

Meeting Together

Wendy Virgo

"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Hebrews 10:24-39

'You don;t have to go to church to be a Christian'; 'I don't belong to any one church, I like to try different ones'; 'I listen to tapes'; 'I don't go to church, I watch the God channel on TV'. People who make these sorts of comments have totally missed the point: church is not just a place you go to occasionally on a Sunday as an observer: the church is a community in which every person is an active participant.

Church is God's instrument for change in a sick society.

Meeting together is not only for your benefit. It is a place of power. When the saints are at prayer together, principalities and powers are watching, as God hears and answers. The presence of God is there, to save and to heal. It is a context in which we are changed and where can grow; where we are stimulated to good works; where we find opportunities to express love to one another. It is a place where we can receive correction and instruction. Above all, it is a place of vibrant life!

You may say, 'My church isn't like that.' What should you be looking for in a church? If you read a letter like Titus, you will find that Paul expected certain things to be present. He addressed church leaders, instructing them to be faithful in marriage and keep their households orderly.

He spoke to men and women, old and young, about their behaviour, that it should be pure and a good example. But the motivations came from their experience of the grace of God: they were saved by his great mercy! Church should be a context where the teaching leads us to appreciate our great salvation and, because of it, live in a way that honours God.

If you are reluctant to attend your church, ask yourself why. The time is short: be committed to a community of vibrant life!

Lord, I pray for the leadership and every member of my church, that we might be a holy, loving community, vibrant with the life of God.

Read Titus for a three-chapter snapshot of a New Testament church.

This reading is taken from Day by Day with God Â© BRF and Christina Press. For more information visit www.brf.org.uk/pages/639.htm

Love at work

Margaret Killingray

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:8

Brought up in small town and village communities, the New Testament writers knew that humans belonged to each other socially. Even when scattered by unrest and persecution, their sense of belonging was that of traditional rather than modern urban societies. Peter’s letter, like those of Paul, emphasises an added corporate dimension – Christians belonged to each other in the fellowship of the love of God.

The phrases ‘each other’ and ‘one another’ occur over and over again and are worth picking out for study.

Several times Peter emphasises this deep love, but here there is a rather enigmatic reason for loving –sins are covered over by it. What does Peter mean by this? We know from other texts that it does not mean ignoring and condoning sin, pretending it has not happened, or, where we have authority, allowing others to get away with wrong. There is no doubt that we are called to practice love and justice.

Peter is talking here about the workings of Christian communities, and face-to-face relationships. The echo from Proverbs 10:12 ‘Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs’, suggests one meaning. When there is wrongdoing, don’t make things worse by malicious gossip, by stirring up factions, by slogans and self-righteous public piety. Jesus said, ‘If your brother or sister sins against you, go and show them their fault, just between the two of you’. If they won’t listen, then you may, in love, need to go further, involve witnesses and then higher authority, but don’t start by destroying the possibility of a restoration of good relationships.

In a business like wider world the principle is the same. Love deals with wrongdoing in a way that does not condone, but leaves room for apology, forgiveness, recovery of esteem, because love is patient, kind, not self-seeking, not easily angered and keeps no record of wrong.

Forgive One Another

Wendy Virgo

"Do not grieve the Holy Spirit... Get rid of bitterness, rage and anger..and malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.... " Ephesians 4: 17-32

She screwed the tear-sodden handkerchief into a ball, and the tears continued to flow as she recounted the heartbreaking story of desertion by her husband, leaving her with two small children. Life was tough!

Money was scarce. She was racked with the pain of rejection, eaten up with anger, and to top it all, where was God? She felt distant from Him!

Together we read this scripture. Perhaps the root of her sense of distance from God had to do with 'grieving the Holy Spirit.' How? Harbouring anger, bitterness, malice can do that. How did she feel towards her husband?'I want him to hurt the way he has hurt me.' Entirely understandable; but the Holy Spirit cannot live with malice.

'Get rid of it,' as it says here. How? 'Be kind, compassionate, forgiving one another...'

'Forgiving?!' she exploded. 'How unreasonable is that? I'm the injured party!'

'Do you recognize that you are harbouring anger and malice?'
'Yes.'
'And these greive the Holy Spirit; they are sinful responses.'
'Yes.'
'Then you need to be forgiven too.'
She saw it: we can only forgive others as we see our own sin and need of forgiveness. She came to the cross and received forgiveness. Then she received healing, and the burden of grief began to lift.

Out of the deep clean well of forgiveness that now replaced the bitterness and malice, she drew out a bucketful of forgiveness for her husband. It was the beginning of a new attitude. Bitterness is destructive; forgiveness is Christ-like, and brings peace.

Ask God to show you if you are harbouring bitterness, rage, anger, malice towards others.... . And...if in doubt, pray it out!

This reading is taken from Day by Day with God Â© BRF and Christina Press. For more information visit www.brf.org.uk/pages/639.htm

Developing Spiritual Discipline

UCB

'WATCH YOUR LIFE AND DOCTRINE CLOSELY...' 1 TIMOTHY 4:16

Just talking about spiritual discipline won't get you very far. Nor is there any value in talking about how badly others need it. Describing some friends he'd known for a lifetime, Scott Turow writes, 'Many years ago I learned their dirtiest, most crabbed secret. That their passion to change the world derived from the fact that they could not change themselves.'

Hello! Do you talk a lot about things you haven't personally experienced, as a kind of smokescreen for your own shallowness? Understand this: developing spiritual discipline is demanding, mostly done in secret, usually humbling, and not always fun. Let's break that down. Demanding? Absolutely. It means being harder on yourself than you want to be. It calls for regularly examining your speech, relationships and life choices, then correcting them if necessary. Done in secret? Yes.

When you're striving to develop spiritual discipline it's wise not to talk too much about what you're in to. Talk is cheap. 'Just do it,' goes the well-known slogan. Humbling? No question about it. Some days it will feel like one step forward and two back. Spiritual discipline calls for 'staying the course,' while others walk away in denial or making excuses. Not always fun? Developing a life of spiritual discipline is a satisfying experience, but it's not always a fun experience. Listen to Paul: '...I'm running hard for the finish line. I'm giving it everything I've got. No sloppy living for me! I'm staying alert and in top condition. I'm not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself' (1 Corinthians 9:26-27 TM).

Where do you get your counsel?

Anonymous

"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in His law he meditates day and night.He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whtever he does shall prosper." Psalm 1: 1-3 (NKJV)

I find it very comforting that if we <b>bother</> to take time to listen to what God tells us in His word, we have the answers... . Indeed, take these verses for example, He makes it perfectly clear that there are roads that lead to blessings, and, if you go on to read verses 4-6, you see that there are also roads that lead to perishing..... it comes down simply to our choice in friends and counsel (where we seek advice).

It is very clear in these verses that the friends and those we take advice from have a huge impact on our lives. You could go so far as to say that the friends we choose determine to a large extent our destiny and success in life. Godly counsel is a prerequisite for prosperity, in its broadest sense.

So , ask yourself, who do you turn to in times of trouble? Who do you turn to when making big decisions? Who do you turn to when you're having trouble in your marriage, work, family relationships? Someone who will give you Godly counsel or someone who will direct you in the opposite direction? Don't be fooled by the plethora of choices we get in this world - there is only choice - for God or against Him.... there is no other alternative, no 50/50 option... .

Don't get me wrong. I am not saying we should not be friends with non christians.... we should. But there is a balance in any friendship and what these verses are telling us quite clearly is that those from whom we seek advice and direction need to be those who are themselves living according to Gods ways and not their own... .

God intends what He says - he intends for us to prosper... be it in our marriage, our work, our health, our ministry.... . However, He does tell us we have our part to play... . He tells us to meditate on His word. Not a quick 5 minute scan of the verses, but a dedication, a commitment to reading and learning and listening to what it says. Do not expect God's answers to leap to your schedule. Remember, His answers occur when you put HIS word into action. Try it!

Praying, for the right reasons

UCB

'TO THEE, O LORD, I LIFT UP MY SOUL.' PSALM 25:1

Psalm 25 describes a person who's chosen the right road, yet not found it easy to walk. In the first ten verses we learn five important things about the person who prays:

1) they know where to go for help. 'To Thee, O Lord, I lift up my soul' (v.1). Others may assist us, but only God can sustain us

2) they know who to trust. '...in Thee I trust...Do not let my enemies exult over me' (v.2). Love your enemies, because God does. Pray for them, turn them over to Him, then move on

3) they know the purpose of prayer. 'Lead me in Thy truth and teach me...' (v.4). Richard Foster writes, 'To pray is to change. Prayer is the central avenue God uses to transform us. If we are unwilling to change, we will abandon prayer. The more we pray the more we come to the heartbeat of God. Prayer starts the communication process between ourselves and God. All the options of life fall before us. At that point we will either forsake our prayer life and cease to grow, or we will pursue our prayer life and let Him change us.'

4) they know the basis of their acceptance. '...According to Thy loving kindness remember Thou me...' (v.7). We cannot approach God on the basis of our own goodness, only on the merits of Christ's saving grace.

5) they know prayer works. '...He teaches the humble His way' (v.9). When you can't see your way forward, pray. God will reveal it to you one step at a time - all you have to do is follow.

Tried and Tested

Margaret Killingray

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting.. he was hungry. The tempter said, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.’ Jesus answered, ‘It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.’ Matthew 4:1-4

Our choices test us and most of us have a great deal of choice. We make small ones in supermarkets and in front of televisions, with holiday brochures and charity appeals. But sometimes we make big choices about finance, career, lifestyle, relationships and status and some of these shape our lives and are hard to go back on. What are the right choices?

At the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus was tested and proved. He had to make choices that laid down the parameters of his messianic vocation, that developed his understanding of how his role and purpose would be worked out in obedience to God’s plans. His responses referred back to Deuteronomy chapters 6 and 8, because his mission, fulfilling the failed purposes of Israel, was the culmination of salvation history.

But he was tested in all points just as we are, so how do we learn from Jesus’ experience in the desert. First, we can recognise similarities to the pressures we face. If we have the means to provide ourselves with material and aesthetic comfort, do we assume that that is a reasonable criterion for choosing? Do we test God by expecting him to protect us and reward us, even when we act irresponsibly? Do we compromise our integrity for political and financial advantage?

Second, we can see how he handled these crucial choices. He had developed a deep, biblical understanding of the purposes of God he was to fulfil on earth. He spent time fasting and praying alone, away from the pressures of daily life before he had to make decisions. And he, understanding what it means to fight these battles, sends his Spirit to lead us, and his angels to minister to us when each battle is over.

Oh, what a beautiful morning!

Margaret Killingray - LICC

Just after dawn, Jesus stood on the beach; when the disciples had come ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ John 21:4,9,12

This all sounds so ordinary, so everyday. And yet it is the kind of moment that stands out in a lifetime – some combination of daybreak on a lovely day, gentle lapping of waves, the joyous sound of the dawn chorus, people we love, and the smell of barbecued freshly caught fish for breakfast.

It is the kind of escape to beauty that we look for in holidays, leaving behind busyness, work, lists and obligations. But for these men, battered by all that had happened in noisy crowded Jerusalem, still hardly believing that he had risen from the dead, it must have been quite a moment.

Jesus’ spent these final days of his physical presence on earth, making sure that they really understood that he had risen from the dead. After breakfast he spoke to Peter, reinstating and recommissioning him. Reassured, they would all remember this morning’s breakfast and all the other meetings, when they faced persecution and their own, possibly violent, deaths. They knew they would live for ever with him.

This breakfast by the lake brings me reassurance as well. The Lord of glory, the Saviour of the world, creator of the universe, word made flesh, has conquered death – and he cooks for them. I like living here with the people and places I know and I don’t want to die. In fact I don’t want to move to another house, let alone to another sphere of existence. I say out loud on Sundays, ‘ I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting’. And I believe it as fully and as far as I am able, but sometimes that isn’t very far. On dark nights of doubt this lakeside reunion reassures me that however and whenever I die, I will be transformed, not into something strange, but into a familiar recognisable individual, in, maybe, a familiar renewed earth.

The disciples went back to Jerusalem fully reassured, were filled with the Holy Spirit and then stormed the world.

Overcoming life-limiting thoughts

UCB

'...I WILL STRENGTHEN YOU AND HELP YOU; I WILL UPHOLD YOU WITH MY RIGHTEOUS RIGHT HAND."' ISAIAH 41:10

Labels tend to stick. When we're young and our parents say things like 'Oh, she's just a plain Jane,' or, 'He'll never be as smart as his brother,' we drag those life-limiting thoughts around like a ball and chain for the rest of our lives.

Fortunately, God sees your potential differently. Listen: 'God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you're...more than...ready to do what needs to be done' (2 Corinthians 9:8 TM).

Thirty years ago Johnny Weissmuller,known as Tarzan to movie-goers, was called the greatest swimmer in the world. Doctors and coaches said, 'Nobody will ever break Johnny's records.' He held more than 50 of them. Today 13-year-old girls break them on a regular basis!

For decades experts declared nobody would break the 4-minute mile. But Roger Bannister refused to believe it. As a result, he broke the 'impossible' 4-minute mile. Today hundreds of runners do it every year.

Understand this: others can stop you temporarily, but you are the only one that can do it permanently. If God says you can - you can! And His opinion is the only one that counts.

Edgar Guest wrote, 'There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done, there are thousands to prophesy failure; there are thousands to point out, one by one, the dangers that wait to assail you. So buckle right in with a bit of a grin, take off your coat and go to it; just start to sing as you tackle the thing that 'cannot be done,' and you'll do it.'

A Loving Father - is that Your experience?

Wendy Alec - God TV

“For this reason, I bow my knee before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for whom every family in heaven and on earth is named [that Father from Whom all fatherhood takes its title and derives its name.] May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the Holy Spirit.” (Ephesians 3:14-16 – Amplified)

Those of us who live here in the UK are probably will aware that Spring took an AWFULLY long time to come this year!

I was actually watching a willow tree outside my study window and a few weeks ago, it looked so dead that it seemed that there could never be any sign of life on it again. But you know, the miraculous thing is – that as I write this letter and look through the window – the tree is now getting so green, as all the leaves come out.

And I felt, as I was writing that the Lord said that so it is with so many of us in different seasons of our life – and the wonderful thing is, that even when it seems to all intents and purposes that your vision or dream is dead and you can’t see even one sign of life – that even though the spring was so late this year – eventually it DID come – because that’s how God created the seasons.

And we, who are made in His image and who are more precious to Him than the trees of the field – how much more, dear friend is His promise to you and I. So, though the tree does not blossom, and the spring and summer in your life in some areas may seem as though it is not only late, but that the dream that you have held close to your heart is dead – our wonderful Heavenly Father can turn it all around in an INSTANT – when it is time for YOUR season to come!

In this we have hope and strength to continue in the dry days when we walk by faith and not sight – knowing that our names are written on the palms of His hands and that we are never forgotten by the Lord Jesus and the Father – who is the lover of our soul. Oh, He loves you so, He can never, never forget you!

Some of you may have heard that my father, Doc Koefman, passed away last month at the grand old age of 91, and I just felt led to share with you how wonderful the Lord has been to me and our family during the past few weeks. As it is Fathers Day on June 18th, I’d just like to take a little time to share how it happened….

Having just moved back to the UK, we had been living out of suitcases for many weeks, but during the nomadic time, I was able to spend a tremendous amount of really precious and memorable time with my dad.

We had just moved into our new house (Praise the Lord!) and had only been there two days. Rory had just left for the Worldwide celebration of the Feast of Passover in Jerusalem and I was unpacking what seemed to be hundreds of boxes, when as I looked out into the fields, I saw in my spirit, angels waving huge banners with daddy’s name on.

They were celebrating with such amazing joy that I thought “Oh no, it looks like they’re preparing to take daddy home .” He had been sick again, but because he was so strong, I thought it would be in a few weeks or months.

I phoned daddy and he had had a really bad day and could hardly talk. I was sobbing because I felt I had to tell him…. “It’s alright to go to be with God, I’ll see you in Heaven.” Then as feeble as he was, he said his last words to me… “I love you, my darling.”

The next day, Thursday, 13th April, I prayed and prayed for him. We had no phones in the house yet and my USA one wasn’t working, I could only phone out. At 20.40 I got an email from my mum saying “Please phone” and somehow I knew daddy had gone.

His best friend, the Anglican Canon from next door, who was also 91, had gone over to visit that night (which he never does, just visits in the day) to watch the Seder Meal live from Jerusalem. He prayed the Lord’s prayer with daddy (his favourite prayer along with Psalm 23) and halfway through, daddy opened his eyes, wide as could be, and passed away from this life, right during the Seder.

The amazing thing was that daddy was born a Jew, a son of Abraham, and his greatest desire was to be buried in Israel near Capernaum, his favourite place on earth – and so at the exact time that God TV was broadcasting the Passover Meal from Jerusalem, he crossed into glory. There could have been nothing more fitting. For any of you who have read my book ‘The Journal of the Unknown Prophet’, you will truly understand when I say that because of my earthly father’s great and precious love for me, it was so easy for me to fall in love with the Father of Glory, our wonderful Heavenly Father.

I was so wonderfully blessed, for I had the most beautiful father I could ever have dreamed of, I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for lending him to me for this time on earth. I know some of you reading were blessed like me, but as I was writing, I felt the Lord say that there are many, many of you who never knew what it was like to have a father who said to you so often – “I love you, my darling.”

And the Lord said that there are many of you who never even knew the love of a father and who have struggled to know the love of your Heavenly Father because you had no earthly father.

“There are those of you,” says the Lord, “who were even abused by your father – not just sexually but emotionally and verbally and your heart is still scarred from these experiences. But My child, “ says the Lord God of Hosts, “My beloved child, you who I knew from before conception, you who I knew before the beginning of time, you who I designed – each part of your body, I knew your frame – how intricately you were formed, your soul, your emotions and your mind…

“Beloved child, even though your earthly father did not take you up, I your Heavenly Father take you up. Even though your earthly father did not take up your cause, I your Heavenly Father now take up your cause. Even though your earthly father did not know that you were truly loved, so even this day My child, I embrace you and I look deep into your soul, beyond all your failures and omissions….

“ I look beyond all your human frailties and your shortcomings, beyond all your self hatred and your rejections, for I see your heart – as the pearl of great price for which I sent My son to die – and as you put your hand in Mine and you come away with Me, beloved, and you look into My face and you behold My glory….

“Let the tears start to flow, for beautiful child, it is I, the One who loves you and as the tears flow, beloved – tears of healing, tears of grief, tears of lost days, tears of misunderstanding – beloved, I would have that you forgive that one, that father who rejected you, for he knew not what he did.

“Forgive the father who abused you, for he knew well what he did, but he was so bound with his own lusts, angers and rejections that he could not break free. Forgive the father who was absent and who never held you, for beloved, he knew not what he missed – forgive the father whose tongue was cruel to you, for he knew not kindness himself as a child.

“And beloved, as you forgive, even this day, so I, the Lord God of Israel, the Father for whom fatherhood is named, I break the yoke off your back. I break the bondages that have weighed you down and enslaved you even these many, many years.

“I break the rejection and the self hatred that has crippled your life, that has kept you from your call and your destiny in Me, and now, My child, am I not the Lifter of your head – lift your head beloved and know that you are all beautiful in Me, there is no flaw in you.

“And as you take My hand and as you lift your head to the King of Glory, know that you now enter a new season, a new place in Me – a season of joy and of peace – a season where those things that previously beset you will fall away – a season of preparation for your calling and your destiny in Me.

“So rejoice My child, rejoice and be exceedingly glad My child, for the King of Glory is your Father!”

'I'm loved by God!'

UCB

''...YOU ARE PRECIOUS AND HONORED IN MY SIGHT...BECAUSE I LOVE YOU...'' ISAIAH 43:4

One of the most awesome promises in the Bible is found in Isaiah Chapter 43 '...you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned...For I am the Lord, your God...you are precious and honoured in my sight, and...I love you...' (Isaiah 43:1-4 NIV).

Why not write down that last phrase on a card and carry it with you: '...you are precious and honoured in my sight...I love you...' Wow! You are loved by God. Who else do you need to impress? What other ladder do you need to climb? What are you going to add to your CV that'll top that?

Make your life a showcase of living in the love of God. Every morning when you wake up let your first words be 'I'm loved by God.' And every night when you go to sleep let your last words echo, 'I'm loved by God.' As every day goes by you'll start understanding more and more deeply just how amazing those four little words are.

When you're tempted to jack it all in because you've blown it, remember, 'I'm loved by God' When you're overwhelmed by all the stuff you have to do, say it: 'I'm loved by God'. Say it when you're tempted to sin, to dishonour God, to lash out in anger and hurt someone, or deceive someone, or use someone.

Say it when you're afraid, when you're anxious, when you're alone... remember and feast on the words that give life: 'I'm loved by God.'

Excuses or results

Bob Gass - UCB

'I CAN DO EVERYTHING THROUGH HIM WHO GIVES ME STRENGTH.' PHILIPPIANS 4:13

W Page Pitt should have failed, but instead he succeeded. After losing 97% of his eyesight at age 5, he refused to attend a school for the blind. He was accepted into public school where he played baseball and football.

Remarkably, he went on to complete college and become a top-notch journalism professor with a reputation for demanding excellence. A student once asked Pitt which he thought would be worse; blindness, deafness, or not having arms and legs. He replied, 'None of those things! Lethargy, irresponsibility, lack of ambition or desire: they're the real handicaps.

If I don't teach you anything but to want to do something with your lives, this course will be a magnificent success.' Often he told his journalism students, 'You are not here to learn mediocrity, you're here to learn to excel. If I send you on a story and you don't get it because you've a broken leg, call me from the ambulance and I'll forgive you. But don't give me excuses! They wound me, and your explanations pour salt in the wound.'

Your biggest enemy is not the challenges you face; it's complacency, negativity, self-imposed limitations and self-pity. We've got all kinds of excuses for not doing more with our lives. If only we'd better eyesight or were thinner or taller or came from a more privileged background. Excuses!

Two millennia ago Paul wrote, 'I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.' That means with God's help you can rise above circumstances that ordinarily spell failure. So, excuses or results. What's it going to be?

A World Transforming-Church

Margaret Killingray

"Since I have been longing for many years to see you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to visit you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there." Romans 15: 23-33

All round the world, every Sunday, people are praying ‘Your kingdom come.’ The transforming power of Jesus is not just for our own loves, nor just for our fellowships, but for the whole world. Christians are called to do what they can to make the world a better place, and God’s amazing plan is to use his church to change his world. So in supporting churches all round the world, we are helping to spread his kingdom.

Paul linked churches together as he travelled. He went on foot over hundreds of miles – it was hard work and tooK time. He wrote letters and these had to be carried by messengers on foot, and shared by churches in neighbouring towns. He helped the fellowships to be aware of each others needs and when one was having a hard time another church would send gifts for the relief of the poor. In our reading he was taking money from Greece to Jerusalem.

So how do we take our part in the transformation of our world through large and small Christian communities? We may support those who plant churches – Paul was asking the Roman church to support his travels to Spain. We may find out what is happening to Christians in other places by reading up about them – as these churches did in Paul’s letters. We may give money as the Macedonian churches had done. And we may be involved in informed prayer for our fellow Christians at home and abroad.

I have just read a letter about the Christian church in Turkey, where there is tension between Muslims and Christians. I now need to make sure that I act on what I have read by praying and sharing this news. This is one small way I can help the Christians of Turkey and help His kingdom come.

With so many needs around the world today, you need God to show you the part he wants you to play. Ask for His help.

What are your convictions?

Bob Gass - UCB

'DON'T LET THE WORLD...SQUEEZE YOU INTO ITS...MOULD...' ROMANS 12:2

Howard Hendricks says, 'A belief is something you'll argue about; but a conviction is something you'll die for.' Knowing what to do (knowledge), when to do it (wisdom), how to do it (ability), is worthless without the conviction to actually do it (obedience).

People without conviction follow the crowd, which is why Paul wrote, 'Don't let the world...squeeze you into its...mould...' If we don't take a stand for something, we'll fall for everything! Ironically, a lot of us have strong convictions about weak issues such as football, fashion, etc, while having weak convictions about major issues such as what's right and what's wrong before God. Conviction helps us grow spiritually. But growth requires time and effort. Without a deep conviction of our need to grow spiritually, we become discouraged and give up.

No one stays with a task that's difficult unless they're convinced there's a good reason for doing so. Jesus' life was dominated by a conviction that He came to do His Father's will; nothing else! This conviction kept Him from being distracted by the agenda of others. Check the number of times Jesus used the phrase 'I must.' Why do cults attract so many people? Because we all want something to believe in, something to give our lives for. Without clear, strong convictions we'll never attract the level of commitment that Christ deserves. We must burn with a conviction that advancing the Kingdom of God is our calling and reason to live.

Vance Havner said, 'Jesus demands greater allegiance than any dictator that ever lived. The difference is, Jesus has a right to it!'

Dad, be more open and affectionate!

UCB

"...TEAR DOWN YOUR FATHER'S ALTAR...BUILD A PROPER KIND OF ALTAR TO THE LORD..."' JUDGES 6:25-26

During a leadership seminar on attitudes, a man told Dr John Maxwell the following story: 'From my earliest recollections I do not remember a compliment from my father. His father also thought it unmanly to express affection or even appreciation. My grandfather was a perfectionist who worked hard and expected everyone else to do the same, without any encouragement. And since he was neither positive nor relational, he had a constant turnover in his employees. Because of my background it has been very difficult for me to nurture or encourage my family. This critical and negative attitude has hindered me in life. I've raised five children and tried to live as a Christian before them. Sadly, it's easier for them to recognise my love for God, than my love for them. They're starved for affection and approval. The tragedy is, they've received my bad attitude trait, and now I see them passing it down to my precious grandchildren. Never before have I been so aware of 'catching an attitude.' Obviously, this wrong attitude has been passed along for five generations. So, it's time to stop it! Today I make a conscious decision to change. This will not be done overnight, but it will be done. It will not be accomplished easily, but by God's grace it will be accomplished!' God told Gideon to tear down his father's altar and build a proper kind of altar unto the Lord. Dad, it's time to tear down your old attitudes and ways of relating, and start building attitudes that bless your children and honour God.

Have you found your calling?

UCB

'WE ARE GOD'S WORKMANSHIP, CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS TO DO GOOD WORKS, WHICH GOD PREPARED IN ADVANCE FOR US TO DO' EPHESIANS 2:10

When God calls you to do something, His call comes in several ways: 1) You feel 'moved.' There's a moment of certainty when God puts His hand upon you, nudging you toward a particular need, usually an unmet one. You know it in your 'knower' 2) It's confirmed by others. People will discern that God's at work in your life. People who know you well, watch; they volunteer comments such as, 'You're at your best when you...' 'You shine when you're doing that' 3) You'll be gifted to do it. There are times when a person starts off with seemingly no specific capacities at all, but this is rare. With a call comes giftedness - that special empowerment God gives to the 'callee.' When you're in your calling, you soar in spite of obstacles. And people tend to stand back in amazement. Ever seen Joni Eareckson Tada speaking to an auditorium full of people in wheelchairs? The whole place comes alive when she rolls up to the microphone in her wheelchair 4) You'll see results! You'll change things, touch lives and glorify God. St Patrick had a dream in which the Irish people were saying, 'We appeal to you, Holy Servant Boy, to come and walk among us.' And Patrick responded. He combed the Irish countryside preaching to chiefs and kings. An entire nation began its journey toward Christianity. Now, you may not be called to do that, but you're called to do something for God. So, find your calling and fulfill it!

Working Faith: Transaction or Transformation?

Richard Davis - LICC

Carefully follow the terms of this covenant, so that you may prosper in everything you do." Deut. 29:9

Some within the Church today build a ‘prosperity gospel’ around verses like this one. They see a direct correlation between obeying God and receiving material blessings. But the formula doesn’t fit with the whole of the Bible. If anything, Scripture teaches that obeying God may well bring sacrifice and hardship. If the prosperity gospel is true, Jesus’ disciples must have missed the point, since their post-Easter lives were anything but materially comfortable.

The divine covenants found in Scripture are meant for interior renovation rather than exterior decoration, for inner peace rather than outer prosperity. Each covenant offers us a way out of our addiction to self by calling us to disciplined and devotional living. If we obey God, our character deepens, and we become better people living fuller lives. While this doesn’t guarantee material success, it also doesn’t negate it.

Joe Ritchie is a man who seems to understand the balance between godly living and worldly business. He is a Chicago-based investor who rates large companies according to the moral/ethical character of their CEOs. He scrutinizes corporate leaders not according to what they say but according to what they do – how they live their lives, the quality of their relationships, their faith activities, their personal stewardship, and other key indicators. In short, Ritchie uses the integrity of the leader as a guide for advising his own clients on capital investments. Interestingly enough, his recommendations have far out-performed most others in the investment community. A coincidence?

Once we accept the biblical premise that solid people build solid structures, Joe Ritchie’s approach to investment doesn’t surprise us. Good people attract good people. Morality produces morality. Lives founded on godly values withstand storms and produce true and steady growth. Not only is it common sense, it’s consistent with the order God has established. By making us partners in His divine covenants, God teaches us discipline and instills within us new values. These, in turn, protect us from taking shortcuts that may lead to short-term gain but long-term loss. True success can only be measured within the context of eternity. As Jesus put it, “What does it profit a person to gain the whole world but lose his soul?”

The prosperity gospel makes religious devotion transactional, suggesting that if we do this, we will get that. The true Gospel is transformational, promising that a changed heart will show itself in a productive life. Or, again, as Jesus said, “If you first seek the kingdom of God, everything else will come to you.”

When we are struggling...remember

Wendy Alec - God TV (www.god.tv)

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul" Psalm 23: 1-3 NKJV

Sometimes in our spiritual walk, we go through what can only be described as desert times - times where we wander thirsty in an arid land - where although we have known God and loved Him, sometimes in tremendous intimacy, His presence seems far from us and His purposes dim.

Oh - precious son - precious daughter of the Living God - no matter what you are facing today - if it seemed this morning when you woke that all hope was gone and that because of all that you have been going through - that you can hardly find the strength to continue - I have to tell you this day that the Lord Jesus himself - He who is the fairest of ten thousand - loves you so intimately - so tenderly - and that His eye has been upon you. That even while you have been struggling in the eye of the storm, that even where His voice has been drowned out by the stresses and strains of all the circumstances that surround you - Oh precious child - He would have you know that He has heard your cry - that He has seen the tears that have run down your face unnoticed by others.

For surely He has not forsaken you - For surely God - the Living God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has not forgotten you - no, for surely He has seen the things that have driven you to your knees in despair and so, now, in the quietness as you sit before Him and you say "Lord, I love you - but it has been too hard. Lord, you know I love you - but I am at the end of myself" He who so tenderly loves you, would take your hands in His and would lift up your face to His and would whisper to your heart. "Child - Precious child - You who have loved me and served me in obedience and in faithfulness - you who have stood upon My Word and declared My glorious promises into the spirit realm - you whom I have led by My Spirit through many arid and desert places - it is to you that I would speak this day...

"And my child as I speak to you, know that even when it has seemed to you that My presence has been afar off that it has seemed that you have been thirsting in a foreign land - This is My Word to you this day - Lo - I the Lord - the Living God have seen your tears - I have heard your supplications as you have cried out to me in the night hours - I have seen the agony of your soul My child - And even as those that surround you have not seen and have been oblivious to your pain - so I have been with you. I have not passed you over - For surely even this day as you stand before me, beloved - again you shall feel and experience My hand and My presence upon your life.

"For surely my child - I have watched as you have passed through this desert season - And even when there seemed to be no answer, still you trusted in Me. I have watched as you have passed through this preparational season in your life. And I have watched as you have served Me in the dry places and as you have walked through the furnace and the crucible of the testings of man. O My child - surely the season when no man sees, is indeed the season wherein the motivations of your heart truly rise to the surface. For it is in that same season when no man approves you - that I and My Father approve of you. Yes - it is in that season when no man praises you - that truly you are sifted - And so - even as it seemed to you that for a while, my face was removed from you - Beloved child - I have never left your side - For surely I am always here - seeking for you - longing for you - drawing you aside into my presence - My beloved - My child - Come to Me."

Joint Enterprise

Margaret Killingray

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful…fill…and rule.' " Genesis 1:27,28

I have a memory of a scene in some apocalyptic disaster movie with a couple wandering in a world undamaged where nearly everyone else is dead. All the monuments of human achievement are there - the libraries full of books - the machinery silent. I have no idea what happened next but have sometimes wondered how could they get it all started up again? What skills and knowledge would they need? How many books would they have to read?

We do not often think about it, but everything around us has only come about with a multiplicity of gifts, and enormous human co-operation. Think how many people take part, from the first ideas to the hard manual labour, in producing a diamond necklace or a supermarket, or a zoo! Our first ancestors were blessed together. Over the millennia we have taken hold of the world God gave us together. We have used the brains and inventiveness that he gave us to build civilisations and homes, symphony orchestras and rain dances, nuclear power plants and bicycles.

The goodness of God's good creation still shines through all that we have made, but so does the destructive corrupting power of evil, not least in the way we fail to work together - male and female together, as these verses emphasise, but also old and young together, black and white together, extrovert and introvert together. Too often we keep our ideas to ourselves. Guard our areas of work from others. Protect our skills from 'plagiarism'. Tell our triumphs, but keep the workings to ourselves. Construct hierarchies that hinder co-operation.

How can we restore some of that creative generous togetherness in the way we work? How can we help each other to achieve 100% of what God has planned for us, and has equipped us to do and not settle for 30-40%?

Who are you going to work with today? How will you encourage them? How will you share your skills with them? How will you use that which God has given you for His glory and not your own?!

We have just remembered Pentecost, when God sent His Spirit as a gift to humanity. God sent His Holy Spirit to turn our hearts of stone to hearts filled with His Spirit. Lets be bold people, and have the courage to step out in faith, knowing God is with us...and to fulfill all that He made us to be.. and help others to do the same.

The Great Commandment

Anonymous

Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: love your neighbour as yourself. Matthew 22: 36 - 39 (NIV)

It is not always easy to love... . If it were, it probably would not have been the greatest commandment, as it would have come naturally. How much more so then, should we strive to Love those whom we find it so hard to..... the antagonistic friend who always seems to have a dig; the unrelenting work boss who makes your daily grind even more miserable; the spouse who you think is just not thinking of you and your feelings; the child whose disobedience is trying your patience; the shop assistance who has no respect for the fact that you are in a hurry... .

Love is God's way of letting you dance through life. It is Gods own antidote.... which we would be foolish to ignore.

He Had a Son...

Melinda Blasche

'and when Lamech had lived 182 years, he had a son. He named him Noah...' Genesis 5:28

As we watch the events of history unfold around us it is hard not to feel overwhelmed by the weight of it all. After a week that has seen people stabbed in shops, continued violence in Iraq, the thousands of deaths in the Indonesian earthquake, we can begin to wonder where God is in the midst of it all.

Noah, too, was born into a suffering world. As Genesis 6 tells us, in Noah's day wickedness reigned on the earth. It was full of violence and corruption, and the hearts and inclinations of humankind were evil all the time. Noah himself might well have asked the same question we could ask today - where is God in the midst of a chaotic world?

Noah's hope, though, is the same as our hope. Even when the situation looks desperate, God is still in control of human history and he is working out his plan of redemption in it. Noah experienced the redemption of God as God rescued him from the flood, giving him and his family a fresh start and the human race a new chance. We experience redemption through our faith in Christ, which offers us a new life as well.

God is at work now as he was then - working his plans in the big events of history, as well as in our workplaces, in our communities, in our families, and in our own individual lives

Last but not least

Helen Parry - LICC

The fruit of the Spirit is…self-control. Gal.5:23

In the pecking order of spiritual fruits, self-control would be hard pressed to compete with love, joy and peace. This may be because, on the surface, it sounds life-denying rather than life-affirming. But partly, also, because many of us have no great desire to cultivate it.

But in a surprising passage in Acts (24:25) we read that Paul, when summoned before the Roman governor Felix, ‘discoursed on righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come’. It would be intriguing to know whether Paul mentioned it because Felix was notably lacking in self-control. But if Paul sandwiched this one quality between those great biblical concepts of righteousness and judgment he must have thought it to be a cardinal element of Christian character.

Why, then, are we so unenthusiastic about self-control? To start with, of course, we enjoy so many of the things that it is assumed to forbid – like tantrums, sex and cream cakes. In fact, however, it doesn’t speak of prohibition but of discipline. Our culture’s emphasis on individual freedom, and the lure of advertisements like ‘You want it: you buy it’, deny the value of self-discipline.

There is, of course, a lot of difference between tantrums, sex and cream cakes. Tantrums are, by definition, wrong – the self-indulgent rantings of attention-seeking. Sex is a wonderful gift from God, if used according to the maker’s instructions; though even wonderful gifts must not be used to excess. This also might be said to apply to cream cakes.

Self-control speaks of inner strength, of the ability to resist thoughtless self-indulgence, frivolous conversation and inessential expenses, and to focus on what is relevant and important – what builds up character and enriches the lives of others. It can overcome our obsessions and addictions. It resists ‘the world, the flesh and the devil’.

The blandishments of the world, the flesh and the devil are insidious, and we do not in ourselves have that inner strength to resist them. That is why self-control is the fruit not simply of the human will but of the mighty Spirit

The Armor of God

Anonymous

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV)

We are in a battle. The enemy is raging around us, desperate to destroy us. But those who put their trust in the Lord are on the winning team. We have been offered the impenetrable armour - we just need to avail ourselves of it, and remember to put it on!

As you go out into the world daily, remember to put on your Gospel armour - you will need it my friends. Many of us live busy lives, but we still make time to do the things we want to/feel we should. In the morning, we brush our teeth, and comb our hair, dress ourselves and pack our bag/briefcase for the day- remembering lunch and notebook.. . Most of also manage to grab some breakfast before we leave the house. All too often though, in the rush of the day, we forget the most important garment - our Gospel armour. Dress yourselves appropriately dear brothers and sisters -the climate is harsh. Whether your environment is office or school playground, every member of the family needs it.

May God bless you and protect you.

The Practice of Confession.

Anonymous

Yesterday we read the prayer of confession. Today we are going to look at the Practice of Confession. " Have mercy on me O God, According to your loving kindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me throroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin." Psalm 51:1-2 NKJV

All living organisms need to excrete the harmful waste in them and humans are no different. Do we store up time for confession as a one off or is it part of the process of excretion we infuse in our life? Confession is expelling the sin from our souls so we are healthy. We should arrange our life so the choices we make for God seem so good and appealing and so a life for Christ can be lived in us. It is a process of slowly putting to death the sinful nature, to bring alive the Spirit of God in us.

How many of us know Jesus’ presence in our lives to give us wholeness? How many of us live in the reality of broken lives being repaired through confession? It is not easy to confess because it lays bare our guilt and sorrow. It will sting like antiseptic on a cut and be painful as the vulnerability of our human nature is revealed.

However, it is only through the cleansing of confession that we can know healing and restoration and transformation of Christ. 2 Samuel 11 and 12 is the backdrop to Psalm 51. Psalm 51:1 talks of having mercy – this is confession. In v4 we read how we have sinned against God and need to say sorry. We all know that childlike anxious apology when told to say sorry. But confession is more than a rushed obligatory sorry – it requires deep heartfelt regret and sorrow. Confession takes time – we need to plan ahead, set aside time to do little else than confess. It is a process.

Confession to God acknowledges that he is the judge (v4b); He is the one to whom all creation is accountable and so confession of sin needs to be made to Him. Thankfully He is also the one who has the power to wash away our iniquity (v2).

Confession of sin requires confrontation with sin – that is we need to inspect our lives and bring them to God. V3 says “I know my transgressions.” A big part of sin is the denial of our involvement in sin.

Two questions which are helpful in thinking about sin are: 1)What have I done, thought, said that is in any way sinful that breaks with Gods purpose for my life? It can be useful to start by writing down all the things from the last week; have I coveted a friends car, house, spouse….. . We might try to justify ourselves and say “oh that is not really me, I wasn’t feeling well, or I was tired.” You know what, if you did, said, thought it then it WAS and IS YOU. It came from you and so is in you in some way. Don’t run away from it or try to justify it or minimalise it – confront it head on and inspect it. So firstly we ask, what did I say, think or do.

2) The second question is WHY? Why am I like this? What need is this filling? Sin seeks to fulfil a legitimate need in an illegitimate way. It is therefore necessary to inspect it, for then you can endeavour to meet that need in a non sinful way. We are all made with desires…but the only one who can truly fulfil them is God. Anytime we break that relationship with God and we seek to secure it in other ways… we sin. We might put others down, to build ourselves up…;we might put too much reliance in a friendship, relationship, job... . But where is this insecurity coming from? In confession we get to Godly sorrow. Ps 51:17. We need to get to a place of brokenness of heart and Godly sorrow. God does not want our brilliance, He wants our brokenness. He wants our tears…Oh God how poor and broken I am without you. True confession is a vital practice that lets us live in the power of forgiveness.

The pleasure you get in confessing and people still loving you is so liberating and joyful. It is a joy to reveal yourself to someone and still be accepted. However, you do not need to confess to one another - ultimately we are to confess to God – either privately or in the safety of our prayer partners… but just watch the relief of the fellowship you get. It has been said that people can taste the quality of your relationship with one another by your ability to confess to one another.

But once we have confessed, how are we restored? v7 talks of being cleansed with hysop. v10 asks that God creates in us a pure heart. God’s unique work of the new creation is that He made order and peace out of our turbulent sin affected lives. How does God cleanse and wash us? v 11-12 tells us it is by the presence of the Holy Spirit in us. In v10-12 we see there is a capitalised and non capitalised SPIRIT. Is it a human or Gods spirit? A small s (for spirit) is David’s human spirit. A big S speaks of the Holy Spirit. Just like the concentrate with which you make squash is strong and when added with water, makes a new drink…. So the concentrate of Gods spirit meets with us and so a new life is made. Help me to train..... to be willing and steadfast.... to centre my life with you oh Lord. In v12 we read how we can be restored to the joy of Gods salvation.

Jean Darnell preached in the UK in the 70’s. She mentioned once that she was so struck by the prayers prayed for confession in a service she was attending. Indeed, she was moved to tears remembering that sin is grievous to us… She was so moved by the service that she returned to the evening service to see how the church was, after their earnest morning confession…, knowing that you do not stop at sorrow, but that there is a journey through sorrow to release of joy and a knowledge of salvation . (v8 to hear joy and gladness….) Sadly, they did the same thing, confessed earnestly…. and yet they made no progress beyond this… . They had only gone half way. We read in v 13-15 that restoration results in service and telling others. The evidence in our lives and acts of singing, acts of joy and adoration…show that we have confessed. Service and singing accompany the end point of the discipline of confession… Sing with joy and love, sing the praise of a forgiving God. We can experience the reality of a new life – the joy of salvation and eternal life with God.

Are you singing God's praises.... and telling others of the wonder of His salvation?

A Prayer of Confession

Unknown

"Set your mind on things above,not on things on the earth......... Therefore put to death your members which are on earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry....... And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." Colossians 3:1-17 NKJV

A Prayer of Confession:
Most merciful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we confess that we have sinned in thought, word and deed. We have not loved you with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbours as ourselves. In your mercy forgive what we have been, help us to amend what we are, and direct what we shall be; that we may do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with you our God. Amen

Refreshing Grace

Margaret Killingray - LICC

"And God said, 'Let the water teem with living creatures…' So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems… And God saw that it was good." (Genesis 1:20, 21)

Only in the last 50 years or so, through film and television, have most people begun to glimpse just what 'teeming' means when it comes to the living creatures in the sea. The same goes for the plant life of South American jungles, the herds on African plains and Alpine wild flower meadows. There is infinite variety and profligate amounts of - well, tadpoles, acorns and orchids, for example. This is not just abundant generosity. It also speaks of an immense creative joy, almost a sense of fun in thinking it all up and then making it - free gifts to us, the stewards of the earth.

This is our God. We are made in his image and we are called, as his disciples, to grow a character like his. Can we be as generous too? Generous enough to give more money, time and love than we are actually asked to give? Generous with praise and affirmation? Generous with laughter, jokes and creative enjoyment?

In a hurried, crowded and pressured world we are tempted to guard our spaces, our relationships, our privacy and our time. We sometimes look mean and grudging.

Grace is the name for the overwhelming undeserved love of God in Jesus Christ. If we have experienced grace, then our response should be an open-hearted gratitude that makes us generous.

And selfless generosity is compellingly attractive.

Valuing Money

Peter Heslam - LICC

'Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack", he said, "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.' (Mark 10:21-22)

For centuries Christians have puzzled over the meaning of this encounter. Is the command to sell up and give to the poor applicable only to this particular young man? If so, the rest of us can ignore it. Or is it for all would-be followers? In which case, the radical rejection of private possessions is a basic requirement of Christian discipleship. Or does the truth lie somewhere between these two - that some people (such as monks and nuns) are called to this way of life, but not the rest of us?

While merit can be found in each of these, I wonder whether the context of this story can help us make some sense of it for ourselves, whatever our particular calling.

In the gospel accounts, the incident occurs straight after Jesus' welcome of little children. That incident ends with Jesus saying, "Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it". These words are immediately followed by the question from the rich young man: "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" The perceptive reader of Mark's account already knows the answer - he is to become as helpless and as vulnerable as a little child.

But what the reader doesn't yet have is an example of what this might mean in practice. So what better illustration than an encounter with someone who was the very opposite of helpless and vulnerable, someone who was rich and powerful.

Jesus' challenge to the rich young man then becomes one we can apply more easily to ourselves. We are called to become like little children. That means having the simplicity of heart to let go of all the things we adults use to secure ourselves against an uncertain future. That means relinquishing the desire to control our circumstances. It means putting ourselves in a position of helplessness and vulnerability.

Only then do we grasp the true value of money. Only then can we discover what God might want us to do with our possessions. Only then do we understand the words on every dollar bill: 'In God we trust'.

The Hours and the Glory?

Jago Wynne - LICC

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

Last month I asked a group of about 50 Christians in the workplace whether they thought they worked
a) too few hours
b) about the right amount of hours
c) too many hours
The results were revealing.

‘Too often our assessment of who we are is wrapped up in the job we do’
No one said they worked too few hours. 40% thought they worked about the right number of hours. 60% considered they worked too many.

So why – if you’re one of the 60% – do you feel you work too many hours? Demands from the boss? Pressing deadlines? The long hours culture in your workplace? The fear of being fired? All those are genuine reasons. But I wonder whether there are issues underlying those reasons which cause us to work – not just long hours – but too many hours week after week after week.

Issue number one is our identity problem. Too often our assessment of who we are is wrapped up in the job we do. That’s why so many struggle when they retire – they feel they have suddenly lost their identity.

Issue number two is our value problem. Too often we get our value, our sense of self-worth, from the size of our salary, or the comments on our annual appraisal.

Issue number three is our purpose problem. Too often we think our purpose in life is to get promoted as fast as possible. To climb the career ladder faster than everyone else.

But God’s Word tells us something very different.

As Christians, our primary sense of identity should be the realisation that we are ‘God’s workmanship’. His work of art. Literally His masterpieces. That is who we are. Our identity isn’t defined by our job.

And where should our feeling of value and worth actually come from? Not from our pay package – but from God’s pay package. We are so precious to God that He paid for us with the death of His Son. We are ‘created in Christ Jesus’.

As for our purpose, God’s desire is for us ‘to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us’. So that’s providing food for your family. It’s being an integral part of the team you work with – earning the right to share your life and your Lord with them. It’s working to keep the business afloat and people’s jobs in existence. All of those are good works for God – and they may cause us to work long hours. But too often our purpose at work is far more egocentric, and that fuels us to work too many hours.

Sometimes a 60 hour working week is just what God wants us to be doing. Sometimes it’s not. And a knowledge of the truth – the truth of our true identity, value and purpose – is the first step in assessing the godliness of our hours.

Life After the Mess

Margaret Killingray - LICC

"So the Lord God banished them form the Garden of Eden to work the ground…" Genesis 3: 23

Ben became a Christian some years after his marriage broke up. Over those years he had lost touch with his two sons. With his new awareness of God's love and forgiveness, he contacted the boys, joyfully expecting to forge new relationships with them and to regain a sense of family. It didn't happen. They simply could not overcome their distrust and sense of betrayal. Ben had found Christ but he would live with the consequences of what he had done for the rest of his life. He still hoped and prayed that reconciliation would happen, but he knew it might not. Jon Venables and Robert Thompson may find that society's reaction is the same as Ben's sons - unforgiving and unforgivable. In this life at least. In the mess, the Lord always offers us his gift of grace.
The consequences of our own sin and the sins of others are part of life. For Adam and Eve, it was expulsion from the garden, the distortion of relationships between men and women, pain in parenting, work as drudgery and stress.

In the mess, the Lord offers to us, as to Ben and to Adam and Eve, his gift of grace, forgiveness and the opportunity for a fresh start. So much is changed when we walk with him. But that fresh start does not wipe out the consequences of past actions, whether our own, other people's, or Adam and Eve's. Instead we have to allow him to use them as paths to maturity in Jesus, and as a means of demonstrating his grace to us - to help us find joy in our work and to make the relationships we have channels of love and grace. And, yes, reconciliation.

Faith and Disappointment

Margaret Killingray-LICC-Word for the Week

‘I’ve done all the right things, put in the hours, done the homework, but the results just don’t come, and as far as I can see they never will. I really want to give up, but I suppose I shall just have to keep on.’ Whether it’s pension investments that don’t work out, teenage children who drift away, the management of a business project that fails to achieve results, or praying for someone who is as far from God as ever, at one level or another we all have to cope with disappointment, even when we have done everything we could to ensure success.

This too was Abram’s experience. In Genesis 15, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.’ But Abram said, ‘O Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?’

Abram’s problem was that a very specific promise about becoming a great nation could only happen if he had a son. He had lived faithfully as far as he could, and had been blessed with prosperity. But what was the point if the one necessary ingredient for success was missing? When he heard the Lord speak words of further blessing, he can only reply, ‘Yes, but… there is no child’. There was no son, no descendants, no nation, just some goods and land that would be added to someone else’s stock when he died. And that would be that.

But then, the Lord took him outside and said, ‘Look up at the heavens and count the stars – if indeed you can count them.’ Then God said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:5,6)

So in response to Abram’s cry of despair, the Lord repeated the promise – and Abram believed him. He jumped from doubt into faith and so cleared the ground for a miracle – not just one baby boy, but descendants as countless as the stars in a clear pre-pollution sky.

Actually there still was no child, only the increasing impossibility of one – nothing had changed except the Lord had spoken again, the promise had been repeated and Abram believed.

We too are called to ‘a long obedience in the same direction’, not to quick results. We need to work steadily and be prepared to wait for results we may never see. Have faith in the Lord. He accepts that, not just the things we achieve.

Working Models

Margaret Killingray - LICC Word for the Week

Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth… but rested the seventh day. Exodus 20:8

I once met someone who had inherited enough money never to have to work. The arguments of past centuries about what not to do on Sunday had little relevance for them. In fact, if they thought about it, they could claim to be living one long holy Sabbath!

But the underlying assumption of the fourth commandment is that human beings work. Back in Genesis 1:28 is the command - ‘Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it. Rule… over every living creature…I give you every green plant for food.’ That really does involve a lot of work, mutually beneficial, co-operative work for the benefit of the community.

Paul reminded the Thessalonians that he had worked very hard when he was with them so that he could pay for his food. It appeared that some believers were not working, perhaps because they expected the Lord’s return pretty soon and wanted to spend their time being ‘spiritual’. Paul’s message to them had been, ‘Anyone unwilling to work should not eat’.

So work in its widest definition is what human beings should be doing, with, of course, obvious exceptions. Work is about fulfilment, satisfaction, and the use of our talents. Work provides us with challenges and rewards. Work teaches us co-operation and teamwork. Work makes it possible for us to provide for ourselves, our families and neighbours, all that we need for our flourishing. We work under the Lordship of the Creator to run his world for the best.

But, it is not just the ‘lucky’ few with no need to work, who are left out of this picture. The twists and turns of a fallen and corrupt world, the deliberate and inadvertent exploitation of others, the godless ideologies that have shaped the labour of millions, have given work a very bad name.

So, we should be grateful where our work does fulfil some of these criteria; challenged where we have the power to change things; patient where work is seriously uncongenial and unavoidable; and supportive and encouraging of the work done by those around us at work, at home and in our churches.

Unknown

God looks on the heart. Gods love and commitment to mankind is never an issue. Mankinds love and commitment to Him is His great heartache.

1...God won't ask what kind of car you drove; He'll ask how many people you drove who didn't have transportation.

2...God won't ask the square footage of your house, He'll ask how many people you welcomed into your home.

3...God won't ask about the clothes you had in your closet, He'll ask how many you helped to clothe.

4...God won't ask what your highest salary was; He'll ask if you compromised your character to obtain it.

5...God won't ask what your job title was; He'll ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.

6...God won't ask how many friends you had; He'll ask how many people to whom you were a friend.

7...God won't ask in what neighborhood you lived, He'll ask how you treated your neighbors.

8...God won't ask about the color of your skin, He'll ask about the content of your character.

9...God won't ask why it took you so long to seek Salvation, He'll be so proud you chose to follow in his foot steps and chose his way of life that he will take you to your mansion in heaven, and not to the gates of Hell.

10....God won't have to ask how many people you shared the Gospel with, He already knows.

Worth it All

Joanne Lowe

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12: 1,2 KJV)

There are times in our lives when we grow so weary of our daily schedules. We wish at times that we could just go on a vacation for a year. For those of us who have committed our lives to Jesus in full time service, we grow weary of criticism, misunderstandings, and being told what we are doing wrong.

I received an email from a Pastor who said almost the same thing. He said that even Pastors need encouragement, as they grow weary of all the criticism. We sometimes forget that Pastors are human just like us. They get tired and need a rest. They also need encouragement. It is not enough to just shake the Pastor's hand after church, and then forget about him for the rest of the week. We need to pray for our Pastor and remind him that Jesus Loves him.

Jesus endured the Cross for the Joy set before Him. Like Jesus, we need to endure the criticism and discouragement for the joy of knowing that we are making Jesus happy.

Keep pressing on in your daily lives; keep serving Jesus and make Him happy. It does not matter if people turn against you. What matters is making Jesus happy.

My friend the King

Heather Coupland

"Whoever loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious will have the king for a friend." (Proverbs 22:11 NIV)

Knowing God as King of Kings doesn’t always mean falling on our faces before him and confessing our sins, although that is obviously a vital part of our relationship with Him. As I go through different seasons in my Christian life there may be times when I’m amazed at God’s mercy towards me or when I’m in complete awe of His power and majesty. I may be spending time seeking Him for guidance or healing, or I might just be enjoying some minutes each day being quiet before Him.

In all these different places, even when I feel as if I’m in the desert, I love to be reminded that this mighty King is also my friend. He who created the universe and causes the sun to rise and set, counts himself my friend. I find that pretty hard to take in. It’s somehow easier to accept that He is my Saviour, my Redeemer or my Lord, they sound much more grand and important and befitting of a king; but my friend?!

A while ago I went on a retreat for leaders’ wives. The woman who was leading one particular session said she wanted us to spend some time listening to music and, to use her phrase, to soak in the presence of God. One of the songs we listened to included the line, ‘The King of love has sent for me.’ As soon as I heard that, God spoke deep into my heart. It was incredible! The King had sent for me. Not like a headmaster because I’d done something wrong and he wanted to express his displeasure. No, I was being called into the presence of the King simply because he loved me and wanted my company.

Do you know that this King wants to be your friend today? Read John 15:9-17 to see what being a friend of Jesus means.

Thank you so much, Lord, that you call me your friend. Help me to know your companionship in everything I do today.

This reading is taken from Day by Day with God © BRF and Christina Press. For more information visit www.brf.org.uk/pages/639.htm

The Armor of God

Anonymous

Who tells you the truth?

'IN THE END PEOPLE APPRECIATE FRANKNESS MORE THAN FLATTERY.' PROVERBS 28:23

Having less information does not make you a lesser person. Life's a school and every new acquaintance a teacher. Whatever others know, they have not always known it. The greatest indictment against not knowing, is not learning, so seize every opportunity. But make sure you pick the right people: those who have earned the right to come alongside, and when appropriate, ask the hard questions, bring perspective and keep you on track. When God sends such people, here are four principles that will help you to treat them correctly.

1) Show appreciation. An attitude of 'I do not expect it so I do not give it' will hurt you and close doors to your future. Never take others for granted and never forget to say thank you

2) Carry your own weight. Do not be self-serving and opportunistic. Always look for ways to make your presence an asset, not a liability. Life owes you nothing except an opportunity to grow

3) Be open and direct about what you want. Rambling speeches and ulterior motives assume that the other person is somehow less intelligent than you. That can be fatal

4) Understand the boundaries. Because others know somebody well enough to call him or her by their first name does not mean you should. If somebody says, 'Hello, my name is Charles,' do not reply with 'What's up Charlie!' Show respect. Do not try to change the protocol to suit the environment you are used to. Observe boundaries, respect others and you will always have people in your life who can help get you to where you need to go.

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