Thankfulness

Thankfulness

I have so much for which to thank God. So very much. I have food and shelter. I have enough money to buy more food and to keep me warm this winter. I have a wonderful loving relationship with my wife and our family. I have a wonderful loving relationship with my church family too. I have good health. I have a wonderful loving Saviour and a close relationship with Him which allows me to talk with Him any time, anywhere.

I really do have a great deal for which to be grateful. So do so many other people – but some of them either don’t know it, or they somehow cannot acknowledge it or even recognise it. Others always want more no matter how much they already have. With winter threatening to land some of that cold, wet, white stuff on us, many people are stockpiling almost anything they can get their hands on. They give little or no thought to those in their midst who cannot do the same for whatever reason – finances, mobility, old age – it doesn’t register at all.

Some people are simply ungrateful. Whatever their situation, their glass is always half empty. They always want more; they deserve more; they demand more; and they will do almost anything to get more. I watched in absolute amazement one holiday weekend as a lady filled three shopping trolleys, a shopping buggy to you American ladies, with food of every description. She must have had enough to feed a whole army regiment and it cost her about £400. Imagine how shocked I was to see her just two days after the weekend with two more shopping trolleys full of food costing another £200+.

Now imagine my feelings upon reading a recent national newspaper headline announcing that we throw away nearly half the food we buy. I felt every emotion from outright disgust to mischievous glee at the thought that at least one person to my knowledge probably wasted in the region of £300 or $500 on food that was thrown away – wasted. With half the world under-fed and under-nourished, here we are in the West throwing half the food we buy into the rubbish.

I took all of these thoughts to the Lord. Not to complain or whine but I just wanted to unload my feelings. I mean, in our ministry in this small Midlands town of Sleaford, we see many who could live royally on that one woman’s discards for a long time. Yet they have no money and no home. They come to our food bank for their food. Some love it but more hate the ignominy and perceived “disgrace” of living on handouts. No matter how many come, we try to treat them all with the same respect and dignity. Some are still shamefaced about it; some want more; but some are truly grateful. These few have an attitude of gratitude.

An attitude of gratitude is what we all need to develop. Gratitude begets a cheerful and giving spirit. Gratitude helps us appreciate not just that which we have but also that which we both give and receive. The attitude of gratitude knows how to receive a blessing – any blessing no matter how “small” it may seem to others. Gratitude spills over into our relationship with God and He blesses us some more. We have been on the receiving end of this – and we are grateful. It has taught us that we must all make room for a little gratitude in our lives. Gratitude to God for all His blessings, however they arrive, and gratitude that spawns a giving, sharing, blessing attitude towards others.

Develop the attitude of gratitude and pass it on to all you meet. It will bless you as well as blessing them.

Toothache

Toothache

There is nothing quite like a bit of toothache to bring on a touch of depression, is there? Nothing nags away so insistently and so annoyingly as toothache. It is one of the most feared afflictions that mankind can have – not because of any real danger to health, but because it is so relentless – and it usually starts at night when all good dentists are most unlikely to do anything for you. Talking of dentists, of “Fang Farriers” as a friend of mine used to call them, have you seen their prices these days? I have never, ever seen a poor dentist.

Toothache is a bit like sin really. Once you know about it, it troubles you until you do something about it, and then the cost is high. Again it is like sin, because once we get relief, or once we are forgiven, the sense of relief is so great and we are so very grateful. Yet many people tolerate it for seemingly an unending time before they feel so moved and pained by it to do anything about it.

Sometimes we even get comfortable with it – especially sin. With sin, the temporary relief comes when someone tells us, “Never mind, you can’t help it.” Then they tell you something like, “Jesus knows and He understands, and He will forgive you.” Its like an aspirin to an ache sufferer – it gets rid of the pain for a while, but it doesn’t resolve the problem. Yes Jesus does know, and understand, and He will forgive you provided, of course, you confess your sin. But, like your toothache, He will remind you of it again and again until you do something about it.

AND forgiveness is always free – unlike the dentist.

Why not take your old persistent sin to the cross today. Give it to the Lord and let Him deal with it. Feel free once again and rejoice in God’s goodness and mercy as He forgives you once more. But like all repentance, to make it stick, turn away from your sin and do it no more.

Just do it !!

Holiness

Holiness

1 Peter 1:15-16  "But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

Is this the Lord’s call on you this year? I feel it is, for many, the 2013 “Name of the Game”. At a time when the world is going down the drain, and much of the church is following the world, I hear the call of God to those who will listen to “Come closer, come deeper, Be Holy because I am Holy.”

My wife and I recently visited a prayer retreat centre for just half a day. We were seeking the Lord for His will for us. We knew He had brought us to this place for a time such as this. A door was opening and we wanted to hear what was God’s will for us. We had been still in His presence for a while and both felt we had heard something from God. I wrote mine down so my wife went first. She spoke about coming deeper and being more holy. I had written, “Come deeper – personal holiness”. I felt that this was not just for us – no matter how accurately we had echoed each others thoughts – but that this was for the whole church in preparation for the coming days of trials and testing.

I, along with many others, believe that Jesus is coming for His Bride very soon. That being so, it is logical to say that we are in the Biblical end times. This also being so, it is also logical to believe the prophecies of those end times, prophecies of troubles, persecution, and stormy weather symptoms, to be imminent. Many such prophecies are indeed happening right now, especially those of persecution and of storms, earthquakes, fires, floods, and wars. From all of this, it is but a short and fairly obvious step to understanding the requirement of greater personal holiness in order to both prepare us for His coming, and to equip us for the harvest.

Having established the reasoning for greater personal holiness, one has now only to ask this – are you ready for Jesus to return? Would you be ready if He returned tonight, or even tomorrow? Is your lamp ready – full of oil, wick trimmed, and oil to spare?

If not, then maybe it’s time to be prepared.

In Quietness and Confidence

In Quietness and Confidence

Have you noticed that preachers frequently shout their message at their audience rather than speaking their message to their audience. There is something inherently  ill-mannered about shouting. Social media is full of it. Instead of actual shouting, many folk send entire messages in capital letters. It’s like shouting that “you will hear me even if you don’t wish to listen.” In an age when it seems that he who shouts loudest gets heard first and therefore listened to, it is somewhat inspiring to receive advice that runs contrary to this.

I had been discussing my unaccustomed nervousness over my latest tasking when my friend made the remark. I received a text that simply said “In quietness and confidence will be your strength.” What revelation does my friend have that I don’t have? Quietness has never been my style. I am brash and noisy; given to sharp humour usually at others expense. What’s all this about quietness? My wife gently reminded me that, quite frequently, when I speak in church, I tend to get quieter and quieter – almost forcing people to listen hard. Hmmm – this is complex.

When I think back over a few decades, many of the very best speakers I have been privileged to have heard in person were not shouters but expounded their messages quietly and with a certainty of heart that made their message ring true – certainly more true than if it had been bellowed at us with a belligerence that said, “Argue with me at your peril.”

So, if my leading and my speaking is done in quietness and with gentleness, then I think I am to assume it will have far more effect than if I shout and make a lot of un-necessary noise about everything. Certainly, quietly spoken requests are far more likely to receive the acquiescent response.

I may have to give this a proper go – see what happens.

Pioneering

Pioneers

Have you ever wondered what it was like to be a pioneer? To go where no man has gone before or to do what no one else has ever done before? As I heard these questions from the Lord, I also heard Him ask me, “Do you think I ever re-invented the wheel?” I am sure it must amuse the Lord to ask these virtually rhetorical questions - just to see how we fathom out the answers. What we say and how we say it will tell Him much about our readiness for things He is about to set before us. Not that He isn’t aware of this, but it also prepares us for the real test of when He launches us, often headlong, into new things.

Seriously, when we are regarded as starting something generally regarded as a little bit “pioneering”, do you think that no-one has ever done this thing before? Do you think that others have never tried? I don’t think there is much left on earth to truly pioneer these days. However, there is much that has been done before that the Lord is asking us, in our generation, to do again. This is what I refer to as ‘re-inventing the wheel’. Yet it is pioneering activity as far as we are concerned because we have never tried anything like it before. Others may have done so with varying degrees of success, but we have never done it.

Yes, I think that God re-invents the wheel every day and He uses pioneers to do so. The main difference is that He uses each of us to do the pioneering, the re-invention – my, how he must laugh at some of our efforts! However, that said, He always makes our poor imitation of His original work sufficiently well for us to complete what He set out for us to complete.

So don’t worry that you have not done a good enough job for God. If you tried and gave your very best, He will use your efforts for His glory and His plans will succeed. His will will be done on earth just as it is in heaven.