15.02.21.
A book to read;
“All things are possible with God.” by Maureen Wise.
For some years Maureen has been a missionary to Moldova and she writes that she was only a witness of God’s powerful work in that country. This is an amazing read which will remind us that the God we truly love is an all powerful God who does mighty things.
We ought to read a book like this, especially in the world in which we live, because with the little that seems to be taking place in our churches, our great need is get a great view of our great God.
09.02.21.
Philippians chapter 4:6. “Be anxious for nothing, but in every thing by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” [NKJV]
We are living in anxious times and even the most laid back of individuals are finding ‘Lockdown life’ stressful.
We worry and worry, but what can we do? Often we can do nothing, we are not in control of events and circumstances.
However we know God is always in control. Everything is according to His will. It has to be so or otherwise He is not God. So the word of God tells us to be “Anxious for nothing”; God’s word then tells us to bring all our anxieties to God in prayer.
There is however another interesting part to this verse we are to bring our prayers to God, “With thanksgiving”. Do really do that? Or do we simply complain to Him?
In thinking of this text there are 4 words from the previous verse that have been a great help to me as I come to the Lord in my anxiety and they are “The Lord is near.” [my translation]. How good it is to know that the Lord is always near; that He is alongside us in our anxious times and always ready to listen to our less than perfect prayers.
01.02.21.
“Humility is needed before the Word and the world.” – [Robert Sheehan]
Last Wednesday [27.01.21] we looked at the subject of “What is the purpose of suffering?
Here are 6 positive things we discovered from the Puritan pastor Richard Baxter who on many occasions faced death.
1] Sickness gives us time to renew our lives.
Is there anything in our lives that needs to be confessed or something that needs to be done? Are our consciences clear before God and man?
2] Sickness gives us time to renew our faith in Christ.
With the busyness of life and the urgency of responsibilities, we can sadly ignore our Saviour.
3] Sickness gives us time to renew and commit to memory some of the promises of God from His Word.
Here are some of those precious Scripture texts:-
Psalm 23; John 14:1-3; Hebrews 8:12; 2 Corinthians 5:1-5; Romans 8:1; 1 John 3:1-2; Revelation 14:3.
4] Do not misunderstand the purposes of sickness.
a] For Paul it was to humble him. (2 Corinthians 12:9)
b] To loosen our grip on this world and to strengthen our hold on Christ.
c] To overcome our natural unwillingness to die and to welcome the prospect of heaven.
At this point Baxter posed the question; “Would you chose your loved ones over Christ?” – now that requires some serious thought on our part.
5] Sickness gives us time to consider the glory of Heaven.
6] Sickness gives us time to consider the blessedness and the joy of the saints [and the angels] who are now in Christ.
Our chief joy will obviously be Christ Jesus our Lord; but let us not forget the great crowd of witnesses that have gone on before us.
“Think of that blessed company whose tears have been wiped away, whose burdens have been lifted and whose fears have been replaced with a peace that passes all human understanding.”