God of Justice

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The Bible tells us in many places that God is just and loving. In my own life I’ve experienced His justice. He has given me all I want or need and given me far more than I deserve. So why do I have friends who suffer and struggle?

At this present time I am saddened by the situation of a friend who is going through all kinds of trouble. She has sick and ailing parents and parents-in-law, living a way away which involves travelling a distance to attend to their needs. Her role as a parent is particularly hard at this time . Now I’ve just heard that her mobile phone has been hacked. I have to cry out, why, Lord, why?

I thought I’d learned not to ask that question of the Lord. God reigns over all the universe. The Lord God can do no wrong. I do believe that. God does answer these prayers of mine, but often in ways I don’t expect. I love this friend of mine and don’t want her to suffer. There are all kinds of unsatisfactory answers I can give, Everything will work out all right in the end, she will have her reward in heaven, God is trying to teach her something. I do not understand at all, the only thing i can do is prayer and by sharing this with you all, I know you can pray for her too. God is the God of justice, I have no answers to my questions but I know God is in control.

Repeated Prayers

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There are times when this world seems to be an unjust place. Wickedness appears to abound. and wrong doing goes unpunished. The devil seems to have too much sway. We can feel helpless but this is not the case. We have a direct line to God to pray about these matters. The Bible tells us that the prayers of a righteous man avail much. By praying about injustice we can make a difference.

God is waiting to hear from us; He wants dialogue with us. Our persistent prayers do make a difference. When we look back over history, we see that prayer has made a difference. Prayer again slavery and communism with God filled action has made a change.

When we pray over an injustice we will not be the only person who is praying. Our prayers will be united with others to assail the Kingdom of Heaven. Persistent God-filled prayer will be effective. We read of the widow in a certain city, repeatedly bombarding a judge to give her justice. It was her continual persistence that eventually got her wish granted

When we pray for loved ones to come to faith, it might involve many years of prayer. There is never a time to give up. We all know wonderful stories where a husband or wife finds the Lord after decades of prayer. There is never a time to give up. It is said that George Muller prayed for 100 people who all repented before he died, except for six.who were converted at his funeral!

Who Do We Pray For?

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How much do our prayers reflect what is in our hearts? Are our prayers mainly for ourselves or for others.? We have so many wants and needs, there will always be problems and worries for the day ahead and the easing of aches and pain. E-mails, phone calls and the post will throw up further difficulties. Our prayer requests are endless. Suddenly the time we have allowed for prayer is over.

Then when will we be able to pray for those in need? When is the opportunity to pray for our needy neighbours, our sick relatives or the fragile political state of the world? Our prayers reflect the state of our hearts; are they selfish and inward-looking?. I have found a way of coping with this problem. During the night when I wake up i use this time of wakefulness to pray for others. I have a daily list for those who need my prayers, mostly for people who have still to come and love the Lord. Then I pray for those I know who have problems and finally I cast my mind back over the previous day and pray for those I had contact with.

Of course, I drift back to sleep during these times but as I re-awake I continue praying. I don’t feel it is wrong to have interrupted prayer in this way. During the night my prayers are always for others, never for myself. This ensures that others do get prayed for, I can always pray for myself at any time during the day. I don’t want a selfish heart.

Ears

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It has recently been pointed out to me that my hearing is not perfect, there are times I miss-hear or don’t hear at all. But I’m sure the same is true of my spiritual hearing as well. Do I hear when God is speaking to me, or am I like children when they pretend not to hear an instruction given to them? There are times when the words God says to us are unwelcome. We don’t want to hear His correction or a leading when it doesn’t fit in with out plans. Yet the prophets and the Psalmist urges the people on behalf of God, ‘Give ear to my cry’, ‘give ear to Me, all you nations.’ In Revelation we read ‘he who has ears to hear, let him hear.’

We need to keep our spiritual ears from harm. Listening to unsavory and un-Godlike things will do them and us harm. What goes in the ear will permeate into the mind and do spiritual damage. In .Philippians 4 we are urged ‘whatsoever things are true, noble, right, pure, lovely and honourable, think on these things.’

Hearing and listening is a two way thing. We also cry out to God for Him to hear us but fortunately, He is more ready to hear than we are to speak to Him. His ears are never damaged or closed. He will always hear.

Only a Housewife.

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‘Lord, I believe that You are the Messiah, the Son of God, the One coming into the world.’ John 11:25-27.

This was not said by someone who had spent their whole life studying the scriptures.These were words of affirmation which were uttered not by a learned scholar or member of Jesus’ elite group of disciples. This was not said by a scholarly person. It was said by a housewife. Martha, who we believe hadn’t spent her life in study, but preparing meals and washing up. She had grasped the fact that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. This was the woman who previously been admonished by Jesus for being too preoccupied in domestic chores. Yet she had grasped the truth that many others had struggled to understand.

Today, when asked their occupation, some ladies apologetically answer, I’m just a housewife.’ ‘I’m a stay at home, mum.’ These are phrases which down-play important roles. Housework keeps home life ticking over. It has been said ‘the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world’, showing how important parenthood is. These roles can be used to shape youngsters in the way that they should go and many in later life will have cause to thank their parents.. We don’t read of Martha being a mother but she was a help and good influence to her family around her.

Spread the Word

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‘How can they believe in one who they have not heard,’ Romans 10:14

Do you remember the first time you heard of the love of Jesus? Maybe not. Perhaps you were brought up in a Christian home and the Bible was read regularly. But there would have been a first time when the words hit home to your heart. Maybe you only had a knowledge of God until that first day you heard and believed. If you remember the date, it would be written on your heart.

However or whenever your conversation came to be it was when you passed from darkness into light. But someone had to tell you, whether it was by word of mouth, from a sermon or a friend, or a song or the written word as in the scriptures. God came knocking on the door of your heart and you responded.

If you have fifty friends there are fifty different ways you could let them know about the love of God. Each person is unique, every approach will be different. When we think of the various ways we all came to know about God, we know there are many different approaches that we can use. We need to be guided by the Holy Spirit. Today there is a greater need for us to evangelize. We can’t leave it to the schools or parents. Teaching of the Christian faith is no longer the norm. God will be using us to ‘spread the Word.’

My Own Plank

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My hairdresser shared with me an incidence in her life. Her daughter was struggling at school and it was felt she might be dyslectic. The problem was the daughter was frightened to take the test. Her mother, my hairdresser, offered also take the test alongside her. The results showed that the daughter was not dyslectic but the mother was! This result was quite unexpected as she had passed all her hairdresser exams with flying colours.

This immediately reminded me of the teaching from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7. Jesus showed a sense of humour here. Obviously no-one can have a plank in their own eye, but Jesus contrasted it with the piece of sawdust in the brother’s eye. The sawdust is the smallest piece of a splinter you can have. The plank is impossible and ridiculous. But it does show up how hypocritical we can be as we are so blind to our own faults. We have no difficulty in seeing where others are going wrong, while at the same time we’re rushing down the same path..

Have Faith in God

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‘I can do all things through God who strengthens me.’ the Bible tells us in Philippians 4:13

The neon light outside a church I passed daily as a child said ‘Have faith in God.’ So much was it a part of our landscape that we would ask the bus driver to drop us off at ‘Have Faith in God, using it as the name for the bus stop. I never thought about the words then, it was just there. Over the decades I wonder how many people like myself had never thought about the meaning of those words and how many have taken the words to heart.

Eric Liddle, Gladys Aylward and others have had faith in God and done great work for Him. Hudson Taylor and many more of God’s servants went to the country of China under the strength of God. Mary Slessor witnessed in Nigeria. Countless missionaries in the past and today have worked for the Lord under that same banner. They went in the strength of God and achieved great things for Him.

How often do we rely on our own strength and have faith on our puny endeavours? How often do we fail to achieve because our will power is not enough? Today we teach our youngsters they can do anything if they have enough faith in themselves. Not true. Apart from God, we can do nothing.

I Want to See

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‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Mark 10:51, Jesus asked Bartimaeus. This was actually a loaded question because He knew that when He gave healing and sight was restored, the man’s life would never be the same again. No longer would he be dependent on others. In the future he wouldn’t be receiving coins to keep him going, he would have to work for a living. He wouldn’t be an object of pity but would be responsible and active in society.

It’s interesting to note that the blind man ‘threw his cloak aside.’ His symbol of being a beggar was no longer needed. He would now be a respectable citizen and not a beggar. He moved from being dependent to being independent. There would be future calls upon his status in society.

When we go from blindness of the heart to the sight of redemption, when we move from darkness to light, everything about our life will change. We’re no longer our own, we’re answerable to God. No longer can we steal, cheat or lie, even slightly. Our standards are different.There are no excuses for our sin; we can’t continue in our selfishness, we have a responsibility to others. We have been shown forgiveness, this forgiveness needs to be passed on to others. As well as receiving help, we now need to give help to others. We become fledgling missionaries, the Good News can’t be kept to ourselves as we follow in the steps of so many before us.

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One Day at a Time

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‘Give us this day our daily bread.’ Matthew 6:11

In the prayer that Jesus taught we are instructed only to ask for provision for the present day. We trust that God will give this to us and know that when on the next day we ask for provision for that day, He will also give it. Tomorrow’s problems should not be today’s worries.

When I was moving house, I recall writing in my diary ‘I’m learning not to leave to tomorrow what should be done today and not to do today what can be left until tomorrow.’ This allowed me to cope with the numerous tasks. Matthew 6:34 tells us ‘So do not worry about tomorrow.’ Obviously some plans for the future need to be made; to have no forward planning would be unwise.

But we do not need to worry about the future, God has everything under control. In the words of Hudson Taylor ‘Bear not a single care yourself, one is too much for thee, the work is Mine and Mine alone, your work is to rest in Me.’ Why do we find it easier to worry than to pray? We have no knowledge or control over the future. Let’s leave it to Him who knows and controls the future. In modern parlance ‘ Sufficient unto the day, is the evil thereof.’

There is a lesson is to be learned from the manna which God provided for Israelites when they were in the desert. Provision was given for one day at a time, they couldn’t stockpile the food.