Words2encourage

On Saturday night the BBC News announced that the Treasury had told government departments to outline plans to show what 40% spending cuts would look like in their various areas. Humanly speaking this is a frightening prospect and one that will no doubt cause much anxiety to many people.

Interestingly yesterdays devotional reading from My Utmost For His Highest focused on Psalm 37:8 which tells us not to fret as it only causes harm. In particular the last paragraph spoke to me:

Have you been propping up that foolish soul of yours with the idea that your circumstances are too much for God to handle? Set all your opinions and speculations aside and “abide under the shadow of the Almighty” ( Psalm 91:1 ). Deliberately tell God that you will not fret about whatever concerns you. All our fretting and worrying is caused by planning without God.

The whole piece entitled One of God’s Great “Don’ts” is worth reading.

Tags: Fear, Trust
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There are two types of grief according to 2 Corinthians 7:9-10. One is described as Godly and the other is Worldly. However only one kind leads to repentance.

Tags: Repentance
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There are some wonderful prayers in the Psalms which we can pray for ourselves. I’ve just read the following two which I found very useful:

Search me, O God, and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24)

Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil, to take part in wicked deeds with men who are evildoers; let me not eat of their delicacies. (Psalm 141:3-4)

Tags: Prayer, Psalms
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The Psalmist confidently declares in Psalm 135:5 “I know that the Lord is great, that our Lord is greater than all gods.”

Interesting he does not say “I believe that the Lord is great” but instead “I know.” To him there is no doubt, debate or hesitation it is a fact that the Lord is great.

So do I know that? Well of course I do is the quick answer that comes back! As Christians it’s easy sometimes to come up with the right answer to questions like that. However deep down in my heart do I really know that as a reality in my day to day life?

If I know that the Lord is great then I can rest secure in Him and not worry about the future. There may be difficult economic times ahead but if I know the Lord is great that should make a difference to my life.

There are many wonderful expressions of praise and worship in the Psalms. If I know that the Lord is great then this be shown in my worship of Him. It should be full of awe, amazement and wonder at His greatness.

May we all be able to say sincerely “I know that the Lord is great!”

Tags: Psalms
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I am currently reading through the Psalms and one of the themes that is occuring regulary is the psalmist saying that God is his refuge and the importance of trusting in God.

As our new government prepares to annouce its spending plans many people are nervous about how this will effect them. I think we need to learn from the psalmist and ensure that we take refuge in God and trust Him.

Trust in Him at all times , O people: Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Psalm 62:8

It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. Psalm 118:8

Tags: Psalms
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Anyone who is following the current general election campaign will have heard that David Cameron is speaking a lot about change.

Whatever your political views maybe as Christians we all know that God will challenge us about the changes that are needed in our life. But are we willingly to change?

Here is a link to an article I previously wrote on change.

Tags: To repent, Transformed
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This morning I was reading Psalm 15 in which David asks the question “Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?” He lists some characteristics of such a person and then at the end of verse 3 says, “and casts no slur on his fellow man.”

According to the dictionary the word “slur” means: a disparaging remark, an insult or slight.

The Bible contains much teaching on the importance of the words we speak and James warns us that praising God and cursing men, who he has made, out of the same mouth is not acceptable.

Most of us no doubt have opened our mouths and said things that we later regretted. At work we can recall emails and resend them if we decide to rephrase something we have said. However you cannot do that with words that you speak. Once you open your mouth and say them it’s too late to recall them!

These days we also have to remember that we can slur someone by a comment we might leave on a blog or something we might post on any of the social media sites like Facebook or Twitter.

We need God’s grace to help us ensure that our words are honouring and pleasing to Him.

Prayer: “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight. O Lord. my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

Tags: Psalms, Words
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Charles Haddon Spurgeon was a remarkable preacher who at his funeral service was called the “Prince of Preachers.” By his early 20′s he was regularly preaching to crowds of several thousand and his sermons are still read widely today. He obviously had a very special gifting and calling from God.

However what he was really like in private? What was his prayer life like? What was his attitude towards the Bible? Peter Morden in this very readable biography endeavours to answer these questions as he seems to reveal the real Spurgeon to us.

The book contains twelve chapters in which the author looks at different aspects of Spurgeon’s life. Each chapter ends with sections entitled “Digging Deeper” and “Engage” in which we are challenged to see what we can learn about Spurgeon’s life and how God may be speaking to us through this famous preacher.

If you are looking for a book that covers Spurgeon’s life and ministry in great depth then this book is not for you. However if you want to really know what Spurgeon was like and if you believe there are lessons that you can learn from Spurgeon’s life and are prepared to think through the issues raised in each section then this book is certainly for you.

The author recommends that you have a notebook with you and take notes as you read each chapter. I would recommend this too. Also I would suggest that you read one chapter a day of the book rather than read it straight through as that will help you gain more from it.

Tags: Spurgeon
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This morning I came across a posting entitled Act Like a Soldier of Christ which reminds us that we are soldiers of Christ and that we must not neglect the battle against sin, the world and the devil.

Being a member of the Anglican church I see a number of baptism and thought that it would be good to remind myself of the following part of the baptism service:

The sign of the cross
The minister will make the sign of the cross on the forehead of the child using the water. This is a sign to remind us of how Christ died for each one of us on the cross. As Christ died for us so we are now signed with the cross -the badge of our faith – to remind us that we must not be ashamed to profess our faith and fight against all that is evil.

Minister: I sign with the cross, the sign of Christ. Do not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ crucified.
The congregation says: Fight valiantly under the banner of Christ against sin, the world and the devil, and continue his faithful soldier and servant to the end of your life.

May we all indeed fulfil these vows and be true soldiers of Christ!

Tags: Discipleship
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Today around the world many Christians will greet each other with the words “Christ is Risen” to which the respond will be “He is Risen Indeed!”

I wonder how the first disciples felt when they heard that Jesus’ tomb was empty and He was alive? We have an advantage over them in so much as we know that Easter Sunday follows Good Friday. However the first disciples did not realise that when Jesus was crucified. They thought that was the end. Their world was shattered. All their dreams destroyed.

When Mary Magdalene and the other women told the disciples what they had seen at the tomb, the disciples did not believe them. Jesus then appeared to them and they were terrified. Slowly it began to dawn on them that Christ had indeed risen as He revealed Himself to them. The joy, excitement, amazement, wonder they must have felt.

This Easter lets ask God that we might too experience these emotions. The resurrection of Jesus must not be something that we just believe in our minds. We want our hearts to be truly amazed and excited as we hear those wonderful words: He is Risen!

Tags: Resurrection
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