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What’s in a song:
New Every Morning

1) The Lords Lovingkindnesses

In me will never cease

And His compassion's

Will never fade away

They new every morning

They are new every day

2) For great is thy faithfulness

For great is thy faithfulness

Lord Have mercy

3) The Lords amazing graceful

(thank you Lord)

It abounds to us every day

And His great mercies

Never fade away

They are new every morning

They are new every day

4) Great is thy faithfulness [rpt x2]

   Just as the Sun breaks over the horizon, chasing away the darkness, like blowing away a feather. No matter what happens to you during the day before, no matter what countries are warring. As the sunlight lights up your bedroom, and the shrill of your alarm clock awakes you from slumbering.
   As we work our way down this song I will show where the song reference's the bible.

1] ‘The Lords lovingkindness – In me will never cease’

The Psalmist puts this way . .
Psalm 92:2 “To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,
And Your faithfulness every night, [and day]”
. . just as your body should be fully rested and refreshed, so should your mind, and also your Faith.

   It can’t be stressed enough, for to give thanks in the morning to God for all His compassion’s, every morning. Just as we would wish and thank each day our loved ones, so to then should we not thank the Lord our God. In other words we are offering up our worship to Him, with thanks giving in our hearts.

   No matter how good the Lord has been for us the day before, His goodness & lovingkindness has been .. Laminations 3:23 “They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness” .. did you see that, not just once a Week ~ Month ~ Year or even in a lift time, instead “every morning”, so ready to go again the next morning. God is never tired ~ bored or fed up, He will be there “every Morning”, ready to go again.

2] "For great is thy faithfulness,

     For great is thy faithfulnes Lord Have mercy"
Psalm 119:90 “Your faithfulness endures to all generations"

   Our Heavenly Fathers “Faithfulness” is not particular to one age group. It transcends to all ages, from the youngest to the eldest of us. There is NO restrictions, all you need to do is ‘have Faith & believe’. It is as simple as that! So when singing ‘Lord have mercy’, we are acknowledging that we are far from perfect, hence why asking Jesus to forgive our daily transgressions, and that is why we need to have Hiss tender mercies each & every Morning.

Q: What transgressions are we asking

His tender mercies for?

3]  "The Lords amazing graceful (thank you Lord), 

        It abounds to us every day And His great mercies 

       Never fade away They are new every morning .They 

       are new every day"
   What a verse, if you ever had any doubts as to what God has to offer, then this is the one, never has been made more clear for you. As I has just spoke of there are NO sacrifices needed .. NO Cattle .. NO Sheep .. NO Goats. ‘Only Gods amazing Grace’, free to ALL who have Faith in the only one true living God, who wants to show His wonderful tender mercies. . .
Psalm 84:11 “The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold”
(NLT) “the Lord bestows favour and honour”
… see that “grace and glory” or “favour and honour”. He wants to shower us with all the Heavenly riches in our lives, lets step out in Faith, and receive these Heavenly sent gifts. In saying thank you in Faith believing. . .
1 Chronicles 16:8 “Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name”
.. whenever someone gives a gift, with no strings attached, it only good manners that you say thank you? Isn’t it? How many times have you said thank you? Every times I think?

“It abounds to us every day”
[NLT] Philippians 1:9 “I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding”
“And His great Mercies” .. His tender mercies are new every Morning/day, if we are not carrying any of yesterdays sin over into the next day. So we must be ready to respond to the conviction of the Holy spirit, thus taking responsibility for our sin that day, confessing it to the Lord, them trusting His mercy. . .
Psalm 89:1 “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations”
.. By letting known .. “to all generations” .. meaning NO age or ethnicity exceptions, is the only way we can assure of spreading his great love. Because there is NO greater thing, when receiving His love/mercy. Remember always, just because His Mercy/Love is new every morning, that they are just going to stop suddenly, think again as they WILL be new every Morning, to never stop. Listen to Paul put here. . .
1 Peter 1:4 “to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you”
.. This is why we sing .. “will not fade away” .. who else make you that promise, and no matter of life trials, He will keep all promises made. Never become despondent, or down in the heart. Just because it did not happen there and then, His promise will come to florishon. Never let scoffers steel your Heaven sent faith, be stollen from you, instead stand firm ~ and proud ~ stand strong.

   Just because you come to end of another day, where all it seemed is you banged your head against a brick wall all the day long. Remember this . . .

“They are new every Morning

They new every Day”

.. So when settling down each night, remember His mercies are New Fresh every Morning, so don’t panic or worry.

4] “Great is thy faithfulness
      Great is thy faithfulness”
   How many times have we given our assurances, that others can count on us, only for when we are called upon, to let them down breaking the very promise we said we would keep. In doing so then telling them that your not faithful, or your not to be counted upon. Unlike God whose faithfulness is refreshed every morning , along with His tender mercies.
   So every Morning let us point our faces to Heaven, raise your hands up high, sing to Heaven and rejoice. . .
Psalm 89:1 “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Fi5S1PRvLA
(copy this link and paste into your browser)

Prayer
Heavenly father we thank you for saving us, we thank you for your tender mercies, may we not miss use your mercies, instead making the most of them each and every day. In Jesus name we pray.

 

Coming this Friday

Whats in a Song: 

New Every Morning

Coming on April 7th 

What's in a Song:

Who is there like you

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What is Consecration

   We hear the Word banded about from time to time, what does it actually mean?
Consecration:- it derives from the word [Konsikrei]
Consecration .. There are some 23 words that are Synonyms ~Antonyms ~ idiomatic expressions, as well as other related words for .. Consecration .. such as Dedication; Glorification; making Holy; Anointing; Hallowing; enthronement; Ordination; Immortalisation; Sacrament; Communion.

This was a small selection of related words, which helps to shine a light on to the whole meaning of Consecration, for Christians it is the …

• The action of declaring the ‘bread & wine’ to be, or represent the body & blood of Christ.
• The action of making, or declaring something typically a church action.
• The Ordaining of someone to a sacred office, typically that of the Pope.

... The first condition of consecration, that we must always be entirely/complete readiness to accept Gods will for our lives. It’s not enough to just be willing to do Christians work. There are many people who are quite ready to do certain things in the service of Christ, and there those who are ready to do anything He might want them to do. So many will have their own ‘pet-projects’, in Christian work, our pleasant past times of service for our Master, some things we like to do. Into these we enter with enthusiasm, and we suppose we are so willing to these things.
Leviticus 20:7 “Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God”

   But the heart of consecration is not devotion to this or that of service for Christ, it His the divine will. It’s readiness to do, and here’s the kicker, to do NOT what we want to do in Christ’s service, but what He [Christ] gives us to do. When we reach this state of readiness we shall not need to wait long to find our spirit filled word.

   The next condition of consecration, resulting from this is the holding our life directly and always for the will of Christ. Not only must we be willing to do His will, what ever/wherever it is, we must be willing to do it, this is the practical part. . .
Deuteronomy 12:28 “Be careful to obey all my commands, so that all will go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and pleasing to the Lord your God”
… The moment Christ wants us for any service, we must drop everything and respond to His Call, just as Abraham did. [Genesis 22]. Our little plans must be made always under His eye, as fitting into, and as part of, His perfect plan for our lives. We must take our arrangements engagements with the consciousness that the Master may have other use or work for us, and at His bidding we must give up our plans for His instead.

Exodus 14:4 “I have planned this in order to display my glory”
Proverbs 19:21 “You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail”
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope”

   Whilst at work we all enjoy a ‘good-day’, which brightens our heart. We hope our plans have nothing will spoil our dreams for the day. We anticipate this unbroken day in our jobs, that we very much enjoy. But, the first hour is scarcely passed before, someone calls you. Sadly the call is not one that brings joy, but instead only concern, as so you can’t see how to resolve the problem. It may even seem needless even pointless, like .. ‘A neighbour pops round sit a while, someone whom is without work. They only came around to while away some of their empty hours. Or, though all you seek is rest, but the sound of the phone punches the golden silence...
[NIV] Hebrews 13:15-16 “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased”
[NLT] V16 “And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God”
. . . It’s Friday evening, you’ve eaten, and slumped into that comfy chair, then let out that end of week sigh to say you made it through a very physical & mentally trying week and am spent. When the shrill of the phone cuts through the air.

   Now the Friday before a close friend had led you to the Lord Christ Jesus. At this beginning of the week, you had prayed for the Lord to prosper you, through His plans for your life. It seems very clear to you that the call which has disturbed you has some connection with your consecration. Those people who called you, Christ (in fact) sent you, perhaps they really need you? They may be in discouragement, which you could change to cheer, even changing diss-pair which you can change with help from Jesus, to turn into help. Or, it may be someone facing temptation, having a moment of crisis. Or, it could be someone in desperation, who just wants end it all, as life has become too much, but have just called you on this Friday evening, before hand as a last cry for help. Christ will never give you, or put you in, a situation that you cannot handle with Him working through you.

   On the flip side, there is no such need in any of those who come and spoil your planned quite hour, but instead of being a person needing your time, they actually bring you blessings, in the very discipline which comes in the interruption. God wants to train us up in a state or readiness to do His will. So nothing that He sends our way shall ever distress us, or catch us unawares, thus having us in a state of preparedness, to do His will.

   Once our Lord took His disciples apart to rest a while, since there were so many coming and going that they had scarcely had time to eat. But no sooner had they reached their place of resting than the eager people, came hurrying around the shore of the lake, began to gather around them, with their needs ~ their sorrows ~ their sicknesses. Christ did not once murmur, when His plan for rest was thus broken .. Q “How many times has your peace time, rest time, been broken in on?” “Did you let out a grumble or say thank you God?” .. He [Jesus] did not say to them, that He had come to this place for a well needed rest, to recharge their batteries. Instead he forgot His weariest, and gave Himself at once, without the slightest reluctance or with holding, with all His hearts loving warmth and earnestness, to the serving and helping of the people who had followed Him, even in most unmannerly fashion to His retirement.

[NKJ]Psalm 37:7 “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him”
Matthew 11:28/30 “Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light”

   We all become weary, when our time is always being looked for, when all you want is ‘10 mins peace’, but there seems not even that. Remember .. “I will give you rest” .. so don’t fret. We always get examples/lessons of rest from the Master…

• He may follow us to our vacations, with fragments of His will..
• He may call us out into the darkness, or the storm on errands of mercy, after a hard days work, just as you put your slippers on, and are resting with loved ones..
• He may wake us up from sleeing by a loud banging on the front door.

… We not appear unreasonable if we should show that we’re exhausted, and don’t want to go on these errands for Him.. ‘After all there are limits to our Human strengths & endurance’ .. try and always remember, other have NO hold or have a claim over us. We will be fresh & strong in the Lord, the storm will pass. When we find ourselves in a storm, the best thing to do is to go through with the Lord in our boat.

   Somewhere out there is a soul God wants our paths to cross. It may be a chance meeting in a shop, or sitting next to someo0ne on a bus/train or even a plane. So don’t close your ears to Hid divine will. Never refuse to answer His call, as this chance meeting might be the tonic needed, and not just for the stranger. Christ has already consecrated this life . .
Hebrews 10:19/20 “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh”
. . there is no place in this life for beautiful which will not work, or splendid visions which will only be just that ~ theories or splendid visions. We can site scripture verses and their pledges, the hymns we sing. These are all pleasing to God, if we cans how our sincerity and become doers of His will.

James 1:22/23 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror”
   Another form of ‘Consecration’ is ‘humility’. It does not mean great things , like ‘conspicuous service’, but small lowly things, of which we look for neither ‘praise or thanks’. Just the Lord, we must instead be content, to live a life that is not .. boastful ~ prideful ~ puffed up or look at me. 99 times out of a 100 the work that blesses the World, and which most sets forward Gods Kingdom, must always be inconspicuous, along the lines of common duties, in your home ~ Relationships ~ Personal associations ~ in your streets ~ and being helpful in you neighbourhoods and so on.

   To start with ‘Consecration’ must be a spirit within us .. a spirit of love .. a love in our hearts which shall flow out to everyone, in a desire to bless and make better all things in Christ, if only we would follow Christ’s lead. . .
Psalm 31:3 “For You are my rock and my fortress; Therefore, for Your name’s sake, Lead me and guide me”

• One days work leads to another..
• One duty leads to another..

. . . We are never shown maps of continents with all roads of our life shown on them .. I heard this analogy of how we see our lives and how God can see them, OK lay out 10 dominoes in a straight line, stood upright. Looking head on you can only see the first one, now shuffle around to the side, and look again. Now you can see our lives how God sees them, in that you see the beginning form the end, the first from to the last. All we need to is to have faith in the knowledge He sees all.

   We shall always be shown the next challenge, then the next. For if we saw ‘ALL’ of our life’s challenges it would scare the pants of you. If only we would be obedient, there shall never come a time when we cannot know what our next duty is.

“Those who follow Christ's never

walk in darkness”

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your living word, that we can use as the road map to our lives. May we be as so bold as to approach your Heavenly throne through the blood of your Son, Christ Jesus, with humility and a thankful heart, for all you have done and are about to do in our lives. As we live by Faith wholly consecrated to you.

Amen.

Even I only

 

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Even I only

   Elijah, at a certain great crisis, thought he was the only one left to stand for God. There were others but he never knew of them. He was the only one in this field of God. He stood alone, one man against the King and Priest & people. It must have looked like utter foolishness, or splendid heroism.

   There comes a time in our lives, that it is all who are Christians, when we must stand alone for God, without companionship, perhaps without even sympathy or encouragement. Here is a young person, the only one of his family who has confessed Christ Jesus. He takes Him [Christ Jesus] as his saviour, and then stands up in front of the World, and vows to be His [Christ Jesus] and to follow Him. Elijah then decides to visit home. This is because the members of his immediate family circle are indeed very dear to him, although none of them are Christians, and so he must stand alone for Christ amongst them. Perhaps they even oppose him in his discipleship, in varying degrees this often happens in our own experience. Could be that they are just indifferent, making no opposition, only just quietly watching his/your life to see if is just a passing fad with you. If you were consistent for 60yrs. They would still have ready their ..’I told you so’ .. ready. In any case, how ever, we must stand firm for Christ alone without the help that comes your family’s companionships.

# So what if they make you feel alone,

and you feel like everyone is against you.

The fact is your not alone, don’t sit under

this attitude, for God is with you #

   It may be your in the factory, in School, pupil or teacher. As a young Christian you find yourself standing alone. You return to the Lords table to you weekly duties full of noble impulses, but find himself the only Christian. His companions are ready to sneer, and they point the finger of scorn at him with irritating epithets .. below of the word was formed …

… or they might even persecute him in petty ways. At least they are not Christ's friends, he is a follower of the Master finds no sympathy among them in his new life. He has learnt that he must stand alone in his discipleship , conscience all the while that unfriendly eyes are upon him. Many a young & older Christians find it very hard to be the only one to stand for Christ in your normal circle of friends & family, and to stand Christ in your circle in which his daily work fixed him to this one place.

This kind of aloneness, as it can put upon us great responsibility…

• Like .. your the only Christian in your family,
• Like .. your the only one at home through whom to reveal His Love ~ His Grace ~ His Holiness
• Like .. to show your family the beauty of Christ, to the Works of Christ, the things He would do if He lived there.

… Perhaps the salvation of all the souls of your family depends on you being true & faithful in your own place. If you falter, if you fail in your duty, your Loved ones may be lost, and the blame will be yours, their blood on you . . . [NLT]John 5:37/8 “And the Father who sent me has testified about me himself. You have never heard his voice or seen him face to face, 38 and you do not have his message in your hearts, because you do not believe me” … In like manner if the only Christian in the place where you work .. Shop ~ office ~ factory. A peculiar responsibility rests on you there too, a responsibility which no other would share with you. You are Christ’s only witness there, if you don’t testify there for Him, at this time there will be no other to do this.

[NKJ] Matthew 5:14/16 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they  a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven”

   I read of this story about a lady called Miss Havergal from Düsseldorf in Germany ..

It tells of her experience in a girls school,in the early 1900’s. She went there to teach

soon after she had become a Christian andhad confessed Christ. Such her heart was

warm of love for her Saviour, and she waseager to speak for Him. To her amazement,

however, she learned among the hundredgirls in the school she was the only Christian.

Her first feeling was one of dismay , she couldnot confess Christ in that great company of,

Worldly unchristian companions. Her gentile,sensitive heart shrank from a duty so hard.

Her second thought however, was that shecould not refrain confess Christ. I am the

only one here, she said. And this thoughtgave her great strength and inspiration to her.

She realised that she had a mission in thatschool, that she was Christ’s witness there. His

only witness, and that she dared not fail.

[NLT]1 Thessalonians 2:4 “For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts”

   The same sense of responsibility rests upon every thoughtful Christian, who is called to be Christ’s only witness in a place ~ in a home ~ in a Shop ~ in a School student or teacher ~ in a circle of friends. You are Christ’s only servant there, and dare not be unfaithful, else all your work in Christ, may fail. Remember He’s the light set to shine for his master, and if His light be hidden the darkness will be unrelieved [lacking variation, i.e.:- Monotonous] So there is special inspiration in this consciousness of being the only one Christ has in a certain place.

   We will often be the only one Christ has at a particular place, where we are in that moment. There may well be thousands of other lives about us, though we may only be one, of a large congregation where we live. Yet each one of us has a life that is alone in it’s responsibility in it’s danger, in the mission, and duty. You may be left feeling that though are others close beside me, but NOT one can take my place, or do my duty, or fulfil the mission, or even bear my responsibility..

   We can understand how that Elijah had failed God that day when he was the only one God had to take a stand for Him, the consequences would have been most disastrous, the cause of God would have suffered irreparably. Are we sure that the calamity to Christ’s Kingdom would be any less if one of us should fail God in our lowly place, any common day?

   I’m sure there are some of you think that “I have nothing to offer that god can use, S T O P, think again, as no matter how little , or lowly, you think yourself, God can still use you.

   There is a story of a child finding a leak in the dyke that shut off the sea from Holland, and stopping it with his hand till help came along, ending up he stayed there all night, holding back the floods with his little hands. It was but a little trickling stream that he held back, yet if he had not done this, it would have soon become a torrent, and before the morning the sea would have swept over all the land, (as Holland is for the most part flat plains), submerging fields homes and Cities. Between the sea and all this devastation that was halted by a boys hand. Had the child failed the flood would have rolled in with remorseless ruin. We understand how important it was the boy should be faithful to his duty, since he was the only one God had that night to save Holland.

[NKJV] Romans 14:4 “Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand”

   Do you know that your failure in your lowly place and duty may not let in a sea of disaster which shall sweep away human hopes & joys, possibly human souls? The humblest of us dare not fail, for our one life is all God has at the point where we stand.

   The truth of personal responsibility is one of tremendous moment. We won’t escape it by being in a crowd, one of a family, or of a congregation. No one can live our lives ~ do our work ~ meet our obligations ~ bear our burdens. No one but ourselves can stand for us before God to render an account of our deeds. There is another part to this lesson, in that we are responsible for our own Life & Duty.

   The prophet thought his work had failed, because the over throw of ‘Baal-ism’ seemed incomplete. But God confronted him by telling him of 3 other men to come, each in his time, and to do his part of the work in destroying ‘Baal-ism’. In fact Elijah’s work had not failed but it was only a fragment of the whole work.

   The best work any of do in this world is but a fragment. We all enter into each other work, and other in turn will enter into our work, and finish or carry on the work we started till completion. Out duty is just carry on planting seeds, we are to simply to well in our part, no matter how small part. If we do that, we should never fret ourselves, about the part we cannot do. That part belongs to someone else, coming after us.

Elisha follows Elijah 1 Kings 19:19-21 “So Elijah went and found Elisha son of Shaphat ploughing a field. There were twelve teams of oxen in the field, and Elisha was ploughing with the twelfth team. Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak across his shoulders and then walked away. 20 Elisha left the oxen standing there, ran after Elijah, and said to him, “First let me go and kiss my father and mother good-bye, and then I will go with you!” Elijah replied, “Go on back, but think about what I have done to you.” 21 So Elisha returned to his oxen and slaughtered them. He used the wood from the plough to build a fire to roast their flesh. He passed around the meat to the townspeople, and they all ate. Then he went with Elijah as his assistant”

   For all Elijah’s years of being alone prophet all his life, and only God by his side, now he has someone to work along side of him. This has to have been a foreign to him? Whilst we may feel alone in our own responsibility, we need to give no thought for our own duty, our own little fragment of the Lords work. The things we cannot do, after the work has passed from our hands to another. There will be comfort in this, for any who fail in their effort and leave tasks unfinished which they hoped to complete, no worry this finishing is for another mission.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, Thank you for walking along side us, even when the road the going is tough. You are my comforter, strong tower of refuge. You have already traveled the path, and so made a way where there seems to be no way. help us to become a 'Baranbas' one who encourages.

 

2023

In this coming year, where there is going be

preasure heaped on to just survive, there is

always going to be those in a worst off state than

you, lets be kind.

Idols at Christmas

 

201222

Idols at Christmas

I got this from Betty, and I was amaized at it, as I had never heard this scripture before now. So thank you Betty.

Jeremiah 10:1-4 Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel.

2 Thus says the Lord:

“Do not learn the way of the Gentiles;
Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven,
For the Gentiles are dismayed at them.
3 For the customs of the peoples are futile;
For one cuts a tree from the forest,
The work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
4 They decorate it with silver and gold;
They fasten it with nails and hammers
So that it will not topple”

   Seasons greeting to all, I wonder how many of us so that it’s NOT Christmas till the tree is put up in the home. Donned with all manner of styles of decorations, lights. With an Angel ~ Father Christmas ~ a Star? Are we creating an idol in this moment on a real tree or artificial one, as we do. Spending time and effort, hours in fact. May be you have more than one, may be one out the front of your house, with just as much as inside? So you neighbour puts more than you, so you buy more to put out than them. Are you still feeling the Christmas spirit?Jeremiah 10:3 “For one cuts a tree from the forest, The work of the hands of the workman, with the axe”

   When growing up I always wanted decorations like mum & dad, and better. Being a ‘non-Christian family’, they only learnt about Christmas from their friends and family about how to decorate their home from them .. V2 “Do not learn the way of the Gentiles” .. We always want to do it better than our parents, whom were ‘gentiles’, being completely Godless.

   We went to store and bought some new decorations for a tree, [artificial one] .. 4 They decorate it with silver and gold; They fasten it with nails and hammers So that it will not topple” .. Though my parents always bought real trees, as they loved the smell, mixed with dad cigars smell, dad would then proclaim it’s now Christmas. Mum would decorate the tree, if lucky by Christmas morning the cats had not stripped it, or destroyed it, like one Christmas in London.

   I wonder like our selves how many of you have a nativity scene of sorts in with your decorations? Is it put out in a way that would make you ‘idolize’ it? Or even the humble tree, could be idolized so be careful at this time of the year. Teaching about the ‘real meaning of Christmas.

Prayer

Our heavenly Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name. You are the God of Abraham~Isaac & Jacob. We love you with all of our Spirit ~ Soul & Body, at this special time of year when we gather, lets us pause and remember it's because of you who are alive, that we have Christmas, NO Father Christmas, NO Buddha, NO Harry Krishna, whom are dead, or any body else. We pray for your blessings whilst we travel, receive family, we thank you for the food & gifts, in Jesus Christ’s name, amen.

Why Life’s Better as a Servant ... Part 4

56:170921

Why Life’s Better as a Servant

Part 4

[NKJV] Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many”
Question: “Why does being a servant/minister matter?
Answer: John chapter 13; shows how blessed your life becomes from doing this’

   Jesus gave us the example of a servant when He washed His disciples feet. Leadership should be measured by their willingness to be a servant. Not for want of repetition, our Lord came, NOT for us to serve Him, instead for Him to serve us, as shocking as that may be, then in the end freely giving His life for us.

    1) ’What is life, if not as a servant?’
   What you have known is that, especially as a Christian, there are going to consequences if you have not a servants attitude. . . If not a servant, then you can only be someone whom is self-seeking. This can only lead you down the path to ENVY ~ Jealousy and worst. . .Ultimately today’s society in which we live. You will struggle with, and fail to understand, why you feel this way, this is now the by-product of not taking on a servants life style. Here in the UK during WW11, there was a poster saying ..”Ask not what the Country can do for you .. rather.. Ask what you can do for your Country” .. Just because we are not at War, we ALL should be asking the latter part of this War poster/slogan. Imagine the society we, all over the World, could have?

[NLT] Luke 22:24/30 Strife & Destiny .. “Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. 25 And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’26 But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. 27 For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves. 28 “But you are those who have continued with Me in My trials. 29 And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, 30 that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel”

[NLT] Philippians 1:27 “Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News”
[NKJ] Philippians 2:2/4 “fulfil my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others”

   If you only ever used 2 verses as a template of how to best be a servant, then I’m sure it'll be .. ‘A good and faithful servant’ you could ware without blemish. So, looking at yourself, and ask ‘where am I at?’ .. then ask 'how can you help/serve others, more than yourself? For instance, like finding someone’s need is great, purchase a food hamper, purchase the food they eat, then send them a hamper/basket. You send/have delivered, without a name on it to say who sent it, who did this kind act.. This is not your glory, but Gods. Facing disunity in your life? Then it’s time to check yourself in the mirror, and ask this hard question .. ‘Am I being a servant like Jesus was?’

    2) Failure to into Ministry

   If your NOT living too serve, then don’t just become another seat warmer, you need to get involved with your Church in some capacity. For we all have attributes our Church can use. There are sadly those who just go to and NOT partake, and just take for themselves saying ..’What’s in for me?’ .. ‘what can they do for me?’ .. As long as they do, behave, this way they will always be left wondering, all because they don’t have a servants heart. John 13 – even the apostles needed to be taught how to be, and what it is to be a servant. The bases of the absence, of not having a servants attitude, causes you to sit back whilst others serve you. They even will go as far as saying .. ‘Sure I’m not needed, look lots of others are there already’ .. ‘I no skills they need’ .. Careful, don’t just be a taker!

    3) Burn out, and those whom are Ministering
   This ‘Burn-out’ comes when it always falls onto a few, doing everything, whilst others sit idly by. Don’t sit back and let other run themselves ragged and into the ground. ASK ..’How can I help?’ .. If you don’t know how, to do something ask, to be shown how. Being involved in the Church is rewarding, may be, you even learn a new skill.

   4) The Church fails to accomplish it has been called to do .. such as Evangelism:- and all the aspects of edification, because a lack of Ministry people. 

   A church only lacks due to there NOT being enough people willing to give their free time being Volunteers ~ helpers ~ Servants. Sadly there is a lack of parishioners coming forth with their free time. Let me ask another question here, if you will . .
Question:- “What if Jesus in His early twenties said, why do I have to do this, when NO one else will help?” & “What if Paul or John or Timothy said why do we bother when NO one else is?” . .

   May be now this is starting to sink in? 

. . Now, having a servants heart will help you become successful at work, this attitude will make you stand out. The failure in Evangelism, has to hurt and up set Christ Jesus, because of the lack of people volunteering their free time willingly. Jesus came to serve us, so much so He left us a model, with instructions on how to become a servant, wow how big is that? The Son who is God’s Son, came to give and to serve us, and make a way, where there was no way, for us to be able to be received by God, through Him.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thatnk you for giving us your Son so that we may be recieved by you, through His sacrifcie, that we may set free, for we know whom the Son sets free is free indeed. May we not just be hearers of you living Word but also doers, becoming servants at heart, whilst shinning your light and edifying your name. Amen