Previous Words for the week
29th October.2008
Philipians ch 4 verse 10-13
I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for i have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and i know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or want. I can do all things through him who gives me strength.
Contentment is something that everyone is striving for in some way or other and everyone has a different idea of what it means. Two different ideas of contentment can be seen in the following story -
Philip Parham tells the story of a rich industrialist who was disturbed to find a fisherman sitting lazily beside his boat. "Why aren't you out there fishing?" he asked. "Because I've caught enough fish for today," said the fisherman. "Why don't you catch more fish than you need?' the rich man asked. "What would I do with them?" "You could earn more money," came the impatient reply, "and buy a better boat so you could go deeper and catch more fish. You could purchase nylon nets, catch even more fish, and make more money. Soon you'd have a fleet of boats and be rich like me." The fisherman asked, "Then what would I do?"
"You could sit down and enjoy life," said the industrialist. "What do you think I'm doing now?" the fisherman replied as he looked placidly out to sea.
Two differing views of contentment but neither of them fully realising that full contentment can only come from God. We can be striving for more in this world to find contentment or we can be happy with our lot and feel content, but without Christ there is always something missing.
Paul as he writes here to the Philippians indicates that he has learned what true contentment is, and that is that whatever situation your are in, whether in plenty or want true contentment is in Him who is able to strenghten us.
Where ever you are this day, whether you feel empty or full, joyful or sad, realise that He is with you at all times and is the One who strengthens you and sustains you and give thanks that He is able to supply your every need for full contentment now and for eternity. Dont look to the distant future of what might be ahead,collect the manna for today and be glad.
To Him be all glory and praise, Amen.
Spetember 29th 2008.
Taken from My utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers
The Divine rule for Life.
"Be ye therefore perfect, as your Father in Heaven is perfect."
Matthew 5 v48
Our Lords exhortation in these verses is to be generous in our behaviour to all men. In the spiritual life beware of walking according to natural affinities. Everyone has natural affinities; some people we like and others we don't. We must never let those likes and dislikes rule our Christian life. "If we walk in the light as God is in the light" God will give us communion with people for whom we have no natural affinity.
The example our Lord gives us is not that of a good man, or even of a good Christian, but of God Himself. "Be ye therefore perfect, as your Father in Heaven is prefect". Show to the other man what God has shown to you; and God will give us ample opportunities in actual life to prove whether we are perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect. To be a disciple means that we deliberately identify ourselves with God's interests in other people "That ye love one another as i have loved you...".
The expression of Christian character is not good doing, but Godlikeness. If the spirit of God has transformed you within, you will exhibit Divine characterisitcs in your life, not good human characterisitics. God's life in us expresses itself as Gods life, not as a human life trying to be godly. The secret of a Christian is that the supernatural is made natural in him by the grace of God, and the experience of this works out in the practical details of life, not in times of communion with God. When we come in contact with things that create a buzz, we find to our amazement that we have power to keep wonderfully poised in the centre of it all.
May the Lord encourage us with these words to act out Gods example to others and not let our own human example come to the fore as often happens in difficult situations.
Word for the week - July 6th
Hebrews 2 verse 1-4
We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience recieved its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will.
In these verses we are given a clear warning of what we are to listen to and the reason for listening. If we do not pay attention to this warning then we will not escape to salvation but be lost forever. This has been true for all time, yet more and more are continuing to ignore the warnings and turn to their ways. For Christians today we have to continue to warn others and for those not yet in Christ you have to hear the warnings while there is time.
On of the clearest memories i have of joining my first ship is the first task myself and the other engineer cadet were given from the 1st engineer. It was to find all the emergency escape routes out of the engine room and then go to the EHQ (emergency headquarters). We thought we had done pretty well and went back to inform him we had found 10 and the EHQ, only to be told we had another 6 to find yet. In the end we had to listen to him as he told us where to the find the others. If we had not done this first and anything had happened that led to us being trapped in a dark engine room we would have had no escape.
Thankfully we never had to use the emergency escapes in ernest but it was always reassuring to know where they were. Yet for many years in my life i was ignoring the ONLY escape that i needed which is Jesus Christ. In Him we have the greatest escape that is on offer, eternal salvation. But how shall we escape if we ignore this message. Well friend if you do ignore it you WONT escape. Hear what Gods word says because every violation and disobedience will recieve its just punishment but by following Christ we will recieve eternal life. Hear the message of the escape route and show others the way too.
God Bless.
Word for the week - June 17th
James 1 verse 5-6
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like the wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
We all think there is something lacking in our lives and are always looking for more to satisfy these wants, unfortunately we are usually looking in the wrong place and for the wrong things. If we could satisfy all of our needs without having to earn money for them, then there would not be many who would chose to go to sea or off-shore for a living. Yet part of our lives is to supply ours and our families needs and that means having to work and go away from home for long periods of time.
James here speaks of a lack that we all have that can be satisifed by God without price. Wisdom is something we all feel we might have, yet if we are not wise to the Word of God we have no wisdom. James tells us then to ask God and he will will give us that wisdom. But its not just to ask, but to ask in faith. Ohterwise we are like the waves of the sea which the wind tosses around, with no direction and all in turmoil, but when we have faith that storm is changed into a calm and the Word of God becomes clear to us.
We are living in a world that is not our continuing city, we are away from our family for a time, yet working towards meeting their needs. The day is coming when we will be home for eternity, where there will be no more seperation and no more tears and where we will see the Lamb who has payed the price for all of our sins. If you have Christ you are not lacking, but if you have not Christ today you are lacking, but thanks be to God that we can come to him for wisdom and recieve the free gift of eternal life.
Word for the week - May 26th
John 3 verse 16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Today when we look at a cross it usually represents a church building or marks a grave, and is a shape carved out of wood, steel or stone, and usually are ornamently very well made and beautiful. This has not always been the case. Let me take you back to a place in time where the cross was used as the most toturous of all punishments that had to be endured, and was known as crucifixion. A feared and shameful form of execution which led to the person losing strength and the weight of the body falling forward making breathing more difficult, leading to suffocation. This punishment was usually reserved for thieves and robbers.
Jesus Christ came into this world as the only solution for sin, and endured this form of punishment for me and for you. Sin has seperated each and everyone of us from God without exception. Jesus never sinned, yet he is on the cross bearing the sins of the world. He is dying there on my behalf, on your behalf. Its an ugly painful scene, isn`t it? It shows how terrible sin really is ,and what a price had to be paid to set us free from it. As a Christian I look to the cross with thanksgiving, along with multitudes of others who have accepted Christs finished work on Calvary, as my sacrifice and my substitute.
If you haven`t yet accepted the free gift of eternal life that Christ is offering you, why don`t you ask Him to forgive you your sins, accept him and trust him to save you as your personal Saviour. It was for you that He died an excruciating death, who deafeated death and rose again triumphant, who has prepared a Heavenly kingdom for those that love him, in mansions of Glory. The hymnwriter puts it - I stand amazed in the prescence of Jesus the Nazerene and wonder how He could love me? a Sinner condemed unclean,how marvellous how wonderful and my song shall ever be,how marvellous how wonderful,is my saviours love for me.Have you reserved your Mansion?
Word for the week - April 28th
Hebrews 2 verse 1-3
Therefore we must pay much closer attentionto what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience recieved a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?
We have the offer of salvation before us so often but we believe we are safe and better of where we are and dont need this salvation but the following incident highlights how urgent our need is -
An incident took place some years ago when a ship went on the rocks of Penzance and foundered. The lifeboat on seeing the distress flares went to the aid of the stricken ship and took some of the crew off, but there were some who refused to leave the ainking ship insisting they were safe enough. Despite the pleadings of the lifeboat crew they stayed, seemingly unaware of their danger. Eventually the lifeboat headed back to port as it was getting too dangerous to stay near the ship any longer.
They were just arriving in port when the flares went off again and on landing those whom they had saved they headed back out, but when they reached the ship had disappeared and they found no survivors.
The moral of this story is - Christ himself and His word is the lifeboat and pleads with us to come with Himself into the lifeboat where we will be safe and not to stay a moment longer and put ourselves in danger of being lost forever.
2 Corinthians ch6 verse 1-2
Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to recieve the grace of God in vain. For he says ' In a favourable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you', Behold now is the favourable time, behold, now is the day of salvation.
Word for the week - March 25th
Psalm 139 verse 9-10. v9 If i take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost part of the sea v10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. From the English Standard Version.
This Psalm of David can be divided into 4 sections, You know me v1-6, You are with me v7-12, You created mev13-18 and Your cause is my cause v19-24. All these 4 parts should be important to us but the second section, v 7-12, You ar3e with me, are what i want to think upon and especially verses 9-10 which are very appropriate to seafarers.
So often a trip to sea begins with an early morning journey, either traveling on land to a boat or a taking a plane trip to join your vessel. Many times i left home on an early morning flight to join a ship either in the U.K or Europe or sometimes as far away as America or Canada and the far east. Taking the wings of moring to dwell in uttermost part of the sea as the psalmist speaks of. C.H Spurgeon comments on this verse 'were we to speed on the wings of the morning breeze, and break into oceans unknown to chart and map, yet there we should find the Lord already present. He who saves to the uttermost would be with us in the uttermost parts of sea.
This leads us to verse 10 and the fact the Lord is with us everywhere we go. To some this is an inconvenient truth. Those who are running from God think they might lose Him in the uttermost parts of seabut He is there before them. If this is you today, my friend, may these words encourage you to look to the Lord anew and stop running away and instead turn back to Him and seek Him while He is to be found. There is no hiding place from the Lord.
To others though these words are a great encouragement. Some who go to sea can feel an absense and loneliness, but be encouraged friend by the fact the Lord goes with you, prepares the way for you and most importantly His right hand shall hold you. This is His promise to all who love Him.
May these words encourage us all to seek Him anew each day and remember all who are at sea that they would know our prayers with them.
God Bless.
Word for the week - March 31st 08
I will take this weeks thought from the book 'Streams in the Desert' by L.B.Cowman for April 1st from the text 2nd Timothy ch1 v12 '....but i am not ashamed, for i know who i have believed, and i am convinced that He is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.'
I will not doubt though all my ships at sea,
Come drifting home with broken masts and sails;
I will believe the hand that never fails,
From seeming evil works to good for me.
And though I weep because the sails are tattered,
Still will i cry while my best hopes lie tattered,
'I trust in Thee'
I will not doubt though all my prayers return,
Unanswered from the still white realm above,
I will believe it is an all-wise love,
That has refused these things for which I yearn,
And though at times I cannot keep from grieving,
Yet the pure passion of my fixed believing,
Undimmed will burn.
I will not doubt though sorrows fall like rain,
And troubles swarm like bees about a hive,
I will believe the heights for which I strive,
Are only reached by anguish and by pain,
And though i groan and writhe beneath my crosses,
Yet i will see through my severest losses,
The greater gain.
I will not doubt, well anchored is this faith,
Like some staunch ship my soul braves every gale,
So strong its courage that it will not fail,
To face the mighty unknown sea of death,
Oh may i cry though body leaves the spirit,
'I do not doubt' so listening worlds may hear it,
With my last breath.
An old seaman once said 'In fierce storms we must do one thing, for there is only one way to survive; we must put the ship in a certain posistion and keep her there' and this dear Christian, is what we must do. Sometimes like Paul, you cannot see the sun or stars to help you navigate when the storm is bearing down on you. This is when you can do only one thing, for there is only one way. Reason cannot help you, past experiances will shed no light, and even prayer will bring no consolation. Only one course remains; you must put your soul in one posistion and keep it there. You must anchor yourself steadfastly upon the Lord. And then come what may - whether wind, waves, rough seas, thunder, lightning, jagged rocks or roaring breakers - you must lash yourself to the healm, firmly holding your confidence in Gods faithfulness, His covenant promises and His everlasting love in Christ Jesus.
May the Lord Bless these thoughts to us all.
