Luke 11: 1-13

Luke 11 I grew up in a time when the lords prayer was publicly recited in church and school assembly. Everyone knew it. That is no longer the case, and it was recited so often that I think most people gave no thought to its meaning. The disciples came to Jesus with a request. Lord, teach us to pray as John taught his disciples. We can therefore conclude that it was public knowledge that not only did John the Baptist call the nation back to god, and baptise those who believed, but he also taught his disciples to pray. Presumably our lord’s disciples were already familiar with prayer in the temple and the synagog However there had to be something different about the prayer of John’s disciples for them to put this request to Christ. I think the prayer that he taught them probably reflected his ministry. His ministry was about repentance and this would have been a very different sort of prayer to the public prayer in the temple and synagogue. WE COMMONLY CALL THIS THE LORDS PRAYER, but in fact it cannot be his prayer because some parts of it would not be applicable to him. He never sinned and therefore had no need to ask for forgiveness. It was the disciples who had that need. WHEN WE PRAY, DO WE THINK ABOUT WHAT WE ARE ASKING FOR, AND DO WE MEAN IT? How often have we prayed “Our Father”? Just those two words would have been vastly different to what the disciples were accustomed to. They had to go to the temple with sacarfices to come to God and yet straight away in that prayer they have access to God as a father. It is a close family relationship, not a distant one of appeasement. Hallowed be your name. God’s name is holly, and it not to be taken in vain or sullied. Give us this day our daily bread. This is a prayer for the basic needs of life, give us sufficient for today. Bread was part of the staple diet. They lived off the harvest. If the harvest was good, they had plenty, if it was bad they had less, or starved, so to say give us this day our daily bread was a reminder of their daily dependence on God to meet their needs. Forgive us our sins for we forgive those who trespass against us. DO WE? Jesus told his followers to forgive one another seventy times seven. He meant that we had to go on forgiving. The disciples were in a community situation, and it is inevitable that sometimes they would find getting along with one another difficult. Jesus is saying forgive one another for God expects you to and in as much as we are forgiving people, so our heavenly father forgives us. This is all about Christian character, and none of us finds this easy. Lead us not into temptation. It seems odd to think of the lord leading us into temptation. It is still dealing with the problem of sin. All sin starts with temptation and God has promised that there will be a way out. He does not promise that we will avoid temptation. In fact I think God is glorified when we do not sin. Jesus himself was tempted in the wilderness. “If you are the son of God, turn these stones into bread. If you are the son of God throw yourself off this high wall and angels will come and save you.” He resisted by using scripture, and I believe that he was tempted vastly beyond anything that he will allow to tempt us, and we can only be tempted by things we could do. I would never be tempted to throw myself off a high wall, because I know I would die, but he really could command the heavenly host, so for him, it was a temptation. He then tells the parable of the man who has locked up his house for the evening and a needy friend comes and asks for bread for an unexpected visitor. The man in the house refuses, but the friend persists in asking and so he receives. Jesus was not saying that if we persist then God will give us what we want. He does however say that we need to be persistent at prayer. It is our lifeline, and the thing we need to ask for it more of the holy spirit. He says that if you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, HOW MUCH MORE WILL YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER GIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT TO THOSE WHO ASK? God wants us to ask in all sincerity for more and more and more of himself. There is an old song, “More more about Jesus, more more about jesus, 1. More about Jesus would I know, More of His grace to others show; More of His saving fullness see, More of His love who died for me. o Refrain: More, more about Jesus, More, more about Jesus; More of His saving fullness see, More of His love who died for me. 2. More about Jesus let me learn, More of His holy will discern; Spirit of God, my teacher be, Showing the things of Christ to me. 3. More about Jesus, in His Word, Holding communion with my Lord; Hearing His voice in every line, Making each faithful saying mine. 4. More about Jesus on His throne, Riches in glory all His own; More of His kingdom’s sure increase; More of His coming, Prince of Peace. That is what all of us need, and it we ask for it, we will receive.

The call of Ezekiel

Ezekiel 2: 1-5 Ezekiel 3 Ezekiel and Jeremiah were both of a priestly line and both of them were called of God to go to Israel and tell them what God said. They were both told that Israel would be stubborn and not listen. It would be hard work and difficult Ezekiel was commanded to eat the scroll and it tasted as sweet as honey. This was symbolic of receiving the word of God and taking it into his soul. We also need to receive the word of God and it will be like honey to us. Sweet and good for us. We need to read the scriptures and pray over them and understand and obey. However, to those whom Ezekiel was going to speak, the word of God would be like Gaul What is sweet to us and to those who receive it, it vile to those who do not want to listen In our day, we need to be like Ezekiel We are called of God not to be successful; we are called of god to be faithful We are to be faithful in our daily walk and we in this movement are called to be faithful in reaching the lost. In V 14, Ezekiel was enraged. Have you ever been enraged? I have. Remember, be ye angry and sin not. Sometimes it is right to be angry. We need to be angry at sin and we need to be angry at its consequences. But remember, sin not. We need to channel righteous anger into communicating the word of god to others. I find that I have a growing interest in sentences in the bible that mention a passage of time such as V15 For seven days Ezekiel caused consternation. He did not have a quick chat with people and then they got angry and they calmed down. This was seven days of pleading with them, telling them what God had to say and them resisting it. It must have been exhausting for him. V17 In OM, we have Job descriptions. From V 17, we read Ezekiels Job description. Although this was intended for Ezekiel, I firmly believe that in principal this for every one of us who believe. WE are to warn people and if we do not warn people and they die in their sins, God will require from us on the day of judgement some sort of penalty for not doing what he has commissioned us to do. It says here that he would require their Blood. I think that this was said to Ezekiel to give him motivation and also to give him a view of that final day, the day of Judgement so that he himself would be well prepared for it. We also need to take heed V21 this concerns the righteous people who sinned and they hear word of god, some may respond and some will not. It seems that although the house of Israel as a whole would be stubborn, there would be individuals who would and for their sake and also for the Glory of God, Ezekiel was sent. We are called to be FAITHFUL. WE ARE CALLED TO BE FAITHFUL IN SEASON AND OUT OF SEASON Whether we feel like it or not, it is our job to take the word of God to the lost with all the talents whatever they may be that God has given us. God does not promise that it will be easy, in fact he promised Ezekiel and Jeremiah that it would be difficult. They were both reviled and yet both did what God said. I have served in a few missions and I promise you there will be difficulties God uses them to allow us to get to know him. There are also times of great joy and rejoicing We need to have set before us the day of Judgement and what God will say to us. In all circumstances, we must be faithful in doing good. AMEN

Am I ready for a miracle?

Elisha and the shuamite woman. she had no son and she concieved one. A is visiting and she challenged us. God does not always do things in the way we expect

jeremiah

likewise. Jeremiah 1 Jeremiah 42 and 43 up to verse 7 In the first chapter, we see that God chose Jeremiah to be a prophet to the nations before he was born. He consecrated ( set apart) him in the womb. Jeremiah was an ordinary man. He said that he did not know how to speak for he was but a youth. He was not an older man, an experienced and eloquent speaker Verse 7 God says do not say I am a youth, to everywhere I shall send you, you shall go. Note that Jeremiah, did not argue about this, He got on with it and he knew that for the most part, people would reject what God had to say. V 7 ALL THAT I COMMAND YOU, YOU SHALL SPEAK V9 GOD TOUCHED HIS LIPS. How do we measure success? Jeremiah spoke what God told him to and he was ignored. He did not bring about a great revival. Indeed he was imprisoned, vilified and rejected. God did not call Jeremiah to be successful; he called him to be FAITHFULL We can have our campaigns and see very little success from them. I have participated in many such campaigns. I have learned a lot of life lessons from them. The society we live in thinks we are fools. They think that there is not absolute truth. They think that at best, we are harmless eccentrics and they certainly have no knowledge of Gods word. In some respects, it is similar to the society that Jeremiah confronted. People think we have nothing to say that is of any relevance to them. Nothing could be further from the truth. What we have to say is what God has proclaimed and it is the message of salvation. They will say “YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO IMPOSE YOUR VIEWS ON US” yet they will listen to anything else, as long as it does not confront them with sin. They want to hear about how they are loved. A spiritualist will be coming to the town and his advertising indicates that people should come and make contact with their deceased loved ones who will give them positive messages. ( they will believe them, for they want to be pleased and reassured.) but the messages they hear will be the lies of the devil The people in Jeremiahs day were afraid of famine, pestilence and being invaded by Babylon. They reasoned that it would be better to go to Egypt where life would be good. However they ask Jeremiah to pray for them. 42: 5-6 they promised that they would do what God said even if the message was not good. Jeremiah promised them that he would pray for them and that he would deliver Gods message and would not hold back one word from them. What does that remind you of? It reminds me of what God commanded Jeremiah in chapter one God told Jeremiah to speak what he spoke and to the people Jeremiahs words would seem comforting, but they were in fact a warning. He was saying, that he would obey God as he had always done and that he would say what God said, and it may not be pleasing to them. After 10 days God spoke God already knew what the people would do for he says that he has judged them and that they will all die in Egypt, by the sword, Pestilence and famine ( all the things that they wanted to avoid) God told them that if they stayed in the land, he would show them compassion and that the king of Babylon would show them compassion. They did not like that message. They did not want to be ruled by Babylon. It meant that things would be difficult, but God would be with them in difficult circumstances. They should not lean to their own wisdom On the surface they seemed to be turning back to God. I think they had a wrong view of God. Why did they ask Jeremiah to pray for them, if they were not going to obey a negative message? Why did they not pray themselves? Why invest hope in Jeremiahs intercession? I think they thought God would show favouritism. If they had petitioned God, he would be angry with them, but Jeremiah was like a good ambassador. God would do what they wanted if the case was presented by Jeremiah. Remember however, Jeremiah had warned them that he would not hold back one word that God said. Jeremiah then called the commanders of the people and delivered the message. He was accused of lying. They had no good reason to think that. Jeremiah had by that time a reputation for telling the blunt truth at the expense of his own liberty. Note that God said WHEN you go to Egypt, not IF V17 THE MEN WHO SET THEIR MIND TO GO TO EGYPYT. God knew their minds were made up and they were going to go to Egypt. Their minds were set. It was like saying, “God, here is my plan, I want you to protect us and carry out our plan.” They thought God could be appeased and do what they wanted. They send Jeremiah to the lord to pray, but in reality, it was God who sent Jeremiah to them and in so doing, God was Judging them for their disobedience Being set to go to Egypt in their minds was just as good as actually doing it. God has called all of us to faithfulness in all circumstances. He also warns us that disobedience has consequences Recently, I communicated with someone who said that she wanted to return to the lord and she would do anything. That sounded good, but did she do it. NO. We need to throw off all that hinders and keep God in front of us, obeying what he has revealed to us and not picking and choosing what we will believe and what we will not. That is what the people Jeremiah prophesied to did and they were warned that not one of them who went to Egypt would survive. Being faithful may have consequences for us. The society we live in is growing increasingly intolerant of God. They will believe anything but the truth. If we say we do not agree with the redefinition of Marriage we are branded homophobic, or if we say that we believe the bible, they will say, “That may be true for you, but it is not true for me”. Through it all however, Jeremiah did what God commanded him to do. He was faithful. He spoke what God told him to say, and we must do likewise

F

I checked last night and as I expected, no message from F. I will gently push just a little more. I need a decision

F and the way ahead, if any

I wrote to F. I have not checked messages to find out if she has replied. I will do so this evening. If there is no message I will push gently by suggesting a date for a meeting. By now she will have my letter. having been to an induction and a mens conference these past two weekends, I note with interest that at the induction was a couple. the woman I have known for some years and she is now married. As far as I know she was not married before and I think she is older than me. At the conference was a young man going around telling everyone he knew that he was getting married. It seems he had wanted to marry the girl from the very first date. INTERESTING.