Where is your treasure?

Treasure 
Consider the flowers of the field in their beauty
More lovely than even the clothes of a king
Consider the birds of the air
Flying high, flying free You are precious to me
 - Iona

Kingdom priorities

1.Realise your need for God (Matthew 5:3)
2.Let your good deeds shine out for all to see (5:16)
3.Be reconciled to those you have fallen out with (5:24)
4.Respect marriage as the only place for sex (5:27-32)
5.Keep your promises (5:37)
6.Love people who hate you (5:44)
7.Give your gifts and pray in private (6:1-8)
8.Don’t judge others (7:1-6)
9.Keep the Golden Rule (7:12)
10.Hear and obey all of Jesus’ teaching (7:24-27)

A selection from the Sermon on the Mount.

Seek ye first - what a verse!

Seek ye first - what a verse!

What's it going to be? God or money? Treasures on earth or treasures in heaven? Worrying about looking after ourselves or trusting in our Heavenly Dad to look after us? Have a listen, and be encouraged to join me in changing priorities this week from ours to God's.

For Modecai

Click here to listen

Abide with me

If you're anything like me, you often find it hard to sit still and focus on the Lord. I've recently discovered this free app via YouVersion and have been blessed by its meditations on worry. Why not check it out and give the Lord a proper chance to commune with you today?

I won't let you go until you bless me

"During a difficult time in my own life, a wise friend and counselor reminded me of Jacob’s wrestling match with God in Genesis 32. After wrestling all night, God asked Jacob to let him go and “touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched” (Genesis 32:25). But Jacob refused to give up and let go. Instead Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me” (Genesis 32:26). And so God blessed him. “Winston,” my friend said, “don’t just wish things were different. Don’t just look for the easy way out. Don’t let go until you get every blessing that God is trying to give you through this.” I pray that you’ll hold on and wrestle well and that God will bless you with more than you’ve dared to ask for."

- from Winston Smith, Marriage Matters

Priorities

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

God is good

All the time. 

And all the time 

God is good. 

Sovereign over us

There is strength within the sorrow

There is beauty in our tears

And You meet us in our mourning

With a love that casts out fear

You are working in our waiting

You're sanctifying us

When beyond our understanding

You're teaching us to trust

Your plans are still to prosper

You have not forgotten us

You're with us in the fire and the flood

You're faithful forever

Perfect in love

You are sovereign over us

You are wisdom unimagined

Who could understand Your ways

Reigning high above the Heavens

Reaching down in endless grace

You're the lifter of the lowly

Compassionate and kind

You surround and You uphold me

And Your promises are my delight

Even what the enemy means for evil

You turn it for our good

You turn it for our good and for Your glory

Even in the valley, You are faithful

You're working for our good

You're working for our good and for Your glory

Your plans are still to prosper

You have not forgotten us

You're with us in the fire and the flood

You're faithful forever

Perfect in love

You are sovereign over us

http://youtu.be/Lay-r2g52SQ

Anti-abortion extremist

57,762,169

...American babies aborted since Roe vs Wade, 43 years ago today.

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/albertmohler.com-briefing/id390278738?mt=2&i=361064754

Before posting

How sweet the name

How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds
In a believer’s ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear.

It makes the wounded spirit whole,
And calms the troubled breast;
’Tis manna to the hungry soul,
And to the weary, rest.

Dear Name, the Rock on which I build,
My Shield and Hiding Place,
My never failing treasury, filled
With boundless stores of grace!

By Thee my prayers acceptance gain,
Although with sin defiled;
Satan accuses me in vain,
And I am owned a child.

Jesus! my Shepherd, Husband, Friend,
O Prophet, Priest and King,
My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End,
Accept the praise I bring.

Weak is the effort of my heart,
And cold my warmest thought;
But when I see Thee as Thou art,
I’ll praise Thee as I ought.

Till then I would Thy love proclaim
With every fleeting breath,
And may the music of Thy Name
Refresh my soul in death!

- John Newton, a man who gambled, drank, swore, traded and abused slaves, until God's Amazing Grace found him.

God's Word Cloud

I can take care of you

Poem in January

It is my fortieth
Year to heaven sitting here

Now in the winter chill
Though the town around lies 

Hot with blood of precious hearts.

So may the good news of you 

Truth who holds my heart 

Still be sung
In this blessed borough 

In a year's turning.

- After Dylan Thomas

40 years of God's faithfulness

So now I am forty, my hope is to post a verse, poem, meditation, hymn or reflection for every day of this year, with this motto:

"Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them" (Ephesians 4:29).

This applies to youngsters (<40) and oldsters (>40) and those of us poised on the pivot of life's seesaw.

God's Word is remarkably blunt about how much time we have on this earthly pilgrimage:

"Seventy years are given to us! Some even live to eighty. But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away" (Psalm 90:10).

I have longevity genes in my family so I reckon I've got a good shot at 80, though of course my life is in the Lord's hands and any moment could be my final breath. Assuming I do make it to 80, though, this means my 'life's battery' is at 50%. A bit like my iPhone after, oh I don't know, 10am!

It's a pretty sobering thought.

More likely than not, I've lived at least half my life.

And what have I got to show for it?

40 years of God's faithfulness.