Forget The Envy.

In my reading through the Bible, my 365 day Bible had Psalm 37 the other day.

It is truly an amazing Psalm and so I thought that I might share some thoughts over the next couple of days, which should help us along life's way!

Verse 1 encourages us not to be envious of others.

"Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong".

We should not be wasting our time with envy of evil people, even though some may be extremely popular or rich. No matter how much they have it will fade and vanish. It might last for their lifetime but that is all.

Those of us who live for God, live different lives and in the end we will have far greater treasures in heaven.

How silly it is for us to envy people who do not love and follow Jesus. As Jesus said, "they have their reward".

On the other hand, what we get from following God lasts forever.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

Taking On The Devil!

A quote from the theologian A. W. Tozer:

"I'm not afraid of the devil. The devil can handle me- he's got judo I never heard of. But he can't handle the One to whom I'm joined; he can't handle the One to whom I'm united; he can't handle the One whose nature dwells in my nature."

TFTD: James 4:7 "Submit yourselves to God...resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

Have a great day,

Peter Clark

The Extravagance of God Towards Us.

I came across this in my reading this morning....very uplifting.

Psalm 36:7-9 (The Message)

^7-9 How exquisite your love, O God!
How eager we are to run under your wings,
To eat our fill at the banquet you spread
as you fill our tankards with Eden spring water.
You're a fountain of cascading light,
and you open our eyes to light.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

Give God A Tip!

Last Sunday the gospel reading for the day was John 12:1-8....the account of Mary annointing Jesus feet with expensive nard (perfume) and then wiping Jesus feet with her hair.

The thing that really struck me was that Mary didn't hold back on her gift. As our morning preacher said that we often give to God in the same way that we would give a waiter a tip.

TFTD: Do you give your best back to God?

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

No Need To Envy.

Psalm 37 reminds us that there is no point in us being envious of others:

"Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away."

TFTD: Let's decide to be content with who we are, and what we have.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark


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Where Do Our Sins Go?

When we put our trust in Christ, what does God do with our sins?

He takes them away (John 1:29)

He forgets them (Hebrews 10:17)

He washes them away (Isaiah 1:18)

He blots them out (Isaiah 43:25)

He wipes them out like a cloud (Isaiah 44:22)

He pardons them (Isaiah 55:7)

He buries them in the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19)

TFTD: Our sins of the past need worry us no more.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

SEX SELLS....you short!

There is a massive difference between what the "world" says that sex will do for us and what God says that it will do for us.

You would have to have your head in a bucket of sand to miss what comes to us by various sorts of media - TV film etc etc. Sexual immorality is encouraged....in fact, if you are not engaging in some form of sexual activity outside of marriage, then you are right out of it...a loser even!

Is that really a true perception?

Proverbs sheds another perspective:

Sexual immorality is like:

*Walking a path that leads to death (2:16-22)

¹⁶ It will save you also from the adulteress,
from the wayward wife with her seductive words,

¹⁷ who has left the partner of her youth
and ignored the covenant she made before God.

¹⁸ For her house leads down to death
and her paths to the spirits of the dead.

¹⁹ None who go to her return
or attain the paths of life.

²⁰ Thus you will walk in the ways of good men
and keep to the paths of the righteous.

²¹ For the upright will live in the land,
and the blameless will remain in it;

²² but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
and the unfaithful will be torn from it.

*Walking a path to hell (5:5)

⁵ Her feet go down to death;
her steps lead straight to the grave.

*Deliberately burning and wounding yourself (6:20-35)

*Being slaughtered as an animal (7:6-27)

*Closing your eyes and falling into a pit (22:14;23:26-28)

This is far from what we hear in the media.

TFTD: Ponder Hebrews 13:4

⁴Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.

Have a great Day,

Peter Clark

An Answer For The JW's.

I am just back from a Service and the Gospel passage was John 5:17-30.

In this passage two things struck me about Jesus:

1. Jesus very clearly identified Himself with God the Father, so that there can be no doubt as to His claim to be God. He also does not leave us the option to believe in God while ignoring God's Son (5:23)

2. In the Old Testament there are mentioned three signs that the coming Messiah could be recognised by:

- All power and authority are given to Him as the Son of Man (John 5:27 & Daniel 7:13,14)

- The lame and the sick are healed (John 5:20 & Isaiah 35:6, Jeremiah 31:8,9)

- The dead are raised to life (John 5:21,28 & Deuteronomy 32:39, 1 Samuel 2:6, 2 Kings 5:7)

TFTD: We can be very confident in the plan of God.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

God Bless You.

The model for blessing people was first seen in Numbers 6:24-26.

Numbers 6:24-26 (New International Version)

²⁴ " ' "The LORD bless you
and keep you;

²⁵ the LORD make his face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;

²⁶ the LORD turn his face toward you
and give you peace." '

If and when we bless people we are conveying to them 5 thoughts:

1. Favour and protection

2. God being pleased with you.

3. God being merciful and compassionate.

4. God giving you His approval.

5. God's peace.

TFTD: Aren't these what we need every day?

Have a great day,

Peter Clark

The Law Of God!

The law of God....so what....how does that effect me as an evangelical Christian?

Romans 3:20 "Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his (God's) sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin"

Romans 3:31 "Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law."

In these two verses we see the two functions of God's law.

First, it shows us where we go wrong. How else would we know that we are helpless sinners who need the grace of God that comes in Christ.

Second, the moral code revealed in the law can guide our actions by holding up God's moral standards.

We cannot earn salvation by trying to keep the law, but we can please God when we try to conform our lives to the revealed will of God.

TFTD: How is your obedience going?

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

The Patience Of Job...the FAITH of Job!

Have you read Job lately?

The heart of the book is Job's declaration "I know that my Redeemer lives" (19:25).

A "redeemer" waas a family member who bought a slave's freedom, or rescued a widow (like in Ruth).

Think about Job....what did he know...nothing about the conference that took place between Satan and God. Job thought God had brought all the disasters on him and here he was faced with death and decay in his body and his circumstances generally.

Job had such a terrific faith, that he still expected to see God, while he was still in his body.

He may have struggled with the idea that God was against him, and yet he firmly believed that God would be on his side.

TFTD: In hard times, do you crumble or do you stay firm in your faith?

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

No Pie In The Sky!

Psalm 16:9-10 (New International Version)

⁹ Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,

¹⁰ because you will not abandon me to the grave,
nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

David had the great confidence that God would not leave him dead and buried.

We tend to fear death because we have no control over it and it is unknown.

But, as believers we can be sure (because our faithful God has told us) that we will not be forgotten when we die. He has the power, and the will, to bring us alive again to live with Him forever.

TFTD: Is this the confidence that you have?

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

Count Your Blessings!

From my Prayer Guide:

XXXXXXX's Muslim husband was arrested in 2009 and she felt overwhelmed with responsibility of being a single parent to their four children. Christians in their community reached out to XXXXXXX and assisted her in providing for her family. The Christians' concern and testimonies led to XXXXXXXX's salvation. As soon as the Muslim community found out about her conversion, they took two of her children and chased her from their community.

Please pray for XXXXXX as she participates in a discipleship program at a local evangelical church. Pray for her spiritual growth and for her children to meet Christ through their mother's witness; also for her husband to come to the Lord.

TFTD: Don't we take a lot for granted?

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

A Quote From Louis Pasteur

"The more I study nature, the more I am amazed at the Creator."

In The Diplomatic Service!

Congratulations....you are now in the diplomatic service....an Ambassador representing Christ.

An Ambassador is an official representative on behalf of one country to another.

As believers, we are Christ's ambassadors, sent with his message of reconciliation to the world.

An ambassador of reconciliation is an important responsibility.

TFTD: We dare not take this responsibility lightly. How well are you fulfilling your commission as Christ's ambassador?

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

Make Others The Friend Of God!

We are made new by God.

We have been reconciled to God by the death of Jesus.

Because we have been reconciled to God, we have the privilege of encouraging others to do the same, and thus, we have the "ministry of reconciliation"

2 Corinthians 5:19 (New International Version)

¹⁹that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

TFTD: Do you make this an optional extra to your life in Christ?

Have a great day,

Peter Clark

Being A Friend!

We have been made new by God (2 Corinthians 5:17).

This process has brought us back to God (reconciled us) by cancelling our sins and making us righteous.

We are no longer God's enemies, or strangers, or foreigners to Him, once we have put our trust in Christ.

We are now friends!

TFTD: What a privileged position that we are in!

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

Our Two Great Tasks!

Jesus was asked once, what was the greatest commandment.

This is His answer....

Matthew 22:37-38 (New International Version)

³⁷Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' ³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment.

Jesus is saying that if we truly love God and our neighbours, we will naturally keep the commandments.

This is Jesus' positive attitude to God's law.

Rather than worrying about what we should NOT do, we are to concentrate on loving God and loving others.

TFTD: How are you going in the "loving of God and loving of others"? Are you doing it with all your heart, soul and mind?

Have a great Lord's Day,

Peter Clark

Are You New?

I hope so....

2 Corinthians 5:17 (New International Version)

¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Christian people are brand new people on the inside. The Holy Spirit gives us new life and we are not the same anymore.

We are not reformed, rehabilitated or re-educated we are re-created (new creations).

We are now living in a new relationship with Christ.

When we became followers of Jesus, we didn't just "turn over a new leaf", we began a new life under a new Master.

TFTD: Is that how it is for you?

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

Teach Me To Pray!

Jesus' disciples asked him to teach them to pray.......I wonder, if King David's men had asked their King the same question, how would he have replied?

Perhaps like this:

"CREATE in me a pure heart, O God, and RENEW a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not CAST ME AWAY from your presence

or TAKE your Holy Spirit from me,

RESTORE to me the joy of your salvation

and GRANT me a willing spirit, to SUSTAIN me.

(Psalm 51:11-12)

TFTD: Have a close, prayerful look at the ACTIVE VERBS, which God can use in our lives.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.


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A Morning Prayer.

This morning we had a service of morning prayer.

This was the special prayer for the day.

Lord and heavenly Father,

you have brought us safely to this new day:

keep us by your mighty power, protect us from sin,

guard us from every kind of danger,

and in all we do this day

direct us in the fulfilling of your purpose,

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

TFTD: When we read a prayer like this...we know why we have moved away from using the prayer book (tongue in cheek)

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

Wanting To Satisfy The Crowd?

"Wanting to satisfy the crowd" Mark 15:15

As Christians we face this temptation every day.

This we see was the motivation for Pilate to release Barabbas and to hand Jesus over to be crucified.

Pilate was in trouble....the Jewish leaders had threatened to write to Rome about him. He had already been warned about uprisings in his hot and dusty outpost. A further report might cost him advancement, or his position.

And so....he gives Jesus over to them...although he had seen no guilt in Jesus....and had no reason to condemn him to death.

He "wanted to satisfy the crowd"....poor pathetic Pilate.

TFTD: We are no better than Pilate if we live "to satisfy the crowd" and do not stand up to our Christian convictions.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

It's A Sad World For Some Women.

I would like to share with you a couple of entries from the prayer diary that I use from the "Open Doors" organisation.

Yesterday, was the WORLDWIDE International Women's Day. The diary wrote...." Would you please pray for the Christian women in the Central Asian countries, who may not enjoy the same level of freedom that we do. Pray they may have the strength and courage to step out and impact their societies in a positive way."

Pray for Samida, one of the women in Central Asia who is not married. To be single is seen as a shame on her family and Samida has been expelled from the house. Her parents told her to share the shed with the animals.

Pray for Alfia, one of the many secret believers in Central Asia. Pressure on her was so heavy that she could no longer confess Christ publicly. Now, she struggles with feelings of guilt and misses the fellowship with other Christians.

TFTD: We are so safe and secure here...do you feel too, that you need to give something back to these struggling Christians... even if it is (only) prayer.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark

God Keeps A Loving Eye On Us!

I am just back from a memorial service, in our Church led by a colleague who I haven't seen since college days.

He led the service well and spoke on Psalm 121:

A song of ascents.

¹ I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?

² My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

³ He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;

⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

⁷ The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;

⁸ the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

This is a walking Psalm. As the people came into Jerusalem for celebrations at the Temple they walked up hill, and as they came they would see the huge Temple shining on top of the hill.

They would be reminded of their great God and that their help comes from Him- the maker of heaven and earth.

Then they would recite in these few verses the five reminders that God "watches over" His children in protection and love.

We have had grandchildren here over the last couple of days. We keep a loving eye on them, so that they will not come to any trouble. That is how God watches over us.

TFTD: Are you conscious of, and thankful for the fact that God "watches over" you?

Have a great day,

Peter Clark

Why Are We Here?

The age old question.....why are we here?

This morning I had a difficult passage to preach on....and to do a children's talk on at our Family Service.

Luke 13:6-9 (New International Version)

⁶Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. ⁷So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?'

⁸" 'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. ⁹If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.' "

What was I do with this...for children? How would I say something significant that they would listen to and be able to take something away from the talk?

I ended up making one point only.... God created us for the purpose of living in a relationship with Him....He wants us to do that....anything else is a waste.

Why are we here? To live as a child of God.

TFTD: A fig tree should produce fruit....and they should be figs and not oranges or apples. How does this fit in with the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22,23)?

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

Where Grace Leads!

This passage is a great little reminder to us that the grace that God has lavished on us should have an effect on our lives.

Titus 2:11-14 (The Message)

^11-14God's readiness to give and forgive is now public. Salvation's available for everyone! We're being shown how to turn our backs on a godless, indulgent life, and how to take on a God-filled, God-honoring life. This new life is starting right now, and is whetting our appetites for the glorious day when our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, appears. He offered himself as a sacrifice to free us from a dark, rebellious life into this good, pure life, making us a people he can be proud of, energetic in goodness.

TFTD: Our profession of Christ is to be accompanied by Godly living.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

We Can Know For Sure That We Are Saved.

Acts 13:38,39 (The Message)

I want you to know, my very dear friends, that it is on account of this resurrected Jesus that the forgiveness of your sins can be promised. He accomplishes, in those who believe, everything that the Law of Moses could never make good on. But everyone who believes in this raised-up Jesus is declared good and right and whole before God.

We need have no doubt about this.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

God Knows All!

I am just back from a retreat with a bunch of guys. We shared some of our favourite Bible passages. one of our number mentioned Psalm 90 verses 1 and 2. I read on to this verse....

Psalm 90:8 (New International Version)

⁸ You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.

God knows everything about us...that is scary isn't it....but it doesn't have to be because he still loves us and wants to forgive us.

This means that we can come before him and talk openly and honestly with him about our failures.

TFTD: We can be thankful that our sins and failures are covered by Christ's death. Praise the Lord.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

This Says It All

For me, these words from Psalm 28 verses 6 & 7 say it all. They sum up my walk.

Praise be to the Lord,
for he has heard my cry for mercy.
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.
My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

TFTD: How do you express where you are at?

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.


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Things That God Hates!

Is it OK that God hates some things? We tend to be discouraged from having strong feelings about anything these days (not exactly PC)!
But God's Word tells us that He feels very strongly about some attitudes and behaviours.
I came across some of these in me Bible reading in Proverbs yesterday:

God hates....

....violent people (3:31)
....haughtiness, lying, murdering, scheming, eagerness to do wrong, a false witness, stirring up dissension (6:16-19)
....those who are untruthful (12:22)
....the sacrifice of the wicked (15:8)
....the way of the wicked (15:9)
....the thoughts of the wicked (15:26)
....those who are proud (16:5)
....those who judge unjustly (17:15)

TFTD: Let these be guidelines of what we are NOT to be and do!
Think about this: Are you allowed to hate what God hates?

Have a great day,

Peter Clark


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Going Off At The Mouth!

Last night I preached on the passage in James 3:1-12 on the tongue.

I will not bore you with the whole text but tell you of the four points that I made from the passage.

First, in verses 1 & 2 James starts off with on general observations about the greater accountability of teachers (of the Bible) and the difficulty of not stumbling in this area.

TFTD: If we teach the Bible, or lead a congregation...how effective are we?

Secondly, in verses 3 - 6 he writes of the power of the tongue. James draws on the illustrations of the bit, for a horse, the rudder of a ship and a bush fire. Both the bit and the rudder are very small but very effective in controlling and steering their subject. A very devastating bush fire can start from a very small spark.

TFTD: Before we speak we need to remember that a few words can destroy a relationship that took years to build....we cannot reverse the damage that our words may cause.

Thirdly, in verses 7 & 8 James writes of the difficulty of taming the tongue. He says that it is possible to tame all sorts of wild animals, but it is impossible to tame the tongue.

TFTD: We need God's help in this area of our lives.

Finally, James tells us of the contradictory nature of our tongues. In (almost) the same breath we can use of tongue to praise God and then curse our neighbour. How weird is that ...and yet true.

TFTD: We need to praying that God's Holy Spirit will be purifying our heart and give us words that will please God. It is not easy...and it may be a real growing point for us.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.