Descriptions of Jesus.

In John Chapter 1 we see emerging descriptions of Jesus...

Verse 29 "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world"

Verse 30 "he has surpassed me because he was before me (John the Baptist)"

Verse 34 "this is the Son of God"

Verse 36 "the Lamb of God"

Verse 41 "we have found the Messiah (that is, the Christ)"

Verse 45 "we have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote - Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

Verse 49 "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel"

Amazing isn't it?

Have a good day,

Peter Clark.

Two Ways To Live.

Psalm 53 points out very clearly to us that there are two ways to live.

"The fool says in his heart,

"There is no God."

They are corrupt, and their ways are vile;

there is no one who does good.

God looks down from heaven

on the sons of men

to see if there are any who understand,

any who seek God.

There are those who disregard God - pay no attention to Him at all.

And then there are those who seek God.

If you are reading this, then I am presuming that you are the latter.

Well done.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

What I Want God To Do For Me.

It is quite simple. I found it this morning in Psalm 51:10-12.

"Create in me a pure heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me 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.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

Describing Spiritual Experience.

In Luke 24 beginning at verse 30 we read how the disciples described their meeting with the risen Lord Jesus.

"When (Jesus) was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognised him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other. 'Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?' "

TFTD: How do you describe your daily walk with Jesus?

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

The Mistake Is Not Asking.

We see through the Old Testament that one of the problems that the people of God grew into was NOT enquiring of God - not referring to God - not asking God what to do.

That happens time and time again. It is a bad mistake.

Let's not fall into the same trap.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark

The Litany Continued.

In all times of sorrow;

in all times of joy;

in the hour of our death and at the day of judgement,

good Lord, deliver us.

By the mystery of your holy incarnation;

by your birth, childhood and obedience;

by your baptism, fasting and temptation,

good Lord, deliver us.

By your ministry in word and work;

by your mighty acts of power;

and by your preaching of the kingdom,

good Lord, deliver us.

By your agony and trial;

by your cross and passion;

and by your precious death and burial,

good Lord, deliver us.

By your mighty resurrection;

by your glorious ascension;

and by your sending of the Holy Spirit,

good Lord, deliver us.

Powerful stuff eh,

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

The Litany.

The other day I was asked about praying through the Litany. I hadn't done that for years.

Here are the opening prayers:

from all evil and mischief;

from pride, vanity and hypocrisy;

from envy, hatred and malice;

and from all evil intent,

good Lord, deliver us.

From sloth, worldliness and love of money;

from hardness of heart

and contempt of your word and your laws,

good Lord, deliver us.

From sins of body and mind;

from deceits of the world, the flesh and the devil,

good Lord, deliver us.

From famine and disaster;

from violence, murder and dying unprepared,

good Lord, deliver us.

More tomorrow.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

The End Of Our Days.

In Luke 21 Jesus is talking about the end times. He says, "and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth." (v34b,35)

What is interesting is what comes before that verse AND what comes after that verse.

"Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life........Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

The Secret To Sticking To Your Faith.

I read this morning Joshua 1:8-9

8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for theLord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Keep on reading the Word of God, praying, meeting with other Christians regularly.

We are human....we have moods. For me sometimes (not often thankfully) I might be in a "mood" and some things about the Christian faith might seem improbable. I am told (on good authority) that atheists sometimes are in a mood and think that Christianity seems probable (although I suppose they are reluctant to admit it).

What we need to do is to dwell on the objective reality of God, by reading his Word, praying, and (yes you guessed it) sharing your life with other Christians.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

Riches, Not All They Are Cracked Up To Be.

Psalm 49:12-20

Are you sad about not being rich...then read this.

Man in his pomp will not remain;

he is like the beasts that perish.

13 This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;

yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah

14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;

death shall be their shepherd,

and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.

Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.

15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,

for he will receive me. Selah

16 Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,

when the glory of his house increases.

17 hFor when he dies he will carry nothing away;

his glory will not go down after him.

18 For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed

—and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—

19 his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,

who will never again see light.

20 mMan in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

Our Human Disease.

What is the problem with humanity?

I think it says it clearly enough in Deuteronomy 31:18-19

"You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;

you forgot the God who gave you birth.

The LORD saw this and rejected them."

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

Life Is Attainable.

Deuteronomy 30:11-15

11 “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.

15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil.

Having life is not too hard for anyone.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

Ouch Of The Heart.

Deuteronomy 30:6

"The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live."

God gives us a new heart so that we might love Him. The result is LIFE>

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

God Can Do It.

The rich young ruler comes up to Jesus. He stumbles over his possessions and finds he cannot follow Jesus - because he thinks he will lose out (how ridiculous).

Jesus says, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God! Indeed it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle...."

Those who were there asked, "Who then can be saved?"

Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God."

We must continually remember that fact..... it might be impossible for us, but it is not impossible for God.

TFTD: Tatoo that on the inside of your eyelids.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

Blessings For Obedience.

Deuteronomy 28:1-14

“And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God. 3 Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. 5 Blessed shall be your basket and your vkneading bowl. 6 Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

7 “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. 8 The Lord will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. And he will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. 9 The Lord will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways. 10 And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. 11 And theLord will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. 12 The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13 And the Lord will make you jthe head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them, 14 and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

The Problem Of Being Too Rich.

In our western culture even the poorest of us is too rich.

I was looking at the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16.

There are many lessons for us to learn.

Why don't we just stick to this one....

"Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad thing...." (v.25)

We don't know the workings of it, but it appears that there will be some kind of justice or equalisation worked out in the end.

We can trust God to do that fairly.

Have a good day,

Peter Clark.

I Wonder?

On my calendar for today a certain "Pearl Buck" (whoever she is) makes the comment...

"I feel no need for any other faith than my faith in human beings"

That strikes me as being very odd....to the point of being crazy.

If she feels that way....why does the issue even come up? Is she trying to convince herself?

Secondly, without trying to sound too negative....but "faith in human beings" seems to be totally wasted.

TFTD: What do you think? Am I getting too cynical?

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

I Do Know Where To Look....

Hebrews 12:2

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

We are to look at Jesus...

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

Speaking Presumptuously.

How do we know that a "message from the LORD" is a message from the LORD?

Deuteronomy 18:21-22

21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’—22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

Making Your Life Straightforward.

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Turn Or Burn!

Turn or burn....that was a saying that was going around when I was young.

It could almost be from Luke 13:3 & 5.

"But unless you repent, you too will all perish".

It is of course true....we do need to turn back to God to have eternal life, both in the sense of length of life and also quality of life.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

Care Is Needed.

There are many warnings in the Scriptures.

I came across this one today, "Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them." (Deuteronomy 11:16)

This reading linked in with my gospel reading for the day (Luke 12:35-59) on being watchful.

TFTD: We need to be careful that we don't get enticed away and we do this by watching.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

Where Is God?

"But be assured today that the LORD your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire." (Deuteronomy 9:3)

A Higher Level Of Living.

There is a mundane, very ordinary way to live AND there is a level of living far above just eating, drinking, sleeping, eating, drinking, sleeping and so on.

It says it well in Deuteronomy 8:3 "..... man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD."

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

God's Word Works.

In my daily Bible readings there is usually an Old Testament, a New Testament and a Psalm or Proverb.

It is amazing how often they match up - or will continue a thought.

Like today...

Deuteronomy 5:33

"Walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess"

Luke 11:28

Jesus replied, " Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."

Proverbs 8:35

"For whoever finds me finds life

and receives favour from the LORD."

There is an amazing consistency throughout the Scriptures, which of course, is one of the arguments for the Bible's inspiration - or "out breathing" by God.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

Pride...

C S Lewis (in "Mere Christianity") calls pride "the worst of all the vices" that we can have.

He says that it can smuggle itself into the very centre of our religious life - that it comes direct from Hell and is purely spiritual.

"For pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense".

TDTD: Beware.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

A Lovely Image Of The Fatherhood Of God.

Deuteronomy 1:29-31

29 Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them. 30 The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’

Isn't that terrific to know?

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

What We Do.

I was reminded of this today in my readings (from Luke 9:23-26)

23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

TFTD: Could I suggest that you read this passage carefully and that you highlight any words which are particularly relevant to your life at the moment.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

Blessed Is The Man

With God...you don't have to do much to receive His blessing...

Psalm 40:4

"Blessed is the man (the person)

who makes the LORD his trust,

who does not look to the proud,

to those who turn aside to false gods."

TFTD: Are you seeking to do that?

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

April Fool's Day

Here we are at "National Unbeliever's Day"

1st April

Psalm 14:1 says this "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.' "

There appears to be a great number of "fools" around.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.