What Is Wrong With People?

I often wonder, why more people do not understand the gospel, accept it and live under it.

This morning I was reminded again why that is.

2 Corinthians 4:4

"The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God"

So there we have it....it is like there is a fog hanging over those who do not believe, preventing them from "seeing" God's good news of salvation.

Have a good day,


Peter Clark.

When Understanding Comes.

We often think that as unbelievers we should understand absolutely everything before we make a commitment.

It doesn't happen in life OR faith!

Can you imagine waiting until you knew absolutely everything about the girl you wanted to marry? It would never happen.

Things actually happen the other way around....God wants to see faith and commitment and then we come to understanding.

This is confirmed in 2 Corinthians 3:16  "But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away." 

Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

How Are You Smelling?

In 2 Corinthians 2 Paul is writing to Christians living in Corinth explaining to them how they are ministers (or servants) to God's new covenant.

In verse 15 he writes....

"For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?"

We represent God in the world..... and who is equal to a task like that?


Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

A Pattern For Us.

2 Chronicles 31:19-21

"This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful before the LORD his God. In everything that he undertook in the service of God's temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And he prospered.

Have a good day,


Peter Clark.

Everything Is "Yes" In Jesus.

As we read our Old and New Testaments, we see that the Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, is central to all of God's purposes for us.

2 Corinthians 1:20-22

"For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."

Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

Pride.

What will bring the greatest men and women down?

One word.......pride.

We see that in the lives of many in God's Word.

The example I came across today is from 2 Chronicles 26:16.

That passage mentions King Uzziah he became "powerful, his pride led to his downfall"

It is such a subtle sin - to think more of us than we should.

Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

It Is Hard To Be Courageous.

It IS hard to be courageous.

Paul gives us some advice in 1 Corinthians 16:13 to be courageous.

Oh, if it were that easy.

But in the context of the verse where Paul encourages "courage" comes some helpful advice that will assist us to be courageous.

He writes...."Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love."

Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

Looking To God To Act.

Jehoshaphat started off as a Godly King.

When he had Moab and Ammon combined and ready to attack, this was his response...

".....For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you."

2 Chronicles 20:12

Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

The Very Early Gospel.

1 Corinthians 15:2-8

"By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born."

Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

While We Wait For The Return Of Jesus...

Jude, verse 20-21

"...by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life."


Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

We Get What We Ask For!

In 2 Chronicles 12 we read how after Rehoboam becomes King and is established securely as King, "he and all Israel with him abandoned the law of the LORD"(v,1)

This is described as being "unfaithful to the LORD" (v.2)

We are told that because of this Shishak, King of Egypt attacked Jerusalem.

The reason for this?

We see it in v.5, the LORD says,  "You have abandoned me; therefore, I now abandon you to Shishak"

That is how it works.

Have a great day,



Peter Clark.

Psalm 100

This is one of the great Psalms.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!

2 Serve the Lord with gladness!

Come into his presence with singing!

3 Know that the Lord, he is God!

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

and his courts with praise!

Give thanks to him; bless his name!

5 For the Lord is good;

his steadfast love endures forever,

and his faithfulness to all generations.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

Making Sense Of The Old Testament.

Making sense of the Old Testament is not always easy is it?

In chapter 10 of 1 Corinthians Paul writes to tell the Corinthian Christians of some of the warnings from Israel's history...

....In verse 11, as Paul progresses, he says "These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings FOR US, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come."

In the Old Testament we learn about many things: sin, rebellion, idols etc and God's disappointment and anger over his people getting involved in these.

We must be listening to the warnings.


Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

Which Way Are You Shown Up?

1 Corinthians 11:19

"No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval"

Are you different?

Does it show God's approval....

Or perhaps.......

That is for you to answer.


Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

How Enthusiastic Are We To Be?

I have often experienced great enthusiasm from Christians in Asian churches.

It draws me to ask..."How dedicated/enthusiastic do we need to be?"

I found a clue today....

"O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth- you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue WHOLEHEARTEDLY in your way." (2 Chronicles 6:14)

Wholeheartedly would suggest what?

Perhaps a lack of lukewarmedness?

Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

Good Advice.

I picked up some snipets of advice from 1 Corinthians 9 and 10 this morning...

Verse 22 " I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in it's blessings"

Verse 25 "....Run in such a way as to get the prize."

Chapter 10 Verse 12 "So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!"

Verse 13 "And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."


Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

No Wonder We Wonder!

This morning in my reading two Scriptures (one from Ecclesiastes and one from Psalms) worked in perfectly together....

Ecclesiastes 11:5

"As you do not know the path of wind,
     or how the body is formed in a mother's womb,
so you cannot understand the work of God,
     the Maker of all things."

Psalm 96:4

"For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
     he is to be feared above all gods...."


Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

Some Wisdom About Money.

From Ecclesiastes 5:10

"Whoever loves money never has money enough;
     whoever loves wealth is never
satisfied with his income"

We know that is true don't we?


Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

One Is Good, Two Is Better, Three Is Ideal.

I have used this passage in wedding services as an encouragement to couples to include God in their lives.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12


"Two are better than one, 
because they have a good reward for their toil. 
For if they fall, 
one will lift up his fellow. 
But woe to him who is alone when he falls 
and has not another to lift him up! 
Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, 
but how can one keep warm alone? 
And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, 
two will withstand him—
a threefold cord is not quickly broken."

What do you think about that?


Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

A Time For Everything.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God had done from beginning to end."

There are a few things to remember here.....God HAS made everything "good" or "beautiful".

He has set a yearning for eternity in our hearts.

And God, being God remains unfathomable to us....who could expect Him to be any other way?


Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

The Prayer Of A Great One.

Solomon prays....

2 Chronicles 1:10

"Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?"

This is a great example for us. The other thing we have to remember about Solomon is that he started well but did not finish well.

TFTD: We need to finish well.

Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

A Reason To Be Encouraged.

I came across this in my reading today...

"Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished."

1 Chronicles 28:20

We might say that the need is to keep on keeping on.


Hava a great day,


Peter Clark.

Thankfully, I Have Neither Of These...

Proverbs 19:13

"A foolish son s his father's ruin,
     and a quarrelsome wife is like a
          constant dripping." 

I AM very thankful to God for my family.


Have a great day,



Peter Clark.

Is This Me?

There is a description of the "righteous" in Psalm 92:12-15.

I have to ask, "How well does this describe me?'

Feel free to ask the same question.

"The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
     they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
planted in the house of the Lord,
     they will flourish in the courts of God.
They will still bear fruit in old age,
     they will stay fresh and green,
proclaiming, 'The Lord is upright;
     he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in Him."


Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

We Can't Imagine!

The words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 9 always resonate with me (they actually appear in the funeral service)...

"No eye has seen,
     no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
     what God has prepared for those who love him"

Amazing isn't it?

Have a great day,


Peter Clark

Was It Pride?

King David was having great success - going from strength to strength and then in 1 Chronicles 21 we see a turning point...

"Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel." (verse 1)

Was that pride?

TFTD: We have to be careful of pride creeping into our lives.

Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

Can I Be Kept From Sinning?

In the end, probably not. But we are told in 1 Corinthians 1:8-9...

"He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful."


We have God, we have his Son, Jesus....we have the Holy Spirit. Remember, that we will not be tempted more than we can endure.

In the end.....we have forgiveness.


Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

Pray For This.

This morning in my 365 Day Bible I come to the end of Romans. Paul is rounding up his thoughts and gathering together his greetings to various people.

He writes in verse 19 (of chapter 16)

"Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I am full of joy over you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil."


Think about this for a minute...

What Paul is praying for is OBEDIENCE, WISDOM and DETACHMENT from evil.

Obedience speaks clearly enough for itself. It is possible to have an idea of what God wants of us. It is the WILL to obey that we need.

Then he talks about being "wise about what is good". We all need a large dose of this.

What is good for us is not necessarily what we go after....an abundance of material possessions might not be good for us. Spiritual insight and service might be the wise things to seek.

Fleeing from evil might be the wise thing to do....that will leave us "innocent about what is evil."

Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

Eternity In Perspective.

Psalm 90:4

"For a thousand years in your sight
      are like a day that has just gone by,
      or like a watch in the night"

We worry a bout fitting so much into our lives, when really what we need to do, is to get our relationship with God sorted (by having a relationship with Jesus) and we will have all the time in eternity.


Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

What More Do We Want?

Romans 15:13

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."


Have a great day,


Peter Clark.