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Showing posts from July, 2021

26 Would you give your life?

                                                Would you give your life? Matt 26:26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “ Take and eat; this is my body.” A familiar saying you might have heard is “I would give my life for my children” Human's are not the only species capable of such sacrifice and in fact a certain spider does this as part of their life cycle. The spider “Stegodphus dumicola” is one of a few species who literally give up their own life to conserve the species. But they do more than this. The Mother a short while after her babies eggs have hatched allow the baby spiders to enter her body and literally eat her from the inside out. Her insides turn into a fluid mucous that ensure at least some of the babies survival. This sounds quite grotesque but it is the only way to ensure survival of the species. Humans may not quite go to that extent, but they might give up t

25 Do not forget your first love part 2

  Do not forget your first love part 2 2 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favour: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, whi

24 Do not forget your first love part 1

  Do not forget your first love part 1 Jer 2 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: “ This is what the  Lord  says: “‘ I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the wilderness, through a land not sown. 3 Israel was holy to the Lord , the first fruits of his harvest; all who devoured her were held guilty, and disaster overtook them,’” declares the Lord . The promises of the Lord had been steadfast and sure. Israel had known the Lord's blessing on them and delighted in them. Now God was rebuking them for leaving their first love. He begins by reminding them of the relationship they had and how far into idolatry they had slipped. A people who were separated and made holy in order to display the awesome might and love of God had now become no better than the godless people around them. Is this the case with the church today? Where our lives transformed at the time we

23 Who is the church?

  Who is the church? Acts 8:29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” 30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. 31“How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Many years ago when I worked for Prison Fellowship, I planned a trip to Penningham Prison which is close to Newton Stewart around 50 miles west of Dumfries. I usually travel alone but this time I had a new friend I met in a church during a visit there. He had joined Prison Fellowship as a volunteer and asked to accompany me. After about 130 miles travel we broke down somewhere near Gatehouse of Fleet. We were on a long country road but stopped beside a solitary cottage house. We hoped someone was in and when we got an answer we asked to use their phone. PF had given me a breakdown card but it only covered a tow to the nearest gara