And Jesus answered and said unto her, “Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things; But one thing is needful; and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Many years ago I was in China on business and on one particular day during that trip, (It was a Thursday as I remember it very well as if it were only last week!).. I was busy in meetings with a number of business people when my phone rang. It was a message saying that our youngest daughter had been involved in a car accident and was in hospital and that they were trying to reach my wife!

Immediately panic, panic and more panic set into my heart! My mind began to race at 120 miles an hour thinking of all the things that I was in no position to do anything about as I was thousands of miles away in China! How badly was my daughter hurt? What if she’s seriously injured? Could she die? Someone should be with her and I’m not there! Where’s my wife? (actually she was in church)

I walked out of the building and found a quiet spot outside and weeping I cried out to Jesus to be with my little girl (actually she was in her late teens) and to please touch her in the hope she wouldn’t have suffered any injuries, and that everything would be alright. At that time the peace of God flooded my heart and a quiet assurance so overwhelmed me that it was okay, she was fine and Jesus was taking care of everything. My tears turned from panic to tears of joy and I began to praise and thank Him for His faithfulness, love and mercy.

Jesus said He would send us the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, and at that time so long ago, and many times since, I have truly experienced the comfort of the Holy Spirit.

Let me leave you today with the lyrics to one verse of the wonderful song we sang at Thursday evening prayer service:

                Sitting at the feet of Jesus, Where can mortal be more blest?

                There I lay my sins and sorrows, And when weary, find sweet rest…

                Sitting at the feet of Jesus, There I love to weep and pray..

                While I from His fullness gather..

                Grace and comfort every day.

Remember beloved, every day in our Christian living He is in You and with you!

God be with you today and always.

Pastor

Philip answered Him, “Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little!”
John 6v7 (KJV)           

Have you ever asked anyone a question about doing something really difficult, and you already knew the answer? That’s exactly what Jesus did to Philip one of His disciples. In John 6v5 there was a huge crowd of people who followed Jesus to watch Him heal and teach. It was getting late in the day and Jesus wanted to feed them. It’s estimated that the crowd would have been in the vicinity of 10,000 – 12,000 or more, and Jesus asked Philip  “Where shall we buy bread that these may eat?” (v5) Philip’s answer of “two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient” was about a year’s salary’s worth of bread and then only enough for each to have a “little”.

When I read this I see that I would be just like Philip thinking naturally of a way of solving things and even saying within myself “it’s too hard! I can’t do anything! It’s way beyond me!” when JESUS the Bread of Life is right next to me! You see, Jesus is always wanting us to  have our faith in Him increased and so He tests us. And that’s exactly what He was doing with Philip in this scripture. Philip should have said…”Master You’re the Miracle Worker! You are able! I know You can do all things!”

Beloved, we must be careful with the doubt we may have in ourselves and the thoughts that we have, “Am I a strong enough Christian?” “Do I have the Holy Spirit’s power in me?”

Christ has called us to great victories and great works as we believe in Him! (John 14v12) No matter what we face in life let’s remember that our sufficiency is of God and not of ourselves!

Go in the strength of the LORD this week and rejoice in Him always!

Love in Christ.

Pastor