You wait ages for a bus and then 3 come along… well, here is blog 3 in the last 24 hours! 2 thoughts:

1: Far better to be mocked as naive and to keep the peace of God than to be admired as wise and know not that the Spirit of God has left you….

2: Remember the Spirit of God can be grieved:  pray for help to know when He is grieved in you or even by you. Pray that you will be one upon whom the Spirit of God can rest and remain. Ephesians 4 verse 30 and following are worth reading before preaching or ministering to people in some way in the Name of Christ not to condemn us but to help us be prepared. I don’t think these verses are a full list of all that can grieve the Spirit, but sometimes one senses some of what is mentioned here in pulpits:  a simmering  bitterness (unforgiveness) rage or anger for reasons every Rev. throughout the  nations could well understand; understandable perhaps, but not the best way to make a resting or remaining place for the Dove. When I was aware of such things in me in days of better health and a more active preaching ministry, I found it a powerful prayer to say simply and with straighforward honesty, “Father I confess this is wrong. That is all I can do, God help me. If anything shows I need you, it is this attitude. Without more of you,  I cannot get beyond this confession; I can agree with your Word and Spirit that this is wrong, but I cannot change this. Please help me by your Spirit. Fill me afresh or I will always be like this.”

It is now 3 in the morning UK time. I am fully awake for reasons explained in another blog; didn’t get up until 3.30 yesterday afternoon! Feeling very alert, hence this third blog. Maybe if you are awake at 3 am with me, you could read Ephesians 4 from verse 30 onwards, or even borrow and use my prayer  before Sunday progresses any further if you think it would help…

…If  you are in another time zone, of course you are still allowed to do the same, just send your best ministry gift to…..lol as the cool young texting and  bible app generation say these days. Embarassed to say that it  took me several years of simmering annoyance to work out what they meant by that; and anyway,why could they not just say that; and why does everything need abbreviated… and why do they have to wear jeans ripped at the knees that seem fit only for painting or decorating in, or garden work or scraping limpets and seaweed off the hull of a boat or cleaning rusty things with metholated spirits… or let’s face it jeans that are actually fit only for the bin (of the right colour and put out on the right day of course)…and why does the angle of their hand and  each finger need to be have to be the way it seems to have to be when they raise their hands in worship, angles and shapes that I cannot match, and why do worship leaders sound as though they are in pain, and do they actually want me to make out the words they are singing; must we play  “guess the words” as well as the  “guess  the flipping tune” game that has gone on for years now (I mean, have they never listened to  85 plus year old Tony Bennet for a few lessons in pronunciation and followable rhythm that makes people smile and actually want to sing along: good enough for Lady Gaga…)  and what is wrong witht the old hymns anyway that they are all but outlawed now,  and when will we be allowed to sing an unaccompanied pslam ( don’t they know the psalms are Scottish), and  why do folk need to drink coffee during a church service, and while I am at it I wish people would stop doing that thing, you know what I mean, that thing,  that  thing that is SO annoying… ??!! Drat, wait a minute: “Father, I confess this is wrong. That is all I……………Fill me afresh or I will always be like this.” Still need that prayer; maybe I always will.

God bless you with His help and lead you into His peace. May He give you rest from you.

Kenny

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