My heart was heavy this morning thinking through all that I have been hearing in these past few weeks; things happening inside the professing church, things that cause the name of the Lord Jesus to be maligned, things done and said by people who call themselves Christians yet trample the Lord's name underfoot.

Paul recognised that work in Corinth - saw the enemy's efforts through the false teachers and their deceived helpers - and knew that he must fight with the weapons that God had provided - with prayer and with the Word of God.

I must love with the love with which God first loved me; a love that moves, that acts, that has effect. I must love in word and in deed - love because I understand the enormity of the mercy that saved me and the grace that keeps me.

It's cold outside - almost freezing and its becoming easier to imagine snow falling on Christmas Day. Where did the summer go? Where the autumn? How is it that without even a blink of an eye we are suddenly propelled into the celebrations - street lights, trees and tinsel; parties, presents and pastries?

I have started writing short posts on the DT Facebook page that I have called 'Standing on the Word'. I aim to post every two or three days and so far they have been taken from a Scripture I have read that morning.

Paul has just finished laying out the gospel which he preached and which his readers, the believers in Corinth, had received. He goes on to explain how he came to be an apostle, how he came to be saved. He describes himself as the least of the apostles, someone who did not deserve the grace of God but nonetheless that he had received it and was now experiencing its power.

I awoke this morning to the news of the tragedy at London Bridge. Horror, anger, tears and questions - 'why Lord' and then -'how can we stop this senseless violence and what should be our response to it'?

Isn’t it amazing that the first line in this Psalm explains so much - the fact that God is our refuge and strength shows us that we are not immune from troubles and problems. The abundant life that Jesus offered us is not a troublefree life.