He could do it. ( Hebrews 11 v 3 )

Where I live there is a lot of light pollution,so when I look up into the sky,I only see a few stars, when one studies the universe it is mind blowing,the distance between planets,and stars,and the number of galaxies and stars, and so on,very hard to take it all in. God created everything,in six days,oh did I say six days,it is impossible,yes it is, for you or me,but not for God ,not in the least, for with God all things are possible.Next time some Christian says its impossible,look them straight in eye, and ask them,do they not think God could do?..Am I saying the scientist have got it wrong?,yes,I can tell you it is a far better answer than saying it just happened,oh yes they will say it took million and millions of  years. The time element appears to give them credibility,but it doesn't ,it does .not change anything,the believers of evolution,speak as if evolution has a supernatural power,a god like power. They clap their hands in wonder at what their god can do,the Christian bows in reverence and humility  and praises God who did do it.Someone has said there is no earthly answer to the mystery of creation,many do try to give an answer,but fail miserably.

The must. ( 2 Timothy 4 v 7 - 8 )

The must of the Christian life, I must pray,I must read Gods  word,I must never slacken ,I must never give in,or give up.I cannot go back to what I once was, I must go forward, I must.The way may be difficult,trials  may be many,for I remember that my Saviour  said that in the world we shall have tribulation.I don't want to be a Judas who betrayed his master for 30 pieces of silver,or Demas who give up,because he loved the world ,or like those in the garden ,who forsook their Lord.I read the following,'Don't be so naive and self confident,that anyone of us could fall, flat on our faces,self confidence is not the answer,I need God-confidence, for without Him I can do nothing.Lots wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt, Jonah disobeyed and ended up in the belly of a great fish,for three days. Samson beguiled by a woman,lost his eyes and his freedom, godly David became the ungodly David when he gave into lust.Yes I must pray every day for only then will I finish the race,'Oh God give us all grace and ,enable us all to .fight the good fight,to finish the race,to keep the faith,in Jesus name Amen'.

Yes He can. ( Ephesians 3 v 20 )

Last time we consider Gods giving His greatest gift, which brought with the wonderful  assurance that he most give us the lesser things. Now let us consider another verse Ephesians 3 v 20, ' Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think,according to the power that works in us'.Did not Jesus tell us that mountains can be removed and cast into the sea.( Mark 11 v 22- 23) if we have faith ever so small.Yes God is generous and His power greater than we could ever imagine ,what mountain are you facing?,is it to much for you,you cannot see a way out, or a way forward,remember with God all things are possible ,  there is nothing to hard for Him to do.The great events in the Bible really happened,they are historically true. David did actually slay a giant,Samson really did bring the house down.Christ really did walk on water,and did actually rise from the dead. ( 1 Corinthians 15 v 3 - 8 )The power of God has not changed, nor will it,that power dwells within every child of God .R.C.Sproul writes,'Sometimes believers feel so impotent . They see themselves as spiritual failures because the power of the flesh is so great,the temptations of this world so overwhelming ,and their progress is so slim. The answer to this outlook is to understand the greatness of this power'Paul is reminding us of the power of the Holy Spirit,the arm of flesh will fail us,but with the power of God's Holy Spirit all things can be overcome.

Freedom ( 2 Corinthians 5 v 17 )

The great cry of mankind is for freedom,freedom from poverty,freedom of worship,freedom politically,freedom from racism,the cry of William Wallace in Brave heart as he was at the point of death was ,'Freedom''. Recently we went out for a picnic,it was windy,so we choose a place that would give us a little shelter from the wind. It was there I noticed a lot of silver containers on the ground,from those containers people get a gas which they inhale,and I suppose it gives them a high.You know what happens when a person inhales that gas for the first time?,they give up their freedom, addiction takes over. You know what happens  when you look at pornography ,you become an addict,you loose your freedom.Our Saviour said this ,'everyone who sins is a slave to sin', ( John 8 v 34),it means you have lost your freedom. You may say I can stop anytime I want, I have done it many times,lets face it you are no longer the master you are the slave,the tail is now wagging the dog. Whats your addiction?,what or whom have you surrendered your freedom to? ,has your addiction  blinded you as to the pain it is causing you and even those you love?.There is a TV series called father Brown  ,he always solves the crime,but along side of that he wants the perpetrator , to repent and seek forgiveness.if you want to be free you can be , if you repent,repentance is a deep sorrow and has with it a deep desire to change ,then seek Jesus  for  forgiveness ,for Jesus said He will set you free ( John 8 v  34 )       

IF. ( Matthew 10 v 28 )

If I come over as  a blunt instrument, I don't mean to,but there so many ministers and they leave vital truths out of their ministry.The minister has a charge by God to preach the whole truth,and noting but the whole trade,this is not optional. Jonah disobeyed ,and you know what happened to him,the apostle suffered,he experienced ,floggings,imprisonment,stoning,because he spoke,the whole truth.Being a minister is not a popularity contest,the cross would tell you that.We can leave out the doctrine of hell,of creation,sexual perverseness,and wrong sexual behaviour,if we do we will upset people,and that would never do,we would not be popular, we may loose our jobs.But we will on that day when we will have to give an account to our Lord, as to our unfaithfulness,what will we answer?.People need to hear the word sin,to remind them how God views our wrongs morally, and their need to repent and seek forgiveness.The death of Jesus on the cross is Gods answer to the sinfulness of every human being.I am told of a Christian who was on the Titanic,before he perished in the freezing water he swam around and witnessed to people to trust Jesus and be saved,not saved from drowning,but from going to hell. We are all going to die,the most important thing is being ready,before we die,I urge you because I love you ,to trust Jesus before it is to late.

All. (Romans 3 v 23 )

When the coronavirus kicked in , the government brought in financial help ,many claimed universal credit,it was fast tracked.It appears there were those who took advantage in the wrong way,as it is reckoned that over a billion pound has been fraudulent claimed. We have all taken encouragement  that so much kindness has been shown by so many,but now we see the other side of humanity's nature,the dark side. In case you don't know it, we all have a dark side,yes all of us, we may not have committed fraud but we all sin.More than likely, most of those people who committed fraud, will not be caught. So that's it ?,no ,the word of God says be sure your sin will find you out.Found out, by who?,  God ,there is coming a day, in which all will be revealed,the forgotten lies,wrong thoughts,wrong words,wrong actions,will be revealed ,and will be judged,by that man, Jesus.Let me stress the following, we may not be fraudsters,murders,we may be a nice person ,we may be a good parent,a good neighbour,as humans go, honest, would not hurt a fly,give to charity,we may be the best nurse since Florence Nightingale , held in the highest esteem,we may even have a title,we may have given blood, won the Victoria Cross, have fostered children, be the nations favourite broadcaster, you may be  very religious, been to Mecca,fasted and prayed for days. And so we could go on,Gods word declares, 'that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God',and if that sin is not forgiven by trusting in Jesus,one will go to hell.

More [ Romans 8 v 32 )

It is recorded in the 4 gospels how Jesus performed two miracles,where thousands of people were fed,in one miracle all he had was 7 loaves and some small fish.In the other miracle all he had was 5 loaves and 2 small fish. From these meager resources, Jesus fed thousands ,read about these miracles in ,Mt 15 v 29 ff/ Mk 6 v 30  ff /Luke 9 v 10 ff/ John 6 v 1 ff.. Yes Jesus fed the people, no one went home hungry,after each of these miracles,the pieces that were left over, were gathered up in  baskets.In other words He gave them more than they needed. God is not mean ,we may be, in Romans 8 v 32 ,we read, 'He who did not spare his own son,but gave him up for us all- how will not also, along with him, graciously give us all things.'The N L T , puts like this, 'Since He did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all,won't He also give us everything else'.Here we have an argument from the greater to the lesser, Consider that God  has given us His greatest gift Jesus, consider what that meant,'He did not spare His own Son',consider all Christ had to endure ,look on the cross,that's God's Son hanging there,man has done his worse,but it did not stop there,for we read the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all,your sin, my sin,and then He was crushed,as  wrath was poured out upon Him.Justice had to be done,the price for our sins had to be paid,that we would not have to pay it.This is what God did for sinners ,such as you and I,so say's  Paul ,will He not give us everything else as Stuart Olyott writes,'God will not hold back anything else from us,will he withhold heaven from us? or the grace, courage,and strength to live through present trials?. No,He will freely give us all things'. .

Only one ( Acts 4 v 12 )

On his missionary journeys the apostle Paul and his companions arrived at Athens,and what they saw was a city given over to idolatry. It was a city of many gods, it had the greatest  university in the world,and it had some of the greatest philosophers.W.Barclay declared, 'God has made man so that he instinctively longs for God.' When Mahatma Gandhi was asked near the end of his life, 'Babaki', you have been looking for God all your life. Have you found him yet?'No , was the reply., ' I'm still looking'.India is a very religious country,they have hundreds of god's,just like Athens,religions, there are in plenty, in this world,but have they, Him, who is God, and the only God.If a person wants to know God, he has provided a way in the person of Jesus,through His death on Calvary. Religion ,philosophy,education cannot  bring a person to God,because man is spiritually dead,he wanders about in the darkness ,lost ,clutching  blindly to those idols,gods, that only condemn him to eternal loss. Through Jesus, God provided a sure and certain hope,he provided forgiveness,and a promise of life after death. Simply trust Him as your Saviour,then there will be no more groping in the dark.

Pray on. ( Luke 18 v 1. )

I read this recently,'Pray on, your prayers count more than you think',the coronavirus has come not just in one place,but to the whole world.I am not sure why,it has come ,why God has permitted it to come. It is so easy to ring our hands in despair,the situation appears so hopeless ,what can we do?,people are dying in their thousands,there are so many ways this is effecting people.There are many people in this world who have no social support,cannot go to work.We can help ,if God has blessed us financially, we can gave money,and in so doing we can feed the hungry.But we can pray,for God to intervene,we need a vaccine,desperately.so pray. The government is made up of imperfect people,just like you and I,pray for them. We are all in danger ,so pray,and pray and pray,yes pray on,your prayers count more than you think.

Stop and stare ( Ecclesiastes 3 v 11 )

The poet W.H.Davies wrote,''What is this life if, full of care,we have no time to stop and stare.No time to stand beneath the boughs,and stare as long as sheep or cows,No time to see, when woods we pass,where squirrels hide their nuts in grass. No time to see in broad daylight,streams full of stars, like skies at night. No time to turn at Beauty's glance,and watch her feet, how they can dance.No time to wait ,till her mouth can,enrich that smile her eyes began. A poor life this if, full of care,we have no time to stop and stair''.I live in a very busy place,not to far from London,there is a major motorway near me,and also a large shopping center. So it is a busy place,and it appears to me that so many people are busy, busy,no time to stop and stare, our lovely Saviour encouraged us to stop and stare,He said look at the birds, look at the flowers, ( Matthew 6 ),so many people are driven,and I am not speaking about driving their cars,no it is an inner compulsion,that causes them not to relax, or enjoy life.A friend of mine told me of two people who have a lovely garden,and they rarely sit in it ,and enjoy it,learn from the poet,and learn from our Saviour,to stop and stare.

If. ( Psalm 145 )

Psalm 124 is a Psalm of Davids, and as he looks back ,he declares,'If the Lord had not been on our side ,Let Israel say',he wants the nation to remember Gods deliverance,As a nation we have recently celebrated V E day, victory in Europe,we praised those who fought and defeated a  very wicked enemy. But what sadden me was the fact that God received very little praise,for make no mistake about it ,if it had been for the Lord,things would have been awful,a nightmare.But the godly David would have none of that,he reminded the nation how much they owed to God not to David. Let no one forget, or think, that they have escape all the dangers there are in life,without the Lord,He protects from the womb to the grave .David could look back and remember the dangers he had faced,and how God had preserved, and protected him,from a lion and a bear,from a giant,from Saul,from the enemies of Israel,from his own son Absalom,who sought to kill him. If it had been for the Lord,David would have perished,likewise Israel, that tiny little nation.Can we not all look back and say if it had been for the Lord,things would have been so different. David finishes this lovely little Psalm ,by reminding the people and himself, nothing has changed,he says,'Our help is in the name of the Lord,the Maker of heaven and earth.' So take heart dear child of God, remember,as John Newton wrote ,'His love in times past , forbids me to think. He'll leave me at last in trouble to sink; Each sweet Ebenezer I have in review, confirms His good pleasure,to help me quite through'.

The road is long ( Hebrews 13 v 4 )

We all know the saying of being in a thing for the long haul, in others words we are not going to give up,until we finish the given task.And that is the challenge when you get married its for the long haul till death parts us. Now I know there can be reasons, that one may have to to get out of a marriage,if your husband is abusing you or your child , for your husband is breaking his vows to love you. As one who has been married twice,my first wife died,I know that marriage is a challenge,Shakespeare wrote,''The course of true love never did run smooth'', never truer words spoken,the minister needs to remind all those who are getting married,these wise words. On the road of marriage there  are bumps, potholes, pitfalls,  pain, snoring.On that last one my dear wife says that I am in denial,she could be right.I have had my moments,of  sulking,hurting and stubbornness .In many ways marriage is a very serious thing,as it says ,'not to be entered into lightly , or unadvisedly, but thoughtfully and reverently'.Yes good advice,but unfortunately a lot of people don't give it the thought, they should,the emotions take over..Remember no one is marrying the perfect person,just as their are no perfect churches, there are no perfect people.What has the word of God got to tell us about the marriage relationship Here is a word for us husbands,'Husbands , love your wives,just as Christ loved the church' ( Ephesians 5 v 25 ), think about what this really means, look on the cross.And here is a word for you wives,'love your husbands as Christ loved the church.'.

Rest. ( Matthew 11 v 28 - 30 )

I wonder do you know that Israel was told by the Lord, that when they had entered the promised land,the land they farmed could be used to grow crops for six years,but on the seventh year ,the land had to be rested.  ( Leviticus 25 v 3 - 4 ) When God gave the 10 commandments He commanded the people to rest on the every seventh day of the week,now I am not a strict Sabbatarian ,but I do see the sense in that commandment,we are not machines we need to rest.I know it is good to be busy,but not 24/7,a day of rest is vital to our well being.We hear the words,' burn out',meaning someone,has no energy to carry on, because I was brought up in a one parent family, my mother and father split up, which meant my mother had to do house work,and also earn a living.On looking back it was hard for her,and I cannot remember her having a holiday,but at least in those days people did not work on a Sunday,so that gave her a bit of a rest.We need rest physically,emotionally,and spiritually,It was our Saviour who looked on the people of his day,a people who were desperately trying to find God and please Him . That meant keeping about 3,500 regulations,no wonder they were exhausted and weighed down,so what did Jesus say,''' Come to me,all you are exhausted and weighed down, beneath your burdens  ,and I will give you rest ( Matthew 11 v 28.) are you exhausted and weighed down?, why not come to Jesus today,right now,and find that rest that only He can give you.

Rule keeping. ( Romans 10 v 9 v - 13 )

At the time of Jesus the Jewish religion had become a religion of rules,hand washing rules, in case you had touched something considered unclean,it was nothing to do with hygiene,but like all the religious rules they had be taken very serious.The disciples did not conform to their hand washing rules,and the religious leaders challenged our Lord about it ( Read Mark 7 v 1 - 23 ) There were many rules attached to Sabbath keeping, one was ,if you cut your finger you could bandage it ,but you were not allowed to put ointment on it. There were about 3,500 regulations that the Pharisees believed they ought to observe in order to be accepted with God. No wonder Jesus said how the religious elite loaded people down with burdens they could hardly carry ( Luke 11 v 46 ). .Now is it , not wonderful, that we do not have to obey any of these rules to be accepted by God, all we have to repent and believe in Jesus who paid the price for our sins on the cross, as the hymn writer wrote,'Not the labour of my hands,can fulfil Thy law's demands; Could my zeal no respite know. Could my tears for ever flow, all for sin  could not atone; Thou must save and Thou alone. Nothing in my hands I bring simply to Thy cross I cling'. ( Words by A.M.Toplady)

Implications ( 2 Peter 3 v 10 - 13 )

Two men looked through the bars, one saw the mud the other saw the stars,what do you see? the apparent nothingness of life,or the wonder of life ?.A man in the Bible summed up life as meaningless ( Ecclesiastes 2 v 11 ) and yet the same man declares that God has set eternity in the human heart (Ecc 3 v 11).Yes that is what God has done,but what have we done?,why is it that often all we see is the mud,if God has set eternity in our hearts,why is it, that we only see the things of time?.Why has the Rolls Royce of God's creation failed to live up to its creators potential?,why is it  they don't  think ,or act as they should,why have they lost the ability to be amazed,and have a spirit of dullness about them? A minister said to a member of his Church ,as regards her husband who had died  your husband is not in heaven, he is the ground.That minister has lost sight of our Father who art in heaven,and that Jesus requested that all those whom the Father had given Him ,would be with Him in Glory.( John 17 v 24 )The fact is, there is an after death existence  and I can assure you it is not in the ground,it is in heaven or in hell ,we may feel we don't need a God,like Pharaoh of old who declared, ''who is the Lord, that I should obey Him'', ( Ex 5 v 2 ). He was soon to find out that the Lord will not be ignored, and shut out,that is the implications of living without God. God is speaking in these days,make no mistake about it, and when He speaks we better listen.Let us not forget that God the creator, has in mercy so loved this world that He gave his only begotten Son ,that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life( John 3 v 16 ).Wake up to reality ,He is your only hope, trust Jesus ,to ignore this warning ,it bears not thinking about the awful consequences,of turning your back on Gods offer of love,by trusting Jesus.

Questions. ( Ecclesiastes 3 v 11 )

Whats going on,in the world?, I think when we say,whats going on the world?, we are really asking what does it mean? .When people act in bad ways, we are really wanting to know, why the coronavirus?. There are many things in life that are happening and have happened,that leave us puzzled. We know a lot of things,  and yet in spite of all our knowledge we still understand so little. In one sense we could say, that's life ,we just have to live with it,no big deal,we are a tiny planet ,in this VAST Universe ,do we really matter.? does anything really matter?, lets just accept our lot, whatever will be ,will be. At this time much is being made of the world of science,they are the master minds,they will find solutions to all our problems.They are the ones who tell us that this world just happened,and all the beauty of this world just happened.That our wonderful bodies just happened,that the vast number of different species just happened ,that all living things just happened. I am fed up with them trying to convince me of their just happened theory, surely there must be a better answer,why can they not say that they just don't know,or could it be,they do not want to know?.At this time we are all struck with the care being shown by doctors,nurses,and many others,yet why is the coronavirus happening?,could it be that someone is telling us something we have forgotten.I have been to Florence to the Accademia Gallery, and looked at the statue of   Michelangelo's David, what beauty, could it be someone is trying to tell us something, we have forgotten.Why is man so creative?,why are we so inventive?, it just happened,did it?no it didn't just happen, we read that God made man in his own image,this being man, like its creator have a creativeness and many other qualities ,that no other creature has. God is speaking in many ways ,through the tragedies ,and the beauties ,science cannot give us an answer to these things  .

Helper ( Philippians 4 v 10 - 20 )

I am 76 years of age ,I have been following the Lord for 56 yrs , for the last 26 year things have been easier financially,before that money was always very tight.I have also shared with you our times when we were at Bible college and we simply had to literally pray our way through . It was very challenging  ,likewise I have experienced unemployment,like many with little money we had old second hand cars,which brought its own source of trials. I come from Northern Ireland and the bombing,shooting was a constant thing,plus a general strike,a lot of people knew someone who had been murdered. I managed a Christian bookshop,but it was forced to close,due to a lack of trade,plus the competition from other Christian book shops.The greatest  blow was the loss of my dear wife,she died of cancer ,leaving me with four children So why am I telling you this?, because in all these things ,I have found my God faithful,he has been my helper, and He has never failed me.Dear Christian fear not the unknown future,have faith in your God and Saviour,go forward with your hand in his.  God says to you,'' So do not fear,for I  am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help  you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand''.( Isaiah 41 v 10 )

Our Aim. ( Psalm 86 v 12 )

I used to pray for a woman called Twen,who is a prisoner in Eritrea,a friend sent me an email about her,I must recommence my praying for her,here is what was written,''Twen has spent 15 years in prison, because she is a Christian, she was arrested after she attended a prayer meeting. During her time in prison she has faced beatings,and torture. She has used her time in prison to serve others. She has taken their punishment, washed their wounds, and carried them when they couldn't walk. She has had opportunities to escape,but each time she returned to serve her fellow prisoners.Her one request is that God would be glorified in Eritrea.When you read things like this it brings a challenge and it is this,to glorify God,in the good times, and in the bad times,in the easy times and in the difficult times, in the pain free times, and in the painful times.

Limping ( Romans 10 v 1 - 13 )

In Romans 10 writing about the Jews Paul declares ,'That they were zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge' , L.Morris writes, 'Zeal can be used in a good or a bad sense ; here it will be in the good sense, with a meaning something like our ''enthusiasm'' No nation had given itself to God with such devoted and courageous zeal as Israel,''( Barrett) '' But unfortunately this zeal had be qualified it was not based on knowledge (John 16 v 2; Acts 22 v 3; 26 v 9-11, Gal 1 v 14 ). Enthusiasm is good, but enthusiasm run riot can lead to disastrous results.'' Now follows a statement by Augustine,''It is better to limp the right way than to run with all our might out of the way''.How very meaningful these words are,The cults are very zealous,people often say I admire their enthusiasm, and if we look at many religions they can be very zealous.Dear friend ponder,what Paul wrote about the Jews,and what Augustine said,it is worth repeating,''It is better to limp the right way than  to run with all our might out of the way'' In Proverbs 14 v 12, we read,'There is a way that appears to be right,but in the end it leads to death'. You may be zealous but are you running to your spiritual ruin?, Jesus is the way the truth and the life,any other way is the wrong way,any other so called truth is error,and it will lead not to life but death.

Happiness ( Matthew 5 v 1 - 12 )

I worked as a support worker in a mental health team,and I remember a lady who was always,craving after that which would make her happy, but it seemed to me in her case,it did not happen. It is like someone trying to find the pot of gold and the end of a rainbow,because it is not there.Someone has said that happiness depends on what happens,even that may not be true.We used to sing ,oh happy day when Jesus washed my sins away, well that would make one happy, it should.In Matthew 5 we have the word blessed mentioned 9 times, it is generally thought to mean happy.But as we read these 9  sayings we read that they come along with being ,poor in spirit,mourning,meekness,hungering and thirsting after righteousness,being merciful, being pure in heart,being a peacemaker,being persecuted,being lied about.Yes it is not about having perfect health,having wealth,and a lot of other things that people think will make them happy,it is not of this world, it is in fact , heavenly.Bear in mind  as Michael Green points out,'The Sermon on the mount in which we find these blessed's ,is no mere code of ethics that can be detached from loyalty to Christ as Marx and Gandhi wished to understand it'.In Psalm 144 v 15 we read,'Blessed ( Happy) is the people whose God is the Lord'.

What is your Name?. ( Romans 8 v 29 )

According to one writer the Jews in NT ,times had two names, one was a Hebrew name and the other a Greek name, Thomas is the Hebrew , and Didymus is the Greek for a twin. Peter is the Greek ,Cephas  is the Hebrew for a rock,Tabitha is the Hebrew, and Dorcas is the Greek for a gazelle.My  first name William originated from the Normans,my second name Alexander originated  from the Greek.The meaning of William is, resolute protector,and the meaning of Alexander is,defender,and protector of  man. I would like to think that I live up to what the meaning of my names, but I doubt it.Of course I have another name ,Christian,it used to be, that people would say they were Christians   and yet they had never accepted Christ as their Saviour, had never been born again. Yes I accepted Christ as my Saviour, but  the challenge for all who call themselves Christians is , do we seek to live up to the name we bear.?.I assume it means that we should be Christlike,for after all Gods purpose for all Christians is that they may be conformed to Christs image.In the words of a little song,'Be like Jesus this my song,in the home and in the throng,be like Jesus everyday I would be like Jesus'.May all of us who bear the name Christian, seek by the grace of God, to live up to, that name.

Loneliness ( Hebrews 13 v 5 )

In Genesis 2 v 18, God declared, 'It is not good to be alone' we are social beings,we need others, one would think in this overcrowded planet,we would never feel alone,or even be alone. Yet the fact is many people feel alone,the elderly suddenly find themselves alone as their long life partner dies .  Old age brings different challenges, loneliness can be one of them,but it does not only apply to the elderly,many people feel lonely,and especially at a time like this, when we are in lock down.Looking back in my life especially when I was younger I felt lonely,yes even as a Christian. The Bible tells us that God will meet our needs, ( Phil 4 v 19 ), He is able to meet your needs. again in looking back  I can see how God brought people into my life, I have never had a multitude of friends,but there have been different individuals who became my friend. In spite of this I have still felt lonely at times. It was Nicky Cruz who wrote a book ,the title being,'Lonely , but never alone', that sums it up,yes as to ..human companionship ,we may not have that always ,but we do have one who is with us, and that  one is our Saviour., here is what he said,'' I am with you always.''( Matthew 28 v 20 ).Friends or no friends, He is with us,in  sickness and health, in poverty or wealth,in the ups and downs,in twists and turns,in the  dark days,and in bright days,He is with us ,not just for part of journey of life, but for all of life,and even when we go through the valley of the shadow of death He will be with us.( Psalm 23 v 4 )

More than. ( John 21 v 15 )

Becoming a Christian brings with it real challenges, when people came to Jesus,he would tell them to count the cost, in Luke 14 v 25 -34 Jesus tells the crowd.That if they  are going to follow Him ,they must hate their nearest and dearest,immediately we may be stunned at such a statement, hate, surely not?.What on earth did He mean? it is W. Hendriksen who tells us,''The word hate has the same meaning- to love less- in Gen.29 v 31  ,'Jehovah saw that Leah was hated,v 30, clarifies this by reading, ''Jacob....loved  Leah less than Rachel ( They were both his wives) Jacob had a favourite son Joseph, he loved him more than any of his other sons.( Gen 37 v 3 ) In Matthew 10 v 37 ,our dear Saviour said  ,''He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me''. We see this illustrated in Gen 22 when Abraham is commanded to take his only son, whom he loved and sacrifice him there as a burnt offering.God was testing Abraham,  what was that test? would he reverence God more than his son,he passed the test, he was restrained at the last minute from actually slaying Isaac.Jesus says to all, if you want to follow me then you must love me more than anyone else, or anything else.Yes there is a cost in following Jesus ,are we willing  to pay the cost?

Suffering ( Job 23 v 10 )

A friend has been suffering from cancer, in spite of drugs ministered ,he has been in great deal of pain,and it has steadily increased. He is in a hospice at this time ,nearing that point of death I have been praying that the Lord would take him home.As I arose to go to bed I asked myself,I wonder was he still in the land of the living,and then I thought this is not the land of the living ,it is the land of the dying. That dear person is going to the land of the living,there will be no death to where he is going, he is  going to a place where there will be no more suffering. We always want to know why?.his family may be asking ,why,  he had to suffer?, he was a godly man, surely he didn't deserve to suffer,of  course he didn't ,why had his wife and family to watch him suffer?. Good people suffer, godly people suffer,lovely people suffer,so why?,but the answer  is, we often do not know . For him thankfully, he will be  finished with suffering, and the Lord who suffered ,will more than compensate him. The apostle Paul who knew his share of suffering,wrote 'For I am convinced, that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future ,nor any powers, neither height nor depth,nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  ( Romans 8 v 38 - 39 )

The good shepherd ( Isaiah 53 )

Here is the best known  and best loved Psalm. 'The Lord is my shepherd ;I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me  beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul; he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art  with me; thy rod and thy staff comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the day of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. ' In John 10 v 11,  Jesus said ,''I am the good shepherd ; the good shepherd giveth his life  for the sheep''.The question is,is He your shepherd?,let me remind you it is not enough to know the Psalm,one must know the good shepherd, then all the blessings of this lovely Psalm will be yours.

Two kinds of people ( John 11 v 25 )

Let us continue to look at Romans 8 v 5 - 11,which deals with two types of people,we considered the person who lives according to the flesh,or their sinful nature.This time we will consider the person, a Christian ,who possesses the Spirit of God, and what that means. Now we are told that every Christian has the Spirit of God within them. God no longer takes residence in a temple made with hands,that is all gone,the Christian has become a temple ( 1 Corinthians 3 v 16 - 17 . 6 v 19 ) Leon Morris writes,''The Spirit is not an occasional visitor; He takes up residence in God's people'', and goes on to remind us ,that ''Paul is not identifying Christ with the Spirit, but he is saying that in the indwelling of the Spirit none less is Christ, is present,''Spirit in you' is impossible apart from 'Christ in you'.  William Barclay writing on the Spirit filled Christian,  as one who is, 'Spirit -controlled,Christ -controlled,God -focussed'. It is the Spirit that enables us to live a godly life, it is Spirit that bears witness that we are children of God  ( Galatians 4 v  6 - 7 ) It is the Spirit who is linked with our resurrection,W.Barclay has some very meaningful and encouraging words to say on this,''The Spirit-controlled life,the Christ -centered life,the God  - focussed life, is on the way to life.Daily it is coming nearer heaven even when it is still on earth.......It is like Enoch who walked with God and God took him, As the child said;''Enoch was a man who went walks with God- and one day he didn't come back''. He points out that there are those  who say ,that we say the Spirit - controlled man is on the way to life;but in point of fact every man must die.Yes that is true, we are all involved in the human situation .Sin has come into the world so like everyone else we will die,but as Jesus said in John 11 v 25, that the one who believes in Him will live even though he dies.

Two kinds of people. ( Matthew 7 v 13 - 14 )

Romans 8 is a wonderful chapter, and I was  struck with v 5 - 8, contrasting those who have the Holy Spirit and those who don't. In other words the Christian , and the non-Christian.Let us consider the non- Christian, they are described as those who live according to  the flesh ,or as another translation puts it,those who are dominated by their sinful nature.This can mean religious people as well as those who are not religious ,but whoever they are they will always be walking the broad that will lead to destruction.L. Morris writes ,that such a' person outside of Christ sees nothing beyond the here and now and, however  altruistic( unselfish ) he may be,in the end, is wrapped up in the things he wants  or on that which he has set his seal of approval' He goes on to say,''They may  have good intentions, but their horizon is bounded by the things of this life''.As our Saviour said to Peter, ''your mind is not set on the things of God but the things of men''( Matthew 16 v 23 ).No matter how much they try they cannot please God,and of course pleasing God is the last thing on their mind.. On the whole they are absorbed with  the   things of this life.,God is not in their thoughts,William Barclay puts it like this  ''they  are passion - controlled,or lust- controlled, or pride- controlled, or ambition- controlled.'' Such a life  is without Christ, and such a life can only have one destination, a lost eternity.

The Cup ( Romans 12 v 1 - 2 )

Following on from the previous reading,when Jesus was asked to grant a special privilege to James and John to sit one at the right hand, and one on His left hand ,in His Kingdom. Jesus answer was very honest ,telling them there was a cost to such a desire,even death,but it is W.Barclay who writes,''It is quite wrong to think that for the Christian the cup must always mean the short ,sharp, bitter,agonizing struggle of  martyrdom;the cup may well be the long routine of the Christian life, with all its daily sacrifices, its daily  struggle,and its heartbreaks and its disappointments and its tears.A Roman coin was once found with the picture of an ox on it; the ox was facing two things- an ox (sacrifice) and a plough (service ); and the inscription read;''Ready for either.'' When I was younger my wife and I  felt led to serve God on the mission field,but God shut that door in His will,and led us in another direction.There is a gospel song called ,''Follow Me,'' the last verse reads,'O Jesus if I die upon a foreign field some day,Twould be no more than love demands- No less could I repay. No greater love hath mortal man ,than for a friend to die. These are the words He gently spoke to me; If just a cup of water I place within your hand, then just a cup of water is all that I demand,'But if by death to living, they can Thy glory see, I'll take my cross and follow close to Thee.'

The cup ( Matthew 10 v 21 - 42 )

In Matthew 20 v 20 ff we read how the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus,kneeling before Him,asked that her two sons would sit ,one on His right hand,and one on his left hand,in His Kingdom.. I wonder what she meant by His kingdom,at this stage the Jews were expecting an earthly King, who with the Jews would rule over the nations. Whatever it may mean she wanted her sons to have a special place in that Kingdom, all the disciples likewise wanted that special place.( 18 v 1) Jesus reply was,'' do they really understand what that meant, and were they prepared to drink from the bitter cup of suffering that he was going to drink. Jesus knew what lay ahead the cross was never hidden from Him (C. P. 20 v 17 v - 19 ) The cup of suffering has been the lot of many Christians  from the beginning ,  right down to this present day.This is graphically shown in pictures  of Christians kneeling before Islamic State  people,and they are about to be beheaded.This will always be,for some of those who put there faith in Jesus,in will not change,this world is not a friend of Jesus, what can we do? we can pray for  those who are called by God to suffer for Christ.Such actions by the like of Islamic S. is not only evil ,but,' utterly evil'.and has with it a demonic character,it goes beyond the person suffering, it is directed at God'( quote by W. Grundmann )

Escaping ( Matthew 15 v 32 )

I was thinking how many people in this world are seeking to escape,I pray for people everyday who have had to flee to another country to escape persecution. I remember a youngster I stopped to talk to ,a number years ago,he was he was only a kid, he was homeless.The question is why was he homeless? why indeed, was he escaping from an abusive home?.people who are homeless must be escaping from something,after all who wants to be homeless?. I have never been homeless,I am a fortunate person I own my own home, I never thought I would be able to own my own home.Before you go to bed tonight offer up a prayer for those ,if you were to  ask them why?,they would reply,I'm  escaping, yes offer up a prayer for them.

We do not know. ( James 4 v 13 - 17 )

A very wise man wrote something very obvious, and yet so many never think about it ,'Do not boast about tomorrow,for you do not know what a day may bring'. ( Proverbs 27 v 1 ) I don't need to remind you of this,because of the present plague sweeping across the world. The verse starts with the words ,'Do not boast',the word boast has that element of pride to it, the Bible is full of people who boasted,and their boasting came to nothing. History is full of people who boasted in their pride,at what they were going to do,and failed. Multitudes at this time are facing difficult times,they never for one moment thought that all their planning would  come to nothing .The fact is we do not know  what any day will bring forth, even Christian people do not take the uncertainty of life seriously.It is not telling us to not  go forward but to go forward humbly ,and prayerfully, Proverbs 3 v 7 ,tells us,'Do not be wise in your own eyes', This is a warning against self confidence,here is a  word to the wise, 'In all your ways acknowledge Him ( God ),And He shall direct your paths (Proverbs 3 v 6 )