Crippled ( Hebrews 10 v 2 )

Let us continue on the theme of being crippled inside, in this fallen world which we live in ,so much wrong is committed,we could fill a library many times over with the sins that people commit. They can be divided up by the victims and perpetrators,many people don't appear to have any qualms about the wrong things they do, but there are people and they are crippled by guilt.We  may feel guilt in areas of life ,blaming ourselves as to what we should have done in certain situations,could be that it  wasn't even our fault,but we feel it was and so we live with guilt. Let us remember that guilt is for the wrongs we have done,not for the wrongs done to us.Guilt can cripple us,and even destroy us,it can cause us to become depressed.Here is a wonderful message the wrongs that we have committed,the sins we have committed can be forgiven by God,and with that forgiveness we can be free from guilt.But the devil who is called the  accuser of Gods children  ( Rev 12 v 10 ),God when He forgives sin chooses not to remember them anymore,but the devil takes delight in reminding us of our past evil deeds.He will seek to remind Gods children of former sins,we need to remind him, of what God has done,that He has forgiven us our sins,as far as the east  is from the west so far has he removed our transgressions from us .( Psalm 103 v 12 ) An old hymn goes,'When first o'whelmed with sin and shame. Burdened with guilt and full of fear,yet drawn by love to venture near. pardon I found,and peace with God. In Jesus' rich atoning blood'.

Crippled ( Matthew 6 v 14 - 15 )

John Lennon wrote a song called 'Crippled inside', one of the verses go,'You can go to church and sing a hymn. You can live a lie until you die.One thing you can't hide,is when  your crippled inside'.I wonder what you think about these words.  What can cripple us inside ?,unforgiveness can most definitely to this, it may surprise us if we only but  knew how crippled many are ,because they are harbouring unforgiveness yes even within the Christian church.It is something that can eat away at us. Take divorce,it is relateivley easy to get divorce,but often what follows is a lifetime of unforgiveness,we remain cripples.We hear that they are bringing in a no blame divorce,but often someone is to blame,there are innocent parties,and they are crippled inside, and often in their conversation,or demeanour  it shows.I want to face you with a choice,a choice that if you make the right choice,you will no longer be crippled inside. , it is summed up in one word, 'Forgive'.When Jesus was lying on the cross,he said these words ,'Father forgive them',

The Soul. ( Matthew 16 v 25 - 26 )

Many of us have heard of soul music, here is the question ,what is a soul?,I have often quoted Matthew 16 v 26, from the AV,which reads ,' For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole, and lose his soul'.Professor Andrews in his book ,'Who made God', sees the soul in relation to the mind,he writes of a dualism,that of brain and mind, He writes,'Since the mind of God exists without any material substrate so,logically,does the mind of man, so he writes that man's mind( or soul or spirit) lives on after death of the physical'.  It is an intriguing idea, it was C.S.Lewis who said the following,'we don't have a soul ,we are a soul',again a interesting statement, it is the Message that hits on that idea,it reads,' What kind of a deal is it, to get everything you want but lose yourself'. The translation that William Hendriksen  uses reads, 'For what good will it do a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life, or what shall a man give in  exchange for his life'.It is W H,who comments on this,'was our Lord thinking of the offer which the devil once made to him ?( Mt 4 v 8 -9 ) Whatever you may think of  all this,let us not miss the seriousness of what our Saviour is saying,the importance of making the right choice, and the consequences of making the wrong choice.

Have you forgotten ?. ( Luke 17 v 26 - 28 )

I read of a monastic order , who were sharply aware of the fragility of life,and of their dependence on God  from whom they believed all sustenance and welfare came.   These two things never enters the mind of so called modern man. Most have never given a thought how fragile life is, and  that they are depending on God for anything. William Ernest Henly sums up modern mans attitude to life,'I am master of my fate,I am captain of my soul'.A certain poet called Robert Burns wrote, of the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray. The vast majority of people before the coronavirus had booked holidays ,planned to get married,planned for this and that,none of us , for one moment never thought that anything would interfere with our plans. Why should we think otherwise?,we are the master of our fate,captain of our souls,or so we thought,it may be ,that we still think this,fools that we are.In Proverb 27 v 1,we have a timely reminder as regards the uncertainly of life, it reads,'Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring'.Our Saviour told a story of a rich farmer, ( Luke 12 v 16 - 21 )  he was no different than most people , he had come into what in essence was a lot of money,so he was planning to live the good life,take it easy,eat ,drink,and be merry.Like so many people who go and live , wherever  skies are not cloudy all day.  God called this farmer  a fool and told him he was going to die that night,he forgot that life was fragile, and that no one can escape the inevitable ,God and eternity. . Here are very solemn words from Psalm 9 v 17,' The wicked shall be turned into hell,and all the nations that forget God'.Let me stress to whoever you are, the importance of seeking the Lord Jesus now,before it is to late,because life is fragile.

Faith and Patience ( Habakkuk 2 v 2 - 3 )

Right at the beginning of  Marks gospel he quotes from the book of Isaiah 40 v 3 which reads, 'I will send my messenger ahead of you,who will prepare your way - a voice of one calling in the desert . Prepare the way of the Lord,make straight paths for him', now this had a twofold message as we will see,We have a similar passage in Malachi 3 v 1.These prophesies relate to that time when the Messiah was  to come , the Messenger would be John the Baptist, and the Messiah would be Jesus.  Isaiah prophesied about 600 years before these words would be fulfilled,and Malachi about 400 years.Consider the long wait before these prophesies would be fulfilled , faith and patience was called for. When Abraham was promised a son Genesis 15 v 4  - 6. right away Abraham believed God,he exercised faith,but then he had to exercise patience,for it was not until both Sarah and him ,were elderly, was the promise fulfilled (Romans 4 v 18 - 22 )Patience we are told is a virtue,but it is also vital,as like Abraham,we wait on promises being fulfilled.The next great event in Gods plan is the returning of Jesus, in John 14 just before He was to leave and return to heaven,He said,''I will come back and take you to be with me''.this is what we believe,we have faith in what our Saviour said,but it has been over two thousand years since the promise was given.Go to 2 Peter 3 were people were doubting the promise,and consider how Peter  answers it. Jesus is returning no matter how long its being since the promise has been given,it will happen. On a personal note ,let me ask you,has God given you a promise? have you not received it yet? ,have faith, have patience, in your God,who always keeps his word.

Are you worthy? ( Luke 18 v 9 - 14 )

In one of  G.K.Chesterton's book ,about Father Brown, we have the priest saying to someone,'Everyone  is worthy of forgiveness'. It appears a nice thought, but it is not true,in fact no one is worthy of forgiveness,  absolutely no one. Mankind we are told in Romans 3 v 23 are all without exception sinners,always remember we must consider ,not how we look at things,but how God looks at things as revealed in His word. God is not swayed by sentiment, or ill judgement,no, God knows the full picture as regards everyone of us. Consider how humanly speaking we look at things,yes the Hitlers and the like ,those real baddies deserve no forgiveness,but not that nice little old lady,or that nice old man,or that nice.....,so we could go on. Or we could replace the word nice,with the word innocent,but the fact is no one  ,no one, is innocent in Gods sight. Why did Christ come? .We read in 1 Timothy 1 v 15,that'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners',that means you,  and it means me. The truth is, forgiveness  is an act of mercy by a merciful God,to unworthy sinners, such as you and I ,to think otherwise is to shut yourself of  from forgiveness. If we come by faith to Jesus acknowledging our unworthiness,and that we are not innocent,and ask him to be our Saviour ,then we will receive as an act of mercy from God, forgiveness for all our sins.

Entertainment ( Romans 1 v 16 )

During the first world war ,the cinemas were continually showing films about the conflict that was taking place,it was very hard for people to bear. So a number of cinemas decided to stop showing war scenes,they displayed notices assuring people they were not showing any filmed reports about the war,instead they would show movies that were entertaining. Entertainment is important ,people want to be entertained,be it in sport, the gladiatorial games were grim ,no more than a licence to kill,but to those ancient Romans,it was entertainment. I wonder if much that passes in many so called Christian gatherings ,has become nothing more than entertainment?,I point to the prosperity preachers,but there are other gatherings,were music led by the song leaders, work people up to an emotional high.and of course none of this comes cheap,your healing's ,blessings, comes at a price. I read this recently ,'The gospel is not meant to entertain, it is to serious for that.life and death hang on it'. These are very important words,as a preacher I am not there to entertain,it is to serious for that,when we as God's people meet we are not there to be entertained, we are there to worship,we are not there to have an emotional high.There is nothing wrong with singing modern songs or old songs when we meet together,but they should prepare our hearts ,as we come to hear Gods word preached. As for  the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ ,it is good news,wonderful news,something we can rejoice in,why?   because no other message has the power to save us,no other message can tell us ,how our sins can be forgiven,no other message has the power to set us free from the sins that enslave us,no other message can save from Gods wrath,no other message can take us to heaven,is this not good news Christian, rejoice.,if you are not a Christian,why not trust Jesus as your Saviour.

Are you desperate?. ( Luke 15 v 11 ff )

In his introduction to the gospel of Mark,Donald  English,comments on how few people showed faith in Jesus?,his answer was,mostly they didn't. His family took offence at him (MK 6 v 3 ) ,his townspeople rejected him ( MK 6 v 6 ),and of course we know how the religious leaders acted towards him. Mark mentioned two groups who did respond- the desperate and the demoniacs,but mainly the desperate. The desperate women who were ostracized by their community,especially by the religious leaders. A young man came to a wise man ,and asked a question,how can I receive eternal life?,the wise man said come with me,and he led to the sea.,and he took him into the sea,and he grabbed him,and plunged him beneath the water. He eventually released Him. The young stood up gasping for breath,and he asked the wise man,why did you do that I was desperate for breath?. The wise man said,you will find the answer to your question as regards eternal when you are desperate enough.Mark comments, ''That the desperate had nowhere else to go......and so they cast themselves on Jesus ,and found all they needed in Him ,and more.'

Three Requests ( Psalm 121 )

While out walking ,a man heard himself praying,''Help me! Guide me! Use me!'', six simple words,with three requests.the first one is a cry for help. Life continually faces us with all sorts of problems,some of our our own making,some caused by others. One could write a long list of problems,financial,health, work marriage,  children, addiction,and so on ,the list goes on. The old spiritual song goes,'No body knows the trouble I've seen,nobody knows ,but Jesus'. In 1 Peter  5 v 7,we read,'Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you'.Jesus knows all about your troubles,He cares for you, We read  the following in Psalm 50 v 15,'Call on me in the day of trouble;I will deliver you', so call upon Him. The next word is, 'Guide',when Jesus looked ,'he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them,because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd ( Matthew 9 v 36 ) Sheep need a shepherd,in Bible times the shepherd led the sheep,Jesus  called himself the good shepherd,in Psalm 23 , the shepherd Psalm, He leads ,Jesus knows us,knows how easily we can loose our way,so call upon Him, he will guide you.Rest assured ,for the word of God says,'For this God is our God for ever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end'( Psalm 48 v 14 ). The next word is a request ,for God to use us,or should I say,'use me',a noble desire , the question is are we willing to be used?.We are told that the labourers are few,there is always vacancies in Gods kingdom, God can use, even you,whatever task he allots , rest assured he will equip you,guide you , use you,and will provide for you.

My garden ( James 4 v 7 )

Like many people I love my garden,my favourite flower would be a rose, a friend of mine, told me his  favourite plant was the cactus,he mentioned that they produce lovely flower,well everyone to their own.The garden is a lovely place to sit in ,in the evening,and to pray ,or just to read,or whatever,yes the garden is a thing of beauty. Let me ask you a question,do you know were the greatest and most awful sin was committed?,in a garden,a sin that would effect all humanity. We read about it in Genesis 2- 3,in that garden Satan deceived Eve,and her husband followed in her footsteps.The result was that sin entered the world and death followed,we were never meant to die, but we do,because the wages of sin is death.Consider, there is no earthly paradise were sin and Satan,can be excluded from, the fact is we live in a very dangerous world,were no one is safe, because we carry out fallen nature with us at all times,and of course Satan knows this ,and will take full advantage , 2 Corinthians 2 v 11 speaks of his evil schemes,one of his schemes is telling lies, our Saviour called him a murderer and a liar ( John 8 v 44). So be on your guard,remember we can resist the Devil as our Saviour did, by holding fast to God's word.  let us remember he cannot make us sin,thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  ( 1 Corinthians 15 v 55 ). 

The hard times. ( Psalm 23 )

 Many people are having it hard in eastern Europe,we are fortunate in this country people are receiving help,but through out the world many are receiving no help whatsoever.Keep praying and keep supporting those missions and charities who are seeking to help.Pray for our Christian family,that they may prove Gods faithfulness,.at this time. God is faithful, he does not forsake us in the hard times,I look back and remember the hard times,I remember times when we had no food ,we had 3 children,and no money,our faith was severely tested at times.,but God was faithful.I remember our needs being met.God's word assures his Children that He will care for them. Think of all the examples in scripture of God meeting his children's needs,the manna in the wilderness,and the prophet Elijah who was fed by ravens. God can provide a table in the wilderness,consider the promises of  God, Philippians 4 v 19,' And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus'  Our loving heavenly knows what things we have need of, he will not fail His children. The Psalmist David declared,' I was young and now I am old,yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread ( Ps 37 v 25 ),God will provide,our part is to trust Him.

He could not sleep ( Daniel 4 v 34 - 35 )

I  am sure many of us have times when we just cannot get to sleep, I have,you toss and turn,but sleep won't come..In the book of Esther ,we read how the Persian King, Xerxes could not sleep,so that's,that.no in fact it was very significant. Let me explain, and let me say this actually happened ,the date was about  483 B.C. Many of the Jews had returned from the 70 year exile, but many hadn't,among them was a man called Mordecai,now he had an adoptive daughter called Esther,who became Queen,Mordecai had sent news of  a plot to assassinate the king, to Esther ,the result was the plot was foiled. A record was made of this,and that was it. Meanwhile Mordecai offended a very high official,called Haman, he belonged to a race of people who hated the Jews.The result  was he persuaded the king to pass a law to exterminate all the Jews in the vast Persian empire. Haman also made plans to kill Mordecai,and just before it was about to happen the king could not sleep, so like many of us he started to read,and he read of the event when his life was saved,and what Mordecai had done, he asked his attendants had he been rewarded,and he was told no.Just at that moment Haman came to ask permission to have Mordecai executed. All Haman's plans fell apart, he  was told to reward Mordecai,so his life was saved in the providence of God,all because a king could not sleep,and the God of Mordecai who neither slumbers nor sleep,wonderfully acted to save his Child .Remember child of God,that he is in control ,he is your sovereign God,who can suddenly change events in your favour, no matter how dark they are.

Be perfect ( Jude v 24 )

Our lovely Saviour said the following,'Be perfect,therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect ( Matthew 5 v 48)  What a challenge,is it possible?,in ourselves no,in fact the more one grows in holiness the more conscious one is of their imperfections. Consider what the greatest of the apostles wrote in Romans 7 v 24 ,' What a wretched man I am, ',yes, it is the apostle speaking, it is Leon Morris who writes the following,'The more we advance spiritually the more clearly we see the high standards God sets for his people and the more deeply we deplore the extent of our shortcoming'.When our Lord spoke those words in Matthew 5 v 48, He is exhorting us to be always striving to be perfect ,my study Bible declares,'We should aspire to be as much like Christ as possible,in holiness,maturity,and love'. I read the following prayer,'God,humble my pride,extinguish the last stirrings of my ego,obliterate whatever remains of worldly ambition and carnality, and in these last days of a mortal existence, help me to serve only Thy   purposes, to speak and write only Thy words, to think only Thy thoughts, to have no other prayer than; ''Thy will be done''. In other words be a true convert'  in Jesus name Amen'

Who are you following?. ( John 14 v 6 )

I saw a car sticker which read,' Don't follow me, ' this was followed by something like, he didn't know the way.  People  have followed ,'Hitler,Stalin',and of course sport fans say that they follow such and such a team. Every now and again we have the cults calling at one's door,wanting us to follow their teaching.Many people are following moral dubious things, and even sinful practices,it was Satan,who tempted our Lord,in the words of Malcolm Muggeridge to,' turn stones into bread ,thereby becoming a great benefactor, by jumping from the top of the temple without hurt , thereby becoming a celebrity;by taking over all the kingdoms of the world,thereby becoming a worldwide dictator' .Our Lord rejected these, but many have listened to his voice,and yielded to his temptations,to their eternal loss, because it blinded them to the value of their soul. Oh yes we have a soul ,we all have,our Saviour said ,'What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world;yet forfeit their soul?,Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul.?'It is only Jesus who can save our souls,and to you ,and all mankind He says follow Me. The journey begins on our knees at the cross,having our sins forgiven,and then following Him,why not do that right now,trust Him as your Saviour,you will never regret it.

Blind unbelief . ( Mark 6 v 1 - 6 )

 Mark 6  v 1 - 6,we have Jesus returning with his disciples to his home town ,surely they would have welcomed him with open arms but alas not so, instead they despised him, ( C P Isaiah 53 v 3 / Luke 4 v  16 ff ,) The Jesus they had known appeared an ordinary quite hard working man ,just a carpenter, the son of a local girl Mary,with brothers and sisters,why did they despise him?..How could this seemingly ordinary person speak as he did,and perform such miracles?,instead of accepting him for whom he really was, they scoffed at him, blinded by their prejudice.  Jesus declared that a prophet is never honoured by those he had been brought up with, even his own family took offence at him. What they were saying was , know your place,you are only a carpenter,a nobody ,stop trying to make yourself a somebody. But if only they knew , Jesus was a somebody, if only they had eyes to see that this nobody was the Son of God, their Messiah,their Saviour. Their unbelief shut them out of the blessings he would have bestowed upon them,but in spite of that a few people were blessed.You can be blessed by simply trusting in Jesus,if you have faith,unbelief will always block the blessings. Christ can be your Saviour, your sins can be forgiven,all your sins, you can receive eternal life,the blessings that he bestows on those who trust Him ,money cannot buy.

Our greatest need ( Hebrews 4 v 14 - 16 )

In Mark 6 v 49 ff  we read that Jesus sends his disciples in a boat to go over the lake of Galilee,our Saviour left them,and went up a mountainside ,for a much needed time of prayer. We do not have to go up a mountain to pray,Jesus choose to,what we do need to do, is pray. If you are to busy to pray then you are to busy,in this world with all its pressures  ,what do we need ? to pray.We need to stop making excuses,and pray,for it is in prayer we gain strength,wisdom,guidance,and all we need for life,it is in prayer that we are acknowledging our dependence on God. If we go in our own strength we will fail,it is all so simple but very ,very true,we need to pray, to live in the spirit of prayer,to call on God continually,to talk to Him. Let us remember that it is through our great high priest that we come in prayer,not through an earthly priest,or a so called saint,or through Mary, we just need Jesus,He is enough,more than enough. ( John 14 v 6 )

Wait ( Jeremiah 1 v 6 - 9 )

In an imperfect world it is hard to know what do ,it is hard to know should one raise one's voice ,or to stay silent.My mother used to say 'whatever you say, say nothing', If you say nothing things will just continue on, you say something things may get worse,you end up being attacked,causing division,hurt,pain ,misunderstanding, and yet things may ,I say may ,get better. I admire Martin Luther King,JR, his courage,and yet if he had not acted and not spoken out ,things would not have changed,and he would not have lost his life.,likewise Gandhi ,When Martin was in prison ,a newspaper was slipped to him, in it was an article by 8 clergymen, they  criticized what he was doing,saying what he was doing was unwise and untimely.One of the things he said  about this was,'For years I have heard the word''Wait'' ,it rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity This ''Wait'' has always meant ''Never''......We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights'. And so he went on following His dream,the waiting time was over,the fight continued,

Take it seriously ( Psalm 126 v 5 )

I have not read much about Saint Columba, but right away I would point that all Christians are saints, many translations use the term 'Holy Ones'. Well so we will call  him Columba he was reckoned to be of noble birth,a grandson of an Irish king. He went to the Isle of Iona ,and formed an abbey,and from there the gospel spread,all over Scotland and to places afar.The Abbey was a place of much prayer,here is what he said about prayer,'The measure of  your prayers is when tears come'.There is a saying ,'I often say my prayers , but do I pray?'.Our Saviour spoke of the danger of praying,that it can become just vain  repetition ,many people say the Lords prayer and it is just vain repetition. As one who prays I often concerned that my prayers will not be vain repetition,the word vain is important,it highlights the importance of praying from the heart ,not just from the mouth. Words are so easily spoken,in a thoughtless manner especially when we pray,   or when we sing a hymn.I am not trying to discourage anyone from praying,it is vital when we pray,that we take it serious , God will honour our prayers ,when we offer them  in faith,and humility, and yes and with a few precious tears.

Stained with tears ( Lamentations 1 v 12 )

Returning to the boy who as a man discovered the Bible he had as a boy, it was crumbled and torn,and that the worst ravages were in the passages relating to the Passion,stained that might have been from tears.The Passion of our Lord would indicate deep emotional feelings,such was the experience of our blessed Saviours,no one has ever experienced such depths of heart breaking emotion,that in that garden of Gethsemane were his soul was overwhelmed with  grief. Jesus knew the depths of suffering that awaited Him,and as He wrestled in prayer, His sweat fell like drops of blood  to the ground.Then we move unto  the cross,and we are not underestimating his physical suffering,which left him with a body,disfigured beyond that of any human being,and his form marred beyond human likeness,as people looked on Him they were appalled ( Isaiah 53 v 14 ).But that's not all,it goes deeper, for the God of Love, will not excuse the guilty (Exodus 34 v 7 ),and all will be judged ,for we are all sinners. I hesitate to mention what that judgement  means,but I will not take any pleasure in mentioning hell,but with great sadness,I must.may God forgive anyone who delights in mentioning hell,the place of the unforgiven,that place of no hope,and no escape. I will not go any further,enough to say, it is clearly taught in the Bible.  Let us return to Christ and what I would call , Christs hidden suffering, this involved Christ taking the punishment for all those who accept Him as Saviour,the depths of that suffering goes beyond anything we could ever imagine,we have but a glimpse of it,when Christ cried out,'My God, my God,why have you forsaken me?. But praise God all who trust Jesus as Saviour will never experience ,being forsaken by God. In considering Christs death ,one wonders why there are not more tear stains on the pages of our Bibles.

Now it is permanent. ( Matthew 18 v 3 )

I read of a boy who acquired a Bible ,he read it mostly in secret,he kept it hidden in a brown paper  cover so no one would know what he was reading.But he read it a lot and would  mark some passages that impressed him,and moved him.Years later as a man he comes across this Bible among his books and notes how crumbled and torn it was,and how the worst ravages are in the passages relating to the Passion- there,stains that might be from tears. I often think we underestimate young peoples desire for God,after all does not our blessed Saviour tell us that we need to become as little children. Looking back in my life as very young  boy, I had a spiritual experience when  I realised that God was my Father,then at a children's meeting staying behind  and asking Christ as my Saviour. Looking back ,I at times connected with God although not on a permanent bases,one wishes that it had been more permanent. If only, but one cannot change the past,with all it flaws and so many things that make me  ashamed,but I believe that something of those spiritual encounters remained with me,until one Sunday evening 56 years ago I came into ongoing permanent relationship with my heavenly Father through Christ my lovely Saviour.

Yesterday ( Psalm 147 v 3 )

I  wrote this little poem,don't be to hard on me,or to critical ,so hear goes, ' I love you less today,Than the love of yesterday,I love you less today,For love has ebbed away. I loved you more yesterday,Now I'm poorer than yesterday,So sad to loose the love of yesterday,And all because I love you less, than the love of yesterday'.There was a time when divorce was rare,but not now it appears that people are falling out of love more often.Nat King Cole sung a lovely song,the first verse goes,'When I fall in love,it will be forever. In a restless world like this is.Love is ended before it's begun.And to many moonlight kisses. Seem to cool in the warmth of the sun'. I  suppose those two things I have written, sum up life for many,why?,it is the human situation,we live in a broken world,people are crying out for love, and to be loved. Is there an answer ?,yes ,so were do we start?,we can start with one who knows us, God.  Consider when I speak of God, I am talking about the God of love. He knows that we are broken,He knows everything,and through Christ He offers us love,yes we can stay the way we are,it is our choice. Why not ask Him into your life and accept Christ as your Saviour. Then God becomes your loving heavenly Father, He will love you,that does not mean that He will accept everything you do,He will, as all loving Fathers do ,chastise you,He will be with you in every trial ,He will be near you at all times,when you pray He will listen,and answer,in a way that is best.You will always be loved even in your failures,and your successes .Look at the cross, see Jesus dying for sinners,that's means you and me,that is the extent of Gods love, for us all ,we broken things.

Trust ( Joshua 1 v 9 )

One of the most precious things in any relationship is trust,a child automatically trusts its parents, but when a parent abuses that trust,it can affect a child for the rest of their lives. Many marriages end because trust has been broken by the wife or husband,some marriages survive ,but it is hard to win back that trust .When a promise is broken, things can fall apart, yes trust is important,in any relationship When it comes to our relationship with God ,trust is vital, I know I can trust God,he will never let me down. When difficulties arise the most important thing is to trust in the Lord,though your heart may be pounding,  and you can't sleep,we are called to trust him,to trust Him when the way is dark, when you don't know which way to go,or what to do,it is then that we are called to trust Him whatever we are facing.Here is the important thing we need to remind ourselves , that God can be trusted, nothing can  stop him,from keeping his word.Hear is a prayer  ,'Dear loving heavenly father ,my heart is weak, help me to trust you,my heart is full of fear,help me to trust you, as I look back,I thank you ,that you have never failed me,and I praise you, that you never will ,in Jesus name I ask this Amen.'

Is that all there is? ( 1 Corinthians 2 v 9 )

I think that time is one of the most deceptive aspects of life, especially in relation to age, not so long ago I was taken by surprise when my first grandson informed us that he was getting married. With age we change ,old father time,keeps marching on.And no matter how much we try, we can do nothing about it, The young Bill becomes the old Bill',time like an ever- rolling stream, bears all its sons away', the old man in the mirror ,you realise is you.The world of science cannot stop it,the plastic surgeon can only cut away so much,and old skin especially the skin on the back of the hands,tell their own story From dust we came ,to dust we will return, one could ask the question,is that it?,at one level yes,but at another level the future can be bright. Sin has  affected all humanity ,but there is one who said that for all who trust Him, as their Saviour,all things will  become new,we will have a new body, a new home,a wonderful existence,were God will be in the midst.We will never again feel lonely,or hear bad news,no more coronavirus, malaria, cancer.a place of perfect harmony,  peace,and happiness.,and a place of total fulfillment, and time will cease to be.

Rubbish ( 1 John 1 v 9 )

I love my little garden, it is just the right size for me,here in the UK we have had about two months of sunny weather, which means I have had the pleasure of working in my garden. I water and cut my lawn regularly ,but one thing I have not done for many years,is get rid of the dead grass and rubbish that hinders the grass growing..There is a garden tool, I think it is called a comb,and you pull it over the lawn and rake up the rubbish, but it is hard work. I have a friend called Richard and he has a garden tool called a Scarifier ,and it works by electric,and it its very effective ,in raking the lawn. So like  a good friend he loaned me it,and I used it,and it was amazing the rubbish it racked up.The thought struck me, that often our lives are like my lawn,they need a good raking to get rid of the rubbish that we let accumulate in our lives over the years,.One has said that the Christian life is one of daily repentance ,attitudes of bitterness, a spirit of unforgiveness ,covetousness,which means an inordinate desire for wealth and possessions,the word of God links it with wanting what another has. It is so easy to accumulate so much rubbish ,we are all the same,lets get rid of the rubbish.Here is a prayer we can all pray, 'Dear Holy Spirit search me,reveal to me the rubbish in my life,and enable me by your grace, to repent ,and in Thy mercy forgive me in Jesus name Amen.'

What can we do? ( 1 Kings 18 v 22 - 39 )

In Numbers 16 we read how the people rose in opposition to Moses and Aaron because God had punished those of the family of  Korah, for their rebellion.Now they were doing the self same thing., God was angry with them,and He told Moses He was going to deal with them,So He sent a plague upon them, Moses  told Aaron to take a censer ,put incense on it ,and burning coals from of the altar, and take it into the midst of the people.Thousands were dying ,Aaron did this and we read,'He stood between the living and the dead,and the plague stopped,14,700 had died of the plague.We are all living under the threat of a plague why it has come I don't know, God alone knows ,as Christians what can we do?. In Revelation 8 we read of an angel who had a censer with incense on it ,and we read that Gods people were praying ,and that the prayers of God's people,and the smoke of the incense ascended up to God, and then fire was cast down upon the earth.Torrance comments on this,'What are the real master - powers behind the world and what are the deeper secrets of our destiny? Here is  the astonishing answer; the prayer of the saints and the fire of God. That means that more potent, more powerful than all the dark and mighty powers let loose in the earth,is the power of prayer set ablaze by the fire of God and cast upon the earth' What can we do ,we can pray,and pray ,and pray.

That's the way God wants it to be. ( Matthew 5 v 43 - 48 )

I heard a song by Billy Preston called,'That's the way God planned it',it struck a cord with me,the next line in the song goes,'That's the way God wants it to be'.It touches on humility,helping each other, Our Saviour put this challenge out to those who follow Him,that they should love their enemies and pray for for those who persecute them. He told them how God blessed both the good and the bad ,and so should they..The love Jesus is speaking of ,was agape love,  William Barclay comments on this ,he writes',It means that no matter how they treat us,no matter if they insult us or injure us or grieve us,we will never allow any bitterness against them to invade our hearts,but will regard them with that unconquerable benevolence and goodwill which will seek nothing but their highest good',This is a different kind of love, that we would have for our nearest and dearest,nor should we allow them to do absolutely what they like .' Jesus then told his followers ,'Be perfect ,therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect'.again W. Barclay on the Greek word for perfect,that it describes a thing that is perfect if it achieves the purpose for which they were created for'.That's the way God planned it,That's the way God wants it to be.'

Eros. ( Exodus 20 v 14 )

There are different sayings as to the word love,'Love makes the world go round', 'Love is blind',and there is a saying by William Thackeray which reads,'Love makes fools of us all,big and small'. There are a number of words in the Greek language for love ,one is Eros,it has the meaning of a sensual,even erotic sexual love.There was a mighty King,he was brave and handsome,being a king in those days,you could have as many wives as you wanted,and he had many. If he saw a woman he fancied, he took her,she became part of his harem,but it was not enough for him,the fact is for many it is not enough. So it is, they  turn to all sorts of  things ,to satisfy their unquenchable desire for sex,the thing is, if it gets to that state,it never will be satisfied.Well let us return to this mighty king,the king who had everything,good looks,etc,etc,one evening he was in his palace,it was warm ,he could not sleep,so he got up from his bed and walked around the roof of his palace.As he looked out, he spied a beautiful woman,  she was washing herself.,remember he was king all powerful,and for a moment he choose to forget,that with power comes responsibility,and accountability. He found out who she was,a married woman,that should have caused him to put the brakes on ,but Eros had got hold of him .What followed ,an evening of dissatisfaction,and dreadful consequences. Let us all learn from this true story,and yet it is ,if truth were told that many, sad to say are following in that kings footsteps,and finding to their cost,that there are no freebies,because sin, and that's what it was, has always a price tag attached to it.

No other message. ( Romans 1 v 16 )

In Romans 15 v 15- 16,Paul writes ,that by Gods grace he had been given a ministry, to non-Jews,it is Leon Morris who points out, that it speaks of a definite time,and that time would be, that of his call to be an apostle.I cannot remember a definite time but I do remember an awareness of Gods call to be a preacher. It is not something one takes on lightly, it  has an awesome responsibility to it, and indeed a dreadful accountability attached to it.( Ezekiel 3 v 18 ).Many present day ministers will bear their heads in shame, in a coming time,I hope I will not be one of them.Going back to Paul he writes in v 16,that God give him the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God.Leon Morris writes,'It is a striking way of affirming that  the proclamation of the gospel is a solemn and sacred act.'The gospel is the most important message in all the history of mankind,people write books on great historical speeches,they have their place,but they fade in the light of the gospel.We honour the great writers like William Shakespeare or Charles Dickens ,but nothing they wrote can compare to the amazing and wondrous message of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. No other message be it religious or non-religious has such a message , that sin can be forgiven ,that we sinners can be made right with God,that we can  receive  eternal life,and be saved from the wrath to come.

The greater good. ( John 15 v 13 )

One of the most influential books ever written was ,'The Prince',written by Niccolo Machiavelli,,it is not a long book,but it has been read by strategists,politicians, and business people.Stalin carried a copy,the book seeks to show  how should a ruler rule to be  successful.,and the main thrust of the book is summed  up in the following words,'The greater good'.In chap 17 , of his book Machiavelli seeks to answer the question' as regards cruelty and clemency and whether it is better to be loved or feared' .His conclusion was that it was far safer to be feared than loved.believing if they feared they you,they would be less willing to turn against you.But stresses that they the rulers,should not cause his subjects  to hate him. For many who say they are Machiavellian,that is, acting out the greater good,like Stalin ,who carried out abominable evils ,and was extremely cruel.I supposed Hitler believed that he was acting for the greater good when millions of people were exterminated.There is another saying,which goes,'you have to be cruel to be kind',I suppose one could add to that,because it is for the greater good. Cruelty is never acceptable,no matter if you are a strategists, politician ,business person,a teacher,a parent.,an animal trainer.The  greatest ruler who ever lived,died on a cross, because of His love,for humanity,and for their greatest good,his name was Jesus.