There is a cost. ( Philippians 1 v 29 )

 In Matthew 8 v 18 we read of a man coming to Jesus, a teacher of the law, and he said to Jesus, ' Teacher I will follow you wherever you go''.I am sure this man was sincere ,but consider how he addressed our Saviour ,teacher, of course He was a teacher,the greatest that ever lived, but He was more than a teacher. There are those who seek to live out the teaching of Jesus, and don't know  Him as Saviour and Lord,  many people pray the Lord's prayer who don't know the Lord. Consider what Jesus replied, 'Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of  Man has nowhere to lay  His head'.I leave comments by W. Hendriksen,' The path of the disciple is not a bed of roses.It is said at the time of the Civil War ( U.S) there were many volunteers who eagerly joined the ranks, as if  going to war meant nothing more than taking part  in parades, drills, and reviews, and receiving medals and honors'. Every day in so many countries Christians are suffering dreadfully,we also must remember  the words of our Saviour in Matthew 16 v 24,''Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me''.

                                                    The way of the cross leads home.

Yes even the worst.( 1 Corinthians 6 v 9 - 11 )

 I am sure most of us know someone whose life is out of control,their lives are in a mess ,could be they are in and out of prison,or they are always breaking the rules,they are just hopeless cases.You would not want them as friends,or to associate with them,for they are just trouble.Let me tell you about a man of renown, the late Ian Paisley, that fiery minister of religion ,who also became a leading politician in Northern Island, a very controversial person. A friend of mine heard him speaking  on you tube,he spoke of his younger days when he would do personal evangelism, knocking on doors telling people about Christ, not many responded, except one, an notorious alcoholic,the change in this man was dramatic,the change was so dramatic that it spoke to many people,and  they started attending church,and many of them trusted Jesus as Saviour. We are all sinners,we all need  Jesus as Saviour, we should rule no one out ,as those who are so bad,they could never be saved.Who would ever thought that the thief on the cross would trust Jesus ,but he did,or a woman who was notorious for the many husbands, would trust Jesus , but she did,and who would ever thought a man whose life was possessed with evil spirits,would trust Jesus, but he did.

                                                          Christ Jesus came into the world

                                                          to save sinners. ( 1 Timothy 1 v 15 )

Everything. ( Philippians 4 v 6 )

 There they were ,sitting in all their glory, two flat packs, I  looked for the magic wand or even the magic word,but alas ,they did not come with the flat pack. So I prayerfully set out the jigsaw furniture kit, I confess I am not good at jigsaws ,I mentioned prayerfully,yes I prayed and prayed as I followed the instructions that came with the pack.And would you belief it ,there before my very eyes stood the two items fully assembled. What I did next was to thank God for His help,Philippians 4 v 6 reads ,' 'Don't worry about anything; instead ,pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done'.Consider these words, memorise these words and put them into practice. 

                                                    What a friend we have in Jesus

                                                     All our sins and griefs to bear!

                                                     What a privilege to carry 

                                                      Everything to God in prayer!

                                                      O what peace we often forfeit!

                                                      O  what needless pain we bear!

                                                      All because we do not carry

                                                       Everything to God in prayer.

                                                           Words Joseph M. Scriven.

                                                      

He bore it all. ( Isaiah 53 )

 In Matthew 8 v 3 we read of  Jesus reaching out His hand and touching a leper, and immediately he was healed,then in v 14, He touched Peter's mother- in- law who was suffering from a fever,and she was healed.It is William Hendriksen writing about sickness says.'Our Physical afflictions must never be separated from that  without which they never would never have occurred, namely our sin. Note how very closely Isa 53: 4,5 context connects these two;; for to v4 reads -'' Surely , our  diseases . he has borne.... our....''- is immediately followed by; '' He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities''. W H, points out ,'That when He saw sickness or distress He experienced Calvary, His own bitter, vicarious suffering throughout His life on earth but especially on the cross. That is why it was not easy  for Him to heal ( Mark 2 v 9 ; Matthew 9 v 5 ). This also accounts for the fact that at the tomb of Lazarus he was deeply moved and agitated in the spirit'.

                                                 He took my sins and my sorrows,

                                                 He made them His very own;

                                                 He bore the burden to Calvary,

                                                 And suffered, and died alone.

                                                 How marvellous! how wonderful!

                                                And my song shall ever be;

                                                How marvellous!  how wonderful!

                                                Is my Saviours love for me.

                                                    Words C.H.Gabriel

I remember. ( James 1 v 17 )

 Times have changed,and of course much is for the better, I know in this country some have have it hard ,but not as hard as people had when I was younger,yes people did somehow manage. I remember attending a secondary,were a uniform was compulsory I don't know how my mother bought mine,she and my Father had separated, so she was left to bring up the four of us. I remember a friend of mine, Jimmy who was told off by the principal for not wearing a uniform .But I knew his circumstances his parents were very poor and could not afford to buy him a uniform.Most people got by in those days,but if a family had no wages coming in it was difficult,the pawn shop was there. Very few people owned a car, and very few people could go on to further education, even if they were smart enough.I remember wearing a pair of shoes till they nearly fell apart,and then taking them to the menders, and to his credit he mended them.My mother worked , but a woman was paid less than the men,so  it made things difficult.A slice of bread with butter and jam on it was much appreciated. I suppose in many ways we as youngsters never thought to much about it, we all seemed to have friends to play with.As I look back I am thankful how God brought us through those times,and am grateful for the blessing I have now,blessings are to be appreciated.I am so grateful to God for His kindness to me. I said to a  lady ,who is very well off , how I thank God for His kindness to me,and she said she would never think of thanking God, for what she had. poor soul.

                                                                    Oh God.      

                                       Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!

                                      Morning by morning new mercies I see;

                                      All I have needed  Thy hand has provided-

                                      Great is Thy faithfulness , Lord , unto me.

                                                 Words. Thomas O. Chisholm.

                                   

                                             

We all have our demons. ( 1 Corinthians 6 v 9 -11 )

In case you misunderstand the title, I am not speaking about demon possession,but things that hunt us,and at times even cause us to hurt others. I can assure you I have mine, we all have to be honest, that's a good start. There are experiences we have in life that are awful,distressing, and we are to ashamed to admit them to anyone. Yes we might have tried to bury them,but alas they don't stay buried, they come back like a while beast to hunt us. Often we create our own demons, addiction, we humans are by far the most addictive of all Gods creation,stop and think about that. In one way that is important to see, for often that addiction isolates us,to our own morbid thinking. That's why help groups are beneficial, for we are after all, social beings. I am really trying to think of a word to help you, what can God say to you?.well let us move on in this short blog ,you may get some help.My answer would be found in one person Jesus. you see Jesus is a living Saviour., and here is what He said, 'The Spirit of Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me, to preach the  gospel to the poor,He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,to proclaim liberty to the captives,and recovery of sight to the blind. Luke 4 v 18.

                                                 Therefore if the Son makes  you free

                                                  you shall be free indeed.

                                                       ( John 8 v 36 )

Francis of Assisi. ( Isaiah 53 )

 I read this recently about Francis of Assisi , there was a gathering of Franciscans, Francis rose to speak to them.    As he rose to speak he gently instructed the birds to stop chirping, so the friars might hear his sermon, they stopped instantly.Are we meant to take this seriously?, Walt Disney may have made cartoons where animals talked, but of course it is just make believe.Dr Dolittle could talk to the animals but again that is just make believe,and the story of Francis is also make believe. There were fake gospels that told  things about Jesus as a young person and how he supposedly did things that were not true,we must understand that the only record we have of his childhood and life is to be found only in the four gospels. Trivia as is recorded of Francis with the birds, is nonsense,but Jesus was not into nonsense, His was a serious business , He performed real miracles,they would be signs of who He was,he said to those who wanted to destroy Him ,believe me for my very works sake.John 14 v 11.Their was nothing trivial about anything He said or did, Francis was called the clown of God, Jesus was no clown,He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, who would go to the cross and bear the punishment of our sin,so that whoever believes in him would not be punished

                                                        Take Jesus serious.  

Healing ( 1 John 5 v 14 )

 Most people who are suffering,would love to be healed,  that is why we go to the doctor,and go in for an  operation. There are people I know, lovely Christians, one has Parkinson's, last time I spoke to him  he had fallen.How I wish God would heal him,I of course have mentioned it to the Lord,of  course I know God can heal him, that is obvious,but will He?, that is the question.I remember a young lady ,who suffered from severe mental illness, saying she didn't want people to pray with her to be healed, for it did not happen. I can understand the way she feels, and yet there is always that possibility that God will heal. So what does one do?, how should one look at  what I call miraculous healing, does it happen now?. It  is a good question, is there an easy answer? no,that is a fact, I was reading Matthew 8  as to when our Lord descended from the Mountain,with his disciples ,were he had been ministering,when He was met by a  leper. We read that  he knelt before Him,and said,'' Lord......if you are willing,you can heal me and make me clean''. He was sure Jesus could heal him, but would He? There appears two things in his words, uncertainty and certainty, of course Jesus healed him. But is it His will to heal everybody?,the answer is no,but will He heal some? yes he will, we can ask, not demand,for healing ,and I will finish by saying, He will do what's best for us.

Are we immortal? ( John 3 v 16 .)

Janet Turner  wrote an article in the  Times newspaper titled,' Covid is a reminder that no one is invincible'. She then went on to write about a man who swam 2.4 miles, cycled 112 miles, then ran a marathon,he refused to be vaccinated, and to wear a mask and yet he died of Covid , only towards the end  did this man admit he was not invincible.The film industry churn our movies with super heroes, like James Bond,who appear invincible,but of course that is only in the movies . The human body is a wonderful creation,but it will not last.Janice  writes the following,'An obsession with fitness promises by your own slavish efforts, self denial and training, sweat and pain, you can barter your odds with God'. The fact is you cant, she mentions a book called ,'The denial of death'. by Earnest Becker.  Of course mankind is not invincible,but are we immortal?,the word immortal has this aspect to it living forever,God never created us to die, but of course we do,but that's not the end of the story.The word of God speaks of  an after life existence,there mankind will dwell,in two separate realities,which the word of God,calls hell and heaven.One, is a place of unbearable suffering,the other a place unspeakable joy.The question I leave with you is this ,where will you  spend eternity?.

                                                       Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ

                                                        and you will be saved.

                                                                 Acts 16 v 31.

Prayer

 Contnuing on looking Matthew 7 ,lets consider v 9- 10, our Saviour leads us on,two examples as regards asking,He commences ,'You parents- if your children ask for a loaf of bread , do you give them a stone instead?well would you?,of course not,you would  give what they asked.Then he continues,'Or if they asked for a fish, do you give them a snake?,of course not,it all very obvious,you will give them what they asked for.You can imagine everyone nodding their heads in agreement,yes your right, every loving parent would agree with Jesus. So Jesus continues,' If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children',again Jesus is speaking the obvious, it may come as a surprise to you ,your parents, my parents,every bodies parents are sinners. Jesus continues, these sinful parents,'know how to give good gifts to their children, yes everyone would agree,that what He is saying was  right. Having said this Jesus says,' How much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him.'That should be obvious, but it does not always appear so to many of us, for some people people they they don't think they should ask God for anything,it appears selfish to them,The fact  our heavenly father is more loving and kind than any earthly parent, I believe he delights to bless  his children,and He will always give us whats best. Spurgeon says this, 'He will give good which we did not ask, and withhold the ill which we so unwisely requested'.

Keep praying. ( Kings 18 v 41 - 45 )

Let us turn to  Matthew 7 v 7 - 11, and our Lords teaching on  prayer.The first thing He tells us,''Keep on asking,and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking,and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks , finds. And everyone who knocks,the door will be opened.  When my wife and I finished are Bible college training, we applied to a mission, the door stayed shut,we continued to pray, and continued to seek God's place of service, I managed a Christian bookshop,which eventually closed,so we continued our search, and so we continued on asking,seeking,knocking, we applied to another mission,the door stayed  shut,and another,and another,went to churches with a view,the door stayed shut,made enquires to three other missions, no way forward,but we continued praying,asking seeking,and knocking. Then we applied to a church in England, and the door opened.

The sinners prayer. ( 1 ) Luke 18 v 9 - 14 )

 In  Matthew 7 v 7- 9, our dear Saviour is encourage  us who are Christian's on the vital subject of prayer,I think many people struggle with the whole idea of prayer. I think many unbelievers pray,are they heard?, one prayer they are sure to have answered, it is the  sinners prayer, indeed that is the most important prayer anyone can pray,it  opens the door, for forgiveness through Jesus Christ. It is an act of faith, to the only one who can save, burdens are lifted at Calvary, no more guilt, no more bondage,no more fear of judgement I used the  term ,the sinners prayer,' so that may confuse you,it just means you come to God and utter your own  words,you can whisper it,or cry aloud, it hasn't to be in a church building,you can pray it anywhere, you don't  even have to close your eyes,the main thing is God hears the penitent, meaning those who regret their past sins, and now are asking God to forgive them, through His Son Jesus.Here is what one man prayed

                                          ''O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner''

Failures ( Isaiah 53 )

Let me ask you a question,do you know anyone who has never failed?, the fact is we all fail at something or other. Some failures are awful,some not so ,other failures are inconsequential, and yet even those inconsequential failures sometime can have devastating effects.People can be rejected because of their failures, and sadly some people cannot live with failure,and even end their lives. Dennis  Wailley said,' 'Failure should be our teacher.not our undertaker'. I wonder what you think of the following, 'For  all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God' Romans 3 v 23. Let me clarify ,sin relates to our offences against God's moral law,yes we live in a moral universe, Sin is not a word people use much,if at all,but that does not nullify it, it still remains valid, because God is valid, He may not be in our thoughts,and we may take no account of Him, and live as we please, ignoring our moral sinful short comings. But God does not ignore them ,He cannot, His holiness and justice demands that they will receive ,their due,judgement. Hebrews 9 v 27.Failure at that level brings with it awful consequences, yes for everyone,unless our sins are  forgiven, there is no hope. So God who is merciful has provided  us a Saviour called Jesus,

                                                    Wounded for me,wounded for me,

                                                    There on the cross He was wounded for me;

                                                    Gone my transgressions, and now I am free,

                                                    All because Jesus was wounded for me.

                                                                  

                                                  

The Gospel . ( 5 ) ( Matthew 10 v 28 )

 We touched on last time,with what the writer Brennan wrote, being critical of him and his imbalance as regards those who are suffering,and those who would try to help them. Let me say Brennan has much to say that's good,you may be his number one fan,but we must always be discerning, as regards preachers,or whoever. In my opinion he at times appears to deny obvious  biblical truth, here what he says,'' In addition to the trinity of pain,suffering, and evil, add another major obstacle to unhesitating trust in the merciful love of God, the wretched witness of  hard - hat Christians with their images of a malevolent God. They speak  in giddy or  sepulchral tones of a deity who, with malicious glee, dispatches to a fiery lake ninety percent of the people  he created in his image and likeness. ''I appreciate he is being critical of certain people, but I know nobody who is filled with glee as regards the fate of the lost in hell. As a  Christian and a minister I believe that the word of God teaches clearly that there is a hell, if it were not so I would not preach it,the fact is I did not invent hell.There is a heaven and  nothing can changes that fact, the only way to get to heaven is through Christ, and the only way to escape hell is by trusting Christ,as the scripture declares , 'Believe  in the Lord Jess, and you will be saved,Acts 16 v 31, that's the gospel. Just a last word on this, when I speak or preach on hell ,I am not meaning to add to anyone's suffering ,no ,I  am trying to save them from suffering.

The Gospel ( 4 ) 9 The alternative. ( Romans 12 v 15 }

When we embrace the gospel ,and trust Christ as our Saviour, our sins forgiven, we have peace with God, we are justified, we are granted eternal life,we receive the Holy Spirit ,God is now our Father,we are secure, nothing can separate us from God's love.I am sure there are many other things we can say, we are truly blest. But if we don't trust Jesus we will continue to be cut off from all those blessings, and the only thing that awaits us is judgement.Which brings me to an important point,our responsibility to warn people what awaits them if they die without Christ.I read something recently,from a book called , 'Ruthless Trust',by Brennan Manning,the book is about trusting God, in every situation, like Job did.He is critical of people who say what he considers trite things to people who suffer the lost of children,or other awful things.On a person level I lost my first wife with cancer,and was left with four little boys, I did not  feel bitter, never have. So BM goes on as if he is the only one who understands, of course people people struggle in tragedy, that's to be expected,and people don't always know what to say, they may say the wrong thing,but I am sure they mean well.Next time we will come back to consider after death, and what BM says.

The Gospel . ( 3 ) ( Acts 13 v 38 )

So the gospel is good news, and there is only one gospel,why do we rule out those other so called Gospels ?,because the gospel alone ,is God's answer to the dreadful sin problem.,that is why I pointed out that there is not a Lordship,or disciple gospel.The Lordship of Christ, and being a disciple,comes after conversion, the reason Jesus came we are told, that he would be pierced for our transgressions ,that he would be crushed for our iniquities,his  life would be an offering for sin,and that he would bear the sin of many. CP Isaiah 53.in Matthew 1 v 21, we read, 'he will save his people from their sins.He cannot be ones Lord,and we cannot be a disciple ,until until one knows Him as Saviour. Humanities greatest need is Jesus for only he can forgive sin,Their are people who try to live by the sermon on the mount who are not Christians, they cannot do it, it is impossible, we can only attempt to do it through Christ and His strength alone.  CP  Philippians  4 v 14.,and so we continue  to consider the gospel.

The Gospel. ( 2) ( Galatians 1 v 6 - 9)

  Last  time we looked at what the gospel is not, now let us begin to look at what it is. One translation puts it like this,'For  I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ', it goes without saying, that we live in a world were there  is so much bad news,I won't go over them,of course there is a lot of good news in the world,but the Gospel is unique, in other words it is the only one of its kind. I remember buying a Rolex watch, if I stopped there,you would be envious of me, so let me explain ,I bought it in Turkey while on  holiday,it looked like a real Rolex, but it was a fake,it wasn't the real thing.  If we have not the real gospel it is not good news, in fact, it is bad news, because it cannot do what the true gospel does, we will come to that eventually. So many are taken in by what is not true, let me put it this way , every other religion is a false religion.In 1 Corinthians 15 v 3- 4, we have these words written twice,' according to the scriptures.'The cults believe in another Christ, likewise Islam, but the Christ they believe in is not according to the scriptures, beware of those who come preaching another Christ,that is only bad news,no matter how much it is dressed up.

The Gospel . ( 1 )( Romans 1 v16 )

 Romans 1 v16 , reads ' For I am not ashamed of the gospel of  Christ,  for it is the power of God to salvation  for everyone  who believes'.What is the Gospel? well lets say what its not,for instance ,one here's the term social gospel ,one has said that one cannot add adjectives unto the gospel, no it is not a social gospel. It is not a good works gospel, multitudes believe that,but it is not ,CP  Ephesians 2 v 8-9. I would include religious works in that, like baptism.It is not a hereditary gospel,in other words because your parents were Christians, you are now a Christian, no, CP John 1 v 12 - 13,we can broaden that out to include those people who would say ,well I was  born in a Christian country. CP  John 4 v 31.I would add there is no such thing as a Christian country. I would to add also,it is not a lordship gospel, or a discipleship gospel. I will seek to clarify this in time,as we  consider this vital subject, 'the gospel.'

Unconditional love. ( Romans 5 v 6 - 8 )

  Frank Skinner said the following,'' For me unconditional love is not good, if I even smell unconditional love,I back off  because that means I stop trying and my standards  fall. Unconditional love would allow me to relax into nothingness''. If one is not a Christian we are told that the wrath of God rests upon  you John 3 v 36, that means that you are cut from Gods love,     Leon Morris points out ,'that there are literally hundreds of passages in the Bible referring to God's wrath, and the rejection of them all leaves us with a badly mutilated Bible. If we abandoned the idea of the wrath of God we are left with a God who is not ready to act against moral evil'. For that to change, there is a condition, one must repent of their sins,and seek forgiveness, by trusting Jesus as ones Saviour.  When we do that ,the love of God is bestowed upon us 1 John 3 v 1,  and we are no longer an enemies of  God ,Romans 5 v 10, we are His children.

                                                        The soul that sins shall die!

                                                        My awful doom I heard,

                                                        I was forever lost,

                                                        But for Thy gracious word,

                                                       That: Whosoever will believe

                                                       Shall everlasting life receive.

                                                            Words Arthur Pierson.

What does love look like ? ( i Corinthians 13 )

One of my sons is the international director of 24/7, a number of years ago ,he and his family went to live in Ibiza, They  were going to set up a ministry with the many tourist who visit that island ,their emphasis was  on prayer,it developed in a wonderful way,of course it developed into practical work. Many of the young people put themselves in danger,and so the  team would watch out for them, and get them safely back to their  hotels. These days the work continues lead by another team, but alas at this time there are very few  tourist,owing to the present circumstances. My son said that they were working with the homeless  ,helping them in various ways,like washing their clothes. I thought of the words of Augustine when he wrote the following. 'What does love look like?, it has hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy,it  has eyes to see the misery and want. It has ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like'.

Welcome to the family. ( Galatians 6 v 10 )

 Church has changed, many churches do not use hymn books,many churches have song leaders, dress is more informal in many churches, that applies to the minister and the congregation. Of course they have had to adopt to the new technology, as we all have to, to some extent.Ministers may need to take a course on the new technology, I suppose many need to depend on those within the local church who are gifted in technology to help them. Another aspect of the church set ups, is leadership,in many  churches they have leadership teams, usually with one main leader,and the rest of the team made up of men and women. What I would say about all this,we must never forget that church is family, we should be seen as brothers and sisters in Christ. There are many small churches, and there are also very large  churches, they must keep this in mind that they are a family. Now churches must be run in a professional manner,we have what we may call business meetings, and yet the church is not a business.One  church I know of, whose leadership is made up very rich business people , and there came a time when they brought in a new pay structure, the workers  would be payed on results. A young girl who had a very meaningful ministry in a run down housing estate ,was to have her support cut.My son said this to me,''Abraham run a business,he went to war,but he was head of a family'.The church is not a business, it is a family, may we never loose sight of that. 

The storms of life . ( Romans 4 v 18 - 21 )

 I wonder have you ever been in a storm fortunately I have never experience such an event, in Acts 27 we read an account of a storm that the apostle Paul experience. It is described as being a hurricane, it lasted for days,and there came a moment that when hope run out v 21,all their efforts  appeared to be in vain.all hope had gone. Yet one man stands forth, the Apostle Paul,something wonderful had happened ,an angel had appeared to him, and told him that no one on the ship would be lost,this word from the angel was a confirmation ,of what  he had been told previously in Acts 23 v 11.He had been arrested in Jerusalem,and God had spoken to him that he would be a witness for Him in Rome. So Paul  declares,''I have faith in God that it will happen just as He told me'' v25, and so it came to pass, for we read,  'Everyone reached land safely' v 44. God will always fulfill His word, it will happen, nothing can stop it happening. Psalm 119 v 114, reads ,' I hope in your word'. If today you are facing difficulties,trials, in the midst of the storms of life, rest on God's word,and His precious promises, in other words, have faith in God.

Solid ground. ( Psalm 119 v 57 - 64 )

 Augustine said ,'If you believe what you like in the Gospel, and reject what don't like, it's not the  Gospel you believe, but yourself'. The truth is always under attack, old heresies one thought were dead  are resurrected ,to once again  undermine truth, and they will always have their following.. It is a question of belief ,who or what you believe, and behind every error  there is the enemy of truth ,Satan, our Saviour  called him the father of lies . John 8 v 44 . Those who believe his lies ,and oppose the truth, are his children ,John 8 v 44., we must take the devil seriously, and we must take his children seriously,Jesus did.My mother used to say ,'one  can never trust a liar'. No matter how much it is dressed up, a lie is a lie for all that. Beware of leaning on your own understanding, also don't trust your feelings,live by what God's word teaches . I am not saying we are not to use our minds, God wants us to use our minds, but our minds must be disciplined ,to not stray from the truth of God's  word,if we do, we find ourselves in a quagmire,  a quagmire is a soft area of land that gives way underfoot. In a world full of quagmires we need to see the importance of standing on a firm foundation, the word of God..

Am I significant?. (John 3 v 16 )

 The population of this  world is reckoned to be 7.9 billion people, that's a lot of people, it makes one feel insignificant,after all what is the importance one person. Am I of any  value ?,am I just a number ?,do we matter?. Consider the universe ,the vastness of it is beyond any of us to take in,the number of galaxies is reckoned to be about 2 trillion, the Milky way is reckoned to have 40 billion stars.The question one could ask, are we  of  any significance?.The answer to the  questions, as to the significance,of  us ,as individuals, is ,yes. To understand the truth of this we must have faith in as Brennan  Manning puts it,'The divine incomprehensibility', 'God'.  Without Him nothing would exist, this incomprehensible being, made all things, and it appears that all the planets, stars,and Galaxies are  in some way just ornamental, and this little planet earth and its inhabitants are vital in Gods estimation. In fact one day all the galaxies with their planets and stars ,and planet earth will cease to exist, and will be replaced by a new heaven and earth, where all who know Christ will exist. As to the here and now, are we as individuals significant? yes we most definitely are, Consider that most significant event in human history ,  the death of Jesus on the cross, this was God intervening, to save men and women, As to our insignificance, Augustine put it like this,'If you were the only person on planet earth, Christ would have suffered and died for you', You are significant to God ,but is he significant to you?,have you responded to His great love for you?, by seeking Jesus as your Saviour?

What if. ( 2 Corinthians 4 v 16 - 18 )

I heard a song for the first time I would like to share it with you. it is sung and written by Laura Story called ,'Blessings'.

                                       We pray for blessings, we pray for peace

                                       Comfort for family,protection when we sleep,

                                       We pray for healing, for prosperity,

                                        We pray for your mighty hand to ease our suffering,

                                        And all the while, you hear each spoken word.

                                          Chorus                                        

                                         Cause what if  your blessings came through raindrops

                                         What if your healing comes through tears,

                                          What if a thousand sleepless nights,are 

                                          what it takes to know your near,

                                          What if  trials of the life, are your mercies in disguise.

                                          We pray for wisdom , your voice to hear,

                                          And we cry in anger, when we cannot feel you near,

                                          We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love,

                                           As if each promise from your word is not enough,

                                           And all the while, you hear each desperate plea,

                                           And that we'ed have faith to believe .

                                           When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win,

                                           That pain reminds this heart,

                                           That this is not our home.

                                            What if my greatest disappointments,

                                            Or the aching of this life,

                                            Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy.

                                            What if the trials of this life,

                                            The rain, the storms, the hardest nights ,

                                             Are your mercies in disguise.

                                             

                                          

Not by chance. ( Proverbs 20 v 24 )

I believe in the providence of my sovereign God, who works all things after the counsel of His will ,Ephesians 1 v 11,in other words there are no chance happenings with my God. When a door we expect to  go through , closes,it is He who shuts it, whom am I to argue, His will for me and every child of  God is perfect and acceptable,He makes no mistakes.See his providence child of God in all the affairs of your life, and know  of assuredly that He is in control. Let me illustrate an incident in my life,my internet was not working,so I phoned my provider,and I spoke to a nice young lad called Kieran, he was only 21.During the time talking through the problem of my internet,I managed to turn the conversation to spiritual things. He told me he had been Christened as a child,but confessed to be being totally ignorant as regards Christianity.  So I had the precious opportunity to tell him about Christ, I said I would pray for him ,he thanked me,He did help me to sort out my internet,and after I  finished the call, I prayed for him. I thought about my internet,it was no chance thing that it broke down, it had a greater purpose, of  telling that young man about Christ.

An ordinary man.(Jeremiah 17 v 9 )

I share with you the following, from one of  Charles Swindoll's books,'A journalist asked the question as regards Adolf Eichmann ,the Nazi architect of the Jewish Holocaust,'How is it possible for a man to act  as Eichmann did? Was he a monster? A madman? Or was he perhaps something even more terrifying; Was he normal?. Yehiel Dinur , a Jewish  concentration camp survivor who testified against Eichmann  at the Nuremburg trials, admitted that when he first laid eyes on the man, he was overcome with a terrible thought. It was not a godlike officer who sent so many to their deaths. Eichmann  was an ordinary man. Dinur said, ''I was afraid about myself . In that moment I saw  that I am capable to do this. I am exactly like he'' The journalist Mike Wallace summed it up with this penetrating summation; Eichann is in all of us.'' C.Swindoll  wrote the following ''Our only hope is honest confession, humble repentance, sincere faith, and complete  submission. When we confront the terrible truth about ourselves, we will find that God is greater than all our monsters''

We all have opinions. ( Colossians 3 v 16 )

It is Chuck Swindoll who makes the following comment, that everyone has opinions, that are formed in one to three ways. ( 1 ),  On what others have taught us.  ( 2 ) Information and insight from what we read.( 3) From experience.' And then he adds ,' Rarely , however, do I see people base their opinions on a serious, in-depth, careful examination of scripture'.. When our Saviour began His ministry he was well aware of  the teaching of the religious leaders, so much so that there teaching on the scriptures, had  made the actual scriptures, null and void. He said to them on one occasion,  'You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions'. (Mark 7 v 9 )  If we are Christians we must let the word of God be our guide. Psalm 119 v 105 reads 

. 'Your word is a lamp  to guide my feet and a light for my path.' One person puts it like this, 'By  your words I can see where I am going; they throw a beam of light on my dark path'

                                            Let us read Gods word,live by that word,

                                            obey that word, honour that word,

                                            proclaim that word, praise God 

                                            for that word.

                             

Free at last. (2) ( Colossians 1 v 13 )

Now let consider freedom,and  ask the question ,am I not free?, I live in a democratic country, surely I am free, yes in many respects you are, and it is something to be treasured ,and be grateful for. But lets ask the question again',am I free?', when Jesus said to the Jews,' Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free', they protested ,saying,' We are descendants of Abraham. We've never been slaves to anyone. How can you say,'The truth will free you'?. What does the word mean?Free? free from what?.  Jesus give them the answer, and this is what He said,'everyone who sins is a slave of sin'. John 8 v 36.Now we are all with out exceptions sinners Romans 3 v 23, so it follows , we are all slaves to sin. There is only one person ,who can forgive our sins, and set us free from the power of sin Jesus.You may be carrying the hidden burden of guilt, come to Christ and He will forgive you, your sins.He will also set you free from the power of sin, for whom Jesus sets free, is free indeed.

                                             Out of my bondage, sorrow and night,

                                             Jesus, I come! Jesus, I come!

                                             Into Thy freedom , gladness and light,

                                             Jesus, I come to Thee!

                                                 ( William T. Sleeper)

                              

                                                             

9

Freedom( 1 ) ( John 8 v 36 )

The movie ,'Braveheart', is about freedom,and the nation of Scotland seeking to win freedom from English rule.The main character in the movie  was William Wallace played by Mel Gibson ,it is a very inspiring part he plays. I want to highlight a number of things said by the character W.W ,first his speech to his army as they faced the English ,he asked them a question ,'What will you do with that freedom?'. it is a very good question, as one looks at history, as regards nations,and those movements that promised freedom, when freedom was won, the people found themselves with new oppressors. In the 18 th century the french revolution took place,and it ushered in what was know as the ,'Reign of Terror',led by Robespierre.  It is an unfortunate fact we do not always do what we should, with our so called freedoms,be it on a national level or a personal level.The prisoner when freed ,often goes back to their old ways, it is just a repeat performance,people when challenged about their smoking, would say ,'I can give it up I've done it many times.' Let us consider two aspects of  salvation, ( 1 )Forgiveness. (2 ) Freedom,which we will consider next time.