Peaceful Trust. ( Psalm 37 )

 In one of Agatha Christie's novels ,Hercule Poirot the private detective and a girl called Deirdre were going through the contents of a room of an old lady who had been murdered. They spoke about the things she had kept,Poirot mentioned how those things she kept, spoke to that lady of old memories .Deirdre agreed but said ,'that she never kept anything'.Poirot replied,'that's because you look forward, not back', she replied,'I  don't know that I look back anywhere,I mean today's usually enough,isn't it,?'  It was our Saviour who said,' So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring it's own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today'. Someone passes the following comments, on those word,'Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes'.

                                                         'No profit canst thou gain

                                                         By self -consuming care;

                                                         To Him commend thy cause; His ear

                                                         Attends the softest prayer.'

                                                                 John Wesley

                                                        

Creativity. ( John 1 v 9 - 13 )

 I was walking around a store, I was not going to buy anything, just  looking,so many things I found interesting,like kitchen utensils,glassware,and I was filled with admiration at humanities creativity.I looked at the design of things,many things which we all take for granted, not given those things a second thought.I have been to art galleries, looked on Michelangelo's statue of David,things of beauty that we admire, reminding us of the wonderful creativity  that's all  around us everyday.Our wonderful God has given the gift of  creativity to those He created in his own image. Humanity can create so much that's wonderful, but the negative side is ,we create an awful lot of things that are awful, who created that virus?.Consider the weapons of destruction,they are the things that nightmares are made of. We cannot escape the fact that humanities fallen nature takes over in some way or other,the creative artist may be a pervert, a child abuser.We all admire the gifts of of those who are very creative,but as people they may have dark hidden secrets, the dark side of our nature is always ready to take over in a destructive way, towards ourselves ,and towards others.There is only one remedy for all of us, we need to turn back to the one who created us, and lost us,but is now come  to save us, His name is Jesus, by whom all things were made. 

What am I?. ( Luke 12 v 16 - 21)

 An ancient Greek called Horace said,' We are just statistics, born to consume  resources',are we just a statistic?,it is a good question.This little planet appears to be getting smaller as the population of the world increases ,  in 2019 it was 7.674 billion (2019). Mind blowing and of course we are all  consumers,but is that all there is to our existence?.The mass murderer Stalin said,' A single death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic.' But the fact is a million people  are a million individuals,and each death is a tragedy.When God said he loved the world,he was not thinking of them as a statistic, no, he knows everyone of those 7.674 billion people intimately. Yes we all are consumers, but is that sum total of life?,our Saviour warned us  that life does not consist in the abundance of our possessions (Luke 12 v 15 ).This world which God has entrusted to us ,is being stripped bare, by its inhabitants,who want more, not because of need, but because of greed.If we leave God out of the reckoning ,then all we become is a meaningless statistic,with a heart that just cries out for ,more ,more ,more.Yet if we listen we can hear the whispers of Jesus saying, 'What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you?    What could you ever trade your soul for'. (Mark 8 v 36- 37)

Lost (2)( Colossians 1 v 13 - 14 )

 How few people know that they are lost, but many feel lost for all that,it is alright singing the words of an old song,' I know where I'm going', but do you,were are we all heading?. It was Shakespeare who wrote,  

                                                      'Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player

                                                      That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

                                                      And then is heard no more. It is a tale

                                                      Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

                                                      Signifying nothing.'

Is that it? is that all life signifies?, nothing, we are all a freak meaningless accident,being lost leads us  nowhere,we don't know where we are,or where we are going. What is the answer?,is there an answer?, it was John Newton who wrote,'I once was lost but now am found'.what brought the change?, Jesus, without Him there is no meaning,there is a future but where will that future be?.Writing to Christians, the apostle Paul reminded them that before before coming to Christ,they were without hope and without God (Ephesians 2 v 12) It was Jesus who said ,that He had come to seek and to save that which is lost ( Luke 19 v 10).Millions can testify that Christ brought forgiveness,freedom from sinful bondage,hope and purpose, and meaning into their lives.I look at so many people and  I say  to myself ,if only they knew Christ,if only.

                                                       Without Christ there is no meaning.

Lost (1 ) ( Matthew 9 v 36 )

 I could not find it, a sense of panic  was beginning to set in,were did I last have,it?.  What was I looking for ?, you probably have guessed,it was my wallet, with two bank cards in it, well silly Billy that I am, I found it, panic over, and then I uttered a thank you to God In this age of technology ,why can't they invent something that would help us at times like this?,who knows they may .Loosing a wallet or whatever can be stressful ,mobile phones are another problem ,and so we can go on. There used to be a place called a lost and found department, they may still exist,one of the major themes in the Bible is taken up with that very thing. That which is lost and that which is found, the lost is humanity,consider, we all from day one ,are classed as being lost.You may have someone say to you,'are you lost?'. Well let me ask you, are you lost?, you may think , what a silly question,but its not.for the bible tells us,'We're all like sheep who've wandered off and are lost',( Isaiah  53 v 6).This wandering off  is a deliberate act by humanity, of  us going away from God. A favourite song comes to mind,'I did it my way ',these words sum up humanities lostness, no longer do we acknowledge God's way, or want  God's way,so the result is, we are lost. Do think about this, we will continue this next time.

                                                            No one is truly wise; no

                                                            one is seeking after God.

                                                                  Romans 3 v 10.

Just do it again. ( Isaiah 55 v 6 - 7)

 A large advert in a national paper had these words on it,' Just do it Again'.I am not even sure what was being advertised,but those words struck a cord with me.In the Gospels our Lord performed many miracles,John the Baptist performed  no miracles.Are we looking for a quick and fast easy solution to the challenges of life,so we pray for a miracle. We read in days of old, what we call revivals broke in,and we wonder why God will not do it again?.Is not God the God of miracles, 'Surely the arm of the Lord is  not to short to save,nor his ear  too dull to hear' Isaiah 59 v1. Of course God  can do it again, but the reason He did not do it again was because  sin had caused   God to distance Himself from his people . Read the rest of the chapter, things were very bad spiritually, so much so that a gulf had opened between God and them.Until they repented of their sinfulness ,the difficulties would remain, nothing would change.I pray continually that God would build His church,I pray for different denominations,but how can it happen? , when many of them,are voting to accept the unacceptable, in morals and doctrine. We are talking about those  who are supposedly Christians, but as was said to the church in Sardis, Revelation 3 v 1, by  God.'I  know your deeds, you have a reputation of being alive,but you are dead'. God may do it again if,yes if, we repent and seek  Him.

                                                     O Wind of God,come bend us , break us,

                                                     Till humbly we confess our need;

                                                     Then in Thy  tenderness  remake us,

                                                     Revive, restore, for this we plead.

                                                              Words , Mrs . B. P. Head.

The waiting game ( Psalm 40 v 1- 4)

 Of course waiting is not  for many a game,how many road accidents have been caused by people not waiting. I try to be patient when waiting in the queue, and I sometimes finding myself asking the question , why does it appear that in a bank queue people appear take longer ,than I would?Then there are  those who keep us waiting,whats keeping them?, where are they?, do they not know I have to be there in a certain time?.The words of a song come to mind,'Lord won't you hurry',the fact is whither its waiting for whatever reason, we do not like even waiting on God.Yet it appears very important with God, that we learn to wait, it appears that God wants us to learn from waiting, in Romans 15 v 5 ( AV) we read,'Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like minded  toward one another'.God  manifests a patience with those who are his,so we are called to act like him,with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. In the  Tokyo Olympics Reece Prescod who was running in a heat of the 100 meters,was disqualified for a false start,he went off before the starting pistol had sounded. There was king in Israel called Saul ,and like that runner he was not prepared to wait,and he was disqualified from being king.It is vital that we wait  for God's timing,let us not run  before Him, if we do,it could have serious consequences. Often our reluctance to wait is borne out of a lack of trust in God.

Such love. ( Ephesians 3 v 14 - 21)

 There is a little children's chorus which goes,

                                               Wide ,wide as the ocean, high as the heavens above,

                                               Deep, deep as the deepest sea is my Saviours love,                                

                                               Though I'm unworthy, still I'm a child of His care.

                                                For his word teaches me ,that His love reaches me

                                                                         EVERYWHERE

The Love of God truly is amazing, profound, mind blowing ,astonishing, with out comparison, unique,beyond belief, marvellous. These are just some of the words that I feel that emphasises the greatness and wonder of God's love. This Love is manifested  through Jesus,towards a world that is in rebellion, to a world undeserving of any such love.This love spelled out the only hope for lost mankind, the only answer for you and me. The symbol of that love is a cross, before it became a symbol of love,it was symbol of cruelty and suffering, but changed into an alter were Jesus the Lamb of God ,would bear our sins.

                                                          Such love,pure as the whitest snow;

                                                          Such love, weeps for the shame I know

                                                          Such love, paying the debt I owe;

                                                           O Jesus, such love.

                                                           Such love, stilling my restlessness;

                                                           Such love, showing me holiness;

                                                           O Jesus, such love.

                                                           Such love,springs from eternity;

                                                           Such love, fountain of life for me;

                                                           O Jesus, such love.

                                                                 Words Graham Kendrick.

 

Warn them. ( Acts 1 v 8 )

  My wife  opened the letter, and she said the dreaded word, we have been fined,she had  failed to pay the toil charge,we thought we were covered.So we phoned up the authorities to plead our case ,and as we did  we realised we hadn't paid the toil. But here is the good news we were told that we would be let of the fine, and all we had to pay was the outstanding toil charge. We asked why?,and were told is was a warning,if we did it again we would have to pay the fine.We would be foolish to ignore that warning, it would not be the end of the world if we didn't,but let us think about the whole idea of heeding warnings.Some are very serious, to ignore them could cost you your very life.  In ancient times when people lived in walled cities, people were employed as watchmen, they would warn the people if an enemy was coming,if he failed in his job, he would be held responsible for the loss of life.In Ezekiel 33 we read how God appointed Ezekiel to be a watchman v 7 - 9,he was to warn the people as regards their sin,and that they need to turn from their sin to God.If Ezekiel refused to do this he would be held accountable.Hear this dear Christian, we live in a sinful world ,judgement day is coming, nothing can stop it,people need to be warned.When was the last time you witnessed about the only one who can save them from God's wrath,, remember  we are  accountable.

                                             Jesus said ,' you will be my witnesses '.

Perish the thought. ( 1 Peter 1 v 6 - 9 )

 It is David Atkinson in his book on Job, writes, ' There are times when we are tempted to give up on God altogether, or believe that he must have given up on us'. I wonder how I would feel if I experienced  the pain that Job  felt,at the loss of his children,possessions,and health?. His wife told him to curse God and die,then his three friends turned up,and they were not a lot of good,Job  called them miserable comforters.  I am reminded of what Jacob said in the midst of his troubles,'Everything is against me', I wonder if you have ever said this,or thought it?.Contrary to what some people say ,that wealth health and prosperity should be our lot. We look at many of the saints in the Bible, and observe the difficulties they had to face,and through out history  so many lovely Christians suffered a great deal. King David suffered a great deal,in one time of trouble he declared,'My  heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen on me. Fear and trembling have beset me; horror has overwhelmed me.' and then he declares,'Oh that I had wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. I would  flee far away and stay in the desert;' Psalm 55 v 4 - 7.He is honest enough to admit to us how he felt, he didn't go around with a forced smile on his face.As we look a David's history we see clearly that God never give up on him,and He will not give up on you or me,never, He has promised us that He will never leave us,and will never forsake us. Hebrews 13 v 5.As for us giving up on God,perish the thought,I heard a preacher say this,'There are no advantages in giving up on God,' none whatsoever,let me assure you ,that on your own it will be harder, take my word for it.

Are you homesick?.( Philippians 1 v 21 - 23 )

 'Since , then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at  the right of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ , who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory'. ( Colossians 3 v 1 - 4 ) I wonder what you think of these words?,or do you think of them ?, often I do long for home.  Richard Baxter who wrote a book called,'The Saints Everlasting Rest', said the following', 'That he noted the difference between his own prayers in times of health in contrast  to sickness , in prosperity versus adversity. Hardship quickened his pace  and heightened his appetite for rest. He felt  a kind of homesickness  for another world and sought God more urgently'. Also writing about afflictions he said,' Afflictions can serve  a most useful purpose in keeping  us from mistaking  this  as our time of rest, If we fall too much in love with the world, afflictions rudely breaks the spell'. May God give us grace to value the things of eternity, more that the things of this world, more than our very lives.

Grace. ( 2 Corinthians 12 v 7 - 10 )

I listened to a Christian couple telling there story, it centered around the death of their young daughter, who ate bread with a sesame seed in it, unfortunately she suffered  from an allergy,the result was she died.As you can imagine this devastated the couple,they had all sorts of feeling, the wife had anger towards her husband,  and deep feelings of guilt.Yes to say the least they were two troubled hurting individuals. but something  wonderful happen. They spoke of going to church,and how that helped,but the wife said something  very   lovely, she spoke of .'The GRACE OF GOD WASHING OVER ME'. that brought a change for the better. The question we could ask , what is the grace of God ?,well it is God extending favour, unmerited favour in relation to salvation, there is nothing any of us can do to save ourselves,so it takes God to extend His divine favour to us,when by faith we trust as Jesus as our Saviour. But it carries on into our Christian life,take the apostle Paul who suffered from a severe physical  affliction.God was not going to heal him,but He told him that His grace would be sufficient for him , what did that mean .?A  dear friend of mine said this,it is''The attributes of God working on the behalf  of the believer,are made available for the believers use''. In other words all God's resources would be available for Paul, and for you and for me .

                                           Through many dangers, toils, and snares

                                           I have already come;

                                           Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,

                                           And grace will lead me home.

                                                Words John Newton

Chaos ( John 1 v 14 )

 What is one the most important things in life?, stop and think about that for a moment, the answer is, 'Truth'.I just heard someone saying something that was very profound, 'The opposite of truth is is not just a lie. The opposite of truth is chaos'.There are many  examples of this in life,think of the suffering experienced by the world by the  like of  Hitler,Stalin, Islam, and countless others.Think of the many individuals who spun lies, con men,and the chaos they have brought to lives. The greatest example of this is when the devil lied  to Eve and Adam, and the chaos that has followed ,and will continue to follow humanity,until Christ comes back again.Islam who deny that Christ never died, and relegate Him to being a mere prophet. The result is they condemn millions and millions of their followers to hell ,the same goes for the cults,and the many who follow Darwinism,and his self creating nonsense. We live in a world were for many, chaos reigns, those who become addicts are often into denial,  the result is their lives are ruled and ruined by their addiction, I once read of woman who let people who paid her, to have sex with her child,it all started  with them believing a lie,that drugs would do them no harm. Let me point you to Jesus, who is the way ,the truth,  and the life, that is what He said,He deceived no one, He always spoke the truth. and to those who trust Him they find Him wholly true.

Blessed or Happy? ( Psalm 32 v 1 -2 )

 In Matthew 5 v 3- 12,we have what is known  as the, 'Beatitudes', there are nine of them, and they all start with the word blessed. Some would change the word blessed to happy,but  most translations put blessed.the word beatitude means ,'Supreme Blessedness'.In other words all those who come under these blessed's are supremely blessed, those who are poor in spirit,those who mourn,those who are meek. and so on. Of course we must learn what these  words mean,for example, 'Poor in spirit',what does that mean?,after all we do not associate poverty with being blessed. Yet our dear Lord says they are blessed,but He is not talking about material poverty,he is speaking of  being poor in spirit,if we are to know that supreme blessedness,it is by in lying prostrate before the cross of Christ,in abject poverty of spirit. We are not claiming any merit what soever,confessing that we are not worthy to come into God presence ,deserving only of God's wrath,that's the meaning of poor in spirit.It does not finish there, for we must ask Jesus to be our Saviour, to forgive our sins,and then we are truly ,blessed.

The cross. ( Philippians 2 v 5- 11)

After Danish England, about the 10th century,monks would go  out to spread the gospel,they would enter a village , and the first thing they would do was set up a wooden cross in the center of the village. The villagers would come out ,and the monks would preach to them. It goes without saying that the cross is central to Christianity, in fact ,if we  remove the cross from Christianity it losses its meaning. C.H. Spurgeon stated,'The cross is the centre of our system', and Campbell Morgan said,'that every living experience of Christianity begins at the cross'.Unlike Islam we do not advocate killing anyone, rather we rejoice in the one who voluntary gave His life on that cross ,that we might live.No one forced Jesus to die on the cross, John 10 v 18,reads,' No one can takes my life from me,I sacrifice it voluntarily'. There is an old saying in the army,'never volunteer', for you never know what you are letting yourself in for. Our dear Saviour knew what he was letting Himself in for,yes in eternity He knew ,for we read that He 'was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.' ( Revelation 13 v 8 ).During his time with his disciples He told them clearly that He was going to die, Matthew 16 v21 ,'Jesus began to explain to his disciples that He would suffer many things at the hands of the elders, and the chief priests and the teachers of the Law, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life'.We will continue this next time.

                                                   On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,

                                                   And on that cross was Jesus.

                                                   

The Message of the Cross. ( 2 )( Isaiah 53)

 I borrow the title for my message, from a book by Derek Tidball,  What is the message of the cross?, let me try an explain it, I am going to use something that Guy Fawkes said. In case you don't know,he an a group of others were involved in what became known as the gun powder plot.England had become a Protestant country,but there were those who wanted to turn the country back to Catholicism.So they planned to blow up the English parliament,and replace it with a Catholic  government.This is what Fawkes had to say,'A desperate disease requires a dangerous remedy', now I want to borrow those words and change one word,'A desperate disease requires a dreadful remedy',Then in your minds eye picture the cross,and Jesus hanging on the cross,we read in Isaiah 52 v 14,' His appearance was beyond that of any human being,and His form marred beyond human likeness'.Also we read that on that cross, yes that dreadful cross,that awful cross,in Isaiah 53 v10,' It  was the Lords will to crush Him,that crushing involved, taking the punishment for sin ,our sin.His death was dreadful, but it was the only remedy for sin, that dreadful disease that afflicts every human being. It means that through that death, that dreadful death, all who trust in Jesus as Saviour will have their  sins  forgiven, that's the message of the cross.

                                                        He took my sins and my sorrows,

                                                        He made them His very own;

                                                        He bore the burden to Calvary

                                                       And suffered and died alone

                                                                 Words C.H. Gabriel.

                                                    

Worry. ( Psalm 23 v 1 )

 Bobby Mc Ferrin wrote  a song that became very popular,here's the first verse,'Don't worry ,Be happy, In every life we have some trouble,When you worry you make it double.Don't worry be  happy'. I remember a song from my childhood written by Ralph Edwards and John Saxton, which had the following words,'Don't worry ,be happy, next time you have the measles or flu. Thank your lucky stars,it's not pneumonia too'Most people worry, yes even us Christians ,yes myself included.Can we come to that place were we will not worry?, I  can't answer that question,in Matthew 10 v19, Jesus says to His disciples,' do not worry',the context is, as regards future persecution ,and when they stand before their persecutors the Holy Spirit will teach them what to say.In Matthew 6 v 25 ff ,He again tells us not to worry about our lives, and what we wear ,and what we eat.again is that possible?. Well consider those two ,do not worry, words  from Jesus,are telling us why we should not worry,and the answer is God, He will help us and provide for us.He reminds us that God is our heavenly Father,and He can be relied upon to help us His children. Here is something that might help us ,written by Willian Hendriksen, 'Whenever worry raises its head, knock it down at once. Jesus forbids not only the habit of worrying, but its very beginning'.But He also goes unto to say,' Seek first His kingdom and his righteousness,and all these things will be given to you. ( Matthew 6 v  33)

Good and evil. ( Proverbs 14 v 34 )

 John Wesley said something that struck a cord with me,he said,'What one generation tolerates, the next generation will embrace'.Those words are so true ,we see it in God's word,the history of Israel is that  of doing just that,God raises up a godly leader,and the people appear to follow him, when he died an ungodly leader is crowned and the people follow in his ungodly footsteps.An example is Josiah a very godly man,who sought to lead the people in God's ways,then another ungodly  king  ruled , Jehoahaz ,and he led the people into ungodliness. The good that the nation had followed was forsaken,as they turned to sinful ways.There was a time in which certain practices in this country were not tolerated,but my,how things have changed, for the  people  gladly embrace yesterday's darker side. We read in Isaiah 5 v 20,'Woe to those who call evil  good ,and good evil',unfortunately in so many nations that is the case. The more  secular a nations becomes,the more  they stray from God .This applies to us as individuals, the more we keep distancing ourselves from God, the more we slip into a mind set, that takes no account of  God, and our lives will reflect that. We think we are throwing off the shackles, when in fact we are slowly, becoming more  in bondage to our misguided mind sets. Here is what Proverbs 14 v 12, says,'There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death'.

                                                Christ says follow me and live.

Eternity. ( 1 John 2 v 15 - 17 )

Philip Yancey writes about a novelist Saul Bellow being asked a question at a press conference , 'Mr Bellow, you are a writer and we are writers. What's the difference between us?'. Bellow replied, ' As  journalists, you are concerned with news of the day. As a novelist, I am concerned with news of eternity'.How few people give any thought as regards eternity, and what that evolves. The moment I became a Christian eternity filled my life, my existence was not just related to this life,there was now an after life. Amy  Carmichael said when she was tempted  she went out looked up into the sky, and think  on eternity. The question is this, what do we think is of most value?,the things of eternity, or the things of time.David Brainerd a missionary to the native Americans, said,'I love to live on the brink of eternity'. The fact is, we  are all living on the brink of eternity,only a breath away from that great beyond. What is beyond this scene of time ?,God, the eternal glories , where all pain will cease for those who know Christ ,for those who don't know Christ , pain will never cease, the choice is yours.

Telling others. ( Acts 1 v 8 )

 Regularly I pray that God will help me to be a witness for Him, now witnessing involves two things,our  lives,our dear Saviour said people are known by their fruits,not their suits,James stresses the fact of showing our faith, that is by our good works, and Peter tells us that we are to live holy and godly lives (MT  7 v 20 / James 2 v 18 / 2 Peter 3 v 11) The other kind of witnessing is by speaking to people about Christ, today I managed to do that, what I find God does  lead me us  to people to speak to. If you pray for God  to help you to witness to people He will,He will lead you  to people, for some people that's very scary, very intimidating, but He will help you, as He helps me. Be wise and humble in your witnessing, not argumentative,sometimes people are over zealous, and that's not good.Speak the truth in love, both go together, truth without  love is a hinderance, love with truth will attract people to Christ. Leave the results with God, pray for those you speak to, that He will honour your witness, many of us are just sowers of the word, it is God who will give the increase.

Unchanging . ( Hebrews 13 v 5 - 8 )

 I read this recently,'I've learnt to work the coffee machine at home. We've only had it four years', I appreciate those words, new phones make me nervous,also new lap tops.I am from a different generation,I remember my early school days,it seems before ball point pens were invented, so we used a pen with a nib on  it,and there was an inkwell on the desk .Those were the days I thought they would never end,but they did ,so many things have changed in my life time,yesterdays treasures are todays cast off's.We watch the news and we observe change on a massive scale,climate change, political change, fashion change,it is change, change, change.Sometimes we make the changes in our lives ,other times change is thrust upon us. That divorce we didn't want, we meant our wedding vows,but it has not worked out, and so we have to adopt, health change comes upon us,and we find ourselves coping, just about with the challenges that brings.Change,change,change, and more change, but here is the good news ,a word from God's word, ' I the Lord do not change'. Malachi 3 v 6. I will leave you with two versus from a hymn by Horatius Bonar.

                                                             My love is often low,

                                                             My joy still ebbs and flows;

                                                             But peace with Him remains the same,

                                                             No change Jehovah knows.

                                                             I change, He changes not;

                                                            The Christ can never die;

                                                            His love, not mine, the resting place;

                                                            His truth,not mine, the tie.

                                                             

                                                              

                                                   

Are you in trouble? ( Psalm 34)

I sent this verse of scripture to someone who is in trouble,' This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles ( Psalm 34 v 6 ). Consider how it starts,'This poor man',who was this poor man?,David the future king of Israel, a man after God's own heart,and he calls himself a poor man. The poor in this world are often despised or ignored, but not by God Isaiah 61 v1, often the very rich have no time or need for God,they are self made people. David did not plead any special privileges ,he did not feel that God owed him anything, he just cried out of his poverty of spirit, nothing else.One of the most evil kings who ever ruled Israel was Manasseh , and God dealt with him severely CP 2 Chronicles 33 v 10 -11 ,but in v 12 we read,'In his distress he sought the favour of the Lord his God and humbled himself before the God of his ancestors, v13 tells us how God forgive him and restored him to kingship in Jerusalem.Whoever you are, whatever pit you are in,whatever troubles you are facing,cry unto God,if you have  sinned, repent and seek forgiveness. Come to God in humility ask God to help you and He will deliver you, he saved David out of all his troubles he can save you.

I can't get no satisfaction. ( John 4 v 13 - 14 )

 Just recently one of the the Rolling  Stones group has died,his name was Charlie Watts, he was ages eighty, he was a great drummer. I never took much interest in the RS  music, but I do remember one of their hits , 'I can't get no satisfaction', it is because they don't try,oh no, one line of the song goes,'Cause I try and  try and try and I try'. So it was not for the want of trying, it means everything was tried but to no avail. Such is the words of a song. Jeffrey Epstein was a billionaire , and yet he wasn't satisfied,so he turned to abusing young girls.The world is full of so many people,who no matter how much they try, can't get any satisfaction, yes they try and try and try.One of my favourite books is ,'The Wind in the Willows', by Kenneth Grahame, the characters in it are wonderful,Ratty,Mole, Badger,and of Toad of Toad Hall. Toad was wealthy ,he was always trying new things,boating, caravanning, cars,nothing appeared to satisfy.There are multitudes in this world and they are running on empty, no satisfaction can they find, but they try and try and try.Shakespeare wrote the following,a Countess asked  a question to a clown,'Tell me the reason why thou wilt marry,?' the Clown answered,'My poor body, madam, requires it; I  am driven by the flesh, and he must needs go that the devil drives'.The fact is ,the flesh will never be satisfied.

                                                     O Christ, in Thee my soul hath found,

                                                     And found in Thee alone,

                                                     The peace, the joy I sought so long,

                                                     The bliss till now unknown.

                                                     Now none but Christ can satisfy,

                                                     None other name for me,

                                                     There's love and life, and lasting joy,

                                                     Lord Jesus found in Thee.

Knowing God. ( 5 ) (Romans 8 v28 )

 'God moves in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform', words by  William Cowper,one of the greatest hymns ever written,and one of my favourites .In Deuteronomy29 v 29, we read.'The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but  those things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.' The word of God clearly teaches that God is sovereign as Tozer puts it,'He rules His creation, He is all knowing,all powerful, and absolutely free'. It raises many questions, which we cannot answer, the why's are many ,and often come out of painful situations. There is not often answers to those why's, we are very limited ,we know so much, but we also know so little.People may ask why did such and such a thing happen,and often we just have to say we don't know.We come back to that statement that the secret things belong unto God, whose ways are past finding out Romans11 v33. The doctrine of the sovereignty must be accepted by faith, a faith and trust in God who loves us, and who will bring all things through to a conclusion.A.W.Pink writes,'Divine sovereignty is not the sovereignty of a tyrannical Despot, but the exercised pleasure of One who is infinitely wise',and I would add loving and kind.The  sovereignty of God  is not there to confuse of perplex us but to reassure us,that  in spite of all the why's,He is in control.

Knowing God. ( 4 ) ( 2 Timothy 2 v 15 )

Abba sang a song called ,'Knowing me - Knowing you', God knows all bout  me, and all about you, but you and  I do not know all about God, and we never will.I commend to you a book written by A.W. Tozer ,called ,'The knowledge of the Holy', It is not a big book , but it has much to teach us about our wonderful God,which we would all benefit from.God has revealed to us so much in His word,but by no means  everything as regards Himself.The old saint Richard Rolle said,' God is of infinite greatness, and then he adds,'more than we can think'. There is much we can know about God,which are known as His divine attributes, we should acquaint  ourselves with these truths.Sad to say many don't, I would that every child of God would to get to know God as revealed in His word. It was William Tyndale who translated God's word into English  said,''I will defy the Pope and all his laws, if God spare my life, I will make a boy that driveth the plough ,know more of the scriptures than thou dost''.His translation would enable people to have an understanding of scripture,we are very fortunate to have the scriptures in our language,but the challenge is,that we may understand God's word.In so doing we will get a greater understanding of God,it was the apostle Paul who wrote to the church in Thessalonica, that he did not want them to be ignorant or uninformed as to the second coming of Christ ( 1 Thess 4 v 13.We will continue this next time.

                                               Ignorance about God is not bliss.

Knowing God. ( 3) ( Romans 8 v 12 - 16 )

 'There is a way back to God from the dark paths of sin ,there is a door that is open and you may go in ,Calvary's cross is were you begin ,when you come as a sinner to Jesus'. The moment you go through that door all is changed,you have entered a whole new relationship with God. No longer are you on the  outside, .you are now in the family God ,He has become your loving heavenly Father. In 1 John  3 v1 we read,'  Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the children of God'. Now you know God ,and it is very personal,in fact there is a word for addressing God in the Bible for Father,it is  Abba, Vine  writes the following,' It is a word used by infants which expresses unreasoning trust', another writer says it has the meaning of obedience,we are privileged and blest to be children of God,that means intimacy, that means we are loved beyond words. Yet it brings  with it obedience, in fact when we address God using the term Abba, we are saying I will obey you.We will continue this next time ,but I leave you two verses of a hymn by  Ann Gilbert.

                                             Great God! and wilt Thou condescend

                                             To be my Father and my Friend?

                                             I, a poor child, and Thou so high,

                                             The Lord of earth and air and sky.

                                             Art Thou my Father?Let me be 

                                             A meek  obedient child to Thee,

                                             And try, in word and deed and thought,

                                             To serve and please Thee as I ought.

Knowing God ( 2) ( Ephesians 2 v 1 - 10 )

 Knowing God it is possible , but many things get in the way, now consider that there  is only one God and one Saviour CP Isaiah   45 v 5,22/ 46 v 9/  John 14 v 6 /Acts 4 v 12. If you are going to know God you need to accept these truths ,for the God of the Bible is not just another one of many, likewise the same could be said of Christ.. Next we must accept that we are sinners (Romans 3 v23 ) everyone of us, no matter how young we are, how old we are, we are sinners, which separates us from knowing God as Father, CP Ephesians 2 v 12. We only become His children when we trust Christ as Saviour, who through His death on the cross,enables us to have our sins forgiven. It is generally very hard for most people to accept the extreme gravity of their sinful condition.Consider the meaning of the words that our Saviour spoke,'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven'. Matthew 5 v 3. It means that we  acknowledge ones spiritual bankruptcy, until we acknowledge that fact, we will never know God. I will continue this next time,but I will leave you with the words of a hymn  by Augustus M. Toplady.

                                                            Nothing in my hand I bring,

                                                            Simply to Thy cross I cling;

                                                            Naked, come to Thee for dress,

                                                            Helpless , look to Thee for grace;

                                                            Foul ,I to the fountain fly;

                                                            Wash me, Saviour, or I die.

Knowing God. ( 1)( Matthew 18 v 1 - 5 )

A  Trappist monk , that is an of silent order of monks wrote the following,''Twenty- one year I have prayed and meditated  with monks of the abbey, hours and hours of the day and the night.  And yet , was God alive for me?.Was he real and living for me. I hope that I do not  shock and scandalize  anybody, really He was  unknown to me''. It was J I. Packer who wrote a book called ,'Knowing God',  yes the good news is that God can be known.,in the most personal way. It is our dear Saviour who declared ,'I solemnly declare to you, unless you turn and become like the little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.' ( Matthew 18 v 4)Knowing God starts with a childlike trust,and continues that way, when we forsake that way, we end up like the disciples .Our Saviour sought to answer the question raised by his disciples as to who is greatest in the Kingdom heaven.  You see as Martyn  Lloyd- Jones wrote ,'That the kingdom of God is unlike everything that belongs to this present evil age'. Our Saviour was cutting across their whole idea as to greatness ,it is obvious that they failed to understand this, CP Luke 22 v 24, they would eventually.We will continue with this next time,but I will leave with a verse from a Dutch poem.

                                               Make me ,O Lord ,a little child again,

                                               So tender frail and small,

                                               In self possessing nothing,and 

                                               In  Thee possessing all.

                                        

Home. ( Hebrews 11 v 13 - 16 )

 I was in the kitchen and  started to sing a song to myself,the words go like this,'There's a land that is fairer than day and by faith we can see it afar; For the father waits over the way, to prepare us a dwelling place there. In the sweet by and by , we shall meet on that beautiful shore. We shall sing on that beautiful shore, the melodious songs of the blest, and our spirits shall sorrow no more, not a sigh for the blessings of rest'. I am reminded of the words of a popular song at one time, 'Home,home,sweet sweet home,There is no place like home'.  The saints of old admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. One writer puts it like this ,'People who live this way make it plain that they are looking for their true home'.This world is not the Christians true home,no we look for a better country,HEAVEN. The things that are seen are temporal, 2 Corinthians 4 v 18,In 1 John 2 v v 17 we read,'And the world is passing away, and the lust of it'.we have something better to look forward to,our heavenly home, that land that is fairer than day,and as we enter that home we may hear God saying ,'welcome home'.I will just add this ,we owe it all to Christ our wonderful Saviour our hope of glory.

                                                  Without Christ there is no glory.

One light . ( Psalm 119 v 130 )

I heard these words as I watched a Hobbit movie ,'One light in the darkness/ alone in the darkness.'  It was Jesus who said that a Christian is to be a light ( Matthew 5 v 14).and that this light should not be hidden. Spiritually the whole world is in darkness, for it it lies under the control of the evil one 1 John 5 v19.that he has blinded their minds,2 Cor 4 v 4. Not only that, they love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil.John 3 v19 .there are no innocents, none whatsoever. You can point out the truth of God to so many people,be they ever so nice,they reject it,how often I have answered my door , to be confronted by you know who, and no matter how much one would point out the truth of scripture it was  to no avail. The words of Rudyard Kipling, describes how I feel,'If you can bear the truth you've spoken ,twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools'.The worlds  darkness is manifested in a million ways,by their actions ,by their words,and by their blind obstinacy. In spite of this we must never forget that that once we were in darkness, but  by God's wonderful grace we have been rescued from the dominion  of darkness . One writer puts it like this , 'Rescued from dark dungeons', Colossians 1 v 13,and brought into the kingdom of His beloved Son'.What are we to do?, we are to shine,by our lives , with our deeds and by our speaking Gods word,, even if we are only one light .

The unexpected. ( Matthew 8 v 23 - 27 )

In Matthew 8 v 23 we read ,' Then he ( Jesus) got into the boat, and his disciples followed him', what was to follow was unexpected,let me say this ,if you follow Jesus, you must be prepared for the unexpected They were on the sea of Galilee  and a violent storm came upon them,it was so violent that it appeared to the disciples that they were going to perish,but in the midst of that storm Jesus slept. The disciples woke him with the words ,'Teacher , don't you care if we drown?', the storms cloud had affected  judgement, whatever storm Jesus brings us into ,He has not stopped caring for us.in 1 Peter 5 v 7 we read 'He cares for us', I know of one minister who was very critical of Jesus , saying that he had put in danger, yes he had brought them  into a storm ,but in essence they were in no danger,they would come through the storm, and they would be rescued from the storm. Jesus did not act straight away,He spoke  then He acted.If you are in a storm,don't panic ,listen to what your Lord has to say to you. Then He acted, and stilled the storm,the disciples were astonished,William Hendriksen comments,'That Jesus was greater by far than they had previously imagined,He exercises control not only over audiences, sickness, and demons, but even  over the the winds and the waves'.