The day of trouble. ( Psalm 77.)

Let us consider some thoughts from Psalm 77,written not by David but a person called Asaph, William Plumer says that this was a family name.Like many of the Psalms it is written at a time  deep distress,it is important that we hear that,and possible one of the reasons the Lord of trial,could be summed up in the words  of Charles Swindoll, ''We lean more on the Lord in difficult times, than times of prosperity''. It was Puritan Thomas Brooks who said,' that God drives us to himself by often scourging us with thorns'. Verse one reads,'I cried unto God with my voice,even unto God with my voice;and He gave ear unto me'. This prayer was both earnest and fervent CP  James 5 v17, and the good thing is, God heard him.  Verse two reads, 'In the day of trouble I sought the Lord', in Psalm 50 v 14- 15 we read, how certain things that can hinder our prayer, CP Matthew 6 v 14-15, unforgiveness towards others,Psalm 66 v 18 ,unrepented sin.and so when go we to God aright we have this wonderful promise,'Call on me in the day of trouble,I will deliver you, and you will honour me.'( Psalm 50 v 15)

                                                        Begone ,unbelief !

                                                        My Saviour is near

                                                        And for my relief

                                                       Will surely appear,

                                                        By prayer let me wrestle

                                                       And He will perform;

                                                       With Christ in the vessel

                                                        I smile at the storm'.

                                                          Words John Newton.

More ( Matthew 4 v 1 - 11 )

' More lovers,more drugs, more flirting,more poker, I wish I'd been naughtier', so read  the article in the magazine of one of our national newspapers.The writer goes unto spell out what that means,the person who wrote this is a female,and is tetraplegic, I suppose one understands why she may have written what she did,as a lady who is wheel chair bound, out of frustration.Her condition came through riding a horse    ,before that she appeared to live a pretty active life. The dear lady does not appear to be a Christian,I am a Christian,it goes without saying I am far from perfect,there are no perfect people,yet it something our dear Saviour says that we should aspire to,to set ones heart on, it should be our goal,( Matthew 5 48 ).The dear lady in her wish list,writes of the thrill of being naughty, she includes in it lust,being sexual deviant which means departing from the usual  or accepted standards, being rude,and taking drugs.She regrets that she did not indulge in these things.She goes unto write ,'Oh yes, I wish I had been more bad',she appears to ignore the misery in those things As long as we are here we will always have wrong thoughts, wrong desires,none of its very nice,none of its good. I continually pray that I may be a better person than I am,my goal is to be like Christ.

                                                                        A prayer.

                                          More purity give me,more strength to overcome;

                                          More freedom from earths stains, more longing for  home;

                                         More fit for the kingdom, more used would I be;

                                         More blessed and holy, more, Saviour, like Thee.

                                                             Words. Philipp Bliss.

                                        

A kiss of grace. ( Ephesians 2 v 8 - 9 )

 Don is one of the leaders of Stonebriar Community Church in Dallas Texas, he told of an incident in his life when he was a boy. One day while watching the cars going by,he had a childish mischievous thought,and he put it into action, He started throwing dirt at the cars as they passed by,but a car passed by,and the window was open, so when Don threw the dirt,it went through  the open window and hit a passenger.Don watched the car till it turned round and came back,so he ran indoors,his mother went to answer the knock on the door,there was the couple and they explained what happened.Don was called and said he was sorry, the couple very graciously,accepted his apology,returned to their car and drove off.When they had gone his mother turned to him and give him a kiss.Don described that kiss, as a' kiss of grace',instead of the deserved punishment, he was shown unmerited favour. So  it is when we come to Christ  and ask Him to be our Saviour, we receive a,' kiss of  grace',in the forgiveness of all our sins.

                                                  ' Amazing grace! how sweet the sound

                                                   That saved a wretched like me!

                                                   I once was lost, but now am found;

                                                   Was blind, but now I see.'

                                                         'John Newton'

                                        

Our deliverer . ( Psalm 18 )

 What we read in 2 Samuel 22 is repeated in Psalm 18 composed by King David after God had delivered him from his enemies ,and from the hand of  Saul,who sought to kill him. In 1Samuel 16,David was anointed by Samuel the prophet to be the new King of Israel, but before that was to come about, David would experience many difficulties,and dangers before that would be fulfilled.When God gives us a  promise often we have to wait ,there are so many examples of that in God's word.The promises are not instant coffee,David 's waiting time would be a time of learning  to depend on God in ways he would never have thought.God had much to teach David and much to treat us.Godly people are not self made people for godliness is a spiritual characteristic,it is the work of the Spirit of God.We are the clay,God the great potter is making us into what we should be,that is like Jesus.In this Psalm he recalls God's wonderful deliverances, and he gives Him the glory. It was Oliver Cromwell in June 14, 1645,who wrote a letter to the Speaker of the House of Commons, after a victory at the battle of Naseby- 'Sir, this is none other than the hand of God; and to Him alone belongs the glory, wherein none are to share with'.Let us all be quick to give glory to God at all times.

                                               'To God be the glory in all things.

                                           

The will of God. ( Romans 12 v 1 - 2 )

 Why did our Saviour come?,the answer is very simple ,to do the will of God, like Him, that is what is required of us.As a Christian of long standing I know that  there is what we could call the revealed will of God. That we are meant to be holy,sometimes that can become confused by what people call worldliness they don't always equate.We are called to be witnesses for Jesus,we are called to do good works as an evidence we are saved.I am seeking to make the point that there are things that we know is the will of  God.But there are times we may not know clearly what the will of God is for our lives.Believing that something is Gods will for us, we then pray to that end, and it doesn't happen. My first wife and I went to Bible college believing that we where called to be missionaries,it never happened. My dear wife died of cancer, I prayed that she would be healed ,it did not happen. I had to learn many lessons in my relationship with God ,it was a long process, still on going.I remembering hearing of a man  who believed God was calling him to serve oversea's, he sold everything,he and his family went to the docks  to get on a boat and that the fare would be paid. it wasn't, he had to go back and sort things out. It is only in  looking back on my life do I see more clearly what was God's will,remember the no, is just as much as important as the yes is,when it comes to the will of God,

                                               Thy precious will, O conq'ring  Saviour,

                                                Doth now embrace and compass me;

                                                All discords hushed, my peace a river,

                                                My soul a prisoned bird set free.

                                                     Words Lelia Nayor Morris

Twins. ( 1 Corinthians 13 )

Two of my grandchildren are twins,they are not identical,but they are close to each other . In the spiritual realm we do not have twins,all Christians are different,and what I mean by that is,Thomas was a doubter,Peter had obvious flaws,and so it goes,but they both loved our Lord .None of us are perfect, we are all at different levels of sanctification. J. C .Ryle writes the following,'Let it be noted that a man may have notable weaknesses and infirmities of Christian character, and yet be a disciple of Christ. We must not foolishly assume that all Christians are exactly like one another in details of character. We must make large allowances, when the main features are right'. We who truly know the Lord are fellow disciples, it is only when we get to heaven,will all the flaws in our personality be removed and be replaced by that perfect likeness of Christ. Until then we must make allowances for our fellow Christians,as they must with us.

Old age. ( Romans 8 v 38 - 39 )

 The psalms cover many aspects of life the seventy first Psalm, has mention old age, in fact it has been called,'The prayer of the aged believer'. It has no title but it has the ring of David with it , and as usual he writes of those who he classes as evil and cruel. Spurgeon  puts it like this,' the aged saint pleads against his foes'. In v 18 he prays ,'Even when I am old and Grey, do not  forsake me , my God', Of course God never forsakes us even in old age,John Newton wrote a hymn which begins with the words,'Begone unbelief', and the third verse reads,

                                                        'His love in time past

                                                         Forbids me to think

                                                         He'll leave me at last

                                                         In trouble to sink;

                                                         Each sweet Ebenezer

                                                         I have in review

                                                         Confirms His good pleasure

                                                         To help me quite through.

Yes the wonderful good news is this, God who is with us when we are young ,strong ,and healthy, will love us and be with us when we are old frail and weak. For He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us.( Hebrew 13 v 5)

You shall not. (Exodus 20 v 17)

 Many years ago things were tough financially,I was helping in a Christian bookshop,a customer was paying for what he had bought,he opened his wallet and I saw a lot of money.Well I thought if only he would  reach into his wallet and give me some, but alas he didn't, my coveting didn't work. Yes coveting desiring what someone else has, is  just that,I had sinned.Take sport most of its built on coveting, fans coveting,clubs coveting other clubs players.I don't think we realise  that coveting is a sin, committing adultery starts with a covetous thought,you desire that man,that  woman,even though they belong to another.A certain King called Ahab coveted land , who refused his request to buy it, eventually he did get that piece of land,but only after the kings wicked wife contrived to have the man murdered .( 1 Kings 21). A man called Achan coveted that which God  forbid, he yielded to that desire, and God was not pleased,and he paid with his life.(Joshua 7)Move back to mans beginnings , a woman was tempted ,and as she looked at a certain thing she coveted  it,and yielded, and took that which God forbid,she and her husband suffered,and all of humanity,and all of creation suffered. ( Genesis 3 ) .Its as serious as that, coveting  is a sin, we must take this very serious, and take heed because sin always has consequences.

Be ready ( Hebrews 3 v 15 )

I read this recently ,'Many years ago,a newspaper reported as regards a tragic disaster in one of our British coal mines.Many miners perished, and in one pocket the searches came across four or five miners all huddled together in death. But before they died, they scratched on a board,We are all trusting in Christ, and all added their names. I wonder if you were one of those miners,could you have added your name?One afternoon a person who was a Christian received a phone call from a friend called Jack,he said,''I've  just been  diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and I'm not ready''.The good thing about this was he came to know Christ as his Saviour and of course he was ready,the question is are you ready?

                                              The most important thing is, when you come to die,

                                                                      ' BE READY'.

Not half hearted. ( Proverbs 3 v 5- 6 }

I trusted you he cried out,to one he thought was his friend,one he felt that he could trust with his life,instead he betrayed him,let him down,and he found himself saying 'I will never trust anyone again'.Yes trust is important,and when it is broken it can have serious consequences. President Putin said he was not going to invade Ukraine, he lied, it will be hard to trust him,for many even among his own people  he cannot be trusted.There are two verses in the bible in Proverbs 3 v 5-6,you may know them by heart,you may be familiar with them,like hymns you know,and when you sing those hymns you do it without thinking. Here are the words of those two scriptures,' Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths'.The verses start with that simple word trust,as Christians we know the importance of that word ,but we have to put it into practice, wars and rumors of wars ,trust the Lord, the future all unknown trust the Lord,you have just lost your job,trust the Lord, money problems ,trust the Lord,whatever difficulties we may be facing what should we do?, trust in the Lord,how much should we trust Him, the answer is, this with all our hearts not half hearted, with all our hearts, remember He can be trusted.

The times they are a changing. ( 2 Timothy 4 v 9 - 18 )

 Suddenly things have changed, there we were, getting on with our lives and covid struck ,then when we seem to be coming out of that, war began in Ukraine,the times they are a changing.One lesson we should never forget is that we live in a changing world, great change comes into all our lives  when disasters strikes,and when death comes,or a multitude of  of other things happen. Change comes at different times slowly or suddenly,they may be for the good,  or they may be for the bad,and they can  leave us devastated. Often we do not understand why certain things happen, but they do affect us and can leave us in a state of anxiety,many people are very anxious  at this time,even fearful,and we can understand this. What is the answer?,what can we do?,Charles Albert Tindley wrote many gospel hymns,the first line of one goes,' The world is one great battlefield',it sure is ,I recently heard that wonderful singer Tennessee Ernie Ford singing one his songs, I hope it will be a blessing to you.

                                                When the storms of life are raging/ Stand by me,

                                                When the storms of life are raging/ Sand by me

                                                When the world is tossing me,like a ship upon the seas,

                                                 Thou who rulest  wind and water,/Stand by me.

                                                 In the midst of tribulation/ Stand by me

                                                 In the midst of tribulation /Stand by me.

                                                 When the hosts of hell assail,and my strength begins to fail,

                                                  Thou who never lost a battle/ Stand by me.

God is. ( Psalm 62 )

 Psalm 62 ends by stressing two important things ( 1) Power belongs to God. (2 ) God is merciful. As regards the first part ,power belonging unto God,Barnes writes that the word  power ,has with it a sense of strength,he declares ,'The idea is, that the strength that man needs - the ability to defend and to save him- is to be found in God. All else may fail, but the power of God will not fail.The result of this, therefore should  lead us to put our trust in God alone. ' As regards God being merciful, he write,'Man needs the assurance that God is a benevolent Being, as really as that he is a powerful Being,' As regards God being merciful it also brings with it ,His unfailing love,' As regards mercy ,it is not something we deserve,it is something we receive freely.When the sinner comes to God, he is not coming to a bargaining table, he is coming as  one who needs to be saved.and out of a heart of love God responds by showing mercy ,and forgiving their sins.

                                                    There's a wideness in God's mercy

                                                     Like the wideness of the sea;

                                                     There's a kindness in His justice

                                                     Which is more than liberty.

                                                      For the love of  God is broader

                                                      Than the measures of man's mind;

                                                      And the heart of the Eternal

                                                       Is most wonderfully kind.

                                                              F.W. Faber

                                                      

Do you need rest? ( Psalm 62 )

 I would like to share a few thoughts from Psalm 62, a Psalm by David,he had so much to contend with in his life, serious things,and the Psalm reflects this. In this Psalm he speaks of those who are tying  to pull him down, he describes them as liars,outwardly they give the impression that they are for David,but inwardly they hate him.In verse 9 he reminds us that the wicked will soon be gone,and in v10 for us not to be like them.The Psalm starts with these words ,'Truly my soul finds rest in God', consider the world we live in,Isaiah 57 v 20,'The wicked are like the tossing sea which cannot rest',surly these words sum up this world ,a world that does not know where its going,and were to find peace. I wonder would that describe you?,well there is an answer,listen to the words of Jesus.''Come to Me, all you are weary and burdened,and I will give you rest''.He follows that up in v5 ''Yes my soul finds rest in God;my hope comes from God''.We  will look at this Psalm next time,I will leave you with a verse of a hymn by Charles Wesley.

                                                      'I rest in Thine almighty power;

                                                      The name of Jesus is a tower

                                                      That hides my life above;

                                                      Thou canst,Thou wilt, my helper be;

                                                       My confidence is all in Thee,

                                                       The faithful God of love.

                                                   

                                               

The greatest good. ( Acts 2 v 22 - 24 )

 I can assure you the question why?, in relation to so many things,is something  so many of us  ask, why the war in Ukraine?,why has  President Putin declared war on this country.? One reason is very simple he believes that they are part of Russia and have no right to call themselves a country.It is obvious he feels this very strongly,so strong that he is prepared by force  to bring them back to were ( as he see's it) they belong as part of Russia. We live in a fallen world,were the aspirations of people override everything else, is the taken of Ukraine by military force worth more than the terrible suffering inflicted on the population?.  Machiavellian is a belief that many rulers go by, basically it means for the greater good,Hitler believed that,that what he was doing was for the greater good,possible Putin  believes that .So it is, that so many evil's are carried out with that in mind,millions and millions of people died under Stalin ,he believed it was for the greater good,evil deeds can never be justified on the grounds of the greater good,never. The people who crucified our Saviour possible believed it was for the greater good, but in fact it was the greatest evil, ever perpetrated. Yet that death of Jesus our Saviour, carried out by evil men has brought the greatest good to mankind, a way back to God from the dark paths of sin.

I have a dream. ( Galatians 3 v 26 - 29 )

In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr, made a wonderful speech,before he got to the I got a dream,  he made various references to US history.but at  that point Mahalia  Jackson a famous Gospel singer shouted from the crowd,'Tell them about the dream',and so he did,as he launched into that wonderful speech,'I have a dream,'that dream was that black and white would live in harmony, accepting each other,free from prejudice, hatred and ignorance.In this fallen sinful world there will always be  some degree of prejudice,hatred , and ignorance.Of course we should not accept such  attitudes,and we should try to make it a better world free from such things. Of all places that these things should not exist is in the church of Christ, and yet often that has not been so,the church instead of representing the Kingdom of God it  identified with the kingdoms of this world.The church that was supposed to reflect Christ,but instead reflected an antichrist, a Christ that was not in the Bible. All politics is flawed and can never bring in a perfect society,yes politics is valid, and those involved in politics should try to make a difference.I have a dream, it goes beyond this world , to a new heaven and a new earth,where prejudice,hatred and ignorance will not exist.All those who have trusted  Jesus from every tribe,language, people and nation, will dwell in perfect harmony.

                                                'What a day,what day that will be,

                                                 come and join me'.

I will trust. ( Psalm 56 )

 Psalm 56  was written by David,it was written when David had fled from King Saul who wanted to kill him, and he ended up in Gath in the land of the Philistines. Why he ended up there I do not know,for they were Israel's enemies,David had come to prominence by defeating their champion Goliath, now here he was seeking refuge in their land. (1 Samuel 21 v 10 ff) And when the servants of the king of Gath  reminded him that David was the champion of Israel, David became very fearful,for his life. Fear is a common thing for all of us, at this time many are afraid of the war that's going on,many are praying,yes unbelievers are praying,yes they are fearful.David was a man like you and I ,and as Spurgeon writes , 'he feared, but that fear did not fill the whole area of his mind, for he adds, '' I will trust in Thee''.in fact three times in this Psalm, he mentions,that he is trusting in God.Albert Barnes writing on Davids declaration of his trust in God, that trust  is.

                                       'A good maxim with which to go into a world of danger,

                                       A good maxim to go to sea with;

                                       A good maxim in a storm;

                                       A good maxim when in danger on the land;

                                       A good maxim when we are sick;

                                       A good maxim when we think of death and judgement'

Trials. ( Hebrews 12 v 7 - 13 )

 I read the following,it is part of a prayer ,''Nothing can befall me without His permission; appointment and administration'. A telling example of that is to be found in the book of Job,God permitted Satan to afflict him, which included the the death of  his ten children, the loss of all his possessions ,and to be afflicted with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.Thankfully most us will not experience such severe suffering ,it is possible,but we will experience a degree of trials in life.But let us take note that God who permits our suffering can also deliver us from our suffering.we read that the Lord restored his possessions and granted unto him more children.Job 42 v 12- 17.God does not afflict His children willingly, but if He does He has His reasons, Job was not told why God afflicted him.That is where as Brennan Manning puts it, we need to exercise ruthless trust,it will not be easy, true ,but what is the alternative, anger, bitterness,and withdrawal?, who wants that?. Right at the beginning of his suffering  Job uttered these words, '''Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?,'' he also did not charge God with wrongdoing. Job 2 v 10/1v22. Here is something else he said , I will not comment on it.

                                                                   Job 23 v 10

                                                     But He knows the way I take;

                                                     when He has tested me,

                                                     I shall come forth as pure gold.

                                                     

My concerns. ( 1 Peter 5 v 7 )

 We all have concerns of one sort or another,some we seek to address, others we may not face up to ,which does not help,it may be a good idea to get help in resolving them. But then there are concerns that are beyond us, that we cannot do anything about, be they wars,relationships,and so on,and yet we worry about them. So the question is what should we do?.I read these words written by one of the Puritans,it was part of a prayer,  it requests help as to  our concerns,' Help me to leave my concerns in your hands'. Such very wise words, words that are instructive, helpful, and challenging. First it is instructive,it is telling us  what we can do,are we willing to follow these instructions?.Next they are helpful instructions,they are telling us where help can be found,like the Psalmist who prayed,' 'From where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth'(Psalm 121 v 1- 2 ).Then these words are challenging us to trust God with our concerns, 'Help me to leave my concerns in your hands'. The concerns are beyond us we have tried everyway to solve them,to no avail,leave them with God , trust Him to undertake.

                                                       'All your anxiety, all your care,

                                                        Bring to the mercy seat,leave it there,

                                                        Never a burden He cannot Bear,

                                                         Never a friend like Jesus'.

                                                              Words Edward H. Joy.

God's choice. ( Amos 7 v 12 - 15 )

 I have two friends and for a long time they have  suffered from severe mental illness,but they are both very spiritual men. We must be careful when we think that because a person has a disability that they are not spiritual.The word of God says that God chooses the poor of this world, James 2 v 5,the foolish, weak and lowly 1Corinthians 1 v27 - 28. It is Paul who tells us that the Jews demand signs ,it is interesting that many Christians appear to demand signs. He  goes on to  to say that the Greeks looked for wisdom,they were noted for their great philosophers. In reply to these two groups Paul declares ,'but we preach Christ crucified',which to them was foolishness,that Christ in fact was the power and wisdom of God. 1 Cor 1v 22-25. When it came to choosing a new King, Samuel was told not to look at the outward appearance,for God looks beyond that,He looked on the heart,and  that man would be  a young man, who had a heart for God, his name was David. 1 Samuel 13 v 14/ 16 v7/ . As we read the Bible it is surprising whom God chooses,As I write, my mind turns to a person called Gladys May Aylward, born of poor Christian parents. She had a burden for China,so she applied to a mission to go there and was turned down,because they said she was two old, and they felt she would not be able to learn the language,how wrong they were.Gladys did go to China she became known as the 'small women' she was only 4foot 10 inches,yes she was small, but she accomplished great things for God.

Learning. ( Psalm 119 v 105)

I remember a way back when I was in primary school the teacher telling the class,that her role was to teach and our role was to learn. I did learn much at school ,to read ,write,and basic maths ,those three  subjects are very important,without them my life would have been poorer.I am indebted to the teachers who taught me, and I praise God that he enabled me to have those tools. Of course teaching doesn't stop when one leaves school,life experiences teach us many things. When one becomes a Christian there are things that you have to unlearn, and things you have to learn.Again looking back at my school days there was a point when I didn't want to be there,as result I really did not learn very much after that.But when I came back to the Lord 57 yrs ago I wanted to learn Gods word, and this has remained with me all my Christian life,I want to grow in knowledge of God's word and to teach people out of that knowledge, to help them on their ongoing Christian life.Learning God's word is vital, to understand the truths in it, and most important putting what we learn into practice.One hopes in all this we glorify the Lord,and become more like Him.

Honesty. ( 2 Corinthians 12 v 1 - 10)

 A young lady was speaking at the church I attend ,and I was blessed, and the thing that blessed  me was her honesty,and when it comes to life, honesty is the best policy.For most of her life she suffered from anxiety, surly a Christian should not have such a condition.The sad thing about that statement is,it is judgemental and unloving,and it challenges the falseness of people who teach or believe this. It shows a limited understanding  of  Gods word and is also in denial to the realities within the lives of many Christians, William Cowper,Charles Spurgeon, John Calvin, Fanny Crosby,Joni  Eareckson, Paul the apostle. I know people who suffer as a result of childhood abuse,and so I could  go on.We often say there are no perfect churches,we include ourselves in that,yet we judge people who are not perfect in mental or physical health. There are those who believe God will heal everybody,and tell those who are not healed they do not have faith ,and so they  load that person with guilt, pain.and of being inferior..I may touch on this next time ,I will just say this the only time when any of us will be perfect in everyway, will be in Heaven,until them there are many difficulties we will all have to cope with, by Gods grace.I will leave you a verse from the hymn ,'Amazing  Grace', written by John Newton.

                                                    ' Through many dangers,toils, and snares,

                                                      I have already come;

                                                      Tis grace has brought me safe thus far

                                                      And grace will lead me home'

They matter to Him. ( Zechariah 2 v 8 )

 In  Nigeria's Middle bank the Christian communities have suffered greatly from attacks by Fulani Islamist  militias, a Christian Pastor said,''It is as if the lives of Christians no longer matters''.It is very sad to read that,their lives may not matter to those who are attacking them ,but  their lives do matter to God and the Christian family. We read in Psalm 116 v 15,'Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints'. What makes them precious?,they are His children, I have known parents who have lost children ,it is heartbreaking, for ones children are  precious to them. So it is with God's children, they are very precious to Him.They are precious to Him because they cost Him the death of  His Son Jesus.Peter in his epistle writes these beautiful words, For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And  the ransom He paid was not mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God'.(1 Pet 1 v 18 -19 )They are precious to Him, because He loves them,( Romans 5 v 5),and in Romans 8 v 37- 39, we are told that nothing can separate them from that love ,not even death.

I shall see Him. ( Revelation 1 v 7 )

 In Psalm 17 v 15 we read,'As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness, I shall be satisfied when I awake in your likeness'.This is King David  speaking, in contrast to the world and their temporary satisfactions, he looks to his eternal state. I think the words of a one time popular song sums it up, regards the here and now,'I can't get no satisfaction'.It appears to me that the world is also crying out for more,and more,and it is never enough.And even if they are satisfied it will not last, for no relationship on earth is permanent it will come to and end. It is so easy for us as Christians to forget that the things that are seen are temporal. King David didn't, nor should we.Martin Luther gave away money that people had given him,so that he would not loose sight of future glory. Verse 17 begins,'As for me ,I will see your face in righteousness'. Peter reminds us as regards Jesus whom we love,we have never seen Him  1Peter 1 v 8, but one day that will all change ,we will see Jesus, yes one day. Not on a cross but on a throne, the veil of time will be lifted,and our eyes will see the great King in His beauty.

                                               Oh the soul thrilling rapture,

                                               When I view His blessed face,

                                                And the lustre of His kindly

                                                beaming eye;

                                                How my full heart will praise Him

                                                for the  mercy, love,and grace,

                                                That prepared for me a mansion in the sky.

                                                            Words W.W.Harris.

No difference. ( 1 Peter 2 v 9 -10 )

Think of all the great people in the Bible, father Abraham, Moses,David,Daniel, and a host more,and people who are not in Bible ,missionaries,preachers, social reformers, glorious men and women of God.One can also think of many martyrs dear people who suffered so much  for Christ ,all these people were and are  precious to God. Then there's you and me,we are not of their stature,could be ,we will never do any great deeds,we will just get on with our lives.It was Abraham Lincoln who  said that God loved the ordinary people for He made so many of them.So let me say to you ordinary people I include myself, that God loves us just as much as He loves those people I have mentioned,and we are just as precious to Him as they are.

When they are gone ,they are gone. (Psalm 37)

 I would encourage you to read Psalm 37 ,it will bless you,encourage you, and challenge you, it opens with these words ,'Do not fret because of those who are evil, or be envious of those who do wrong;for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away'. In many places the sad fact is ,that evil people appear to prosper.H Lockyer comments on this Psalm are very helpful,here is what he says about these verses,'The word fret means ,'''burn not thyself with anger or grief''. To fret is to have heartburn,which alas! is all to common among us, as we see law-breakers riding in limousines,and obedient subjects walking in the mire. Queen Elizabeth envied the milkmaid when she was in prison; but if she had known what a glorious reign she would have had afterwards for 44years,she would not have envied her.Why envy the wicked when the candle flickers into everlasting darkness?.' The ,'Third Reich',which Hitler said would last for a 1000 years lasted 11yrs,that most evil of evil people, and those evil people who followed  him,are gone , remember evil doer's day will come,and they will be no more,

More. ( Philippians 1 v 21 )

 I wonder do you ever desire a deeper walk with God ?,what would it mean for us to have a deeper walk with God. I am sure it means hungering and thirsting after righteousness , if we do them the Word of God  says we will be filled ( Matthew 5 v 6). I suppose one could say greater trust,as Brennan Manning wrote,'A trust grounded  in faith and hope,He goes unto to write,'I want a relationship with the Abba of Jesus, who is infinitely compassionate with my brokenness and at the same time an awesome, incomprehensible, and unwieldy Mystery'.   The world make gods after their own image,in other words they become the creator,and if they create an idol out of stone,and if one is made out of stone,it will  have a heart of stone.Jesus our wonderful Saviour, who was God manifest in the flesh,had a heart of compassion,a God who gives us hope when there is no hope ,and gives us  strength in our weaknesses. .Let us remember God is faithful, God can be trusted,and God is love,and what He wants from you and me,is that we reflect Him, and to be faithful ,trusting, and loving.

                                                    'More of Thy presence ,Lord,impart,

                                                     More of Thine image let me bear;

                                                     Erect Thy throne within my heart,

                                                     And reign without a rival there'.

                                                          Words John Newton.

Beyond description.( Revelation 5 v 11-14 )

 I wonder am I the only one that who feels lost for words,as regards God and His glory,of course I'm not,I am sure many people feel that,there is a modern song that expresses  this thought,written by Mark Altrogge ,here are the words.

                                               You are beautiful beyond description,

                                               Too marvellous for words,

                                               Too wonderful for comprehension,

                                               Like nothing ever seen or heard,

                                               Who can grasp Your infinite wisdom?

                                              Who can fathom the depths of your love?

                                               You are beautiful beyond description,

                                               Majesty , enthroned above.

                                               And I stand, I stand in awe of You.

                                               I stand ,I stand in awe of you,

                                               Holy God, to whom all praise is due,

                                               I stand in awe of you. 

                                               

Mine. ( Galatians 2 v 20.)

Herbert Lockyer, SR.  Wrote the following,'Martin Luther once said that,''there is great divinity in pronouns''. It is assuring to believe that Jesus came as the Saviour of the world, but this avails nothing to me unless mine is the pronoun of a personal salvation,''Behold God is my Salvation''.I I have witnessed to many people,and often they say to me  ,I'm a ,and then thy go and say a certain denomination they belong to .Or as a young lady said to me, her grandfather was a minister, that's all   very well,but that does not take away from the fact that we need to personally trust Jesus to be our  Saviour. The apostle Paul wrote,' I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself  for me'.  (Galatians 2 v 20)

                                                  Dear Saviour, Thou art mine,

                                                  How sweet the thought to me!

                                                  Let me repeat  Thy name,

                                                  And lift my heart to Thee.

                                                  Mine! mine! mine!

                                                  I know that Thou art mine;

                                                  Saviour, dear Saviour,

                                                   I know Thou art mine.

                                                      Words Anna Hudson.

                                                  

A searching question. ( 1 Peter 5 v 7 )

I mentioned recently about a storm of  one's  own making,now lets consider another storm,we read about it in Mark 4 v 35 - 41,Jesus had been ministering to the multitudes,when He had finished, He told the disciple,to get into a boat to go to the other side .Easy  peasy, plain sailing,he would be with them, nothing could  go wrong..I wonder is that what you thing?.Well I am afraid you are going to be disappointed, for a big storm that threatened to swamp the boat, and to the disciples it looked like they where going to drown and what made it worse,Jesus was asleep,so they go to Him in their panic,and wake Him up. and say to Him,''Teacher, don't you care that we are going to drown?.Im sure that many people think like that when they are in the storms of life ,do you?.Today I listened to a  recording of a 102 yr old man ,called George Bev Shea,and a much younger man singing  a lovely old song,and it touched my heart,I think it answers the question,does Jesus care when we are in the storms of life,it was written by Frank  E. Graeff.

                                                     Does Jesus care when my heart is pained

                                                     Too deeply for mirth or song?

                                                     As the burdens press, and the cares distress,

                                                     And the way grows weary and long?

                                                     Does Jesus care when my way is dark

                                                     With a nameless dread and fear?

                                                     As the daylight fades into deep night shades

                                                     Does He care enough to be near?

                                                     Oh yes He cares, I know He cares

                                                     His heart is touched with my grief;

                                                    When the days are weary, and the long nights dreary,

                                                     I know my Saviour cares.

A stubborn brute ( Romans 2 v 5 )

 There are people who get fixed ideas ,like the earths flat,or a person in the cults,no matter what one says to them they will not change. I heard of a famous atheist who said ,'even if one could prove there is a God, he would not believe. ' Consider how tremendous things our Saviour did,and the wonderful words he spoke ,but all to no avail,they just would not believe. There is a saying that goes',Convince a man against his will, and he remains of that opinion still'. This stubbornness comes down to the will, that's the fortress of men and women's hearts,their wills, that are captivated,by their fallen nature, and Satan's power..The sad thing is they will refuse to believe in Jesus. It reminds me of an Irish song, sung by Val Doonican, about a donkey ,that was entered for the half mile race,but it refused to move,They attacked it, shoved it, smacked it,but it would not move one bit,as the song says, they may as well have tried to push the town hall down,all the donkey did was eye them, and openly defied them.In the end they all carried the stubborn brute ,and believe it or not it won the half mile race. Its an amusing little song, that's all it is, but the fact is that mankind's stubbornness is no joke and has serious consequences, We read in Genesis 6 v 3,   God's Spirit will not always strive with man,and shortly after this we read God saying, ''I will destroy man''. v7.

                                                ' Come to the Saviour make no delay'

What is an Evangelical? ( Ephesians 2 v 8- 10 )

 An article on the internet points out five Solas (alone) Scripture alone/Grace alone/Christ alone/ Faith alone/ To the glory of God alone.We have looked at scripture last  time,and that everything written ,taught, and preached by Godly people ,must be based on scripture. Now faith is not a work it is a gift,it is the instrument by which through the grace of God we are saved ( Ephesians 2 v 8) .The term grace  teaches  us  clearly that our works have no part in saving us,the Roman Catholic Church disagrees with that, and placed a curse on  those who ruled out works.We look at the difficulties that the early church had from those who believed that faith in Christ was not enough to save us ,in Galatians 2 v 11, we have the  apostle Paul challenging those who were trying to add things unto the Gospel.If we are saying that there must be a plus on the means of Salvation,we nullify the finished  work of Christ.As one has said,'You can't earn grace, otherwise its not grace, not a gift'.Do works play any part in our salvation? the simple answer is no Revelation 21 v 6/ Romans 4 v1 - 6./Isaiah 55 v 1- 2. The question you may ask,where does works fit in?,after all James appears to say that we are saved by faith and works CP James 2 v 14 - 26, is he contradicting what the apostle Paul teaches, no he is not ,Paul is teaching from a judicial  point of view,while James is writing from an evidential point of view.James 2 v 18 declares,'Show me your faith'.I know of many people who are involved in so many ways ,doing good works, but none of them are doing them ,to be saved,good works should come naturally to every Christian.