To believe or not to believe.( Philippians 2 v 5 - 11)

 I just listened to a program about Arianism ,which many believed,it is named after  Arius who advocated a belief that opposed the doctrine of the Trinity. This was a belief that Christ was less than God, lets face it many people find this doctrine strange,and even not rationale .There are many things that people reject  as regards belief,that does not make the thing rejected ,wrong. Now consider who the early followers were ,they were Jews,who in no way would have tolerated anything,or anyone who undermined their scriptures, meaning what we call the Old Testament. In the OT  we have some pointers to the deity of Christ, Genesis 1 v26, Isaiah 9 v 6-7, Psalm 45 v6 -7/ 110 v1 ( CP Mt,22 v 41 -45) .So we go into the NT which I believe shows clearly that Christ was truly God, and truly man. The early disciples who followed Jesus,must have  asked who was this Jesus,?yes the Messiah, but was that all, but when He stilled the storm (Mark 4 v 35 - 45),they were terrified and did ask each other,'Who is this? Even the wind and waves obey Him.'I wonder is that what you are saying?,again they were men of the word of God, they would have died for the truth.It is John the beloved disciple who emphasises the deity of Christ, John 20 v 31. The very first verse in his gospel tells us,'In the beginning was the word , and the word was with God, and the word was God', v14 reads,'The word became flesh and made His dwelling among us'.There are many other passages in the NT that clearly declare Jesus to be God the Son.The program I listened to did not really deal with the Christ of the bible, and I feel in doing this,they were   following in the footsteps of Arius.

Such love. ( 1 John 4 v 19 )

 Let us consider the wonderful historical event about our Saviours coming into this world,and  let us remember that He existed as God before He was born.  John 1 v1. In 2 Corinthians 8 v 9,'For  you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich'. It is E.K.Simpson who writes,' Jesus takes on utter poverty that we might become unutterably rich. Here then is One who for our sakes gave up more than any other being  ever possessed, nay yielded Himself up body and soul to inexpressible pangs as our Hostage.'. The question is ,what motivated Him to do such a thing?,love,the hymn writer ,declared,'Love came down at Christmas',another wrote that it was not the nails that kept Him on the cross, no it was His love. E.K.Simpson declares,'Love is best gauged by  sacrifice'.If we want to see love in its totality,look at that person hanging on that cross,as E.K.Simpson puts it,''the offended died to set the offenders free'' But not only set us free,but as John the apostle wrote,'Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called ,children of God'.( 1 John 3 v1 )

                                                    'Such love springs from eternity;

                                                     such love, streaming through history;

                                                     such love, fountain of life to me;

                                                      O Jesus,such love'

                                                              Words Graham Kendrick.

Hope ( 2 Peter 3 v 10 - 13 )

 Sometimes its hard to be an optimist .everything is rises in price,war in Ukraine,Putin the great,people being  murdered, in so many places in the world,the reluctance of the American government  to bring effective gun laws in. Yes I could on ,but I won't, the fact is we live in a broken world, we are a Humpty Dumpty world, fallen, broken .Is this world going to get better?, I'm afraid not, in  Matthew  24 v 4 we have what Jesus said,'Don't let anyone  mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming ,'I am the Messiah'. They will deceive many . And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don't panic. read the rest of what our Lord had to say in that chapter, it is awesome,but Jesus tells us not to panic,he stresses the importance of not giving up v13, And here is the task that church has in the midst of all this,' The gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations,and then comes the end' What people need to hear is the good news of the gospel, that Jesus saves, he is the only hope for mankind,So let us set our minds on things that are above, not on things on the earth,...........for when Christ who is our life appears, we also will appear with Him in Glory ( Colossians 3 v 2 )

                                                         'Christ is our only hope'

Wine and Vinegar.( Ecclesiastes 7 v 8 )

It is John Piper who wrote a book called ' A Sweet and Bitter Providence', it is a based upon the book of Ruth. There are two main women in this book, Naomi , and Ruth,and both experienced what the Puritan Richard Baxter calls,'wine and vinegar', in the same cup. Naomi lost her husband ,and sons,and Ruth lost her husband. The book starts by telling us how Elimelek ,Naomi's husband and their two sons, left Israel because of Famine,and they went to the land of Moab. There the two sons married Moabite women,one called Orpah and Ruth, during the next ten years the three men died. A bitter providence.That meant that the three women were left in dire straits,no social security in those days,so it was a difficult time, but then a light of hope shone into the situation. Naomi heard encouraging news,that God in his mercy had come to the aid of his people providing them with food, so here we have a sweet providence. So Naomi told her two daughters- in - laws that she was going to return home.Naomi was a very understanding woman,she told them it would be better if they stayed in their own land. Orpah did stay in the land of Moab, but dear Ruth refused to leave her mother -in -law.This would became a very sweet providence, for as you read the whole story you would discover, that God would bring blessing upon Naomi, Israel, and the world,which is and was a very sweet providence. ( 4 v  13 - 22)

War on truth. ( John 14 v 6 )

 Is truth important?, are we Christians  not just being narrow minded?are we not just being divisive?,it depends on your view point,it was Pilate who  said ,'what is truth?'. We look at the world, so many opinions, so many religions,confusion reigns,and like Pilate we may ask the question the same question as Pilate.There is a book  called,  'Who moved the stone', written by man called,Frank Morrison. When he set out to write the book he was not a Christian, but he was intrigued by the person of  Christ, and the last days of his life, let us bear in that Christ was an historical person,his life and death are historical facts.  Frank believed that, but he wanted to rid His life of the seemingly miraculous accounts associated with his life and death.But as he wrote his book the evidence convinced him of those very things ,he was sceptical of. Yes Christ had died on the cross but also on the third day, he rose from the dead.After He rose from the dead  he was seen by over 500 people,and we have personal accounts of  some of the people he met with .Frank Morrison became a Christian, convinced by evidence of his life, death and resurrection. They were historical facts,but they were more than that,they were about a person who was equal with God coming from heaven,for the sole purpose,of dying on cross. He was sinless, but on the cross He died that we can have our sins forgiven,it also meant He would bear the punishment for our sins,that is very important.So Jesus accomplished a perfect salvation, for all those who trust Him to be their Saviour, that is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

                                                Read Isaiah 52 v13-15/ 53v 1 -12.

Its the nature. ( 1 Timothy 1 v 12 - 17.)

 In a local residential place that is near were I live 10 elderly people have contacted covid , one of the reasons this has happened, they have stopped taking the danger serious. Very few of them wear a mask,and they have mixed freely with crowds of people, one hopes that all of them will survive.I want to broaden this out and see what spiritual lessons we can learn from this. It appears that we must always be on our guard against sin,and I would add to this Satan. Sin nor Satan has not gone away, when the head of the UN visited Ukraine,he said ,'this should not be happening in the 21st century'. Why should he say such a thing?, does he think that wars should  have ceased because it is the 21st century?. It does not work like that,the reason being  humanity is a fallen humanity ,and one of the characteristics of that fallen nature can be summed up in the words of Romans 3 v 15, 'Their feet are swift to shed blood.' in other words,'it is the nature of the beast',I use the term beast symbolically, unfortunately,nothing can change that,unless they receive a new nature.That happens when people repent and trust Jesus to be their Saviour. One of the greatest examples of this was the apostle Paul,before he became a Christian, he was a very violent person,that all changed when he came to know Christ.

. 

Wait and see. ( Romans 8 v28 )

A story is told of a farmer  who found out one day  that his only horse had run off, a friend said,'I heard you have lost your only horse, how awful',the farmer replied,'' we will see''. The next day his horse  came back, and it had with it another horse. One day the farmer was robbed,and the same neighbour said to him  ,'how awful', the farmer replied,''we will see''. Later on in the week he was walking in his field,and he stumbled over a mound of earth,he investigated what it was,to his surprise he found buried treasure.Later on his son had an accident, and broke his leg,when his neighbour heard about it,he went to the farmer,and said ,'how awful', the farmer replied,''we will see'.Not long after that the Lord who ruled that country, was raising an army ,to fight in a war with his enemies.When he came to the farmers home to enlist the farmers son to fight in his army, he was excluded from army service, because of his broken leg.We are often are guilty of making judgements on the immediate happenings, instead of saying ,'we will see',for the word of God says,that all things are working together for our good,in light of that ,we must trust our all knowing, all seeing God, who has a plan for all His children's lives,  yes let us patiently,' wait and see,' ,how God will eventually work things out.

Hope or no hope . ( Romans 15 v 13 )

 In 2 Corinthians 5 v 7 we read,'For we  walk by faith, not by sight'.remember faith see's beyond the natural,the unsaved doesn't, they only see what they see ,nothing else.And so they place their hopes ,values, aims in material and fleeting things,the big one is science.E.K.Simpson ,writes, 'Man was left to his own inventions  long enough  to demonstrate the futility of his vaunted  wisdom and the inadequacy of his cherished resources. such as modern science who modify the externals of life, not always beneficently, that does not fill its aching voids nor quench its raging thirsts'. But those who walk by faith have found in Christ what he promised,'would never thirst again ( John 4 v 13 - 14)Those who walk by faith will always have hope,ask yourself the question ,what hope is there for anyone ,threatened by so many things,disease,  and a multitude of other things . There is a story of a little boy who saved his town by putting his finger in a hole of the dyke ,he kept it there until the towns people came and repaired the dyke. ( In Holland  much of the land is below sea level, so they built dykes ,to save then from flooding),When we apply that to humanity it seems when we put our finger in the dyke, yet the problem only gets worse. The one who walks by faith has hope because he see's a Sovereign God ,who is called the God of hope,(Romans 15 v 13) without God there is no hope, so dear Christian friend  hope thou in God,keep walking by faith in Christ,in contrast to a world that is walking in darkness.

Faithful. ( 1 Corinthians 4 v 1 - 5 )

 I wonder what you think of the following,' God did not put us in this world to be successful,He put us in this world to be faithful'. This was a statement I heard recently,that encourages me because  I cannot say I have been successful,I have witnessed to many people,not many have come to the Lord that I can tell.The church'es that I have led were very small,I did preach regularly, but usually the numbers were small.My blog has not got  a big following,so is it all pointless,  all I can say is,I have sought to be faithful.In 1 Corinthians 4 v 2, we read ,' Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.' in v4 -5  ,we read,'It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time,wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God'.

                                 'God did not put us in this world to be successful

                                          He put us in this world to be faithful'.

Imagine ( Matthew 10 v 28 )

 Imagine there's no heaven ,no hell,no religion, here we have some of the words from a song by John Lennon,it was a best seller. Imagination  is a wonderful gift, we all have, but no matter how much we imagine something it does make it so. Fairy tales are imagery tales nothing more, nothing less,the cow cant jump over the moon,nor pigs fly,there is no superman, the moon isn't made of cheese,nor is there a man in the moon.These and many other things are not real,there are no such things as ghost's,and so we could on imagining.Lets get real, there is a heaven,the historical Jesus proved that when He ascended to heaven, there is a hell for the historical Jesus told us there was,and in hell there are no atheist.There is religion ,now I am going say to something,that I hope makes you think,all religions but one are the delusional imaginings of people,they are taking their followers,to the place that will not go away, by  their imaginations,that is hell. There is a song with these words in it,' Wake up to reality', hell is real, and if you don't know Christ as your Saviour, that is were you will be going.Don't be carried away by Lennon's folly, for that what it is folly. Believe the words of the historical Son of God, Jesus,who through his historical death on the cross, made a way back to God from the dark paths of sin.

                                                     Flee from the wrath to come

All you need is Love. ( Galatians 2 v 20)

Poor mixed up John Lennon, of Beatles fame,I will mention one song that he jointly wrote (1 ) 'All you need is love', what about truth?,what did he mean by love? , love devoid of truth, becomes a distortion, it becomes what you want to make it, far removed of what real love should be.  True love starts with God who is love,  and at the greatest manifestation of love,the cross on which Jesus died for sinners,and to reject that love of God,is the most unloving thing anyone can do, it is like spitting in God's face.

                                                   'For God so loved the world

                                                   that He gave his only begotten

                                                   Son, that whosoever believeth

                                                   in him should not perish , but

                                                   have everlasting life.

                                                             John 3 v 16.

Death wish. ( Revelation 2 v 10 )

I was listening to a program on the radio about,'Early Christian Martyrdom', right throughout  history, many Christians have suffered martyrdom, even today there are Christians who are dying for their faith. Christian research says that ,900000 Christians were martyred over the last decade, and it is estimate that over the last two millennia that over 70 million Christians have been martyred.Why ,did they have a death wish?,the answer is no.no one with any sense would want to suffer the horrible deaths inflicted on them. It is said that the apostle Peter was crucified upside down,that was not something he wanted.In fact our Saviour foretold his death, and said that he would be taken were he didn't want to go,He was speaking of hit death ( John 21 v 18 - 19). But he went nevertheless,as many have,one may ask oneself would I be prepared to die for my Saviour? , I would be confident in this ,the God who granted me grace to live for him, will give me grace to die for Him.It would be a great honour to lay down ones life for ones Saviour, after all my  dear Saviour laid down his life for me, and for you. No we don't have a death wish, but we should have a desire to glorify our Saviour by our lives, and if need be, by our deaths.

Escapism. ( Philippians 3 v 1 - 27)

 Someone said that religion is just  escapism,  I  believe it originated from Karl Marx statement that religion is,' the opium of the people', As a Christian I would agree with that term ,'Escapism',but we have to divine what I mean by that, am I an escapist,as one who doesn't live in the real world,and daydreams,no I face up to life, I have never run away from it,or ignored the realities of life,in fact with my Saviours help I gain strength,to help me day by day.Well what do I mean when I say am an escapist? when I trusted  Jesus, I escaped the power of sin,I also escaped the consequences of sin, sin that enslaves,sin if left unforgiven will shut a person out of heaven,and take them  to hell. Trusting Jesus brings one into a wonderful relationship with God, a relationship that cannot be bettered,an eternal relationship. If you know Christ,rejoice be glad,if you don't know Christ why not join me and became an escapist.

                                                      'Who condemned escapism?,

                                                                     Jailers'

                                                              Author unknown.

The front door ( John 10 v 1 - 18 )

I turned the radio on in my car, heard a program on the BBC , the title being,'A history of the front door'' I must confess it made me smile,and I wondered who could have thought of  making a program about the history of the front door?,as I write this I am now laughing,I didn't listen to all of it, I wonder why?.Of course front doors are important for many reasons, did you know that Jesus talked about Himself being the front door?.We read about it in John 10,of course we are not meant to take it literally,he used it to illustrate a spiritual truth.This chapter is about a shepherd and his sheep,in the evening the shepherd would bring his sheep into the sheepfold, he would not leave them for anybody,instead he would lie down across the entrance,becoming as it  were a front door. There thee was no other way in but through Him,the spiritual application is very simple,here people are likened unto sheep,like sheep who have gone astray (Isa 53 v 6) ,they can be saved only if they come through Jesus.He and He alone is the front and only door whereby people can be saved. Simple but profound,there are many false religions,they cannot save you,in fact they are called thieves and robbers,while they promise much,  like a poison chalice,it will destroy you,it only savours of death.  But Jesus declares that He has come that we may have life , and that we may have it more abundantly.

Duty. ( 2 Corinthians 5 v 14 )

My wife and I, and our youngest son his wife and their two children,recently went for a short break in the county of Norfolk,it is a nice county.As one drives into it,there is a board with the following words on it,'You are now entering Nelson  country'. Of course it is referring to England's great sea Lord, who defeated the french navy on a number of times,the most important being the battle of Trafalgar .As the English fleet entered into the battle, Nelsen sent this message to  all the fleet,'England expects everyman will do his duty'.And just before he died for he was seriously wounded during the battle, he said,'Thank God I  have done my duty'.the word duty means a moral or legal obligation a responsibility.Duty for Nelson was very important, and it should be for all of us,it might sound legalistic, but it does not have to be.It can be for love of ones country,ones spouse,children ,etc.as Christians we owe our Saviour everything,what duty we have to perform  should not be because of a threat hanging over us, but for the love shown to us by our Saviour. It can be summed up in the words of Isaac Watts in that hymn he wrote,'When I survey the wondrous cross.'Look  afresh on the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,there you will see love incarnate. what is your response?. Isaac Watts response was this,

                                                   'Love so amazing, so divine,

                                                    Demands my soul , my life,

                                                                MY  ALL'

The gift of reading. ( Psalm 119 v 105)

 In that murder camp  Auschwitz there was a library, I say a library,but it was very small,for it only had 8 books in it.You see books were banned in that horror camp for as one person said,''Books are extremely  dangerous''.Dictatorships and oppressive regimes don't just want control of what you do, but also of what you think. So if one was found  having a book in Auschwitz it would have cost you your life. So even though it was a small library it was to those in that dark place a window of escape from the grim realities that they endured day after day. One of the most precious gifts I possess is being able to read, that opened so much to me,for it gave me pleasure,educated me,and indeed helped me in so many ways.I love books, I remember a lady in a church I once attended,could only read the bible.I know a little lad who at this stage can't read he is autistic,and he gets very frustrated.I know people who can read,and they don't read books ,I know Christian and they don't even read their bibles. To have the gift of being able to read,and not use it, is very sad, let us rejoice and praise God for the gift of reading, especially in being able to read God's word.

                                                 'The best book to read is the bible'

He got off. ( Luke 13 v 3 )

  I have just started reading a book called,'The  Librarian of Auschwitz', based on the true story of  Dita Kraus, Auschwitz,that awful death camp,were people were put to death,or worked to death. Many children lived in that death camp,most of them would die,but in that camp there was a so called doctor called Mengele.  He was the wicked of the most wicked people for he performed many horrendous experiments on children, cruel beyond belief. When the war ended he escaped human justice,he may have ended up in a South American country, we don't know.So he got off,where was the justice in that?, humanly speaking none.Like Mengele many very wicked have escaped  human justice,but  here is the most important thing, Mengele and all those wicked people have not escaped judgement from our just God, at this very moment in time they are in hell for  ever and ever,with no reprieve .We rightly would cry in praise that for they they are in hell.But would what you say if I told you that all who do not accept Christ will likewise end up with Mengele, and all  those other wicked people.Yes those nice little people we know who would not hurt a fly,will be judged for their sin,because all have sinned,all without exception,hell awaits all those who have rejected God's salvation . Mengele's never got off,no one with get off,all will be judged  by  Jesus .

                                                      'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ

                                                       and you will be saved'.

                                                                   Acts 16 v 31.  

God is present. ( Psalm 139 v 7 - 12)

 In Psalm 139, David the writer of the Psalm is amazed at the being of our all knowing God ,he declares,'Such knowledge is too wonderful for me , too great for me to understand',v 6, he can't take it in. No matter how great we think we know  God , He is greater than what we think,having said that,it could be that David is overwhelmed by what by God's omniscience ,but then his thoughts takes on another aspect of God's being, and he declares ,'Where can I go from your Spirit?,', and he came to the conclusion he couldn't escape God's presence that He is omnipresence in other words He is everywhere.Yet humanity from its beginning have been trying to escape from God,the first thing our  first parents did when they sinned, was hide from God.  (Genesis 3 v 8) . The fact is we cannot hide from God, it is impossible,we cannot escape from Him, for His presence is everywhere.A  heathen philosopher once asked, ''Where is God?'' The Christian answered, ''Let me first ask you, where is He not?''. For the Christian that should be a great comfort, the fact our their loving heavenly Father is always around, watching over us caring for , providing for us.Yes we need to be reminded of that,but it also brings a challenge to us, as to how we live, Spurgeon writes of a man called Linneus who wrote over the door of His library,'' Live innocently;  God is present''

Don't give up. ( 1 Kings 18 v 43 - 46.)

 There is so much in the world we can't do much about,someone you know has a life threatening illness,people who are suffering so much pain and loss.Children being murdered in a school by a wicked young man. A mother takes her life,by hanging herself,and is found by her 15yr old child,people you know who are old and have conditions that cannot be cured ,and their love ones equally aged,and having to be their carer.The unjust wars were so many are suffering,and we look on ,feeling for the situation.Yes there are so many things we can't do much about, but here is what we can do,maybe you know what I am going say next,and its very simple,pray.Remember prayer is not a useless  or pointless exercise,of course for some people it is just vain repetition. But genuine prayer if far from being useless or pointless, it is the greatest resource we have, for our God delights to hear us pray,and delights to answer our prayers.So keep praying and don't give up,God in his mercy ,may respond and answer your prayers,yes things can change, because you prayed .

                                                 ''Be careful for nothing; but in 

                                                  everything by prayer and supplication 

                                                  with thanksgiving let your requests

                                                  be made known unto God.

                                                            Philippians 4 v 6.''                                                                   

                                                

My goal is. ( Job 1 v 21 )

 In  Psalm 144 v 15 we read,' Blessed is the people whose God is the Lord', as you may know the word blessed can mean happy. Herbert Lockyer writes,'Do not harbor a false view of  happiness if we think that it consists only in outward prosperity?  In Psalm 145-6 we are told,'' Happy is he that hath the God of  Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God.'' Spiritual happiness then , is not in a case , but in Him from whom all blessings flow.' He  goes unto write,' The truth as to where true happiness is alone to be found not in blessings  but the Blesser Himself'. Each day I thank God for the blessing he bestows upon me,I come from a poor background so I value those blessings that I have received from my loving heavenly father. But what if  like Job  all those blessing were taken from me? what would my attitude be ?. would I give up believing in God,? or would I be like Job who declared, 'Though He slay me, yet I will trust in Him'. (Job 13 v 15 )

                                               My goal is God Himself, not joy,nor peace,

                                               Nor even blessing,but Himself, my God;

                                               'Tis His to lead me there- not mine,but His,

                                                At any cost, dear Lord, by any road'

                                                           Words Frances Brook.

I thought I was. ( Romans 10 v 9 )

Recently I phoned my car insurance people,to clarify as regards  breakdown cover,I have been insured with this company for 3 yrs.When I spoke to them to my surprise I was told that my car insurance only covered me as regards an accident, just as well I didn't break down. I wasn't covered even though I  thought I was.Lets apply this in relation to our spiritual  standing,there are multitudes of people who think  that they are going to heaven,and yet they are not covered.You see the only thing that will take one to heaven is, good works,no,being religious, no,being sincere,no,and so  I could go on .To get to heaven one must have the right cover, you cannot buy it, no, but you must have it.The word of God tells us the gift of God is eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, Romans 6 v36,you don't pay for a gift ,you simple receive it. Let me also add, you do not work for it,no the work has all been done through Jesus death on the cross. Whoever shall call on the name of the Lord,we told, shall be saved . ( Romans 10 v13 )

                                                  Be sure that you are covered.

)

Others.( Acts 10 v 38 )

 Consider why our Saviour came, the answer was for others,and that truly cost him everything,He wept for others,He was loving and kind to others,and on the cross He died for others.I heard an old hymn that stressed the importance of living for others, it was written by Charles D. Meigs. here are some of the words from it.

                                                     'Lord, help me live from day to day,

                                                      In such a self - forgetful way.

                                                      That even when I kneel to pray,

                                                      My prayer shall be for others,

                                                       Yes,others,Lord,yes ,others,

                                                        Let this my motto be;

                                                        Help me live for others,

                                                        Help me live for others,

                                                        That I may live like Thee,

                                                        That I may live like Thee.'

                                                I would just add ,for the glory of God.

Love. ( 1 Corinthians 13 )

 The word of God says ,'Love never fails', (1Cor 13 v 8) but it will be tested, it is interesting that the commandments are fulfilled in one word, love. ( Matthew 22 v 37 - 40) It sounds so simple and yet as a Christian I know that it is the biggest challenge in my life.It involves loving God, and loving others,it is  required by God, in our relationships,with God and people. Marriage is one place that love will be tested, marriage brings two people together with different personalities,and so there will  be clashes over all sorts of things,I know I am married, have been married for over 40 years. There are times that one may  have considered  giving up, walking out, I am not just talking about me, but also my wife.The challenge is to say sorry,when you have had a disagreement,sometimes that's the hardest thing to say.It takes compromise ,yielding , giving in, its not about you winning the argument, we are not out for an unconditional surrender,defeating an enemy. And of course its about being faithful, yes faithful,the grass is not always greener on the other side, far from it. Marriage involves two people,both must love each other. by being kind,humble ,honouring each other, not selfish,not easily angered,not keeping a record of wrongs.

                                                           'Love never fails'

God our helper. ( Psalm 121 )

There are many proverbs that people  have been handed down from generation to generation ,like,' to many cooks spoil the broth', or a 'stitch in time saves nine'. Here is another,'God helps those that help themselves', there is a degree of truth in those words,but it is Herbert Lockyer who comments,' The proverb that,''God helps those that help themselves,'' dose not bear the light of David's affirmation that , ''God shall deliver the needy when he crieth ; the poor also, and him that hath no helper,''  Psalm 72v 13 -14,. It is more true to say that God helps those who cannot help themselves, nor find help in others. I think of the many times I stood in need, and it was God who came to my help,when one had no food in the home,God provided. To the helpless God says,' Fear thou not; for I am with thee; be not dismayed; for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness''.  For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, fear not;I will help thee.  ( Isaiah 41 v10 v 13)

A quick answer. ( 1 Kings 18 v 37 - 39 )

 We look further at Psalm 138 at the words of v 3 ,' As soon as I pray you answer me; you encourage me by giving strength'. One writer puts it like this,'The moment I called out, you stepped in; you made my life large with strength'. Here we see an instant answer to Davids prayers.  There is another verse in Isaiah 65 v 24,which reads ,'Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear'.Often we pray and we have to wait for answer,until God's timing is right,Psalm 40 v1 speaks of patiently waiting for the Lord,all that's part of praying,But  here in Ps 138 v3 we have no waiting for an answer ,it happens right away,that should encourage you for although waiting is often necessary, God if it is will, answers prayer at once.But do not forget the sovereign God is in control as to when  He answers our prayers, also it is His will that must prevail at all times even though His answer may be no. Remember God is not playing a game with us,He loves us to much for that, so trust Him at all times.

I will. ( Luke 10 v 38 - 42)

 Psalm 138 was written by David it commences with 3 ,'I wills' there is a certain determination in these words,a determination to put God first.There are so many things crowding in upon us each day, we are driven by things we feel we have to do, so we rush on in our business. There are many very reasons we may have for not reading the word of God, not praying,not regularly attending a local fellowship of believers,and even not giving to God's work. They are the things that are very important and to neglect them is not beneficial to our spiritual well being,oh yes you are still a Christian, but not an obedient Christian .Remember when Jesus visited the home of Mary and Martha, Martha was so busy doing yes ,legitimate things,but Jesus gentle rebuked her.He pointed her to her sister Mary ,who had sat at the feet of  Jesus, while he ministered to her. Our Saviour said this to Martha,and indeed to us all,  'My dear Martha ,you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it,and it will not be taken away from her'.

                                                       'Have you discovered it?'

Conversion. ( 2 Corinthians 5 v 17 )

 I am reading a book on John  Wesley,a man that was used wonderfully in spreading the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.Its not easy to know how many people came unto the Lord during his ministry, but it was considerable.The writer says,'Very few people went to church, and those who did so were usually careless, irreverent or sleepy.On the other hand ,people flocked in vast numbers to listen  attentively to Methodist preacher in the open fields. This was frowned upon, as some thought  the saving of souls almost a sin if it had not been done in a church'. There was a great deal of criticism as to how  people reacted to his preaching, Some cried out, dropped as though dead, and then loudly proclaimed their salvation.Many also were suspicious of sudden conversions,Wesley's appealed to his ,'' living arguments''- the lion became a lamb, the drunkard sober, the whoremonger detesting the very lusts of the flesh''The writer sums it in the words of Wesley,'He was willing to believe, as the Christian must believe, that God  does not always  go about His work in the same manner. And he concluded, wisely, that  because a thing can be simulated, it does not mean that it is never real'.

Our great God. ( Ephesians 3 v 20- 21 )

I want to leave you a prayer we could all pray, I was especially struck by its ending ,it is from the ,'The Valley of Vision'.                        O Holy Trinity,three Persons and one God,

                                                                    Let angels sing for

                                                                    sinners repenting,

                                                                    prodigals restored,

                                                                    backsliders reclaimed,

                                                                    blind eyes opened,

                                                                    broken hearts bound up,

                                                                    the despondent cheered,

                                                                    the self righteous stripped,

                                                                    the formalist driven from  refuge of lies,

                                                                    and saints built up in their holy faith.

                                                                    I ask great things of a great God,

                                                                                     Amen.

                                                                     

Give thanks. ( 2 Corinthians 12 v 9- 10 )

 Here is a challenge for all of us, ' In every thing give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you' (1 Thessalonians 5 v18 ) Now this is what it doesn't say,' give thanks for every thing'.`` Paul and Silas experienced being severely flogged,and then thrown into prison,Acts 16 v 23,I am sure that they didn't give thanks for what was done to them.If you have suffered sexual violence, you wouldn't thank God for that.We cant give thank for evil things,and evil things do happen to Christians,awful things.It is John Stott who writes ,' We cannot of course thank God' for all circumstances',including those which are evil and displeasing to Him;  but we can  and should thank God in all circumstances or ' whatever happens ' This giving thanks in every circumstances is not a trivial thing, it may even appear  an impossible thing,but in doing so we are fulfilling God's will for our lives.God knows how hard it is for us to do this,so for all his children  he has made available his all sufficient and wonderful grace. Hubert Mitchell wrote a lovely hymn here are some of the words from it.

                                               ' He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,

                                                 He sendeth  more strength when the labours increase;

                                                 To added affliction He added His mercy,

                                                 To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.

                                                  His love has no limit, His grace has medsure,

                                                  His power has no boundary known unto men;

                                                  For out of His infinite riches in Jesus

                                                  He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again'.

God knows ( Isaiah 55 v 6 - 7 )

Consider the words of that wonderful Psalm 139,I will deal with the beginning ,were we are told these simple yet profound words,' you know me'.You know me,yes God does,He knows Billy, everything about me, He knows my weaknesses ,my strengths, my abilities,everything. Derek Kidner writes,' the divine knowledge is not merely comprehensive,like that of some receptor that misses nothing, ....It is personal and active; discerning us, knowing our minds more closely than we know ourselves'. It is Spurgeon who comments, 'Let the reader sit still a while and try to realize the two poles of this statement,-the Lord and puny man- and he will see much  to admire and wonder at'. Yes we are poles apart, He is the creator, the one who made  us, and all things,He is holy we are sinners.If  only humanity would know their place,stop trying to be God.If only we would realize our fallenness ,our sinfulness, and recognise our need of God as our Saviour. Is it not time that we realize that doing it our way does not work,if  only, we would seek the Lord. But God knows we wont, so we will go on and on in our downward path, leading us to a tragic end.What applies to humanity on the whole, applies to us personally,God has provided the answer for our salvation in Jesus, trust Him now.

Rock of Ages. ( Isaiah 45 v22 )

 It is said that while Augustus  M. Toplady  was out walking a storm broke out,and so he took shelter in the cleft of a rock, and that from experience he wrote that wonderful  hymn ,'Rock of Ages'.This hymn became a great favourite, of Prince Albert , husband of Queen Victoria who requested that it be be sung at his funeral. It is a hymn with a tremendous message, as regards salvation,the Rock is none other than Christ , so I will leave prayerfully the words of this lovely hymn with you.

                               'Rock of ages,cleft for me,let me hide myself in Thee;

                               Let the water and the blood, from Thy riven side which  flowed,

                               Be of sin the double cure, cleanse from its guilt an power.

                               Not the labours of my hands, can fulfil Thy  law's demands;

                               Could  my zeal no respite know, could my tears forever flow,

                               All for sin could not atone; Thou must save and Thy alone;

                               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 Thy fount fly; wash me Saviour, or I die .!

                               While I draw this fleeting breath, when my eyeless close in death,

                               Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee!

                               When I soar to worlds unknown, see Thee on Thy judgement throne;

!