Heavenly minded. ( Acts 9 v 36 - 43 )

 Philip Yancy writes,'Rousseau said the church set up an irresolvable dilemma. How can Christians be good citizens of this world?' Philip mentions the many people he has met ,who disprove his argument. C.S.Lewis has noted , those most conscious of another have made the most effective Christians in this one'. I was speaking to a person who is in charge of a Christian mission that supports at least 50 causes, hospitals,orphanages, schools,etc.I could name another that works with children in 8 countries, they do a wonderful work.It is a very wrong saying ',that persons whose minds that  are on heaven are of no earthly  good'.It seems to me that it is the opposite of that, it is vital to realise how important loving good works are, they are the evidence of our faith,they do not save us,but they are evidence that we are saved.Jesus said by our fruits we are known.

                                                   'We are God's handiwork, created in Christ

                                                    Jesus to do good works ,which God pre-

                                                    pared in advance for us to do.'

                                                                  Ephesians 2 v 10.

Witnessing. ( Isaiah 55 v 10 -11 )

Often I have witnessed to those in the cults,J Ws, Mormons,it is very challenging ,often I became  frustrated with them,as they twisted the truth , and so often they were obviously not listening to what I had to say.On reflection it all seems to have been a waste of time, who knows ,my witness may bear in a coming day. I have also witnessed to many people again very little response, again I ask myself was it a waste of time?.  Yes it may have appeared to have been a waste of time,but I will still witness to people,I am not a prophet ,but as I read about those who were prophets ,they had a thankless task. Take one of the greatest of the prophets,Isaiah ,we read of his call to his ministry in Isa 6 , where he responded to God asking the question.'Whom shall I stand?,'And who will go for us?' Isaiah replied ,''Here am I ,Send me!'. God answers, 'Go and tell this people'. And what follows appears that they would not respond, and in fact they were going to be judged,so it was to be a very challenging task that Isaiah was called to take on.Tradition has it he was put to death probably under wicked King Manasseh's rule.Jesus said we are to be his witness'es Acts 1 v 8,so we must be faithful to that,yes all God requires of us is faithfulness,even if people don't respond, even if we have to suffer,yes even death.

A promise. ( 2 Peter 1 v 3- 4 )

 The precious promises are many in the bible ,and in all the years I have followed Christ, they have given me hope when I had no hope.They include promises for healing,for meeting our needs,for guidance,for protection,for strength,for power,and so on.They are promises from God, He does not lie,He will always keep his word, he never breaks a promise.Consider these words from Philippians 4 v 6-7,'Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present  your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus'. Remember faith is important ,without it we will receive nothing Hebrews 11 v 6, with it, we will be rewarded for it pleases God. We are told that we are not to be anxious about anything. what are you anxious about?,what's your anything?. next we are told,'that in every situation,',stop and consider those words ,a pause and thoughtful moment. Don't look about in despair,for here's the next thing we have to do,'By prayer and petition ,with thanksgiving.present your requests to God'.Then we are told,  '  God's peace,which transcends  all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus'.

John Calvin. ( John 3 v17 )

Calvin was a great Theologian, maybe one of the greatest,yet unfortunately as Philip Yancey points out that the church in Geneva were he was the minister made very many rules,towards the extremism that Jesus warned against.Here is a list of don't do's,'attending theatrical  plays, extravagant entertainment,naming children after anyone but figures in the Old Testament,reading , A father who christened his son Claude ,a name not found in the OT ,spent four days in jail.A child was beheaded for striking his parents,they drowned any single woman  found pregnant'. These are just some of the rules ,very little grace  or mercy shown,now of course one could say Calvin was a man of his time, but so was our Saviour, and he stood against the hardness of religious people's hearts,with their harsh judgements. That does not mean to say  that we shouldn't have standards,we are called to be holy,and not to compromise against evil, wherever it rears its ugly head..The epistle make it clear that sin will  be judged ,and those who live in a sinful fashion will be excluded from heaven, CP 1 Corinthians 6 v 9 - 10. Let us always take a serious view of sin,in the church and out of the church, but let us not become members the Pharisee club.

God is faithful ( Psalm 23 )

 Animals can be very faithful,I remember seeing a movie about a dog who would wait at a certain place for his master coming home every day ,he continues doing  this even after his master died,and continued to do he till he died , they erected a statue to that dogs faithfulness .People can be faithful to evil causes,unfaithful to good causes,unfaithful to  their husbands,to their wives,to their children.One of the great characteristics, of God is His faithfulness.  As a Christian I depend on His faithfulness, and what is more I have experienced His faithfulness,as  I have followed the Lord for over 58 years .The history of Israel is a very sad history, characterised by their unfaithfulness,time after time they forsook God.God did deal with them punishing them,chastising them in ,like any good father would.In one of Israels greatest times of suffering brought about by their extreme unfaithfulness, the prophet Jeremiah standing amidst  the ruins of Jerusalem declared, 'Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.' Dear child of God you may be experiencing difficulties and trials,God will  be faithful,he will never leave you nor forsake you.

Power ( Ephesians 6 v 10 )

I am going to use a  quote by Dick Lucas,' How do we appropriate power? The apostle Paul's surprising answer is that we receive it not so much by believing as by working. It is when we' toil and strive' at a God given task, that we receive God-given energy.If we hope to know in experience the work of God within us' both to will and to work for His good pleasure' we must set to work.Paul would never have said that,'power for service' is received by faith alone. It can be appropriated only by the faith that works, or to put it another way, by the work that relies on God to energize us as we try to do His bidding. As Paul toiled ( a particularly strong word, also used by him to describe his back-breaking manual work, tentmaking) in teaching with strenuous endeavour, God himself  granted strength and capacity for the work , God gives his power'.

                                                         From strength to strength go on;

                                                         Wrestle and fight and pray  ;

                                                        Tread all the powers of darkness down

                                                         And win the well- fought day.

                                                                   Charles Wesley                                                                                

God moves. ( Acts 17 v 24 - 28 )

In his lovely book ,'The Hidden Hand', R.C.Sproul  writes of God who not only sees us but is actively involved in looking after us .He writes the following,'He not only watches us,He watches over us. The child's most simple prayer is,''Please watch over Mommy and Daddy,Grandma'', etc.It is the watching over us that goes to the heart of divine providence. It is God's fatherly care for His creatures that the word providence encompasses. That means God is involved in human affairs, He is not like Aristotle's god, the  Unmoved Mover, who remains aloof and totally uninvolved with human history. Will Durant once compared Aristotle's god with the monarch of England. whom he described  as a ''do- nothing king who reigns but doesn't rule''.The biblical  God is not the unmoved. He is a moved and moving, rules as well as reigns.'                              

                                                   'God moves in a mysterious way

                                                    His wonders to perform;

                                                    He plants His footsteps in the sea;

                                                    And rides upon the storm'

                                                         William Cowper'

                                                 

Come. ( John 7 v 37 - 38 )

 The Jews observed a number of feasts during the year ,and in Matthew 7 we have Jesus attending the feast of Tabernacles,all the feasts foreshadowed the coming of Messiah.It was to this feast Jesus attended, He knew that he was under threat from the Jewish authorities,and we are also told that even His family did not believe in Him ( 7 v5 ) The feast lasted eight days on the first 7 days water was brought and poured for those who were thirsty, but on the 8th day no water was poured out. It was then that Jesus stood and shouted out to the crowds,'Anyone who is thirsty may come to me!Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! for the Scriptures declare, 'Rivers of living water will flow from his heart'.It is J.C. Ryle  who writes the following on what Jesus said.' This invitation is for anyone ,who is thirsty'.  Then what does our Saviour mean when he speaks of thirst?,lets consider what J.C. Ryle says,' The expression is a figurative one, denoting the spiritual distress and anxiety which one feels when he discovers the value of his soul, and the sinfulness of sin, and his own guilt , Such as one feels a burning desire for relief, of which the distressing sensation of ''thirst'' a sensation familiar  to all most Eastern nations- is a most fitting  emblem'.

                                                        'I heard the voice of Jesus say,

                                                        Come unto Me and rest;

                                                        Lay down, thou weary one,lay down

                                                        Thou head upon my breast,

                                                        I came to Jesus as I was,

                                                        Weary and worn and sad,

                                                         I  found in Him a resting place

                                                         And He has made me glad'

                                                                  Horatius Bonar.

                                                     

Fight on. ( Galatians 5 v 16 )

Dick Lucas writes, 'In this life, the 'flesh ' remains to be mortified', as long as we live ,the apostle Paul writing to the church in Galatia , tells us we are called to be free, but that freedom does not mean we are to indulge the flesh .In chap 2 of Galatians Paul uses a number words in relation to our flesh, he describes the obvious things,'Sexual immorality,impurity ,lustful pleasures, idolatry,sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy,outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension,division, envy,drunkenness, wild parties, and then he adds,'and other sins like these'. (6 v 19- 21) He adds this solemn warning ,'That anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God'.Let me say this,Paul is writing  of a person who walks and lives  like this ,not to those who fall occasionally,it will happen that we will fall ,the most important thing then, is to it confess to God ,and forsake it.1John 1 v 9.We will fail at times in this, warfare against the flesh ,but we must not throw in the towel,but by God's grace,and the strength that comes from Him,  continue to fight the good fight of faith.

                                                      'Fight on ,don't give up'

What we value. ( 2 Peter 1 v 18- 19 )

If I was to ask you what you think is the most valuable thing in the world,what would you say?. I suppose the air that we breath,the fresh water  that we drink,the food that we eat,so many other things we could name,for many people it is sex ,a precious gift,if we keep within the bounds of what God permits. To the miser money is the most precious gift,but God says it is more precious to give than to receive.So we could on. I wonder whats most precious to God on planet earth? you are,Someone said ,'The soul of  man is worth more than a thousand worlds'. Sad to say that most people do not value their soul at all,in fact they live as if they have no soul.What is the soul? William  Hendriksen takes issue with those who say that man is composed of three parts,he says we have a two fold nature,that soul and spirit are interchangeable.The soul he points out is the  immaterial and invisible element of our being,this can never be annihilated.(Read WH commentary on John Page 470ff)The value of mankind's soul is beyond price,so much so that Jesus laid down life to save them,John 3 v16.

                                            'O teach me what it meaneth 

                                            The cross uplifted high.

                                             With one the man of sorrows

                                             Condemned to bleed and die

                                             O Teach me what it cost Thee,

                                             To make a sinner whole,

                                             And teach me, Saviour teach me,

                                             The value of a soul.

                                                        Lucy A. Bennett

                                     

9

There is a war going on. ( Ephesians 6 v 10 - 17 )

Yes there is a war going on,well that's nothing new,but it is not a war using military might,it is not even against flesh and blood.It is a spiritual warfare between, well it is what the scripture has to say.I will use Moffatt translation,'For we have to struggle,not with flesh and blood but with the angelic Rulers,the angelic Authorities, the potentates of the dark present, the spirit- forces of evil in the heavenly sphere. '    There is in this world an invisible enemy, who rarely shows his face.Rutherford  writes,'The Father of lies(Satan) works his deadliest havoc by,'' shamming dead'' and writing his own obituary in  unctuous terms'.In other words he wants people to believe he doesn't exist.But as Christians we must take him very seriously, we are not to become paranoid,but we must not ignore the fact that he exists.He is a mighty foe,and we have to contend with him ,it is E.K.Simpson who writes the following,'The Christian soldier must not dream of entering on this spiritual warfare at his own charges or with his own equipment. Let him cry  with David, ''It is God that girdeth me with strength; He teaches my hands to war''.The apostle Paul writes ,'Be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might'. (Ephesians 6 v10)

/

Come and see. ( John 9 v 25 )

 In John 1  we read how Philip went to his friend Nathanael  he told him about Jesus ,he said to him,'We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law,and about whom the prophets also wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph'. Nathanael replied ,'Nazareth! can anything good come from there?' Come and see', said Philip. Nazareth  had a bad reputation,we all know of such places,we would not to live in such places. In spite of Nathanael's reluctance he went to see,and Jesus first words were.'Now here is a genuine son of Israel, a man of integrity'. He had never met Jesus,yet Jesus knew him,just like the woman at the well John 4,Jesus  told Him he knew Him before he ever met him 1 v48, What Jesus said convinced Nathanael. from that moment on, everything changed for Nathanael, like a blind man who had walked in the darkness ,now he could see,yes all things were changed.

                                                           'Come and see'

Our only hope. ( Colossians 3 v 1 - 4 )

 I enjoy watching my country playing rugby,recently they beat the great  New Zealand team twice,which is no mean feat. It is one sport that all Ireland is represented ,North and South,can Ireland ever be united as a nation?,I don't know,in the North we have two divided communities ,a great deal of  animosity still exists, so many countries are divided, politicly, racially,then you have the needy and the greedy,the haves and the have nots. That's not counting the wars and the conflicts in marriage  and many other divisions,is there no hope?, will things never change?,no, in fact it will get worse,until one day,hopefully soon  Christ will return,and usher in a new heaven and a new earth, those who have not come to Christ will not be part of it.I say this with great sadness ,for they will be eternally lost existing in that place of eternal punishment,it is very painful to write this,but out of love I must.God desires that all will be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth in Jesus Christ.

                                                     'Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ

                                                      and you shall be saved.

                                                              Acts 16 v 31.

That other one ( 1 John 3 v 8 )

 In Ephesians 2 v 1-3,the apostle highlights  the Christians in Ephesus state before they came  to Christ, they used to live in sin ,refusing to obey God, they followed their  passionate desires and inclinations of their sinful nature. But that is not all ,for he mentions that they obeyed the devil, oh yes there is a devil,it is like sin he never gets a mention even by Christians. He is the commander of the powers of the unseen world,again I would like to quote E.K.Simpson,'We are all under spiritual influence of some sort',he is called the god of this world (2 Cor 4 v4)in essence there is only one God cp Isaiah 46 v9,those other so called god's are what people have made them.Satan has sought to be God,remember the last so called temptation that Jesus experienced was , if he would give Satan worship, he would be rewarded,our Saviour rejected that.Again E.K.Simpson writes,''The Lord of misrule has his myrmidons at work in every continent, imbued with his own passion  of lawlessness.And what other verdict can we pass on the fiendish atrocities perpetrated by Adolf Hitler  and his accomplices in the last war? Were they not hatched in hell in order that these instruments of darkness( to borrow Shakespeare's phrase) might glut their rabid bloodthirstiness  with infamous carnivals of slaughter and torture'.

Sin is costly ( Romans 6 v 23 ) (1 )

 Writing to the church at Ephesus the apostle reminds them of their former state (2 v 1 -3 ),what he wrote to this church applies to everyone who has  trusted Jesus as their Saviour. He does not write these things to humiliate them,but to remind them how much they are indebted to God for showing them mercy, love and grace.He commences by saying,'Once you were dead,because of your disobedience and your many sins'.It is a very sombre statement,and as we go on reading it does not get any better.Every human being is born dead,spiritually dead,it came about when Adam and Eve  sinned ,death passed upon them (Genesis 2 v 17) That means we were cut of from the living God, spiritually dead.Let us consider what follows,'You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world,obeying the devil- the commander of the powers in the unseen world.'There are two things here mentioned, sin and Satan. Writing on sin E.K.Simpson describes sin in the following way,'' Sin is an organic  epidemical malady, a slow  devitalizing poison issuing in moral necrosis; not a stage of arrested or incomplete development , but a seed -plot of impending ruin'.It effects all humanity,as Simpson puts it ,'Their souls have no windows'. Blind spiritually they stumble on,until they stumble into hell itself. There is plenty of evidence as to the awful consequence of sin  in life and in eternity,and there is only one answer,it is God's answer, Jesus, who came to save sinners ,like you and me.

Fighting. ( Hebrews 12 v 1 - 2 )

 Every though I am not that tall,when I was  young I always seemed to be getting into scraps when I was young, of course as a youngster you had to hold your own.It was part of my back ground,  part of my culture,of course the word of God tells us that violence is part of our fallen human nature ( Romans 3 v15). I still have an aggressive streak in me,I am not good at debating with the cults, I get a bit frustrated annoyed with them.I suppose I will have to leave that task for others more capable than I to deal with them. I am inclined to go over things in my mind arguing with different people,and really it so unprofitable disturbs ones peace of mind ,so just recently I have been praying against this,I need to change, need to leave everything in God's hands.Now that's my confession , what about you?,none of us are perfect,do you recognize that you need to change,and like me begin to pray for change in your life.When you asked Christ to be your Saviour, He forgave you ,and you were enabled by the power of God to break away from so much that was controlling your life,but if we are honest and we need to be honest,to ourselves and to God that there is still much that needs to change in our lives,and we need to  pray for His power to deliver us,remember,' He is able ,through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we ask or think.'( Ephesians 3 v20 )

Thank you. (Luke 16 v 5 )

'Thank you', is a common expression it is often on my lips,when people open a door  for you,we do it with our hand when we are driving,someone lets us out at road junction.We say it by sending someone a thank you card for a kindness shown.On refection ,one wishes one had said more thank you's ,to the parents that brought us up. Sometimes our thank you's are just from our lips,not our hearts,I often thank God for his many mercies to me.Yet even though that's true the half has not been revealed to us ,of all God's goodness ,even during our life time.What dangers he has saved us from, the hidden hand of God is always at work for us, He has shut doors , holding us back,saving us from making the wrong decisions,and all that, would have entailed.It was Robert M.M'Cheyne, who wrote the following words.

                                             'When this passing world is done,

                                             When has sunk the radiant sun,

                                             When I stand with Christ on high,

                                             Looking o'er life's history,

                                            Then ,Lord, on earth to know,

                                             Not to then how much I know'

                                                     

                                                      'Thank you Lord'.

                                                                            

All things. ( Psalm 14 v1 )

 Just recently images have come back from  space from the James Webb space telescope,when those in NASA saw them they were astounded, and rightly so.   One has said, that this means we will be able to unlock key mysteries of the universe,it used to be said that no astronomer could be an atheist,how times have changed,instead of God being given the glory,science has become the authority,instead of thus saith the Lord,it is thus says science.They have taken over as mankind's hope,they have the answer,or so it seems,they speak of unlocking key mysteries,and yet they refuse to accept the greatest mystery of all,God.Consider the following words ,'The heavens declare the glory of God , the skies proclaim the work of His hands', ( Psalm 19 v1 )There is a saying that goes',there are none so blind who will not see'. seemingly that saying is taken from the bible,Jeremiah 5 v12 reads,'Hear now this,oh foolish people and without understanding which have eyes, and see not; and have ears and hear not'. These words describe, the many who do not see what the heavens are telling them, that God made the heavens and the earth.

                                                        'All things bright and beautiful,

                                                         All creatures great and small,

                                                         All things wise and wonderful,

                                                         The Lord God made them all.'

                                                             '  Words C.F.Alexander'.

Christ is enough. ( Hebrews 7 v 25 )

 If I have Christ as my Saviour ,do I need anything else?,the answer is no,and yet there are those who  say in one way or another there is more,Many of the problems in the early church was caused by people who said to the Christians that they needed more than  Christ,they were wrong. The church in Colosse were being told this, Bishop Stephen Neil writes,'The false teachers came in with the claim that they would complete and perfect the simple and elementary faith the Colossians had been introduced by Paul and his friends.This is what false teachers always do.What you have is quite all right, and a good foundation for faith. Now let us just finish it off for you, and you really will be Christians.In our tragically divided state today,exactly the same thing can happen .though being rather politer than the apostle Paul we shall talk of other communions rather than of false teachers. In many areas where Protestant missions have been at work, Roman Catholic missionaries have later come in, and set themselves to 'complete' the imperfect Christianity of the Protestant converts. Where older Churches have been at work Christians of the Pentecostal  groups have come in, and assured the converts that, unless they speak with tongues, they can no assurance that they have received the Holy Spirit. Anglicans have been known  to convey the blessings of episcopacy to those who thought  that the were getting on very nicely without them. All this is very sad, but it may help us to realize that we are not so very far from the  New Testament and its problems.'

                                                  'I have Christ what need I more'

The eye gate. ( Exodus 20 v 17 )

 I want to mention three people ,(1) Eve, 'She saw that the tree was beautiful ,and its fruit looked delicious. (Gen 3)  (2) Achan  ' I saw in the plunder a beautiful robe from Babylonia ,two hundred shekels  of silver and a bar of gold ' ...'.and I coveted them'. (Joshua 8) (3 ) ' David  saw a woman washing. The woman was very beautiful'  ( 2 Samuel 11 ) There s a little children's chorus we used to sing,the words went like this,'Be careful little eyes what you see,There's a Saviour up above looking down with tender love.Be careful little eyes what you see'.Those three were not children, no they were adults, if only they had not focused on that which was forbidden if only.I believe the sin of coveting is one of the most ignored sins by most people,it can be a very simple thing, like wanting that cake someone else is eating.Or a piece of fruit, think about it,some of it appears so trivial,almost of no importance,but don't be fooled,no sin no matter how it appears in our eyes,should be underestimated.Of for goodness sake surely its harmless no ,it offends a holy  God, sin is sin for all that,and will be judged by a holy God.Those three people did not just look at what they saw, that look took hold upon them,they became its slave,and the consequences was  awful, and nothing has changed ,Lets take coveting serious and recognise it for what it is,and to realise that all sin must be forgiven through faith in Jesus Christ.

Make the right choice. ( Deuteronomy 30 v 19 )

 I heard someone say the following,'Its a sad world and is very complicated',and then he added,' I wish it wasn't'.  We have many brilliant people in this world,but the sadness and the complications of life don't change.Tragedy's happen ,wickedness still happens, unresolved complications still are there, is there an answer?.Not if you are just looking at one level, one level does not help,we need to lift our vision heavenward, to our sovereign God who rules over all the affairs of mankind. You see we are not alone in the universe ,and I am not talking about aliens,forget that rubbish,I am talking about a sovereign God,who knows why the world is like it is.Of  course the world is not like it should be,or even meant to be,although  God is sovereign,when he created humanity,he let them have a choice,and they made the wrong choice, a terrible choice, and brought gloom and doom into our existence. From then on sadness would be part of existence, and we would ever be confronted with complications to solve one thing after another . I wish it wasn't so,as I look at life, wars,death, need I go on?.So that's it ,it appears so hopeless, looking at one level ,it just depress'es us, so we need to look to God,who through His Son Jesus who  solved the greatest dilemma for all us, sin and its consequences,through faith in Him ,we walk through a door that gives us a wonderful future in Gods new creation,were there will be no sadness no complications ,don't be like our first parents Adam and Eve who made the wrong choice,make the right choice,trust Jesus, and you will never regret it.

The kingdom of God. ( John 18 v 36 )

 Jesus said,'My kingdom is not an earthly kingdom'. (John 18 v 36), I wonder have you asked yourself what this means.I think it means what it says.A great example of the problems of going against the words of Christ, was when Pope Stephen11 ,received from Pepin the king of the Franks 20 cities ,they developed into what became known as the Papal states.From that time on the papacy became nothing more than a means for people being able to ingratiate themselves, Giovanni' de' Mussi in 1350  wrote ,'These territories and cities have been given to the priests and ever since then most violent wars have been waged on their account  .......the consequences of temporal power have been innumerable wars and the overthrow of peoples and cities. How is it possible that there never has been any good pope to remedy such evils and that so many wars have been waged for these transient possessions. Truly we cannot serve God and mammon at the same time, we cannot stand with one foot in heaven and the other on earth'.  The Kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom,made up of all God's people, and only that,it is ruled from heaven.Our task as Christians is to preach the gospel of that kingdom, that it may be established in the hearts and lives of men and women ,who have trusted Jesus as their Saviour.

Change ( Romans 12 v2 - 3 )

 Recently I saw family members ,and others and they had changed, as indeed I have, change is inevitable, and that applies to us Christians. I read this recently about C.H. Spurgeon ,''he once asked  a young girl who served  as a domestic in one of his families homes what evidence she could give of becoming a Christian? She meekly answered, '' I now sweep under the mats''. None of us our perfect, but I believe  that there should be evidence of some change when we become Christians.I wonder what your reply would be  if you were asked that question?,as to myself,I could say that when I came back to the Lord ,I stopped going about with the wrong crowd, in Romans 12 v2  we read, 'of being transformed by the renewal of our minds'.Our  minds,that is were change often has to come,and it is on going. Were once we cherished our evil thoughts now we should resist them,we avoid those things that could take hold of us and destroy us,control us, enslave us.It is Paul who writes ,'Whatever is true, whatever is noble,whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things'. Phil 2 v 8. I'm sure if we do that, there will be a change in our lives. People may not see the change,but our Saviour will.

Give encouragement .( Romans 12 v 3- 8)

I always remember when I was a Bible college a minister saying,that the enemy will always undermine God's calling on your life. it is true.Looking back on my life I have always felt God's call on my life to preach,yet there are times,I have struggled , even though I have preached thousands of time.  Recently after I had preached  and watched it on utube,I wondered was it not time I gave up. In an email I mentioned to the secretary of the church I didn't feel I had done so well,I hadn't been feeling to well physically. A few days later he posted me an email from a couple who watched it on the Internet,saying how they are always blest when I preach. Those words encouraged me, we all need encouragement ,the last time I visited my GP I told him how much I appreciated all the support they had given me, I meant it.In Romans 12 v 3 - 8,we are told of different gifts people have from God,v 8 reads,'If it is to encourage, then give encouragement'.

                                              ' Someone today needs encouragement'

The Lord is. ( Psalm 121 )

 In 2 Samuel 22 v 2 ,we have King David praising God,it is described as song which he composed and sung for delivering him from all his enemies ,which included King Saul. This song is also found in Psalm 18 ,the words of verse two read,'The Lord is my rock,my fortress,and my deliverer'.David had more than his share of enemies,but the Lord delivered him from them all,the word of God tells us if God be for us who can be against us?( Romans 8 v 31)The greatest enemy that humanity has to face is death, because Jesus is the  resurrection and the life,the one who defeated death,we shall defeat death also.His song describes three aspects of  whom God is,He was Davids rock,one in whom he built his hope,often David was in hopeless situations,but God never failed him, he will not fail us.People may fail us ,our finances may fail,our health may fail,you get the picture, but God will not fail us. Next he says God is his fortress, a fortress is a place of safety, whatever is  threatening us ,the God of David is our God he can keep us safe.A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at our right hand, but it will not come near  us( Psalm 91 v 7) When we are in danger ,facing  overwhelming odds, let us look up and remember our help cometh from the Lord who made heaven ,and earth  (Psalm 121 v 2).

Old age. ( Hebrews 13 v 5 )

 I was reflecting on my life,I am 78, and I thought of how God had cared for me, and my conclusion was, no one else could have done it better,and of course His care doesn't end with the past. God will not suddenly change,He will still continue to care for his children. Old age brings its own particular problems,our bodies were out,our minds,are not what they used to be,and so many other things, how will we manage?,that's the question .Let us not fear the ageing question,let not fear or doubt and let not bitterness take over,remember God is in it for the long haul. Listen to the words from a godly old man,David, ''I was young and now am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread'' ,(Psalm 37 v 25). That is his experience and that is my experience, Hallelujah, may it   be your Hallelujah today,from one aged saint to another.

                                              '  Be not dismayed whate'er betide,

                                                 God will take care of you!

                                                 Beneath His wings of love abide,

                                                 God will take care of you.

                                                 All you may need He will provide,

                                                 Trust Him,and you will be satisfied,

                                                  God will take care of you.'

                                                       Words Civilla  Martin.

Now. (Isaiah 1 v 18 )

 In Lewis Carroll's Alice in wonderland the white rabbit is in a hurry to get to the tea party,and he keeps saying, ''Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late''. In the animated  Walt Disney's movie he says why he was  late. ,''I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date.No time to say hello ,goodbye, ''I'm late, I'm late,I'm late''. I suppose we have all been late at one time or another, there are a number of reasons. There was a time in Belfast,when the shipyard employed thousands of people,in those days companies did not tolerate lateness.So it was if one arrived at the shipyard late,you would be shut out,that means you would loose a days pay. Our Savour told a story of 5 foolish virgins who missed a wedding feast , because they were not ready,they  called for the door to be opened to the wedding,but it was shut. They pleaded ,''Lord ,Lord,open the door for us,but He replied,''Truly I tell you , I don't know you''.Many people want and think they are going to heaven,but if you they don't Jesus as Saviour they will not get in, it will be to late,instead of the joys of heaven,they will go to a lost eternity.

                                                        'Now is the day of salvation'

                                                               '1 Corinthians 6 v2 '

Fear not. ( 1 Peter 5 v 7 )

In his book  'Jesus and the Disinherited', Howard Thurman  tells the following,'When he was a very  small boy, Halley's comet visited his  solar system,he wasn't usually allowed up to see it.one night he was awakened by his mother ,who told him to get dressed, and go in the back yard with her,so he could see the comet.As he stood with his mother, he was in utter, speechless awe,as he beheld the great spectacle with its fan of light spreading across the heavens.As they stood there,he asked his mother a question,'What will happen to us if that comet falls out of the sky?. His mother was silent for along time,later when they went indoors,he found his mother in prayer. When she spoke to him, she said,'' Nothing will happen to us, Howard; God will take care of us''.                    

                                                       'De not dismayed whate'er betide

                                                        God will take care of you

                                                        Beneath his wings of love abide

                                                        God will take care of you.'

                                                              Words  Civilla  Martin.

Stubborn. ( Luke 23 v 27 - 31 )

 I wonder if you ever think ,'what if'', as I look back on my life,there are so many things ,I could ask that  question. Would things have turned out any better?, in some way it seems a pointless exercise,what is done is done, none of it can be changed, so whats the point?.  Yet we can learn from our past, now I am not ant Semitic,like Paul of old I would love for those sinners Israel ,to come come to Christ. But the sad thing is they have a terrible history,and they never once learned from  the past. From the time they left Egypt  till their awful rejection of their Messiah,they continually forsook God,they never changed, I repeat never,we have in the book of Jeremiah, God crying out ,'For my people have done two evil things. They have abandoned me the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves  cracked cisterns, that can hold no water'. Jer 2 v 12, and so it continued time after time with no let up,but then Messiah came that long awaited person ,who would bless them,but all to no avail, In  Proverbs 29 v1 we read,' He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck , shall suddenly  be destroyed ,and that without remedy'.There are many examples of this in the Bible, Pharaoh,Eli's sons,Ahab,and even Judas,they paid for their stubbornness, likewise Israel,likewise all who resist God's pleadings and warnings.

                                                      When mercy is rejected

                                                       Judgement will follow.

Some doubted. ( Isaiah 35 v 3- 4 )

What does God value ?,there are many things God values,but one thing for sure it is trust, we are so easily blown of course, things we think which may happen,and yet don't. We often anticipate the worst, and it doesn't happen,and you say to yourself,' why did I worry?' The answer is we let doubt take over,instead of simply trusting, our loving heavenly Father,we know we should,for we know He can be trusted. Is this not true?, of course it is, true beyond words,true beyond feelings,because God can be trusted.Just before our Saviour was about to leave and return to heaven,we read,that when the disciple saw Him they worshipped him ; but some doubted (Matthew 28 v 17)I wonder are we any different?, let us not be to quick to judge the weaker brother or sister, for our faith is not always consistent.

                                                       Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,

                                                       Just to take Him at His word;

                                                       Just to rest upon His promise;

                                                        Just to know thus saith the Lord.

                                                        Jesus, Jesus how I trust Him,

                                                         How I've proved Him o'er and o'er,

                                                         Jesus ,Jesus, Precious Saviour,

                                                         O for grace To trust Him more.

                                                           Words by Louisa M.R. Stead.

Liar. ( John 8 v 44 )

I saw a photo recently, it depicted a plaque on the wall of a dental surgery,with the following words on it,'Painless dentist'.  Underneath the plaque a young lad was stretching up with chalk in his hand,and he wrote the word liar.It made me laugh,but telling lies is not a laugh,God is not pleased when we lie,in Proverbs 12 v22 we read, ' The Lord detests lying lips, the Av ,translates it,'Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord'. One writer makes the following comment on these words,'God can't stomach lies', yes these words are severe but God takes lying very seriously,after all he is the God of truth. We read in Hebrews 6 v 18,'It is impossible for God to lie',when He speaks the truth,when He gives a promise he keeps it, that means that God is utterly trustworthy, and so we can take Him at his word.Hitlers Third Reich ,(Reich means kingdom) was built on lies.Hitler declared that the Third Reich would last a 1000 years,instead it only lasted about 12 .A kingdom built on lies will not last, God will see to that,likewise a life or relationship will not last,that is why we can be assured Satan's kingdom will one day cease to exist.There is an old saying that goes, 'Tell the truth and shame the devil',it is always right to speak the truth and honour God, than telling a lie and dishonouring Him.