His ways are mysterious. ( Isaiah 40 v12- 31 )

If I do have a favourite hymn,it would be that hymn by    William Cowper,'God moves in a mysterious way ',it is so profound and meaningful.In Romans 11 v33 we read,'How unsearchable are His judgments,and His ways past finding out'.Can anybody tell why so many things are happening in this world at this time,only a sovereign God knows.Let us face it,there are so many why's in life,that we do not have an answer for. Consider Job who suffered so much,he stands in the midst of the ruins of his life, with no answer to the why,he had experienced so much suffering, it was all a mystery to him.In the end he stopped questioning God  (40 v 4-5 )So that's it,no,God is not a cold impersonal being,He is a God of Love,and He has a special love for His children. In Romans 8 v 28,we are told something very important,'that our sovereign God is working out all things for good to those who love Him'.Consider those words 'all things',it means just that,but it also goes unto to say ,'according to His purpose'. Yes God has a purpose for all His children's lives,and that purpose is that we may be conformed to image of His Son.( 8 v29 ),consider what that means in your life,as I will consider what it means in my life.

Perseverance.( 1 Peter 4 v 12 - 19

Just another thought on David Livingstone,on ,'New Year's Day,1871', he wrote a prayer in his journal,'O Father,help me to finish this work to Thy honour'. It was said  of him that he had a perseverance bordering on mania,I don't know if I would agree on the mania bit,but he was a man who refused to give up in spite of many difficulties.I am not comparing myself to David Livingstone,but on looking back on my life in relation to Christian service,and reaching that goal of becoming a minister,it took perseverance. We can broaden this task of perseverance to include our Christian life,one the five points of Calvinism ,is the 'perseverance of the saints'.  In John 6 v 66 we read,' many of His disciples withdrew,and were not walking with Him anymore.' because they did not understand what Jesus taught,they stopped following Him.I am totally against the so called prosperity gospel,it cuts across the whole idea of persevering,it rules out the fact that we are told that in the world we shall have tribulation,that we are to  take up our cross and follow Jesus

                                                    'Let us by God's grace follow Jesus. 

                                                     come what may'

He entered heaven with prayer. ( 1 Thessalonians 5 v 17

 On the 1st of May 1873 Dr Livingstone who was very ill,woke between midnight and dawn. He slipped to the floor got on his knees to pray, he was discovered at 4a.m,he was still kneeling in prayer ,and in that position he had died,he was aged sixty .David Livingstone was a godly man,much loved and respected, dying as he did,kneeling in prayer,reminds me of a verse of a hymn  by James Montgomery,which goes.

                                                   'Prayer is the Christian's native breath,

                                                   The Christian's native air,

                                                    His watchword at the gate of death;

                                                    He enters heaven with prayer'.

How vital is prayer to us?,the world rushes on,alas many Christian's do also,it was Billy Graham who said that the most important thing before his campaigns, was,' To pray,pray, pray'..We all need to learn the lesson,that if our churches are to grow,and if we are to grow spiritually,we need to pray,pray,pray.

A staff to lean on.( 2 Peter 1 v 4)

 I have something from a devotional by L.B.Cowman, to share with you.

                                        Your rod and your stall they comfort me  (Psalm 23v 4)

I remember going out walking with my dad  and we both choose walking sticks that suited the occasion.As we have done this,I have frequently been reminded that the word of God is a staff.During the war ,when we were experiencing a time of discouragement  and impending danger,the verse''He will have no fear of bad news,his heart is steadfast ,trusting in the Lord'' ( Ps 112 v7 ) was a staff to walk with on many  dark days.When our child died and we were left nearly brokenhearted, I found another staff  in the promise''Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning''  (Ps 30 v 5) When I was forced to be away from for a year due to poor health, not knowing if God would ever allow me to my home ad work again,I chose this staff, which has never failed; ''For I know the plans I have for you...... plans  to prosper you and not to harm you,plans to give you hope and a future''( Jer 29 v11).

                                             ' Standing on the promises of Christ our King

                                              Through the eternal ages let his praises ring

                                              Glory in highest ,I will shout and sing, 

                                              Standing on the promises of God.

                                              Standing on the promises that cannot fail,

                                              When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail

                                              By the living word of God I shall prevail,

                                              Standing on the promises of God.

                                                       Words R.Kelso Carter.

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Faithfulness (Luke 19 v 17 )

My son Brian has just returned from a preaching engagement in Texas,it was a large church,had an attendance of about 2000 people.I rejoice that my son is being used by God ,he is the international director of a prayer movement called 24/7.Unlike him I ministered to small congregations occasionally to larger groups.We read in Luke19 v11 ff  how our Lord told a story of  a nobleman who intrusted a number of his servants with different amounts of money,He had to leave them and go to a distant land to be crowned King and then he would return.He told his servants to invest the money,when he returned, the first servant told him that he invested the money and made ten times the original amount. His master replied,'Well done..you are a good servant.You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you'',and he rewarded him..It is not how big or how small a ministry our Lord entrusts to us, it is faithfulness that matters.The words of a Christian song comes to mind,'If just a cup of water  I place within your hand, then just a cup of water,is all that I demand'.Remember be faithful  in whatever ministry God has entrusted to you,no matter how small it may be,and if you do that ,you will hear your masters well done,and you will receive a reward.

The death of evil (2 Peter 3 )

Martin Luther King Jr,give a message on,'The death of evil',and he related it mainly to the oppression of the conquered nations of the world.I can understand him giving this message in the light of the  way black people were treated in his country. Yet I think that his message fell short of what the word of God teaches as regards the end of evil,but let say this I admire Martin Luther King Jr ,he was a very brave and courageous person.His movement accomplished much, but it has not ended racism,Nazism has been defeated but it hasn't eradicated Anti-Semitism, the defeat of Putin if it comes will not put an end of war.We are always going to need prisons,child abuse,murder ,and so many other evils will continue,the commandments will continue to be broken.This world will never get any better because of sin and Satan it is heading for destruction CP 2 Peter 3.The fallen nature,or sinful nature, of humanity will not be changed by freedom movements,social improvements, better education,etc. The  only hope for the citizens of planet earth is Christ,if you do not know Christ as your Saviour ,the future for you is hopeless.If you trust Christ as your Saviour, your sin will be forgiven,and you will receive a new nature.As Christians we can look forward to a new heaven and a new earth where in dwelleth righteousness when our Saviour returns,and only then will evil die.

Busy,busy,busy. ( Luke 16 v 19 -31)

 We live in a busy world bombarded by many things,many are like the rabbit in 'Alice in Wonderland', who ran holding a clock and crying out,'I'm late! I'm late! for a very important date'.The poet writes of those who have no time to stop and stare, they are busy,busy busy. There is a  story of an explorer in Africa,he was accompanied only by porters,So they drove on relentlessly,but after a couple of hours they stopped,the man asked why they had stopped ,where they tired?. 'No they replied they where not tired, it's just that we have been moving very quickly,so we left our souls behind,now we have to wait, for it catch up with us'.Yes the world rushes on, not considering that they have and are an everlasting soul,and without Christ they will spend eternity in hell,it is a grim message,a sad message,stop for a moment,pause and consider what I am saying before it is to late,turn to the Saviour today.

Things above. ( 2 Corinthians 4 v18 )

 There is a saying that if you are to heavenly minded you are no earthly good,I wonder if that is  true?. In Colossians 3 v 1-2 ,we read,,'Since, then, you have been raised with Christ,set your hearts on things above,where Christ is,seated at the right of God.Set your mind on things above,not on earthly things'.I don't think we are told that life on planet earth is ont important,no ,things of life are important,your family,your job etc,As one writer has said,'He  is not saying we should withdraw from the world',our Saviour prayed that we should not be taken out of this world (John 17 v 15) Life is to be lived out in the here and now, but we are here that we may be light to those who are in spiritual darkness,we are here that we may be the salt in a corrupt world. We have been raised up in newness of life,we must manifest that life,we must hold unto to the things of this life loosely,nothing should take the place of Christ and future glory. We must all ask ourselves the following questions,are the things of earth more important than the things of heaven,are the things of time more important than the things of eternity. Matthew Henry wrote of that world to come,'Our head is there, our home is there,our treasure is there,and we hope to be there for ever'.

We are fragile. ( Isaiah 40 v 28 - 31 )

 'You could have knocked me down with a feather',so the saying goes,yes sometimes it does not take much to knock us down. The strongest person can go down with a cold or whatever, A big giant got knocked down by a young lad, and mighty army got defeated by a few hundred,another person lost his sight ,when he got his hair cut.One day a great king stood boasting about his power ,the next moment,he has lost his senses,and he ended up in a  field eating grass.Paul was a great man of God and accomplished so much,what was this secret? .The answer is found in the words of Philippians  4 v13,'I can do all things through him who gives me strength'.It is through Him we conqueror,it is by Him we are kept safe,we fragile human beings need look to look to Him ,call upon Him continually.Recently I was staying at my sons,that morning as my daughter-in-law was about to leave for work,I prayed with her,she then left and went to work. Later she sent me a text thanking me for praying for her,she said that she she had so much to do at work ,and she didn't think she would be able to get through it all, but things went much better than she hoped,the burden had lifted' 

                                                      'He gives strength to the weary,

                                                      and increases the power of the weak.'

                                                                    Isaiah 40 v 29.

                                                       

I spoke to my hair. ( Matthew 7 v 15- 25)

' I spoke to my hair,' these are the words spoken by a so called preacher who a vast number of followers, the point is this man is 85,and his hair is black,and people have been wondering how an 85yr old man has no gray hair.So he went on to say he talked about it to God,and God supposedly told him to speak to his hair,and he did just that,and so he has no gray hairs, His name is Kenneth Copeland,he is a man who says he is a god,and he can speak things into existence,he boasts about being a billionaire,he also said that Isaiah 9 v7 applied to him and to all Christians. This man speaks to vast numbers of people,plus he reaches many people on the television,what really saddens me, many people who attend his gatherings , to hear him,have  bibles with them,but they have no discernment. Our Saviour said this ,'Watch out for false prophets'(Matthew 7 v 15) He goes on to remind us that there will come a day in which they will stand before Him and even call Him Lord,and say  they have done many wonderful things  in His name, and He will say,'I never knew you. Depart from Me, you evildoers. '

If only ( Luke 15 v 11- 24)

I wish I could sleep in the midst of a storm, like Jesus did (Matthew 8 v 23-27)but I think I would be just like the disciples,who thought they were going to drown. Fifty eight years following the our dear Lord ,yet one can get anxious about even small things. Yes I know the bible,the promises,the answers to prayer I have had many,God is faithful,in spite of our weakness,why?,yes why?.Well the words in Psalm 103 v 13 -14 tells us something very special,'As a father has compassion on his children,so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him, for He knows how we are formed that we are dust'.I like the words in Deut 7 v7,spoken to Israel ,'The Lord did not set His affection upon you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you'.The Lord knows all about us and wonder of wonders,He still loves us,and He always will.

                                                     'Charles Spurgeon wrote'

                   'Blessed be His holy name for this gentleness towards His frail creatures'

   

A famine. ( Amos 8 v 11)

We looked last time how a priest tried to shut Amos the prophet from declaring God's message to His people and how dangerous that is,it has fearful consequences. In spite of this Amos continued to minister,but sad  to say,the people did not listen,so Amos proclaims a message of judgement and one of the things included ,was a coming famine, not the usual famine,but a famine of hearing the word of God. Such a thing has terrible, terrible consequences, an absence of God's word, If the Word of God is withdrawn or even corrupted,how are people going to be saved,for faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.the word of God (Romans 10 v 17) It is Alec Motyer who writes,' Have we got a Bible still in our hands? Let us prize it,read it and commit its precious truths to heart and mind. It is not an inalienable possession; it may may not be ours for ever. Is the Bible still preached in our church? Let us love to hear the Word of God;let us be urgent to bring others within earshot of it. It is not our guaranteed privilege;the voice of the preacher could be silenced.The truth of God is our only fence against error. In this as in everything else the way of strength is to keep close to God and to fear much, much more the peril of falling out of His power and truth than of  falling into the power and error of Satan'.

A dangerous thing to do. ( Genesis 17-26) 1

 Amos a prophet was sent to Israel and Judah with a message of judgement, to the surrounding nations ,and also a message  judgement. Israel and Judah and those nations could have escaped this judgement  if only they would  have repented of their wicked ways,but alas they didn't. God is a forgiving God,when Nineveh was under judgement for their sinful wickedness,they repented and God forgive them.Anyone no matter how wicked they are,God will forgive if they truly repent and seek forgiveness through Jesus.But alas  neither Judah or Israel would listen to God's servant who proclaimed the word of God to them.Indeed a so called priest tried to shut the prophet  up,and have him removed,but failed.( 7 v 10-17)  It is a very serious and dangerous thing to silence Gods voice, or try to,as we will see next time. 

                                                       ' Today, if you hear His voice,

                                                         do not harden your hearts.'

                                                                  Hebrews 3 v 7-8 .

What is it? ( Genesis 1 v 1}

 Alec Motyer said ,' The life which walks in the truth is impregnable',you cannot destroy truth,Martin Luther writing as  regards ,being justified by faith alone said,'on this I stand I can do no other',Think of all the religions  there are and have been, built upon lies,think about all political systems ,that are built upon lie's.If we have not truth ,we are believing a lie,or living a lie. People say silly unthought out things ,like ',it doesn't matter what you believe as long as your sincere'.That is not true,for it does matter what you believe no matter how sincere you may be.In the courts of law people swear on the Bible,promising', to tell the truth, the whole truth,and nothing but the truth,so help them God'.There is a certain very popular presenter of  wild life and nature  programs ,everybody loves and admires him,he is always mentioning evolution and telling us what he believes it does,but He does not tell us what it is. I forget to mention that he doesn't believe in God, not the God of truth,but the god that is a lie.

                                                   'In the beginning God created

                                                              All things,

                                                And that's the truth ,the whole truth

                                                   

Brokenness. ( Psalm 34 v 18 )

In Psalm 34 v18 we read,'The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit'.I was listening to that song by Leonard Cohen ,'Hallelujah, ' near the end of it ,we have these words, that all he could offer was ,'A cold and broken Hallelujah' ,these words struck a cord with me,in their honesty. God knows how we feel, and He wants us to be honest,and he will respect our sacrifice of praise,even though it may be cold and broken. Life brings many heartaches and often much brokenness, think of  those words ,'A cold and broken hallelujah'and the wonderful words that God is near the broken hearted. Don't  think God expects you be always full of joy and bubbliness, the most  meaningful prayer ever prayed was when our Saviours  heart was full of sorrow ( Matthew 26 v38 ) There is an old gospel song called,'The song of a wounded bird'. Here are the words from it.

                               Once I heard a song of sweetness, as it cleft the morning air,

                               Sounding in its best completeness,like a tender,pleading prayer.

                              And I sought to find the singer. whence the wondrous song was borne;

                              And I found a bird sore wounded,pinioned by a cruel thorn.

                            

                              You are told of one who loved you, of a Saviour crucified

                              You are told of nails that pinioned, and a spear that pierced His side;

                               You are told of cruel scourging,of a Saviour bearing scorn.

                               And He died for your salvation, with his brow against a thorn.

                               You are not above the Master; will you breathe a sweet refrain?

                                And His grace will be sufficient, when your heart is pierced with pain.

                                Will you live to blest His loved ones,Tho' your life is bruised and torn,

                                Like the bird that sang so sweetly, with its heart against a thorn.

We have a choice. ( Luke 12 v 49 - 53)

I want to hammer home why our great triune God choose to send Christ into the world,my  grandmother  used to say about some victim or perpetrator of crime ,'well they are  someones child'.Whose child are you? here is what Jesus called some,' You belong to your father the devil', (John 8 v 44). The apostle wrote to certain believers,before they knew Christ, he said ,that before they trusted Christ they were,' without hope and without God'( Ephesians 2 v 12. ) John writing in his gospel wrote the following,'To all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name,He gave the right to become children of God'.(1 v 12). The question is this ,are you in the devils family or God's family?,is Christ your Saviour or is He not your Saviour?. One writer wrote the following. 'Christs coming would inevitably mean divisions',those who were His and those who are not,no one can stand before the cross without making a decision,to accept Christ or reject Him.To stay as they are,or to become what they could be,children of the Living God,and wonder of all that means. Dear friend it is your choice.

I Wish . ( Revelation 21 v 1 - 5 )

 One of the things that happened when in that earthly paradise our first parents sinned,we lost our innocence,no longer would we look at things perfectly,no longer we would act perfectly.Sometimes I have a deep longing for that innocence we lost in that garden,to look on all things with unsullied eyes.To always have pure thoughts,and right motives,to be colour blind , to be sweet and nice,if only. It  was Louisa Fletcher,who wrote a poem called ,'The land of beginning again', here is one verse from it.

                                              ' I wish that there were some wonderful place,

                                                called the land of Beginning Again,

                                                Where all our mistakes and all our heartaches

                                                 And all our poor selfish grief

                                                 Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door,

                                                 And never be put on again'.

Of course we cannot go back, but as Christians we can look forward to the future when we will be part of that new existence we read about in book of Revelation were we have Christ declaring.'  I am making everything new'.21 v 5,in that day all our old sinful tainted nature will' be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door,and never to be put on again'.

                                                  

The clock is ticking. ( 2 Peter 3 v 8 - 13

David Prior makes this statement,'In Jesus Christ the end has come,the countdown has begun'.Before He left to go heaven ,He said, 'I will come back'. With every tick of the clock we are drawing nearer and nearer to His return,in Habakkuk 2 v 3 we read,'Though it linger, wait for it,it will certainly come and will not delay'.As we look at the world we see a deterioration,things progressively getting worse,I am not a prophet of doom and gloom, but things are not getting any better in this world.The scientist who have brought much improvement to this world have also given us much that can destroy it. There will always be those people who want to rule the world even if that means destroying it,we live on a knife edge situation. We have not much control over many things,we cannot control nature,nor can we control,the fallen nature of mankind,and its bent for self destruction. Everything we see now is not permanent ,they are but a shadow.The things that are not seen are eternal 2 Corinthians 4 v 18, yes everything you see now is temporal.The clock is ticking,the question is this, will you be ready? have you trusted Christ as your Saviour?

Hope ( 1 Timothy 1 v 1 )

 Hope is a wonderful thing, it is one the triplets mentioned in 1Cor 13v13, Leon Morris wrote,'Men cannot live without hope. In the first centuries Christianity made a habit of taking people from the depressed classes, slaves,women,outcasts,and giving them a living hope'. In the society we live in there are so many people who have so much of this worlds goods,and that is their only hope. I like what Leon Morris says.and I believe we should aim our evangelism at the, hopeless of our society .We are not here to give people health,wealth and prosperity ,we are here to give people hope not only for time but for eternity  ,that hope comes through faith in Jesus Christ.Behind the facade of prosperity that people long after, there is sadness, loneliness, pain, lostness, hopelessness.Recently I spoke to someone who is part of a pastorally team in a university,and he mentioned how so many young people are in crisis,mentally ill, and suicidal. We live in a broken world,filled with broken people,who have no hope,and don't know where to turn to,whatever hopes they have had, has crumbled into dust. Many years ago as a young man with nothing really to look forward to,I trusted Jesus and found hope.

Hope. ( Romans 4 v 18 - 21)

I heard someone say recently,'how he had learned not to give up on hope', I am sure many people have lost hope,as I look back on my life,there will be things I hoped for,that have not come to past.On hindsight,it was for the best,at the time it didn't seem so, if one is a Christian we realise that God knows best.I pray for many people to be saved day after day,faithfully,and yet it appears that none have been saved, should I give up?,no,not a hope ,God says he will have mercy on whom He will have mercy (Romans 9 v 15).We must remember as Leon Morris puts it,' Paul is saying that God's freedom is absolute.It is important to be clear that before God we have no rights. That is why mercy is so important for sinners'.None of us deserve to be saved, do remember that,so I keep praying in the hope  that there will be those who will be saved by God's mercy. Abraham is a great example of a man who believed that God would give him and Sarah  a child ,a special child,It was a promise given by God, and Abraham and Sarah believed it,and their faith was tested,but God was faithful to His word,for He cannot lie,and so Abraham was 100yrs of age, and Sarah was 90,and they had a child.

                                                          ' Hope on child of God'

Wrong doings or should I say. ( 1 John 5 v 17)

 It is the Roman Catholic church that have two classifications of sin,'mortal and venial',they see them as having different consequences. Most people don't talk about sin,even many preachers don't, and yet the bible speaks about sin often.Because most people are not Christians,they don't use the word sin,to them sin basically wrong doings, and are seen and judged on a human level .There main concern is the wrongs committed on humans by their fellow humans. Judgement only follows when people sin on human terms ,years ago when the death penalty was being passed,the judge would say,' and may the Lord have mercy on your soul'.and the good news is, He will ,if we call upon Him,and accept Christ as our Saviour. It is David Prior who has some instructive things to say about sin. He writes,'all sin is the same before God  we may speak of people being more wicked,or more righteous than others,but with God there is no distinction since all have sinned and come short of  the glory of God ( Romans 3 v23).  All sin is heinous to God , and all sin will be judged eternally,by a holy God ,which will mean, eternity in hell.

                                              'The good news is ,Christ Jesus came into

                                               the world to save sinners.'

Change ( Numbers 6 v 24-26

We live in a changing world,we need to adopt to change, some find it harder than others ,a man called Reinhold Niebuhr wrote a prayer on facing up to things that cannot be changed ,it goes like this.

                                                    'O God give us serenity to accept the things

                                                    what cannot be changed, courage to change

                                                     what should be changed,and wisdom to

                                                     distinguish the one from the other'

That is a very wonderful prayer,brings a challenge to all us,it brings two aspects as how we face change,the first one deals with what cannot be changed. Just before I started writing this daily reading,I received an email, as regards a young child who was very ill,it did not appear that she was going to live, alas I was informed she had died .There are so many things we cannot change, and will not change,sometimes we find that hard to accept that.So the prayer requests serenity ,to have a peace when  the difficult things that don't change,our Saviour said ,'ask and it shall be given you.'.

                                                

                                                                    John 14 v 27.

                                            

                                           ' Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you'

Half for-given. (

A man called Pusey wrote,'God does not half-forgive,so man must not half  repent',I am very pleased that God does not half -forgive ,and very relieved.To teach in anyway that God only half forgives sins,would mean leaving us under a cloud of guilt, and fear that I am not saved,having no assurance of eternal life. The thought that we are only half forgiven,  would undermine Christs atoning death,and would go against the clear teaching of scripture. It is in Hebrews, chap's 8- 10 in which it deals with the ineffectiveness of the animal sacrifices,and the effectiveness of Christs sacrifice. 8 v12 reads God declaring,' For I will  forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more'.Raymond Brown writes,' God remembers His mercy and forgets our sins.It is the devil who tries to remind us of both former sins and our present weakness'.It is the apostle John who writes in  Chap 1v9 of his  first epistle that,'the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sins'. It was Horatio G. Spafford who wrote the hymn ,'When peace like a river', the third verse reads.

                                            'My sin,O the bliss of this glorious thought !

                                             My sin,not in part but the whole,

                                             Is nailed to His cross and I bear them no more;

                                             Praise the Lord,praise the Lord,O my soul'

Bad places,bad people.( 1 Timothy 1 v 15 - 16 )

I read of Christians in Iran who have been sentenced to 10yrs in prison ,it is awful,yet it is,why ?well our Saviour made it clear it would happen,it goes with the territory (John 15 v 18 -25).We don't mention our fellow brothers and sisters suffering lightly, today its them ,tomorrow it may be us.One dear couple have been sentenced to serve time in a prison in one of Iran's worse prisons known for it severity on the inmates. I wander if God will use them to be witness'es in that dark evil place,it was CT .Studd   who used to say,''Some want to live within the sound, of church bells ; I want  to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell''.Gladys Aylward was a British born evangelical who was a missionary in China,during her time there she went into a prison where a riot was taking place,she stopped the riot,and God used her to bring a change in that prison. It could be that God may take us to the worst of places, and the worst of people,to be witnesses ,to be light in those dark places .

                                            Then I heard the Lord saying,''Whom shall I send?

                                             And who will go for us?' And I said,'Here am I.

                                              Send me!'

                                                                       Isaiah 6 v 8

                                              

Not now,later. ( Isaiah 55 v 6 - 7 )

A   Dr Piers Steel an expert at procrastination recently spoke on how one can stop daily dithering,that's what procrastination involves. Everyone is guilty of putting off doing what they should,not now but later.I remember a minister telling about a mother who used to stand at the foot of the stairs each morning,calling to her son to get up out of bed,she would hear him reply,'I'm coming,' but he kept lying on in bed. In her frustration  she cried out by saying,'will you stop your coming and come'.Recently a well known footballer,was disciplined by his club,for being late for his training session,seemingly he had fallen asleep. In Isaiah 1 v18 God is speaking,the first two words He say's is ,'Come now''. here is an invitation from God,come,and it is followed by ,'Now'.there is an urgency in this invitation,but alas we fail to respond, why the urgency?,if you are not a Christian,you stand in grave danger of going to a lost eternity.The minister was asking the congregation ,to shout out the blessings they had received,a lady who had been a Muslim,called out that she had got saved.In the light of the  uncertainty of life and the certainty of  death,I urge you to seek the Lord  Jesus while He can be found,call on Him while he is near(Isaiah 55 v 6)

                                                               'Don't procrastinate'

Where? ( John 3 v 36)

 Someone wrote of how,' many people lives exclude all personal spiritual dimensions, and are just content with a purely animal existence' That's very sad because we are not mere animals,we may live like that,and we may consider our pets as part of the family.There is nothing wrong with that ,all I would say is they are not part of our human family,there is a distinction between the animal and human family.Walt Disney and many nature programs,would break down the distinction between the human and animal family.Disney do it for fun ,and to entertain us,the nature programs are very serious in pushing forward the idea that we are all one that there is no distinction.In Genesis God made a difference,because we read that God said ,''Let us make man in our image'',(Gen 1 v 26 ). We also read that God has set eternity in humans hearts, (Ecclesiastes 3 v11).that is something we sense,the believers realises the reality of that by faith  in Jesus, and look forward to the glories  of being with God eternally.The unbeliever will also exist after death ,but not with God,and will exist under God's wrath for ever.So the question is this, where will you spend eternity?

Press on. ( Colossians 3 v 1 -4 )

 Paul is in prison,a Roman prison,for what crime?,of being a Christian,things have not changed,Rome no longer rules,yet many have stepped up to take their place.In many countries it is a crime to be a Christian ,there are political and religious powers where many Christians  are suffering,and dying, by those opposed to Christ. Such was Pauls experience,he would soon be beheaded,and under the Emperor Nero, many Christians would perish,horrendous deaths. Here is what  Paul wrote,to a beloved brother in the Lord.    'The time of my departure is at hand,I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.' For this warrior of Christ  was now going to be with Christ ,yes he had fought many battles (2 Corinthians 11 v 23 - 28).In spite of all he had experience,  he had never given up,he carried unto the end, and never once did he deny the faith,and so it was with confidence he was going to meet his death,but most important to to meet his Lord,and bask in the glorious rewards of heaven.So let us by God's grace, press on ,hold on , and strive on.

                               'I've wrestled on towards heaven, 'Gainst storm, and wind ,and tide,

                               Now like a weary trav'ller ,That leaneth on His guide;

                                Amid the shades of evening,While sinks lingering sand,

                                I hail the glory dawning, in Immanuel's land'.

                                                            A.R.Cousin.

Help. ( Psalm 121)

' 'What is the bravest thing you've  ever said?'' asked the boy.'' Help '', said the horse.' (from a book by Charlie Mackesy)It was the Beatles who sang a song called 'Help',here is part of it.

                                    '  I was younger so much younger than today                     

                                       I never needed anybody's help in any way

                                       But now those days are gone,I'm not so self assured ,

                                       Now I find I've changed my mind,

                                       And opened up the door.'

We all have heard someone saying,'' I don't need your help', you may have said that,I have a good friend ,her husband is old and frail,she has two helpers come in ,one in the morning, one in the evening.The one in the morning comes into shower him,and get him ready,they pay for this help.But here's the thing before the helper comes my friend gets her husband up,showers him,and gets him ready herself. My friend often complains how tired she feels,I wonder why?,so don't be afraid if you need help, ask, be brave,ask.There is someone whom I go to all the time for help,his name is Jesus,he can be depended on to help ,with the biggest and the smallest problems,get into the good habit of calling on Him to help you,He is exceedingly kind,and will gladly help you.

                                       'This poor man called,and the Lord heard him;

                                        He saved Him out of all his troubles.'

                                                       Psalm 34 v 6.

                                        

You are loved. ( Romans 5 v 8 )

 So Christmas is passed,and of course it was a time of giving and receiving of gifts. One of my sons give me a couple of gifts,aftershave and a nice pen ,which came in a lovely little silver {not real silver)casket which had these words on it,'Merry Christmas, Dad,much love ,John'. In  1 Cor 13, we are told of the importance of Love, in all that we do,the best gift God ever give was given out of love,that gift was Jesus (John 3 v16). Everyone desires to be loved,I praise God for his love, no one can say they are not loved,for God loves them.And it is so very sad that God's love is rejected by so many,it was Elizabeth Clephane who wrote

                                      'Upon that cross of Jesus,mine eyes at times can see.

                                      The very dying form of one, who suffered there for me;

                                       And from my smitten heart with tears,two wonders I confess;

                                       The wonders of His glorious love,and my own worthlessness.'

Yes we are loved by God who is love,let us who are Christians,rejoice in that love,and if your not a Christian, you can know and experience that love by accepting Christ as your Saviour.

He is not an absentee landlord. ( Isaiah 45 v 6- 7 )

 The outlook does not look good for very many people,many poor countries are suffering very badly,we have the war in Ukraine,recession is rampant,and there are many other things we could mention. As a Christian I believe  that God is sovereign,,in other words He rules over all things.Let us say right away that He just, and holy,and is working out everything  according to His will and His plan. (Ephesians 1 v 11 )I  want to quote a number things that Alec Motyer says in his commentary on the Prophet Amos,this prophet had a message of judgement for many nations, that included Israel and Judah.'  There is a divine and wholly just providence controlling world history. Calamity never falls without the directive hand of God. He is no absentee  landlord in relation to the world He has created;  He has neither abdicated nor  delegated His powers. He rules and He executes judgement.This is the God with whom this fallen,wicked ,rebellious world has to do'.God is on the throne,and the good thing is this, He will remember His own. that is important to remember,we are in His hands,let us keep our eyes upon Him.

Happy New Year. ( Psalm 23)

Here we are again,standing on the brink  of a new year, a whole year,  you may be asking the question  how will you cope.Our Saviour told us,'do not worry about tomorrow' (Mt 6 v34).He has been teaching how if we seek first God's kingdom and righteousness all will be well, it seems so simple,it is, but it brings with it a challenge.It means taking our Saviour at his word, that is one of  the most vital things we must do in our Christian life. The days ahead may bring change,as last year did, let us have confidence in our wonderful God and Saviour, in Joshua 1 v 9 ,we read,'Be strong and of a good courage for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go'.May those words encourage us all ,as we face the unknown future ,God is going to be with us, 24/7, every difficulty we face He will help us,whatever needs we have ,He will meet ,and when there are times when we feel unloved,remember He loves us,and that nothing can separate us from His love  (Romans 8 v 37 - 39 )                                                                     

 

                                                   'All the way my Saviour leads me;

                                                    What have I to ask beside?

                                                    Can I doubt His tender mercies,

                                                    Who through life has been my Guide?

                                                           Words Fanny J.Crosby.