Look up (Psalm 121)

 A.W.Pink said,'Remember dear reader that tomorrow will bring with it tomorrow's God',so why do we worry and fret?.Could it be that we take our eyes of God and focus just on the difficulty ,and we forget how He helped us in the past.Could be we are seeking for help in our situations at a horizontal  level,remember  what the Psalmist said in Ps 121 v1-2 ,'I lift up my eyes to the mountains,where does my help come from'. He does two things irrespective of the enemy of souls was saying to him,or what others were pointing out to him,the doom  and gloom merchants,nor does he look inward , no he looks up, he didn't look downward in despair,child of God  I  exhort to you look up.He then says as he looks up, he see's the mountains,how awe inspiring they are,but they are not as awe inspiring as the one who made the mountains ,and so he declares  my help comes from the Lord,the maker of heaven and earth, everything now falls into place. When we bring God into our dire situations, everything will fall into place

Adopted.( 1 John 3 v1)

In the book,'The Valley of Vision',I read,'O sovereign Lord,Thou art the Creator-Father of all men,for Thou hast made and dost support them; Thou art the special Father of those who know and honour Thee'. There  are two groups of people mentioned those have not trusted Jesus as Saviour, they are notconnected to God spiritually,God is a faithful creator,so He  causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good,and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous'  (Matthew 5 v 45 ) But the unrighteous our outside the spiritual  family of God,and receive no benifites spiritually,they cannot have a relationship with God who is Spirit.They are shut out from God while they live ,and when they die.All this can change  when one trusts Christ as  Saviour, then we are granted the right to become children of God,not born of natural descent,nor of human decision or a husbands will,but born of God ( John 1 v 12-13) The Bible speaks of the Christian being adopted brought about by the Spirit of God, ( Romans 8 v14-17 )that means we who were not  a people are now the people of God( 1 Peter 2v 10).Did we merit this ?no,it came about by  God's umerited favour.

                                                      'I'm accepted Im forgiven,

                                                       I am fathered  by the true and living God.

                                                       I'm accepted, no condemnation,

                                                        I m loved by the true and living God.

                                                        There's no guilt or fear as I draw near

                                                        To the Saviour and Creator of the world,

                                                         There is joy and peace

                                                         As I release my worship to you, O Lord'  (Words  Dave Bilbrough)

                                                         

                                                  

Them bones.( Epherians 2 v 1- 10)

In Ezekiel 37 the Lord brought  Ezekiel into a valley of dried bones,and he asked him a question,' can these bones live?.The bones repersented the spiritual deadness of the people of Israel,yes they were spiritually dead.What applies to to Isreal,applies to the unsaved of every nation ,all without exception are dead spiritually (Ephesians 2 v1),all unsaved can be likenend unto dead bones. As one watches sporting events with vast mulitudes of people looking on, what  does one see? most are dead bones. We must look with spiritual vision most people are  spiritually dead bones,every day I pray for dead bones.I see  people who have natual life ,but no spiritual life,and I hear the words that God spoke to Ezekiel,'can these bones live?'.Yes with God all things are possible Matthew 19 v26,So let us consider further what God said to Eezekiel,'Prophesy to  these bones and say to them,'Dry bones,hear the word of the Lord,this is what every preacher has to do,but we all have the same respomsibility.The word of God is vital ,for it will bring life and salvation,the natural creation came into being by God's word,so likewise  the new creation will come into being when the word of God is spoken.(1 Peter 1 v 23)Ezekiel obeyed God, the result was those very dried bones came to life and stood up on their feet ,a vast army'.Yes those dead dry  bones can live,with God all things are possibly,so let us be faithful and speak the word of God , and we will see those dead bones coming to life.

Habakkuk ( 3 v16ff)

Habakkuk the prophet reverently brought his concerns to God ,he spoke to God as to why He was not dealing with the sinfulness of Judah ,violence and injustice was rampant,and God did not appear to be doing anything .Habakkuk was a contemporary of Jeremiah who bravely challenged the kings as to their failures in not standing  for righteousness .One had to be brave to be a prophet ,for they had to tell the people not what they wanted to hear,but what they needed to hear.Habakkuk wanted action by God, it apeared to him that wasn't happening. When God did answer him,he had problems with that, judgement was coming in the form the army of the Babylonians,a very wicked and cruel people. Habukkak  was puzzeled with God's answer as to why he would use such  wicked people,When like Habakkuk we  complain to God,we want answers,you may hear what you don't want to hear.When Habakkuk considered the awful devastation that was coming,it overwhelmed him, ( 3 v16) but them his trembleing turned to praise and joy,for the Lord would be His strength (3 v19)There are times when like Habakkuk we wonder why,it appears to us that God is not doing anything,but He is. God's ways are not our ways,He knows what He is doing,also his answer to our why's as I have said, may not be what we want to hear,it may overwhelm us,but like Habakkuk the sovereign Lord will be our strength.

                                               'We go in faith, our own great weakness feeling,

                                                And needing more each day Thy grace to know:

                                                Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing;

                                                 We rest in Thee,and in Thy name we go.'

                                                                Words  Edith G.Cherry

 

I am rich ( 1 John 3 v1)

 There was a moment when a person said to  me ,'you are poor',it was true in relation to my financial situation.This was when my wife and I were at Bible college.People may have said we were very naive in me leaving my job ,with a wife and three children to support,with no savings.Looking back I can appreciate why they would think that,but the word of God tells us, 'that God has chosen those who are poor  in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith'. Yes that person was right,we were poor financially,but we were rich in faith,and God honoured our faith.Let us consider 2 Corinthians 8 v 9,'But 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 mignt become rich'.This verse tells us two things about Jesus,He was rich,where was he rich? in His heavenly kingdom,in John 17 v5,He  speaks of the glory He had with the Father before the world began.Then we read that He became poor when He came into this world not to be born of rich parents,or to live in a palace,but to be born into a poor family,why?,the answer comes in the next part of 2 Cor 8 v9,'So that you through His poverty you might become rich'.When a person trusts Christ ,no matter about their lowly status in life, they becaome rich,they become Children of God,with all the blessings that brings.

                                                        Once I was clothed in rags of my sin

                                                       Wretched and poor lost and lonely within

                                                       But with wondrous compassion

                                                       The king of all kings in pity nnd love

                                                       Took me under His wings (Words Gaither)

We need Him. ( Acts 17 v 24- 31)

 I heard someone say,'God needs us more,than we need Him', imagine a person who professes to being a Christian minister saying such a thing.The fact is God does not need anything,that man who said that doesn't know God  as revealed in His word.God has no needs,none whatsoever, but what is very evident we need God.He desires that we love Him ,obey Him,and worship Him,that is what is required of us,and it is only by the grace of God can we do this,remember what our Saviour said,'apart from Me you can nothing' (Jn 15 v 5) In Acts 17 v 24-25 we read,'The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands,as if He needed anything. Rather He himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.'God does not need anything from us,but we need Him totally for our existence. Saying God needs us more than we need Him,is making ourselves God,and believing that satanic lie, made to Eve (Genesis 3 v 4)When it comes to salvation many are deluded into thinking,that they don't need God to save them,blind pride is at the root of it all.The word of God tells us clearly our exsistence and our salvation is depended on Him.

The add on's. ( Psalm 119 v 128)

I heard someone say ,I love Catholics but I hate Catholicism,one could add to that by saying,I love Motmons but I hate mormonism,I love Jehovah witnesses,but hate Russelliam ,you get the picture.Our Saviour came because He loved people but He came to destroy and deliver people from false  religions.I notice that our king has visited the Vatican,to meet with the Pope,and to pray with him.There will be a lot of people would say that's wonderful, but is it?,a good question,as an Ulster man am I just being bigoted, the answer is no.Let me remind you of the five bases of the Reformation,'vScripture  alone/Grace alone/ Christ alone/  Faith alone /to the glory of God alone.In all those points the Roman Catholic Church are found wanting,One famous theologian was asked what would stop him being united with the  Roman Chatolic Church? he simply relied ,'the add on's',as regards scripture they treat church teaching,tradition, and the Apocryphal, on a par with scriptures.Which they are not,anything added unto scriptures will take us  away from the truth. As regards salvation they teach that faith in  Christ alone is not enough to save us,for them it is Christ plus works that saves/.Their teaching on Mary is no where to be found in scriptures,they call her mother of God,God does not have a mother,she was the mother of his humanity, they teach she was sinless,yet she said,'my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,in other words she needed to be saved. The adds ons will always be a barrier ,I do hope so,I have just touched on some of the errors of Catholicism.

Who are we trusting in? ( Psalm 46 v 1 )

In  2 Chronicles  14-16 we read of a king called Asa who was a very good king to start of with ,he did all in his power to turn the people of Judah back to God,exhorting them to seek the Lord and obey His laws and commands.He removed the false places of worship,he even removed his grandmother from her position as queen mother,because of her idolatry.And when he was faced with a foreign army equipped with many chariots ,and thousand of soldiers,he called  on the Lord and he gave him the victory.After the battle God spoke to him through a person Azariah,and this is what he said,'The Lord is with you when you are with Him.If you seek Him,he will be found by you,but if you forsake Him,he will forsake you'(2Chron 15v 2) Many people from Israel joined him,because they saw the lord was with him.But sad to say it didn't  last, for when another foreign  power attacked his country ,instead of seeking for deliverance from God,he went for help to a foreign king instead of trusting in the Lord.When a prophet challenged him as regards what he had done,Asa became angry with him and threw him in prison,and then he brutally oppressed  some of his people.Then he became very ill,but he did not seek help from the Lord,but only from his doctors,he eventally died.It seems to me that his stubborn will and pride took over,and he would not seek the lord.There is a very simple lesson we can learn from this as  Michael  Wilcock points out,'When Asa trusted the Lord  he was strong; when he did not, he was weak'

Are you starving your soul?

As I opened one of my daily readings ,I read these words,'The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid'  (Psalm 27v1)I am not particularly afraid  of anything at the moment,but have a concern as to people who are trying to lure me into given them opportunity of robbing me I speak of scammers.Coming back to that verse,plus others, they were like medicine to my soul.That started me of on a train of  thought as regards the Word of God, that word that brings peace into our souls,light into our darkness,comfort in our sorrows,encouragement in our struggles,and so we could go on.The scriptures are not just words they are God's words.When we read the Word of God ,He is speaking to us.When we neglect the Word of God we are neglecting  our souls well being,in a sense we are starving our souls,In  that wonderful hymn ,'Guide me ,O Thou great Jehovah',we have two lines that read,'Bread of heaven,feed me now and evermore'.Let us remember what our dear Saviour said,'Man shall not live on bread alone,but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'  ( Matthew 4 v 4)

Don't be fooled.( Lukw 23 v 39 - 43)

 R.C.Sproul said,'A lot of people think that all you have do, to go to heaven ,is die'  I have attended funerals and people think that. Can we assume  that people automaticly go to heaven,even though they have never accepted Christ as their Saviour.The answer is no,no matter how nice a person has been, that will not permit them to enter heaven. Surely  people may say thats wrong,the good people  merit the right to go to heaven ,they are not murderers,or wicked people,All this is based on human reasoning, not what God says, and when one leaves God out of the picture,we loose our way,and that can be very serious. First of all if we leave God out our lives ,then we will not get into heaven,it is not as if God does not want everyone to be saved, (1 Timothy 2 v 4)  And how do we know this? ,look to Jesus dying on the cross,ask yourself why did He died on that cross?,because we need a Saviour. Islam rules out that one needs a Saviour,that's tragic for we are all sinners.Islam is not on their own,many feel that way.But the evidence goes against it,we all our sinners,and what do sinners need? they need a Saviour,and there is only one Saviour Jesus.

                                                     'Come,ye sinners,poor and needy,

                                                      Weak and wounded,sick and sore;

                                                      Jesus ready stands to save you,

                                                      Full of pity,love, and power

                                                      He is able,

                                                      He is willing;doubt no more.'

                                                        

                                                       

Fear God .( Luke 16 v 19-31)

 Last time we considered v7 of Psalm 121,'The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil,and praise God He does,let us'thank Him for  looking after us, especially from evil that could destroy us. The verse does not stop there,for it goes on to say,'He shall preserve thy soul',how important is our soul? our Lord Jesus said,Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.Rather ,be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell',( Matthew 10 v28)We place great value on our bodies,and so we should,unfortunately the majority of people stop  there.They put all their efforts into preserving their bodies to the exclusion of their souls.Our  Saviour reminds us that our souls are eternal and to neglect them has grave consequences and He mentions what that means.Barnes  writes the following,'Men hath no power to injure the soul,the immortal part. The body is a small matter,in comparsion with the soul ,Temporal death is a slight thing, compared with eternal death; but to fear God, who can destroy both soul and body forever in hell'.

Preserved. (Psalm 121)

 A man I met recently told me he read Psalm121 everyday,I can appreciate that,because it is a wonderful Psalm.I often pray the words of v7,which reads ,'The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: He shall presetve thy soul'.I was caught up in a scam recently,believe me anyone can get caught up in a scam. I was just to pay for somthing,but I drew back,I could just as easily gone through with it, but I didn't,I believe Lord answered my prayer,and preserved me from  those evil scamers .His word is true ,He will preserve us from all evil.I am 81 yrs of age,I have done a fair amount travelling,and God has preserved me,how have I  lived this long?,the answer is God, preserving me,remember our times are in His hands Psalm 31 v15.One writer say's ,it conveys the belief and all events within it are in God's control'.

                                                     '  All the way my saviour leads me:

                                                       What have I to ask beside?

                                                      Can I doubt His  tender mercy,

                                                      Who through life has been my guide?

                                                      Heavenly peace ,divinest comfort,

                                                      Here by faith in Him to dwell!

                                                      For I know whate'er befall me,

                                                      Jesus doeth all things well.' (Words Fanny J. Crosby.)

The hidden things. ( Genesis 3 v 8)

 There are two verse I  would us to consider,the first one is Numbers 32v23,and the second is Luke 8 v17, the first has these words in it ' You may be sure that your sin will find you out'  we read of a man called Achan,who disobeyed the Lord by taking something he should not have taken,and in the end his sin was found out,and he suffered for it as God judged him.Joshua 7 v 18-25.A person on the internet comments, 'This verse is a reminder us that sin has consequences,and cannot be hidden forever ,'Hidden sins will find us out.' Let us remember that hidden sins are not hidden from God ,who sees all things,and knows all things,and  will judge all things.The next verse Luke 8 v17 was spoken by our Saviour ,it reads,  'For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed,and nothing concealed that will not be known or be brought out into the open'.Those  things that are hidden within us,are the lies we have told ,the dirty deeds we have commited .Judas Iscariot is the prime example of what our Saviour is talking about.he pretended to be following Jesus,he possible thought  ,that there was a pot of gold coming to him,at the end of his life instead all he recived was to take up his cross.I know a pastor who had immoral hiddeness in his life,but the hiddeness was discovered,he lost his job ,his reputation,and has brought shame on his family.I write this with great sadness,although you do not know him,do pray for him and his family,don'tt judge.

Beware of the devil's trap (2 Corinthians 2 v11)

 In 1 Timothy 3 v 7 Paul warns those who desire to be leaders in the Church ,of the danger of falling into the devil's trap,also in 2 Timothy 2 v26  he mentions this again. Our first parents fell into the devil's trap when they heeded what the devil said,since then the devil continues his evil actiivity  luring people into his trap.The unsaved are very vunerable in being  sucked into his trap ,through there sexual desires,there are millions of people are trapped in pornography,others are trapped into delusional thought patterns as regards gender.Others he catches through their pride there is a a spirit of pride in all of us,and the devil knows that,and he takes advantage of that.Wherever the devil see's a weakness,he will take advantage to trap us and bring us under his destructive power.There are Christians who in their hurtful pride  hold unto unforgiveness ,this makes them prisoners,so they will live with that,it is very painful to live with.Even the most Godly people can be lured into the devil's trap,people like David,and his son Solomon ,they both were caught in devil's trap,David escapted by his repentance,there is no evidence that Solomon did.

The otherness of God ( Romans 11 v 33 - 36)

'The otherness of God',what does that mean? I will share with you what I  have read,'God is so pure, matchless and unique that no one else and nothing else even come close.He is all together glorious ,unequallied in splendor and unrivallied in power. He is beyond the grasp of human reason,far above the reach of men,far above the reach of even the loftliest scentific mind'. He is infinite,His being and greatness have no limitations.Three qualities of God,He is 'All knowing/All powerful/ Supremely good' hopefully that gives you a degree of understanding of the,'Otherness of God'.Pharaoh said to Moses and Aaron ,'Who is the Lord,that I should obey Him',so spoke a man considered a god,in his blindness and arrogance . In Isaiah 55 v 8-9, reads,'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord.As the heavens are higher than the earth,so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts'.People don't accept what the Bible says about God,they stand as judge and jury when they talk about God,but Job wisely and humbly said,'Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,things to wonderful for me to know'(Job 42 v3)

                                                          'Before the mountains were born

                                                          or you brought forth the whole 

                                                          world, from everlasting to

                                                           everlasting You are God.'

                                                                     Psalm 90 v2

Not a practicing Christian, Luke 8 v1ff)

 I asked a man was he a Christian,he said he was,but he wasn't a practicing Christian,I asked him what he  meanth by that?,he replied he didn't go to church.  This all happened as I was having my covet jab,so I couldn't say to much.It is obivious by saying that he was not a practicing Christian, raised the question,is he a Christian? Can one be a Christian and not be a practicing Christian,?I don't think so, I know there are people who follow Christ a far off, for one reason or other, being hurt by other Christians,a tragedy,or unbelief .In Luke 8 our Lord told the parable of the sower', He tells how the seed fell on different ground ,some fell on the path,some fell on rocky ground.some fell among the thorns,and some fell on good ground. The seed that fell on the pathway didn't last long,they are like people who heard the good news,but that's about all they did,there is hearing and then there is listening,and  Satan takes advantage,and that's it.The next one,the seed that fell on rocky ground,yes they were tempory believers no depth.Next we have the seed that that fell among the thorns,the thorns represent many things. worries, riches and pleasure,and sadly they fell away.Last but not least,the seed that fell on the good ground are like people who responed in a positive way, Hendriksen describes them as those,'who kept clinging as to what they had heard.and produced a crop; for example,love,joy,peace,longsuffering,kindness,faithfulness, meekness,self control. (Gal 5 v22-23),unto their own inner joy,the conversion of souls. and God's glory'

Not the genuine article.( Luke 8 v17)

There was a song that was very popular years ago,written and sung and by Conway Twitty 'Here is part of it, 'People  see us everywhere,they think you really care.But myself I can't deceive,I know it's only make  believe'.We can easily fool people by the appearance we put on ,that doesn't tell the real story.An  extreme  example of that was Judas Iscariot nearly everyone thought he was a true follower of Jesus,even His friend  but he wasn't,but we have to add he didn't fool Jesus (John  13 v 21) Many thought Hitler was the answer to their countries problems ,he pretended to be,in the end he was'nt. King David lamented over a supposed friend he trusted who turned against him (Psalm 42v 9)There are many who put on a religious front, but  that's all it is,in some ways they are only pretending.they are not genuine. There are  many people who  tell their wives or their husbands how much they love them,yet are involved in adulterous affairs.Their are fathers who appear to outsiders to be a wonderful parent,yet he is abusing one of his children.Likewise there are husbands who appear to everyone as being a wonderful husband ,yet he is extremly abusive to his wife.Judas paid dearly for what he did,the word of God says be sure your sin will find you out,nothing is hidden from an all knowing an all seeing God,one day that veil of pretense will be torn away by God who is holy, on that day there will be no escape,from His judgement,Hell beckons,make no mistake about it,repent before it's to late,its your only hope,call upon Christ to save you.

Hope in? ( 2 Corinthians 1 v 8-10)

  It was Isaac Watts who wrote that lovely hymn,'O God our help in ages past',it is not wrong to look back and remember how our loving heavenly Father has helped us .It was David in his old age wrote,'I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread'.In Deuteronomy 32 v7 we read,'Remember the days of old',he is speaking to the people of God.A writer on the internet wrote the following '. Moses encourages the people to reflect on God's past works and actions as a way to find comfort and strength during a difficult time.God's past actions can be a source  of wisdom, guidance and encourgement ,and can teach us valuable lessons,and  strengthen our faith'.Part of the  last verse of that hymn reads ,'Our hope for years to come',people place their hope in many things, other than the word of God,in Psalm 43 v 5 the writer speaks to himself, I'm sure we all do that,so this is what he says'Why,my soul, are you downcast?Why so disturbed within me?Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him,my Saviour and my God.He repeats that again in verse 11, and also in the following Psalm  .Sometimes we have to remind ourselves  again and again ,and again, to put our hope in God,and in Him alone..

Good works ( Matthew 25 v 31ff)

 Just recently my youngest son had an operation,to have a kidney removed,because it had cancer,after the operation ,he could not to do very much,he experienced a lot of pain.We live at a distance from him,so his mother was there to support him,his wife suffers from a serious condition ,they have two young children.Here is a very positive thing,people in his the church  brought meals everyday to them.That's Christianity in action, a Christianity without good works is not Christianity,let me stress this, we are not saved by our works,only what Christ did on the cross saves.  In Ephesians 2 v8 we read,'For it is by grace you have been saved,through faith and this not from yourselves,it is the gift of God.' Jesus paid the full price for our salvation,our works cannot deal with sin,His death on the cross was  a sacrifice for sin, So as regards salvation that's it,but let us consider  Eph 2 v10 which reads,'For we are God's handiwork,created in Christ Jesus to do good works,which God prepared in advance for us to do'.It is James who writes,' show me  your faith' (James 2 v18),the good works are an evidence,that we are Christians.

                                                   'What good works has God prepared

                                                    for us to do today?'

The needy ( Proverbs 19 v 17)

When Israel came into the promised land God gave commands as regards provision  for the poor Israelites and non-Israelites in Leviticus 23 v 22 they are told when they harvested their crops,they had to leave a certain amount  for  the poor  Israelites and the foreigners.In Deuteronomy15 God declared that every seven years they were to cancel any debts owed to them by a fellow Israelite.God knew that could be a problem if the person came to borrow on the sixth year ,they would think they would not get their money back.If they did that God would hear the prayers of the poor, and declared what they  had done as sinful.God loves a cheerful giver. Nothing has changed,for we are told, in Galatians 6 v 9-10,'Let us not become weary in doing good,for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.Therefore as we have opportunity,do good to all people,especially to those who belong to the family of believers.'

He humbled Himself. (Philippians 2 v5-11)

 I wonder do we really  take in, the humility of our Lord, Let us turn to Philippians 2 v 6-8. it is all about Jesus ,who He was,and who He became ,and what He did. Lets  consider the opening words,

                                                     'Who, being in very nature God'

Can we stand back and consider what we are reading,remember the person who wrote these words ,Paul was a strict Jew,as were the 12 disciples,excluding Judas,and they all readily agreed what Paul wrote. What did Thomas say,'My Lord and my God!'  (John 20 v 28)This is a great mystery,no one can grasp fully the meaning  of it.Thousands of early Christians  were prepared to die ,because they would not confess  that Caesar was Lord,god's there are in plenty but they are not god's.Isaiah 45 v22 declares 'For I  am God,and there is no other,'The God we worship is a triune God,existing as one being, three co-eternal ,consubstantial ,whom we know as 'Father ,Son,and the Holy Spirit'They are all equally God one being ,yet distinct.In Hebrews 1 v 6ff,we read the Father declaring ,'Let all God's angels worship Him,and v8 declares.,'But about the Son he says,'Your throne ,Oh God .will last for ever and ever'. From the glory of that we read ,'He  made Himself nothing,by taking the very nature of a servant,being made in human likeness, and being in appearance as a man  He humbled Himself,by becoming obedient to death  even death on a cross'  

                                                  'His whole life was a life of humiliation.

                                                   But the lowest step of His humiliation

                                                   was His dying  the death of the cross'

                                                                  Matthew Henry

                                                    

                                                   

God Cares.( Matthew 25 v 31-46)

 In the land of Uganda there is a ,'Child Health Education and Rehabilitation Unit,'it is for special needs  children,it also has a strong emphasis on Christian witness.The name of this work is ,'ACHERU', the following is in brackets  (Afaayo,meaning God cares) One of the ways we know God cares is by God's children caring for others.It is not for the selective few to care for others,it is for all of us ,we should all be good Samaritans, good neighbours,and our lives should be full of Good works.(Matthew 5 v16);Let me just remind you that our good works have nothing to do with our salvation,the only work that saves us is Christs finished work on the cross. (Ephesians 2 v 8- 9)Verse 10 tell us that ,'we are God's handiwork',yes every bit of it,we are his new ceation ( 2 Corinthians 5 v 17) v10 goes unto to say that we have been,'created in a Christ Jesus to do good works,which God has prepared in advance for us to do'. How far in your list do good works fit in? our Christianity should have some degree of  good works ,It is James that stresses  that faith without works is dead,they are evidence that our faith is genuine (James 1v 18)So ask yourself what good works has God prepaered for you to do?

Unchanging one. ( Isaiah 41 v 10 )

I read this recently ,'The idea that, 'God is ever consant', these words signify His unchanging nature,   meaning His character,promises,and perfect being are immutable and eternal'. In Hebrews 13 v8 we read,' 'Jesus is the same yesterday,today and forever',and in Malachi 3v6 we read,'For I the Lord do not change', Linked together we see the Lord of the OT and the Lord of the NT are the same,a clear declaration of the diety of Christ,He is as one person puts it,'A foundation in a changing world'. Our dear Saviour said He would always be with us,that will never change.He will be us in the bad times,in our lonliness,in our failures,in times when we feel unloved,in our poverty,in our sorrow,when we are hurting. He tells us that He will be with us every moment of every day,not just be with us,but to help us,to undertake for us,care for us and love us,he will not turn to be changeable,no that's what we do,we are not consant,He is,he will never change.

Listening and doing. ( Matthew 7 v24-27)

 In most homes  we have mirrors,some Christian monastic communites  don't have mirrors they did this to combat vanity.I think I will get rid of my mirrors,every time I look in the mirror I see some old man, it surley can't be,I stopped asking who is the fairest in the land years ago,I never did get an honest answer from it .So lets turn away to something more profitable,to what James has to say, lets consider  1 v 22-25,  'Do  not merely listen to the word,and so deceive yourselves.Do what it says. ' It is not enough to say  ,that was a nice sermon,or I like that preacher,and not recognise the importance that just being a  hearer of what we have heard,and not putting that into practice.James further says, 'Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in mirror and after looking at himself,goes away and  immediately forgets what he saw'.It seems absurd that anyone could do such  a thing,but they do,let  us remember what Jesus told us in Matthew 7 v26-27,there He warns all of us against failing to do what He told us to do will bring serious consequences In James 1v25  we are told that those who act on what God has said will be truly blessed.

                                                   'To obey God's word it is better than

                                                    sacrifice,and it's also  rewarding'

                                                  

Anxiety. ( Psalm 23 )

 I must confess as I grow older I get a bit more stressed, a bit more anxious, especially as regards driving,Im all right locally,but I let my wife do the long distant driving. One could feel condemned and even judged by saying about being anxious,but I'm encouragd by what David wrote in Psalm 139 v 23 ,'Search me,O God,and know my heart; Try me, and know my  anxieties'Surely one would think that David the great warrior,the giant slayer would not be anxious about anything,but he was. It is not a sin to be anxious,it is what you do with your anxiety,that matters,remember God is not standing over us condemning us. When Moses was called by God, he was very anxious (Exodus 3), in Philippians 4 v 6-7,the apostle Paul writes.' Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known   unto God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus'.

                                                           'Take your anxieties to Him'

                                            

Grit ( Hebrews 13 v5-6)

A writer in one of my devotionals ,speaks about having grit,he gives examples of people who showed grit. One person describes grit as a combination of passion and perseverance,over a long time,decades, even for a life time. That sense of keeping ,right on to the end of the road,in spite of  all the difficulties,and obstacles one has to face. So that's it? , there is more to it than that,hear is what Moses said to God,'If your prescence does not go with us,do not send us up from here (Exodus 33 v 15)His  prescence makes all the difference.My youngest son was about to have a serious operation,he confessed that he was scared,so I texted him the words of Isaiah 41v 10,the opening words read,'So do not fear,For I am with you,' those words helped him.Yes me need grit ,but above all else we need His reassuring presence with us.Fanny Crosby wrote a lovely hymn, hear are two verses.

                                                     ' I must  have the Saviour with me,

                                                       For I dare not walk alone;

                                                       I must feel His prescence with me,

                                                        And His arm around me thrown.

                                                        Then my soul shall fear no ill;

                                                         Let Him lead me where He will,

                                                         I will go without a murmur,

                                                         And His footsteps follow still'

His kingdom come. ( Matthew 6 v 9-13)

I am just about to read another book called,'Fall of Civilizations', their  greatness and decline , I hope I am going to enjoy it.Think of the 'Babylonian Empire' it  lasted about 300yrs,the Roman  Empire lasted about 500yrs. the British Empire lasted nearly 400yrs.Hitlers third Reich lasted for 12 yrs in stead of the 1,000 yrs that Hitler declared.These are just a few examples of the many empires that have been and have gone,they had all this in common,a beginning and an  ending. In 2 Corinthians 4 v 14 ,we are told that what is seen is temporary,that includes kingdoms.There is a kingdom that will have no end, it is the Kingdom of God,in  Daniel 7 v 27 we read ,'His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,and in Luke 1 v33,an angel  declared 'His kingdom will never end.' Rulers of earthly kingdoms are but brief players on the stage of history,as we all are.But the Kingdom of God is everlasting  and the one who rules that kingdom is none other than the eternal Son of God. Let us rejoice in the glorious future that we God's children will have in that eternal kingdom.

One day at a time . (Galatians 6 v 9-10)

 John Harrison said ,'Live everyday as if its your last,each day is a gift;' yes its a good reminder ,but the Christian does not stop there,life here is very important, it is gift from God,for in Him we live and move and have our being,as Christians we are to live each day to the glory of God.Remember our deeds and our words follow us into eternity,how will they be judged CP 1 Corinthians 3 v 10-15.There the Christian is not being judged for their sins,but the true nature of all that we have done,it speaks of  rewards v14.We are to live everyday in the light of Christ's coming,we know not the day or the hour of His coming. The world, the unsaved are in for an awful surprise,the Christ they opposed,the Christ they hated,the Christ of  their own making,yes there are mulitudes who will see not a prophet but a Saviour,but He will not be their Saviour he will be their judge .Yes each day is a gift, and that gift is from God,lets not waste it,every day opens opportunities,to do good,to encourage and  help someone,there is an old song goes,

                                                       'If I can help somebody ,as I pass along

                                                        If I can help somebody with a word or song

                                                        If I can help somebody,from doing wrong

                                                         No, my living shall not be in vain'.

                                                                  Words Alma.B. Androzzo