Nothing hidden (2 Samuel 11 v 27)

 There was an entertainer called Dan Leon he was considered the funnst man in all the earth,yet Marie Lloyd a well known entertainer  said this about him,'Ever seen His eyes?the saddiest eyes in the whole world'.I think about Judas Iscariot it appears that none of the disciples had an inkling that he was going to betray Jesus,they knew that he was a thief (John 12 v 6) .Those three and a half years he followed Jesus, the seriousness what he attended to do was hidden from them, but not from Jesus ( John 13 v18ff) He knows all about us the hidden man,and our hidden motives. We read that Adam and Eve hid from the Lord,you cannnot hide from Him . Think how many murders have not been solved,we dont who did them,but God does,and all will be revealed in a coming day.Our Saviour said ,'For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed,and nothing concealed that will not be brought out into the open.(Luke 8 v17)You may have thought that you got away with whatever,not so.the great judgement day is coming, there is no escape from it,but we can escape the consequenes,by confessing our sin and asking Jesus to forgive us,and to be our Saviour

Stop your wandering (Luke 15 v 11ff)

 Before Isreal were about to enter the promise land,Moses spoke to them we read about it in Deuteronomy which means'second law' '.It is not another law but rather a faithful repetition and more detailed amplication of God's word that was given at Sinai'(The Bible speaks today)In  chap 4 v9,  Moses says ,'Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live'. 'He knows that,in their prosperity,they will quickly forget Him;only  adversity will bring them to their senses.When they have everything,they ignore the God who has filled their hands with innumerable blessings.Only when they have nothing will they value what they have lost.Despite the warnings, they will forget God; (Jer 2 v11- 13) yet despite their sins,He will not  forget them.Even when we forsake God,He does not fail us'. (B S T)  

                                                    'When I would  wander from the path astray,

                                                      Then He will draw me back into the way'

                                                                        'Words  Leonard Weaver'

Suffering and sin. (John 9 )

 In John 9 we read how our Saviour and His disciples came upon a man blind from birth,and his disciples asked the Lord,'Who sinned,this man or his parent,that he was born blind' and the Lord replied ,'neither this man or his parents',There was a reason the disciples asked that question, here was a man blind from birth,it appears some Jewish theologians  had a stange notion of prenatal sin,in other words he sinned in the womb.so Jesus cut across that thought.What about his parents ? Jesus cut across that thought also.It is interesting that Hindu and Buddhist religions believe in moralistic cause and effect,that an individual is personally culpable for their current station in life,whether incurred in this life or one previous.I heard a young who had cancer being told that the reason he has cancer, was because he had sin in his life.I know that sin can cause us suffering because it has conquences.But this does mean in anyway that we have sinned,it does not mean that because one is born in poverty,dire circumstances disabilities etc,that it is beause we have sinned.,not so.But as regards sin we all sin everyone of us, yes that blind man was a sinner nothing to do with his blindness,Jesus did heal him of his blindness ,and even greater news,as a sinner he trusted Jesus as his Saviour,why don't you do that .

More ( Luke 12 v15)

A poet called Horace who lived in the early period of the Roman Empire, said ,'We are just statistics,born to consume resources'.I think it is so true,we live in a consumer society, yes even as Christians,But is that all we are ,statistics? we read of our Saviour,who became poor,He chose the opposite way than most of us. Do we really  believe the poor are blest?,or that it is more blessed to give than receive ,is our Christian life costing us anything? We recently sang a hymn in church  with these words in it,'Take my silver and my gold,not a mite would I withhold;'I thought,do I really mean that,?Did a slight shudder go through the congregation did they really think  about what they were singing.?Im not taking the high ground,but I don't want be a statistic ,born just to consume goods,our Saviour does not want us to be like that.It is something we must think and pray about.

Leprosy ( Isaiah 1 v18)

When I think about Leprosy ,which I rarely do,I relagated it to the Bible ,we read about the laws on Leprosy in Leviticus 13 ff,and how God said it should be controlled v45-46.'Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes,let their hair be unkempt,cover the lower part of there face and cry out,Unclean! Unclean! As long as they have the disease they remained unclean.They must live alone;they must live outside the camp'. It is known as Hansen's disease,and it is thought to be transmitted via droplets from the nose and mouth,it is very contagious.I read this  recently in South and South-East Asia,about 200,000 new cases are diagnosed annually,yet there are millions as yet undiagnosed. The good news is it can be treated successfully, a drug was discovered in 1944 ,it was improved in 1981 so it can effectively cure this awful disease.Before that there was no cure,it developed slowly,and gradually ravaged the body.No one would dare touch a leper,or go near a leper,but in Matthew 8 v1-4,Jesus did, and when He did. the leper was healed.Michael Green writes, 'Never has there been a condition that so illustrated the spiritual condition of humankind. For sin is a terrible disease that seperates us from God,' there is no human cure, the one who healed the leper is the only one who can deal with sin and its consequences.

                                                 'So men today have found the Saviour able

                                                  They could not conquer passion,lust and sin;

                                                 Their hearts had left them sad and lonely,

                                                 Then Jesus came and dwelt,Himself.within'

He will remember, (Matthew 25 v 31- 40)

 Recently my wife and I were invited with a lot of others to a couples 80th birthdays,we have known then a long time.While we were there I saw a person,who many years ago had treated me to a day up in London.We hadn't to much money at that time,so it was much appreciated,he was a qualified barber so he cut my four boys hair ,free of charge.So I felt I should remind him of that and thank him,I also qouted Rev 14 v13 well part of it ,'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord......for their deeds will follow them'Let me just comment on those words,we may not be given any recognition for the good we do here and now,But God  takes note of our good works and He will reward all we have done, none of  us will loose out  all we have done for him will be  rewarded.

The Crown ( 2 Timothy 4 v 6-8 )

 'Reach for the crown',what crown? it was an advert for Rolex watches,the Rolex has a symbol on it,Rolex wathches are very valuable.But it made me think of another crown we read of  in 1 Corinthians 9 v 24-27,in that passage the apostle Paul contrasts two crowns ,the first was the crown of made laural leafs awarded to those who competed in the Greek games,the next one mentioned is a crown of righteousness which every believer will receive in heaven.Speaking of the first one ,the athletes crown  withers and fades it is a temporal glory.Whereas the other crown represents,'The blessings of heaven that shall be bestowed on the rightous,a crown that is unfading,and eternal. As Christians we have to be careful that we loose sight of  the greater glory that awaits us in heaven,for the temperal glories of earth.