A false god ( Psalm 23 v 1)

In the OT we have false gods mentioned,one of them was Baal,the meaning of their name is,'Master/Lord/,Possessor. Gordon Bridger writes that  Baalism was a prosperity religion,a  sexually  corrupt religion,a frenzied religion, and a cruel religion. The prosperity religion was a belief  based on the pleaseing and stimulate him,and if you did that you would have prosperity .This reminds us of the modern prosperity gospel people, to their shame,you gave and the greater prosperity you will have,the more you give the greater the prosperity.Sad to say it is preachers of this so called gospel are millionaires,and they glory in that.I have never heard any of those prosperity preachers, preach the true gospel.Jesus said 'Give,and it will be given to you.A good measure,pressed down,shaken together and running over,will be poured  into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you'.GB  writes,'Such open-heartedness does not go unrewarded- but the essence of it is that  this must never be our motive for our giving.Paul wrote ,'I have known hunger and thirst and have often  gone without food; I have been cold and naked'  (2 Cor11 v 27) But he also wrote ' And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus'.that word 'needs' is important to remember.

Temptation (Matthew 26 v 41)

 Someone said,'It is never easy being a Christian',we must not be surprised at the difficulties we may face, there will always be challenges.One of the worst things we have to face is ourselves,the enemy within, when we are faced with temptations,always remember being tempted is not a sin, when you yield to it,it becomes a sin ,I remember a verse the Lord give me as regards temptation,it reads,'The temptations in your life are no  different from what others experience.And God is faithful. He  will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted,he will show a way out so you can endure.' ((1 Corinthians 10 v13) 'All you need to remember is that God will never let you down;  he'll never let you to be pushed past your limit;he'll always be there to help you come through it'. So call on him when you are tempted,he will not fail you.

Our greatest need ( Luke 3 v 7)

 I went out with my wife to a once every year agricultural show,but it had many none agricultural things going on,like a large tent with different stalls in it.I went to look at paintings displayed,there were a lot of them and they where very good.I started  up a conversation with man who painted them,he wasn't very friendly,but I persevered ,I asked him how he was and it turned out he had cancer.I then asked him had he ever thought about God,he said no,he then went on to tell me that his wife had died suddenly,and he blamed God for not doing anything. I mentioned death and the importance of knowing God,and that there is a heaven and there is a hell.That finished the conversation,but I managed to say I would pray for him which I have.I wondered if I should have said something else,but it was not to be. His greatest need is to be saved,and that goes for everyone,I am responsibly  not to tell people  what they want to hear,but what they need to hear,I do not want people to go to hell,but they will if they do not know Christ as as their Saviour.

What we really need( John 10 v10)

Last time I brought to your attention that the bible is a history book and a religous book ,from Genesis to Revelation we have a sovereign God at work.It is God's world,most people forget this,or reject it ,God made us in  his image,but he also made us for himelf.We were meant to live in perfet harmony with Him, he placed eternity within our hearts,we were never meant to be seperated from him.That bond between God and man changed drastically a seperation from God took place because of sin.The holy one. God could not have fellowship with us ,sin blinded us to the fact that our greatest need is God, after all we were made for him, A Christopher Walken wrote,'We are born alone,we die alone,we spend our lives looking for something,some connection,that's all we want'.There is more lonliness around than you think. That great Christian Agustine  touches on it ,when he said,'You have made us for yourself,O Lord and our heart is restless  until it rests in you'.We touch on two aspects of life, lonliness, and restlessness,let us consider the first one ,lonliness,God said it was not good that man should  be alone,so he give him a wife,we do need friendship,but it must not stop at human friendship, we also need God's friendship and companionship,that is vital.Then there is restlessness,look out on this world, it is a restless world.Solomon was a very restless man,so he tried everything and he declared,'All is meaningless, a chasing after the wind'(Ecc 2 v 17)Our Saviour said ,'Come to me,all you who are weary and burdened,and I will give you rest,.....For I am gentle and humble of heart,and you will find rest in you souls'(Matthew11 v 28-29)

The Bible ( Genesis 1 v 1)

When I went to Bible college ,one of the first courses we did was,'Old testament history and religion'. the Bible is a history book,none of it's history is made up,they are real events and real people,and there is a wealth of archeology findings that prove it.Adam and Eve were real people, kings such as David,Omri, Ahab,Jehu, Hezekiah,really exsisted,and as regards our Saviour and his death and resurrection there is plenty of evidence.There is evidence of so many things, yes the Bible is a book  of real historical events.But it is also a religious book that is woven into all the recorded events,It is about God  and humanity ,and humanities  beginnings and all that followed.It tells us of a God who created all things,and the jewel of His creation was humanity,it starts with a man and a woman.Here is a very important aspect to what I'm saying,it gives meaning to our exsistence,remove God then there is no meaning .It also helps us to understand how evil came into being, and how it has effected everything,especially humanity. No longer are we innocent we are born with a sinful nature. 

Tomorrow ( Luke 12 v 16-21)

Proverbs 27 v 1 reads,'Do not boast about tomorrow,for you do not know what a day may bring' ,they are very wise words.They apply to everyone to the Christian and the non-Christian, none of us should boast about tomorrow,there is an old saying which goes,'here today gone tomorrow' but the question is this,gone where?. that's food for thought.Most  people do not give much thought about it,you do not hear even Christians saying DV (Latin for God willing).James touches on it in his epistle chap 4 v13 - 16,speaking of people making boasts about tomorrow,he calls them arrogant. He is writing to Christians,who should know better,we should live in the fear of the Lord daily.Hezekiah knew the day he was going to die,most of us don't,but the fact is we all know that we are going to die.Charles Bridges writes, 'Tomorrow is finely described as an unknown birth,it may be eternity.'If you are not a Christian ,heaven and hell must be taken seriously,dont take tomorrow for granted,be prepared by trusting Jesus as your Saviour.And if we are Christians let us not walk in arrogant pride,but set our hearts and minds on things above,not on earthly things Colossians 3 v 1-3,and indeed on our coming Lord .( Luke 12 v37)

No never alone (Isaiah 43 v 1-3 )

 I was listening to the song,'Bridge over troubled waters',and I lifted my voice to God,and said,'You have been my bridge over troubled waters.Life has it's time of troubled waters,and we have to cope,but as a Christian we do not cope alone.God is with us in the good times and in bad times ,the times when everything is well and when times are difficult.There are none so faithful as He is,remember what he says, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you' ( Hebrews 13 v 5) the NIV puts it this way,'Never will  I leave you; never will I forsake you'. I like the double emphasis it gives to it an intensity  stressing the importance of what He is saying.  When everything is collapsing around us, be still and know that he is God and though all forsake us he will not,The apostle Paul was facing difficulties,and that everyone had forsaken him,but he declared the Lord stood by him and gave him strength' (2 Timothy 4 v 16-17)