Courage ( Psalm 23)2

Now let us consider the next aspect of the serenity prayer ,it begins with the word 'Courage', for what?,'to change the things I can'.the question is what are the things that need changing in our lives?.I puzzled about this,you know, and God knows ,what are the things in your life that needs changing, What about fear?,now fear is a good thing,the fear of the Lord is a good thing,we are told as regards the unbelievers that ,'There is no fear of God before their eyes,' (Romans 3 v 18)And so they do all sorts of evil,sinful things,a man said to me recently I'm not a bad person,and I replied yes you are more than likely a better person than me,but you are still a sinner,this is what our Saviour said,'I will show you whom you should fear,fear Him (God)  who after your body has been killed,has authority to throw you into hell,Yes ,I tell you fear him'. (Luke 12 v 5) .God is to be  feared but God is also merciful,and he will show mercy  through Jesus Christ,who died for sinners, Now dear Christian, how big a problem is fear in your life?,Are you being being ruled by fear,we will all feel fear,but is fear ruling your life?God has not given us a Spirit of fear,but of power and of love and of a sond mind . (2 Timothy 1 v7) 

                                                      ' Don't be afraid,for I am with you.

                                                        For I am your God,I will strength

                                                        you and help you.I will hold you .

                                                        up with my victorious right hand'.

                                                                      Isaiah 41 v10

Our helper. (Psalm 121)

Psalm 21 starts ,'I will lift up mine eyes to the hills,from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord ,which made heaven and earth' The NLT puts it like this,'I look up to the mountains-does my help come from there?' and there is a resounding no to that, and his answer is this,'My heip comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth'.When the enemy of our souls is pressing in upon us which he will,he will do all he can to frighten us and discourage us.When trials are pressing in upon us let us look to one who made heaven and earth,is there anything to hard for Him to sort out,no,there isn't,'He can do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think' (Ephesians 3 v20) He is the helper of the helpless, and the  hopeless,when other helpers fail and comforts flee,so let us trust our great creator.

This poor man (Psalm 34 )

Psalm 34 is very instructive psalm,with many lessons to teach us,it is written by David,it speaks of him being delivered v6 reads,'This poor man cried,and the Lord heard him,and saved him out of all his troubles'.What does he mean by declaring himself a poor man? after all he was the man ,who slew the giant ,who went on to be a great warriour, and yet he calls himself a poor man.Well it is in Matthew 5 v3  our Saviour said,'Blessed our the poor in spirit,'What does it mean to be poor in spirit,one writer puts it like this,'It refers to those who recognize their spiritual poverty,humility,and absolute dependence on God rather than relying on self sufficency or material wealth' Our Lord is stressing that when we come to God for salvation we acknowledge that we are spiritual bankrupt,and we cast ourselves on the mercy and grace of God .But it doesn't stop there,that is the attitude we must have all our lives,like David we will always be poor in spirit. That confession by David  meant the Lord heard him,and saved him out of all his troubles, yes all his troubles,God does not do things by half.

Knowing God ( Psalm 23 )

Let us consider psalm 23,the best known of all the psalms,verse 1 reads,'The Lord is my shepherd I lack nothing',the AV,reads,'I shall not want.' It is a personal declaration of his relationship with God,God is not an impersonal being,he is not an isolationist,cold and indifferent ,no he desires a relationship with us humans.If you don't know Him personally then you don't know Him,and the only way we can know him personally,is by asking Jesus to be ones Saviour.John 1 v12 we read, 'But to all who believed him,and accepted Him,he gave the right to become children of God'.If we dont know Him we are not Children of God. And when we do know Him,then we shall not want,He will provide for us,and we will lack for nothing,He is the great provider, looking after all His childrens needs. Next verse reads 'He makes me to lie down in green pastures', here is a word for all you workaholics,you who are busy,busy,busy,don't be surprised if God intervenes in your life and makes you to have needed rest.In Mark 6 we read how the disciples were very busy,to busy,and Jesus spoke to them and said,'Come aside by yourselves .....and rest a while'.

                                                           'We are not machines

                                                             we need rest'

Our greatest need (Acts 16 v31)

 If I was to ask someone who are the heathen,what would they say?,if I was to ask you what would you say?. A Dr.Robert A. Morey writes the following,'The proper definition of ''heathen'' is any and every unbeliever. We must not allow people to assume that the word ''heathen'' refers only to the primitive peoples of the Third W.orld. The unbelievers  who live in New York or London constitute the heathen just as much as the Hindus or Australian bushmen'.We must grasped the breathe of Romans 3 v 10, 'There is no one righteous,not even one;' this is followed up describing what that means,' No one understands;there is no one who seeks God.All have turned away they have become worthless ; there is no one who does good not even one',The natural man does not seek after God,I have found it so,only if God moves by His Spirit,will people seek after God. Turning away from God,results in moral corruptness,So follows the evil that proceeds from their tongues,and v15 describes the violent nature of man,who can argue against that.V16-18 things don't get any better,'Ruin and misery mark their ways,and the way of peace they do not know,and there is no fear of God before their eyes' v23 tells us 'that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God' This is a very dark picture painted here, so don't tell me that humanity doesn't need a Saviour,or put it personally,that you don't need a Saviour,that Saviour is Jesus.

What we must do. (Psalm 37)

Psalm37 was written by David when he was an old man, v 25 which reads,'I have been young,and now am old; yet have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread'.What a tremendous testimony to God's faithfulness,as to God's people and to their children.Like David I'm and old man  and I can say amen to what David has written,he has provided for me and my family,we have been in some tight spots in our lives,but God has been faithful. In v3 we read ,'Trust in the Lord and do good;if we do that ,then goodness will follow us from the Lord. v4 reads ,'Delight thyself in the Lord;and he shall give thee the desires of your heart'.Jesus said 'seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you'

(Matthew 6 v33). v4 reads,'Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him;and He shall bring it to pass'. Those three verses tell us a number of things,what we must do,'trust in the Lord,' delight thyself also in the Lord', Commit are way unto the Lord'.When we do this then we will see what God will do.

A slimy pit experience (Psalm 40 v1-3)

Let us consider Psalm 40 v1-3,the psalm was written by king David who appears to be in great difficulties ,and what did he do in his difficulties?He turned not in a half hearted way to God,for we read ,'I waited patiently for the Lord, the NEB puts it like this,'I waited,waited,',often prayers will be answered immediately CP Isaiah 65 v24,but often when we pray patience is called for,even though our situation is desperate, but God never comes to late in answer to our prayers,so it was in Davids experience,and it  can be yours. Verse two tells us how desperate his situation was, here is what it says 'He lifted me out of the slimy pit,out of the mud and mire', there is no pit no matter how slimy it is,that God cannot save us out of.That goes for the saint,and the sinner,but he does not just lift us out our horrible pit,he sets our feet on a rock .the words of a hymn comes to mind,they read,'On Christ the solid rock I stand ,all other ground is sinking sand'.Verse 3 reads ,'He put a new song in my mouth,a hymn of praise to our God,' In Ephesians 5 v 19 we read,'Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord'. And if people hear you singing,and they ask why your singing,you can tell them the great things the Lord has done for you

                                                    'Hold on joy comes in the morning'