Keep on knocking (Luke 18 v1ff)

In Matthew 7 v 7 our dear Saviour speaking as regards praying said the following,'Ask and it will be given to you;seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you'.A Jewish Rabbi said the loveliest things about prayer,'God is as near to his creatures as the ear to the mouth''Human beings can hardly hear two people talking at once,but God,if all the world calls to him at the one time, hears their cry' We need to hear that, God cannot be crowded out,he hears your faintest cry, and he deligths to hear his children come to him in prayer.Now let us think about this verse,were there are three things stressed.'Ask,Seek,knock'.in relation to your prayers, it is stressing that we should not give up,in Luke 18 v1 Jesus tells a parable to show that we should always pray and not give up.A widow came to a judge for justice,he neither feared God nor cared  what people thought.He kept putting her off,but in the end she would not give up,and in the end he saw to it that she got justice .God is not like that judge he gladly hears our prayers,and will answer them according to his will,but  we need to be persistent,we should keep knocking on heavens door,could be he wants to test our faith,so don't give up.

Meaning ( Mark 8 v34-37)

 Charles W.Colson  a 'Attorney and former White House Counsel,became known as President Nixon's hatchet man,was sent to prison for his involvement in the Watergate scandel.But the good news he came to know Jesus as his Saviour,he later became the founder of ''Prison Fellowship'' ministeries.He had a very successful law firm,at the peak of his power he said,'I found the good life empty and meaningless.He goes unto say,'What do you do when the party is all over? In our heart of hearts,all of us understand that there has to be something more to life than money and fame.We have to see these counterfeits for what they are- fool's gold'.

Love (1 Corinthians 13)

1 Corinthians 13 is one of  the most beautiful yet challenging passages in the Bible,the first three verse stresses that no matter what gifts we gifts we have be it in speech ,gift of being able to prophecy,or faith that can move mountains.Or are very generous in giving, or give my body to be burnt at the stake,it is all pointless if we do not have love.v4-6 It goes on to describe the qualities in love,'Love  is patient William Barclay describes it as being patient with people not patient with circumstances. Recently I visited a Christian whose wife has dementia ,and noticed how patient he was with her.it should be for all of us,that we manifest patence as  W B writes 'we must exercise the same patience as God exercises with us'.The last one we will  look at is kindness , Christians above all people should be kind,Philip the second of Spain was very religious yet he founded the Spanish Inquisition,again  WB writes 'So much of Christianity is good but unkind'This world needs more than ever kind people,we should as Christians be at the head of the queue.

Pierce my ear' ( Exodus 21 v 5)

In Deuteronomy 15 v12-18 we read that if a person had fallen on hard times,he  could sell himself  as a slave for six years to someone.It was God who laid out the terms,he said on the seventh year they had to be released.It was not an oppressive thing it was a means of helping people through hard times. When they were released the master of the slave had to give the slave a generous farewell present. Raymond Brown writes,'The servant must be allowed to leave his masters house in style''.It was a very fair system,there was no abuse involved,but say the person did not want to leave,because he loved his master, he had to submit himself to a simple ceremony of being taken to a door and having his ear pierced a sign of willing submission. Steve Croft wrote a song applying it to our relationship with God,it was called ,' Pierce my ear.'

                                                           'Pierce my ear,oh, Lord, my God

                                                           Take me to your door this day

                                                            I will serve no other God

                                                            Lord ,I'm here to stay.

                                                            For you have paid the price for me

                                                            With your blood  You ransomed me

                                                             A free man I'll never be.'

                                                         

How ( Isaiah 46 v 4)

 In Deuteronomy 29 v 5 - 6Think  reads 'During the forty years that I led you through the wilderness,your clothes did not wear out,nor did the sandals on your feet. You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink.I did this so that you might know that I am the Lord your God'.Israel was rescued out of slavery,the journey to to the promised land would take 40 yrs,it should have taken much less than that, but because of their unbelief they were punished  . Yet in the end, God brought them through  into the promised land,God carried them as it were on eagles wings.I am 82 for 62 yrs God has carried me through,yes it is God who brought me through. and he is the one who has brought you through.The hymn writer wrote, Through many dangers,toils,and snares I have already come,'How? by Gods grace,He has brought us through, He will not change ,He will bring us through all out tomorrows He will continue to bring us through ,for He has said  ,'Never will I leave you;never will I forsake you',( Hebews13v 5)

Imagine ( Matthew 7 v 7-8)

A team of people were involved in personal evangelism ,and one of the spoke to a young man we will call him John.Later the evangelist returned to the team and he told them about John,and he said I would love to talk to John again,and at that moment there was a knock on the door and it was John,He said he wanted to talk to the evangelist about Jesus.There is verse in Isaiah 65 v24 which reads,'Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear'.God  knows all things he knew what the evangelist said,and what he desired, Psalm 37 v 4, reads,'Take delight  in the Lord; and he will give you the desires of your heart'.What are the desires of your heart?,are they in keeping with the will of God,the evangelist desire was,for we read that God wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth' (1 Timothy 2 v 4).But let me just say God knows the best time to answer our prayers,sometimes it is instant ,sometimes it is wait.But rest assured His ear is opened as regards our prayers to Him, and if it is his will He will grant our request.

Love ( Matthew 10 v 37)

We often hear the words ,'I love',it can apply to many things,in fact the list is endless,take smoking there are people who love smoking inspite of the fact that smoking can kill.People love gambling but it can lead to disaterous consequences,yes there are so many things  we love that can harm us.Eve fell in love with the forbidden fruit, think of the awful problems that caused.People love sex to a point that they can become enslaved to so many depraved things.Love of one 's country is fine yet many people have done awful things for the country they  love.Think of the awful things people do out of love for their religions .Are you a slave to that kind of love,the God we worship ,that is the God of the Bible is a God of love,his is true love. It is also a holy love,it means that He does not ignor evil,he will judge the wicked,for he is a righteous God.We read in Exodus 34 v7 that He is compassionate and forgiving,but He will not by any means clear the guilty'.He has out of a heart love provided a way for us to be saved through his son Jesus.