Barriers ( Mark 10 v17-27)

 A wealthy person came to Jesus and he asked him a question,'Teacher,what good thing must I do to get eternal life'.Matthew19 v 16ff. Jesus took him as it were on a journey,stripping away, challenging him,that there was no one good only God ,the young man confessed that he was very religious,but then religion  will not save us,as he would soon find out.This is what Jesus said to him ,'sell your possessions and give to the poor,and you will have treasure in heaven.Then come,follow me' sad to say he wasn't prepared to do that,for he was very rich.Jesus loved this young man (Mk 10 v21)Jesus went on tell how hard it was for a rich person to enter the kingdon of God.The disciples were amazed a't what Jesus said,and asked him who then can be saved? Jesus looked at them and said ,'With man this is impossible,but not with God;all things are possible with God'. The young man asked Jesus 'what good thing must I do to get eternal life',it is not what we do that saves us,only God can save us,we must remove the barriers first ,then God will save us.

                                                            'Nothing in my hands I bring.

                                                             Simply to Thy cross cling:

                                                  

His eye is on the Sparrow (Psalm 34 v15 )

 Psalm 91v 4 ,reads, 'He will cover you,with his feathers,and under his wings you will find refuge;'These words are spoken by Moses.They are words of comfort and assurance  spoken to Israel, they are being reasured of God tender care,One commentator writes the following,'That those who live under the protection of the most high God, who will be their refuge and fortress'.  Spurgeon writes,'Under these wings,therefore,four blessings are conferred upon us. (1) We are concealed;(2) Under these  we are protected from the  attack of the hawks and kites,(3)Under these a salubrious shade refreshes us,and wards of the overpowering heat of the sun; (4) Under these also we are nourished and cherished' In v2  'My God,in whom I trust'.He writes in v5 he declares not to fear the terror of night,night is often when thieves and robbers do their dirty work.Likewise the dangers by day''.There is so much in this Psalm to encourage us in the difficulties we meet in Life,God will be there watching over us,I read the following ,' A Christian couple were visiting a bedridden woman and her disabled husband , When asked how they remained so joyful  despite their hardships,Mrs Doolittle replied' His eye  is on the sparrow,and I  know he watches me''

Infinite ( John 3 v16)

 There are some words that have  facination about them, like,' Infinity',what does it mean?,are there examples of infinity?,I would say the only example is God.What does it mean?'It has with it a quality or state of being boundless ,limitless and endless with no beginning or finish. If used of God,as having no limits,boundaries or measure in His being,power ,wisdom,or character.He exist without a beginning,an end,or an origin.1n 1 kings v27 we  read,'But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold ,the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee'.  Psalm 147 v 5 reads ,'Great is our Lord,and of great power; his understanding is infinite.' God is infinite in Isaiah 40 v25 ,God asked his people,'To whom them will ye liken me,'the fact is no one can be likened unto God,that is why we are told in Exodus 20 v 4'Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath,or that is in the water under the earth'.Let us consider the great mystry of the incarnation, when God the Son stepped into planet earth as a babe,that truly is awesome beyond words,but it does not finish there,that babe came for a purpose , an astonishing purpose,he would die on a cross ,so that our sins could be forgiven,He did this because He loved us,so if we believe in him we would not perish,but have everlasting life.

Thrown unto the scrap heap. ( Psalm 92 v 14)

 At this time of the year,the weather has changed,we are in the season called Autumn,it brings a change,it becomes  colder ,the leaves on the trees change colour,and then they fall off.Life has it's seasons and the season brings change into our lives,and sometimes it is hard to adopt to change,but we have to .The season of old age  brings phyisical challenges,but it does not mean that we are to be thrown unto the scrap heap.I spoke recently at a church,they are recovering from a bad experience,they have no pastor at this time,the pastor they had ,caused division ,he was just concerned about the young people,it appears he did not want the old people in the church. It is interesting that leaders in the church in the NT are called elders, I believe we need  all age churches,each generation can contribute so much to to the church,they all can enhance the church.I don't think as an old person I should be thrown on the scrap heap,I  don't think anyone should be thrown on the scrap heap,God values all of us,and so should we.

Who is the guilty one? ( Ephesians 2 v 1-10)

 Darius became the King of Babylon and during his first year ,Daniel reads from the scrptures,and the words from the prophet Jeremiah that the captivity in Babylon,they would return to Israel after 70yrs,and so he prays to God .  (Chap 9) It is a prayer of repentance for Israels past sins that brought God's judgement upon them.He puts the blame on Israel for what has happened and he includes himself ,continually he says,'We have sinned', he does not blame God,nor should we ,God is not guilty of doing anything wrong. Verse 7 he says,'Lord ,you are righteous,but this day we are covered with shame',yes God is not guilty,look out at the world,is God guilty of all the wickedness that mankind is doing?,of course not, we are , I mean all of us,we all are without exception guilty,Romans 3 v23 'For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God'.  A minister once said to a young lady,this is what you must pray;''God be merciful to me a sinner'' 'I'm not a sinner',she shot back ,and added,'And if you knew me you'd know I wasn't' People are spiritually blind,blind to their condition,blind as to the great danger they are in,for after death  they will be judged by a holy God.

                                                             ' God is not guilty

                                                               but we are,that is

                                                               why we need Jesus'  

                                                         

Blockages ( Psalm 51 )

 I am sure many have had blocked drains,the drain needs the blockage to be removed,in the puplic drainage systems there is often  a big problem with fatbergs,they can be very large,but they need to be removed. The Bible tells us about something that can be seen as a blockage, in our relationship with God.In Isaiah 59v 1-2 ,God speaks to Israel reasuring them how that he can deliver them from their enemies,yes he can,but v2 tells there was a problem that is hindering that,here is how it reads,'But your iniquities have seperated you from your God.; your sins have hidden his face from you,so that he will not hear.'It is as serious as that, shut out from the presence of God.If we want our prayers to be answered then the blokage of sin will have to be removed,no ifs or buts,we must face up to this.Sin is not meant to be our companion, if it is  the very thing that we treasure it will be like chasim that we cannot cross,only till we deal with the blockage of sin,can we regain our relationship with God. When Hudsons Tailors wife was dying,her name was Marie,she said this as regards her relationship with God,there was no clouds between her and God.

A everlasting kingdom. (Daniel 7 v 27)

One of the most important doctrine we must hold unto like grim death,is the Sovereignty of God,because I believe that things in this world are going to get worse.I mean on a world wide scale. Cp Daniel 7 v24-25 /2 Thessaloians 2 v 3-4.Daniel was a man whom God  revealed so much to,one that stands out it involved  a  king of Greece ,Dan 8 v 21./ 10 v20/ 11v3. This was none other than Alexander the Great,he came 200yrs after this prophecy. It has been more than 2000yrs  since Daniel and Paul prophesied of as Paul called him,'The man of lawlessness',make no mistake about it ,it will came to pass.He will be powerful but not more powerful than God,in Daniel 7 v 26 we read,'His power will be taken away and completely destroyed for ever',by our sovereign God (Dan7 v27)When he comes he will manifest great power it will be a challenging time for even the children of God, but again God is sovereign,the kingdoms of this world come and go,but not the kingdom of God it is an everlasting kingdom,ruled by King Jesus.