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.

Be filled ( 1 Corinthians 6 v 19 -20)

Ephesians 5 v18 reads,'Don't destroy yourself by getting drunk, but let the Spirit fill your life', the famous evangelist D.L.Moody said'' I need a continual infilling  because I  leak'' he meant that his spiritual  strength ,patience ,and connection to God would drain away over time'.Every Christian has the Holy Spirit we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit ( 1 corinthians 6 v 19,reads,'Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit,who is in you,whom you have received from God'When we fill our lives with alcohol  we are hindering the Holy Spirit in our lives,we should not limit that hindering to alcohol,there are many things that can hinder the Holy Spirt,wrong sexual thoughts,sinnning in any way will hinder the Holy Spirit functioning in our lives.So we need to repent continually less we grieve the Holy Spirit,and we need to fill our lives with all those things that are edifying,(Ephesians 5 v 19 -20)

No secondary causes ( Ruth 1 v 16)

W  Barclay wrote the following ,'The Jews knew nothing of secondary causes. We say that certain atmospheric conditions, certain variations in temperature ,certain alterations in atmospheric pressure, certain land and mountains configurations,cause certain things to happen in nature,In  every such case the Jew ascribed it all to the direct action of God. We explain the rain and the wind and the thunder and lightning by bringing forward the scientific causes of them;  the Jew quite simply said,God  sent the rain; God made the wind blow; God thundered; God sent His lightening. In Jewish thought  everything  was described to the direct intervention  of God; we tend to abscribe everything to secondary causes.'

                                                      'With God there are no secondary

                                                                     Causes' 

Old age ( Job 19 v 25 -29)

 I am aged 82 I am still driving, health not to bad,but old age does bring problems, the body wears out,I visite three elderly people today a married couple,the wife has dementia,her husband is very patient with her,he is reasonbly well,but it is a challenge.The other lady is housebound,it is my privilage to visit such people.As I left the residentual place they live in ,I spoke to a resident and he was affected  by the many people who were dying,the fact of the matter is if you live in an elderly residentual place everyone will eventually die,for that  man it was depressing him. The three people I visited are Christians they will die there is nothing can stop that.The word of God is very honest about old age, here is what Moses wrote, 'Our days may come to seventy years,or eighty.If our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble  and sorrow', (Psalm 90 v10)That is a reality for so many ,but the word of God has much to say that's positive,the apostle Paul wrote many things as regards death that it is not end,people will weep over our deaths,but as a Christian go to be with the Lord it will be joy unspeakable full of glory,yes absent from the body and present with Jesus our. Lord.

                                                          'For Christians ,death is just a door

                                                                        into HEAVEN'

                                                   

God leads ( Joshua 1 v 9)

 There was a TV program getting people to tell of the person who changed their lives, who would you choose?Who would I say change my life? , I would say that there are people who have influnced my life,for the better. I look back with thankfulness for so many people who have befriended me,and helped me in life,they have come into my life and then I moved on,and they moved on.Often God brings people into our live for a purpose,my answer as to who changed my life,is very simple Jesus. I supposed one would expect me to say that,I know,but the fact is it's true,for 62 yrs I have been following Christ and during those years many things have happened,I have had many challenges to face,there have been the dark times,difficult times.I have always had of a sense of His presence that He was with me.A sense that in the bad times,the hard times he was there.It is often in looking back we can trace the hand of God in ones life,you see how He shut doors and opened doors and all the time he was leading us on.R A.Hall and J K.Saetvent wrote a lovely song here are some of the verses,

'In shady,green pastures so rich and so sweet,God leads His dear children along,where the water's cool  flow bathes the weary one's feet,God leads His dear children along. Some through the water,some  through the flood,but all through theblood ,some through great sorrow. Sometimes on the mount where the sun shines  so bright,God leads His dear children along.Sometimes in the valley,in darkest of night,God leads His dear children along'.

                                           

We have a choice ( 2 Corinthians 12 v 1 - 10)

 None of us choose the hand that is dealt to us,but we have a choice as to how how we are going to play it out. There are so many things we have no control of,some of the things are  not very nice.Take that phenomenal writer of hymns Fanny Crosby who became blind through a mistake by her doctor,she said the following,'she did not veiw her blindness as a tragedy,but rather as a blessing and a divine gift ,She went as far to say,'if given the choice at birth she would have chosen to be born blind,so that the first face she would see in heaven would be her Saviours'.As one person wrote of her that she was a woman of unwavering faith,and profound contentment'Now of course that was Fanny but what about you,what about me?.Paul gloried in his afflictions,saw it as means of experiencing the grace of God,so that God's power would rest on him. So again I ask the question how are we going to play out the hand that God has given us,?remember we have a choice.

No add on' ,No take aways ( Matthew 7 v 24-29)

''The Word comes first,and with the Word the Spirit breathes upon my heart so that I believe'' ,so wrote Martin Luther.There are three foundational truths of Protestant theology ,they are,'Faith alone,grace alone,and scripture alone'' These are vital declarations which all Christions should hold fast to,to diviate from them  is putting one's soul in a  very precarious position. our Saviour told the story about two house builders,one built his house on rock,the other built his house on sand When the storms came the house built on rock stood firm ,the other one who had  built his house on sand, when the storms came it collapsed.If we start underminng scripture and scripture truths there will be conquences,there are Christian denominations were many of their churches cease to exsist,When the foundation of the church is eroded it will no longer exsist ,the Lord will remove it Cp Revelation 32 v5. 

Stand firm ( Galatians 1 v 6ff)

2 Thessalonians 2 v15 reads 'So then,brothers and sisters,stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed unto you,whether by word or mouth or by letter' It is more important than ever that we stand firm to the teaching of God's word.John Stott mentions  things that can attack our faith(1) opposition,and persecution.(2) false teaching.  (3)Temptation. In this country at this time we are not being persecuted, things may change make no mistake about it.We should not be surprised if we are,but in many lands our dear Christian family are suffering severely,we need to pray for them and help them in any way  we can. Next false teaching,sad to say we have so much of that,and I don't mean just the cults,we must hold fast to God's word,we must not add to it,or take away from it,In Revelation 22 v 18-19,there is a warning given as to the book of Revelation to not add to it or take away from it,I believe this applies to all the Bible.Next we have temptation ,in the Lords prayer we pray lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from evil.Let us remember in Matthew 4v3 the devil is called the tempter,he will tempt you to doubt God's word as he did with Eve,and we know the consquences of that.

Contentment (1Timothy 6 v6)

This world is a driven place,with so many discontented people,so many people want more and more,as a Christian we could learn much from the greatest of the apostles,Paul.He had so much as a Jew,in Philippians 4 he writes of his pedigree, he declares he was a Hebrew  born of the Hebrews,a pure blooded Jew,he  had been educated by the great Hebrew scholar Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law(Acts 22 v 3.Paul was a rising star ,a great future lay ahead of him.,yet he gave it all up,and followed Christ and this meant a life of suffering and deprivation (2 Corinthians 11 v23 -28) One of the great lessons learned in all this was a godly contentment,Philippians 4 v12,he declares ,'I have learned the secret of being content in every situation',what was the secret? v13 I can do everything through Christ  who gives the peace of God which passeth all understanding Philippians  Phil4 v7.and of course the pesence of God with him.

                                                              'The more God fills our lives,

                                                                the more content we will be'.

The smart thing. (Romans 1 v 16)

When  we are growing up we are full of ourselves and we make so many wrong decisions a good name that describes us, ;Smart alec's.take some of the decisions I  made, I drank alcohol ,I was about 15 when  I had my first  drink,alcohol is a poison,it can be very addictive,and has destroyed many lives.One can  do many wrong things when one is entoxicated, we let our gaurd down down,The next thing I did was I started smoking at an early age,most people smoked  in those early days  we were ignorant as to the dangers of smoking  .Your are not smart consuming  alcohol or smoking or so many  things,but the sad thing is,  we act like our first parents did, it seems we have a self distruced button,and so in our blindness we pay the price.62 yrs ago I really did the smart thing,and broke the power of those things that would have  destroyed  me,by Gods grace I trusted Jesus to be my Saviour.                                                                                              

Dependent (Philippians 4 v13)

 Our Saviour said ,'Without me you can do nothing',the point Our Saviour is making,is the need of total dependance on Him.The Lord also said in Psalm 138v8,'The Lord  will perfect that whch concerneth me'. again the Psalmist is saying there must be that utter dependance on the Lord.Spurgeon wrote ,'If we indulge in any confidence which is not grounded on the Rock of ages,our confidence is worse than a dream, it will fall  upon us. and cover us with its ruins,to  our sorrow and confusion'. self confidence is not the answer.Again Spurgeon writes,' Our confidence must not be in what we have done,nor in what we have resolved to do,but entirely in what the Lord will do.'

                                                          ' Being confident of this very thing, 

                                                            that He which have begun a good

                                                            work in you will perform it until

                                                            the day of Jesus Christ'

                                                                      Philippians 1 v 6.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         , 

The most important prayer ( Luke 18 v 9- 14 )

I was out shopping with my wife,I had wandered off when I returned to her, she was having a conversation with a member of the Staff.My wife said we were going on holiday,and the lady said to I suppose you will go of boozing,no I said I don't drink,although I'm not against those who do,I asked her did she know the Lord,she said she prayed everynight ,then I said ,do you know the most important prayer we ever pray? she didn't,so I told her ,God be merciful to me a sinner,I  said why don't you pray that tonight,She said she would,and she thanked me .It may be that you have never prayed that prayer ,why don't you pray that prayer and when you do remember that all forgiveness comes through Jesus.

My blog

 I had a few problems with my blog, that  needed sorted out.Just a little thought as regards my blog it goes all over the world ,if you are a Christian,I would value your prayers,your prayers could make all the difference.Pray that God will guide me in this ministry,I have been doing it for many years,it appears that God has given me a gift to do this.My son and his wife got a book published called ,'A Daily Devotional' by Amozon,it can only be purchased from Amozon.Just a little about myself,I am 82,I am married my wife is called Daphne,I have 5 sons and many grandchildren.I come from Northern Ireland ,and was a full time minister for an number of years.I seek always to be faithful to God's word,so that's a little about myself,so God willing I will continue tomorrow.

Got my ticket (Revelation 20 v 1-8)

  A man was told he had terminal cancer and he had 3 mths to live,and this is what he said,'Praise God my ticket has come through',the doctor who told him was surprised,and asked him meant?.Well the man said ,'Im going home to heaven'and then he went on to say,'No more hospitals for me,no more medicine,no more lonliness,and so he went on telling the benifites that his death would bring,Then he said,I remember as a boy reading Peter Pan,and what he said about dying,''To die will be a awfully big adventure''.and then he quoated a scripture,'Eye hath not seen nor ear heard,Nor have entered into the heart of man, The things which has prepared for those who love Him',then the man said,it will be wonderful.'

Choosing ( Matthew 6 v 19 -26)

Everyday we make choices,like getting up in the morning,what we have for breakfast,what we wear etc,they are ordinary day by day choices.When I go out for a meal I find it difficult what to choose, I stare at the menu,my wife knows it will be sausage and mash,or fish and chips.In Matthew,Mark,Luke,there is recordered how a young rich ruler who came to Jesus (Luke 18 vff) He wanted to know ,what he could do to inherit eternal life,he was very religious ,he told our Saviour that he had kept the commandments,well said Jesus ,you lack one thing,sell everything you have and give it to the poor,and you ill have treasure in heaven'Then come, follow me'. Now Jesus looked with love on this young man,but unfortionately he loved His money.We cannot serve two masters,sooner or later we have to choose,what's stopping you?

God is Just. ( 2 Chroniclies 19 v7)

'Does the punishment fit the crime'so read  the caption on the TV ,it is in Exodus 21 v 24-25 we read ,'Eye for eye,tooth for tooth,hand for hand,foot for foot,burn for burn, wound for wound,bruise for bruise'.these words are often misunderstood,believing they gave us permission to inflict violence,instead of guidance as regards justice.In  the 16th-18th centuries  a law was introduced  called the,'Bloody Code',the death sentence was passed on those who stole food,or from shops.It is obivious that such a crime was not fit the crime.We must have a justice system but ut must be just,otherwise the system becomes unjust.God is often accused of being unjust when he has cities wiped out,if that is what He did then it is was a just  judgment, we must be careful not to put God in the dock,which  many people do. I read this recently,'The Bible explicity establishes God as perfectly just,fair,and righteous in His character,judgments,and actions. Scripture demonstrates that his justice is foundational to His sovereignty, meaning He cannot act unfairly, ignore sin,or show partiality'.

God of Peace (Colossians 1 v 19- 20)

 1  Thessalonian 5 v 23 reads,'May God himself , the God of peace sanctify you through and through.May your whole spirit,soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. I like the term,'God of peace'.God is not at war with mankind,mankind is at war with God,God is for peace,mankind is for war.Look at history,look out at this world,and what do we see wars and conflict.Things could change if they would embrace the Prince of Peace ( Isaiah 9 v6 ) Every time the gospel is preached God is holding out an offer of peace,in Romans 5 v1 we read,'Therefore,since we have justified through faith,we have peace with God  through our Lord Jesus Christ'.'It declares that believers are made right with God  and receive peace,security a permanent standing in His grace and joyful hope for eternal glory' ( From the internet) Again this comes about through faith in Jesus ,when our sins are totally  dealt with at the cross.                                                

There must be a reason ( James 4 v6 )

The apostle Paul was very qualified,very successful,planting churches all over the place,he would have been able to speak,3 languages ,Koine Greek his native tongue in which he wrote his epistles .The next was Hebrew the language of a highly educated Pharisee, and Aramaic the common language of the Jews,In 2 Cor 12  he writes of a unique spiritual experience ,when he was caught up into heaven and heard inexpressible things that no one is permitted to tell.Then he writes of of something else he experienced,he called it a thorn in the flesh.Although he prayed for healing,God said no,and he tells him  the reason, to keep him from becoming proud,but he also was given the grace to bear it. There are very important lessons for us to learn from Pauls experience,the Lord does not afflict us willingly, there is always a reason a loving reason. But the great consolation is, he will give us the grace we need to sustain us.

Give Him the glory( 1 Corinthians 1 v29-31)

 It  Judges 6 Israel were being oppressed by the Midianites and God choose Gideon who would  led an army to overcome thier enemies. that's what  he would have thought,but God had other ideas.The number that came to fight was 32000 ,but God cut the army down to 300. A big cut, but God had his reasons,he knew his people,that if the 32000 had fought and were victorious they they would take the glory.instead of giving God the glory.One hears of so many people who never give God  the glory ,for their success.If we are Christian let us be quick to give glory to God for every success.every victory,every accomplishment.

                                                     'And every virtue we possess

                                                      And every victory won,

                                                      And every thought of holiness

                                                      Are His alone'

                                                            ( Harriet Auber)

Three things, (1Thessalonians 5v 18(b)

 In 1 Thessalonians 5 v 16 - 18  we resd '  Rejoice alway,pray continually.give thanks in all circmstance;for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus'. So here we have three things that God wants us to do ,the first one tells us to 'rejoice always'.Is this not asking too much of us?  no, if we are being spoken to by God to rejoice always .then it to be taken serious. Let us bear in mind that these words are spoken  to the church as a whole.John Stott writes ,'Paul is issuing not an order to be happy but an invitation to worship,and to joyful,worship at that.'There are some wonderfu hymns and many modern songs that do much to bless our services and enhance our lives.  Next we have to 'pray continually',we need and I mean need,to be praying churches and praying individuals.There is so much to pray about,the unsaved,the sick ,the suffering,the ungoing difficulties we all meet with.the sad ,the homeless,to be preserved from so much more.Last but not least ,'Give thanks in all circumstances'again how is that possible? John Wesley was rescued from a fire when he was a young boy,his mother saw as proff of the clear intention of Providence.We like her can look beyond the difficulties to God who will work out everything for His childrens good,even as Piper says,'bitter Providences'. 

Living water (John 4 v 4-30)

'Jesus gave her water that wss not in the well.....She went away singing,and came back bringing ,others for the water that was not in the well'.This is part of a song we use to sing,many years ago,it is based on John 4  where Jesus comes upon a woman who came to draw water from a well.Jesus was tired and thirsty,so he asked her  for a drink of water ,she had drawn fron the well.And so began a wonderful  conversation,she puzzelled why He a Jew should ask water as she was a Samaritan,as the Jews did not  associate  with Samaritans,this is what Jesus said,' If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink,you would have asked him and he would have given you loving water'.She did not understand what Jesus was saying or who he was,bur eventually she would. The natural water keeps us alive,but it will not stop us dying,our dear Saviour spoke of living water,Isaiah 12 v 3 reads ,'With Joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation'So what Jesus was offering  was salvation, if we but turn to Jesus to be saved,we will receive eternal life, (Romans 6 v36).Jesus further contrasted the limitation of natural water,we drink of it but we will thirst again,But the water ( salvation)that he would give her would trully fill the deepest longings of  her soul.

                                                    'Now none but Christ can satisfy,

                                                     

Witnessing ( Romans 8 v 26 a)

'But  you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,and in all Judea and Samaria , and to the ends of the earth'. (Acts 1 v8)These are the last words spoken by Jesus before He went back to heaven.They were addressed to His disciples,but they are for 21st century Christians,in othe words they for you and me .How do you feel about witnessing? does it scare you?,frighten you?.When was the last time you told anyone about Jesus?I suppose you may  say leave it to the professionals.From the moment the Lord restored me to himself I witnessed to people ,I wasn't a  professional. How do I do it? well the answer lies in those last words of  Jesus,'You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you'.Remember what Jesus said,'without me you can do nothing',( John15 v5) and that help comes through the Holy Spirit who dwells within all of us.The Holy Spirit dwells in every child of God,not just the charismatic or pentecostal.If you have not the Holy Spirit you would not be a child of God (Romans 8 v 9) That happens when you are born again ( John 3 v 7),we could not live the Christen life ,if the Spirit of God was not in us.So tell them about your experience,ask  the Spirit to help you and guide you,He will'

0

We don't know ( Matthew 25 v 1-13)

 One of the things the apostle Paul had to deal with in his letter to the church in Thesslonica,was their concern for those who had died,What had happened to them? Are they alright?shall they see them again?.This was in connection to the coming of the Lord,some say Paul was expecting Christ to come  back in his life time,but there is no real evidence for that.The Lord made it clear that only God the Father knows when Christ will come again,( Acts 1 v7).There are other referances as  regards not knowing when Christ is coming CP Matthew 24 v36-51.What our Saviour taught as regards His coming that we are to live in the light of it, which could happen anytime. Many years ago an elderly believer said to me that the Lord was coming back before he died,dont be fooled by anyone forecasting when He is coming again.The JWs have done this a number of times,we must not be like them,or the believers in 1000 A,D who had as John Stott puts it 'eschological excitement' or 'Parousia hysteria' .

                                                            'Even so,come,Lord Jesus'  

                                                                   Revelation22 v 22..

0

Last words (Psalm 23 v 4)

 Often in ages past when a godly man was about to die,people would crowd round to hear his last words,here are a few examples.John Knox,'Live in Christ,die in Christ,and the flesh need not fear death.Dietrich Bonhoeffer,'This may seem to be the end of me,but its just the beginning.John Wesley,'The best  of all, God is with us,farewell,farewell.I turn to my favourite the word of the greatest of the apostles,Paul, he was about to die a martyrs death and this what he wrote I will not comment on them,let them speak for themselves,

                                                          'I have fought the good fight,

                                                           I have finished the race,

                                                           I have kept the faith'

                                                              (2 Timothy 4 v 7)

                                           

Holiness ( Hebrews 12 v14)

 For God did not call us to be impure,but to live a holy life, ( 1Thessalonians 4 v7)what does that men? ,it means living as God wnts us to live,we have to take that very serious.We are not justified by the keeping of the law but we are called to have a moral qaulity to our lives.Paul continually tells us the  means where  by we can be saved,when we trust  Christ ,that should  mean ,repenting of our sins, leaving the old life,in fact dying to our old life.That is what we are declaring when we are baptized,going under the water symbolises dying to our old sinful life,and coming up out of the water symbolises our newness of life. (Romans  6 v 1-4) Peter writing of those who have escaped the corruption of the world when they trusted Christ and  goes back on that ,suffer consquences and likens them unto a  dog retuning to its vomit,and a sow that is washed returning to her wallowing in the mud'( 2 Peter 2 v 20 - 22) Psalm 23 v 3 speaks of being lead in the paths of  righteousness.For the Christian we do not do, what everyone else is doing,no we live the life  that Christ wants us to live,a life of holiness,that is different from the worlds. John writes to the believers telling them if we claim to be without sin we decieve ourselves and the truth is not in us( 1Jn1v8) Yes we will sin at times,bit we will not walk in sin  (1 Jn v18) It was Murry McCheyne who prayed ,'Lord make me as holy as a pardoned sinner can be made'