Scarred[ Isaiah 53 ]

Scars of honour and scars of shame, on my left leg I have a scar, it was caused by a firework, I have carried that scar for all of my life , it is a reminder of a painful experience. I was listening to the wireless[ that word shows my age], and I heard the reader speak of having no childhood scars, he is very fortunate, for many ,many, people have scars from their childhood, they are not physical, but they are real and lasting, and cannot be removed by plastic surgery.they are scars of shame.Many in Ireland have them ,it was with great sadness ,that I read the news of the terrible, horrendous, awful abuses by priests,on children. Today let us pray for those dear people in Ireland who have suffered abuse, and indeed for all such people, people who been scarred by others.[ Dear God we bring to You all those who have been scarred by others, that You would grant healing, in Jesus name Amen]

Hell. [Acts 16 v31]

I am reading a book by James Joyce,/ A portrait of the artist as a young man/, I personally find it a bit hard to read, although it is very well written. The setting of the book is Ireland, and the life of a young J Joyce, there is one part of the book , where a priest is speaking on Hell, it is not pleasant reading, in fact to me it was a very painful thing to read. The priest covers the subject of Hell in a very full measure, I believe in Hell, although I dont speak on it much. I remember years ago a fellow Christian told how he had a dream, he was in a plane and he was heading into flames, and he heard a voice saying that is where you are going ,if you do not accept Christ, he did accept Christ.Hell is not something the preacher makes up , it is taught clearly in Gods word, there is a heaven and there is a hell,Jesus came to save us from Hell , and to take us to Heaven.[ Dear God help us to believe Your word as regards Hell, and help us to believe in Your Son Jesus to save us from it . Amen ]

Locked out.[ Revelation 3 v20]

One of my favourite movies is the Quite Man a film about Ireland, there is that place in the movie when the couple get married, and on the wedding night she locks him out of the bedroom. Imagine what that is like, married but locked out of the bedroom, as Christians we are married to Christ,and yet we often keep Him locked out of our relationship, and it sometimes seems that we are Christians in name only. What do these words mean to you and me in Revelation3v 20,/Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come to him and dine with him, and he with Me./ Is it not time many of us open the door of our hearts and let Jesus in, that we may know Him in that closer relationship which we all need, and He desires, instead of keeping Him locked out of our lives.[ Dear Lord Jesus help us all to open the door of our hearts to You, help us to see that what we need more anything else is a close personal relationship with You. Amen ]

He has the end in view.[ Jude v 24]

I have just started reading the book of Revelation, the letter to the seven churches, I wonder what they made of it? there is much in this book that is difficult to grasp. Yet it is a wonderful book that in the end brings us to the end of time, and the ultimate triumph of Christ and His church . We see a picture [chapter 2-3 ], of the churches in various condition,the good the bad and the ugly. We read of those who have suffered martyrdom [6v9], we read of many different things happening on the earth, terrible things, but above all else we see a sovereign Lord [ 19v6. av]. The book of revelation is a bit like the life of every believer, there are those things in all our lives we dont understand, our condition, variable,there are the different trials we experence. Yet in it all the Sovereign Lord reings over His peoples lives, and we are told that,/He is able to keep us from falling away, and will one day bring us into His very presence without a single fault [Judev24] [ Dear Lord we dont know how You will fufill Your purposes in our lives, but we are confident You will. Amen]

Always? [ Isaiah 53v3] ]

Always look on the bright side of , so goes the words of a song,can we , should we always look on the bright side of life?. What do those words conjure up to you? in your situation and circumstances,do they mock you?, do you feel condemned?,is there a bright side to everything?. There are so many things out there that are anything but bright, they are awful, watch or read the news, when our Saviour stood outside the tomb of a friend, He wept, burst out into tears, why? because He more than anybody else appreciated the ravageous of sin, the condition of mankind, and it broke His heart. The Puritians had a reputation for being very serious, they were people of the word, and they realized the consequences of sin. Today as we view life let us see things as God sees, and let us pray continually, for a greater understanding of life and its painful inhabitants.[ Father help us not to look at life in a blinkered way, or a trivial way, fill us with Your truth and Spirit,so that we are helped and that we can help others, in Jesus name Amen ]

Faith is the key. [ 1 Corinthians 1 v18-31 ]

I have read the whole of the Bible many times, and yet suddenly we see something that we have not noticed before. In Jude v5,the following,/Christ first rescued the nation of Israel from Egypt/, in the margin I am informed that one manuscript reads,/ God Christ/. Let us remember that the Christ we worship is God, is trully God and trully man, at no time was He not God, and as the God man , He died on the cross, for our sins, I cant explain this but by faith I accept it.When it comes to the word of God there will always be things we cannot explain, things that go beyond our human understanding,spiritual truth must be embraced not by our human intellect , but simply by faith. [ Dear God we ask for the humility and grace , help us live by faith, to embrace your truth by faith, in Jesus name Amen]

I was rude [ 1 Corinthians 13]

You were rude, my wife happen to hear me talking to a telesales person, I must confess I was not aware that I had been, and I could not even apologise. There is never an excuse for rudeness, I know that the telesales people are an nuisance, they usually phone when you are sitting down to have your evening meal, but again let me say there is no excuse for rudeness, they may be rude, but we should not be. We are challenged to love, yes even telesales people, who lets face it, are only trying to earn a living, doing a job I would not want to do. Love is patient and kind, Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and keeps no record of being wronged.It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through ever circumstance.[ 1 Corinthians13 v4-7] [Dear Loving Heavenly Father, we acknowledge that we are not always loving, we dont always reflect You, when we deal with people, forgive us , and help us, in Jesus name Amen ]