Charlatan [ Matthew 23 v14 ]

We are told that in 1 Timothy 6 v10, that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils, and as I watched a TV programme last night on faith healers, the reality of those words came to mind. I know how easy it is to exploit people who are vunerable, to play on their emotions, guilt, and fears. One of the things that sparked of the reformation under Martin Luther was the selling of indulgences, and of course even to this present day the Roman Catholic mass is a means of exploiting peoples vunerability, as a friend of mine who was a devout R C, and lived in Dublin, told me , no money no Mass. These things and many other things emphasize a love of money, beware of those who are religious , who have a emphasis on money, and who would seek to emotionally blackmail people.One story last night told of a young girl aged 14 ,suffering from a life threatening illness, she heard one of those faith healers, who promised if his hearers would pledge 1.000 dollars, they would , be healed, somehow the young girl raised that money and sent it to the faith healer, but she grew worse, she phoned the so called faith healer, and told him, he replied that she had sin in her life, thats why she was not healed. Later that youngster , went into her garage poured petrol over herself , and set herself on fire. [ Dear God we cry unto You against those who exploit the vunerable, for money,we pray that You would deal with such ,expose then for what they are, in Jesus name Amen ]

Forgiveness. [ Matthew 6 v14 - 15 ]

Yesterday I spoke on, unforgiveness ,and its serious effect on those who hold unto it, one of the things I said was this,/ If we dont forgive then we put something else in its place, and what that something is,can seriously effect our lives/.Not only our lives but the lives of those around us, there are so many people,who are carrying unforgiveness, is it the ultimate sin?. I say sin ,although I realize someone reading this may have experienced terrible hurts, so let me make it clear ,that I am not judging anyone. The fact is God is the forgiving God,He forgives, and forgives, and forgives, in order to enable Him to forgive,He had to send His Son into this world to die, He had to let His dear Son,be crucified. So God has experienced that pain ,yet He forgives all who seek His forgivness by coming to Him,and accepting His son as Saviour. He fully understands 0ur pain when we have been hurt,or those we love have been hurt,and His words to us is , as I forgive so must you forgive.[ Dear God grant us the grace we need to forgive those who hurt us, or even those we love, in Jesus name Amen ]

With Him we can make it.[ John 21 ]

Well it is Easter Sunday,my mind goes back to when I was a young man, it was Easter Sunday,I was a young and lonely man, I was standing on the corner , when a neighbour and his wife walked by,on their way to church. I asked them could I go with them, and they agreed,and so I ended up at church. And that night something happened ,God spoke to me,and that evening I returned to my Saviour. This is over 47 yrs ago, 47 yrs in which I have sought to follow my Lord, at times the path has been difficult, I have made many mistakes, I still feel lonely at times, I was never the perfect ,husband, or father. But then when we trust Jesus it is the beginning of a journey,a journey when we are being changed, to be better people ,there is still much change that is needed. Our Saviour will not give up on us inspite of our imperfections, because He loves us, and will always love us, I could have not made it this far,without that knowledge ,without His presence. [ Dear Saviour continue to keep us ,sustain us ,strengthen us, without You we cannot make it,so very simply we commit ourselves to You Amen ]

Friendship [ John 15 v 13-15 ]

It is nice to hear from old friends, friendship is important to most of us, it must be sad to have no friends, to feel that no one cares. I think of the story of the prodigal son , he ended up friendless, yes it was his own fault. In Proverbs 17 v17, we read, a friend loveth at all times,many so called friends fail in this,they are no longer our friends,mybe they were not really our friends. I give thanks for the many people who have been my friend,I still pray for some of them,even though they are no longer around, and I wonder how they are keeping.In Proverbs 18 v24 we read , there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother, we would all like a friend like that, well the good news is ,we can have one, His name is Jesus, in the words of a gospel song,He is my forever friend,and He can be yours to. To have Him as your friend, He must first of all become your Saviour,and Lord,then you will have a true friend who will, never leave you,who will always have time for you,who will always listen to you, will protect you,provide for you, sometimes tell you when you are wrong, and put you right. If you want Him as your friend,then here is a prayer you can pray. [Dear Lord Jesus come and be my Saviour and my forever friend Amen ]

Good Friday.[ Colossians 1 v 12 - 14 ]

How on earth can the day in which a man died on a cross be called good,not just a death but a horrible ,and cruel death, a humiliating death. Surely such a day is not good, and yet it was a good day,because it was the fulfilling Gods purpose. A day in which the greatest problem that mankind was faced with, not an natural disaster, not unemployment, but sin, would be resolved. Consider sins effects upon mankind,everyday every moment, sin is being committed,it is a self destruct button, which mankind is continually pressing. Sin affects our relationship with each other and more importantly, affects our relationship with God who is holy.The only answer that God could come up with, was the death of His son on a cross,on that cross the hymn writer declares, /Heavens love and justice met/,when on Jesus the iniquity of us all was laid.when His soul was made an offering for sin. Sin ,satan , and death ,met their match, and were overcome, on Calvary . In the midst of all of Christs suffering, God was doing something wonderfully good, for you and me, so let us rejoice on this good Friday. [ Dear God we thank You for the cross of Your dear son, that made it a good Friday,for You, and us sinners. Amen ]

It is finished. [ John 19 v30 ]

One of the many things that amazes me about my Saviour is, how He never give up ,or allowed anything ,or anyone to distract Him from His ministry ,or mission. He even ministered on the cross to the dying thief, and inspite of all He had to suffer, He also fulfilled His mission ,the work of salvation,for you and for me. His final cry from that cross was a victory cry,it is finished[John 19 v30] Yes the work of salvation is finished, it is not what we do, but what He has done that saves. Have you trusted in Jesus and His finished work on the cross ?, or are you trying to save yourself?. The Gaithers wrote a song called it is finished, it depicts the battle that took place on Calvary, indeed the greatest battle of all time, everything depended on Jesus winning that battle,if He lost that battle then we would be lost, but praise God ,/It is finished the battle is over. It is finished there will be no more war. It is finished, its the end of the conflict.It is finished, and Jesus is Lord/.[ Dear Father we give You praise for Your dear son Jesus, the victorious Jesus, who finished the work of salvation Amen ]

Lost .[ John 10 ]

In Luke 15 we have a chapter dealing with being lost, to illustrate this ,our Saviour speaks of a sheep , a coin, and a son. The three had this in common they where all lost, in Isaiah 53 we read ,all we like sheep have gone astray, or as the Message puts it, /We,er all like sheep who,ve wandered off and gotten lost/.I was speaking to a person , and she said she did not see any point to life. What she was in fact saying, was, I am lost,sadly she does not see that ,and it is a fact that so many people do not see this , blinded by pride and stubbornness. The son who was lost ,had to experience ,loneliness,and humiliation before he came to his senses before he was willing to admit that he was lost, and before he could be found. When he did he was welcomed home by a loving father,who embraced him, clothed him, and restored him into his family, he even threw a party for him. Jesus said that He was not come to destroy lives, but to save them [Luke 9 v56 ], the hymn writer wrote, I once was lost but now am found, if you realize that you are lost, ask Jesus to save you, and He will. Here is a prayer that you could pray,[ Dear Lord Jesus, I admit that I am lost, come and save me now, be my Saviour. Amen ]