The cross today, the crown of life tomorrow. [Job 19 v25-26 ]

Thomas Lye an old Puritan wrote, / Dont doubt Gods love under suffering. Gods heart cannot be understood infallibly from His action/.This is very important for us to grasp this, the words by William Cowper come to mind, when he wrote ,/ behind a frowning providence ,He hides a smiling face/. In other words God is always working for our good ,even when bad things are happening to us, God loved Job,even though Job lost his children,possessions, and health. In our difficulties the enemy of our souls comes and whispers in our ear, curse God and die.It was Job who said, / Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him[ 13v15 ]/, yes at time He felt confused[10v 15],he felt forsaken , but in the end, he declared by faith,/ But He knoweth the way I take, when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. [23 v10 ]/.Let us finish with words by Thomas Lye/Faith looks for the hand of heaven in the events of life. It looks beyond ,to the heart of God..... Faith,s heart is upon future glory, Christ went from a cross to paradise, so do Christians. The cross today, the crown of life tomorrow [James 1v12]/. [Dear God and Father, help us to trust You in all of lifes difficulties,when doubt and despair would threaten us, grant us the gift of faith, in Jesus name we ask this . Amen ]

The gospel. [ Romans 1 v 16 ]

I go to speak occasionally at a fellowship run by two dear elderly ladies ,they still use old hymn books, and old chorus books, in some ways it is like being back in the past. This is not a criticism, I really enjoy going there although the music is played at to high a key and I find it hard to sing. When they invite me to speak they say,we want you to preach the gospel,which I gladly do.It was a tradition in Ulster that every Sunday evening, the gospel would be preached, as a backslider 47yrs ago I heard that old ,old story, and was restored to my Saviour . Many things are preached in the church these days, but we really do need to preach the gospel, when we neglect to do this, we are failing to be faithful to our calling. We live in a world of change, but mankinds need have not changed, sin is still sin ,Hell is still Hell, Heaven is still Heaven, and if people are going to be saved from Hell , and go to Heaven, they need to hear that old, old gospel, of a Saviour called Jesus, who alone can forgive their sins.[ Dear God help us to be faithful to Your Gospel, in our churches,or wherever we may be, in Jesus name Amen ]

Knowing the right way. [John 14 v 6 ]

While on holiday we used our sat-nav ,to bring us back to the place we were staying, but it kept taking us back to the supermarket, we had shopped at earlier in the week. Now dont get me wrong the sat-nav is a brilliant invention,and I would not be with out it, in the end we asked someone the way and he showed us the right way. This leads me unto the thought of knowing the right way in life, which is very imporant, if you are not saved ,then very simple the message for you is Jesus, who is the way ,the truth, and the life [John 14 v6 ]. Without Him who is way you are lost and always will be,without Him you will be ensnared in in that which is not the truth, and without Him you will remain dead in trespasses and sins. So why not this day, ask Jesus to become your Saviour, if you do, you will be able say ,I once was lost but now am found. Here is a prayer you could pray. [ Dear Lord Jesus ,I am lost, please save me, please become for me ,the way ,the truth, and the life. Amen ]

A relationship with God. [ 1 John 3 v 1-2 ]

I was asked by a friend, would I would pray for her, of course I said I would, then I said to her,you can pray, this appeared to make her think, about doing something that she appears to shy away from, I wonder why?. Could it be that she realizes that prayer is based on a relationship, she has not trusted the Saviour ,yet, I am praying that she will. The whole point of Christ coming and dying on the cross is to bring people into a relationship, a right relationship, in life many are in wrong relationship,many feel that they are in right relationship with God, and they are not. Many who once had a relationship with God have left it , for a lesser relationship, they have left their first love, and are only go through the motions. Others have never experienced that first love, and to them praying is a strange ,unwelcoming experience, which they dont understand. I was thinking of the vastness of the universe, and God who made it ,upholds it,and sustains it, and how minute this planet earth is, and how minute we are. But here is the wonder of it all, this little planet ,and its inhabitants are the the continual focus of that great God,not only does He focus on it and us ,but we are told that, He so loved this world[you and I] that He gave Jesus to die for us, and if we but trust Him ,we will become His children, which is a wonderful relationship to come into. [ Dear God we thank You ,that desire us all to know you, and to experience a wonderful relationship through Jesus your son Amen.]

Perseverance . [2 Timothy 4 v 6-8 ]

This will be the third time I have tried to publish my thought for the day, hopefully this time I will succeed, which leads me unto one of the most important aspects of the Christian life, the perseverance of the saints. This is an old Calvinistic saying, but most important it is a Biblical truth, it has that meaning of not giving up. Now for many dear people humanally speaking it would appear an option, to give up, I read of many Christians who would have an easier life, if they only give up. There is so often reasons for giving up, life throws at us so many things, unfair things, unexplainable things, frustrating things, hurtful things, harmful things. All these things and more can discourage us,and we are tempted to give up, the enemy of our soul whispers in our ear,give up ,no one appreciates you, its not worth it. Ah ,but he is so very wrong, it will be worth it all when we see Christ. Ira f Stanphill wrote a hymn, which I used to sing, its called ,Follow Me, the first verse goes like this,/ I traveled down a lonely road, and no one seemed to care. The burden on my weary back,had bowed me to despair. I oft complained to Jesus how folk were treating me. And then I heard him say so tenderly. My feet were also weary upon the Calvary road, the cross became so heavy , I fell beneath the load. Be faithful, weary pilgrim,the morning I can see. Just lift your cross, and follow close to Me./ [ Dear God help us not to give up, help us to press on ,grant us grace to persevere, in Jesus name .Amen ]

Sorry no blog today , I did the same message twice but I was not able to save it or publish it, hopefully it will be alright tomorrow

I must forgive.[ Matthew 6 v 14-15]

While preaching recently I touched on something I had not prepared, forgiveness, and yet it was that very thing an elderly brother spoke to me about afterwards. He mentioned that he was divorced, his wife had left him for a neighbour many years ago, he spoke of how difficult it was to forgive, but he had. The Christian has no option but to forgive, and yet it is not easy, if one was raped, or ones child was hurt by someone, or one is hurt by fellow Christians, the list goes on. Yet if we are to have an ongoing relationship with God ,we are required to forgive those who have trespassed against us. I am reminded of what Peter was told by our Lord [John 21 v21-22 ], Peter was concerned about the other person, what shall this man do? our Lord replies ,what is that to thee? follow thou Me. Our forgiving is nothing to do what the other person will do, but what we are called to do, forgive, they may not change their attitude, but we will be changed ,for the better. Yes it may not be easy to forgive, but the Lord grants us the grace, to enable us to forgive. [Dear God ,you have forgiven us all our sins, help us to forgive those who have harmed us ,or even those we love, in Jesus name . Amen ]