Stiff-necked. [ Revelation 3 v14-22 ]

Yesterday I woke with a stiff neck, it is a bit easier today, but it reminds me of what God said to His people ,that they where stiff-necked . [ Jeremiah 17 v23/ Deuteronomy 31 v27 ]. In calling them stiff-necked, God was saying that they were obstinate,haughty, and stubborn, not very complementary, but true. They manifested these traits continully,and no more so, as when our Saviour lived among them[ John 5v40 ]. It appears that during the whole of Israels history ,God was continually pleading with them , and all He recieved was a stubborn refusal to come to Him [Matthew 23 v37 ]. This does not just apply to Israel, but to all mankind , cp Romans 3 v 9-10, many sit under the gospel, and are not saved. Sad to say , we Christians also can be stiff-necked, displaying lack of love and forgiveness,and doing things we shouldnt, and not doing things we should, inspite of the fact that we have the Holy Spirit, and Gods word. We listen but we do not hear, why?, because we are stiff -necked, it is to a church that Christs says,/Beold I stand at the door and knock,if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him.[Revelation 3 v20 ] as Christians we are often not very Christian to our Lord. [ Dear Lord help us to really listen to what You say ,help us not to be stiff-necked in our relationship with You, Amen ]

Jesus came to save sinners.[ Luke 15 ]

It is the prophet Jonah who prayed,/ For I know that Thou art a gracious God,and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest Thee of the evil/. Now He really believed this, and this why he ran away from Gods charge to go and preach at Nineveh, for he knew his God,and knew if the people of Nineveh repented of their evil ways, [ which they did], God would forgive them and spare them. Now stange though it be ,Jonah did not want Nineveh to be spared, even after he did go and preach his message ,he still hoped that God would destroy them [4 v5]. You see they where a very wicked people, humanally speaking they deserved Gods Judgement,deserved to go to hell, deserved the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah. And yet God spared them when they repented, I am sure one of the reasons we have the book of Jonah is to let us see that, the worst of people can experience the salvation of God,irrespective of what Jonah or you ,and I think, I know, for He saved me.[ Dear God let us never forget that Your son came to save sinners, even the worst of sinners. Amen ]

No concessions. [ 2 Timothy 4 v 7- 8 ]

George Muller died in his eighties, and died quietly in his sleep, he left a wonderful testimony, to the glory of God, near the end of his life, he said on a number of occasions, that he might not disgrace the Lord in his old age, and become a wicked old man. I can identify with those remarks ,for I know that although I have a good relationship with my Lord, and have proved Him time and time again. He has blessed me in so many ways, and continues to do so, but I still experience temptations,and it would be so easy to yield to those temptations. Like George Muller I pray I might not disgrace my Lord in my old age, and become a wicked old man. The Bible reminds us that while we are citizens of planet earth,we must be on our guard, and to continually ,rely on our Lord for grace to overcome temptations, and all the difficulties we meet. The devil has no pity for the old, and will ever be looking for ways to trip us up, he gives no concessions for senior citizens. No matter how old we are, we may be as old as Methuselah, but we still need to press on to our heavenly goal.[ Dear God grant us grace in our old age ,to not digrace You, and commit some wicked thing, in Jesus name Amen ]

A Challenge. [Hebrews 11 ]

George Muller was a wonderful man of God, a man of faith and integrity ,he saw God answer prayer ,time after time in relation to the work ,God called him to.He was led to start a work among children ,so the Ashley Down orphanage came into being, and during his lifetime George prayed and God answered. He, unlike many TV evangelist ,did not make the needs of his work known,he sought to live by faith,so he prayed and God provided. It was his example that so impressed me, that many years ago, when I was married ,and had three children, to step out in faith, and go to Bible college. I found God faithful, and hath found Him so continually, there are two aspect of faith, that have lived with me, faith to recieve, and faith to give. These two aspects of faith bring with then a deep challenge, a challenge we can shy away from, they appear risky, faith will always challenges us to leave our comfort zone, may God give us grace,to embrace this challenge. [ Dear God grant us the grace to live by faith, to be prepared to take risks, and we know as we do this ,we will begin to grow like our saviour.Amen ]

Beauty . [1 Peter 3 v 3-4 ]

You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God, so writes Peter in his letter[1 Peter 3v4 ]. Although it was aimed at women it can be applied to us all, and is a timely reminder to have the right emphasis in our lives.For the vast majority of people the outward is the thing, lovely home,car,children,physical beauty, page 3 of the sun newspaper is an example, likewise the glossy magazines. Vast amount of time and effort,and finance is spent on beauty products, and plastic surgery, now let me say this, I am not saying it is wrong, to look our best, in fact I would encourage us all to make an effort in our appearance. What is vital and of more importance is that development of Christian character,a manifesting of Christian graces , has a beauty that outshines Max Factor, or a designer label. A Christlike life, is like a tree planted by the rivers of water [ Psalm 1 v 3 ], trully a thing of beauty. [ Dear God help us to manifest the lovliness of Christ in our lives. Amen ]

Run not before Him. [Proverbs 3 v5-6 ]

One of the tensions in the Christian life for me, and indeed I am sure for many Christians is to know Gods will, mybe its the important detail that throws us. For most of my Christian life , I believe God has called me to preach, the words of Jeremiah come to mind, when he declared ,His word burns in my heart like a fire. Its like a fire in my bones, I am worn out trying to hold it in, I cant do it [20 v9 ], or like Paul who declared, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel [1 Corinthians 9 v16]. The question is how and where does one fulfill this call upon ones life?there are denominational barriers, theological barriers, mybe even personal barriers,and practical barriers. It is so easy to become frustrated, and act out of those frustrations, a verse of a hymn comes to mind ,run not before Him , let Him be your guide. As I look back I can clearly see Gods leading , and thats the important thing to remember, He is leading ,and has promised to lead us[Psalm 23 v2 ] Today let us not fret or worry, our lives are in His safe hands,he will make a way, yes even where there appears to be no way, so trust Him. [Dear Lord help us to trust You to lead and guide us, as You have promised. Amen ]

Just a supporting role. [ Philippians 2 v 5-11 ]

Paul the apostle had a companion called Silas , he accompanied him on his missionary journeys ,experienced the same hardships as Paul,yet it is Paul we remember. Silas we are told was one of the chief men among the brethern [ Acts 15v22 ], we also read that he was a prophet [ v32 ], yes he was person of note, yet it appears that he played a supporting role. We will always remember with thanks the great people in the Christian church like Paul, Billy Graham, and many others, but let us remember,they had those who played vital supporting roles.Billy Graham did not do everything himself, he had a large supporting team. Being a member of a team , may not appear important but it is,no church functions on its own, Moses had his Aaron and Miriam, Elijah had his Elisha, Jeremiah had his Baruch, and our Lord had 12 apostles. All of these played supporting roles, and the part they played was vital. If we are called to be a leader, we will need those who will support us, if we are called to support let us remember that our role is vital , and that God will honour us one day, for all we have done. [ Dear God help us to carry out faithfully, whatever role You have placed us in , be it in leadership, or in a position of support, in Jesus mane . Amen .]