Truth and love. [ Ephesians 4 v15 ]

It is John Stott who writes that the church grows , by truth and love, and he goes unto say, truth becomes hard if it is not softened by love, love becomes soft if it is not strengthened by truth.[ extracts from Gods new society ] Christians need to take heed to these words, one of the saddest aspects of church history is the cruelty perpetrated on those whom the chursh authorities considered unorthodox. In his book ,Reformation, Diarmaid MacGulloch, writing of the conflict in France in the 16th centuary says, that one of the features of French persecution had been that those who were about to be burned had their tongues cut out first. He goes on to write how Catholics butchered people.Hopefully such things will not happen again , but let us learn to hold the truth in love. [Dear God help us to hold fast ,to the truth, to not compromise with those who are in error,but let us hold to the truth in love, in Jesus name. Amen ]

No, know alls. [ 1 Corinthians 1 v 18 - 31 ]

In his book, Does God believe in Atheists?, by John Blanchard [I would commend this book highly to you, dont be put of by its size,it is well researched ,and is full of much that is of great worth, and it is not hard to read ] ,he quotes a Peter Atkins who said,/ Use your brains- the most wonderful in the universe- and through your brains you will you will find you do not need God. There is no necessity for God because science can explain everything/. What an unthought out statement , borne out of pride and arrogance, yes we realize that science knows a lot, but to say science can explain everything, it is simply not true. Why is it the more we know, the less we seem to know, as regards knowing it all, we descover that there are no, know it alls.It was Job who declared ,/ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things to wonderful for me, which I did not know[ Job 42 v 3 ] Here is a statement of humility , Job acknowledges his limatations, and if we are honest , we are no different. The greatest knowledge we can ever know is a true knowledge of God , and that knowledge can only come through faith in Jesus. [ Dear God forgive us for our arrogance and blind pride, and in thy mercy reveal yourself to us in Jesus name Amen ]

The death of a saint. [1 Thessalonians 4 v 13 -18 ]

I have just been told of the death of a fellow Christian ,someone I have known many years,he was a minister also for many years of a local fellowship. He poured out his life in the service of God, and I am sure ,his life and ministry touched many lives. The word of God tells us, /Precious in the sight of the Lord, is the death of His saints [Psalm 116 v15 ] , it is Herbert Lockyer , who writes the following./Paul speaks of all believers as being...Saints in Christ Jesus. Thus all true Christians are saints, some are more saintly than others. Every saint is immortal until their work is done, and when death comes, whether early or late in life, it is precious in Gods sight,for the one dying was redeemed by the precious blood of His precious Son- whose death was more precious in the Fathers sight, than all other sacrificial death./We do sorrow for our fellow Christians, but we sorrow not as those who have no hope, for we know that they are with the Lord in heaven. Let me ask you, have you such a hope?, you can have by simple trusting Jesus as your Saviour, believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved. [Acts 16 v31][Dear God we thank You that death is not the final goal for Your children, that through Your dear Son Jesus,we can beat Death, and all that it means. Amen ]

Dont despair, God answers prayer. [Luke 18 v1 ]

In Psalm 116 , we read of a man who had been in deep, deep trouble,, his heart was full of sorrow, he had been at deaths door now what do you do when life is like that?. Well this is what he did,/Then called I upon the name of the Lord,O Lord, I beseech Thee, deliver my soul [v 4 ]. Nothing happened, wrong, something did happen, /I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplication [ v1 ]/ Thomas Watson wrote,/When we pray to our Father,heaven cannot be blocked up.....A believer lets down the net of prayer until mercy comes/. In Romans 8 v32. we read,/ He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also give us all things./ Again Thomas Watson wrote,/ Prayer has opened prison doors. It has strangled the plots of the enemy, and routed their forces. Moses prayer did more than Joshua,s sword.Does this not encourage us to pray in faith/. Let us remember the prayer of faith is not a vain exercise, cry unto the Lord in your trouble, He will deliver you out of all manner of difficulties. We may think that the things we ask for are to great to be answered, not so, are we not told that the Lord can do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask , or think [Ephesians 3 v 20 ]. [ Dear God we praise You for answering prayer in Jesus name Amen ]

The Trinity. [ Hebrews 9 v14 ]

I believe in the holy trinity, one God in three persons, it was A. W, Tozer who wrote,/ Our sincerest effort to grasp the incomprehensible mystery of the trinity must remain forever futile, and only by deepest reverance can it be saved from actual presumption./ I remember being told many years ago that there was no illustration that could fully reveal to us the trinity, Irelands national emblem, the shamrock is held up to us a symbol of the trinity , mybe it does to some extent, but not fully. Many struggle to grasp the doctrine of the Trinty, because they dont understand it, I have had JWs stand at my door asking, how can it be?,and Mormons throwing ridicule at this doctrine. The fact of the matter is if we could understand, then God would no longer be God, Gods being is beyond our understanding. This does not mean that we have concocted this doctrine up, out of our own heads, no ,the answer to our faith, is clearly taught in the bible,The answer to our struggles is faith, a faith in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, blessed Trinity. [ Dear God we bow in humility as to who You are, we grasp by faith the truth of the blessed Trinity, Father , Son and Holy Spirit, Amen ' ]

Redundant words. [ 2 Timothy 3 v 14 - 16 ]

I was listening to the radio and heard that new words had come into being, and some old words are not now being used , one word not being used was areodrome, this surprised me. They interviewed a man who actually worked at an areodrome ,who took exception to the fact that this word according to Collins dictionary was considered reduntant.As a Christian I am conscious that certain words, like sin, hell,repentance,and conversion are becoming reduntant, or certain phrase like being saved or being born again. And yet it seems to me that these are the very words and phrases we need to proclaim clearly, without fear or favour .We may live in a secular society, but we do live in a sinful world,riots,adultery,murder ,lack of forgiveness,people addicted to one thing or another. Is it alright saying a little bit of what you fancy does you good , when that very thing is destroying you.People may not like to hear those words or phrases ,but they need to, not only hear them but take heed to them, for if they dont ,they will be lost for all eternity.[ Dear God the truths of Your word never change,help us to hold fast to biblical words and phrases , help us never to compromise, in Jesus name . Amen .]

A word for everyone.[ John 3 v16 ]

The scripture is a ford,wherein,tis said. An elephant,shall swim ,a lamb may wade, so wrote the poet Francis Quarles [ 1592 - 1644 ]. I believe what we are being told is that for one thing we do not need to be afraid of the word of God,no matter how limited we may be.Also we are not to big in intellect , so many people think they have all the answers, when in reality they have none. People of this generation feel they have outgrown the Bible, or believe it has no place in a so called modern society,how wrong they are. When I was young we had childrens meetings, sundays schools, when ordinary people,guided by the Holy Spirit,would teach Gods Word. In that beloved city of my birth Belfast ,there where Gospel meetings , people believed that message ,and their lives where changed for ever. I believe that the troubles would have been worse, because the influence of the gospel kept many people from getting involved.The word of God and its message is for all,exclude yourself from it to your cost. [Dear God thank for Your word , a word for everyone, a word of life, a word of hope, a word of salvation through Your Son Jesus. Amen ]