Joy. [Galations 5 v 22-23 ]

As I have been a Christian for a long time, suddenly an old hymn from the past comes to mind like the following,/You may have the joy bells ringing in your, take the Saviour here below, take Him everywhere you go. You can have the joy bells ringing in your heart/.Now I dont know if I have the words in the right order, but the message is clear, when we know Christ, one can know joy. Being a Christian is a serious business,but there is, yes joy,the Christian life is not doom and gloom. Think of the words of Peter written to believers who were suffering, he points them to Christ.this is what he writes, You never saw Him,yet you love Him, with laughter, and singing ,and he points them to their glorious future. [1Peter 1 v 8-9 ]. Life if full of thieves ,most people want to rob God of His glory, and the believer of his joy.May the Holy Spirit fill us with that holy joy,that comes from Christ,ask the father in His name and He will grant unto you. [ Dear God fill us with that joy unspeakable, that in all things we may rejoice in our Saviour, in His name we ask this Amen ]

Friends of Jesus. [ Matthew 5 v10 -12 ]

It was said by a person called Bonhoffer, I hope I have spelt his name correctly/ I did it perfectly,and they crucified Me..... friends of Jesus will be hated to the end of time/.It seems to me that I have been praying for persecuted Christians all my Christian life,those living under communism and it is still going on, in N Korea, but it is going on in many Countries. If suffering is inevitable what should we do?, nothing,well sickness is inevitable but we fight it, so should we not fight those who are persecuting Christians?. One of the reasons it is thought that Oliver Cromwells army acted so savagely in Ireland was a rumour had reached England ,that Protestants had been murdered by Chatholics,the action by Cromwell left a terrible legacy. The way of the kingdom of God is not one of vengance, but of trusting in God and following in the footsteps of a crucified one. In Hebrews 13 v 3, we read, /Remember those in prison,as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies/. [ Dear God for those of our Christain family who are suffering have mercy,grant them grace, grant them relief , in Jesus name. Amen ]

But God. [Ephesians 2 v1- 10]

Israels history reveals a nation that continually fell into sinful ways ,they failed to be consistent, Henretta Mears writes ,/The prophet was never sent while the nation was walking in obedience/.So all those old testament prophest spoke to the nation of Israel because of their sin,with one exception Jonah was sent to a heathen nation,and is it not more remarkable that he was one of the most successful of the prophets, for they repented and were saved. In the end the nation became so corrupt that God removed them from their land ,and took them into captivity, to the land of Babylon for seventy years. They may have thought that God was harsh with them, but Jeremiah knew differently , instead of charging God with being harsh and unjust, he declares, /It is of the Lords mercies that we are not consumed , because His compassions fail not.[ Lamentations 3v22 ] God will deal with mankind yes in severe ways, but it is no more than we deserve, if the Lord was dealing with you and me according to our sins then we would be lost for ever.If God is chastening us because of our folly, let us not rebel ,or charge our loving God with unkindness,in the words of that old prophet , let us declare, /It is the Lord, let Him do what seemeth good.[1 Samuel 3 v18 ]/. [Dear God we bow before you and acknowledge our sins ,we acknowledge that You have not dealt with us as we deserve, we praise you for your faithfulness ,and love in Thy son Jesus. Amen ]

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 ]