Will I help or hinder? [ Philippians 1 v 27 ]

I am faced with a decision, should I become a member of the local chrch I attend, it is something I am praying about, for I know it is important to identify with local believers.I have been a member of various churches,and have sought to support them at the time,and they have supported me, for which I am grateful.I spoke awhile back to a church on what church membership meant.I did not choose the subject,so what conclusion did I come to ?. Well one of things I said was important was , unity,it saddens my heart and I am sure the Lords heart, at those who cause disunity,I have witnessed it and heard about it,to often. There are many reasons that contribute to disunity, they dont like the new pastor,so they refuse to accept him,and do everything to oppose and hurt him,little cliques form,were they talk, and talk about the new man and his shortcomings. Now let us be honest it is easy to find faults, for pastors are but men who are imperfect, R T. Kendal a most worthy pastor and teacher of the word ,experienced much opposition ,when he became the minister,following in the footsteps of Dr M. L. Jones, but he survived,and went on for many years, to be a blessing to that church, and to many believers.My mother used say, if you cant help then dont hinder,the question I ask myself, if I become a member of this church will I help or hinder,what are you a helper or an hindrance to your local church. A man called Fitzhugh wrote this as regards are relationship with the church./ When eact part is committed to the Saviour,s will. His members are united, His purpose they fulfil.
A prayer...../Dear God guide us to the church You wants to join,and as part of that church help us be a helper, not one who hinders, for Jesus sake Amen./

Can you say . [Psalm 23 ]

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever [Psalm 23 v 6 ]Can anybody be sure of going to heaven?,is it not a presumptous statement?,many hope that they are going to heaven,some would say one cannot be sure.Of course many do not give it much thought, I was talking to a man today, who when asked was he saved ,replied that he had problems with heaven and hell. Many believe in heaven , a lot dont, it is not enough to believe in heaven,if you do not believe in Jesus. [John 14 v6 ] There is a sure and certain way to get to heaven, Jesus and only those who trust Him, and when You do trust in Him for the forgiveness of your sin. immediately the barrier is removed, sin is dwelt with [ John 3 v36 ]. Paul writing to the Thessalonian Christians,declared that God had delivered them from wrath to come[ 1 Thessalonians 1 v10 ],he assures them again in 5 v 9.In his epistle John declares, These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life. [1 John 5 v13 ]. The Jailer in Acts 16 v 31 was told to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,he would be saved,in other words the moment he believed he would possess eternal life.Eteral life is a free gift,you cannot merit it, or buy it,no it is absolutely free [Romans 6 v23 ], although it was purchased at a tremendous cost, the death of Jesus on that cross. I wonder do you have the assurance that David had, can you say I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever?
A prayer...../Dear God we thank You that in a world of uncertainties, we can know that our sins are forgiven, we can know that we are going to heaven, when we know Jesus as our Saviour
Amen.









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Heaven beckons [ Psalm 32 v 1 ]

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. [ Psalm 23 v6 ] The man who wrote these words was David, the imperfect saint of God,yet inspite of his imperfection he had a heart for God,a humble heart,a seeking heart,and yet he had a heart that was at times very wicked , and selfish. Consider the dreadful behaviour he manifested,in the affair with Bathsheba[ 2Samuel 11], and the murder of her dear husband Uriah , an upright man,one of Davids mighty men[2 Samuel 23 v39 ].How can a man who committed adultery and murder, write , and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever?.Well Jesus said that all manner of sin would be forgiven[Matthew 12 v31 ],David repented of His sin [Psalm 51 ], and was assured of forgiveness[2 Samuel 12 v13 ].Let us also remember that the only sin that will keep us out of heaven, are the ones that have not been forgiven,like David we may have sinned in a terrible way,yet there is hope if forgiveness is sought.Heaven beckons everyone in the person of Jesus, who alone is the Saviour of sinners,like David,like you and I.
A prayer..../Father we are amazed and humbled at Your grace, that we are forgiven all our sins,
and granted a home in heaven, we thank You in Jesus name Amen./

Our perfect home. [ Revelation 21 v1 - 5 ]

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever [Psalm 23v 6 ] We mentioned yesterday that it is vital that we live in the light of Heaven,to serve in the light of Heaven,to remember that we are strangers and pilgrims here. Now when I think of heaven ,I must confess I am not to sure what it is fully like, I know that nothing sinful will exsist there. Consider the blessing of that,because all the wrongs in this world are a result of sin,everything has been affected by sin,two of Englands great men, Nelson and Dickens,were adulterers ,yes our greatest of heroes are flawed, there is no land,city , town or village, that is not touched and affected by sin,lets go further, there is no individual that is not affected by sin. We cannot expect perfection here in an inperfect world ,yet people do,and they wonder why they are disappointed,their nearest and dearest do not care as they should, a friend hurts them. As to myself, well like Paul I cry out,O wretched man that I am, but here is the good news, in heaven, all will be perfect,no more imperfections,no more arguments, no more hurtful words, or sinful thougths
A prayer.../Dear Lord we thank You for the hope of heaven,were sin cannot affect its residents,
Lord You said you are preparing a place for your children,a perfect place,we
praise Your name, Amen.

Think on heaven. [ Hebrews 11 v 8 - 16 ]

And I dwell in the house of Lord for ever. [Psalm 23v 6 ] These words can be taken in the following way ,[ W Plummer writes, this]./ It is the desire, expectation, and determination of Gods people to seek their happiness in the service of God here, and they hope to enjoy His love, without enemy or interruption, for length of days, even forever in heaven hereafter./ For the saint of God heaven is their final destination, it is not that, an earthly exsistance is not important, but it is not the all important thing. The saint of God must live in the light of eternity, an old saint of God said when you are faced with temptation,look up into the sky and think of heaven. Yes we need to, as in we read Colossians 3 v 2 to / think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth [ NLT ]. Let us remember that all the glories of this world are temporal, the only lasting meaningful glory is the glory of heaven. It is only, what is done for Christ will last, we will think more on this next time.

A prayer...Dear God help us to realize that while life here is important, yet it must be lived out in the light of a greater reality, heaven,in Jesus name we ask this Amen

All will be well.[ Philippians 4 v 19 ]

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life .[Psalm 23 v 6 ]There was an old Chinese philosopher who rode a donkey sitting on it backwards, he may not have seen where he was going, but he could see where he had come from. David made his statement because he looked back ,and as he did he could see how God had undertaken for him. In another Psalm 37 v 25, an older David makes this statement as he looks back,/ I have been young , and now am old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread./ So as David looks back he is absolutley confident that all will be well, God does change, what He did in the past,he will do in the present,and indeed in the future. In the case of Elijah when one source dries up ,God will provide another [ cp 1 Kings 17 v 7 - 9 ] Let us not limit the Holy one of Israel, the God who cannot lie will prove faithful ,if we are a child of God , like David we can say,/ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives./
Fear Him, ye saints, and you will then
have nothing else to fear,
make you His service your delight,
He,ll make your wants His care.
[Nahum Tate ]
A prayer..../Dear Lord we confess that we look at our needs instead of You who will meet our
needs,help us to rest on Your faithfulness, forgive us,help us to hear Your still
small voice, saying ,trust Me,in Your name we ask this Amen.

Annointing. [ John 15 v 5 ]

Thou annointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over [ Psalm 23 v 5 ] Annointing was a common practice ,our Saviour mentions it [ Luke 7 v 46 ] after he had been annointed with ointment.Now David was annointed by Samuel [ 1 Samuel 16 v 13 ], and immediately the Spirit of God came upon him, in verse 14 we read how the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul. I believe the annointing indicated Gods favour ,which now rested on David, and was no longer on Saul,this divine favour would rest upon David all his life, David acknowledges this, that all his success, all his victories came from Gods good favour .Likewise Davids greater son Jesus declared that ,the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him, because He was annointed for a special mission [ Luke 4v 18 ]. With that annointing Gods favour and power , would be upon Him,and that equipped Jesus to accomplish that which would bless the whole world. W Pummer wrote , / The annointing clearly points to the effusion of the Holy Ghost,let us learn the neccessity of knowing Gods annointing in all our endevours, if we fail to know the annointing, then our preaching and service will be but a dry husk,that will have no effect on those we seek to minister to. Thomas T. Lynch wrote. Mighty Spirit, dwell with me, I myself would holy be. Mighty so as to prevail. Where unaided man must fail, Ever by a mighty hope. Pressing on and bearing up.
A prayer.....Dear God we have so much to learn in our relationship with You,the need to live and serve, not in our own power,but in the power of Your Spirit, Amen