Hated for no reason. [John 15 v 18-25 ]

Following on in the theme of enduring,we further read this about our Saviour,in Hebrews 12 v 3 ,/ For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners/A person I know was at a group of mainly older people and he was talking to a person about a Christian meeting he had attended,when all of a sudden a number of the people started shouting at him,to shut up, as they didnt want to hear about God. Below the surface of many individuals there is a hostility towards God,are we surprised at this? we should not be,in Romans8 v7 we read../For the carnal mind is enmity against God/ Likewise our Saviour told us, if the world hates you,you know that it hated Me before it hated you[John 15 v18 ].It is not that our Saviour did anything to deserve their hatred,as He pointed out ,they hated Him without a cause[John 15v25 ].I pray everyday for Christians who are suffering terrible things, why?, because they are wicked people, because they are doing awful things, no, because they follow unashamedly the Lord Jesus. I know some Christians act in an unwise manner and bring trouble upon themselves, but the vast majority dont, they are hated like their Saviour for no good reason.Our Saviour was never intimidated by those who opposed Him, nor did He walk in fear,no He just kept loving them, and today He calls all who are suffering for Him,to follow Him.
A  prayer.../Dear God help us to take up our cross and follow our Saviour. Amen /

Enduring. [Hebrews 12 v 2-3 ]

I suppose we all have times when we dwell on the past,older people do,I hope that as I become older I will dwell on the future glories that awaits me and every child of God.The old spirituals expressed that continually,likewise the writers of scripture,and our dear Saviour for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despised the shame, and is now sat down at the right hand of the throne of  God [Hebrews 12 v 2 ].We are exhorted to look to Him and to follow in His footsteps,consider/ He endured/,there is a saying that goes,/that which cant be cured must be endured/. People often in a light hearted way say, are you enduring your Christian life or our you enjoying it?, and so we are made to feel guilty. Well I am not trying to make you feel guilty,that is never the Christians task, it is the Holy Spirits job to convict us of what is wrong in our lives. We are not meant to carry around with us a fake smile,but we are called to endure many things by the grace of God,and to not let our trials,cause us to be bitter,resentful,or angry.In all our Saviour suffered He manifested a right spirit,He poured Himself out for ungrateful people,yet He did not give up on them, for after all, He came into this world to save sinners, and that meant enduring many things, that meant death on a cross ,but beyond the suffering He saw the glory,He saw a people who would be redeemed,and all this would bring Him grear joy[ Isaiah 53 v 11 ]
A prayer..../Dear God we thank for our Saviour who for the joy that was set before Him, endured so much, help us all to look beyond our trials to our future glory, in Jesus name Amen /

They went back.[John 6v 66ff]

A gospel song asks the question,/are you growing weary in the struggle of it all?/,I must confess I do get weary at times, the continual battle with temptation,I suppose that is why I love the Psalms .In the Psalms you have people who struggled with life ,of continual trials,of friend who betrayed them,of feeling cast down of wanting to get away from it all,it is all there in the Psalms.So how did they get through?, an important question,for if we dont know the answer to that, we will be overcome,mybe even give up. It seems to me ,that they always looked to God to help them,in their struggles they did not turn away from God,instead they turned to Him. In John 6 v66ff we read how some of our Lords disciples ,went back,and walked with Him no more, I sadly know so many who have done this,went back,I heard a man who had recently become a Christian, say he would never go back to his old life.The old life for him was one of destructiveness, of self and others .When these disciples turned away ,Jesus asked the 12, do you want to go away as well?, it was Peter who answered, Lord to whom shall we go?,You have the words of eternal life. In other words they realized that Jesus and only Jesus had the answer,not just to life, but to eternal life. As one gets older you realize how brief life is,and how important our relationship with Jesus is,go back,you must be mad,no it it is onward ever onward,to heaven and our eternal home.Esther Kerr Rusthoi wrote/It will be worth it all when we see Jesus, lifes trials will seem so small,when we se Christ. One glimpse of His dear face,all sorrow will erase, so bravely run the race , till we see Christ/
A prayer...../Dear Lord grant us grace to press on,let not our struggles blind us to the folly of  going back,help us to bravely run the race,till we see You Amen /

Shall never be moved.[Matthew 7 v24-27 ]

Psalm 15 has stressed the importance of being morally upright, and ends with these words,/He that doeth these things shall never be moved/ First of all let us learn that our lives must correspond with with our profession,it is by our fruits, that we gave evidence of being a true Christian.Religion without righteousness is a sham and a shame,in Isaiah 1 God through His servant reproached the people for  their sacrifices ,because they acting wickedly, and challenged them to/ cease to do evil, learn to do good,seek justice, correct oppression,bring justice to the fatherless,to plead the widows cause[1v 16 -17 ].When Lord Shafesbury sought to bring reforms to the cruel working conditions that children suffered,a number of the bishops opposed them.Spurgeon rightly points out it is those who do these things ,not just hear these things,we are yes to be hearers of the word of God, but we are to be doers also. Our Saviour finished His sermon on the mount,by saying,/ Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them,/ the result would be that when the storms of life came,they would be like a house built upon a rock,that would stand firm[ Matthew 7 v 24-27 ]as the Psalmist declares,he that doeth these things,shall never be moved.
A  prayer...../Dear God help us to not only be hearers of Your word, but also doers in Jesus name Amen/

Taking bribes. [ Proverbs 14v 31-34 ]

Psalm 15 v5/ nor taketh reward against the innocent /This is to do with taking bribes, it is not something we experience much in this country, at least not that we know of, but in many places it is common practice. Here it is stressing taking bribes against the innocent,we see this in the book of Esther were the wicked Haman,promised the king money, as a bribe to have the Jews destroyed.[3 v9]It must be difficult for people who live in countries were taking bribes is practiced,Paul was held captive because he would not pay a bribe [Acts 24 v26 ] It appears that during America,s period of prohibition ,many police,judges,were taking bribes,it a dreadful thing in any nation that it is allowed to go on.I was watching a TVprogramn on dear ladies were trapped in the sex trade ,and the police let it go on,becaused they were being bribed. Plumer writes/ The dreadful corruption sometimes manifested in courts is no novelty v5,Eccle v8. Yet the doom of corrupt judges and jurors, dying without repenrance, will be dreadful. ]Isa 5v 23,24 ].
A prayer...../Dear God we ask for mercy upon the poor and afflicted upon those who are affected by the unjust practice of taking bribes in Jesus name Amen /

Usury. [ 1 Timothy 6 v10 ]

Psalm 15 v 5/ He that putteth not out his money to usury/The word usury is a practice of loaning out money at an exorbitan rates.Crudence in his concordance writes,/The Hebrews were plainly commanded in Ex 22v25,not to recieve interest,from any who borrowed for necessity,as in the case in Neh5 .v5/7/Also they were commanded  to free all Hebrew slaves and cancel every debt every 50 years [Leviticus 25],Dickson says God calleth for moderation,the situation in so many countries at this present time is about debt, many people borrowed without thinking, but also the bankers did not take into consideration that many people were going to suffer ,all they saw was the profit. Then there are loan sharks, these need to rooted out as they take advantage, mainly of the poorest in our society.The whole point of lending should not be to take advantage of someone, but rather to help that person through a difficulty, the one who lends should me motivated by love,for people, and not a love for money .
A   prayer....../ Dear God help those who are in debt, help us to be always motivated by a  love for people, to always show a kind and generous spirit to those in need, in Jesus name, Amen ./

Keeping our word [2 Corinthians 1 v 17-19 ]

Psalm15v 4/He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not/what we are being taught here is very simple,the importance of keeping our word even though it may cost us. One of the most obivious examples of this is to be found in the book of Judges, a man called Jephthah, a judge,made a vow that if God would give victory over the enemies of Israel, he would offer whatever came out of his house to meet him, he would offer  it up as a burnt offering.,[Judges 11v 30-31]It is obvious that God did not,agree with human sacrifice [Jeremiah19 v5],grant it, he did command Abraham to offer up Isaac up as sacrifice [Genesis22],but this was never carried out.  But Jephthah give his word, and it does appear that he meant human sacrifice, he did have the victory over Israels enemies,and as he returned home the first one to meet him was his only child,his daughter.Some people seek to argue that Jephthah did not offer his daughter as a sacrifice, but it seems he did,in this he was following what many of the nations surrounding Israel did[ cp 2 Kings3 v27 ].Jephthah was wrong in offering his daugther as an offering to God,he should never have made such a rash vow,but we do admire his moral principal of keeping his word. God will never call any of us to offer any of our children as burnt offerings,but He demands that we be people of our word even though it may cost us.
A  prayer..../Dear God help us not to make vows that our contrary to Your word ,but help us to be people of our word, even though it may cost us in Jesus name ,Amen /