It makes no sense.[ Isaiah 41 v10]

At the fellowship I attended recently, we sang a hymn that was translated from Urdu ,the brother who was leading the meeting said that Urdu and Hindi are both spoken the same,but the written word is different, strange  but true. I cannot make sense of this,but there is a lot of things I cannot make sense of, I cannot make sense,why people do dangerous things,why people smoke,why people self harm. I cannot make sense of why  God loves the depraved ,and would be merciful to such,but the fact is he does .I cannot make any sense why Islam attracts so many people,and why they are filled with so much hate.I cannot make any sense how a massive plane gets into the air,or why football clubs are willing to pay a kings ramson for a player. Life is like looking through clouded glasses,it truly does not make any sense,mybe that is what you are thinking,but listen don't let this cause you to despair.It is only faith that can penetrate the apparent senselessness of life,faith in God who is in control,who is working His purposes out,and whispers into our ears ,trust Me.Take a moment to think on the cross,to many it did not make any sense,but as one who was lost and now is found it makes perfect sense.
A   prayer ..../ Dear God we look to You in faith, help us to trust in Your sovereign purposes, in Jesus name Amen /

Onward ever onward. [Philippians 3 v 13]

I was speaking  to a friend recently,he was saved over 60 years ago,and when that happened he wanted to keep it quite,but one evening,he told his family.They thought he was joking, but when he persisted that it was so,they believed him,and his mother said well I hope that I will not hear any of those awful swear words again,and she never did.When Christ comes into a persons life ,there should be a change, and it will always be a change for the better. My friend went on to say years later he  had the joy of seeing his mother saved ,when she was in hospital. Not only are we changed when Christ saves us, we want others to know Christ as there saviour. This is on going,that is the change, till the die,and when we die the change will be complete,and as long as we live we will always want people to know Jesus. The question I have to ask myself, is, how am I doing?
A  prayer..../ Dear God and Father save us from living in the past,help us to walk step by step in the footprints of our Saviour Amen /

Imperfection [ Psalm 103]

We live in the age of self assembly,I purchased a new chair recently,when it arrived,I found to my dismay I had to  assemble it,which I found was no easy task,but with much prayer and perseverance I did it.Last weekend we purchased a unit on which our TV would stand. So once again I started on the task of assembling it,when it was assembled it look nice ,although the drawers are a bit out of line,in other words it was not perfect,but I think my wife was pleased.It reminded me that we live in an imperfect world,I am conscious that a lot of my service for God,which includes all of my life  is imperfect,that includes my preaching.Our Saviour said be ye perfect,this is an exhortation,which we must always aim at,but ,there is that, but again,imperfection reigns.Now our acceptance with God depends on Christ 's perfect work on Calvary,but as a child of God we want to do our best,but alas so often we fail,but take heart,God loves us in spite of our imperfect service.I thought of that hymn, which speaks of ,gold of obedience,and incense of lowliness,truth in its beauty,and love in its tenderness,these are the offerings to lay at His shrine. These,though we bring them in trembling and fearfulness.He will accept ,for the name that is dear.[Words by J.S.B. Monsell]
A prayer...../Dear God accept our imperfect service from these humble imperfect lives, in Jesus name Amen/

Fate [ Genesis 1 v1 ]

Then fate stepped in,how many times have we heard  those words,who is this fate?,who is this evolution?it does not make sense.I don't want fate to step in,I want God to step in,fate is just a word.What is the meaning of this word?/the ultimate agency that predetermines the course of events/The ultimate agency is none other than God who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will[Ephesians 1 v11]And in the midst of life we can rejoice , that not blind fate,or chance evolution are not the deciding factors in Life.As we face life which will inevitable bring challenges,problems,decisions,we have someone who is there for us,a mysterious yet personal God,who says call upon me in the day of trouble,I will deliver thee,and thou shalt glorify me  [Psalm50v15].  As we go through life we need not face it on our own ,remember it is not good for man to be alone,we can know one who said I will never leave you nor forsake you.[Hebrews 13 v5 ] We can through Jesus be saved and to know,that we have a glorious future,not a black hole of nothingness[John 11v25].
A prayer..../ Dear God we worship You through Your Son Jesus,we thank You that life takes on meaning when we know You. Amen /

Uncertainties. [ Job 19v25-26 ]

Seemingly a piece of pottery as old as 3,000yrs could prove the reigns of David and Solomon, why do they need a bit of pottery?,is the Jewish people not evidence that such people existed?.Seemingly not,no we need a little bit of pottery,I suppose if this little bit of pottery had not turned up Solomon and David never existed,they were only mythical folk hero's,like Robin Hood,they are just legends.Those wonderful Psalms which we treasure ,mostly written by a man called David,are  really falsehoods,put together like the book of Mormon, but no real bases of truth. That's ,that ,then,no its not,because it is based on unbelief,the Bible is called the word of God, because that is what it is. J. I . Packer mentions modern uncertainties, there have always been uncertainties,ancient and modern. again it is J.I.Packer  who writes as to our modern age, we lack certainty,he goes on to write,/We know in our bones that we were made for certainty, and we cannot be happy without it/.As a young man I looked at life and it made no sense, it had no meaning,but I heard the word of God preached and certainty came into my life in the person of Jesus.In the Bible,we find the truth of creation,we find the truth of mankind's condition,but from Genesis to Revelation ,we find the message of salvation,that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
A  prayer..../Dear God we thank You for Your word,that in a world full of uncertainties,we can say I know whom I have believed,  in Jesus name Amen /

Truth [John 14 v 6]

Why did a mother and her boy friend systematically abuse her child?,to the point that the child died,it is hard to understand,and of course questions are being.asked,why did social workers,doctors,or even the police,let it happen?.As I listened to this on the news report,I found myself answering,they did not let it happen,the mother and her boy friend did it,they continually told lies,convincingly. It is very hard often to know when a person or persons are lying,and people do lie,murderers lie,they will plead not guilty,all sorts of people lie.That couple who killed that child lied,telling lies is not a trivial matter,no, there are no such things as white lies. The preacher who is living a double life is living a lie ,the person who cheats on his wife is living a lie.People who tell lies often do not care about the consequences it has on others,or on themselves.There was a time when the source of the Nile was sought for,the source of lying we are told, is Satan[ John 8 v44],he lied to Eve,and he continues to whisper lies to mankind,every false religion is a lie,so called holy books are filled with lies,yet so many believe them,his lies can be so convincing.The Bible tells us that Satan hates the truth,in fact it says there is no truth in him,the people who rejected  Christ ,and sought to murder him,showed their true parentage. .As John reminds us, This is the condemnation,that light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than  light ,because their deeds were evil.
A  prayer..... /Dear God,help us to tell the truth at all times,and help us to accept Christ who is the Truth].  Amen

Gods choice [ 1 Corinthians 1 v 25-31]

Carrying on from yesterday,as regards the two lads I spoke to,it turns out that they are part of the gypsy community,the boy who was a Christian told me how God was moving among the gypsy population. He told me that he had attended a conference and over two hundred young people had got saved,he said it was the greatest thing, that his people where becoming Christians.The history of the Gypsy population is one of being despised and marginalised,many of then died at the hands of the Nazi es.Of course they often are a law unto themselves and this brings them into conflict with the general public.Like all humanity they are sinners,but then Jesus came into the world to save sinners,and seemingly that is what He is doing among the Gypsies in this country. It reminds me what Paul wrote ,that God chooses and saves the most unlikely people,the foolish things,the weak and base things,and those who are despised[1 Corinthians 1 v26-28] .Most of the well to do people are missing in these days,I wonder why,it need not be like that,God loves everyone,he love you,and wonder of wonders He even loves me.
A prayer..../Dear merciful God in Jesus name continue to save many more people from the Gypsy population. Amen ]