If only. [ John 21 v 15-22]

A  Motyer writing on Israel ,penned these words,/If only-what might so easily have been/Isaiah had been reviewing Israels tragic past,and his conclusion was, /it could have been so different,the Lords mere presence would have sufficed to change everything[A.Motyer] The whole history of Israel is littered with failure ,to trust and obey God,the result was disaster,read the book of Judges,there we have a continual,habitual,going away from God. In Deuteronomy11v13ff Israel is promised blessings,if they would love the Lord,and remember Jesus taught ,If we love Him we should keep his commandments [John 14v15/23-24],so in one sense nothing has changed.I wonder how many churches that no longer exist,would be now thriving and growing if they had kept the commands of Jesus. It is in Matthew 23v37 we have the most tragic words spoken in the whole of the Bible,/O  Jerusalem,Jerusalem,thou that killest the prophets,and stonest them,which are sent unto thee,how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens, under her wings/Yes things could have been so different for Israel,if only,but what about us? can this be applied to our lives,sinner don't let these words ,if only, hunt you in eternity,and they will, trust Christ as your Saviour now. Backslider return to your first love,stop living with the regrets and repent and turn back to your Lord. Christian trust and obey your Lord and you will be blessed,don't live with what might have been,now is the hour to serve Him.
A prayer....../Dear Lord help us to trust and obey ,help us to not live with an, if only experience Amen /

There will always be the poor.[ Matthew 14 v 16]

My wife is a very generous person,she gave me her cold,recently I was vaccinated against ,shingles and the flu,for that I am grateful.We are very fortunate we have a good,not perfect health service.A friend was telling me about the country he used to live in,if you don't pay,or if you are not able to pay,you do not get treatment.So again I want to say how grateful I am for the health care in our country.Good health of course is important for all of us ,but not all of us are blessed with it,as not everyone is blessed materially.Now as one who lost a mother and a wife with cancer,and as one who was brought up with not to much financial blessing,I can truly say I am not bitter as regards the difficulties in life.The important thing is to trust the Lord, in the sad and difficult days,and to remember that there are always mercies to thank God for. The word of God tells us that He chooses the poor,and then it adds who are rich in faith.as heirs of the Kingdom[James 2 v5]James writes of those who despise the poor[2v6],but God doesn't,in this country there is a tendency to despise ,and judge the unemployed,we shouldn't.There will always be poor people,let us not judge them,but show compassion to them,and help them.
A  prayer....../Dear God we bring to you the poor and those who are suffering,have mercy upon such,and help us who have been blessed,by You,to bless others in Jesus name Amen./

He will hear your prayer.[ John 15 v 21-28]

Isaiah 62 emphasises the importance of prayer . A. Motyer,/ Our prayers are by His will, in some way are  a vital ingredient in the implementing of His promises/,So we find the prophet prayingv1,but not only the prophet we have in verse 6,others who are given the responsibility of prayer,as A.Motyer writes,/those who would intercede ceaselessly until the full work of salvation and righteousness is accomplished. Those who engage in prayer are the true guardians/ There are different reasons why we pray,to give thanks,praise and worship to God,to make our requests unto God,to intercede with God,for the needs of so many,our families,neighbours,fellow workers,goverments,for all men. For salvation,healings,problems,that wars may cease,that justice would prevail,H.C.Leupold,writes,/ God honours believing prayer and heeds the intercession of His children./We may not be a prophet or a preacher,but God is no respector of persons,do not feel intimidated by your lowliness,but instead have faith in a God who hears  all His childrens prayers.
A prayer...../Dear Heavenly Father,help us to pray believing,in Jesus name Amen /

Seeing it as it is. [2 Peter 3 v 4-13]

I read these words by A Motyer,/Thus we are enabled to see sin as God sees it and to see ourselves in the helplessness He knows besets us/ The fact of the matter is we do not see sin as God sees it,think of how it is effecting this world at present,and how it effects us personally.There are three major things that are in the news, that show how sin is affecting ,this world,in Africa the Ebola out break,it reminds me of the black plague,I saw on TV a dead body,lying on the street,no one would touch it,also a man falling down in the street,no one would run to help him.Then we have the Islamic movement,with their appalling behaviour,then we have the protests in Hong Kong against a regime with an absolutely appalling history,with the guilt of millions and millions of people whom they have murdered.I highlight these three examples to illustrate the effect of sin ,which many do not appreciate
which I do not appreciate fully.Sin is played down in our churches,ignored by our politicians,we often play down its consequences,but God sees sin for what it is,and what it does.His answer is Jesus ,His Son,who would die on a horrible cross ,on which He became a sacrifice for sin.Through this death millions are been saved and eventually will live in a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.[Revelation 21v1./Isaiah 66v22]
A  prayer...../ Dear God open our eyes to sin and its consequences,the effects on this world ,the effects on ourselves,and help us to be faithful to Your word,in Jesus name Amen /

Time versus eternity. [ John 10v 27-30 ]

When its gone its gone,I am not talking about some bargain at the supermarket but time,how do you look on time?. There is a saying that for the old the years pass quickly,and the days slowly,since I started working a four day week it appears to me that time is flying by.For many there are not enough hours in the day,they are so busy,for others the day drags by,they have not much to do,but watch TV.
I heard a phrase recently on the radio which made me think,it went,/the universal tyranny of time /,I wonder what you think of that?tyranny is a strong word,indicating cruelty,being oppressed.It appears to me that time has an unreality to it,but whatever we think about it,nothing will change it. Is time everything?,God we are told has placed something greater in our hearts,something which most people choose to ignore ,in Ecclesiastes 3v11, we read,He has placed eternity in our hearts./.My study Bible reads,/This means that we can never be completely satisfied with earthly pleasures, and pursuits/.As to life ,mankind has a want in them which is never,and indeed can never be satisfied,within are brief lifetime,we run about like headless chickens,we run about with our tongues hanging out seeking that which can never satisfy.No matter how much they are told mankind will continue to seek the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,and all the time Jesus is saying ye will not come to Me,for the gift of eternal life,the choice is ours,make sure it is the right choice,please.
A  prayer....../Eternal God forgive our blindness,and foolishness,in choosing to focus on time,and the things of time, open our eyes to eternal realities in and through Your Son Jesus. Amen /

Jesus paid it all. [ 1 Peter 1 v 18-19 ]

At our home group we were discussion Isaiah 53 v 1-3 ,which is a great Gospel invitation,it commences by declaring,/ Ho every one that thirsteth,come ye to the waters,and he that hath no money,come ye , buy and eat, yea come,buy wine and milk,without without money and without price/. This is an invitation  for sinners to be saved ,to come to Him,who promises to satisfy our deepest need,and the question one may ask ,what is our deepest need?. Our deepest need is to know Jesus ,who alone can satisfy our hungry and thirsty souls, the hymn writer put it like this,now none but Christ can satisfy.Look out ,and we see a world that is starving spiritually,a world that is drinking from water from wells,with buckets that have holes in it. Jesus says if we ask Him he would satisfy our deepest need[ John 4 v14 ]. But the verses in Isaiah  declares,come buy,well what is offered has a price on it,we cant buy it,we have no resources to buy what is being offeredNow I want you to imagine a young lad going to the cinema with his dad,his father askes him to order the tickets,this he does,and then he is asked for the price to be paid,and he points to his father and says ,/He will pay/So it is  as a sinner when we come to God, we point to Jesus and say He will pay,as the old hymn puts it /Jesus paid it all/.
A  prayer....../God and Father we thank you for your Son,who paid the price for our salvation. Amen /

The altogether lovely One. [Isaiah 53 ]

Certain Greeks came to Philip and asked to see Jesus[John 12 v21]it is not recorded that they did see Him,what would they have seen?.We have no pictures of Jesus,often he is depicted as a very attractive man by many in the film industry.It is to the book of the prophet Isaiah we have a description of Jesus the Messiah,here is what he wrote./For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,and as a root out of a dry ground,he hath no form nor comeliness,and when we shall see him,there is no beauty that we should desire him[53 v2]A . Motyer writes,/The servant [Jesus] was not therefore, noticeably well built,impressive,handsome......with every appearance of being a man among men, and not outstanding at that..it was not easy to believe that He could be the Lord come to save/His suffering made it hard also for the Jews to believe He was the promised Messiah cp52v 14.Again A. Motyer writes,/His suffering caused revulsion,......so that those who saw Him stepped back in horror not only saying,is this the Servant?but is this human/I finish by quoting what the apostle wrote in 1 Corinthians 1 v 22ff/For the Jews require a sign,and the Greeks seek wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified,unto the Jews a stumbling block,and unto the Greeks foolishness./
A prayer...../ Dear God we bow humbly at your feet,we praise You for Jesus the altogether lovely one,for who He was and is,and for what He did on Calvary for us sinful human beings. Amen /