Not a million miles away. [Acts 17,v 22- 34 ]

I heard a person singing a song about God being a million miles away,it is what he felt but it is not true.In Acts 17,the apostle Paul was speaking in Athens,to very religious people.They were worshipped many gods,and even had an altar,dedicated to the unknown god.They were not taking any chances ,so just to be on the safe side they  erected this altar.They were religious,there are those who would say it does not matter who or what one whorships,as long as one is sincere,but  the apostle did not think this,he was grieved,their religion was nothing more than idolatry.Consider, that no matter how religious, one is,if it is not a  relationship that is not based on faith in Christ,it is but idolatry.
    So the apostle starts to challenge their false beliefs,preaching unto them,
about Jesus and the resurrection,why?,surely they are sincere,well ,sincere they may have been,but they needed to know that there is only way to God,
and that there is only way to God,that being Jesus[John14v6]. He exhorts them to seek the Lord,whom he says is not far from any of us.[Acts 17v27]
  Yes God even though He be in heaven, he is not far from any of us,and can be reached ,by a simple prayer.We can make it hard to come to Christ, is not hard,if we believe ,if we repent from our sins,God will be found,what is stopping you?
                                          A prayer.
Dear God we thank You that You are not hard to be found,you are not a million miles away,and can be found through Jesus Your son. Amen.
,

The beast within. [ Jude v24- 25 ]

It is David Prior who writes about the violence that is in mankind,he writes a number of interesting things,here are a few./Violence in the home has become widespread,by husbands to wives,by parents to children...women being battered by their partners,of children being abused by adults.At any one time,we are told,there are between twenty five and thirty wars being fought around the world.We see pictures of a few.In the words of Salman Rushdie,Violence today is hot. It is what people want.Violence against
unborn babies,violence against women, and children,violence against the weak,by the many against the few/
    While God in His mercy restrains the violence in mankind there is
enough evidence to bear out the truth of the violent nature of man.If one reads the Bible we read of terrible violence,it is not pretty reading,especially when we come to the most extreme violence of all,the crucifixion of the son of God ,Jesus.
      I do not believe it will end ,not until Christ returns,then He will subdue all things,then and then only will there be true peace. Until then suicide bombers will continue to kill themselves and others,there will be wars and rumours of wars. And as to ourselves,and the beast within all of us,and I speak as a Christian,may the grace of almighty God transform us into the likeness,of Jesus,who manifested a gentleness and meekness,that has never been equalled.
                                    A  prayer.
Dear God have mercy upon us grant that the beast within all of us may be subdued and restrained by the power of Your Spirit,in Jesus name Amen

No fairy god mother.[John 1 v12]

The earliest film I remember seeing was that animated classic Cinderella ,I was very young,and I was with a group of others,they could have been my brothers,or other youngsters from the street I lived in,this was long time ago.The movie kept being repeated and because we enjoyed it so much,we watched it, again and again,until some came looking for.Recently I bought the DVD of this old film,this corresponds with this Sunday,when I will be ministering in the church I attend.Now I had prayed that God would give me a message for the children,and as I watched the movie, I prayed that I could use something from it,to illustrate a spiritual truth for the children.
    What came to me is this,in the story Cinderella lives with her evil stepmother,and two daughters,they treat her very badly.The king of the land wanted his son to get married,and so an invitation was sent out all the young girls to attend a ball. Cinderella was not allowed to go ,and so was very sad,that she could not go to the ball,but then suddenly her fairy god mother appeared all was changed.
   Now when I was young things were difficult and I wish I did have a fairy god mother,but not so, I soon discovered fairy god mothers are only in fairy
tails.But the greatest discovery I did find ,that by trusting Jesus,I could have a loving heavenly Father,and that has been the most precious thing in my whole life.
                                          A  prayer.
Dear loving heavenly Father,we praise that you love little children, and desire that all men may know You as their loving heavenly Father,by
 trusting Jesus as Saviour. Amen.

No room ..[Revelation 3 v20 ]

I must confess I have enjoyed this advent ,partially due to my Pastor,who makes a big effort to bring us all,into the meaning of the season.  To me it
has been a nice Christmas,of course it is not over yet,and who knows maybe the best is yet to come.If I had a wish for Christmas it would be that there
would be even one person ,who would come to know Jesus.Is this not what happened that first Christmas,shepherds,wise men.they came to know Jesus.
The religious leaders,and Herod had their opportunity,but missed it,sad to say for multitudes they will miss the opportunity to know Jesus,food,gifts,
shopping,family,in themselves not wrong,but surely there is more to Christmas,and to life, than those things.Christmas is about God breaking into time, from his eternal throne,in the person of His son Jesus. He wants to  remind us all,that His plans and purpose for us are bigger than the things of time. There will come for us all,that time, will cease to be,and we will find ourselves looking into the eternal realms,and as  to where we spend eternity,will depend on this  solitary fact, Christ. We are told that the that there was no room,for a special couple,and the child that was soon to be  born ,for the majority of people,there is still no room,Jesus is still knocking on the hearts of the many,to no avail.Yet it need not be so today,I invite you,to pray in the words of a hymn.
                                         A  prayer.
O come to my heart Lord Jesus,there is room in my heart for Thee, Amen

Relationship. [ 22 v 37-40 ]

Today I was listening to my car radio,and I heard a well know entertainer singing, a well known old hymn,/Thou didst Leave Thy throne/as I listened
to the opening verse ,I felt emotional,I'm glad that I did,for it assures me, that I am still touched by what I hold dear,it still has the power to touch my heart. It is so easy to let those precious truths, which we embraced with tears years ago ,not touch or move our hearts now. It reminds me of the Lords accusation of the church of Laodicea,that had become lukewarm,[Revealation 3 v16],or to the church at Ephesus,that they had left there first love[Revelation 2v4].I wonder what had caused these churches to become like this?, The church of Laodicea,appeared to have let prosperity effect them,leading them to be complacent,and being blind as to their true spiritual  condition.Ephesus had much to be admired,they stood for truth,for orthodoxy,but their theology , left them untouched,they neither loved their Lord or His people,as they once did.There are many reasons why the fire goes out in our relationship with our Lord.The main one is in that word relationship,consider a marriage,if the relationship is neglected,or placed into second place,the marriage relation will fall apart.So lets  consider afresh the words of that old hymn.
                          Thou didst leave Thy throne,and Thy kingly crown,
                           when Thou camest to earth for me,
                          but in Bethlehem's home,was there found no room ,
                           for Thy holy nativity.
                           O come to my heart,Lord Jesus,
                           there is room in my heart for Thee.
                                    [E.E. Steele Elliott].

The fall out. [ Hebrews 12 v15 ]

I remember many years ago,as a member of the territorial army going on a civil defence course,it was the time of the cold war,and we were being taught how to deal with the fall out of an neutral attack. In talking to one of
my sons about broken marriages,and the fall out of such .Now of course falling out just does not only apply to marriage, 
Also when friends fall out,and dare I say when churches fall out,contrary to what our Saviour commanded.When all this happens there is a fall out,just as there is when there is  from a neutral bomb.When Jeremiah was called to be a prophet and was told that he was to uproot,and tear down,destroy and overthrow,others you must build up and plant[Jeremiah 1 v10]. Sad to say
 many of us are good at pulling down but not very good at building up.
     To many people are in the demolition department ,yes there are things that need demolished,but not destroyed, In situations where there is fall we must consider the hurt that it  causes.In marriages,in churches,in friendships.There are things we cannot undo,but we can try to not make it worse for all concerned.
   We must learn to forgive ,for living with bitterness is a fall out that can be damaging to all concerned,bitterness,does not make things better,only forgiveness can do that. I know of a number of ex-wives who have held
 bitterness,in their hearts,for years,to listen to them is very sad.
                               A  prayer.
Dear God in this world that You have created ,sin has entered,and the fall out has been great and devastating,Yet through Your Son, forgiveness is offered,knowing that through Him, we can be free from the fall out. Amen.

   

The most important prayer.[ Psalm 51]

Prayer is in some ways is a mystery,but at the heart of every prayer there must be faith.When ever anyone prays they are acknowledging to some degree ,that  life on planet earth,is not all there is,that there is a possibility of something greater than ourselves. It may surprise us if we knew the people who pray. Now of course ,many who pray are not necessary seeking God ,they may seek  for healing,for financial help there are many reasons why people pray.Now ask yourself what is the most important
prayer, one could pray? I believe it is,the prayer for salvation, of asking for forgiveness ,it is asking Jesus to become your Saviour. You may not have done this,yet you may pray occasionally,for whatever, but that does not deal with your greatest need ,that is a relationship with God.That relationship comes through Jesus ,Christmas, is about God sending His son into this world.His purpose was to die and take the punishment for the sin of all who put their trust in Him. I would not discourage anyone from praying,but I would encourage them to pray that most important prayer of all,
                                             A  prayer.
Dear God we thank You that You hear our prayers, especially the prayer for
salvation through Jesus Your Son. Amen.