Are you normal? [ Isaiah 44v3 ]

I had to smile as I read the following, /Remember as far as everyone else is concerned,we are a nice normal family/. I am sure we can all identify with those words,as they apply to our families and even to ourselves. When I worked with mentally ill,the point was made, as to what is normal. In other words what we consider as normal , is not the same for everyone,your family life may be orderly,other families may not be.Because people don't conform to your norm does not mean that they are abnormal.I remember a
lady I knew telling how she baked a lovely cake,for a friend,and to her
friends husband,put a slice of corn beef between his piece of cake and ate it.
I don't think the lady baked them any more cakes,it went against her norm,
I am sure there is behaviour that is abnormal.The church family is full of all
sorts of individuals whose norm differs with each other,and here is the important thing ,in the words of song I just heard on the radio,/My God loves me,His faithful love endures/.Yes He loves us all ,even though we may not act in the so called norm, for that's the way He is.
                                       A prayer.
Dear God help us to Your norm ,in holiness,love,and faithfulness,in Jesus name Amen.

Toxic. [ John 14 v16 ]

Gardening is a very popular activity ,every year we have the Chelsea flower show,is a major event.The Queen is one of the first to see this major event,
it is open for anyone to go,many thousands do visit,it is also shown on the TV.Well just recently my wife and I visited a lovely garden centre,with some lovely gardens,as I admired the lovely  flowers,and noticed a bee,and I thought ,this is bee heaven. Bee heaven, and this got me thinking about that  place where the rose's never die,here they last but for a season soon their beauty is decayed, I am going to a city where the rose's never fade.So
 goes the old gospel hymn,and of course it is not to be taken literally,but it is
making a point between ,the realms of time and the eternal realms.This world where not only roses die,we all die,there is a saying old soldiers never
die,they just fade away.But it is not true, all of us die,but not all of us will be going to that wonderful place called heaven,where no one dies.It was Milton who wrote Paradise lost,yes as to this world paradise is lost,someone said that since we were expelled from heaven, we have been trying to create
a paradise on earth. The fact of the matter ,it is the impossible dream,we are
building on toxic waste,in which we will all suffer the consequence of sin.
                                                  A  prayer.
Dear God open our eyes from the change and decay we view all around us,to that greater faith vision,that You have prepared for all who trust Jesus as their Saviour.in Jesus name. Amen.

Trials [Psalm 13 ]

Psalm 13 by David,is about a man that is suffering,yes he may have been a
great man,but he would still experience suffering.Envy no one,be they a great person,a queen, a big personality,for behind that so called greatness
there may be a hidden suffering. The Psalm starts with the words ,/How long/,he is growing weary in his suffering,and feels the Lord has forgotten
him. The continual suffering has clouded his judgement,and the man of God
feels like he has had enough. Trials comes in all sorts of sizes, and durations
,we are having work done in our home,the person who is doing the work is taking a long time,and my wife is finding this a trial,to me this can be classed as a small trial.A lady in our church is caring for a husband who has
Parkinson's disease,then she informed me that her daughter has cancer,now
what she is going through is a major trial. What ever trial you may be suffering it is real to you,and painful,but God has not forgotten you,you may think He has ,but it is not so. To remind us of this fact ,God speaks to us in ways we can understand,and so He tells us,/Can a woman forget her nursing child,and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget,yet I will not forget you. See I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands,your walls are continually before Me.[Isaiah 49 v 15-16 ]
                                   A prayer.
Dear God I trust in your unfailing love,my heart rejoices in your salvation,
I will sing to the Lord,for He has been good to me, in Jesus name Amen.

Flee. [ Acts 17v 31-32 ]

I remember my granny telling, how during the war, when the German where bombing Belfast they used to run for safety, yes there is time to run
away from trouble.Joseph ran away from temptation,when we pray lead us not into temptation,then we shouldn't go to places and situations that could cause us to fall spiritually.David time after time had to flee from King Saul
who continually wanted to kill him,because he saw him as a threat to his
position as king. Lot and his family had to flee from the Judgement that came upon Sodom and Gororrah.Yes there is time to flee to get away from those situations and people that would do us harm.It is John the Baptist who challenged the religious groups ,he asked them who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come[ Matthew 3 v7] . Make no mistake ,there is a day of wrath coming upon this world,you may not have given it a thought,or dismissed it ,God is love,He knows nothing about wrath,its against His nature,wrong,He is the righteous judge,and in a coming day,In Acts 17 v31 we  read,/He[God] has set a day when the entire human race will be judged and everything set right.And He has already appointed the judge[ Jesus].
                                      A  prayer
Dear God help us to see our sinful condition and our great need of being forgiven by Your Son Jesus,before it is to late. Amen.
    [I will return to my blog Saturday DV,every blessing]

One day [ Revelation 22 v 7-21 ]

I was struck by two words I read,/one day/,as a Christian these words conjure up  different things.For instance I was watching the news on TV and there was report of a man who battered his little child to death, I became very upset at hearing this.I know life is not all bad there is much that is good,but I also know that we live in a fallen world,we are sinners,yes even the best of people.Even the best of people can surprise us by the wrong things they do,I am glad you cannot see the Billy that's inside.Then we think
of Nepal,the Ebola crises,Islam,divorce,greed,need I go on.But here is the good news for all who love Christ, one day all will be changed,when He will burst through the line between time and eternity and the word I think will sum it up is, enough.One day He will bring in a new heaven and a new earth,yes one day ,He will make all things new, By His grace I will be part of it,the question is, will you?.
                                         A prayer.
Dear Lord Jesus hasten the day of Your coming again Amen

Influenced. [ 2 Corinthians 10 v 3-5 ]

The present Prime Minister of India, Narenda Modi in a recent interview of
his  early childhood. Speaking on poverty,he said it touched his deepest core
that he was born into a poor family.He spoke about his mother  doing housework,in the homes of others, to earn a living.He further went on to say
,I  have lived in poverty,as a child,my entire childhood was steeped in poverty.For me,poverty,in a way, was the first inspiration of my life. I
decided that I would not live for myself, but would live for others./
 I found his remarks interesting,I suppose we are all to some degree shaped
by our past,not just poverty, I am reading a book on the young Stalin, did his past shape him,seemingly he could sing like an angel,was a gifted poet.
His background was rough,a drunken father who beat him,his mother who loved him intensely,she also beat him,did these things shape his life?
they may have had a degree of shaping him.All his life he read,and I believe
there were two books that had an influence on him,the first was ,The origin of the spices by Charles Darwin,after reading that he stopped believing in God. next one was by the Italian philosopher  Niccolo Machiavelli,on how those in power should rule,the basic idea appears to be, the end justifies the
means.These two books changed Stalin's whole life,and not for the better,as millions would testify, who lived and died under his godless rule.
                                       A  prayer.
God there are so many things that can influence us,what we read,what  we view on the TV,or the Internet.evil people have influenced millions to commit so much evil,preserve us God from being influenced by the evils without,and the evil within,in Jesus name we ask this Amen.
   

Something better. [ Luke 9 v57-62 ]

It was said of a famous explorer, that for all his human faults he was always
looking for something better.None of us are perfect but we can always have aspirations, for that something better.some of our aspirations,we may never
achieve, some we can achieve .Wilberforce had a dream as regards ending the trade of slavery. As member of parliament ,he battled on for practically a life time  trying to have a bill passed,banning this wicked practice,in the end he succeeded. Dr M.Luther had a dream of equality for black people, in the end his dream came to pass,even though he paid the price ,by loosing his life.Something better ,I have  looked at this world,and on those dying without Christ,bound by sin,going to a lost eternity. God has something better to offer people,never let us who know Christ, never forget this,as to this life and as to eternity. Jesus came to people,He looked them in the eye,and said follow Me, I will give you something better.
                                      A  prayer.
Dear God help us, whoever we are,living in squalor,or luxury,to respond
to Jesus Your son,as He offers them something better,Amen.