Poor in spirit. [ Luke 18 v10ff]

Now let us consider the first blessed,Blessed are the poor in spirit , for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.[Matthew 5 v3]Now our Saviour is not saying blessed are the poor,but the poor in spirit,in Luke 6 v20,our Saviour said ,blessed are you  poor,He does not mention in spirit,so what does He
mean?. D.M.Jones writes,/The Bible nowhere teaches that poverty is a good
thing.The poor man is no nearer heaven than the rich man,speaking of them
as natural men.Our Lord was even there speaking of poor as meaning not
possessed by the worldly spirit,poor in the sense if you like,that you not rely on riches/ A person once said to me that I was poor,but I did not feel poor,for I was relying on my Heavenly Father,who would supply my needs.
Blessed are the poor in spirit ,for theirs is the kingdom of God,these words are best understood in the story Jesus told in Luke 18v 10 ff,about two men who went up to the temple to pray,one was very religious,the other considered a sinful person.The religious person prayed  about himself,how better he was than others,the other man stood at a distance,he would not even look up to heaven,he beat his breast ,and said God,have mercy upon me a sinner.Our Saviour that man was accepted by God,you see he was poor in spirit,and so was blessed.
                                 Just as I am without one plea,,
                                 but that Thy blood was shed for me,
                                 and that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee,
                                 O Lamb of God I come.

                                Just as I am,poor,wretched blind,
                                sight,riches ,healing of the mind,
                                yea,all I need,in Thee to find,
                               O Lamb of God I come.

                                Just as I am,Thou wilt receive,
                               wilt welcome pardon,cleanse,relieve,
                               because Thy promise I believe,
                               O Lamb of God I come
                                     [Words by Charlotte Elliiott]
                                   
                              

Blessed [Matthew 5 v1 - 12 ]

One of the greatest passages in the NT, is the Sermon on the Mount,spoken by Jesus,and what He taught has influenced many people.John Stott describes them as being the principals of Gods Kingdom,we can read about them in Matthew 5-7, we are going to look at parts of it, starting with the blessed'. Spurgeon wrote,/The word blessed is by some translated happy,but we like blessed best/.My study Bible says,/The term blessed means more than happiness.The Beatitudes don't promise laughter,pleasure,or earthly prosperity.Being blessed by God means to experience hope and joy
independent ,of outward circumstances/While that is true,it can involve happiness,recently while watching a DVD,about people and how they came to Christ,on man who had been looking at what it meant to be become a
Christian,was convinced of the truth of Christianity,went to his friends,and
told them that he believed Christianity to be true,and was going to trust Christ,but from that point on he would stop enjoying himself./Becoming a
Christian is a serious business,but to say we never enjoy ourselves,is wrong.
We do not loose the capacity to laugh and enjoy ourselves,the joy of the Lord is real,and we experience great happiness,even though we are not happy all day,after all the gospel is good news.
                                     A  prayer.
Dear God we thank and for the gospel ,that is good news,and when we
believe it,we are truly blessed,in Jesus name, Amen.

The God of Abraham. [ Genesis 22 v18]

If we look at things at face value,we could easy make a case of saying Muslims.Jews,and Christians worship the same God,in that we worship the God of Abraham.But if we consider the whole picture as is revealed in Gods word we see a different picture, Islam exalts   Ishmael above  Isaac which
is not what  the Bible teaches,because it would be through Isaac Gods redemptive purposes would be fulfilled.Likewise when it comes to the
Jews, they reject the promise Saviour,for Jesus is that promised seed though
whom all the earth would be blessed[Genesis 22v18].If we say that Muslin's,Jews and Christians worship the same God,saying that is not taking into consideration the full story,as revealed in scripture.Jesus is that promised Seed of Abraham,if Muslims, and Jews reject that seed,then the god they worship,is not the same as the God the Christians worship and the Jew have chosen another way, than that, which is revealed in Gods word.
 Islam ,Judaism  both have a limited an imperfect concept of Abraham,who rejoiced to see Christs day,and saw it and was glad[John 8 v56].As D.A.Carson writes,/Jesus identified the ultimate fulfilment of all Abraham's hopes and joys with His own person and work/.
                                            A  prayer.
Dear God we thank you for Jesus the promised seed of Abraham,through whom all the earth is blessed, He is the only one,who can forgave our sins,and make us true children of Abraham,and true Children of God.Amen.

Through faith alone. [ Exodus 20 v 1- 6 ]

The question I asked, was this, do we all worship the same God?and the answer is very simply,no, or does it matter as to who we worship?,yes it does.In Exodus 20v3,reads,/You shall have no other Gods before Me/,Israels great sin was, becoming involved in the worship of other gods.The result was God punished them for doing this,[Jeremiah 2 v17],we are told that God is a jealous God[Exodus 20v5],in other words he will not accept any other so called rivals.Well what about Jesus?or the Holy Spirit?,are they not Gods?,no they are not,as a Christian I only worship one God,not three gods.What I will say to you now,will not make sense,the Christian God is what we call a triune God,Hilary a theologian writes,/We are compelled by the error of heretics and blasphemers to do what is unlawful,to scale heights,to express things unutterable,to encroach on forbidden matters.And when we ought to fulfil the commandments through faith alone,adoring the Father,worshipping the Son together with him rejoicing in the Holy Spirit,we are forced to stretch the feeble capacity of our language to give expression to indescribable realities/I think the key thing in what he saying is, /through faith alone/.We cannot fully understand God,but we are called to accept God,the triune God by faith,as He is revealed in scripture.That means that all other so called gods must be rejected,and that they are no more than figments of peoples imagination.
                                           A  prayer.
Dear God we thank You for revealing yourself to us by your Holy Spirit,as is shown to us in your sacred word,in Jesus name Amen.

Do we all worship the same God ? [ Exodus 20 v 3]

I come from a divided land,Ulster,the division is political and religious,at this time things are more settled,the nationalist politicians have thankfully
chosen the ballot box,over the bullet.I was encouraged on my recent visit
as the degree of normality there was,no bombs,no road blocks.Now of  course there is still a lot of undercurrent,which we hope will lessen as time goes on.But what about the religious divide?,in politics  there has to be
a willingness to compromise, but what about the religious situation?, can their be compromise?.Why do we not just all worship as one?,are we not
going against what Jesus said ,that we should be one? [John 17v21]Are
we just being difficult,when we refuse to join with the Roman Catholic
church?.we could widen the question,do we not all worship the same God?
In the USA,a professor at Wheaton college has put on facebook that Christians, and Muslims worship the same God.Now these are the questions that many people are thinking about,and asking.Tomorrow I will seek to 
address these issue's,as to how we should look at them,from a biblical point of view.
                                              A  prayer.
 Dear God open the eyes of our understanding,help us to be open to what you have to say to us,in Jesus name Amen.

The most important prayer. [ Ephesians 2 v1-8]

Recently I paid a visit to my home town of Belfast,with two of my sons, before I went ,I asked, that the weather would be kind to us,and it was,,no rain,and the temperature was very reasonable.On our visit we called into a café to have something to eat,I spoke to the girl who was taking my order.I
mentioned that I was visiting,she mentioned how the weather  was nice,then
I said had prayed about it,and that God had answered prayer.Then I asked her did she believe God answered prayer?,she replied no,I ignored this,and said to her do you know the most important prayer one can pray?,God be merciful to me a sinner, and I left it at that.
                                        A prayer.
Dear God have mercy upon that young girl,help her to see that her greatest need ,is your mercy,through Jesus your Son Amen.

Im not going up on the roof. [Psalm 46]

There is a song with the words ,/when this old world is getting me down/,
and then it speaks of getting away from it all on the roof.What do you do when this old world is getting you down?,well I know I could not go on my
roof,I would fall of it,but there is a place I go to,not so much a place but a person,His name is Jesus.Elijah a prophet fled into the wilderness,David
fled into the land of the Philistines,who were the enemies of Israel.Naomi
and her family went into the land of Moab,because of a famine in there own country.Many in these days are fleeing from trouble, from war,oppression,
and poverty.It is a vivid reminder of the insecurity of life on planet earth,
75 percent of people who win the lottery end up bankrupt.Now I do not want to put fear into your hearts,but the reality is , that life is uncertain,we know not what a day may bring forth. So what is the answer to all this uncertain?,well consider the following words,  [Psalm46]
                           God is our refuge and strength
                            a very present help in trouble.
Where or what are you looking to,today,this man is saying that the person of God is his security.
                             Therefore will not we fear.
Be very clear about this,only faith in God, and his son Jesus,can bring us into a place of true security,only faith in a sovereign God,can bring peace,
and hope.
                                       A prayer.
Dear God and Father we draw near to you ,because you alone are,our security,which comes when we know Jesus as our Saviour, Amen.