A single experience. [ Romans 8 v 15 ]

When I was young Christian a man said to me,''have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?''.Now these words are taken from Acts 19v1ff,
spoken by Paul to,two disciples of John,they new nothing about the Holy Spirit,they were not Christians,but eventually Paul the apostle explained to them about Christ they believed and were baptised,and when he laid his hands on them they did receive  the Holy Spirit.John Stott writes,''The laying on of hands by the apostles ,followed by tongue speaking and
prophesying were special to Ephesus,as to Samaria,demonstrated visibly that they had become become Christians;the NT does not universalise this''
Roman 8 v 9 tells us clearly that,'' if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ,he does not belong to Christ''.in the same verse we have the Spirit of  God,Stott says,''This is not confusing the persons of the Trinity,but to stress that while they are eternally distinct in their personal modes of being,they also share the same divine essence and will.What the Father does
he does through the Son,and what the son does he does through the Spirit.
Indeed,wherever each is,there are the others also''.
Tomorrow we will follow on with this to show that receiving Christ is not a two  tier experience.
                                          A prayer.
Dear God we thank you that when Christ became our Saviour the Holy Spirit came to dwell in our lives, Amen.

God looks.[ 1 Samuel 16 v7 ]

I found myself praying,that God would help me glorify Him outwardly and inwardly.Samuel the great prophet was told to go and anoint another king,as
he viewed the possible candidates ,he was taught a valuable lesson which we all need to learn,and most of all remember.''The Lord does not look at things man looks at.Man looks at the outward appearance,but the Lord looks at the heart''[1 Samuel 16 v7 ].Consider how much humanity looks on
the outward appearance,buy the Hello magazine,there you have dressed in all there finery,in their beautiful homes,with their beautiful children,and their beautiful cars.There is nothing wrong with valuing beauty,but that is not what should be the touchstone of our lives,for as we know beauty is only skin deep.David saw a beautiful woman and what followed was far from beautiful,Samson likewise ,and the result was he lost his strength,his sight and his freedom.[Judges 16 ].The apostle Paul valued so much that was outward,his religion,his nationality,his religious standing,but none of those things were of value in Gods eyes.It was only when he found Christ
as his Saviour that he discovered what was of most value in Gods eyes.
                                           A  prayer.
Dear God open the eyes of our understanding at all times ,to what is of value in your eyes,in Jesus name Amen.

If only. [ Acts 7 v51-60]

I read this recently by Selwyn Hughes,''Without the moral compass of Gods 
Word our lives are cast adrift on a sea of uncertain opinions. All sense of direction will be lost''.As one reads the history of Israel which was more tragic than glorious ,yes there were times when as nation they followed
God,in that they obeyed His words and sought to bring their lives into conformity to His word.But sad to say they never got out of the habit of doing what was right in their own eyes,never ,God who would have been their Saviour became their Judge.Time after time God pleaded with them through the word spoken by the prophets,but they remained a stiff-necked ,rebellious,people.It need not have been that way,if only they had obeyed Gods word,if only,is the words that sums up Israel ,if only,and when their Messiah came they treasured the word,but not the Saviour of the word,and so it remains to this day,if only,if only.
                                              A prayer.
Dear God help us to see how vital it is to hold fast to your word,and to obey it,may it never be said of us,if only,in Jesus name we ask this Amen. 

My Friend [ Psalm 119 v129-136]

I  have a friend who is a converted Roman Catholic,he was a very devout
Roman Catholic ,as was his family,his elder brother became a priest.He
himself had entered a time of training for the priesthood,but  in the end he left it,feeling it was not for him.As you could expect he knows a lot about
RC teaching and practises.One thing that was absent was the scriptures, other than a few verses from the gospels during the mass.Now my friend was very active in opposing those who were  Protestants,and in order to answer questions,that they raised when speaking to them,he asked his priest for a New Testament.When his mother saw him reading the Bible she was upset and told him off,and said she would tell the priest,she was a bit knocked back,when he told her that the priest had given him the NT.When he asked his priest why RC's did not read the scriptures,he was told,it was because  when people read the Bible they become Protestants.And so it came to pass, for through reading the scriptures my friend did became a protestant.
                                     A  prayer.
Dear God we thank you for your word,help us to hold fast to your word,
and to proclaim it faithfully,and with confidence in its power,in Jesus name Amen.

How much [ 1 John 3 v1 ]

When Jesus wanted to stress how much our Father in heaven cares  for His children,He said two very impressive things in Matthew 10 v 29-31,''Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?,yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.And even the very hairs of your head are numbered.So don't be afraid;you are worth more than many sparrows''Spurgeon writes the following,''Here is a sermon against fear,and sparrows are the text.These birds are of little worth,and you are of far greater consideration than many of them.God observes the death of a sparrow,and he much more notes the lives and deaths of his people.Even
the least part of his children's frame has been registered.The very hairs of their head are counted and catalogued,and,to the most minute circumstances
all their lives are under the arrangement of the Lord of love.Chance is not in
our creed; the decree of the Eternal Watcher rules our destiny,and love is
seen in every line of that decree''
                                         A  thought.
''The Jews were so impressed with the individual care of God, that they said
every blade of grass had its guardian angel''.

Witnessing [Acts 1 v8]

I have a confession to make I don't always witness when I should,I think my time in social services has made me more cautious,than I should be.Why do we to witness to people?because Jesus said we should[ Acts 1v8].There are different reasons why we don't witness,we don't want people to think we are religious nuts.We want to be liked,for people to think well of us,who wants to be despised,no one,but of course the one we follow was despised [Isaiah 53 v3 ].The  thought of speaking to others about Jesus,for many is something they would rather run away from,they feel they just cannot do it.I wear a little cross around my neck ,as a witness,but I know that it is not enough,I must tell them about Christ who died on a cross to save them.If a person is married to a non Christian,they cannot be bombarding them with words as regards their faith,but they can live a godly life.That would also apply  to the work place, but that does not mean that we don't speak of Christ.Yes I don't always speak to people about Jesus,but many times I have,of course I have made mistakes,I am no super evangelist,but I have never lost sight of peoples need of Christ,and my responsibility to tell them
                                       A prayer.
Dear God help us in all weakness to live the gospel,and to tell forth the gospel for our Saviours sake Amen.

No speculation [ Matthew 24 v36-51]

I was at a wedding reception,and as I gazed at the people assembled ,the words of our Saviour came to mind,''As it was in the days of Noah, so it will
be at the coming of the Son of Man.For in the days before the flood,people were eating and drinking ,marrying and giving in marriage''[Matthew 24 v37ff]Then He tells how those people were oblivious to the judgement that fell upon them.On looking back on my Christian life in Northern Ireland,the thing that saddened me was the division created by the different schools of thought on the events that indicate our Lords return. When our Saviour was about to leave and return to Heaven,He cut across their curiosity by telling them,''It is not for you know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority[Acts 1 v 7] William Barclay wrote,''The coming of Christ
is certain,but the time of that coming is quite unknown.Speculation is vain
and useless,people will come with false prophecies and false predictions.'' One thing is certain Christ is coming again,and as one person said,''No man will foresee it,and all men will see it.A preacher was asked the question when is the Lord coming back?,he replied,'maybe today,so be ye ready.'
                                           A  prayer.
Dear God we thank for the blessed hope we have that Jesus is coming again
help us to live with that in mind ,in His name we ask this Amen.