A wonderful Hope. [ John 11 v25 - 26 ]

I have just listened to Phil Wickham singing a lovely song, called ,''Your
Beautiful''.The 4th verse,blessed me,it reads,

                         When we arrive at eternity's shore,
        Where death is just a memory and tears are no more.
                     We'll enter in as the wedding bells ring,
         Your Bride will come together,and we'll sing,Your
                                      Beautiful.

Lovely words,lovely song, it reminds me of the scripture  regarding death,
that as Christians,we do not grieve like the rest of men,who have no hope,
[ 1 Thessalonians 4 v13 ].Our hope is built firmly on Jesus ,who declared,
''I am the resurrection and the life,He who believes in me will live,even though he dies''[ John 11 v25 ].The words of that song tells us,that death in
heaven will be but a memory,and tears will be no more. The next thing it tells us that we will see Jesus,and that truly will be wonderful,and glorious.
                                      A  prayer.
Dear God we praise and thank You,that through you we have a wonderful hope that goes beyond the grave,we thank you for Jesus who made it all possible.
Amen.

Take Him serious. [Genesis 6 v3 ]

I have a good relationship with God,but I must never forget He is God,I must take him seriously at all times. I should take Him serious when He speaks to me,take His  promises serious,take his holiness serious,take His love serious. I must remember that He has no favourites,and that He is no respecter of people.He did not look the other way,when David sinned,that man after  Gods own heart,no God saw the evil he did and was not pleased,
and He dealt with him.Likewise the nation,that nation that He loved with an everlasting love   [ Jeremiah 31v 3] , refused to take Gods messenger the prophet serious and his word from God.one could highlight, so many times
they did not take God serious.The result was, God was not pleased, and poured out His displeasure upon them. Many of us ignore the speed limit and get away with it,but not so with God,He does not like being ignored,there where those in Sodom and Gomorrah who laughed when they were warned of Gods judgement,they did not take it serious,Lots wife did not take serious what Gods messengers said,the result she and those who laughed perished.If you have never trusted Jesus you will die in your sins and go to Hell,take this warning seriously.
                                           A  prayer.
Dear God we are told that the fear of the  Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
help us all saved and unsaved alike to take You serious,in Jesus name Amen.

Running on empty. [Galations 5 v 16- 26 ]

In writing to Christians at Ephesous,Paul prays ,that they may be strengthened with power through  Gods Spirit in their inner being. [ 3 v16 ]I was thinking this morning how we live two lives,the outward and the inner one.The one everyone can see,then the one no one can see except God,we rarely neglect our outward man,in good ways and bad ways,The good is when we eat the right things,exercise,get the right amount of sleep,etc.The bad  is when we continually over eat,we take drugs,etc,etc,I am sure you get the picture.Paul speaks of our inner being,that we may know that inner strength and power, that alone comes from Gods Spirit,we will not get this in a gym,or from a bowl of cornflacks.As H.Moule puts it,this is not surface work,this goes beyond the physical,this is a  spiritual reality.Many of us run on empty,as we face each day,but it need not be that way ,ask and you shall receive.
                                              A  prayer.
Dear God ,thank you that you dwell in our hearts,forgive us for neglecting you,so we pray in your mercy fill our lives ,with your  Spirits presence,and power, in Jesus name Amen.
                                     

We have a choice. [ Joshua 1 v 9 ]

I saw Moses yesterday,yes I did,he was playing football,but of course there are many people called Moses,but there was only one Moses,that was rescued from destruction,and cared for by the very people who were
oppressing his people.God preserved when he should have died,as many children did,at the command of the wicked Pharaoh.We read about him in the book of  Exodus,Moses was part of the nation of Israel who dwelt
in Egypt,the Egyptians started to oppress then ,and use them as slave labour.
They treated them cruelly,ordering that on one occasion that Pharaoh ordered that all male new born children should be destroyed,by throwing them into the river Nile.But we read in Hebrews 11, the following,''By Faith
Moses parents hid him for thee months,because he was no ordinary child,and were not afraid of the kings edict[11v23].They were faced as other parents are with a choice,many obeyed out of fear,they choose faith.I read of many Christians living in lands were persecution is taking place,Like the parents of Moses they are choosing the pathway of faith.The challenge for all of us who love Christ is to follow in the footsteps of the parents of Moses,by choosing faith rather than fear.
                                             A  prayer.
Dear God help us to chose faith ,and not give into fear in Jesus Amen.

Thy Kingdom come[ Daniel 4 v 28 - 37 ]

As a far of observer of the election for the President of good old USA,it is sad at the tone of the two candidates,each pointing out the others faults,the result the nation will become more divided.I was blessed as I read something about an ex-President,and his humility,it made me ask where is the humility in this present election?none existent.they are standing in their corner throwing bricks at each other.All I can do is pray for the USA,that God will overrule,the banners read,'Make America great again'.I wonder what they believe that to be?.In Russia many look back to when Stalin ruled the Soviet Union,they see that as time when in their opinion their nation was great.Oh yes they were great in military power,they exercised power over those they ruled,in murdering millions and millions of their own people. They sought to eradicate religion,by all means,imprisoning many.Oh yes they were great, a great evil. Our Saviour said his kingdom is not of this world,for it is a spiritual kingdom,greater than any seat of power .It is a kingdom where righteousness rules,not a religious righteousness  ,love rules ,not a worldly love,and the head of that Kingdom is Jesus.Who reigns not from any earthly seat of power,but in the hearts of  all the citizens, of that kingdom.Isaac Watts wrote,''Mere human power shall fast decay'',but not Gods Kingdom it is an everlasting Kingdom that will last for eternity, and whose power will never wane.
                                               A  prayer.
Dear God ,may Thy kingdom come,in Jesus name we ask this Amen.

A reduced Christ. [ Galations 1 v 6-9 ]

When people go before the court they take an oath,which says that they will
tell the truth the whole truth.They are declaring on oath to tell the whole truth,not to leave anything out,they take this oath ,with their hand on the Bible.The Bible is the word of God,it is the truth,the whole  that God in His mercy has given mankind,in this book many things are revealed to us.Woe and betide us if we fail to respond to God's word,likewise if we do not believe not the whole truth,and refuse to accept the whole truth.The JW's have a bible which is tailored to suit the things they want to believe,and this especially applies to our Saviour.But of course there are many people who do not accept the whole truth about the person , Raymond Brown writes of
those,who have a'' reduced Christ who cannot save;who is a projection of their imagination and not a Christ of the  scriptures.It may sound as if Christ is preached,but He is not. partial Christologies and therefore not only unsatisfying,but totally misleading. John Donne a seventeenth century preacher said this,'He that confesses not all Christ,confesses no Christ.''
                                            A  prayer.
Dear God we thank you that in your word we have the whole Christ,help us
not be deceived by those who hold to a reduced Christ,Amen.

Five [Romans 6 v23 ]

It is William Barclay who points out that the New Testament uses five different words for sin.
[ 1]Humartia  , meaning missing the target.
[2] Parabasis,meaning,stepping across ,the line which is drawn between
                                      right and wrong.
[3 ]Paraptoma,meaning ,slipping across ,like slipping on ice,a sudden
                                        impulse grabs us and we loose control.
[4 ]Anomia.     meaning,going against what we know is right.
[5 ] Opheilema,  meaning ,a debt, a failure to pay that which is due.


The New Testament tells that we all have sinned ,Romans 3 v 23,as WB
points out sin is a universal disease in which we are all involved .Consider the fifth meaning ,sin being a debt,again Romans 6 v23, tells us that the wages of sin is death,in other words when we sin,we are accumulating a debt that will result in eternal separation from God in Hell.We must take serious the consequences of our sin ,whatever one ,we commit.That's the bad news but the very good news is,our sins can all be forgiven,by trusting Jesus as our Saviour.
                                       A prayer.
Dear God we thank You that through Jesus your dear Son,all our sins can be forgiven,Amen