Leaning [ Hebrews 11 v1 ]

It was John .G. Paton the missionary, was struggling to find a word for faith in the local language, he was interrupted by someone in great trouble and needing help, who said to him,'' Please may I come and lean heavily upon you?'', Alec Motyer,writes the following,'' Faith is leaning heavily upon Christ: not labour but cessation of labour, not doing but ceasing to do; simply leaning the whole weight of our needs upon Him, and finding in Him acceptance before the presence of God, and a righteousness which
could never be ours by ours by our own good works''.

                             What a fellowship ,what a joy divine,
                             Leaning on the everlasting arms;
                             What a blessedness ,what a peace is mine,
                              Leaning on the everlasting arms.

                             What have I to dread, what have I to fear,
                             Leaning on the everlasting arms;
                             I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,
                             Leaning on the everlasting arms.
                                 [Words by E.A. Hoffman ]

He is in control. [Romans 8 v28 ]

Alec Motyer,writing about the apostle Paul comments,'' His doctrine taught him that a sovereign God rules all things; freedom, imprisonment, comfort,
discomfort, sickness or health''. This did not rule out mans responsibility,it
never does, but it is very reassuring, to realise that our times our in His hands. Otherwise we may despair, if we take our eyes of our Lord, and see the wind and the waves we will only drown, in a sea of worry. Think of what many of Gods choicest saints went through, Jacob, who lost sight of Gods sovereignty ,and could only cry out ,all these thing are against me [Genesis 42 v 36]. Contrast him with Joseph his sons attitude, when speaking to his brothers who had hurt him so much,''God intended it for good'' [Genesis 50 v20],which one are you, today?,Consider Job and his wife,[Job  1-2],Jobs wife told Job to curse God and die,but Job declared,''The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away,may the name of the Lord be praised''[1 v21]

                                        A  prayer.
Dear God help us in all things to trust in your sovereign purposes, and in someway you are working all things together for our good, in Jesus name we ask this Amen.
                                       
                                        

Tis mystery all. [Philippians 2 v5-11 ]

I read these words by, Dante. Gabriel.Rossetti, ''The Ocean hath no King but God alone''. When I read these words my mind turned to the our Lord
Jesus how He actually walked on the water[John 6 v19],then the occasion
 when He and His disciples were in a storm[Matthew 8 v23-27].His disciples were afraid that they were going to die, so Jesus stood up and rebuked the wind and the waves, and it was completely calm. The disciples
were amazed and asked the question,''What kind of a man is this?. Even the wind and the waves obey'' . I will answer that question , He was God manifest in the flesh, truly God and truly man. All things were created by Him,[Colossians 1 v 16 ],and all things are sustained by Him[Hebrews 1 v3 ]When Jesus said to a very sick man, ''Son, your sins are forgiven'', the religious leaders said that He was blaspheming, and said who can forgive
sins, but God alone''. They did not recognise that the one who forgave the man his sins ,was God, in spite of the fact that Jesus manifested power beyond any human being. The ocean recognised this, yes if only, humanity would recognise that Jesus was truly God, and yet the one who became obedient to death , even death on the cross, that our sins could be forgiven.

                              And can it be, that I should gain,
                              An interest in the Saviour's blood?
                              Died He for me, who caused His pain?
                              For me, who Him to death pursued?
                              Amazing love, how can it be
                              That Thou my God, shouldst die for me.

                              Tis mystery all, the immortal dies,
                              Who can explain His strange design?
                              In vain the first -born seraph tries,
                              To sound the depths of love divine,
                              Tis mercy all, let earth adore,
                               Let angel minds inquire no more.
                                 [Words by Charles Wesley ]

               

He was more than. [ John 3 v16/ 20 v28]

I was at a coffee morning, we watched a CD on the gospel of John, the part we watched  was about the miracle at the wedding at Cana in Galilee [John 2 v1-11]. The celebration could last up to five days, it must have cost a great deal to those getting married, nothing has changed. Well the unthinkable happened, they run out of wine, yes real wine,it  is W. Barclay who points out that drunkenness, was frowned upon, he says usually the wine was diluted by water. It was a serious thing to run out of wine, not to mention,an embarrassment, to the bride and groom. Mary the mother of Jesus was there she came to Jesus, and told him they had run out of wine. Jesus replied, ''Dear woman, why do you involve me, My time has not come''. Now Mary knew that Jesus was special, but she now had to realise that she had to see Him,not merely as her son but her Lord. Like Mary we must see Jesus not just as a man, yes He was, but He was more than that, He is the Lord Jesus Christ, truly God and truly man,[John 1 v1],He is also more than a prophet and teacher, yes He was all that, but He was more, He was and is the Saviour of the world. I was talking to a person and she said she believed Jesus was Lord and prayed to Him, but I said have you prayed to Him to save you?.
                                       A  prayer.
Dear God help us to see Jesus for who He was,and to accept Him as our Saviour. Amen.

His Church [ Jude v24-25 ]

From Philippi Paul and Silas moved on to Thessalonica were a church came into being, but  opposition arose from the Jews, they were filled with a spirit of jealousy. Paul and Silas were sent away. The result was, two churches had come into being, later Paul would write to these believers. Both churches were young in the faith, and those who would lead those churches were young in the faith, but these churches may have been young in the faith, but they were not left on there own, they had the Holy Spirit, as we have. Yes they needed to be taught in the things of God, they needed to face the challenge of living a Christian life, but God would be with them. He would raise leaders, he would send them precious instruction from Paul the apostle in his letter to the Christians Paul wrote,'' Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus[Philippians 1 v 6]. What wonderful words these are for that young church, faced with all the difficulties and challenge of living for Christ. I have just received photo's of a small group of believers in Nepal,how will they survive?, how will any of us survive?. The answer is simple God, for Christ said He would build His church, and that hell itself will not have the victory,over His Church.
                                       A prayer.
Dear Lord we praise you that you have promised to build your church, not
only to build it, but to preserve, purify,and one day glorify it,Amen
                    [I will return to my Blog Monday[DV]  EVERY
                      BLESSING]

Saved [ John 3 v16 ]

Now we have been considering Acts 16 ,and what happened when Paul and Silas visited there, and we had come to the place, when after being beaten, they were put into prison. So that was that?, no, we have to read the whole story, to see how God worked out things. The first thing we read that these dear men they started a prayer meeting up and started to praise God. The jailer, and the other prisoners must have heard, but most of all God heard, and not only did He hear, but He answered there prayers. Let us remember nothing can cut us off from our God. Suddenly there was an earthquake, the doors flew open and every persons chains came loose. We then read how the jailer woke up, and was going to kill himself, because, he thought everyone had escaped that meant he would be held responsible. Paul shouted out to him not to kill himself, and that all the prisoners were still there. At this the jailer called for lights, and then he went in trembling,fell before Paul and Silas, and asked,sirs, what must I do to be saved?. A young man I knew was dying, and a friend came to see him, and the young man asked this same question. The good news is both  ,believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and got saved, the gospel is good news,  it is for the whosoever
yes even for you.
                           Hear is a little prayer you can pray
                           if you want to be saved.

Dear Lord Jesus, forgave me  my sins, and come into my life, Amen.

Eternity [Mark 8 v36-37]

Continuing on at Paul experience at Philippi[Acts 16],we have seen how God has been moving, saving, and delivering people,grand ,but then things become difficult. Of course the enemy of souls was not happy, nor were those who owned the slave, The result Paul and Silas were set upon and arrested, brought before the magistrate, who ordered them to be stripped and beaten, and thrown into prison, with their feet put into stocks. The owners of that slave girl had lost out financially, when peoples financial interests is effected by Christians ,one can expect trouble. They only considered the loss of their money, Paul and Silas interest ,was souls of the lost, what is more important? No amount of money will ever compensate for the loss of peoples souls, even if a person could gain the whole world[ Mark 8 v36].What is vital that we weigh up the true worth of our soul, which is eternal, or that which is temporal. It is W. Barclay who writes,'' We would be saved from all sorts of mistakes if we always looked at things in the light of eternity''.
                                
                       I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold,
                       I'd rather be His than have riches untold;
                       I'd rather have Jesus than houses or lands,
                       I'd rather be laid by His nail-pierced hands.

                       Than to be the king of a vast domain,
                       and be held in sin's dread sway;
                       I'd rather have Jesus than anything,
                       this world affords today.
                        [ Words by R.F.Miller]