I did not sign up for that. [ Hebrews 11 ]

I was watching a movie and one of the characters in the movie, said ,''I didn't sign up for that''. When we accepted Christ, we received forgiveness
of all our sins, acceptance with God ,the gift of eternal life, which yes includes never ending existence, but our dear Saviour, ''defined its life in terms of knowing Him, and knowing the Father''[ John 17v 3 ][ J. Stott].
again as  J.Stott puts it ''a present possession and a future hope''. What a
blessing ,we diffidently signed up for that, but with these blessing we are faced with the challenge of following Jesus, walking the walk, of trusting
Him day by day, whatever befalls us. It is possible we may say well I didn't sign up for that, as you view a broken marriage, ill health, financial difficulties ,the loss of someone, persecution, unanswered  prayer, unloving Christians, and so it goes on. We do not want these things, well nobody wants them, the fact of the matter is we can experience many of these things and more. The fact is when  we trust Jesus to save us, it does not remove us from  the difficulties of life,that means we are to trust our Saviour ,come what may. That is the challenge  every child of God is faced with , when we trusted Jesus,we  really did sign up to follow Him come what may.

                                   My times are in Thy hand;
                                   My God, I wish them there;
                                   My life ,my friends, my soul I leave
                                   Entirely to Thy care.

                                   My times are in Thy hand;
                                   Whatever they may be;
                                   Pleasing or painful,dark or bright,
                                   As best may seem to Thee.

                                   My times are in Thy hand
                                   Why should I doubt or fear?
                                   A Father's hand will never  cause
                                   His child a needless tear.

                                   My times are in Thy hand;
                                   Jesus the Crucified;
                                   The hand my cruel sins have pierced
                                   Is now my guard and guide.
                                  [Words by H.F. Lyte]

To obey or not to obey that is the question.[ John 15 v 14]

I found myself singing the words of  Psalm 137,it is written out of a very painful experience, what is known as the captivity of the Jews in Babylon,
which lasted 70 years. The question why did Gods people end up in captivity?, surely they were Gods people, and of course they were. Well was God not suppose to protect them ,and keep them from harm?, to appreciate the reason for the awful overthrow of  the Jews by the Babylonians, we have to turn to Deuteronomy 26 -28.We read how God made a covenant with Israel, but to enjoy the blessing involved in this covenant, God required obedience. To emphasise this ,it was clearly told to
them of the consquences of disobedience ,in words of a curse , and when they heard this the people would say, Amen. meaning ,so be it. At that time they agreed with it,but their time in living in the promised land,turned out a
disaster when more times than enough they disobeyed God. The situation
became so bad, evil from the Lord came upon them, a small number where spared, by being taken into captivity, but most were destroyed  by the
Babylonians.
                                          A  prayer.
Dear God, help us who are your children ,to be obedient children in Jesus
name Amen.

What about now? [ Revelation 2 v1-7 ]

I read these words recently. that the secret of England's greatness, was the Bible. Greatness it seems is what most nations want. President Trump wants to make his country great, it is though that Mr Putin want to restore Russia to be once again a great power. As to that saying about the secret of England's greatness,I will leave that for God judgement.Yet there is no doubt that the Christian influence had an effect on England,  Yet like many countries, many people did not believe  in Christ, many people did attend church, mighty movements by Gods Spirit had an effect upon the United Kingdom. Wales experienced revival, likewise Ulster, there where movements in Scotland.In England God raised up great ministries, and great ministers, but it is all past history as with many western countries there has been a sharp decline in the Church of Christ. I cannot say that the scriptures have any real place in England now, although Bishops take there place in our parliamentary system, there voice is rarely heard. England is still a great country but that former greatness is gone. What it was and what it is now is sadly different,it does raise a question for all of us who are Christian, can it be said, that our testimony relates only to the past?, that what we once where, and what we are now ,are sadly different?.
                                
                                             A  prayer.
Dear Lord help us to manifest the reality of You in our lives now, in your name we ask this Amen

Loneliness . [ 2 Timothy 4 v 16-18 ]

Is it wrong to admit our weakness, our feelings of loneliness?, we are all part of humanity, and we all have our weaknesses. Even though I have been a Christian for a long time ,I still feel at times lonely, the Beatles sang, about all the lonely people. I believe many, many people suffer from loneliness. of course that is one reason God gave Adam a wife [Genesis 2v18].One aspect of  bereavement is loneliness, and that is why some people marry soon after the death of that loved one. Dating agencies are popular as ever, because people are lonely, modern life has brought us many benefits, but it has destroyed a sense of community. Our prosperity has caused us to be more independent, less dependent on others.We all live in little boxes ,little boxes in a row, we do not ,nor even consider going to our next door neighbour to borrow something like the well known  cup of sugar. The church I attend is a very friendly church, but it is so sad when we hear of churches that are not welcoming. I remember attending a certain church, which was well attended, the people I felt were alright, but as I was leaving, the minister, seemed to look at me as if I was an intruder. So is there an answer as regards loneliness, yes there are partial answer, try and connect socially, attend a friendly church, be friendly,ask God to help you.
I believe that as long as we live on planet earth, there will always be a degree of loneliness, until that day when we enter the eternal glories.

                                          A  prayer.
Dear God help us in our lonely times to not give into despair, grant unto us
the grace to bear with life, and all that is thrown at us, and most of all, fill our heart and lives with your wonderful presence in Jesus name Amen.

An everlasting Kingdom. [ Daniel 2 v 44 ]

I read something our government did that was a cause of concern, yet lets face it the government's of this world, do not represent the Kingdom of God. Consider those words spoken to a political ruler in John18v36, by Jesus,'' My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my Kingdom is from another place'' no political system represents the Kingdom of God ,they pass laws that are often contrary to Gods will, and even are sinful. Consider those words of our blessed Saviour as regards His kingdom. Islam would want to set up what they believe to be their gods kingdom, where all would follow
and submit. Some Christians believe that Christ one day will set up a kingdom on earth, where He will rule with a rod of iron, for a thousand years, and the temple worship will be reintroduced again, and all the nations will come and worship. God is not in the business of building again that which He has destroyed[Gal 2 v18] The Jews had an expectation that the Messiah would come set his throne up and rule from an earthly throne [ John 6 v15],it did not happen and will never happen, for His Kingdom is not of this world, it is different, its a spiritual kingdom, where Christ rules in the hearts of all who accept Him as Lord and Saviour, a kingdom that will have no end.in the words of Daniel 2 v 44,''A Kingdom that will never be destroyed'', and will ''Endure for ever''.
                                           A prayer.
    Dear Lord we pray that your kingdom will come into the hearts of all men. Amen.
                          
                            

                               

Lucky charms. [ 2 Corinthians 10 v 4- 5]

Do you believe in lucky charms, many people do, recently a man told how he picked up a penny, this coincided with him doing the Lottery, and to his surprise, yes you've guessed, he won over a million pounds. So that penny
became his lucky penny,yet how a penny really had anything to do with it, does not make sense. Are you superstitious?, well the dictionary defines  superstition as having an irrational belief in supernatural events, that certain objects, actions,  or events bring good or bad luck. Some religious people have been noted as being superstitious, throughout history, some so called Christians, have believed in relics, that would bring them good fortune, it was thought the more relics one had the better. Most of it was absurd ,and utter nonsense in fact it all was. there will be those who will strongly disagree with what I am writing. There is nothing in Gods word to support a belief in relics or lucky charms, people who hold to such beliefs, are far removed from God. I remember making a wish, on a so called wishing chair.and I felt so convicted by the Holy Spirit that what I had done was wrong. I am not holding unto any trinkets, relics, or whatever, but in God and His word. I believe in the power of prayer to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that beats a so called lucky penny.

                                             A  prayer.
Dear God open the eyes of all who hold to those things that are contrary to
your word, in Jesus name Amen

His will or mine? [ Matthew 26 v 39]

It is lovely to see God moving in situation's, in things one is concerned with, our part is to pray. Yes I stress again the importance of continuing in
prayer, it is so easy to give up, that is a mistake.Jesus tells us to keep on asking, seeking, and knocking.  [Matthew 7v7] I am not talking about vain repetition, but a legitimate spiritual exercise, where in faith we seek God.
If what we seek is Gods will, we will have what we seek, if not , then we are better not to receive it. In Psalm 106v15 we read how God granted to Israel their request ,but sent leanness into their souls. 1 John 5 v14-15,tells us,
''And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that ,if we ask anything
according to His will, He heareth us; And if we know that He hear us,
whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of
Him''
Consider your parents, would they gave you anything, you ask for, if it was not good for you?. Our parents had rules, that they believed was  for our good, when we are little children, our parents, do not give into our pleading for they know what is best for us, in a very real sense their will is best. God knows what is best for us, His will, is always  best, and it is best for us to realise this, and to not rebel against it.

                      Let us learn this most important lesson,
                      Gods will is always best.
  
       [I will return to my blog Monday, every blessing Bill]