Ignorance is not bliss. [ Matthew 28 v 18- 20]

I was speaking to a retired nurse, and asked why is it, that years ago so many people died in childbirth. Her answer was very simple, infection, in other words if more care had been taken with hygiene issues, many, many ,lives would have been saved .I suppose people were ignorant as to the dangers of infection, and put it down to one of those things. Ignorance is defined as lacking knowledge and education, in so many countries many people are still dying through lack of knowledge and education. But there is another aspect to ignorance, people are embracing, false religion, with dire consequences. because they have never heard the Gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ . Now I know God is sovereign, but the fact is , they need to hear about Christ. We are saved ,because someone told us about Jesus, and the Spirit of God, used that to bring us to our Saviour. Could it be that many of us have been slack in not telling others the good news. Consider these challenging words from Romans 10 v 13ff.

                         ''Everyone who calls on the name of the
                           Lord, will be saved. How ,then, can they
                           call on the one they have not believed in?
                           And how can they believe in the one of
                           whom they have not heard? And how can
                           hear without someone preaching to them?''

Against all the odds [ Romans 5 v 6-8 ]

I was watching a nice movie, called Hugo, about a young lad who was left to fend for himself in a railway station. He was good at fixing things, and near the  end of the movie, an old man who had been a famous movie maker but had withdrawn from the public gaze. Hugo had helped him to as it were to make a come back,declares , that his come back was due to a young man[ Hugo ]''who saw a broken machine, and against all the odds fixed it.' ''Those words struck a cord with me, for I am reminded of another young man called Jesus ,who saw a world full of people ,whose lives were broken, and against all the odds, he fixed them . I can think of so many people ,who were broken by their sinful ways, and broken by this sinful world, and against all the odds  He fixed them. I will leave you with the words of a gospel hymn I used to sing, it is called ,''Broken pieces.''

                                 Have you failed in life's battle ,
                                 to accomplish your plan?
                                 Is your heart heavy laden?
                                 do you fear the Lord's command.?.

                                 You may feel there's no hope
                                 broken hearts just cannot mend.
                                 Tho you're torn in many pieces,
                                 Christ can make you whole again.

                                 Pick up the broken pieces
                                 and bring them to the Lord.
                                 Pick up the broken pieces,
                                 trust in His holy Word;
                                 He will put them back together
                                 and make your life complete,
                                 Just place the broken pieces
                                 at the Saviour's feet.

                                    [Words Ruby Kitchen ]

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.