A strong faith [Hebrews 11]

I was listening to a song ,dealing with a mans love for a lady, and he sang how it was Gods plan. I believe He has a plan for my life, looking back, many times I could not understand the details. The fact is ,there is so much I don't understand, and possible never will , this side of glory. The Bible tells that as a Christian we walk by faith, we live by faith, now we read in Hebrews 11v 1,' 'Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen'' ,I was not there at that moment when the world was creation, I have never seen Jesus, I have never seen heaven. Yet because God's word tell us clearly, of these things,we believe, Abraham left everything in response to Gods call, not knowing were he was going.but as has been said, he  knew who was with Him, God. I read an interesting article in a national news paper, the writer declares,''Why I envy those with strong faith'', what is stopping him, well he ends the article ,by saying how his rational mind ,was the barrier.The question one may ask is faith in God irrational?, why should it be thought so, are the Jewish nation with all its history, just a myth. I wonder why Hitler wanted rid of the Jews, and why do people, still hate the Jews?. Is the Christian faith borne out of lies, was Christ a deluded person?, are we all deluded?. Of course not, this world is full of people who are deluded , the Christian is a person who has by faith reached out to God, who has reached out to him/her, in the person of Jesus. This encounter with Him has changed their lives completely ,forgiveness, and the gift of eternal life followed

                                      A prayer.
Dear God when by faith I came to you, I discovered that faith is the key to
knowing you, and have discovered that faith is beyond our so called  rational mind, in Jesus name Amen.

A Poem. [Galatians 5 v22-23 ]

David Jackson writes about a friend a Dr Kenneth Moynagh,who served the
Lord in Rwanda, David considered him a very godly person, a very Spirit filled person and a man who was filled with the love of God. After his death a poem he wrote was published,based on the ninefold gifts of the Holy Spirit,we read about in Galatians 5 v 22-23.

                     Joy is Love exalting, and Peace is Love at rest;
                     Patience, Love enduring in every trial and test.
                     Gentleness, Love yielding to all that is not sin.
                     Goodness, Love in actions that flow from Christ within.
                     Faith is Love's eyes opened the living Christ to see;
                     Meekness ,Love not fighting, but bowed at Calvary.
                     Temperance, love in harness and under Christ's control,
                     For Christ is love, in person- and Love, Christ in the soul.
                                          

Lust of the eyes [Genesis 2-3]

We continue looking at 1 John 2 v15ff,we now consider ,the lust of the eyes, the door to the soul. Today men and women will look at another human being and lust after them, it can go further than that. There is no human being who is free from the lust of the eyes, be it the Pope, preachers, no one is free from it .It has a broader meaning that physical, it is as one
writer puts it, a tendency to be captivated by outward show. It all began in
the garden of Eden when Eve disobeyed God, she looked at the thing,that
 forbidden fruit, and so the pattern was set. King Ahab[1 Kings 21]looked at a vineyard which was another's, he coveted it, and went on to possess it , after his wife had the owner put to death. Let us be honest, we have
all lusted after something, most people only see the big car,big salary, big house, eyes only on the things they see. The non-Christian cannot see beyond the temporal, as Christians we must not be lead or controlled by the things we see, but by Gods Spirit.
                                              A prayer.
Dear God as we look at things today ,help us not to run with those evil
schemes of our sinful heart, or the devil's temptation in Jesus name Amen.

Love not the world. [1 John 2v 15-17]

In 1 John 2,the apostle John exhorts the Christians, to not love the world v15,now of course God loves this world [John 3 v16].There it is, redemptive we must love sinners, but not the worlds falseness with all its evil, and its consequences. C. H. Dodd wrote,'' Our author means human society in so far as it is organized in wrong principles, and characterized by base desires false values, and egoism''. John highlights aspects of this fallen world v16 ''The lusts of the flesh'', this takes in the sexual, desires, but involves more,W. Barclay writes,'' food, effeminate in luxury, slaves of pleasure; lustful and lax in morals; selfish in the use of pleasures''. Ruled by these things and much more, spiritual values are ignored or resented.W. Barclay wrote,'' We need not think of  this as the sin of the gross and blatant  and notorious sinner. No respect for the personalities of others...anyone who lives in luxury while others live in want, anyone who has made a god of his own comfort,and of his own ambition, in any part of life,is the servant of the flesh's desires''.

                                        A prayer.
Dear Lord free us from the lust of the flesh, in all its aspects in Your name we ask this Amen.

I hate Him. [ Isaiah 53 ]

Jessie James is glamorised ,yet he was thief, and more likely killed a
number of people, yet he became a national folk hero. There have been many movies made about him, and in them he is depicted as a sort of Robin Hood. In the political arena ,people like Hitler and Stalin, were practically
worship, even though they were the cause of millions and millions of people
dying. They did not appear to have any concern as regards the suffering of
people, and yet the had their fan clubs. When Jesus was being tried, He could have been set free, there was a custom, in which a prisoner could be set free. And so Pilate gave the people a choice, Jesus or Barabbas, Barabbas is described as being an insurrectionists and a murderer. Consider Jesus, the miracles he performed, the love he showed, his wonderful teaching. Who did they chose? Barabbas, it is amazing, what did Jesus actually do ,that caused them to make such a choice?. There is a Charlie Brown cartoon ,where a boy is sitting with a friend, Charlie Brown walks by, and the boy says to his friend ,'good old Charlie Brown, 'yes sir'.
But as he moved out of ear shot, he said,' good old Charlie Brown,' how I  hate him.' Why did they choose Barabbas?, instead of Jesus ? because they hated Him. He was their Messiah, He was their Saviour ,yet they hated Him, but here is the most amazing thing He loved them, and He loves you, and wonder of wonders, he even loves me.

                                     A prayer.
Dear Lord we are amazed that you love us ,so much that you died for us
Amen .  

Outrageous Grace. [ Ephesians 2 v1-10 ]

Years ago I knew a lovely Christian lady, she was married to a man, who physically abused her. Saturday night was when he came in drunk, and beat her, it was a regular occurrence, later he became involved with another woman. Then he became unwell, was taken to hospital, and was dying, now they had three sons, one was a Christian, he became my friend, who was respected by all who knew him, even by his father. He visited his father in hospital, and shared with him the gospel, told him how he needed to trust Christ,his father said, I will do what you say son, and he did. We must never forget that Christ came into this world to save sinners, yes the drunkards and the wife beaters and those who are unfaithful. In the words of a Christian song,it is outrageous grace, and of course amazing grace.

                                              A prayer.
Dear God  we thank You for your amazing and outrageous grace that saves
sinners, through our Lord Jesus Amen.

Peace. [ John 14 v 27 ]

Recently I became very anxious ,did not know what was going to happen in
relation to a certain thing. Yes I prayed but found it hard, but I still managed to pray, when I had finished praying I sat down to do my thought for the day, the anxiety left me, and I felt peace. I often think about the apostle Paul
and all the things he had to cope with, He understood that one can so easily
become anxious,so inspired by the Holy Spirit, he wrote the following, when he was in prison,

                                    Do not be anxious about anything,
                                    but in everything, by prayer and
                                    petition, with thanksgiving, present your
                                    requests to God. And the peace of God,
                                    which transcends all understanding,will
                                    guard your hearts and your minds in
                                    Christ Jesus.
                                              [Philippians 4 v 6-7 ]