A good adverisement [ 2 Corinthians 3 v2 ]

David Jackson wrote the following,'' the greatest of scholars are frequently the humblest of people''. True humility is a very precious quality, because it
is truly Christ like, we see it displayed by many people in the Bible, but of course we  must not just relegate it to the Bible, Paul the apostle told those who were challenging his apostleship, to look at those who were saved  through his ministry. Their lives appear as an open letter of what a Christian should be [2Corinthians 3 v2].William Barclay write,'' When we go out into the world, we have the awe-inspiring responsibility of being open letters, advertisements, for Christ and his Church''.  That means manifesting Christian love, and forgiveness ,I read recently of a lady running a Christian ministry in Afghanistan, someone threw a rock through a window in the premises they were working at. Then they received a threatening phone call, it was discovered that it was one of the people employed by the ministry as a teacher. The immediate reaction was to punish him by sacking him, but the lady remembered what Jesus taught as regards forgiving your enemies. She went to the person and told him she forgive him, which shocked him, .and it had a tremendous effect on him. I am sure as Christians we should manifest a reality that will shock people.

                                          A  prayer.
Dear Lord help us to walk humbly before you and before our fellow men,
to manifest a Christ likeness that will shock and challenge , Amen.

Betrayal [ Luke 22 v48]

I have to minister at a local church, and I have been asked to speak to the children, I am thinking of speaking on friendship. I  will start by showing a picture of a dog otherwise known as mans best friend, speak generally about the friends I have had. We all need friends, I can remember one of my earliest friends Billy Harris, I remember, visiting him at home, his mother asked him to go to go to a shop and get some shopping. Billy lost some money and for some reason his mother suspected me of taking it, I never took it, It is sad to be accused on the wrong, of betraying a friendship. Jesus had a friend his name was Judas, and he did something awful, he betrayed Jesus, for money, how painful that must have been, I recently met a Christian, who told me how a person he employed had he said turned him over, the result was his company went into liquidation. The thing that stuck me about that man he did not appear to be bitter, but manifested a godly spirit. The fact is those we consider friends can betray us, can hurt us, Being betrayed was part of the suffering Christ had to endure, He did not retaliate, instead He entrusted himself to Him who judges justly[1 Peter 2 v 19-23]

                                          A prayer
Dear Saviour grant us grace to bear with  hurts caused by  people we consider to be our friends, Amen.

The pride of life. [Daniel 4 ]

Yesterday we emphasised the importance of humility, next let us consider pride. Now pride is manifest in many ways, obvious ways, and how it affects lives. There is racial pride ,Hitler latched unto that, he adopted a term for a true German, Aryan, and twisted its meaning. applied it to mean a
superior race, many believed his lie, and despised those who were not Aryan. The Jews and others suffered so much on Hitler's perverted beliefs.
Those nations who conquered and ruled nations, often manifested pride and despised those they conquered. In 1John2v 16,we have the term ,''the pride of life'', it is an interesting term, and it effects all of mankind. It is a term that can be described in the following ways, Dodd calls it ,'conceited
pretentious humbug'', Barclay ,''an arrogance or vainglory relating to one's
external circumstances, whither wealth or rank or glorying in show''. If you buy  certain magazines, you will see the rich and famous, in their beautiful homes, dressed in their beautiful clothes, with their beautiful, .you get the picture, that's the pride of life. Yet this applies to most of us, we all take pride in our achievements,our possessions, health, I suppose that's why we do not like the term sinner, for it reminds us and challenges us, as to the proud creatures we are.

                                The things that I love
                                and hold dear to my heart,
                                Are just borrowed
                                 they're not mine at all;
                                Jesus only let me have them,
                                to brighten my life,
                                 So remind me, remind me
                                          dear Lord.
                                  [Words by Dottie Rambo]

                                  

I will not apologise [ Proverbs 16 v 18-19]

She will not apologise, even though it may have consequences, sometimes it is better to acknowledge one may have been wrong, unintentionally, there is place for a humble spirit. So the lady is not for turning ,but is she right? one will have to leave that in the hands of God. Humility is a wonderful quality,
for many it is sign of weakness, consider Christ, He stepped down, from heaven to earth, most of us want to go in the opposite direction. Christ became a servant from being equal with God. Oh yes He was still equal but the role he choose, to lay aside all the glory of Heaven. He understood what that would mean, but He never faltered, going through an earthly existence,
that led to a death on a cross. Yes He humbled Himself, and now He is exalted in Heaven once more, the scriptures tells us,' Humble yourselves
before the Lord, and He will lift you up[James 4 v10].There is a tendency
in all of us ,to seek to get what we want by anyway we can. The humble in spirit will be blessed by God, and all that this means.From heaven, to earth, to the cross, to death, to resurrection ,to exaltation, such are the fruits and rewards of humility. It still applies to those who tread the pathway of humility, and just sometimes that means saying one is sorry.

                                           A  prayer.
Dear God forgive us  the sin of pride, help us to walk the path of humility
in Jesus name Amen.

Whe the last bell rings. [ Matthew 25 v31-46 ]

There is a song by Foster and Allen, called,' When the last bell rings', the
words highlight the importance of responding to the many needs in this world. Here is part of this song.

                          Do you see them with, their hands
                          out in the streets,
                          Do you notice they have no shoes
                          on their feet.?
                          Are they crying through their tears?.
                          Do you just close up your ears?
                          It's to late to turn around when the last
                          bell rings.

What do you think the song is telling you?, what is it telling me?, to not ignore the needs of others. We are not saved by good works, but we are accountable ,before God. We of course cannot help everybody, but we can help some, we can show that we care, that we love. James in his epistle ,
challenges empty profession .He writes ,''Faith by itself ,if not accompanied by action is dead.[1v17].......Show me your faith.[v 18].Remember it is to late to turn around when the last bell rings.

                                       A  prayer.

 Dear Lord help us to show the reality of our faith, to not ignore the needy
Amen.

Be a witness [Acts 1 v 8]

In Acts 1 v8 we read,'' But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses.'' Just recently I thought I have not witnessed to any body for a while, I was in a particular place and I started a conversation ,and later on I thought why did I not tell him about Jesus?. Yes it nice being friendly, but it is vital that people come to know Jesus, but you may say I don't want to be seen as a religious crank, I do not want them to cross over unto the other side of the road, when they see me coming. Well what about when you are at work, now of course you are there to work, but there will be opportunities, to witness. Yes our lives must witness, we must be Christians who live honest and upright lives ,like Daniel.[ 6 v 4]. But we must manifest the reality of Christ in our live, and that reality may open the opportunity to tell people about Christ. Let us remember that faith comes by hearing the word of God, how will hear if we do not tell them?. Be wise, and gentle in your witness, be prayerful, be an example, yes be a witness for Jesus,

                                         A prayer.
Dear God help us by your Spirit to be a witness for you with our lives and
with our words,for Jesus sake Amen.

There is a better day coming [Revelation21 v 5 ]

I know there is much that is lovely in this world, I am blessed, in so many ways, I look at my latest grandson and am blest, the Lord is good, praise His name. Yet we all know that there is so much pain in the world, the list is long, famine ,war's. I read recently read this about the country of Colombia,
one third of the children ,of all children are anaemic, stunted growth affects 13percent of  children under 5.There are an estimated 150,000 people[all ages] living with HIV. Domestic violence is high, sexual abuse of children, plus the poverty, and the drug lords. I mention Colombia but every  country,
is plagued by the effects of the fall when sin entered this world. There is no guarantee that it will change, in spite of all the advances we have made. I don't despair although it causes me a great deal of sadness, because as a
Christian, I am assured by Gods word that there is a better day coming,
when Jesus will make all things new[Revelation 21v1-4 ]I cannot fully
comprehend what  this will mean, but it will be wonderful, there will be no more evil statistics, no more worries. Yes there is a better day coming, you can be part of it ,by trusting Jesus as your Saviour.

                                       A  prayer.
Dear God have mercy on this needy world, so much  is tainted with sin, so much sadness, but we thank you that there is a better day coming because of Jesus ,Amen