24/7 ( Genesis 5 v 24 )

                    John W. Olley  writes..''Faith cannot be separated from public life and decision
                    making''. Some people think you have to go church to pray ,some peoples
                   religion is only on a Sunday,some people think that because they were baptised as
                   a child, that's enough. There are others who only attend a church service at Christmas
                   or for wedding's,or for the funeral of a relative or a friend.Others who see religion
                   only for old people. There is an old gospel hymn which reads,

                                                   I go to church on Sunday,
                                                   The vows that I make I break
                                                   them on Monday
                                                   But come Sunday morning i'm
                                                   down on my knee's.

                                                 Enoch walked with God, 24/7
                 

                                                 
                                             
                                                 
                                                         
 

Fear affects....... ( Numbers 13 v 30 )

                          J.H.Olley writes , ''Fear affects what we see''.There comes to mind a
                          little child's chorus, about the 12 spies,who were sent to spy out  the land of
                         Canaan ,
                                                Twelve spies went to spy
                                                Ten were bad ,two were good.
                                                Some saw the giants tough and tall
                                                Some saw that God was in it all.
                         We can read about this in Numbers 13-14 .it was crucial point in the nations
                         history. God  was with them ,they had witnessed His power in Egypt, and when
                         they left  Egypt ,so what had they to fear ?. Yet in spite of what they witnessed
                         and experienced ,fear affected  them,the ten only saw the giants ,how strong and
                         powerful they were.Fear took over and faith was non existent. The result was that
                         generation did not enter  the promise land with the exception of the two who
                        who brought back a good report, there names were Caleb and Joshua..The ten
                        heard God 's   word but refused to believe ,so the forfeited a great blessing. Fear
                        affected what the ten spies saw, and fear  likewise affected the nation by what
                        they heard ,fear give way to unbelief.
                            Many missionaries were  in danger during the Boxer rebellion in China ,
                            Hudson Taylor  the head of the 'China inland mission', was receiving
                            reports about the dangerous situation, was heard to sing.

                                                    Jesus , I am resting, resting,
                                                    In the joy of what Thou art;
                                                    I am finding out the greatness,
                                                    Of  Thy loving heart.

                                                      ( Words by J.S.Piggit  )

                                             

Providence ( Revelation 1 v 18 )

                                  A man who survived an ordeal in the Amazon  rainforest  said ,''Every
                                  day I could have died; That I lived wasn't prowess, it was simply
                                  Providence''. Now I am not sure what he meant by this, Hitler used
                                  term Providence,but again what did he mean by that?. When I think of
                                  Providence I am speaking about Gods ruling over all the affairs of life..
                                  Louis Berkhof wrote, ''This may be defined as that work of God in which
                                  He preserves all His creatures, is active in  all that happens in the world
                                  and directs all things to their appointed end ''. Psalm 36 v6b , reads
                                   ''O Jehovah , thou preservest man and be . Someone I know who is  sixty
                                 said she did not think she would live until she was 20th, but she did ,by
                                 Gods Providence,not by her prowess,meaning not by her courage, guts ,
                                 ability,etc .
                                                                    A Prayer
                                          Dear God we rejoice that in your providence
                                          you have preserved us,and will continue to
                                          watch over us ,until that moment comes for us
                                         your children ,to be called home in Jesus name
                                         we thank you and praise you .
                                                                    Amen.






                           

My holiday ( 1 Timothy 3 v 16 )

                              We where visiting the capitol of Malta, Valletta,and I spied
                              four people standing at a little stand ,with letters JW's on it. So I
                              decided to go and speak to them ,I am not good at conversing
                              with them.But  I have been thinking about them ,and how I can
                              speak more effectively to them. So I approached them ,and asked them
                              what did they think of the scripture ,''Great is the mystery of
                              godliness?''.They did not answer, and then I spoke another scripture
                              from Proverbs 3 v 5 ,''Trust in the Lord and lean not upon your
                              understanding''. Then I followed it up with a question,as to the meaning
                              of  John 1 v 1  ,''The Word was God'',What I was seeking to do was to
                              challenge them, to see when we come to God it is by faith, without faith we
                              can never know Him.To know Him, we start at the cross ,and put our faith
                              in the Christ of the Bible,the one who is God and man. And when we
                              follow Him, it is by faith ,remembering that He moves in mysterious
                              ways.

                                                              Abraham believed God.
                                                                   ( Romans 4 v 3 )




                           

My holiday. ( Matthew 7 v 16 )

                    One of the things that pleased me on holiday, I had
                    opportunity to speak to people about Christ . First there was
                    the man who picked us up from the airport ,he really was
                    not interested. Next was a lady in a shop that was a mission
                    full of Roman Catholic  religious items .I heard Christian
                    songs being sung, one of my favourite was being played,
                    called, 'I can only imagine ', it is about heaven ,and arriving
                     there. It gave me an opportunity to talk about going to heaven
                    I asked was she going ?,which led on ,to making it clear that
                    it is the work of Christ that saves, and that alone. I explained
                    that works are a very important evidence that we are saved.
                    It is only Christ and His sacrificial death, that ,and that alone
                    that saves .

                                      Not the labours of my hands
                                      Can fulfil Thy laws demands;
                                      Could my zeal no respite know
                                      Could  my tears for ever flow,
                                      All for sin could not atone;
                                      Thou must save , and Thou alone.
                                           ( Words.. A. M. Toplady )

                                
    
            

My holiday.. ( John 10 v 28 )

                         During my holiday in Malta ,I witnessed to a number
                         of people ,a man who said he had religion stuffed down
                         his throat, and so rejected it, he was willing to converse
                         with me, but it  appeared obvious that he did not want to
                         hear . One of the things I said to him was,'' If you reject
                         life , you choose death''. He also said how he wanted to
                         go his own way, and  I reminded him what the word of
                         God says, ''There is a way that seems right unto a man,
                         but in the end it leads to death .'' ( Proverbs 14 v 12 )

                                           There is always an alternative,
                                            which one will you choose?

My holiday [ Nehemiah 5 v 14 - 19 )

                  Continuing events on my holiday in Malta , we were in
                  the capital, Valletta, I noticed a plaque on a wall with the
                  following words on it, 'Integrity  generates confidence, '
                  This is the motto of  Malta's stock exchange, if only that
                  was true in many countries of their stock exchanges and
                  banks, if only. But alas it is not so ,evidenced by the last
                  recession, we have passed through. If only it was the motto
                  of all of us, what does integrity mean ?. Here are some
                  definitions, 'honesty, on holiday I bought something, and
                  gave the assistant what I thought was 10 euros,  he pointed
                  out that I had given him 50,he was being honest. Another
                  meaning for integrity is, 'good character', am I known as
                  person of good character ?.Here are a list of other meanings
                  'Moral , virtuous , decent , fair, sincere, truthful, trust-
                  worthy'. May that motto of Malta's stock exchange, be our
                  motto.

                                  Jesus said without me you can
                                  do nothing.
                                          ( John 15 v 5 )