Oh, not an other trial. ( Acts 27 )

Life is full of change, change which we do not have any control over, but that does not mean that things are out of control,no ,because as a child of God,we do not look at what is happening in our lives with our natural sight,no let faith take over. In  Acts 27 the apostle Paul was a prisoner being taken to Rome to be put on trial, that was a severe trial in itself,but  the little sailing ship, entered a very severe storm,it had lasted 14 days,and we read Luke who was writing this, he records ,''we finally gave up all hope of being saved''( v 20 ). It was then Paul stood up and told all on the ship,how an angel had appeared,with good news ,that everyone would be saved.Paul declares ,''So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God,that it will happen just as He told me.(  v 23 - 25 ).
                                                    Remember Gods is in control .
                                                    Have faith in God,hold unto
                                                     His word.

Equality . ( Luke 7 v 36 - 50 )

We where watching a DVD on equality, afterwards our home group,discussed it, we touched on many things,going back to ancient Greece.As one considers the subject of equality we see how wide spread it was and sadly still is. I remember years ago sitting in barbers having ,my hair cut.Then I heard the barber speaking to a man with his children, he was one of the travelling people.The barber saw them as inferior and treated them as such, maybe I should have said something, but I didn't but let me say this I did not look at those people like the barber.The whole of history is full of inequality, and of course  it will always  be somewhere. It is an evil that lies buried in the heart of all mankind, it is borne out of pride, we feel that we are better than the other person. pride wherever it raises its head is always a sin.How are we to look at pride, a pride that causes us to think we are better than others,the fact is we are not, for the Christian  never forgets that they are sinners saved by grace. Just imagine you lived in Corinth, now Corinth was a very wicked place full, sexually immoral,idolaters,                 male prostitutes , homosexuals,thieves,drunkards,slanders.Consider that someone witnessed to you in the street and you became a Christian,and then you went to the local fellowship, and the place was full of  people listed,and they have trusted Christ and turned from their evil ways,and you are told  they are your brothers and sisters,  how would you feel?.                                         
                                             Naught have I gotten,but what I received,
                                             Grace hath bestowed it,since I believed,
                                             Boasting excluded, pride I abase,
                                             I'm only a sinner, saved by grace
                                                     ( Words Dr. James. Martin Gray

He is with us . ( Matthew 28 v 20 )

I was listening to a gospel song, the theme of it was,that God is a God of the mountains,and of the valley's ,of the good and the bad times,of the day and the night.When we are told by our Saviour that He is with us always (Matt 28 v 20 ) He really means that,no matter if our circumstances change, no matter where we are,when we fail,and when we succeed, when we laugh  and when we cry,in captivity,or free.Hear the word of the Lord to you today ,''I am with you always'', when we move home,to another job,or school,Jesus says I am with you.The life of Joseph is very instructive, one moment he is under the care of a father who loved him,the next he is in a pit ,then into slavery,then into prison .but the scripture record these word,''the Lord was with him''.Let us go forward into this day with these words  residing in our minds,''I am with you always.''

                                                        A prayer
                               Lord we thank you for the words ,that You
                               are with us always,come what may,there to
                               help ,sustain us,undertake for us,you are
                              with us,thank you Amen

There is an answer. ( Luke 7 v 48 - 50 )

The writer Thomas Binney asks the question
                                             O how shall I ,whose native sphere
                                              Is dark, whose mind is dim,
                                              Before the Ineffable appear,
                                              And on my naked spirit bear
                                              The uncreated beam?
In simple terms he is asking how can he a sinner, hope to stand before a holy God?,when he considers his sinful state. People do not take this into account,they do not realise that as sinners we will not be able to stand before Him. The fact is one cant,in our sinful state we will never be accepted by God, our sin offends God, He who is holy cannot have fellowship with that which is unholy.Sin separates us from a holy God ,( Isaiah 59 v 2 ).So that is the dilemma that we all without exception face,is there an answer , a solution that can help us?.The hymn writer goes unto tell us,
                                               There is a way for man to rise
                                                To that sublime abode.
                                                 An offering and a sacrifice,
                                                 A Holy Spirit's energies,
                                                 An Advocate with God.
The answer is Jesus ,through His death on Calvary our sins can be forgiven,the moment we trust Him as our Saviour the barrier is removed,because of  Him we can be fully accepted by a Holy God, let me stress we must ask him to be our Saviour.

Power of truth. ( John 8 v 32 )

Continuing on at looking at the gods of Egypt, the chief deity was the sun god called  Amon Re, so when the plague of darkness fell, it was a challenge to this so called god,and a challenge to their belief in him.( A him of course, that did not exist ) It appears that  the Egyptians dreaded the night because it meant that the sun-god had departed to the underworld, leaving  Egypt unprotected ,the fact that the passover fell at night would have heightened their fears.Such are the gods that humanity  follow after, Our God is not someone we have invented, any god other than the God of the Bible is a god, that mankind has invented. This behaviour of inventing gods is borne out of mankind's darkened mind ,the God of the Bible is known to us,by revelation,without that we would never know Him. We are told that ,'' The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to them, because they are spiritually discerned. ( 1 Corinthians 2 v 14 ) When one attempts to reach any body with spiritual truth,be it the cults,or those of other religions we must always bear this in mind,they cannot discern spiritual truth . They are darkened in their understanding,and separated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.  (Ephesians 4 v 18 ) Yet as John Stott writes, ''Scripture bears an unwavering testimony to the power of ignorance and error to corrupt, and the power of truth to liberate , ennoble and refine. ''
                                                         Jeremiah 23 v 29
                                         '' Is not my word like fire,'' declares the
                                            Lord, ''and like a hammer,that breaks
                                           a rock in pieces''.

No other gods. ( Exodus 20 v 1 - 6 )

In studying the book of  Exodus it is interesting that one of the things plagues did was to challenge the Egyptian belief system ,They among other things identified their gods with animals,they also identified the river Nile,as divine because it was a source of life. Things have not changed Hinduism has it so called sacred river and their sacred cows plus a multitude more, Consider how dark spiritually the nations are,when they look to the creature rather than the Creator. That was the world that Moses lived ,that was the world that the early church faced, and indeed it is the world that we face,a world of darkness,that concocts religions out of their darkened imaginations.Let us make no mistake,this is not a trivial thing,they are deadly serious in their beliefs,and in many parts of the world they are killing those who would challenge their faith. Let us turn to a cross, there is a man hanging on that cross, what was He  guilty of? Challenging the darkness,for He was the light of the world, He was the Saviour of the world, but the word of God says men love darkness rather than the light, and so they  called Him a fraud , and had  Him crucified. So that was it , no, for that so called fraud, rose from the dead,His name is Jesus, the great 'I AM', who is the way, the truth ,and the life. John 14 v 6.

Lord save ,Lord send. ( 1 Timothy 2 v 1 )

I have just been asked to speak  at a small  church, I have been ministering there for a number of years,the request was made by email,the brother mentioned how they are considering their position because of the few in numbers attending, The fact is if a church does not grow it will not continue,the doors of  the building will close, the local church will cease. This is not a new thing, but it fills me with sadness, there are many reasons why this happening. In the book of Revelation ,the Lord speaks to local churches ,these were thriving churches , you can read about them in chap 2 - 3 .I visited the site where the church of Ephesus worshipped a number of years ago. All that remained was ruins ,no church no people, A church I used to attend is gone, the building is demolished, houses have been built on that site. it causes me concern, yet I pray for many churches every day.Do pray wherever God has placed you, for the people in your local area that God will have mercy, and send forth an outpouring of the Spirit of God. I am not despairing ,but I am concerned,for I know that people need Christ. What do you thing is the answer?, prayer witnessing, yes ,one thing we need to do is get in step with the Holy Spirit, and all that this means.
                                         
                                              Lord we pray that we may yet see
                                              an outpouring of your Spirit,into
                                              our lives,that we may be effective
                                              in reaching the Lost,in your name
                                              we ask this Amen.