God is infinite ( Psalm 146 )

Its unfortunate that where I live, it is hard to see many stars, because of light pollution,but  sometimes in spite of that one can occasionally see more ,than usual. So I got my little binoculars out and looked up, and to my surprise I saw clearly three stars in a row.I was sure that there was a name for this formation, so I went in doors and looked at my little book called,'Stargazing with Binoculars', and discovered that they were called , Orion, my son said they were known as ,Orion's Belt. Looking up at the sky at night, has always fascinated me, but what astounds me is the vastness of the universe,billions of stars, hanging there in space.It is truly amazing that God made every last star and knows them by name (  Psalm 147 v 4 ).    He is a God of infinite knowledge in seeking to reassure His disciples, and us, He told them and us,'' And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid.'' The old Gospel song declared,'His eye is on the sparrow, and I  know He watches me''.A lady who was in dire straits  ,declared,'' You are the God who sees me''. ( Genesis 16 v 13 ). He saw Joseph when he was in prisoner,(  Genesis 39 )  and He saw Jonah in the belly of a great fish ( Jonah  1 v 17  / 2 v 1 - 10 ) He saw David in all his trouble ( Psalm 23 ). Now here is the wonderful truth, He sees everyone of His children, that means you, and that means me. We are never out of his sight, never to far from Him that He does not see us or hear us,we are never alone ,or forsaken,so do not be afraid.
                                                       Psalm 121 v 1- 2
                                 I lift up my eyes to the hills,where does my
                                 help come? My help come from the Lord,
                                  the Maker of heaven ,and earth.

Down memory lane. ( Luke 15 v 11 - 31 )

I am just in from my garden, and I can hear in the distance children at a local school playing ,and my mind is taken down memory lane, to my early childhood,when like those dear children we played in the playground,running here there and everywhere,burning of energy,that I wish I had now. The years have flown, I am grateful to those teachers who taught us the 3 Rs, but I also remember another school I went to, Sunday school, and the different Sunday school teachers I had ,were I learnt  about Jesus ,I will be eternally grateful to those dear people. Today the great stress is upon education ,  and rightly so, but more and more the spiritual realities are being pushed out. But it could be that what I am writing stirs a memory in your heart,of many years ago when you like me went to Sunday school and you heard about Jesus, but for whatever reason, you left it all behind.  Education,work,friends,      so many things can crowd out our souls deepest need, Jesus,remember it is only with Him, is the future brighter. Don't make it just a memory, what you heard about Jesus, make it a reality,ask Him to be your Saviour today

                                                       A prayer.

                                    Come into my heart Lord Jesus, come

                                    into today, come into stay,come into

                                    come into my heart Lord Jesus..

                                               

Why. ( Romans 8 v 28 )

Let consider a few more thoughts from Exodus, by Alec Motyer , and Israels  forty years in the wilderness,  ''Forty years- quick to say,slow to pass - (Forgive my humour on this,it was because they had no TV, sorry about that,but I hope you are not so self righteous,that you did at lest smile , now to continue on with the serious stuff) ,Israel found themselves in the vast and dreadful ( terrifying) desert, that thirsty waterless land , with its venomous snakes and scorpions' ( Deut. 8; 13 ). Let us consider A.Ms. application .''To the troublesome question, 'Why?', we may ask, when we face hardships and reverses, there are two fairly common answers ( or surmised) by Christians. The quick ' spiritual' answer is that our troubles are all down to the malevolence of Satan,who is ever watchful to find and exploit some loophole in our defences. The other answer is that , knowingly or unknowingly, we have strayed out of the will of God and somehow got our guidance wrong. In certain circumstances  there can be an element of truth in both these explanations, but neither of them tell the whole story. Nor are they the explanation that we find in Exodus, where the Word of God has something intensely important and fundamentally comforting to say to us- the Israelites were in the wilderness because the Lord had led them there''

                                               I,ll that He blesses is our good
                                               and unblest good is ill
                                               and all is right ,that seems most wrong
                                               if it be His sweet will.

Fear or faith .( Exodus 14 )

Have you ever felt that you must do something ,and yet there was nothing you could do.In chap 14 of Exodus  we read that Israel were fleeing from an army,that was seeking to capture them, and make them once again their slaves. Now they where directed by God to a place from which there was no escape,all they could see was the army,and they where very afraid.They felt that all they could do was surrender, and go meekly back to be slaves in Egypt, extreme fear took over,and faith was non existent. Out that fear ,they turned on Moses, blaming him for taking them out of Egypt, and saying the unthinkable, ''Let us alone, let us serve the Egyptians.'' ( EX  14 v 12 ) . After all, what could they do , against the feared chariots,and troops,the game was up, but it was no game,it was all to realistic, and threatening.They did not want to die a horrible physical death,but that was what awaited a great many of them. Then they heard that madman Moses talking,telling them,'' to stand firm ,and God would delivering them'',and Moses goes on speaking ,here is what he said, ''You will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today.The Egyptians you see today ,you will never see them again . The Lord will fight for you,you need only to be still''.Now the question what did they choose, fear or faith?, what about you?                                                                                                                                                                                     

The long haul. ( John 6 v 66 )

In his book on Exodus Alec Motyer on writing as regards the Exodus ,he has one section,called, 'God's curious ways,' and underneath theses words he writes,' Walking with God is no primrose path'.Lets mention a few other things he writes, as I feel we can profit from what this godly man has written, on Israels Exodus, and journey to the promised land,''They may have set out 'marching boldly', but soon they complained that Moses had brought them to the desert to die''Our Saviour tells us about the reaction of those who make a decision to follow Him,in Matthew 13 v 3 - 9 . Many years ago I knew a Christian who was  very earnest,he witnessed faithfully,but he fell away, I remember speaking to him,and I started crying. He may have forgotten what I said but I hope he remembers my  tears.People when getting married  stand in church, take a vow before God,'till death do us part'.What they are saying is that they are in it for the long haul, w.hen you trust Christ it is meant to be for the long haul.
                                                  I have decided to follow Jesus
                                                  no turning back, no turning back.
                                                       

Holiness ( Isaiah 53 )

Alec Motyer writes the following about holiness,''it is the essential attribute of the God of the Bible. Indeed ,it is more than an attribute, it is the very thing that constitutes His essential deity. His 'otherness' is His total, perfect,absolute, changeless- and dangerous - moral purity''Tozer writes,''We know nothing like the divine holiness. It stands apart,unique ,unapproachable, incomprehensible and unattainable.We have learned to live with unholiness, and have come to look upon it as natural and expected thing.'' The death of Christ tells us  how Gods holiness is offended by our unholiness, by our sin, unholiness must be punished, it offends Him, and shuts us out from knowing Him, God never has,nor will overlook sin, His eyes are too pure to look on evil,He cannot tolerate wrong, ( Habakkuk 1 v 13 ) . Pusey writing on this says,''All sin is hateful in God's sight,'' God because of His holiness must judge and punish it,we are told that the wrath of God abides upon us ( John 3 v 36 ). But the death of Christ tells us something else, that by His death we can be forgiven,accepted, by a holy God.Christ the righteous one bore the unrighteous ones sins.When we trust Jesus as our Saviour, we are free from all punishment, because Jesus took our punishment,so wrath is removed.
                                                  None of the ransomed ever knew,
                                                  How deep were the waters crossed;
                                                  Nor how dark was the night that
                                                  the Lord passed through,
                                                  Ere He found His sheep that was lost;
                                                       (Words  E.C. Clephane )

Feeling empty? ( Ephesians 5 v 18 )

My wife came in  with a bunch of roses,asked me to put them in a vase,which I did, and put water in the vase, as usual they looked lovely. But then I forgot to keep watering them, they exhausted the water I had put in,and where drooping badly,looking as if the best thing to do was to put them in the bin. But no, I put fresh water into the vase, and later when I looked at them they had recovered.I remember reading a book called Unbroken, and how the chief character who suffered so much as a prisoner of the Japanese. He somehow went to hear Billy Graham speaking,now it appears that dear Billy was exhausted, the good news is ,the man heard Billy preach,and trusted Jesus.Billy was exhausted,but he managed to preach.Yes even great men like Billy find things hard, there is a price in serving God,and living for God.George Whitfield said'' he did not tire of Gods work, but he did feel tired doing it,''.Often we are exhausted in our Christian life, like the roses we wilt,but it is then we need to look to God afresh, for a fresh anointing of Gods holy Spirit,
                                                 He gives strength to the weary
                                                 and increases the power of the
                                                 weak.Even youths grow tired
                                                 and weary,and young men
                                                 stumble and fall,but those who
                                                 hope in the Lord will renew
                                                 strength. They will soar on
                                                 eagles wings like eagles,they
                                                 will run and not grow weary
                                                 they will walk and not be faint.
                                                          ( Isaiah 40 v 29 - 31 )