Sometimes I hurt. ( 1 John 3 v 1 )

I read the following  words in a song by Jason Crabb.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   '' Sometimes I hurt and sometimes I  cry,                                                                                                    Sometimes I can't get it right,                                                                                                                    No matter how much I try''                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           I can identify with those words,sometimes I hurt ,sometimes I cry,and sometimes I do not get it right, I imagine we all to some extent identify with the words from that song.Let us all take encouragement from the words spoken by God to Israel in Deuteronomy 7 v 6 - 8,which reads.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 ''  The  Lord your God gas chosen you out of all                                                                                          the peoples on the face of the earth to be,his                                                                                            people,his treasured possession.                                                                                                                The Lord did not set His affection on you and                                                                                          choose you because you were more numerous than                                                                                  other peoples, for you were the fewest of all people.                                                                                But it was because the Lord loved you''                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

He always keeps His word. ( 2 Peter 1 v 4 )

, ''I promise to pay the bearer the sum of''' ,these words are written on our currency,this is the promise that the Bank of England gives,and we automatically believe those words.A promise is important, Gen MacArthur had to leave the Philippines  when the Japanese  invaded that country,he made a promise,that he would return, and he did. In the movie the Hobbit ,the king of the dwarfs,and his followers,have regained their kingdom,and the gold within the mountain. King Thorn had promised to share the wealth with others who had helped him, but when they came for their share of his wealth, he refused ,breaking his word.. Do you know there is something God cannot do ?, He cannot lie (Titus 1 v 2 ), so when He gives a promise, He will keep it,and no power on earth can change it, what he says He will do.I have been studying the book of Joshua ,God had promised Abraham that He would give his descendants the land of Canaan He did (Genesis 15 v 7 ), and so it came to pass.we have  the elderly Joshua declaring, ''Every promise has been fulfilled not one has failed. ( Joshua 23 v 14 ). David G. Firth writes ,''Gods is faithful to His promises, Gods promises are sure, and we can know they are sure because we can look back and see how they have worked out in practice,we can trust Gods promises''. I have been following the Lord for nearly 54 years, and I can testify of Gods faithfulness, He always keeps His word.

Money. ( 1 Timothy 6 v 17 -19 )

                                                                                                                                                                                                                Money,Money, Money                                                                                                                              Must be funny                                                                                                                                            In a rich mans world                                                                                                                                  All the things I would do,                                                                                                                          If I had a little money                                                                                                                                Money, Money, Money                                                                                                                              Always sunny in a rich                                                                                                                              mans world.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Consider this very popular song, and  what it is saying,''Money'', must be funny,in other words you will  always be happy if you have money,wrong, People with money are not always happy ,that would appear to be obvious, but its true. ,Next it speaks of a rich mans world, a friend told me about a couple who were worried ,they where down to their last million. What would you do if you had money,money, money,would you retire and go on a  permanent holiday,to some far away place,sit by the lovely swimming pool? The Bible tells us about a man who thought like that ,God said ,he was a fool, and that he was going to die, why? he had left God out of his life.Always sunny in a rich man's world. not so, even deserts have rain sometime. It is nice to have enough money to live on,but it 's foolish to live for money,it is nice to spend money on ones self,but the Bible tells us it is more blessed to give than receive.If God has blessed us with money,He did not bless us, so that we would make money our god . Riches are not forever,but our soul is,and one thing money cannot do, is save our souls,only God can do that,and He will if we will make Him our God and Saviour.

Broken Pieces. ( Psalm 147 v 3 )

I  broke a a glass container ,the pieces went everywhere, ,it reminded me of  so many peoples broken lives. .I think of many people whose lives where broken, through sinful habits,wrong behaviour, and how God healed and restored them, and give hope where there was no hope,peace where there was no peace,joy where there was no happiness.                                                                                                                                                                          Broken Pieces.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Have you failed in life's battle,to accomplish your plans?                                                                         Is your heart heavy laden? do you fear the Lord's command ?                                                                 Do feel that no one loves you and there's no use to try?                                                                               Just bring your cares to Jesus,your soul He'll satisfy.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             You may feel that there's no hope, broken hearts just cannot mend;                                                           Tho you're torn in many pieces, Christ can make you whole again.                                                         Storms of doubt blow all directions, but don't you be afraid ;                                                                   God can make all corrections, He made a body out of clay.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Pick up the broken pieces ,and bring them to the Lord,                                                                            Pick up the broken pieces,trust in His holy word,                                                                                      He will put them back together and make your life complete,                                                                  Just place the broken pieces at the Saviour's   feet.                                                                                             (Words  Ruby Kitchen )                                                             

My substitute ( Isaiah 53 )

Most of  us will not remember Amaud Beltrame name ,but we will remember what he did,he was that very brave French police man who swapped places with a hostage in that terror attack in France.And of course he paid with his life, I heard the word substitute to describe what he did, but he did not only take the hostages place,but he died in her place. All right thinking people commend what Amaud did,but as a Christian I am familiar with with the concept of being a substitute. When Christ died He became my substitute,in 1 Peter 2 v 24  we read,  ''He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree''    The cross is symbolically seen as a tree, in Deuteronomy 21 v 23 ,we read ,''Anyone who is hung on a tree is under God's curse''.It is in Galatians 3  v 13 ,we read that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law,for it is impossible to fully keep Gods law (Romans 3 v 23 ) The Bible tells us that the whole world is a prisoner of sin,and the fact is there is consequences, ( Romans 6 v 23 )We  in our natural state are under the wrath of God, heading for the judgement of God. ( Hebrews 9 v 27 ).So in order to save us ,Christ through His death , paid the penalty, for our sins, and because He suffered we will not suffer, He became our substitute. The moment we repent and seek forgiveness we are accepted by God, forgiven by God, through Jesus. and we are granted eternal life,our destiny is heaven ,not hell,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Bearing shame and scoffing rude,                                                                                                              In my place condemned He stood;                                                                                                            Sealed my pardon with  His blood;                                                                                                                  Hallelujah, what a Saviour.                                                                                                                              ( Words,  P.P.Bliss )

You must be born again. ( 1 v 10 - 14 )

I just listened to a Gospel song, 'In the upper room with Jesus', what do you think it was like in the upper room?.Well it was Passover, so they where doing what most Jews where doing ,but things happened in that upper room ,in fact a lot happened.The things He did and the things He said,He washed the disciples feet, the act of a servant,for that is what  He was a servant,and the greatest service He could do for this world was to become a suffering servant..At times it appears the disciples understood all that was happening,other times they didn't,so many people today don' t know Jesus  who He was,why He  died on the cross. do you know why He died on the cross ?. You would have thought they would have understood who He really was and why He came, but it is not unusual for people who are brought up in a Christian home,to  fail to grasp what means to know Christ.Only a spiritual rebirth can open our eyes to spiritual realities,a very religious person came to Jesus,and when Jesus told him that he must be born again, he did not understand.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           .                                                                                                           I tell you the truth ,no one can see the                                                                                                        Kingdom of God unless he is born again.                                                                                                                     John 3 v 3

A sudden death. ( Hebrews 9 v 27 )

It is told that, when he was asked what kind of death he would desire,Julius Caesar  answered; 'A sudden one'.He of course he got his wish, when he was assassinated,  I suppose many people would like a sudden death, than a lingering one,which can cause so much pain to friends and family, as they watch someone suffering . Yes no one wants a slow lingering death,and of course as time goes on there will be more and more pressure, put unto the government  by people,to bring in a bill that will permit euthanasia.I realise that this subject is full of problems. At this stage I will not pass any comment on the rights and wrongs of this subject. As far as I am concerned in relation to death the most important thing is being ready,and what I mean is this, to  know Christ as our own and personal Saviour?. If you don't  I exhort you to trust Him now, Without Christ no one can enter heaven,no one,the alternative to heaven is Hell, and honestly do you really want to go there?.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Where will you spend eternity?                                                                                                                   The question comes to you and me,                                                                                                           Tell me,what shall your answer be-                                                                                                            where will you spend eternity?