A blessing. ( Proverbs 10 v 22 )

As Israel where about to enter the promised land ,the Lord commanded that Aaron the High Priest to declare a blessing over the people of God. Raymond Brown comments ,that for modern society ,the term 'God bless', is nothing more than,'Hope everything goes well'.But for Israel  something concrete is conveyed'. Wenham suggests that, just as our contemporaries long for success, Old Testament people yearned for blessing. For them the term was multichrome; what was in mind was explicit ,precise,almost tangible'So today as we go into another year, I pray this blessing over you.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          'The Lord bless you and keep you;                                                                                                             the Lord make His face shine upon                                                                                                           you and be gracious unto you;                                                                                                                   the Lord turn His face towards you                                                                                                           and give you peace.                                                                                                                                             (  Numbers 6 v 24 - 26 )

The minority . ( Matthew 7 v 13 - 14 )

Driving is becoming more challenging,everyone is in a hurry,I have been really trying to not break the speed limit,it is harder than you think.When your driving along and you look  behind in the mirror,and you see a long line of traffic behind, you feel like you are doing the wrong thing,put it another way,you feel that you are as it were out of step.And you are made to feel ever more so when someone flashes their lights ,telling you to get a move on.But you are doing whats right,why do they not see this?,but they don't.but you keep trying to keep the speed limit.Because many people choose to ignore the speed limit,does not make it right . Let us consider the fact that many people are not Christians, in some countries Christian are made to feel they are criminals,they end up in prison,where some are even tortured .Because they can treat Christians like this does not make it right. I remember a missionary telling us of two young Christian lads ,the only two in that school, who said in spite of the fact that they where only two ,they said they were many,and that did not make them wrong                                                                                                                                                                                                      The majority are not always right.

Adultery ( Psalm 19 v 14 )

'Adultery' is OK,so read the words in a national news paper,the writer went on to write,' Yes ,you can indulge in extra marital relations.The writer went on to explain that she was writing of mental adultery,and went on to say it had a wonderful playful aspect to it.Our Saviour said far from being a  wonderful playful thing,it was a sinful thing,equal to actually doing it physically.He said,'that anyone who looks  at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart  ' ( Matthew 5 v 28)                                                                                                                                                                                                                         A  prayer                                                                                                                                 Dear lord you  say blessed are the  pure                                                                                                    in heart,Please forgive my sinful  thoughts,                                                                                               grant me a pure heart, in Jesus name .Amen.

No escape.. ( 1 Corinthians 4 v 5 )

A Christian brother I know served as an officer in local government, he told someone that he was the only one who didn't take bribes,sadly that included Christians.We hear of countries where taking bribes is common place,but after hearing this, one wonders how prevalent it is in our country. I remember when I  was about to retire and one of my clients give me an envelope with a sum of money in it, it was a gift from him in relation to my retirement. I thanked him very much,said I was so grateful,but I  was sorry that I could not accept it because we were not allowed to. I hope I did not hurt that dear mans feelings,but I know I couldn't accept it.  If I had my conscience would have troubled me,and who wants to live with a guilty conscience?,it appears to me that some Christians are,the word of  God tells,that our sins will find us out ( Numbers 32 v 23 ).People who have committed crimes years ago are now being found out,because of  DNA testing..Recently  a Nazi prison guard  from a murder camp was put on trial in Germany, for the crimes he committed, he is a very old man, I suppose he had hoped that he had escaped  punishment for his crimes. Now of course many people do appear to escape the punishment for their crimes,as to earthly judgement, but they will not escape Gods judgement.  We are told clearly in Hebrews  9 v 27, that it is appointed unto men once to die, and after that the judgement.

You are a somebody ( John 3 v 16 )

Raymond Brown writes,' Jesus taught that, in Gods sight,every single person is of infinite value'.In a world of vast numbers of people,it is vital to remember this,the individual is never lost to God,in Gods sight everyone is important,in Matthew 5 v 45, we read that God the Father, causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous.Yes everyone is important in His eyes,no one is just a number, a face in the crowd, a nameless nobody. When we read that God so so loved the world,( John 3 v 16 ),it means just that,whoever you are,He loves you. To all those gathered around the cross,those who hated Him,those who mocked Him,those who crucified Him,he loved,he died for the ungodly ( Romans 5 v 6 ) Jesus says to all of us,you are not a nobody, you are a somebody,and somebody I love.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              ''The Son of God , who loved me                                                                                                                and gave Himself for me.                                                                                                                               ( Galatians 2 v 20 )

Like a novel. ( Philippians 1 v 27 - 28 )

I know a man who attends a certain church, where being saved ,and sin is never mentioned, by the minister. His reasoning being, people need to hear about the love of God,and yet the greatest and well known verse in the Bible is John 3 v 16 ,which reads for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not PERISH but have everlasting life.The question is why did God do such a wonderful thing?..The reason because of sin and its consequences,people will go to Hell,mankind needs to be saved,and without sin b dealt with ,we will go to hell.We are told in Matthew 1 v 21 That He ( Jesus )will save His people from  their sins. Raymond Brown, formerly Principal of Spurgeon's College wrote the following. ''Unhappily ,our generation is increasingly less sensitive to sin; 'guilt' belongs to a redundant vocabulary.One of Umberto Eco's fictional characters gives expression to contemporary scepticism; If belief is necessary, let it be in a religion that doesn't make you feel guilty... Like a novel, not like a theology;'

Do you really love Him? ( Matthew 22 v 37 - 38 )

Selwyn Hughes wrote,  ''We must never elevate anyone - husband, wife or child- to the position where they become 'God' to us......no one must take the place of God in our lives- no one''Families are important but they are not as important as God,we more than likely love those who are nearest and dearest to us,but we must love God more.We may love many things but we must love God more,because they can become gods, but if we love them first and foremost,then they become an idol,we become idolaters,we worship them.You may have thought idolatry involved bowing down to an idol of stone or worshipping and icon ,not so it covers anything that we consider first in our lives ,other than God. Consider that word anything,and then ask yourself the question,have I relegated God,to a lower division,oh yes we may sing lustily worship hymns, pray read the Bible and still love other things ,other people more than God.                                                                                                                                                 Is God playing second fiddle in                                                                                                                our lives?