Accepted by God. ( Philippians 3 v 1 - 9 )

No one is perfect,no one, I never will be,but through my Saviour I am accepted perfectly ,my righteousness is to say the least ,flawed.So God who is all wise devised a way in which one could receive a righteousness that allowed a person,entrance into His presence. If one goes to the book of Philippians chapter 3,we read of a man who tells us two things. One, there was a time in his life that he thought that he could be accepted by God,through religious observance,or on the bases of his nationality, he was a Jew. But he made a very important discovery,it was all rubbish, So there he was a reject,until God intervened , and revealed the second thing, which is, well here is what he discovered .                                                                                                                                                                                                          Philippians 3 v 9                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the                                                             law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ.

Judging others. ( Matthew 7 v 1 - 5 )

Again referring to Melanie's book,'The world I fell out of'', she writes, '' I was learning to reassess everything. Passing judgement of any kind was suddenly a dangerous thing to do''. She further goes on to say,''Who am I to judge?''.Yes judging people can be  very dangerous ,especially if we pass that judgment unto other people,in doing so we are influencing others against that person. Our perfect Saviour stressed the importance of not judging other's ,if we do, it will come back to hunt us.Yes we have to make judgments as to right and wrong,but we must be careful of taking the high moral ground.                                                                                                                                                                                                              Philippians 2 v 3                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     ''Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,                                                                                   but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

Happy birthday. ( Psalm 90 v 10 )

I am 75 today imagine I am  three quarters of a century old,I remember an neighbour saying that when she saw me shortly after I was born , she cried,I must have been very small possible premature. A lot has happened in my life ,educationally I didn't do well,I learned the 3 R's,and that was about it. The old song goes,,regrets, well I suppose we all have regrets,one thing we can't do is change the past. But what we all can do is keep following the Lord,after all you can do no better thing than that.I  am thankful for the friends I have had. Their friendships were never permanent ,but one friendship that has been permanent is my Saviour's,when He said He would never leave me, nor  forsake me He really meant it. He has always kept His word,never broken it,never. Well what about the future? a good question,He will still be with me,of that I am sure,He will still love and care for me, this friend called Jesus.                                                                                                                                                                                             I've found a friend, oh such a friend,                                                                                                          He loved me ere I knew Him;                                                                                                                    He drew me with the cords of love  ,                                                                                                        And thus He bound me to Him;                                                                                                                And round my heart still closely twine,                                                                                                    Those ties which naught can sever,                                                                                                             For I am His, and He is mine,                                                                                                                   For  ever and for ever.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   I've found a friend, oh, such a friend,                                                                                                         So kind, and true and tender,                                                                                                                     So wise a Counsellor, and guide,                                                                                                                So mighty a defender  ,                                                                                                                             From Him who loves me now so well                                                                                                       What power my soul, shall sever?                                                                                                             Shall life, or death, or earth,or hell?                                                                                                           No, I am His for ever.                                                                                                                                     ( WORDS> J.G. Small )                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Humility ( Philippians 2 v 5 - 11 )

Melanie Reid writing in her book,'The world I fell out of'', of her early days in hospital,after she was paralysed from the chest down,wrote the following.'' My physical plight ,  I was learning what was the equivalent of being sent to university to do a degree in humility''.While I would not want Melanie's experience of being paralysed, I am sure we all need to learn to be more humble. I believe most of us ,yes myself included,wear a badge  pinned to our cheats,with the words on it which read ,I am Billy( put your own name there),and I'm proud of it''. Consider how often the word slips into our vocabulary,I am proud to be,English,or in my case an Ulster man.I am proud of my children,my home,my medals.Ah we may protest and say it is only words,no it is more than just words it is an attitude ,pride is a sin, we have to tear away our distorted reasoning.The words of an old hymn come to mind,'He washed my eyes with tears that I may see',sad to say it is only through the university of suffering, do we learn to change our sinful mind sets. If we are as Christians,to be like Jesus,then pride must die as we kneel before the cross , of Him, who thought it not robbery to be equal with God,became a  servant, and became obedient to death on a cross.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     When I survey the wondrous cross,                                                                                                           On which the prince of glory died,                                                                                                              My richest gain I count but loss,                                                                                                                And pour contempt on all my pride.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     (Words by Isaac Watts )

God loves you. ( John 3 v 16 )

Most days I go for my daily walk,I use the the same route , and I often pass the same people  acknowledge a good morning,some I manage to talk to. Now I have a burden to witness to people of course we all should have that burden. I am concerned that I don't witness enough, But the other morning I saw a man I had spoken to a number of times,he had suffered a stroke which had an affect on him,but he was still an active man. I had never witnessed to him, but I had prayed for him. That      morning I saw him on the other side of the road,and I crossed over to talk to him. After inquiring how he was ,I felt led to say to him,'' God loves you''.it was a brief witness,I  also mentioned Christ, I felt what I had said touched him,and as I walked away from him, I offered a prayer for him.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Selwyn Hughes                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        ''God really does love us. To put it in modern parlance, He is crazy                                                            about us.''

Be not dismayed . ( Isaiah 41 v 10 )

We must never forget that when Jesus told us to take up our cross and follow Him, it meant a degree of suffering.The Gospel did not advance without a cost, and nothing has changed.It is the apostle Paul who wrote to the Christians in Thessalonica ,he mentions to them his suffering in Philippi and the difficulties in bringing then the Gospel to them. In 1 Thessalonians 2 v  he writes, '' with the help of our God we dared to tell you the Gospel' .Moffat puts it like this, ''We took courage and confidence in our God''. If we read the life of Paul we see the difficulties and dangers he had to face,in 2 Cor 11 v 22- 27 we have a whole list of things he experienced,imprisonment, exposed to death,floggings, beaten,stoned, shipwrecked,dangers,going without sleep,with food,cold and nakedness. Yes you need courage,but also a confidence in God, not in self,or others , but in God,only He can bring us through whatever task we are called to do,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Be not dismayed what'er betide,                                                                                                                God will take care of you,                                                                                                                          Beneath His wings of love abide,                                                                                                             God will take care of you.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Through days of toil when heart doth fail,                                                                                                God will take care of you,                                                                                                                          When dangers fierce your path assail,                                                                                                         God will take care of you.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             All you need He will provide,                                                                                                                   God will take care of you,                                                                                                                         Trust Him,and you will be satisfied,                                                                                                          God will take care of you.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Lonely or sad, from friends apart,                                                                                                              God will take care of you,                                                                                                                          He will give peace to your aching heart,                                                                                                    God will take care of you.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               No matter what may be the test,                                                                                                                 God will take care of you,                                                                                                                         Lean, weary one ,upon His breast,                                                                                                             God will take care of you.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             God will take care of you,                                                                                                                         Through every day, o'er all the way;                                                                                                         He will take care of you,                                                                                                                           God will take care of you.                                                                                                                              ( Words C.D.Martin                                                                                                                                       and H.C.A.D. )                                                                                                     

Disqualified ( Psalm 95 v 7 - 11 )

Writing on the promises of God Barry Webb comments, ''Human failure does not, in the end cancel     out God's promises; it only disqualifies the disobedient from enjoying them. The bedrock reality that guarantees the future is God's sovereignty. By His sovereign grace He enables those who are truly  His to believe His promises and live by them''Most of those who came out of  Egypt, were disqualified from entering the promised land ,because of  sinful , unbelieving hearts,( Hebrews 3 v 12 )Only two of that present generation entered the promise land,but the promise still stood, and was fulfilled by the next generation. That generation that failed to enter the promise land, could have had it all, but instead they failed to enter into the promised blessing. Not only did they fail to receive the blessing we read they incurred Gods displeasure, John Stott writes,''Unbelief is not a misfortune to be pitied; it is a sin to be deplored''                                                                                                                                                                                        Hebrews 4 v 7                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    ' Today ,if you hear my voice,                                                                                                                     do not harden your hearts.'