Church leaders. ( James 3 v 1 )

I was watching a program on Utube, a man who was introducing two Christian ministers held up a little book ,he said that he had brought his bible along,which left out ,sin,repentance, and hell. We often point to the enemies of Christianity as Islam,atheist, or communist,but there are other enemies of the church of Christ,the enemies within. What has things come to when the Methodist voted for  same self marriages , when I say the Methodist ,I mean the clergy,yes the leaders of that denomination. How far these so called leaders have strayed from their Bible roots, I personally know a person in this denomination who has told me how liberalism  has crept in, most of these ministers have forsaken the word of God,they cherry pick,rejecting those scriptures they find objectionable to their human understanding.They stand condemned by their ungodly decisions ,one must ask the question,where are they leading those  people for which they are responsible ?.

A servant for life. ( Ruth 1 v 16 - 18 )

In Exodus 21 ,there is instructions from God as regards Hebrew servants,they were not called  slaves,because God had delivered  Israel from slavery,so servant is the correct term.One became a  servant in order pay of a debt,but it was not permanent ,God commanded that on the 7th year of his service he was to be set free. but if  the servant wanted to stay with his master he would go and declare his love for his master,and that he wanted to serve him for the rest of his life. The master would take him to the judges ,and then he would take him to a doorpost and pierce his ear.as a sign that he would be his servant for life.A number of years ago there was a popular chorus ,here are the words,'Pierce my ear O Lord my God,Take me to your door this day. I will serve no other god, O Lord I'm here to stay. You have paid the price for me. With your blood you ransomed me, I will serve You eternally, a free man ,I'll never be'.

Worry ( Matthew 6 v 34 )

In Matthew 6 v 25 - 34, our Saviour tells us to not worry as regards 'What shall we eat?, what shall we drink?, what shall we wear'. He reassures his followers by pointing to creation and how God cares and provides for the birds of the air,and that to God we are more valuable than them.He then tells them that all the world is concerned with is eating ,drinking and wearing.Our Saviour tells his followers ,that they are not to worry about those things, for God will provide,but He stipulates what they  are to do,'Seek first Gods kingdom and his  righteousness, and all those things will be given to  them as well' (Matthew 6 v 33 ) In light of what He says Jesus tell them not to worry,it is John Stott who writes,'Worry is forbidden; it is incompatible with Christian faith'.

Anything. ( Exodus 20 v 3 )

In the sermon on the mount out lovely Saviour in Matthew 6 v 24  tells us, 'No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Money'.Now our Saviour is not saying that money in itself is wrong,money is neither good or bad.But the great danger is ,we can make it an addiction,One of the most challenging passages in the bible is when a rich man was told to go and sell all he had, and give it to the poor ,He refused to do this ,as he was a man of great wealth.'Now let me stress again having money is not a sin,even a great deal of money,it is a sin when one puts it before God.This does not only apply to money,it can anything that we put before God.

Stolen waters ( Romans 6 v 23 )

In Proverbs 9 v 17 - 18, we read ,'Stolen water is sweet, food eaten in secret is delicious. But little do they know that the dead are there'.The context of these verses are in relation to a person being enticed by a loose woman, the verses we read points out the folly of  yielding to this temptation/. The comments from one of my commentaries , reads,'The harlot appeals to this depraved instinct in man....But she doesn't tell them the other side of the story.'.Let us always remember there is a price in relation to sin,one cannot touch fire without being burnt'. A very popular French song of the past century reads,'Love's pleasure lasts only for a night; Loves chagrin ( Shame ) lasts for lifetime'.Much of what we watch on T V, in movies etc,don't show  the consequences  of those stolen waters,again let me stress there will always be consequences, all sin is an affront to God,unforgiven  sin has awful eternal consequences,plus the pain in the here and  now.

A prayer (Romans 12 v 1- 2 )

I leave some lines from a prayer I have  prayed, called .Morning Dedication,''Almighty God,As I cross the threshold of this day,I commit myself,soul, body,affairs, friends, to Thy care.Watch over,keep, guide,direct,sanctify, bless me,Incline my heart to thy ways. Mould me wholly into the image of Jesus.May I view all things in the mirror of eternity,waiting for the coming of my Lord, listening for the last trumpet call., May I speak each .word as if my last word. and walk each step as      my final one. If my life should end today, let this be my best day. Amen.

blessed. ( Hebrews 12 v 2 - 3 )

'Blessed are those who are persecuted because of  righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven ' ( Matthew 5 v 10 )  Isaiah ,Jeremiah,Daniel,Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego,Stephen,Paul, Peter, Tyndale,Vahid, Benhnam,Mohammed, Alireza, and millions more could be added to this list. The question is what have they all got in common,they are those souls that have been persecuted for righteousness sake.In Luke 6 v 23, our Saviour tells us when we are persecuted for righteousness sake,'Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because  great is your reward in heaven. For this is how their fathers treated the prophets'.For whatever reason I have never been persecuted,it may come,God knows,but the fact is this world has never been a friend  of the church of Christ,and never will be,we should never be surprised at Christians being persecuted. It may sound strange when our Saviour tells us to rejoice and leap for joy,how can one do that,how did Paul and Silas sing and praise God when they were thrown into prison after being beaten,?.The reason was,the future glory,spoken of as a reward by Jesus.Let us remember ,whatever we may be suffering ,whatever persecutions we may be enduring it will be worth it all when we see Jesus.