Loveless. ( Ephesians 2 v 1 - 10 )

I  read these striking words,'O Lover of The Loveless',it is easy to love a little baby,it cant do one any harm.I remember a person saying of a young girl ,''you couldn't love her if you reared her'', In Ezekiel 16,We read the following words from one of my commentaries,' The Lord traces the history of Jerusalem , as a type of the people.It began as a foundling child,unwashed and unwanted. The Lord had pity on her and cared for her lovingly and she grew, matured, and became very beautiful''  The book of Hosea compares Israel the nation to a harlot ,yet one whom God loved,in spite of their wickedness and unfaithfulness,we hear God declaring ,'I will heal their waywardness , and love them freely'.  ( Hosea 14 v 4 )As with Israel of old, God is still ,'the lover of the loveless'.and that applies to  us sinners,we ungodly,wicked,sinful enemies of God.I exaggerate not ,we were all born prodigals,love for God was absent from our lives.There are so  many people and the word 'loveless' ,   describes them , but in spite of this , look to the cross,see Jesus dying for the loveless,dying for the likes of you and me.

Psalm 16 ( The golden Psalm )

Keep me safe,O God,for in you I take refuge. I said to the Lord,'' You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.'' As for the saints who are in the Land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods. I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips. Lord you have assigned me my portion and my cup, you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the Lord who counsels me;even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because  he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body will also will rest secure,  because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence,with eternal pleasures at your right hand,

Jelly . ( Psalm 56 v 3 )

I wish I could say that I never feel anxious or stressed out,but at times I do, I am honest with God about it,having said that ,the positive thing is ,I bring it to God. I remember many years ago,having only had 10 driving lessons,I put in for my driving test,my instructor was taken aback when I told him,advising me to cancel it. But the fact was I could not afford any more lessons,so I went ahead, of course the driving instructor was right,I was very ill prepared. but in faith I went and I sailed through the test  without a concern, no ,during the test my legs were like jelly. My  wife and three little children were at home praying,and of course I was praying,and I passed, much to the surprise of my instructor. Christianity is not Stoicism ,that ancient Greek philosophy, of stiff upper lip,no, often our lips are trembling ,and our legs are like jelly. It is that great apostle Paul who wrote of feeling ,weakness,fear, and trembling ( 1 Corinthians 2  v 3 ).Though that was true it did not stop him trusting in God to see him through,nor did it stop me doing my driving test.Whatever you are facing it may be a serious illness, loss, you tummy is churning ,your heart is racing,pray and trust in your Saviour,and go forward, knowing that He is with you,and He will bring you through.

We have a choice. ( Matthew 19 v 16 - 26 )

I read in one of my devotionals the following,In a major survey in the USA  people were asked,' What would you be willing to do for 10 million dollars.Twenty per cent said they'd be willing to leave their families. Twenty -three per cent said they would be willing to become a prostitute for a week. Seven per-cent said they would be willing to murder a stranger.' It went on to say sadly that Christians are not immune from falsifying tax returns.' The love of money is very ,very strong with mankind, I emphasise love,remember the commandments are summed up in loving God,and loving others. ( Matthew 22 v 37 - 40 )The seriousness and awful sinfulness of loving money is shown by the betrayal of our Saviour for 30 pieces  of silver by Judas, he  had a love for money, ( John 12 v 6 ),and that love destroyed him,and condemned him to a lost eternity.Our Saviour said,''What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul. Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul'' ( Mark 8 v 36 - 37 )

Money ( 1 Timothy 6 v 10 )

Now a little history lesson,as regards a certain king, Leopold 11 of  Belgium,who reigned from 1865-1909.He was quoted as having said,that all the Monarchy was good for was making money. This became the driving force in his life,especially when he acquired the land of the Congo,not Belgium but him.He pretended that he would send missionaries ,but exploiting the resources of the Congo was his aim,to do that he turned the whole country into a slave colony,in doing this millions died,countless thousand endured whippings and mutilation,this included women and children. It has been said that this good Roman Catholic ,should be remembered alongside Hitler,when Belgium took over the running of the country the exploitation did not stop, and even after independence most of the countries resources  are owned by foreign companies with very little benefit going to the general population. 1 Timothy 6 v 10,reads ,'For the love of money is the root of all evil',the history of those who exploited the Congo is a witness to this truth. We will come back to this tomorrow.

Win at all costs. ( Romans 2 v 16 )

I noticed on the back of a ladies jacket of the winner of a golf tournament the words, 'Win at all costs'. I do not know what that may mean for her,but for many it can mean a number of things,the person who is poor may do anything to escape poverty,anything. The ambitious business person may do anything to get ahead,likewise the politician who craves power may do anything. Anything, Anything, Anything. Let me remind you if that is you motive in life,one day you will have to answer for that anything,when  you stand before Christ ,and He says ,''Well'.

A true Super Hero. ( Acts 16 v 31 )

I went to see the latest Spider man movie, about one of those fictitious characters ,another save the world hero, I am big child at heart..There are a lot of these fictitious characters written about,and then made into movies. Save the world is the theme,an alien force is almost conquering the world or about to destroy it,so the saviour appears,SPIDER MAN,or maybe its spider boy,or it is Superman, so we could go. I only know one Saviour his name is Jesus,he is not a fictitious character,he was a historical person.He come from heaven to save people from sin ,in order to do this he would have to die.this he did on a cross,because of his love for mankind.His death meant that all who trust him could be forgiven.They could also be set free from the power of Satan and  sin.They would be guaranteed  not to go  hell as punishment for their sins, but saved from wrath to come.They would be guaranteed a place  in heaven ,were sin would never enter,a place of perfect love and harmony, I can only imagine the wonderful glories that awaits every child of God, you can be part of this by trusting Jesus the true Saviour of the world.