Who is responsible?. ( Habakkuk 1 )

I suppose what causes people to stumble at the doctrine of the sovereignty of God is the problem of evil. Now the Bible is not fairy tale it is about real lives ,real situations. It tells us many things that are challenging,bad things,God doing things that we struggle with, the prophet Habakkuk struggled with what God was going to do.The old hymn has those memorable words,'God moves in mysterious ways',reminds us that we will not always understand why certain things happen.Peter Lewis writes,'The Bible never allows us to consider the problem of evil apart from the problem of sin- and our  own status as sinners'.We live in a fallen sinful world ,God did not cause man to sin, it is a choice we made and we will always be responsible ,for what happen in Edens garden, and what has followed.

God is ( 1 John 4 v 8 )

I wonder what many people think of when they consider the sovereignty of God, is it a cold and very calculating God,who runs rough shod over us?, in other words it appear to be  uncaring. Consider the  following,loving, forgiving,faithful, compassionate,caring,just, merciful,these are some of qualities of God. He will not go outside whom he is. Perverted and wrong ideas often arise out of ignorance and a bias against God. Stop and consider John 3 v 16.'For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.'

Is he God? ( Hebrews 11 v 6 )

Is God sovereign?, the point is this ,if He is not sovereign, He is not God,and were does that lead us?,but we believe that He is God.  On Gods providence the Westminster  Confession of Faith declares the following.'God, the great Creator of all things, doth uphold ,direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by his most wise and holy providence, according to his infallible foreknowledge,and the free and immutable counsel of his own will,to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice,goodness, and mercy'.

Who is in control? ( Romans 11 v 13 )

 Early on in my Christian life, a little book by Pink influenced me greatly it is called ,'The sovereignty of God'. My life verse is Romans 8 v 28, 'And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God' When we consider His sovereignty we must take on board His providence It is Peter Lewis who comments on this subject,he writes,'Who dares speak of the sovereignty of  God after a century that has two world wars,scores of millions killed in their youth and their prime, the Jewish Holocaust and the genocides of more recent years?'And so we could go on rolling out tragedies ,life is full of so many, so very many. If God is sovereign why, ?rolls of the lips of many,and even more so in hearts of hurting people. You may be one of those people ,we will consider this over the next few days, may God the Holy Spirit help and guide us ,in Jesus name we ask this.Amen

Eight days to live. ( Luke 12 v 13 -21 )

'What you do if you had eight days to live?', these are the words I heard from my TV, what would one do?.Well one could look at this in different ways,one may be bitter and curse whatever,one may be very passive,it is an intriguing question. The point is this ,that we are all going to die, yes we are ,we are mortal,even if its eight days, or eight months,or eight years.If you are not a Christian I would urge you to trust Christ, as your Saviour, consider what He said, ''I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me,though he die,yet shall he live''( John 11 v 25)When one trusts Jesus ,He forgives us our sins, and we receive the gift of eternal life ( Romans 3 v 36 )

The mysterious One. ( Matthew 28 v 16 - 20 )

 Isaac Watts, wrote the following, 'Where reason fails and all her powers,/ There faith prevails and love adores.' It is said that in mathematics ,one plus one plus one equals three. but in theology one plus one plus one equals one,the implication is that theology, especially trinitarian theology, is illogical,self-contradictory and absurd.But the teaching is not that God is mathematically three in one but that  he is personally three in one,that the one God exists eternally as three persons. ........God is'The undivided  Three / And the mysterious One. 'When reason fails and all her powers,/ There faith prevails and love adores'. ( Taken from Peter Lewis writings )

Change ( 2 Corinthians 5 v 17 )

My old granny came to know the Lord under the ministry of W.P.Nicholson  ,a Presbyterian minister, whom God used in a mighty way in Ulster. His nickname was ,' The tornado of the Pulpit', he was man filled with the Holy Spirit, and many thousands came to know Christ,under his ministry. People go on about the environment ,the need of change,and rightly so,we all should be concerned as regards the environment. But I believe the greatest change comes when people are changed by Christ, as a Christian  minister I believe that with all my  heart. What changed me for the better was Christ, he alone can heal the brokenness of humanity, He alone can bring forgiveness  to people,and through Christ changing people ,families will be changed,society will be changed.For the Bible tells us if  any person trusts Christ ,they become new creations ,we receive  a new nature,and our lives will never be the same.