Not a good luck charm. ( Psalm 48 v 14 )

I ask myself how have I survived till now?,I am 75, by chance?,good fortune?,or was a greater power looking after me?. Now of course does that mean that if I had died earlier, God was not looking after me?.  I was a premature baby,how did I survive, my mother had a baby after me,he died shortly after birth.Why did I escape drowning when I was a young lad?,well so we go on asking questions,I am a child of God,I believe there are no second causes,only God. That does not mean to say I have not had difficulties,disappointments, there are those who blindly teach and proclaim a health and wealth Christianity,and ignore what the word of God teaches,as regards suffering,of course there Christianity comes with a price tag on it, paid for by their deluded followers.Gods providence leads in different paths,it is Peter Lewis who comments,'God is our deliverer but he is not a good luck charm, He gives us protection,but not  immunity,hope in trouble,but not freedom from trouble'

Evil (2 Timothy 4 v 1 )

Writing on the problem of evil Peter Lewis wrote the following,' Always it is always God who  is central . Evil is not ultimate, inevitable or final. The first and last word is with God'.When one thinks of the evil that has been perpetrated,in the past, the evil that is being perpetrated,and will be perpetrated,it appears there is no end to it.We cant even begin to write the list of types of evil that humanity is guilty of,it appears sometimes that evil is on the throne.It must appear to many people that evil does have the last word,but no, there is a sovereign God ,who will have the first and last word.. For evil whatever way it is dressed up ,is sinful,and God will be heard,will be seen,and most definitely will deal with all sin,yes the final and last word is always with God.

Perfect, no,Imperfect ,yes. ( Philippians 3 v 12 - 14 )

Sometimes you feel like the apostle Paul who said ,''What a wretched man I am'', (Romans 7 v 24 ) or the prophet  Isaiah who cried out,''Woe is me'', (Isa 6  v 5 ). Yes we can all feel like that ,but I read these words ,'Imperfect, but following on', yes we are all in the same boat,struggling on the sea of life. Let us not despair ,for Christ did not save perfect people,the gulf between what we are and what we should be,will always be there.We will always need Christ as Saviour,we will always be those sinners saved by grace.Only until we arrive in heaven will we be without sin,and we shall be what we should be. So now it is,'Imperfect  but following on'.

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