What can I do (

There is such need in this world, what can we do?,sometimes we cant seem to do very much ,but pray. One writer has written the following,'Even if we are separated from people,  and even if there is no other gift we can give to them, we can surround them with the strength and the defence of our prayers'.,Gregory of  Nyssa .has written the following about prayer.' The effect of prayer is union with God, and if someone is with God ,he is separated from the enemy........It will refresh you when you  are weary and comfort you when you are sorrowful'.  We read in Isaiah 40 v 29 - 31,'He giveth power  to the faint; to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall; But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength ; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run , and not be weary; and the shall walk, and not faint.'

Love ( 1 Corinthians 13 )

A person I know, took and elderly person to the hospital for tests,after the tests were finished the news was not good,but the person with the elderly person told how kind the doctor was. After telling the elderly person, the results of the tests, she said she was sorry, and gave her a little kiss,she was a lady doctor. What a lovely thing to do, it reminded me of the words in 1 Corinthians 13, which  reminds us, that no matter what service we  give,be it a great preacher a great whatever,if we do not have love,in Gods eyes we are nothing .So many people grave for power and when they get that position of power,they manifest cruelty,and love is absent,they are pathetically weak.

Christmas ( Isaiah 9 v 6 - 7 )

In case you didn't know its that time of the year, Christmas,is coming,I wonder how you feel about it,what does it mean to you? For most people it means spending,buying presents,buying a lot more food,going to office parties,going out for that Christmas meals.We can easily criticise the commercialisation of Christmas,but there are good aspects of Christmas,people are inclined to think of positive ways of helping the needy.We get to watch the Wizard of Oz,and many other old movies,Pantomime is very popular.People consume a lot more alcohol,well we live in a consumer society.Of course families get together, that cant be a bad thing.The down side is many feel lonely all families don't meet together,for many it is a time sadness due to a bereavement. Many people do attend a church service,to sing carols,and to see a nativity scene,acted out by little children. So that's all there is to Christmas,let's continue this next time.

The Holy Spirit. ( Ephesians 5 v 18 )

How can we live the Christian life ?,it is a massive challenge ,what are the challenges?, forgiveness,  it is not easy to forgive,some people live with unforgiveness, Yes awful things happen to people ,things that are hard to forgive,yet the challenge is to forgive.Then there is the challenge to love,now of course the word love rolls of peoples lips so easily,the apostles  description in 1 Corinthians 13 is mind blowing.Or the words that our Saviour said in reply to Peters question as to how often are we to forgive someone ,he put a limit on it, but Jesus must have rocked Peter back on his heels,when he replied there is no limit on forgiveness (  Matthew 18 v 22 ).As I said the challenge of the Christian life  seems  impossible  ,how can I even attempt it? That's a good place to start ,remember what Jesus said,''Apart from Me you can do nothing ( John 15 v 5 ) . If we are Christians we all have the Holy Spirit ,He will help us to live the Christian life,and enable us to show Christ in our lives. Here is a little prayer I read recently,I have started to pray it,it reads,' Dear Holy Spirit ,as the sun is full of light,the ocean full of water,Heaven full of glory,so may my heart be full of thee' Amen

Truth ( Psalm 119 v 157 - 160 )

I heard these words recently,'Truth can be cruel', and of course we know the other saying,'The truth  hurts'.Truth is important, but ,ah that but,many so called ministers,(to many),are failing in their responsibility to speak the truth.Many shying away from what the Bible teaches,and let me say this,the Christian minister and all of us as Christians, should stand for what the Bible says ,from Genesis to Revelation,this involves creation,not evolution,humanities sinful condition,the need of salvation,  through Jesus, heaven ,hell,a moral universe. There are many other things we could mention, so you get the picture. In a court of law one puts their hand on the Bible and swears to tell the truth,the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. That is exactly what  all Christians are called to do,to believe the whole truth of the  Bible, and proclaim the truth that is in the Bible. Nothing has changed, or will ever change,for truth does not change,and our responsibility to stand for truth,and proclaim the truth, will never change.

The Christian Passover. (Isaiah 53 )

 One of the first things the Jews were told to do ,was in take a lamb ,it was to become a meal for the whole family On the night of the Passover the the lamb would be killed ,cooked and eaten,and this was the vital part, the blood from the lamb would be on the tops and sides  of the doors.That night the Lord passed through the land of Egypt and struck down every firstborn,the only ones who did not suffer were those who had put the blood around their doors. Now lets move forward to the time of Christ and John the Baptist ,John sees Christ ,and he declares,''Look ,the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world'' ( John 1 v 29 )In other words Jesus would become the Christian Passover ,He would be slain and His blood would be shed ,the result would be,that all who trust in Him,and His shed blood,would not come under judgement ,for judgement is coming ( Hebrews 9 v 27 ). We must takes this serious, God must and will judge sin,but He has made away out for all,by Jesus bearing the judgement for sin on the cross ,and shedding His precious blood.

The Passover. ( Exodus 12 )

Every year the Jewish people celebrate the Passover, a remembrance feast that reminds them of the time when ancient Israel, were delivered from 400 years of slavery in Egypt. It is in the New Testament we have these words written,'Christ ,our Passover Lamb , has been sacrificed'.( 1 Corinthians 5 v 17 ) .Both events speak of deliverance,one speaks of deliverance from slavery,The  first one reminds the Israelites of the physical slavery,were they endured great hardship from their cruel Egyptian masters.The second Passover reminds us of our slavery from sin,  we are all sinners,and whosoever committed sin is a slave of sin ( John 8 v 34 ).On the night of the Passover in Egypt a lamb had to be slain  and the blood painted on the the door frames of their homes, The other Passover the Christian one includes the sacrifice of a person, Jesus,the lamb of God who would deal with sin.(John 1 v 29).The first Passover reminded people of a people who were slaves,and how God saved them ,they had to obey Him and how he instructed them. We will consider this next time.