The scapegoat (Psalm 103 v 21 - 23 )

Now consider that other goat the one that would be known as the scapegoat ( Leviticus 16 v 10 ),Well this what would happen to it.The high priest would lay both his hands  on its head ,and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites - all their sins-and put them on the goats head. He then would send the goat away into the desert in the care of a man.The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a solitary place; and the man will release it into the desert' ( Leviticus 16 v 20 - 22 ) All this reminds us of that greater work of forgiveness,by Christ,we are told in 1 Peter 2 v 24, that Christ Himself bore our sins in his body on the tree ( Cross).Leon Morris write',He means that Jesus death endured the penalty for our sins the result being,because He suffered we do not suffer.Our sins are forgiven and not only are they forgiven they are removed by our scapegoat Jesus ,it is what Psalm 103 v  21 - 23  is about.'For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear him,as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.' Our sins are all forgiven and are gone'.

The blood. ( Hebrews 10 v 1 - 18 )

When the Jews occupied the promised land they continued to keep the Passover,and also there was a day of atonement once a year two animals were brought one was sacrificed  the other was known as the scapegoat .The one that was slain would be sacrificed as a sin offering ,the blood of the animal would be sprinkled within the sanctuary,in the book of Hebrews 9  v 22 we read,'without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.This was inactive every year ,an animal sacrifice was only a  type a shadow,it could not once and for deal with sin.This would only happen when Christ ,on the cross became the sacrifice that would effectively deal with the sin, of all those who put their faith in Him,the result was no more sacrifices are needed .Isaac Watts wrote,'Not all the blood of beasts,on Jewish altars slain,could give the guilty conscience peace,or wash away the stain. But Christ, the heavenly  Lamb,takes all our sins away, a sacrifice of nobler name,and richer blood than they'.

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.