Those evil people ( Romans 3 v 10 - 23 / 6 v 23 )

From early on in my Christian life ,the doctrine of the sovereignty of God has been precious to me, to know that He is in control,what about evil?. Evil is a fact of life,the history of humanity,is full of so much evil,wars,murders,stealing etc,that's a fact, unjust things are happening all the time.But God is not evil,no, the Lord is good,kind, holy,just,loving, and that's a fact,oh yes He uses evil,yes He uses people even evil people,and they are responsible for their evil actions,and will not escape His justice.  When we think of evil we think of people who do terrible things, Hitler, Stalin,and we loose sight of the fact, that we all are part of a sinful world,and that only God is holy.only God is truly good. Summing up our human condition God's word tells us, that there is no one righteous,not even one,there is no one who understands,there is no one who seeks God.There is no one who does good ,not even one, mouths are full of cursing and bitterness, feet are swift to shed blood, no fear of God   before their eyes, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Whatever you may think about those word, they are true. we are all part of this evil world, one way or the other, and the only hope for us evil people is Jesus,we need Him as our Saviour.

NOW. (Acts 16 v 31 )

The thought just struck me ,the coronavirus started by one person,and from that one person it has spread all over the world.It is in Romans 5 v 12 we read, 'sin entered the world by one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people,because all sinned'. The coronavirus  brings with it death, for some,hopefully a cure will be found, I wonder why this has happened?,what is Gods purpose in all this.As one looks back on history plagues of one kind or another have affected humanity.Will it affect you or me if it has,my prayers and thoughts are with you. If you are not a Christian then I urge you to turn to to Jesus,now, not  later, but now.I am not scare mongering ,but I know because of sin we are all going to die,and because we are sinners,a judgement awaits all without exception,whose sins have not been forgiven. The only way to escape that is through faith in Jesus,no one else can save,if you are a Muslim you need more than a prophet you need a Saviour.

Trust ( Proverbs 3 v 5 )

I once said to the congregation of the church I attend ,that one of the most important verses in the Bible for me is Proverbs 3 v 5 , which reads,'Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding'.It means in times of trial, times when you don't understand ,why certain things have happened,the why looms large,when your young wife dies and you are left with 4 children,and your life verse Romans 8 v 28,  reads,'And we know that all things work together for good to them who love God'. And it didn't stop there,what do you do,?,well there are ways we can react,you can lean upon your own understand,or you can trust in the Lord.Leaning upon your own understanding will not help,it can only lead you away from God,which will not do you any good,or you can trust in Him, and that will do you a lot of good,believe me  I speak from experience.

Out of step. ( Revelation 7 v 9 - 17 )

I was saddened when I heard what the minister in my church said to a member of the church,who is a Christian, that her loved one who had died was in the ground,and would be resurrected when Christ comes back.This is because he has become a disciple of a person called Wright, who does not believe Christians will ever go to heaven. I did read this persons view's on this subject,and was dismayed at the spirit in which it was written.I also disagree with their view's,consider the fact that all of Christendom,believes that  when a child of God dies they go to heaven,and most important of all , scripture teaches it. It reminds me of the parents of a young soldier ,they went to see him at his passing out parade,they noticed that their boy was not in step with the rest of the soldiers,and they were heard to say,''look at all those soldiers they are out of step''.I can assure you that it is not us who believe that Christians go to heaven,who are out of step.

Truth is on you side. ( Isaiah 53 v 7 )

The late Selwyn Hughes ,wrote about a minister, who was accused of something of which he was innocent. He explained the facts, but his explanation was not accepted and he was removed from the pulpit of that church. Selwyn asked him why he hadn't done more to protest his innocence. With assurance he said;'Truth is on my side...the months will speak against the hours.' Within six months he was exonerated and went back to his pulpit. Selwyn  commented ,'Now that's security, that's trust'. The nature of life will mean that there are times when unfair things will happen to us,we are  treated badly,and there is nothing we can do about it.Consider our dear Saviour and all he suffered unjustly,this is what the apostle writes about him,'He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they hurled insults at him,he did not retaliate; he  entrusted himself to him who judges justly' ( 1 Peter  2 v 22- 23 )

Indispensable ( 2 Timothy 4 v 16 - 18 )

R. C. Sproul said that cemeteries are full of indispensable people,it is an important lesson to learn, that we can all be replaced. It is the nature of life,no matter how gifted we are, we can be replaced,and will be replaced. That does not mean that we are of no value ,no ,of course,we are of value,and that goes for the good we do,the gifts we have. The challenge that God would bring to us is this, don't put those so called indispensable people,in place of Me. I have had friends and I relied on them  so much , but God took them out of my life,why?,could it be that I was relying on them to much.The word of God exhorts us to , 'Fix our eyes on Jesus'. ( Hebrews 12 v 2 )The meaning of the word indispensable means something or someone you cannot do without, the only person you and I cannot do without is Jesus.

No panic ( Mark 4 v 35 - 41 )

I am  sure by now we have all heard of the coronavirus ,and hopefully we are following the advice given,like washing hands etc. It is interesting how people have reacted to this threat to our lives,or being shut in our homes for 14 days.In our recent shopping day, my wife notice,there was panic buying of pasta,and toilet rolls.I am sure many people are panicking about going holidays, what if  the holiday ship they are on becomes their prison ship.Well I mentioned  this to a friend on an email, his answer was,'' no panic here''. It is right that we take every precaution,but let us not panic, I have a little plaque with these words on it, 'Be still and know that I am God'. ( Psalm 46 v 10 )