Help ( Acts 17 v 28 )

We consider yesterday the opening words of Psalm 121  I lift up my eyes to the mountains, where does my help come from? what is your answer?here is the answer the writer of this Psalm gives,'My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.' Look out on the world today, it is a world that has not only forgotten God, but denies His position as  creator,and yet our very lives depends on Him,for in Him we live and move and have our being.Have you asked yourself, what is the life force,where does it come from,?,the answer is God,can you think of any other answer.If God withdrew His power from this world everything would cease to be,everything.He is not only the maker of heaven and earth,he sustains it,as the little song says ,'He has the whole world in His hands' '.

Help . ( Psalm 121 )

A favourite Psalm of many is 121,it just has 8 verses, it begins, 'I will lift up my  eyes to the mountains,where does my help come from? I wonder how you would answer that question?you may not have a clue.A great ocean liner was built in the city where I was born,it was an example of mankind's progress,and we are all familiar with what someone said about it,''even God could not sink her''.We all know now what happened to the supposedly unsinkable ship,it sunk with the loss of many lives. Hitler beguiled a nation with his words,and boasted that the Third Reich would last a thousand years, he had raised up a massive military machine. It did seem that he was unstoppable ,yet we know what came of that forecast. The world is in a turmoil  , where is our help going to come from?.science? surely they have all the answers?,remember the Titanic.

It is all about Jesus. ( Acts 16 v 31 )

I heard a preacher quoting a well known saying,'Time is a great leveller',the question is, what does it mean?.It appears to means, that we all , in spite of our social status,wealth,power, nationality,will end up equally dead. Yet in another way I would say that death will not mean the same for all of us, God's word makes it very clear,that there will be a great separation, ( Matthew 25 v 31 ff / Revelation 20 v 11 ff). Those who have trusted Jesus and those who have not, in reading Matthew 25 it may appear that your good works save you, they don't, Ephesians 2 v 9,clearly tells us that we are not saved by our works, works are a vital evidence that we are Christians, Ephesians 2 v 10, we are saved unto good works, not by them James 2 v 20. It is the work of Christ that saves us, His righteousness ,His death,and his resurrection,it is all about Jesus. Those who try to add to this will find themselves separated, from God,just like those who deny God,and reject Christ.

A higher power (Psalm 91)

We find in the Psalms so much to instruct us encourage us and to bless us,so I would encourage you to read them. My mind turned Psalm 91 written possible by Moses.I pick out two verses to think upon v 3 / v 6, in these two verses we have the word pestilence used,it indicates that it was written on the occasion of some wasting disease afflicting Israel. Consider the times the Psalm was written,a time when no medical cure was to be found,consider the times we live in,as we are discovering, that there is no cure for the coronavirus ,yes there is nothing new under the sun. So many people are fearful,understandably so. Who knows that many may be praying ,it is said that their no atheists in foxholes,meaning that in times of stress or fear, people will in hope and look to a higher power.Well as a Christian I believe in higher power ,God, why not call upon Him.

There is plenty ( Matthew 6 v 25 - 34 )

I received information that in parts of Africa and in other parts of the world,plagues of locust are devouring peoples crops,there was a moving picture of a lady waving a cloth at then to chase them away,a futile exercise,but it highlights how she felt.The result of this plague will be that many will grow hungry and many will starve to death. My son spoke to a friend in South Africa ,he has not  been able to buy a loaf of bread for four days,he has four children.Now I contrast this with the country I live in ,and how people are reacting to the coronavirus  ,panic, the supermarkets cannot keep up with the demands of people  wanting to buy groceries. This in spite of the fact that they are continually being assured that there is no supply shortage .We need not be surprised at how people are acting,Jesus said to us Christians, ''So do not worry, saying,what shall we eat ?,or what shall we drink?,or what shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ''but He did not stop there ,He went on to say,''But seek first his Kingdom  and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well''

The prayer ( Psalm 121 )

One of the most popular songs song by Andrea  Bocelli is ,'The prayer', Here are some of the words,  'I pray you'll be our eyes,and watch us where we go,and help us to be wise,in times when we don't know. When we lose our way,lead us to a place,guide us by your grace,to a place where we'll be safe.I pray we'll find your light,we'll hold in our hearts.When stars go out each night,When shadows fill our day,lead us to a place,guide us by your grace,give us faith so we'll be safe.. Amen.

The wisdom and power of God ( 1 Corinthians 1 v 18 - 25 )

I have just looked at a list of Philosophers ,in an national newspaper ,that gives a short ,a very short  , summary of what they believed in, from Aristotle who taught that the only way to achieve a truly happy life, was by forsaking instant gratification in favour of the careful cultivation of virtues.the list ended on a happy note ( I joke ) with what Soren  Kierkegaard believed. He taught ,that all human beings live with despair until they die,whether they know it or not. I will not leave you with that note,it was the Apostle Paul who would have been familiar with Greek Philosophy inspired by Gods Holy Spirit wrote,how that for all their so called wisdom they did not know God.He went on to write how that the wisdom of God ,went beyond any human ability to conceive, it was in a Christ who was crucified.To the wise and the religious of this world,it was foolishness,but in reality it is a manifestation of the power of God, and the wisdom of God.