Fear the Lord ( Isaiah 55 v 6 - 7 )

In Romans 3 v 18, we read,'There is no Fear of God before their eyes',The context of these words is mans sinful condition,it is summed up in v 23, were we read that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.The word fear  in Romans 3 v 18,is taken from Psalm 36 v 1,it is Leon Morris who points out that it is not to be understood in the sense of reverence, but of terror.He comments by saying,'Evil doers would do well to have a healthy fear of Him, who will determine their eternal destiny,' and then he adds,'but they have none'.Jesus said,''Do not be afraid of those who kill the body  but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One ( God ) who can destroy both soul and body in hell'' ( Matthew 10 v 28 ). What have the following all in common?,'The flood,Sodom and Gomorrah, the plagues in Egypt ,the wiping out of the Canaanites,the destruction of Israel by Assyria,and the Babylonians.Judah Iscariot's fate,Herod's death in Acts,Ananias and Sapphira's death,the answer is very simple,they were judgements by God. You may not fear God now ,but one day be assured you will.Seek the Lord as your Saviour while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.

Darkness then light ( John 11 v 25 )

In Genesis one,we read, 'the earth was formless and empty,darkness was over the surface of the deep',to many on that day when Jesus died,it was a dark ,dark experience.Darting back to that creation event,there we have the first words that God spoke, recorded,''Let there be light''.Now shooting back to the darkness that Christs followers were experiencing ,and suddenly they heard those earth shattering words ,'He has risen''. The darkness fled dispelled by the glorious light of the resurrection,   no longer would death have the last say,the last enemy had been defeated. Dear child of God you may be facing death at this time,remember, because He lives you shall live, because He rose from the dead so will you.My dear Christian brother ,or sister,who may be grieving over the loss of a loved one,a godly mother ,father,husband,wife,child ,friend,take comfort that they are with the Lord, and one day you will be reunited with them.Remember the words spoken to those early Christians,'He has risen', and rejoice.

Take away the 'D'. ( Ephesians 6 v 10 - 20 )

We return to looking at the devil,and how he affects humanity,in relation to what Jesus said in John 8. He had  a profound effect upon the religious leaders ,He declared that their father was the devil.The devil is not mentioned these days,sometimes he is not mentioned even in Church, I don't jest ,I think he has been relegated to the category of myth by the non Christian,and by some Christians. The Bible teaches very clearly that he exists,he is a real being ,the Bible speaks of the devil and his angels ( Matthew 25 v 41 ) Both he and they are demonic, and they have great power,their activities in relation to humanity is always negative, with the desire to destroy, ( 1 Peter 5 v 8 / 2 Corinthians 4 v 4) And one thing he is good at, is lying,you have heard the saying you cant believe a word that person says,that sums up the devil.William Barclay writes, 'Every lie is begotten and inspired by the devil ,and does the devil's work'.The religious leaders who opposed Jesus had allowed the devil to blind them,to the obvious truth who Jesus was, and what he had come to do..Jesus is the Son of God,truly God,yet truly man.he is also the one and only Saviour,whom we all need,I beseech you, to not to believe the devil ,and his lies.

He is a murderer ( John 8 v 42 - 47 )

In Romans 1 v  25, we read, 'They exchanged the truth about God for a lie', I remember a number of years my son told me a lie, I was so angry,I confess I over reacted.One of the problems as regards humanity they are prone to lie,not only that ,they are prone to believe lies.When our Saviour spoke  to the religious leaders they challenged Him with being a Samaritan and being demon possessed.The Jews hated the Samaritans,that was bad enough but to say Christ was  demon possessed was dreadful,Jesus answered them as to the source of their attitude,and who was behind it. He told then that they were telling lies,and instead of their father being Abraham,their father was the devil.He went on to say that the devil was a murderer and the father of lies. He brought death into the world ,when he tempted man,and of course they took the bait,and   died spiritually. William Barclay says,   'The devil murders goodness, chastity,honour,beauty,all that makes life lovely. The devil murders   peace of mind and happiness ,and even love. The devil is essentially a killer'.He will destroy your life,if you let him,our Saviour came to destroy the works of the devil.and so set us free from his power.

Not D I Y. ( Romans 1 v 18 - 22 )

A monkey  and a giraffe met up one day and the monkey said to the giraffe I would love to be a giraffe,and the giraffe replied ,'funny you should say that ,I was thinking I would love to be monkey'.Well lets go for it, said the monkey ,and so they agreed to meet up again when they had changed .So after a trillion  years. ( it is only fictitious,it could not really happen)  they met up,the monkey had become a giraffe,and the giraffe had become a monkey,and the monkey said to the giraffe ,boy that was hard work,and just at that moment a little mosquito was heard to say,'you can say that again, I used to be a whale'. Yes lets be honest it is only fictitious,it really could not happen,in the words of the poet Joyce Kilmer  ,'Poems are made by fools like me. But only God can make a tree'. 'As the scripture says ,'Know that the Lord,He is God; It is He who has made us,and not we ourselves'.( Psalm 100 v 3 )

A Truism. ( Isaiah 53 )

While studying,I read the following,by Leon Morris,'That Christians are loved by God is not a truism but a truth to be received with awe and wonder'.It is the same when we say, God bless you,how few really understand the significance of those words.Consider the words,that you are loved by God,how do I know this?,because Jesus suffered for me.In the garden of Gethsemane ,Jesus  prayed that His soul was overwhelmed to the point of death,and He prayed to His Father if it is  not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I (He ) drink it,may your will be done ( Matthew 26 v 38 -39 )He knew fully what He was going to suffer,beatings, the hair of His being pulled out ,a crown of thorns pushed into His head, a flogging so severe that His back was like a ploughed field,so much so that His bones were visible. Yes He knew the suffering He was going to endure,but He knew more than that , justice had to be done,the penalty for sin had to be paid.The penalty for sin is the wrath of God,that wrath that abides upon every human being,in order for any  to escape that wrath,He would have to bear it,and wonder of wonders He did , when we trust Him as our Saviour we will not face the wrath of God, no wonder as Leon Morris wrote, 'it is a truth that such love, should fill us with awe and wonder'.

Hope ( Psalm 23 )

Two little children were playing outdoors and one chalked on the pavement the following words,'Save our country', of course she was thinking about the coronavirus ,and those who may be infected by it and die. Yes we would say Amen to those words,but as a Christian  my concerns go beyond being saved from sickness or even death. I do pray for the sick the bereaved and for those affected by the present situation,but my concern goes further than that,and indeed much more important. First of all let me say, that as Christian ,I am suppose to be different,because God has showed me the truth as regards life that it has not come about by some impossible  freak and nonsensical process and that life is very empty with just things,wealth and prosperity.For in the end we live in a  very uncertain world,and that in a moment trials,tragedies, and disasters,can come upon us. And following us all is the grim reaper, death ,it all seems so hopeless,yes it is,if you leave God out of your life. As a Christian I have hope not based on my bank balance,my health,I know I am loved, because Jesus died for me on the cross, the greatest display of love ever manifested.I was talking to a man called Gary,he said he was an agnostic, and that the most certain thing was,that we will all die alone.I said, when I die I will not be alone,that when I go through the valley of the shadow of death the Lord Jesus would be with me.I  heard a poem by Malcolm Blackes called Easter Dawn ,It is about Mary discovering the risen Christ,she had gone to the tomb,only to discover the body of Christ was missing,thinking someone had stolen the body, she walks away,she encounters a stranger,she thought he was the gardener.He questioned her as to why she was crying she told him that someone had stolen the body,she hears the man speak one word ,Mary.The poem ends like this,'She heard the word that turned her night and ours into day'.