More [ Romans 8 v 32 )

It is recorded in the 4 gospels how Jesus performed two miracles,where thousands of people were fed,in one miracle all he had was 7 loaves and some small fish.In the other miracle all he had was 5 loaves and 2 small fish. From these meager resources, Jesus fed thousands ,read about these miracles in ,Mt 15 v 29 ff/ Mk 6 v 30  ff /Luke 9 v 10 ff/ John 6 v 1 ff.. Yes Jesus fed the people, no one went home hungry,after each of these miracles,the pieces that were left over, were gathered up in  baskets.In other words He gave them more than they needed. God is not mean ,we may be, in Romans 8 v 32 ,we read, 'He who did not spare his own son,but gave him up for us all- how will not also, along with him, graciously give us all things.'The N L T , puts like this, 'Since He did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all,won't He also give us everything else'.Here we have an argument from the greater to the lesser, Consider that God  has given us His greatest gift Jesus, consider what that meant,'He did not spare His own Son',consider all Christ had to endure ,look on the cross,that's God's Son hanging there,man has done his worse,but it did not stop there,for we read the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all,your sin, my sin,and then He was crushed,as  wrath was poured out upon Him.Justice had to be done,the price for our sins had to be paid,that we would not have to pay it.This is what God did for sinners ,such as you and I,so say's  Paul ,will He not give us everything else as Stuart Olyott writes,'God will not hold back anything else from us,will he withhold heaven from us? or the grace, courage,and strength to live through present trials?. No,He will freely give us all things'. .

Only one ( Acts 4 v 12 )

On his missionary journeys the apostle Paul and his companions arrived at Athens,and what they saw was a city given over to idolatry. It was a city of many gods, it had the greatest  university in the world,and it had some of the greatest philosophers.W.Barclay declared, 'God has made man so that he instinctively longs for God.' When Mahatma Gandhi was asked near the end of his life, 'Babaki', you have been looking for God all your life. Have you found him yet?'No , was the reply., ' I'm still looking'.India is a very religious country,they have hundreds of god's,just like Athens,religions, there are in plenty, in this world,but have they, Him, who is God, and the only God.If a person wants to know God, he has provided a way in the person of Jesus,through His death on Calvary. Religion ,philosophy,education cannot  bring a person to God,because man is spiritually dead,he wanders about in the darkness ,lost ,clutching  blindly to those idols,gods, that only condemn him to eternal loss. Through Jesus, God provided a sure and certain hope,he provided forgiveness,and a promise of life after death. Simply trust Him as your Saviour,then there will be no more groping in the dark.

Pray on. ( Luke 18 v 1. )

I read this recently,'Pray on, your prayers count more than you think',the coronavirus has come not just in one place,but to the whole world.I am not sure why,it has come ,why God has permitted it to come. It is so easy to ring our hands in despair,the situation appears so hopeless ,what can we do?,people are dying in their thousands,there are so many ways this is effecting people.There are many people in this world who have no social support,cannot go to work.We can help ,if God has blessed us financially, we can gave money,and in so doing we can feed the hungry.But we can pray,for God to intervene,we need a vaccine,desperately.so pray. The government is made up of imperfect people,just like you and I,pray for them. We are all in danger ,so pray,and pray and pray,yes pray on,your prayers count more than you think.

Stop and stare ( Ecclesiastes 3 v 11 )

The poet W.H.Davies wrote,''What is this life if, full of care,we have no time to stop and stare.No time to stand beneath the boughs,and stare as long as sheep or cows,No time to see, when woods we pass,where squirrels hide their nuts in grass. No time to see in broad daylight,streams full of stars, like skies at night. No time to turn at Beauty's glance,and watch her feet, how they can dance.No time to wait ,till her mouth can,enrich that smile her eyes began. A poor life this if, full of care,we have no time to stop and stair''.I live in a very busy place,not to far from London,there is a major motorway near me,and also a large shopping center. So it is a busy place,and it appears to me that so many people are busy, busy,no time to stop and stare, our lovely Saviour encouraged us to stop and stare,He said look at the birds, look at the flowers, ( Matthew 6 ),so many people are driven,and I am not speaking about driving their cars,no it is an inner compulsion,that causes them not to relax, or enjoy life.A friend of mine told me of two people who have a lovely garden,and they rarely sit in it ,and enjoy it,learn from the poet,and learn from our Saviour,to stop and stare.

If. ( Psalm 145 )

Psalm 124 is a Psalm of Davids, and as he looks back ,he declares,'If the Lord had not been on our side ,Let Israel say',he wants the nation to remember Gods deliverance,As a nation we have recently celebrated V E day, victory in Europe,we praised those who fought and defeated a  very wicked enemy. But what sadden me was the fact that God received very little praise,for make no mistake about it ,if it had been for the Lord,things would have been awful,a nightmare.But the godly David would have none of that,he reminded the nation how much they owed to God not to David. Let no one forget, or think, that they have escape all the dangers there are in life,without the Lord,He protects from the womb to the grave .David could look back and remember the dangers he had faced,and how God had preserved, and protected him,from a lion and a bear,from a giant,from Saul,from the enemies of Israel,from his own son Absalom,who sought to kill him. If it had been for the Lord,David would have perished,likewise Israel, that tiny little nation.Can we not all look back and say if it had been for the Lord,things would have been so different. David finishes this lovely little Psalm ,by reminding the people and himself, nothing has changed,he says,'Our help is in the name of the Lord,the Maker of heaven and earth.' So take heart dear child of God, remember,as John Newton wrote ,'His love in times past , forbids me to think. He'll leave me at last in trouble to sink; Each sweet Ebenezer I have in review, confirms His good pleasure,to help me quite through'.

The road is long ( Hebrews 13 v 4 )

We all know the saying of being in a thing for the long haul, in others words we are not going to give up,until we finish the given task.And that is the challenge when you get married its for the long haul till death parts us. Now I know there can be reasons, that one may have to to get out of a marriage,if your husband is abusing you or your child , for your husband is breaking his vows to love you. As one who has been married twice,my first wife died,I know that marriage is a challenge,Shakespeare wrote,''The course of true love never did run smooth'', never truer words spoken,the minister needs to remind all those who are getting married,these wise words. On the road of marriage there  are bumps, potholes, pitfalls,  pain, snoring.On that last one my dear wife says that I am in denial,she could be right.I have had my moments,of  sulking,hurting and stubbornness .In many ways marriage is a very serious thing,as it says ,'not to be entered into lightly , or unadvisedly, but thoughtfully and reverently'.Yes good advice,but unfortunately a lot of people don't give it the thought, they should,the emotions take over..Remember no one is marrying the perfect person,just as their are no perfect churches, there are no perfect people.What has the word of God got to tell us about the marriage relationship Here is a word for us husbands,'Husbands , love your wives,just as Christ loved the church' ( Ephesians 5 v 25 ), think about what this really means, look on the cross.And here is a word for you wives,'love your husbands as Christ loved the church.'.

Rest. ( Matthew 11 v 28 - 30 )

I wonder do you know that Israel was told by the Lord, that when they had entered the promised land,the land they farmed could be used to grow crops for six years,but on the seventh year ,the land had to be rested.  ( Leviticus 25 v 3 - 4 ) When God gave the 10 commandments He commanded the people to rest on the every seventh day of the week,now I am not a strict Sabbatarian ,but I do see the sense in that commandment,we are not machines we need to rest.I know it is good to be busy,but not 24/7,a day of rest is vital to our well being.We hear the words,' burn out',meaning someone,has no energy to carry on, because I was brought up in a one parent family, my mother and father split up, which meant my mother had to do house work,and also earn a living.On looking back it was hard for her,and I cannot remember her having a holiday,but at least in those days people did not work on a Sunday,so that gave her a bit of a rest.We need rest physically,emotionally,and spiritually,It was our Saviour who looked on the people of his day,a people who were desperately trying to find God and please Him . That meant keeping about 3,500 regulations,no wonder they were exhausted and weighed down,so what did Jesus say,''' Come to me,all you are exhausted and weighed down, beneath your burdens  ,and I will give you rest ( Matthew 11 v 28.) are you exhausted and weighed down?, why not come to Jesus today,right now,and find that rest that only He can give you.