Are you anxious ? ( Acts 16 v 31 )

In  Proverbs  12 v 25, we read, 'An anxious heart weighs a man down'.I was told recently of a man who was very anxious, because of the coronavirus ,as many people are,the thing about this man,he had  trusted   Jesus many years ago,his wife also is  a Christian. Unfortunately they both had fallen into a backslidden state .His family have been praying for him,and I have for many years,that he might get right with God again. The good news he has,in his anxiety he turned back to Jesus,and now he is shining for Jesus. We can be anxious for many reasons,are you anxious like that young man,before the coronavirus,you never give a thought about death ,after all so many people live to a hundred,why worry about such things,but now the reality is , death is on the rampage.If you are ignoring this reality and not taking precautions ,you are being foolish,and further still,you are foolish big time,if you have ignored the reality,that if you were to  die ,were would spend eternity?let me repeat this,were would you spend  eternity?.The good news you may survive this coronavirus, but you will not escape death, I can assure  you,it will eventually come knocking on your door,I urge you with all my heart to trust Jesus as your Saviour, believe on the Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.

Yes, Yes, Yes. ( Ephesians 3 v 20 )

I read recently of a woman who lived in New York all her life,like most cities the light pollution blotted out the stars,and even the moon.Recently as she looked up there it was ,the moon,she said to her friend,so that's the moon?.Just imagine yourself away from from light pollution,you would be speechless as you look up  and see the vastness of the universe,with its innumerable stars.In Psalm 19 we read,' The heavens declare the glory of God, and the skies proclaim the works of his hands'.In Psalm 147 v 4, we read,'He determines the number of stars and calls them each by name'.I do not believe for one moment that all the universe just happened by chance,because chance can make nothing happen,no in the beginning God created the havens and the earth,the beginning,that point in time or space it all began, not with a bang, but with the voice of God saying,''let it be'', and it was.You may say it is not possible,but let me tell you this,with God all things are possible.If he did all that  can he not look after you and me,whatever we may be facing, at this time, can he not see us through our difficulties?,yes ,yes, yes, there is nothing to hard for Him to do.

Old Thomas. ( 1 Corinthians 3 v 5 - 9 )

A man called H.L.Gee tells  the story ,of the church in which he worshipped, and in that church was a lonely old man called Thomas.He had outlived all his friends,and hardly anybody knew him .Well Thomas died, and H.L Gee had a feeling that no one would attend his funeral,so he did,This was during war time,and as he reached the cemetery he noticed a soldier waiting he was an officer.He came for the ceremony,and after it ended,he stepped forward to the grave and gave a wonderful salute.It was a wet and windy day,and as he walked away H.L.Gee joined him,the wind caught the soldiers raincoat revealing his rank,he was nothing less than a brigadier.He spoke to H.L.Gee and explained why he was there.He went on to say ,that Thomas had been his Sunday school teacher,and that he had been a wild lad and a sore trial to Thomas,he never knew what he did for me; but I owe everything I am or will be to him,that is why I came to salute him.The Bible tells us  one sows another reaps,if I was sum to up  my ministry ,it has been one of sowing,I hope like Thomas God may have used me to have influenced someone for good. Let us all remember it is God alone who gives the increase.

Means ( 2 Kings 20 v 7 )

Last time we considered how God delivered Israel of old,and then they asked for a king,now it was not ..necessarily wrong to ask for a king,as long as he and the country still trusted God.In the nineteenth century,God raised up a people ,who called themselves the Peculiar People.This name was taken from the 1 Peter 2 v 9 in the AV,modern translation have,'God's special possession'.Most of these people were poor farming people,and they were very godly, when these people became ill they would pray for healing,they could not afford doctors , plus the fact that there was very little effective medicine available .God did answer their prayers, and many people were healed,I personally knew one person who had been healed.But gradually things changed,in that immunization came in,and people were required to have their children immunized,against diphtheria,there were those who refused to do this ,believing wrongly that it would undermine faith in God,unfortunately some children died,and parents were taking to court and charged with neglect .Our Saviour said those who are sick need a doctor ( Luke 5 v 31 ) ,God uses means to help us,he used a  pillar of cloud and fire to lead His people through the wilderness ( Exodus 13 v 21ff ),so it is not wrong to use a sat nav,or a map to find ones way.,God has provided the means to guide us.Let  us not despise the means God for provides us, but do not let the means undermine our trust in God, pray his blessing on the means that he uses  to help us,whatever they may be, but  also remember that God is not tied to means.

Our helper ( Psalm 121 )

In  1 Samuel 7, Israel were facing their old enemy the Philistines,things were very bad because they had forsaken the Lord, and turned to other Gods. The word of God tells us if we regard iniquity  in our hearts the Lord will not listen ( Psalm 66 v 18), the result was they were on their own,they could not depend on God to come to their aid.,defeat stared them in the face.. Sin always has its consequences ,for the non-Christian it means that their eternal destiny is at stake, heaven will be barred to them. The Christian cannot sin with impunity,there will be consequences, God is no respecter of persons,Israel faced defeat because of there sin,and they knew it.But things changed they turned back to the Lord,but it didn't stop the prophet Samuel telling them that they had to forsake their sinful ways,So they confessed their sins and forsook them,it is not enough to confess our sin, we must forsake our sin,otherwise it is all fruitless,if we don't ,it is  pointless to look to God for help.Before they went into battle they asked Samuel to keep praying for them,in the hope that God would grant them victory.In mercy God responded ,by granting them a victory,over their enemies.After the victory a stone was erected, and they named it, Ebenezer,which means,'Thus far the Lord has helped us'..If only they had held unto that truth,but shortly after this they asked for a king. They had been delivered by God alone,and yet here they are looking ,beyond Him. The dilemma  that faced Israel of old ,and Gods people today is this ,we can so easily forget the God who delivered  us in the past,and put our trust in something or someone else.

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My times are in your hands. ( Psalm 31 )

Following on from the previous day,as to how we face difficulties,in verse 14 of Psalm 31  ,David declares, ''But I trust in you,Lord'', so often in my times of difficulties,I seem to hear God saying ,these  two words,'Trust Me'.it is so easy fall back on human reasoning,to let faith slip away, like the disciples when they were in a storm ( Mark 4 v 40 ).We often hear the term unconditional love,but what about unconditional trust,are we prepared to trust in God,come what may?,remember He can be trusted.The next thing he says,''You are my God'', yes not some worthless idol,or false God ( v 6 ) ,consider who He is, the maker of heaven and earth, remember that he so loved you that He gave the most precious thing He had ,Jesus,and that Jesus is with  you, and you  need fear no evil. ( Psalm 23 v 4 ) Next David declares v 15, ''My times are in your hands'',I want you to look at the palms of your hands,as a reminder of what God says about you His child,' I have engraved you on the palms of my hands''.These words are spoken to reassure you child of God that he has not forgotten you,that in good times,bad times,all the time He is watching over you, yes even to deliver you.David goes on to say,''Let your face shine on your servant'', Matthew Henry wrote the following,  'When the cloud of trouble hideth the Lords favour, faith knoweth it may shine again, therefore pray through the cloud for the dissolving of it' 'My times are in Thy hand; My God I wish them there; My life, my friends,my soul I leave,entirely to Thy care'.  ( Words by Henry F. Lyte )

Facing difficulties. ( Psalm 31 )

I often hear myself saying, ''its in Gods hands'', lets not fool ourselves,He is in control ,many people are confused by what has come to pass,and surprised that all their plans have gone to pot. Psalm 31 was written by king David,   it appears that David himself was faced with a lot of problems, he speaks of enemies who were seeking to destroy him, he confesses that he is weak and sorrowful,consumed by anguish ,his strength is failing,he feels isolated,forgotten ,people are talking of him in quite whispers,and they are conspiring to kill him .So things looked bleak for David, a dark cloud had descended over him , what would you do if you were him? what would I do?.The difficulties he was facing were real ,very real,they were not made up, again I ask the question ,what would  you do?.I want  you to think about this,for there is a wrong way,of thinking and then there's God way.We will think about this next time,and how David thought about it,there are real lessons to be learned,on how we can  face difficulties.