Luther said. ( 3 John v 1 - 8 )

 Martin Luther asks this question,'How is God's name hallowed among us?' and his answer is,'When both our life and doctrine are truly Christian'. Our chief end is to glorify God, consider what that mean's for us,Luther writes of life and doctrine, both are a challenge.To be a Christian means a life, that to some degree, is evidence  that we are a Christian,that should mean many things. especially  'Holiness', in 1 Timothy 1 v 9, we read,'He has saved us and called us to a holy life',holiness means separated unto God, and separation from the world.  God must come first in our lives,we must be devoted to Him, and dedicated to Him,each day. When we are baptised we are declaring ,that we have died to self,and are going to live in newness of life.In Exodus  28 and verse 36 we read that Aaron was to wear a pure gold plate,engraved with the following words, 'Holy to the Lord'..May we have these words engraved on our hearts ,and manifest in our lives. Next let us consider what we believe ,our doctrine,we should see this as vital ,we are not to be gullible ,nor ignorant of Gods Word . A.W.Tozer  wrote a book called 'The knowledge of the Holy'.in it he writes about those who have a low view of  God,a low view of God will will not do .We must think right about God ,and we must cultivate a spirit of worship,that means a deep reverence for God, that is one of the meanings of the fear of God. That reverence should include His word, and a concern for any one who would undermine it.,and what it teaches.There are those who blatantly pick and choose what they believe , ignoring those truths that they don't like.It is rightly said, that one can make the Bible say whatever you want it to say. Many are doing this,unfortunately to many,let us who know the Lord ,correctly handle God's word.( 2 Timothy 2 v 15), and may our lives be an example of what a Christian should be. ( Acts 4 v 13 )

You are an . ( Philippians 4 v 13 )

 In the movie Tombstone ,Wyatt Earp resists the allurment of  a beautiful woman, he is a married man, his friend Doc  Holliday the infamous gambler ,say's to him,    ' Wyatt you are an oak'. Some oak,later on in  movie ,you guessed, the oak fell to that same beautiful women. King David, you are an oak, but alas he was soon chopped down to size,by  his weak sinful heart. Having followed the Lord for 56 years,,  there are those who may say that I am an oak,but I am not,nor  are you?, we all are weak,and without the grace of God we are goosed,Unless we stay very close to the Lord we will not make it,Samson you are an oak,but we know what happened when he went forth in his own strength. Saul said to David,''You are not able to go against  this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man,and he has been a warrior from his youth,but David went,and that giant mocked him,he told David what he would do with him., But David said to him, you come against me with sword and spear and javelin,but I come against you in the name of  the  Lord Almighty,and you know something ,he beat that big giant  ( 1 Samuel  17 ) Jesus said without me you can do nothing ( John 15 v 5 ), let us remember that..

A man who never sinned ( Isaiah 53 )

Winston Churchill was noted for his sharp wit,during the 2nd world war Attlee and Churchill were having an interview with a Frank Pick who was director general of the ministry of information.Pick had a strong character,but also a streak of self-righteousness,which Churchill loathed.The two men sat and listened to a priggish lecture on the importance of sticking to the truth in propaganda. As they listened Churchill grew  exasperated, while Attlee  became so bored that he give way to sleep,he slipped off the settee on which he was sitting.In response Churchill barked,'Rise up Major Attlee. It is not every day you have an opportunity of shaking hands with a man who has never sinned''.I have met people who have said they  are not a   sinner,I hope you are not one, who thinks that way,for the word of  God tells us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.And yet there is a person who never sinned, Jesus ,in Hebrew 4 v 15 we read,'He did not sin'. He never thought a wrong thought,never said a wrong word,and never committed a wrong deed.In 1 Peter 2 v 22 we have His sinlessness mentioned again,'He committed no sin',so why did he die on the cross?.,Peter goes unto to tell us,' He himself bore our sins on the cross'  ( v 24 ). One writer says,' The bearing of  our sins means suffering the punishment in our place',as Leon Morris says,'Because He suffered we do not suffer. ' This only becomes effective when we trust Him to be our Saviour.Christian rejoice that your sins are forgiven, wrath no longer awaits you.If you are not a Christian I implore you to ask Jesus to be your Saviour and so escape the wrath to come.

Two plants. ( Job 42 v 1 - 6 )

 Following on from our last thought ,regarding the two plants,one died one survived,I believed  it is a picture of life, and especially the Christian life. We mentioned the will of God,but we must also consider the Providence of God, who is sovereign,and because He is sovereign,he is in control,and everything is in his hands,especially the lives of his dear children.When we arrive in heaven we will be astonished how God in his mercy overruled in our lives,how he kept us,protected us ,provided for us,and guided us.But what about the plant that died?,well as I said we move from plants to God's people.In Hebrews 11 v 34, we read abut those who escaped the edge of the sword,then in v 37, we have those who were stoned,and those who were sawn in two.. In Acts 12 we read how how Herod  had James, the brother of John killed,  we read how he also  had Peter arrested,but we read how God wonderfully set him free.One plant lived ,one plant died.God was watching over both of them,such was his will,for both of them.I know a Christian couple both were facing death ,through severe illness,God healed one, the other one died.One plant lived one plant died,such is the workings of God,  were does that leave us,,were we started,the challenge of having faith in our God,whose will is perfect,whose love is unchanging ,and whose faithfulness is assured, and who tells us, that all things are working together for our good.  (Romans 8 v 28 )

Two plants. ( Hebrews 11 v 6 )

 I decided to trim back two  identical plants,the result was one died the other survived,I treated both plants the same,so why did one die and the other survived?. In Hebrews 11 we have a wonderful list of men and women of faith.Lets hold unto those words,' men and women of  faith'.The Christian life is a life of faith, it starts by faith, and continues by faith,our faith is placed in a God who is invisible,and yet a God who revealed himself in Jesus a human yet divine person.That person Jesus  came for the specific purpose of being a sacrifice,and through that sacrifice he would  bear the punishment that we deserve. As sinners who live under God's wrath  ( John 3 v 36 ),we can have that wrath removed when we trust what Jesus has accomplished on the cross. Having done that ,we now commence the journey of faith,and like Jesus we are called to live a life in accordance with God's will,  God's will can mean different things for all of us.Returning to my two plants ,when one died and one survived,there are other lessons we can learn , we  will consider this next time.

Justice ( Philippians 2 v 5 - 11)

The prophet Samuel ,who ruled Israel as the last of the Judges, gave a farewell speech to God'd people ,here is part of what he said,,''Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose ass have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it?. Testify against me and I will restore it to you''. This is what they replied,''You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man' hand.? How many rulers could say they have acted like Samuel?,if only it was so,but as I often say we live in a fallen world,and so often those who rule,are often corrupt, and unjust. Corrupt government's litter humanities history, and once they get into power they cause so much pain and suffering.They are oblivious to the awful suffering they are causing, the people called Stalin uncle Joe, but he was no ones uncle,one will never know the depths of the suffering he caused. Things will not change , until the Lord returns, then he will rule by everlasting justice,and righteousness,in that new heaven and that new earth. ( Isaiah 9 v 7). Yes dear Christian, the King of Kings is coming,all evil rule will cease ,and be no more,yes the King is coming.

Just a woman. ( Galatians 3 v 28 )

 Let us look a little further at Rahab the harlot, she was not an Israelite ,but she became one, because like Abraham she exercised faith ,and that's what  saved her. The promise  that God gave  Abraham was 'through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed ( Genesis 22 v 18) God's ultimate plan was for  the world, of Jew and Gentiles,Galatians 3 v ,'So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, v 29. 'If you belong to Christ then you are Abraham's seed ,and heir's according to the promise'. So Rahab became part of God's family. as do all who exercise faith in Jesus and his sacrificial death.In many countries woman today are despised,as it was in Christ day.especially in the nations of Islam,and if they become a Christian they are doubly despised.In rape cases some of the dear victims have been stoned because as women they must have done something to have caused it.P. Hughes points out,'in the sphere of faith there is neither male nor female. (Gal 3 v 28 ). Rahab is honoured by God firstly by being mentioned in the list of people of faith.,but she was also honoured by being mentioned in the the genealogy of our Saviour (Matthew 1 v 5 ).Dear sisters in Christ, worry not if you are despised because of your gender, in God's eyes you are precious,and dearly loved.