There is a harvest day coming. ( Matthew 7 v 15 - 23 )

 There is a lot of confusion in the world, and that applies to those groups who say they are Christians,yes we have the cults,but I also include many of the so called mega Churches in America  . Now one of my favourite preachers is Chuck Swindoll, and I also appreciated the late R.C.Sproul,and I have been using Daily Bread daily reading notes for most of my Christian life. So I am not anti- American,but on You Tube one hears of the errors ,and dubious practices, of many of these people,a word of caution, we have to be careful that we don't go along with all those who voice criticism on You Tube.Having said that there are genuine concerns as regards much that is going on. I just want to stress that we must  be on our guard, and to be discerning at all times. I found myself asking God as regards these wicked people,why Lord?, the prophet  Habakkuk asked why?,he could not understand why God allowed  evil people to get away with it.My thoughts were directed to the story our Saviour told in Matthew 13 v 24 -30 .about a farmer who planted wheat,and how someone planed weeds in his wheat field.The farmer said an enemy had done this. His workers asked him should they go and pull up the weeds? but he said no, as they  might uproot the wheat with them. He said let both grow together until the harvest time ,then collect the weeds and burn them. No one will get away with anything as these false teachers, money loving rascals will find out,  because there is a harvest day coming.

Why Me ? (

'Why me Lord?, what have I ever done,to deserve even one,of the pleasures I've known. Tell me Lord , what did I ever do,that was worth loving you? ,or the kindness you've shown' ( Words by Kris Kristofferson). When I think of all God's goodness to me, his salvation,and it has not stopped there,that would be enough, that's the greatest gift of  all,and yet, his mercy does not stop there, for as Romans 8 v 32 reminds us,' how will he not also,along with him ( Jesus),graciously give us all things'.How good is the God we adore, That godly young man Robert M. M'cheyne wrote the following ,'When this passing world is done,When has sunk the radiant sun,When I stand with Christ on high, looking o'er life's history. Then, Lord , shall I know,not till then , how much I owe. Why me?, why you?, R.M.M'cheyne writes,'Chosen , not for  good in me,wakened up from wrath to flee, hidden in the Saviour's side,by the Spirit sanctified, Teach me,  Lord, on earth to show,by my love how much I owe'.

He left us. ( 2 Timothy 3 v 16 - 18 )

 Here is a wonderful truth, God has said,'' never will I leave you; never will I forsake you'',( Hebrews 13 v 5) Since I have come to know Him, he has never left me alone,those words are very reassuring, to every child of God,in other words those who know Christ as Saviour.I remember seeing the first Jurassic Park movie,which I really enjoyed.They all have the same pattern to them ,the big creatures break out of their enclosures, causing fear and mayhem. There are two children in the movie I think they were called. Lex and Ted, they are in a vehicle with a man ,and the monsters have broken out ,the man runs away leaving them.Meanwhile the main character in the movie called Sam comes to rescue them, He is with the girl,and decides to go and get the boy,the girl becomes very afraid ,and says ,'he left us, he left us', Sam looks at her and says,''but its not what I'm going to do''.Child of God, listen, you may have been forsaken by your husband, mother, father ,wife,children, best friend.Hear is what God is saying to you,'They may have forsaken you, but its not, what I'm going to do'.

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 )