Oblivion. ( John 3 v 16 )

Lying on my desk is a rose ,it is no longer , a  thing of beauty, it comes from a bunch of roses I bought,when I purchased them ,they were lovely ,truly a thing of beauty. Not now, only fit to be thrown out,the poet wrote as regards roses,'Here they bloom but for a season,soon their beauty is decayed'. But then it goes unto sat,'I am going to a city were the roses never fade',it reminds me of the words of a well known hymn.  'Change and decay in all around I see;'And it all ends in one way,death,there is no escape, it will come to us all, one day ,then what?,David Hockney the artist, is 83, was being interviewed, said, ''I expect I will die soon'',when asked did he believe in an afterlife?,he replied,'' Then oblivion''.So that's it,oblivion?, we are all end up dead roses,just another dead rose. The Christian message  teaches that there  is a life after death,how I do know this?,the answer is Jesus, who died,yet rose from the dead,as he said he would,and after his resurrection he appeared to over 500 people ( 1 Corinthians 15 v 3 - 8 ). This Jesus promised that all who believed in him,even though they die, they would live. ( John 11 v 25 ),and dwell with him eternally in heaven.You may ask what happens to those who don't believe?,well they die of course ,but it will not be oblivion,they will exist,in that place of eternal judgement,spiritually dead . Both these options must be taken seriously,it is your choice,heaven or hell,God in mercy offers you life eternal,believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.

Schindler. ( Romans 3 v 10 - 26 )

 I have just finished watching the movie,'Schindler's List', a very moving movie,about a German who managed to rescue 1,200 Jews from death.The movie ends with Schindler speaking to the Jews he saved, and their guards,one of the things he said was,'' 6 years of mass murder has ended''. It raises a lot of questions we don't know the answer to,why the carnage?,why the Jews ?,why?.And yet it bears out  the truth at to what God's word declares about mankind, that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God ( Romans 3 v 23 ). You may have heard  this before , you may not like this truth,or the fact that we are told that our hearts, (nature) is deceitful and desperately wicked ( Jeremiah  17 v 9 ). Can any person give a more true answer?,no ,do not think it will not happen again, the history of mankind,shows us how soon,the facade of respectability can evaporate in a moment,and the beast of  our fallen humanity is let loose,to commit unspeakable evil . I found myself saying,there are so few Schindler's,yet even  Schindler's are sinners,  everyone shows there fallen human nature to some degree.The reality is this ,we do not want to know of the evil we are capable of. God amazingly loves humanity, the answer again shows man at his worse,and  God  manifesting a love that's indescribable and mind blowing,when Jesus came and was   put to death on an infamous cross,taking sinners judgement,and so enabling God to forgive and forget our sins,this happens when we ask Him to be our  Saviour.Philip Bliss wrote about Jesus,'Bearing  shame and scoffing rude,in my place he stood; Sealed my pardon with his blood,Hallelujah what a Saviour'.Dear fellow sinner why not trust Him to be your Saviour and know the joy of knowing forgiveness of all your sins.

The future is known. ( Hebrews 11 v 8 )

 We have considered ,past tense,present tense,now let us consider future tense,future tense applies to all that is in front of us,one minute,one hour,one day,and so on.Many people desire to know what lies in the future,but it is not possible or ever will be possible.The future is unknown to all  with the exception of God,He knows the beginning and the ending,but  we don't.These days are more uncertain than usual,with the Coronavirus stalking not only our land, but the whole world.We are all in danger,where will it strike next?,no one can tell, There is a little song that goes,'I do not know ,how many days of life are mine to spend,but one who knows and cares for me, will keep me to the end,I do not know the course ahead, what joys and griefs are there; but One is near who fully knows, I'll trust his loving care: I knows who holds the future,and He'll guide me with his hand; with God things don't just happen,everything by Him is planned.  So as I face tomorrow with its problems large and small, I'll trust the God of  miracles, give to him my all'  ( Words by Alfred .B. Smith)With Jesus the future is always bright.

How to Cope . ( Ephesians 3 v 20 )

 Last time we considered the past now let us consider the present,I heard someone say,'My old life is full of consequences',the fact is they can effect the present,abuse, drug,addiction,rejection,failure,violence,a  criminal record,bad parenting,the list goes on and on.What is the answer? One has to be honest ,the scars remain often,as regards those scars ,they need not ruin our lives.In spite of the scars I believe we can by Gods grace,cope and lead a full life,the past need not be a death sentence.Christ promised life,abundant life,an inner strength,peace ,love,patience,kindness,goodness,and self control.How is that possible?,very simple,the Spirit of God who dwells within us,can make it possible.Every Christian receives the Spirit of God when they trust Christ as their Saviour (Romans 8 v 9 / 15 ),He is our helper,and comforter,while He dwells within every Christian we need to rely upon Him,we need to seek Him in prayer ( Ephesians 3 v 14 ff) In Ephesians 5 v 18, we read ,'Don't be drunk with wine,because that will ruin your life. Instead be filled with the Holy Spirit'.We have a choice ,we can be like  the world ,fill our lives with the wrong things ,is that not true,we can fill our lives with bitterness ,self pity, and negativity.We can absorb what the would has to offer,things that do not satisfy, or help us,or we can daily surrender each day and rely on Gods Holy Spirit,to help and bring us through,the choice is ours.

Your past ( Mark- 5 v 1 - 15 )

 We all have something in common, we all have a past,a present,and a future,take our past,one thing none of us  can do,we cannot change it. It reminds me of the words by Omar Khayyam,'' The moving finger writes ,and having writ,moves on: nor all thy piety nor wit,shall lure it back to cancel half a line. Nor all thy tears wash out a word of it''. Nothing can change what we have written ,or spoken,so it is we cannot change the past,we cannot by tears change the past. We may wish we could live our lives over again,but it is obvious we can't,but here is the good news ,we don't need to be controlled or,destroyed by our  past. Jesus came to forgive our sins,but he also came to set us free,everyone who lives, sins, this is what Jesus  says,''Everyone who sins is a slave to sin''( John 8 v 34 ) but He goes on to say,'' So, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed'' (v 36 ),he has come to set the captives free. You can stop being a captive of your past,the apostle Paul writing to Christians in a place called Corinth ,mentions a number of sinful practices,sexually immorality,idolaters,adulterers,homosexuals,thieves,drunkards,slanders,and swindlers,  none of these will go to heaven,Then he goes unto say,''but that is what some of you were.they were no longer practicing such things, because of Jesus (1 Cor 6 v 9 - 11)The guilt of past,the wickedness of the past,can be left behind, when Jesus forgives and sets you free..He is more powerful than whatever binds you,he is able to save to the uttermost.

China . ( Psalm 31 v 15 )

 Hudson Taylor was a man of God ,who served God in China,   Billy Graham said,''Few men have been used to touch China for God as Hudson Taylor was''. At that time there were missionaries already in China, but they ministered mainly in coastal areas,but  Hudson's vision was for all of China. That meant    leaving  the coastal areas and going inland,it was another missionary William Carey who said,''attempt great things for God,and expect great things from God'',Hudson most certainly lived that out in his life. Let me say this ,never romanticize missionary work for often it can be costly,and dangerous,whither it was in the 19th century or the 21st century,it was that great missionary the Apostle Paul who wrote,'a great door  for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me'' ( 1 Cor 16 v 9 ). Hudson was  a  doctor,in his training to be a doctor in England during an operation of dissecting a corpse he must have scratched himself,which led to him developing a fever.When he told the surgeon,,he was told,''Get home as fast as you can, and arrange your affairs,you're a dead man''But he did not die,though it took awhile recovering,for he was God's man,who would be preserved,until it was Gods's time to take him home, none will of us will die, until God says so.

Tears ( Job 23 v 10 )

 It has been said,that God our Father will  never cause his children a needless tear, the word needless is important,because many of Gods children are suffering. Just let me point out first of all,we become a child of God when we trust Jesus as our Saviour C P, John 1 v 12,this is very important, and of course it is a wonderful blessing, because it means one  comes under God's special care. In the NT God is referred to as Abba C P Romans 8 v 15.that is a very personal term,something like daddy,for the Christian, God is not a distant uncaring person,but one who is near and instantly available,by prayer.He sees Him as a loving Father,one who cares,one who will help,and watch over his children. Now we live in a world were we can suffer and know pain ,we will never be free from such,but God our loving heavenly Father,never looses the hold of his children.Our heavenly Father purpose for all his children is that they may be conformed to the image of his Son .  C P Romans 8 v 29, Leon Morris writes,'It is God's plan that his people become  like his Son,not that they should muddle along in a modest respectability'.That means sanctification a process by God of changing us,and often that will include pain ,physical and emotional.As we consider the severity of  some Christians suffering,and even our own suffering,we may  be tempted to judge God as being uncaring, but He is not,he always has his children's well being, at heart. These little thoughts came to me,'I felt the hammer blow,and cried out in pain,then I heard a voice that spoke my name.I, your  Father will never cause you to shed a needless tear,All that I do is for your good ,hold on my child,and do not fear.'