Are you Jesus? ( 1 Samuel 12 v 1 - 5 )

 Jeremiah that OT prophet who was called to minister to Judah which included also the small tribe of Benjamin ,although they are anonymous.So for 40 yrs he did just that,it was a very difficult calling,he is called the weeping prophet.The wonderful thing was ,he was faithful,faithfulness is what God requires from those who know Christ as Saviour. That was a big challenge for Jeremiah,he experienced many difficulties,he had to tell the people things they didn't want to hear.Again dear Christian we are all called to tell people things they don't want to hear. R.K.Harrison writing about the true prophet says, they laid exemplary lives,and that the divine word within them was like a fire which consumed whatever was unworthy and made them persons of absolute integrity'. Likewise for all Christians ,our lives should show the reality of what it means to be a Christian,What does that mean?, it means we are to be honest, morally upright,manifesting good works ( Mt 5 v 16). A little boy went up to a missionary and asked him,are you Jesus?,of course he wasn't Jesus,but we should show forth in some degree Jesus in our lives.

It is raining. ( Psalm 30 v 5 )

The summer is gone,so we are getting more grey wet days,it  seems we have an attitude that its only a nice day if the sun shines.I suppose that's why many people go and live in sunny countries. Sometimes when it  rains I am reminded of words from an old Al  Jolson song, called, 'April showers', 'Though April showers  may come your way ,they bring the flowers that bloom in May.So if it's raining have no regrets,because it is'nt rain you know,it's raining violets. And when you see clouds upon the hills,you soon will see clouds of daffodils.So keep on looking for a Blue Bird,and listening for a song,when ever April showers come along'. What the writer is saying look beyond  those showers,as to what they produce,take those who are enduring terrible trials,I have just been reading about recently ,how Christians in Islamic countries who are   suffering dreadfully.It is the apostle Paul who suffered so much,was guided by God's Holy Spirit to write  'we also glory in our suffering, because we know that suffering produces perseverance,  perseverance,character, and character, hope.( Romans 5 v 3 - 4 )John Stott writes,' Suffering can  be productive,if we respond to it, positively, and not with anger or bitterness'.Most of all it produces ,hope,a hope that does not disappoint us.J S further writes,'What is the ultimate ground on which our Christian hope rests, our hope of glory.?. The reason our hope  will never let us down is that God will never let us down. His love will never give us up', Charles Swindoll writes,'We need to listen. In the sound of the rain, the Spirit of God sings silent lyrics with a distinct rhythm,discernible only to our souls through the ears of faith'.

Wisdom ( 2 ) ( James 3 v 13 - 18 )

It is William Shakespeare who wrote of the,' the quality of  mercy', but what about the quality of wisdom,  that other wisdom, that comes from God. This is a different type of wisdom from the earthly wisdom, William Barclay  writes,  'Wisdom  is not philosophic speculation, and intellectual knowledge.Wisdom is for life'.It is vital to  the Christians well being.How do we acquire this wisdom?well we turn to James 1 v 7 ,which reads,'If any  of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God,who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it shall be given him',he stresses that we should ask in faith not doubting .(v 8) Remember God's  wisdom is  very important,and we have a whole book to prove it ,Proverbs.Consider the qualities that this wisdom will  bring to you,'purity,peace love,considerate,submissiveness,mercy,good fruits,impartiality ,sincerity and last  but not least, being a peacemaker'. My, what wonderful  qualities they are,and if we are to be  the Christians we should be, these are the qualities we need, I know I do, what about you?.

Wisdom (1) James 3 v 13 - 18 )

I recently heard  a preacher mention ,'The perfect wisdom of God',Many who suffer loss of a love one,may wonder why,  because it seems so unfair, they may even might think God is cruel,..The perfect  wisdom of God,comes from the God who is love, he is never cruel.In James 3 we are told of two types of wisdom,one we are told is earthly,unspiritual, demonic,from where you have envy selfish ambition and evil practices.  The world is full of that kind of wisdom, John Blanchard calls it the wisdom from Hell,it is a wisdom that follows man basic instincts ,they are following their fallen nature,and William Barclay says,''it source is not God, but the devil. Douglas J. Moo,says,' Some who pride themselves on their wisdom and understanding are displaying a jealous, bitter partisanship that is the antithesis of the meekness produced by true wisdom''.This is wisdom does not only display itself in the world, where you would expect it to, but unfortunately  in the church of Christ,as was evident in the church of Corinth,it may be evident in your church,and you may be the one who is manifesting it.

Desperate ( Luke 13 v 22 - 30 )

 When I young, a long time ago ,we used to buy a comic for children,and one of the characters in the comic was called Desperate Dan,a big brute of man, it was harmless, but I don't know why they called him Desperate. That was his name,Desperate,what does the word mean?,it is an adjective,meaning a sense of hopelessness,that one is in a situation that is bad, that is impossible to deal with. I quote what follows from an article ,by  a minister  Roderick Strange,he was writing about a person called Bartimaeus who was blind,and he was a beggar,we read about him in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 10 v 46 ff .He lived in Jericho,he heard that Jesus was passing,  Jesus the healer,the teacher,the Son of David,here was  an answer to his prayers,so he cried out, 'Jesus, Son of David ,have mercy on me'.The crowds were not interested in a beggar ,and so told him to be quite,but he would not shut up,he kept calling out all the more,you see he was desperate,this was not a game of trivial pursuit .Roderick writes the following,'There is a moving line in the prophecy of Jeremiah, it reads''If you seek Me with all your heart, I will let you find  Me'. The search with all the heart does not refer to effort, but rather to deep longing. The prophet is not saying'' Providing you work hard enough, you will succeed'', offering a reward in proportion to effort,.but rather,when your longing is deep- seated ,you will discover what you desire. Yet the discovery will come as a  gift;''I will let you find Me''. Just in closing ,Jesus did heal him.

Jesus is coming again. ( Acts 1 v 7 )

 Many years ago an elderly Christian man, told me that the Lord told him that he would live to see the Lord returning  before he died, of course it did not happen. Many Christians in their eagerness for Christ's return , stress the signs of the times,there shall be wars and rumours of wars,in Matthew 24 v 6, but our Saviour followed that by saying don't be alarmed,that end is not yet. In verses 6- 14 our Saviour mentions a number  of things that will take place,but there is nothing to indicate a definite time when he would come back again.Jesus is saying, these things  to reassure His followers,not to panic. In spite of  what Jesus said , people have panicked,throughout history, no, let us not  panic,what we must do, in spite of challenging situations,persecution,increase in immorality,lawlessness,and whatever,is to hold on,press on .Verse 14 ends with these words ,'the end will come',when Jesus comes again,(whenever that may be),yes let that hope burn bright in your heart,

Filthy Rags. ( 1 Corinthians 1 v 26 - 31 )

 In the 18 century there was in America what is known as the great awakening,one of the preachers God used was  George Whitefield. It is said that God prepared the people,for what he was going to do, I wonder is that what He is doing now, with this pandemic?, I hope so,let us pray so.In Whitefield's journal we read the following,there was farmer called Nathan Cole who was also  a carpenter in America, who was anxious about his soul . He heard that George Whitefield was preaching,but it was 20 miles away,a good distance in those days to travel,but he was desperate So he went to his wife and told her ,we are going to hear George Whitefield,he told her to get their horse,which she did,he told her to get on it,and to start off to were Whitefield was ,he would   hold unto the horses tail,and run behind,she was to keep going. And so they set of,he rode a bit on the horse ,but ran most of the way. When he got there a vast crowd had gathered,as he looked on Whitefield ,he thought he looked very young and angelic,when he preached it was with the authority of the great God. The word preached,convicted him, realising his own righteousness could not save him, he asked Christ to save him.In Isaiah 64 v 6, we read,'all our righteousness are as filthy rags',it means that no matter what good you do,it will never save you,they are classed as filthy rags.The only righteousness that can make us and make us acceptable to God,is the righteousness of Christ,when we trust Christ we are as it were are clothed in His righteousness.