Mince pies ( Luke 8 v 26 - 35 )

In the U K ,mince pies are very popular,they go back a long time,in Tudor times they were made of 13 ingredients,representing Jesus and the 12 apostles,later mutton was added to represent the shepherds. Modern mince pies have no meat in them,instead they are filled with,dried fruit and spices. A woman who tested the different supermarkets mince pies, she said this about her favourite ,'' I tested  Aldi's   mince pies,they are the best, and they changed my life'' I think she is, to say the least,exaggerating,they may change her figure,but I can assure you they will not change her life or anybodies life. I know someone who can change ones life,his name is Jesus,and when you trust him ,you will not put on weight,you will lose weight.and the weight I am speaking of ,is the burden of your sins,and the guilt that goes along with them, millions have trusted Jesus as their Saviour,and the result was, their lives were changed,they were made anew. In  2 Corinthians 5 v 17,we read, 'Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation,old things have passed away;  behold , all things have become new'.

24/7 ( 2 ) Temptation (1 Corinthians 10 v 13 )

We finished yesterday thinking about the obstacles we face,now lets consider the temptation we will face,I want to highlight 6 things  ( 1 ) Don't put yourself in temptations way, remember humanity is very prone to addiction,and all addiction start with one look,one thought,one action.When Joseph was tempted by a woman ,he ran for dear life ( Genesis 39 v 11),in other words don't run into temptation run away from it.  (2 ) Don't think you will not yield,Samson was a strong man,he yielded to a  pretty woman,and he lost his sight, and his freedom .1 Corinthians 10 v 12  ,reads,'Let him that thinketh  he standeth take heed lest he fall'. ( 3 )Don't be fooled with the temptation,remember all that glitters is not gold, remember the  forbidden fruit ,yes it was pleasing to the eye ( Gen 3 v 6)  ( 4 ) Don't think you are to old to be tempted,  Frances of Assisi said,''Expect temptation to your last breath''. ( 5 ) Don't go asleep,when Jesus had  prayed in the garden of Gethsemane,he came to the disciples and he found them asleep,and he said to them,'Get up and pray so that you may not fall into temptation''. ( Luke 22 v 46 )  ( 6 ) Don't be afraid,the Lord is with us ,he knows how weak we are,and how prone we are  to fall into sin (which we all do),remember temptation is not a sin,it is yielding to it, that is a sin. If we do yield,let us repent and seek forgiveness, CP  1 John 1 v 9 .

24/7 ( 1) Psalm 46 .

 When I was younger I had two jobs one was full time ,the other part time,when you become a Christian,  we have to realize that it is full  time, 24/7 ,fifty two weeks of the year. It is a commitment ,we are always on duty,come what may,when I was a young lad ,I joined the army boy service,I signed on for 9 years,actually I only did nine months,I got discharged ,but when you are a  Christian you sign on for  life , you don't get discharged. Of course being a Christian is not a life time prison sentence,no, it is  the road of freedom,and the blessings are many,but also the challenges are many. It is a life of holiness,  a life  of faithfulness,a life where we are faced with obstacles,,and temptations,that will not change.The obstacles  that we meet are meant to be overcome,and when we don't overcome them  we must persevere,failure is not a get out clause,there are lessons to be learnt from our failures.Our sinful proud hearts are challenged,and we are made to realise how much we need God.The man who struggled with a severe disability ,could say, I can do all all things through Christ who strengthens me ( Philippians 4 v 13) We  will consider this further tomorrow.

Light and darkness. ( 1 Corinthians 15 v 3 - 4 )

 Francis of Assisi said ,''All the darkness of the world cannot extinguish a single candle'',Jesus said ',I  Am the light of the world '', ( John 8 v 12),and so He was ,and so He is. It is in John 1 v 4 - 5,writing of  Jesus it says ,'In him was life,and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness,and the darkness has not overcome it'.Consider the opposition that Jesus had to contend with, at his birth  ,Herod sought to murder him. when he commenced his ministry Satan,sought to tempt him to sin, when he visited his home town and spoke in the synagogue,the crowds tried to kill him. Also in John 10 v 31,we read that the people took up stones to stone him,then Peter sought to stop him from fulfilling  his destiny ,again Satan had an influence in this. ( Matthew 16 v 22 - 23 )Then we move on to our dear Saviours last hours, when Judas  would betray him, influenced by Satan ( Luke 22 v 3 ).The darkness was increasing in its intensity, for mankind, who loves darkness rather that the light , were intent in destroying  Him who is the light of the world,so they crucified him.But praise God they did not succeed. For on that cross ,he defeated Satan, his death accomplished a salvation that would save mankind from the wrath of God, by experiencing Gods wrath for us..Sins could be forgiven,for all who trust him to be their Saviour.But that's not all ,on the third day he arose from the dead.,yes the darkness could not extinguish the light.

Just one look ( 5 ) ( Ephesians 2 v 1 - 10 )

 So we started by looking at the wonderful king ,David,who had everything,God had blessed him,raised him from being a nobody, to being a somebody.He faced God's enemies and he got the victory,the people sang his praises,what could go wrong to the man who had everything?. You know its not the enemies that are without,that are the problem ,that we need the victory over,but the enemy that is within, our fallen sinful nature. So it came to pass,the result,  well you know the result,adultery,followed by murder,these are not little things,he should have been sentenced to death,as the law required (Genesis 9 v 6 / Leviticus 20 v 10),God is no respecter of persons,the law applied to everyone without exception.Why was he not executed,? In Psalm 51 we have the prayer of a repenting David, in other words he had turned from his evil ways and was asking forgiveness?. The Psalm commences with these words,' Have mercy on me,O God',David knew his God, that he was merciful, 'Praise the Lord,His mercy is more.Stronger than darkness,new every morning.Our sins they are many, His mercy is more' (Words by Keith and Kristyn Getty).No matter how awful our sin,or how  many are our sins,they can be forgiven,because God is merciful. We receive that mercy because of Jesus, when we accept Him as our Saviour,mercy will flow like a river,and we are forgiven.

Just one look ( 4 ) ( Proverbs 5 v 21 )

 A little boy had been attending Sunday school,the children were taught a little chorus,the words went,''Be careful little eyes what you see,there's a Saviour up above, looking down with tender love,Be careful little  eye's what you see'.That same little boy was out walking with his father, they were passing an orchard ,so   his father said to him,I fancy some apples,keep looking to see if anybody is coming.The little boy appeared uneasy with this,and his father asked him,what's up?,the little boy replied, ''what about looking up dad''.King David  wrote ,'I look up toward the hills.From where does my help come ? .My help comes from the Lord,the Creator of  heaven and earth'. (Psalm 121 v 1 - 2) . Even the most godly of  people can forget that God is looking at us, as to what we do,not like a sentry on duty,who falls asleep ,for we are told God does not sleep ( Ps 121 v 4 ).Yes he is watching you and me,He see's all ,nothing is hid from Him,  and we read,'The thing David had done displeased the Lord.'.What did he do ?, he sinned against the Lord, When we have sex outside of marriage we sin,when we commit adultery,we sin,when we murder someone, we sin,when we covet someones wife we sin,when we take God's name in vain,it is a sin.In 1 John 5 v 17 we  are told, 'All wrongdoing is sin',not just the gross things,but those things we may consider trivial,no sin is overlooked by a holy God. All sin matters,as  John Stott says,''It destroys fellowship with God',and that is very serious,we will continue this ,next time.

Just one look ( 3 ) ( John 4 v 1 - 14 )

 Lets continue to consider,'Just one look',it is in 1 John 2 v 15 - 17 ,which commences .'Do not love the world',what does the world mean?, it includes all things that are contrary to a holy God,and he names three things,The lust of the flesh,the lust of the eyes,and the pride of life'.The lust of  the flesh stands for all the desires of our carnal nature CP Galatians 5 v  19 - 21.We will go to number 3 ,the pride of  life.of course we all can think what pride is,the question is ,is there a good pride,and a sinful pride?.the core of racism is pride ,we are declaring we are better than them,they are inferior,pride is when we leave God out of our achievements,  out of our successes. .Last but not least the ,'Lust of the eyes',one could say it is being  being blinded to God  and the things of God.it is not just looking, it is lusting,and desiring,and craving,and wanting, and still not being satisfied.Go back to David  ,he had many wives CP 1 Chronicles 3,but the lust of his eyes took over,if we are ruled by the lust of our eyes we will never be satisfied, as David found out to his cost.John Stott writes,'Our affections, are set either on this world or on God. It is impossible to love them both'.