God does test us . (2} ( Romans 8 v 28 )

 Yes, God  does test us, I suppose the question is why ?. Consider Job who was a very godly man, and so why did he suffer?. People who suffer often say or even think , what have I done to deserve this  ?. Jobs suffering was very severe, he lost all his  children, all his possessions, and  his health, it appeared to have happened very quickly, one blow after another.  He had three friends ,well sort of, you have heard the term Jobs comforters  , when you use that term as regards someone being a Jobs comforter, you mean they are the very opposite to that. Basically  they all said it was Jobs fault , that he was suffering, because he had sinned. Of course like all of us he was a sinner, but Job had not done anything to warrant or cause the evil that had befallen him.  They were wrong ,there are still  Jobs comforters about, beware of them,  Job was not being punished for any sin he had committed, but he was being tested. Satan was attacking him , seeking to prove that he only trusted God because of  the blessing he had bestowed on him. So God permitted the devil to afflict him, and that he did, I believe he came through that test successfully. There is  a lot of suffering in this world , Christians are not  immune from suffering, could be that you are suffering, will you pass that test ?,will you  trust God in your times of trials? In the midst of his trials Job said,'' Though  he slay me , yet  I will trust Him ''.  ( Job  13 v  15 ) ' Judge not the Lord  by feeble sense,  but trust Him  for  His grace; Behind a frowning  providence , He hides a smiling face.'  ( Words by William  Cowper )

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Be good ( Romans 2 v 7 - 11 )

The apostle  Paul  in Ephesians  1 v 4 / v 11, tells us how God  has chosen us unto salvation ,and   writes that  we  should be holy and blameless, and in 4 v 1,that we should walk worthy of that calling. With privilege comes responsibility ,our lives must reflect are calling ,commenting on this  C , Swindoll says ,''Our response to election should be like Queen  Victoria's reaction when she realized  she would one day be queen;  When she was young , Victoria was shielded from the fact that  she would be the next ruling monarch of England lest this knowledge spoil her. When her teacher finally  did let her discover for herself that she would be Queen of England, Victoria's response was, ''Then I will be good''. C S , continues, 'The fact that God has chosen us for salvation in Christ  should not cause us to boast;  it should  drive us to humility. It should  not make us live loose lives; it should  motivate  us to ''be good'' that is, to conduct ourselves in holiness and blamelessness before Him'. As a parent ,what did we often say to our children , ''be good'', so our loving heavenly Father says to his children ,'' be good''.

Change. ( Psalm 48 v 14 )

We live in a world of change, I am not the good looking young man I used to be, now I am the good looking old man, the mirror does not lie.( my little joke ).But the fact is most of us do not like change , for instance, moving home , country, job ,you may be reallocated, children moving school. Just  at this moment I  am working on my new laptop, I know it is for the best, the last one was old and needed to be replaced, but because I  am not sure of the new one, I struggle with that. Now for any of you who have moved, or about to move, whither it is to a new house, a new job, a new school, country etc, Here is what God would say to you,  'Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord  your God will be with you wherever you go. '   ( Joshua 1 v  9 ).

Don't forget. ( 1 Timothy 1 v 15)

Confined to his bed in early 1807 ,because of age and his weakening condition ,John Newton that able preacher, and hymn writer, had a visit from a friend. As the friend sat by his bedside he saw that John was struggling to say something, so he leaned over to hear what it was. This is what he said, ''My memory is almost God, but I remember two things'', he whispered , feebly. ''That I am a great sinner'', He paused to summon up his last breath, before finishing the sentence,''  And that Christ is a great Saviour''. Then he went to be with the Lord. John never forgot what his Savour had done for him, nor should we , for we are  all  great sinners, but praise God like John we have a great Saviour.

 

Mental illness ( Romans 5 v 6 - 8 )

'Could we with ink the ocean fill,and were the skies of parchment made;Were  every stalk on earth a quill,  and every man a scribe by trade  To write the love of God above,would drain the ocean dry,nor could the  scroll contain the whole. Tho ' stretched from sky to sky'. We do not know the name of the person who wrote these lovely words,they were written by a man on the wall of the narrow room in an institution for the mentally ill,the man  was said to be demented. These words  were later incorporated  into a hymn by F.M. Lehman, called ,'The Love of God'. ' Are you a Christian? if you are,think much  on the love of God, look on the cross and you need look no further.Consider it was for you the Saviour died, He became cursed for you, that curse that is upon you, because everyone who has broken God's law is cursed . (Galatians 3 v 10 ).In so doing he saved you from God's wrath'.That death on the cross was a manifestation of outrageous love,'Love so amazing so divine, demands,your soul, you life,your all.'

Save our planet. ( Isaiah 9 v 6 - 7 )

 Save our planet ,that's  what we hear   regularly ,we are told  of the dangers if we don't do something, at times like this we ask the question, where is Superman ?,or even John Wayne.  Yes the hunt is on for a saviour, who is it going to be ?,  science ?, well as I  appreciate what they have done during this time, but  was it not science that developed mustard gas, nuclear weapons. Well what about the politicians ? unfortunately we may get a Hitler or a Stalin,  or some other nice person like that. Sometimes one is tempted to think ,is it worth saving?, let's  personalise  this, are we worth saving ?.God thinks so, how do I know?.  In 1644 the Puritans , banned Christmas, yes they had their reasons, they said it was a time of  immoral behaviour, and other things. Well  as a Christian I realise that Christmas  for many is  not about Christ, yet in spite of that I am glad we have  a Christmas celebration. If we can look beyond , Santa, gifts, food ,etc, we may for a moment catch a glimpse of a miracle,  in the person of a baby. We may ask the question , what's so special about that little child ?.  His name  is Jesus, it is the same name as Joshua in the OT , and it means Saviour, this little  child  would grow to become the Saviour of the world. For what this world needs is a Saviour, He came  to rescue all mankind, from sin, Satan, and death, and through his death and resurrection he did that, so I would invite  to trust him as your Saviour.

                                                       

                                          

                                                   

The black hole . ( John 4 v 1 - 26 )

 Karl Marx's said that ',religion was the opium of the  people', in other words he likened it unto a  drug, So  he is saying that all who are religious are drug addicts ,the question is, are they?. Of course they are not, but what I would say, that mankind is an addictive being, be it politics, religion, gambling, food, etc. I believe that  mankind has a want within him, and so he tries to satisfy that want, it is like a black hole, that sucks everything in, only to find the hole is still there. The book of Ecclesiastes tells about a king ,who denied himself  nothing .yet he remained unfulfilled, and declared it all meaningless like chasing after the wind. He further wrote something very interesting ,that God has set eternity in the human heart. ( Ecc 3 v 11) Derek Kidner writes', Nothing we desire has any  permanence, unlike the animals ,  immersed in time....we know something of eternity ,enough at least to compare the fleeting, with the forever.' Was it Alexander the Great, who when he conquered so much, said,'' no more worlds to conquer'' ,people  sometimes say there is nothing on the the TV to watch, even though there is a vast amount of channels, showing so much. It is Augustine who wrote,' Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee' Pascal wrote, 'There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of  every man, which cannot be filled by any creative thing, but only by God, made known through Jesus'.