Are you afraid of ? ( Hebrews 2 v 10 - 15 )

 A famous football manager speaking about his mother, said, how she  had no fear  of  death, but unlike her , he was very afraid. In Hebrews 2 v 15 we read of those, 'who lived their lives as slaves  to the fear of dying'. A  very elderly ladies son died, and she went to view his body in the funeral parlour said ''that was the first time she had ever viewed a dead body''. There are many people like that ,who do not want to be reminded of  death. Is it possible to be like Psalmist David, who wrote in Psalm 23 v 4 , 'Even though I  walk through the valley  of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil' ?.Can we face death without fear?, let me share with you the following, Charles Wesley was travelling to America, on board was a group of Christians, called the Moravians, during the voyage, they daily gathered for worship. One day the ship encountered a severe storm, Wesley felt  concerned, but this not stop Moravians meeting for  worship,  in spite of the obvious danger ,of the ship sinking, they manifested  a calmness, unlike most of the other passengers ,who were terrified. After the storm had abated, Wesley asked the leader of that group, ''Was you not afraid ?''  he replied no. ''But were not your women and children afraid ? '', ''No ;our women and children are not afraid to die''.  Let me finish those words of the Psalmist of why he was not  afraid of death, 'I will fear no evil for you are with me', the you , being the Lord. Someone has said,' Death may be inescapable , ruthless, unrelenting, indiscriminating , and a harsh reality of life, but when we know the Lord Jesus as our Saviour we need fear no evil.

Truth ( John 14 v 6 )

 There is a saying  which goes,' It is the gospel truth', someone uses this ,when they are stressing that what they  are saying is absolutely true. Truth is so important ,we do not appreciate when our children lie to us ,or when  anyone lies to us. The government  of  Turkmenistan in central Asia have declared that there is no  Covid-19  in their country, and that there is no poverty also. Both these statements are not true they are lies, put out by a repressive state, all repressive states survive by lying. and there are many. be they religious or political. Most of them are ruled by fear, and most  of  them  are afraid of  truth, especially the truth of the gospel. The truth of the gospel challenges their darkness, they cannot stand that, and so injustice reigns. The gospel truth is very good news, it is important to stress that it is based on historical fact, fact one ,Christ came, fact two ,Christ died, fact three, Christ rose from the dead.  Yes Christ came as was foretold in the Old Testament. what God's word promised, came to pass. Next Christ died that's a fact, those who lived with Christ saw it happening ,and so they recorded what happened. To them it appeared a disaster, the end of their dream, some even give up believing. Which leads us unto Christs resurrection,  his resurrection changed everything ,everything fell into place. From that moment on they went out into all the world to proclaim the truth of the gospel, to a world that was lost'

                                              Out of my bondage, sorrow and night,

                                              Jesus ,I come! Jesus, I come!

                                               Into Thy freedom, gladness and light,

                                               Jesus, I come to Thee.  ( Words . William. T. Sleeper)

Amazing ( Ephesians 2 v 1 - 10 )

 It is amazing how the hymn ,'Amazing Grace', is sung in so many places,  even at the swearing in of the now President of America  ,Biden. I wish him well, and will be praying for him, he will need all the help  God  can give him. Now coming back to that old hymn , 'Amazing Grace', I  believe many sing that hymn, and don't really know what it really means, consider the first verse, Amazing grace that saved a wretch like me,.. I once  was lost  .... was blind. He was confessing his sinfulness , wretched, blind ,and lost, John Newton the author was very, very, aware of  the depths of his sinful condition, and how  he cried unto Him for salvation , and God saved him, by His unmerited favour, through Jesus the only Saviour. I add through Jesus, because  there is no salvation apart from Him. Singing ,'Amazing Grace', is not enough, we need personally to ask Christ to be our Saviour, for no matter who we are, myself included ,we are wretched , lost ,and blind. The first verse could be changed to read.

                                                  Amazing Christ, how sweet the sound,

                                                  He saved a wretch like me,

                                                  I once was lost, but now am found,

                                                  Was blind but now I see.

I wish. ( James 4 v 2 - 3 )

Sorry to say we don't have a good fairy who will grant us three wishes, most people at some time or other make a wish, if you go to the Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland, there is what is called the wishing seat. If you see a shooting star you can make a wish, or if you see a rainbow ,or if you blow out birthday candles, or if ,so it can go on. Some  people wish they had never been born, or when they are running a marathon ,say I wish I had never started this, or I wish I , and so it goes on. The thing is ,wishing will not change any thing, it cannot change the past, present or the future. For some people wishing is like  a substitute for prayer, but its not, prayer is borne out a relationship with God through Christ. There is so much one could say as regards prayer, but one thing is clear it is not about wishing. As a Christian I know God hears and answers prayer, but it must be in accordance with Gods will ( 1 John 5 v 14 ). If it is not according to Gods will, it will not be good for us, Father God knows best, so stop your wishing ,and pray to  God to hears and answers prayer.

Remember. ( 1 Corinthians 13 )

 My grandchildren heard someone calling out for John their father ,they went and told their dad, who looked out , and saw his elderly neighbour lying on the ground. It had been snowing and he fallen over, my son ran down, carried him into his home, when he got him into his home, he phoned for an ambulance. His neighbour said this to him, ''I am glad I have an neighbour like you John'', I am also glad that I have a son like John, he is a very  loving caring person. In Charlie Mackesy lovely book  , 'The  boy, the mole, the fox, and the horse', we read,'' What do you think success is?'',  asked the boy, ''to love'', said the mole.' Take time to read 1 Corinthians 13, written to a church that had lost its way, and needed reminding ,that the most important thing was love. One of the last things Jesus said to his disciples was,'' My command is this; love each other as I  have loved you''. (John 15 v 12 ), remember love never fails.

What's in a name. ( Matthew 1 v 21 )

Many people don't think much about the meaning  of their name, imagine if nobody had a name what would we do?. Who would we address our letters to,?, or what would they do to announce the winners of the Oscars?, yes we need names. Children call other children names ,not very nice name, Jesus experienced this ,not when when he was a child, but when he was grown up. We read about it in the gospel of John chap 8 v 48 , the religious leaders were challenging him, and the longer it went on the more frustrated they became, and so  they thought of the worst thing they could call him. Here is what they said, ''You are a Samaritan and have  a demon'', the NLT puts it like this,'' You Samaritan devil''. The Jews hated and despised the Samaritans, so that was bad enough, but it did not stop there, your also demonic. This illustrates how much they hated and despised Jesus.it is in Isaiah 53 v 3, we read these words,' He was despised  and rejected of men'. that hatred of Him would cause them ,to commit  the greatest crime ever perpetrated, when  they  later had Him arrested and crucified. Jesus knew all this, none of this surprised Him, he knew what he would have to endure, compare the following,  'Matthew 16 v 21/  17 v 12/ 26 v2 / Mark 8 v 31/ 9  v 9/ Luke  9 v 22/ v 41. There are other scriptures that shows clearly that He knew what was coming, even death on the cross. Not only did He know what  was coming, He knew why  he would suffer .

                                               Wounded for me ,wounded for me,

                                               There on the cross He was wounded for me;

                                               Gone my transgressions, and now I am free,

                                               All because Jesus was wounded for me.

Adapting ( Philippians 4 v 13 )

 As one looks at life  ,one of the great lessons one has to learn, is to adopt to so many things, because  if one  doesn't then life can become  difficult . I suppose there are three groups of people in life in relation to adapting. those  who do adopt, those who struggle with adapting, and those who refuse to adopt. Those who willingly embrace the challenge of adopting ,who say I am going  to do it, I am going to embrace it , and they do,  The worlds population is on the move ,people are having to live in new countries, and many of them do, and then there others who retire to foreign countries, and never learn the language of their new country. When the industrial revolution came in ,life changed dramatically, many fought against it, to no avail.  The Bible is full of examples of people like Abraham who had to adopt to a new life in a foreign  country, the Israelites  in exile. It is inevitable  that change will come  ,we loose our job, a loved one, old age with all the changes that can bring. It is vital that we learn to adopt in life, if you are a Christian then you have  a decided advantage ,I hear someone say ,no I haven't, yes you have, you have Christ with you. If you are old, remember the Christ of your youth, is still the Christ of your old age. Every change that comes into your life is not a reason to wring ones hands in despair, it is an opportunity to prove the faithfulness of God, to trust Him to help you to adopt ,to every new situation ,and He will.