Something beyond. ( 2 Corinthians 5 v 1 )

 Robert Louis Stevenson tells of  an old byreman.( A man who worked with cows ) Someone was sympathizing with him about his daily work amidst the muck of the byre and asking him how he could go on doing it day in and day out, and the old man answered, ''He that has  something beyond need never worry''. The black slaves in America  often had a hard time, work was hard, their masters could be cruel, they had no rights. Yet strangely enough many of them became Christians, and they often sung songs about heaven. The word of God continually  encourage us to look beyond this world with it sorrows ,trials and difficulties ,to a greater reality. Consider the following,' Therefore  we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory, that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen , since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.  (2 Corinthians 4 v 16 - 18 ) Paul wrote ,' For me to live is Christ and to die is gain'....... I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better'. ( Philippians 1 v 21/ 23.)

                                 I have a hope that will surely endure

                                 after the passing of time

Horrible ( Galatians 5 v 13 - 16 )

 My favourite football team ,beat a weakened team 9 nil , it was what was said by a commentator after the football match, that I took exception to ,he said sometimes you have to be horrible. To be beaten 9 nil is a very humiliating experience  for any team, and yet we know that professional sport is about winning.  As a supporter I want my team to win every match, when they get beat , I am not happy, but I do not thing any team, or any sports person should be horrible to their opponents. I do not think my team were seeking to be horrible to their opponents, they were just trying to win a match, and of course goal difference can be important. I am reminded of a friend  when  he was young ,was playing football, there came a moment when he had the ball at his feet, with just the goal keeper to beat, instead of  scoring he picked up the ball and give it to the keeper. My friend is a very kind person, I suppose he felt that he was being kind, I am not sure what his team mates thought of him, I am sure their thoughts were far from being kind. Sad to say that sometime as Christians, we can say things and do things to  people that can be described as horrible.. It seems at times we forget that we are called to love our enemies (Luke 6 v 27) and to love our fellow Christians ( John 13 v 34 ). Let us pick up the ball and give it to the goal keeper.

A world of chance? ( 2 ) ( Romans 11 v 33 - 36 )

I  have touched on the sovereignty of  God, which is a vital truth, for the non Christian they do not have an answer as to the question of  how things came into blame. Darwen  wrote,' I  cannot look at the universe as a result of blind chance'. The fact is chance can do nothing ,as R. C. Sproul  wrote,' chance is  deaf, dumb,  and impotent'.   A doctor who was an atheist ,started questioning life and its meaning, when it struck him that he was delivering a miracle everyday in the shape of a baby. No this not a world of chance ,there must be a cause, and that cause is a sovereign  God, one who created  all things. But not only  did He create all things ,he sustains, and upholds all things, sees all things, knows all things, directs all things, He rules over all things. God is directly involved in all of life. If all these things were not true He would not be God. His providence flows from his  sovereignty , one writer speaks of the providence of  God, as the invisible hand of God. If one reads the book of Esther we see the providence of God in action, but  God is not mentioned. As I view my life I can see the invisible  hand of God has been very evident in so many ways. God in His providential workings has brought me through sad times and bad   times, the main thing in that statement, is the fact ,He has brought me through ,and assures me that everything is working together for my good.  Romans 8 v28 . So many coincidences have happened in my life , which I put down to the providence of God, He has made a way were there was no way.

                                              Have confidence in your sovereign God

                                              in all things, to lead, protect ,provide,

                                              and comfort.

Going through the motions. ( Jude v 20 - 21 )

There is a modern song that has this line in it ,it reads,' I'm sorry when I just go through the motions '. Driving is a bit like that, so easy in a comfortable car, to not concentrate, just go through the motions, or when we read something  and we realise that we cannot remember what we have read. Many sing hymns with out really thinking about what they are singing ,likewise  prayer, there is an old saying which goes, 'I often say my  prayers, but do I pray?. Going through the motions, we are all guilty  of it, The preacher saw a man sleeping ,so he said to the man next to him,  '' Wake him up'', and the man replied,'' You put him asleep ,you wake him up''.  It could be that the preacher was  going through the motions. Lets consider Jude v 20 -21,two things we read in these verses ( 1) 'praying in the Holy Spirit', John Calvin wrote, 'Such is the coldness of our make-up that none can succeed in praying without the prompting of the Holy Spirit'. We need the Holy Spirit, so pray to that end. ( 2 ) 'Keep yourselves in God's love'.  Moffatt  writes ,'God's love has its own terms of  communion' One writer explains it like this, 'If we desire to remain in close communion with God , we must give to God the perfect love and the perfect obedience, which goes hand in hand'.

                                                   Come, Holy Spirit, come,

                                                   Let  Thy bright beams arise;

                                                   Dispel the sorrow from our minds, 

                                                   The darkness from our eyes.

                                                   Revive our drooping faith,

                                                   Our doubts and fears remove,

                                                   And kindle in our breasts the flame

                                                   Of never dying love.

                                                     

God is Sovereign ( 1 ). ( Isaiah 40 v 10 - 31 )

 I just want to say, that God is Sovereign, He is in control, now I know that this subject is immense ,so much has been written about it, I can only touch on it here. What I would say? , if He is not sovereign  He is not God. It is important to say we are not sovereign, it was reputed that Napoleon told his generals, ''to take care of the battle and he would take care of the weather''. The great King of Babylon appeared to claim sovereignty, but God taught him a lesson, by humiliating him, and to make him confess that God ruled and did what He pleases CP ,Daniel 4 .Have we a free will ?, I do not believe we have ,our fallen sinful nature ,has robbed us of that. Our Saviour said,'' everyone who sins is a slave to sin'' ( John 8 v 34 ) . Romans 3 v 11 tells us , 'There is no one who  understands God; there is no one who seeks after God'. We are God's enemies Romans (5 v 10), yet God has granted us the freedom to choose, and yet our Saviour said to His disciples ,''you did not choose me, but I chose you''. ( John 15 v 16). I am thankful for the sovereignty of God ,for in my bondage and blindness , I would never have chosen Him, and nor would you. You may ask how do I know that I am chosen if I am not a Christian ? ,you don't, no one does. What we do know  is this, when Christ is presented to us ,as the one who forgives, sets free ,through His death on the cross, we have a decision to make.

                                                                   Jesus said.

                                            ''Come to me, all of you who are weary

                                             and carry heavy burdens, and I will give

                                             you rest''.  Matthew 11 v 28. 

Hope instead of. ( Romans 8 v 28 - 36 )

 Hopeful  instead of  fearful, is it possible?, now of course there are those who are naturally  optimistic , to them the glass appears to be always half full. But  I am sure even the optimistic, has moments when despair creeps in. We read how the prophet Jeremiah, wrote a letter to his fellow Israelites who were being held captive in the Babylon. If we turn to Psalm 137 we  see  what they were experiencing  and how they felt, their captors tormented them, mocked them  ,and they lamented over their situation, they said how can we sing the Lords song in a strange land?. So here is the word of the Lord through his servant Jeremiah,( chap 29 v 11). ''For I know the thoughts I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope''. Dear child of God , the times are dark, your situation may seem hopeless, lift your eyes up to the  God who says ,that you have a future and a hope.

                                        May the God of hope, fill you with all joy

                                        and peace, as you trust in Him, so that you

                                        may overflow with hope by the power of

                                        of the Holy Spirit.

                                                     ( Romans 15 v 13 )

Laughing at impossibilities. ( 3 ) (Jeremiah 32 v 17 )

 So Abraham was promised a son but he had to wait, and wait, and wait, for it to happen, about 25 years, most of us would have given up, but not Abraham. Abraham was a man of  faith, his wife Sarah was also a person of faith, she was 90,he was a 100.  Romans 4 v 18, reads, 'Even when  there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept  hoping....... v 20 'Abraham never wavered in believing God's promise.'....  v21,'  He was fully  convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises'. Abraham did not ignore the facts , he faced them, how? with faith in God's word, that is all he had to go on ,for Abraham that was enough.           J. Stott  writes,' Abraham reflected on the promise, and on the character of the God who had made them. And as his mind played on the promises, the problems shrank accordingly,  for he was fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised''

                                                 In hope against all human hope,

                                                 Self - desperate, I believe....

                                                 Faith , mighty faith, the promise sees,

                                                 And  looks to that alone;

                                                 Laughs at impossibilities 

                                                 And cries; it shall be done.    ( Words  C. Wesley )