Will you be there? ( Colossians 1 v 27 )

 A  famous actor said this about death, ''Come on ,there is greater adventures beyond'', the writer of Peter Pan ,has Peter saying a similar thing. I would like to think that will be so, though I  don't speculate  on this  as we really don't know. I am sure of this ,that whatever eternity hold for those who know Christ as Saviour it will be wonderful, Before our Saviour went to heaven, he  assured us that he has gone to prepare  a place for us, John 14 v 3. Some take this to mean, that through his death on the cross he would be preparing a place for us in heaven. Of course there is a truth in that ,for without His death on the cross no one could go to heaven. For through that death ,our sins can be forgiven ,let me stress ,unless we trust  Jesus and so have our sins  forgiven we can never go to heaven, one writer comments ,'Those who will not lay aside the evil of their ways are barred from heaven', Rev 21 v 27. I am sure when Jesus  said he was going to prepare a place for us we can accept that at face value, it is Morris  who writes the following, 'Nothing is said about the nature of the place that Christ prepares. It is sufficient for the believer that he will be with his Lord' ,in other words, where Jesus is, it will  be Heaven there.

All things will be new. ( 1 ) ( Revelation 21 v 1 / v5 )

 When I was  young and went to school, we used to have what was called an eraser, it was a piece of rubber that we used for removing mistakes written with a pencil ,or a pen. Someone wrote ,wouldn't it be great go a. land of beginning again, if only, but it cannot happen. Yes  we have been forgiven which is wonderful, but for  some the scars remain, the pain remains, if only it were not so, we cannot erase them or go to the  land of beginning again. that's a fact. When  I think of heaven, and when we arrive there, all  will be new, no longer will any child of God  have to live with their past, the scars will be removed ,totally erased. Never again can anybody hurt us, never again will we suffer, all that will be, in the past ,we will no longer live with  the shadow of the past hanging over us. no longer having to cope ,we will  be completely set free, no longer have those awful flashbacks, nightmares, fears, painful memories, no longer feel crippled inside, no longer having to put on a front, and pretend that you are alright. Yes all things will be new, we will be new, and we  will live in an new heaven and a new earth. Yes something to look forward to ,in the meanwhile, we will continue that the next time.

Because. ( Ephesians 1 v 3 - 10 )

 We are now moving from the Easter celebrations, but we are not leaving the wonderful truths of  Easter behind us . In a sense ,everyday can be an Easter experience, we can rejoice everyday in our wonderful Saviour .

                                Because the world needed a Saviour He came.

                                Because we needed forgiveness of sin He came.

                                Because He rose from the dead we shall live for ever.

Let us live and rejoice each day in the wonderful, marvellous ,mind blowing, life changing, love of God in His Son Jesus.

                               'For this is how God loved the world, He gave his one 

                                and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him

                                will not perish but have eternal life'.

                                                            John 3 v16 

Faith makes a difference. ( Romans 4 v 18 - 21 )

 I do not know who wrote the following ,but I will share it with you. 'Faith is dead to doubts, dumb to discouragements, blind to impossibilities, faith lifts its hands up through the threatening clouds, lays hold of Him who has all power in heaven and on earth. Faith makes the up look good, the outlook bright, the in look  favourable, and the future glorious'.

                                                           Hebrews 11 v 6

                                     And without faith it is impossible to please God,

                                     because anyone who comes to him  must believe

                                     that he exists and that he rewards those who

                                     earnestly seek him.

Have confidence . ( Psalm 62 v 8 )

 As I  grow older I look back ,and I can say with confidence, my times are in His hands, indeed when I was in  my mothers womb I was in His hands. .As I grew up I was  in His hands, and all through my life I have been in his hands , till this moment in time. But  it does not stop there as I wait the next step of my journey I will be in hands ,it is with confidence I say that, yes when time ceases for me and when I enter eternity, I will still be in His hands. As a Christian one has to face many dangers, both natural and spiritual, but nothing can harm us or hurt us unless God permits, because we are told our times are in His hands ( Psalm 31 v 15 ) I remember Jesus said, we cannot be plucked out of  His fathers hands, nor out of His hands ( John 10 v 28 - 29 ). Nothing can change these truths, no matter how much they try, no matter how much they lie, this truth shall stand the child of God is in His hands. Someone has said  the first words we may utter as we enter heaven is,' I see'. Yes  then shall we know ,then shall all be revealed, and we shall worship the God whose ways are perfect, even though they have been at times painful .

                                       My times are in Thy hands, Whatever they may be,

                                       Pleasing or painful, dark or bright.as best may seem to Thee.

                                                             Words  W.F. Floyd.

It started with a lie ( 4 ) ( John 3 v16 )

 Continuing in our look at mankind's beginning in  the garden of Eden, Eve focusing her attention on the forbidden  fruit , found that it was,' desirable'. I read recently of a man who had an accident in his car, the reason it happened was, his front car window was covered in frost, he had made a small window in it, but not  enough. he was charged with dangerous driving.  Desire is like that,  Eve became blind to everything except the tree and its fruit. Samson's  desire for a woman (Judges 16.)caused him to loose his eyes and his  freedom, uncontrolled desire can destroy you. The desire for whatever has cost some everything, even their very souls ,and that's a very high price to pay. It tells us as regards our Saviour , that there was no beauty in Him, that they should desire Him  ( Isaiah 53 v 2 ) Eve ate some of the fruit, she got her desire, but was it worth it?, but not content with  what she did, she give some to her husband, it is sad when we sin, but it is even worse, when  we encourage others to follow us in our folly .From that moment on everything changed ,they lost their innocence, they lost paradise, everything  changed for then for us all, the awful damaged had been done. Only  when the second Adam came , would there be an opportunity ,to return to  a relationship with God ,on this good Friday let us rejoice that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and that's the truth.

It started with a lie (3 ) ( Genesis 19 v 26 )

 So Eve is buying into what the devil tells her ,no one is forcing her, she had the ability to make a choice, here is what we read ,' When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. Genesis 3 v 6.  She looked, she may have looked at it many times, but now it was different, the devil had told her so, There is a little children's chorus which reads, 'Be careful little eyes what you see, ' out of curiosity many people look at pornography, and they get hooked, they thought it would be fun, but now they are hooked, now they are enslaved, Yes when it comes to looking be careful,  yes be careful. Then we are told it was pleasing to the eye, let us remember, all that glitters is not gold, remember if you are married, that person you keep looking at ,and you find them attractive, that colleague, that neighbour, they are the forbidden fruit.

                                                 Yield not to temptation, for yielding is sin,

                                                 Each victory will help you some other to win;

                                                 Fight manfully onward, dark passions subdue,

                                                 Look ever to Jesus, He'll carry you through.