What do you do in trouble? ( Psalm 56 )

 Our bodies are  wonderfully made, is in it strange that we cry when we are emotionally upset, why?, in Psalm 56 v 8 we read ,'You keep track of all my sorrows, You have collected  all my tears in your bottle, You have recorded  each one in your book'. David who wrote the Psalm was experiencing a time of great  trial. In the Psalm he speaks of being afraid, his enemies are watching his every move ,seeking  an opportunity to destroy him, Yes even great brave people feel fear, yes even David the giant killer, he did not ignore the reality, but his thoughts did not dwell there ,and he declares to God,' I WILL PUT MY TRUST IN YOU'. When your heart is pounding with fear, look up to Him ,the one who can deliver you .It is Albert Barnes commenting on these words ,wrote..

                                    It is a good maxim with which to go into a world of danger;

                                         a good maxim to go to sea with;

                                         a good maxim  in a storm;

                                         a good maxim when we are sick;

                                         a good maxim when on danger on the land;

                                         a good maxim when we think of death and judgement.

                                                    ''I  WILL PUT MY TRUST IN YOU''

                                        

Only One. ( Exodus 20 v 2 - 5 )

In the ancient world  countries were filled with the worship of many gods, the list is endless, in Greece gods there were in plenty ,but even there, some of the great thinkers were beginning to see beyond their flawed gods.  Our arch enemy  Satan is called a god, in 2 Corinthians 4 v 4 ,we read,' The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers'.  Charles Hodge writes,' The word god  may be used figuratively as well as literally. 'We may say that money is the god of  this world, or as Paul said of certain men. 'their belly is their god ', but none of these things are in essence God. Satan  who is called a god of this world, because , as Hodge points, because of  the power which he exercises over the men of  the world, and because of the servile obedience they  render to him'. In Isaiah 43 v 10 we read,'' But  you are my witnesses ,O Israel!'' says the Lord, you are my servant. You have been chosen to know me, believe in me , and understand that I alone am God. There is no other god, there never has been, and there never will be. I, yes I, am the Lord, and there  is no other Saviour'  It is interesting to note  that there is only one God, and one Saviour'. That one true God manifested Himself as a saviour in the person of Jesus Christ.

                                                     Who is He on yonder tree

                                                     Dies in shame and agony?

                                               ' Tis the Lord! O, wondrous story !

                                                ' Tis the Lord , the King of glory!

                                                  At His feet we humbly fall-

                                                  Crown Him! crown Him, Lord of all!

                                                      ( Words by  B. R. Hanby )

The Book. ( Jonah 2 v 9 )

I wonder do you have a favourite book or books, I have many favourite books, here are a few ,'The wind in the Willows, Watership Down, Pilgrims Progress,' I have hundreds of books ,and have read hundreds of books. I am always reading something. It was Sir Walter Scott who when he was dying said to his servant ,''Bring me the book'', and the book he meant was the Bible. Of all the books I have, the most important  one is the Bible. it is unique, what makes it unique ?,it is the word God. Of no other book can that be said , it is literally God speaking to us, that means what he actually said, and what others have said. It is a book with history telling us how the world began , and how man came into being and how sin came into the world. There is so much more we  can say about the Bible, the poetry ,the songs, the hero's, the villains, love stories, tragedies, the triumphs . All of life is there ,but it is a book about redemption from sin, Sin that offends a holy God, and its terrible  consequences for everyone is clearly spelt out. The Bible tells us the truth, that many people don't want to hear, that we are sinners, we might be into denial, but it is evident in a millions ways . We are all born separated from God ,His wrath lies upon us, left to ourselves we will perish and go to Hell. The Bible is the only book that reveals the God of loves answer, Jesus, whom we need to believe in, if the sin problem is going to be resolved.  

                                          ' Believe in the Lord Jesus , and

                                            and you will be saved.'

                                                         (Acts  16 v 31 )

                                                                                                 

You failure. ( Philippians 3 v 12 - 14 )

 What have these three biblical characters have in common? ,King David, the apostle Peter ,and Mark the writer of Marks gospel, they all failed. Unlike Islam ,who take extreme displeasure at any body who dares to criticise there prophet. The Bible does not try to hide the failings of those recorded within its pages, all the disciples forsook Jesus when he was arrested. The Roman Catholic church failed so many young people, by not dealing with  the awful abuse that was going on, better they had. China a great nation fails  to admit there failures, and begin to change. I remember being told that the Chinese hate to loose face, hate  to admit they have failed. But lets be honest none of us like admitting we have failed, or that our children have failed. There is a sense of shame  when we fail, and even anger, even pain, whither it is in our marriage, jobs, driving tests, moral failures, financial failures ,sporting failures. Let me say this ,we all fail, do you know anyone who has never failed?, of course not, that appears obvious. Consider those three men, David failed morally, God forgive him ,he will forgive you, and restore you, if you repent, and ask His forgiveness .Peter did something he said he would never do, he denied his Lord, well the Lord  restored him, and recommissioned him.  Mark,  in the apostles Pauls eyes had failed, well he recovered from that, and even Paul had to admit later on ,that he was useful. Let  us learn from our failures, to walk humbly, and not to be so judgemental of others, who fail, and not to give up, deal with what needs dwelt then, and then by Gods move on.

Are you feeling insecure?. Psalms 23/ 121/27

Totalitarian states and those who govern  then appear to to be very insecure  ,while watching a documentary by Michael Palin on a visit to North Korea, the first thing he was asked ,did he have a Bible. Michael felt that was funny, but for the North Korean regime it was no laughing matter, they were deadly serious. When  Mao Zedong became leader of the Communist Party in China, he went to see Stalin, and asked his advice, Stalin advised him to get rid of all the opposition. Present  day China are a powerful  nation, they have a vast army, many weapons of mass destruction, no one can threaten them, yet they feel threatened ,when anybody criticises them. They hound those dissidence who challenge their policies, put them in prison, kill them .It is a historical  fact that Stalin, uncle Joe, was paranoid,  especially  of those near him, and no matter how much evil they had committed for him, he had them eliminated. The fact is  we live in a very insecure world, think how many people feel at this time, insecure. As Christians we also can feel insecure, well we have to be honest, we do, so what is the answer ?, faith in our loving heavenly Father, faith in his word.

                                                 I will fear no evil no evil

                                                 for you are with me.

                                                            Psalm 23 v 4.

God listens ( Psalm 34 )

 I  found the words from a Christian song by Chris Tomlin instructive, it is from an album called. 'The God who listens'.

                                                               I'm not just hoping,

                                                               I'm not just wishing,

                                                               I know I'm praying,

                                                               I know He hears me,

                                                               I know He's living,

                                                              Yes, I am praying,

                                                              To a God who listen's.

                                      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.

                                                                  Hebrews 11 v 6.

Jekyll and Hyde. ( 2 ) ( Romans 5 v 6 - 11)

We ended last time by pointing out that  the bad we, the wicked we do, should be seen from Gods view point as sin. Society rarely mentions the word sin, we go to court ,to give evidence, we are asked to swear on the Bible, that we are  going to tell the truth , the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Yet the vast amount  people ignore the Bible, and  do not believe the Bible, and indeed resent what the Bible says. God has  a moral standard, that reveals to us what is right ,and what is wrong. When we break his moral standard we sin, this includes even our thought life, lustful thoughts ,hateful thoughts, covetous thoughts, are sinful. Telling untruths is a sin, stealing is a sin. Of course there is only one God, the God of the Bible,  to worship any other God, is a sin. Here is  a very important thing to remember, it is impossible for us not to sin, we have a nature that just cannot be sinless. It's impossible, we will always be, Jekyll and Hyde,  there is nothing we can do to change that, you look at others, and you say why did they do such and such a thing. Then you look at yourself and you ask the same question ,why?. welcome Jekyll and Hyde. And so the sins mount up, and up and up, but now the good news ,Christ Jesus died for sinners, that's you that's me, we can be forgiven, no matter how sinful we are. We have to stop protesting our so called innocence,  and  humbly seek the mercy of a holy but forgiven God, though his Son Jesus.

                                                                    

                                                      Christ receives sinners.

                                                      Christ died for sinners.

                                                         That means you