Is it wrong? ( Exodus 20 v 2 )

 Many years ago a person I worked with a person who reproached me for having a record collection, as I was a Christian, he felt I was a hypocrite. I was married ,no money in the bank ,had a young family. He was well off had a lovely car, owed his own home in Australia, but there you have it, I was guilty of having a few records, is it wrong for a Christian, to have possessions ?, is it wrong for a Christian to be rich?, to take holidays?. It could be wrong, the question is this, do my possessions have me, or do I have them?, does having money ,or does wanting money consume me.? Am I  any different  from  non- Christians?, or am I just the same?. Do I see the importance of giving to others ?, Let us all remember that we are to have no other gods in our lives, whatever they may be, God alone must come first, not second or third in our lives, He must always come first. William  Cowper wrote the following.      

                                         The dearest idol, I have known,

                                          Whate'er that idol be,

                                          Help me to tear it from Thy throne,

                                          And worship  only Thee.

Abortion .( Psalm 139 v 13 - 18 )

What have we got to be thankful about? ,that we where not aborted in the womb, a lady told me how her mother didn't love her.  She was born when abortion was illegal, her mother told her, that if it had been legal she would have aborted her.  This lady for most of her life was a nurse ,and she remembers young women having abortion's. One day she was out shopping, and a young women run up to her an hugged her, and  thanked her, she asked her what for?.  It turned out that when she was in hospital to have an abortion, she asked her opinion, and the  lady told her as a Christian she believed it to be wrong. She never saw the girl again until that  day in the shop, it turned out she had decided  not to have an abortion. Beside the young women was a young lad of nine, her son, she was so glad she had listen to that lady. The child in the womb is not just a foetus, to be aborted ,it is a precious gift from God, to be treasured and loved.

Cheating ( 1 John 5 v 17 )

 I love football, I used to play it when I was young I supported a local team, helped manage a team ,I follow the football on the TV. There are a number of things that one is concerned about  the modern game of football, to win at  all cost.  When a foul is committed the opposing team ,crowd around the referee ,wanting the person who committed the foul to be sent off. Then there is the question of when people are tackled, if there is any contact, they fall and lie on the ground  with there hands in their head, poor we souls, no not poor we souls ,but cheaters. They are behaving dishonestly, and its wrong. It is like getting rich at any cost, getting to the top of the greasy pole, or your own way, come what may, it doesn't matter who you hurt. It is easy to  justify our wrong actions, but it will not wash in God's eyes, be you  a Christian or a none Christian. When David sinned and committed  adultery and murder, he may have thought that was that, after all he was king he had the right to do what he did. Not so ,the thing he did, displeased the Lord, Mohammed had sex with a nine year old child ,do you think that pleased the Lord?, Remember the wrongs we do, are an offence to God, they are sinful, if you not a Christian ,repent, seek   forgiveness by trusting in Jesus. Likewise don't be fooled if you our a Christian, God will not overlook the wrongs that you do, seek forgiveness.

Only one road. ( John 14 v 6 .)

I  was watching an old movie, there was an actor who was playing the part of an old man, and he said this, ''There are three roads to heaven''.  I wonder what you think?, one could look out on the world, and you see multiple religions, and you rationalise ,and think,  millions of Muslims, Hindus ,etc ,cannot not be all wrong. Are they not all valid to some degree doing the same thing, worshipping God?, surly they are sincere, and many of there followers are fine people, And yet  the Christian religion says no, there is only one way to God, who is a God of truth, truth is not subjective ,it is objective, it is not a matter of opinion, which  everybody has. The Bible is objective truth, on morals it lets us know what is right, and what is wrong, on salvation it tells us that we all need to be saved, because we are sinners. One of the lessons that Fyodor  Dostoevsky a famous Russian author discovered while in exile in Siberia as a prisoner, ' That man can become , more cruel and bloodthirsty than the animals'. It may surprise us if we could know what other people are thinking, and it would surprise others, if they knew what we were thinking .When the Bible tells us, that all are sinners it is based on objective truth. When it tells us that we all need a Saviour, who can deny it, of course there are none so blind as those who do not want to see. That Saviour is a historical figure Jesus, who came to die on a cross, for crimes he did not commit .A holy God said sin must be punished, Hell awaited, but Jesus took the punishment. He died  on that cross that we may be forgiven. Something wonderful happen  which is an objective truth, He rose from the dead, an historical  fact.

                                                No three roads to heaven, only one,

                                                                    Jesus  

                                                                John 14 v 6  

The backward look ( Jeremiah 29 v 11)

  Let us consider the nation of Israel, I have just been reading Isaiah 26 v 16 -19,it stresses a number of things, Israel's history of failures Leupold writes the following, 'In her entire history up to this time, the nation, the people of Israel, produced nothing that was of general and substantial benefit to the nations of the world. She had a high destiny in this respect. The results achieved were negligible, no inhabitants came to birth through them ,they produced nothing  tangible. All is gloom and despair.' Leupold  further writes ,'The backward look was not too reassuring'. But v 19 brings a message of hope, God speaks of a future were new life would come to them, their deadness will turn to life, he writes of the dead being resurrected, the future looked bright. I would like to apply this to you if you are not a Christian, your past may has been a failure, doom and gloom, it does not give  any hope, God is the God who makes all things new, all can be changed, He can bring  you into a future of  hope, and purpose if you trust Jesus as your Saviour. If you are a Christian ,remember you have destiny in Jesus, you can be used by God,  and be a blessing to others, trust Him, remember God loves you, and God can use you.

Samuel ( 2 ) ( 1 Samuel 2 - 3 )

Let us consider the child Samuel, and the lessons we can learn from him,  he was to be looked after by the High Priest  Eli, he had the awesome responsibility, of caring for Samuel. He appeared to have done a good job, but he had two sons who turned out bad. They would bring judgement on Eli because he never dealt with them, yes he spoke to them, but as High Priest that was not enough. The message of judgement  came  like this, one evening God spoke to Samuel, but he  thought it was Eli calling him, but Eli assured him he hadn't called, this happened three times. On the third time Eli realised it was God ,so he told  him that next time, say,'' Speak Lord for your servant is listening'', so it came to pass. God told Samuel that he was going to judge Eli and his sons, first of all as High Priest he should have dealt with his sons but he didn't ,so God was going to deal with them. The next morning Eli asked  Samuel what God said, Samuel was afraid to tell him, but eventually he told him. There are a number of lessons to be learnt from this, first Eli, he paid a hard price by not dealing with his sons, godly people don't always have godly children, and there are times we have to make hard and painful decisions ,even to those nearest and dearest to us.. Samuel asked God  to speak to him, be careful, for you may not like what He has to say to you.  Samuel was afraid to tell Eli what God had said, so right at the beginning of his prophetic ministry, he would have to learn a very important lesson, to say things to people, that they don't want to hear, ministers of Christ  must especially learn this lesson .

Honour God. ( 1) ( 1 Samuel 2 v 30 )

I think it was the the Victorians who said ,'a child should be seen and not heard', but my thoughts turned to a child his name was Samuel. Samuel had a godly mother called Hanna , godly mothers are very precious, and can leave a lasting influence on their children lives. We read about his mother in 1 Samuel chap 1- 2, she had Samuel in response to her prayers, and when her prayers were answered, she dedicated her child to God. Dedication services should be taken very serious, Hannah meant it, and at a very early age she  gave him  over to the service of God . She had promised that if God would give her a child, she would give him back to the Lord , and she kept her promise.  Ecclesiastes chap 5 v 4 reads ,'When you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfil it , He has no pleasure in fools; fulfil your vow'. God expects us to do do what we promise Him, consider ,God always keeps His promises. It is inconceivable to us that He would break his word. The lesson is this,  be careful what you vow or promise God, think seriously about it ,before you do it. In 1 Samuel 2 v 30 , we read God saying,' Those who honour Me I will honour'.