Someone was very ill, near deaths door, and someone prayed this prayer,' Lord if it be Thy will, let his life be spared'. It reminds me of the following verse, written by J. Hudson Taylor.
I'll that God blesses is our good ,
And unblest good is ill,
And all is right,
That seems so wrong,
If it be His sweet will.
When we pray, 'Thy will be done', I think we should also pray,' Lord grant us grace to do your will, and
grace to accept your will.
When Patricia Gearing's daughter died of Batten's disease in 1998, her grave was marked by a simple cross. Before long Mrs Gearing was instructed by the local authority to remove it. Their rules said,' Crosses are discouraged, as excessive use of the supreme Christian symbol is undesirable,' The family was given permission to erect a headstone featuring Mickey Mouse instead. Thankfully this is a rare happening, but it shows how the cross can be very offensive to some people, Islam rejects a crucified Jesus, likewise the Jews, and yet without Christ's death on the cross we do not have a Saviour. That death dealt with sin, the great philosophers like Confucius, and many others, said many helpful things, but none of them face up to the fact that mankind is a sinner, and that we need a Saviour. We are only accepted by a holy God when our sins are forgiven, through trusting Christ as our Saviour. The cross on which Jesus died , for many may be an undesirable symbol, but the word of God says, ' For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.' ( 1 Corinthians 1 v 18 )
In Isaiah 29 v 13 , we have the Lord saying,'' These people come near to me with their mouth and honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is based on merely human rules they have been taught''. They were religious but it was not worship, it is Leupold who calls this 'Soulless Worship', going through the motions ,yes they went to the temple, they prayed, they sacrificed animals, but their hearts were not in it. When Jesus met up with Peter ,he asked him this question three times, 'do you love Me?. One thing I ask the Lord when I pray is ,'Lord ,let it not be vain repetition', the following words sum it up,' I often say my prayers, but do I really pray'. When we pray, give, attend a church, sing a hymn, read the scriptures, or listen to a sermon, they should not be as Leupold comments, 'devoid of soul and sincerity', in other words ,'Soulless Worship'.
Two quotations by Leupold ,' Israel is not meant to be a mighty worldly power dominating other nations and exercising world power. She is to be witness to what God has done for her'. 'The nation had a destiny , but she seemed so far removed from achieving it.' The history of Israel is a sad history, a history of failing time after time, to be faithful to God, yes there were times, when they were faithful, but on the whole instead of being a holy nation, they walked in the ways of of their heathen neighbours. Time after time God had to deal with them severely. Yet God was faithful, and preserved a remnant, at one of the lowest points of their history ,God said ,''I have loved you with an everlasting love'', Jeremiah 31 v 3. Someone wrote ,' For reasons that man will never be able to fathom, the Lord loved Israel'. he goes on to say ,'It is this love that prompts the Lords redeeming activity'. The Bible tells us that God loves the world John 3 v16, why? , indeed why? it is a mystery, but He does. That love prompted Him do send a redeemer, Jesus, who came to save sinners , such as you and I. whoever we are. salvation is not restricted to any particular people, it is for the whosoever.
Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,
Weak and wounded , sick and sore;
Jesus ready stands to save you,
Full of pity, love , and power ;
He is able,
He is willing, doubt no more.
( Words. Joseph Hart )
R. V. G. Tasker in his introduction to the book of Revelation, Writes the following ,'It is of the utmost importance for modern man that he does not lose touch with eternal realities so stressed in Revelation'. There are days when the decisions of the great powers have far reaching effects on ordinary men and women. We may have no great interest in ideologies, yet find that our lives are affected by decisions reached in Moscow or in Washington , decisions in which we have no voice, nor conceivably could have. Are we then no more than pawns caught up in a great ideological conflict? . Is there something demonic about evil forces which even our most powerful statesmen seem unable to to control ?'. Who is in control?. The book of Revelation answers the question in chapter 19 v 6, 'For our Lord God Almighty reigns'. God is sovereign, only the eye of faith can see this, if you are child of God, remember He is working everything out for your good . ( Romans 8 v 28 ). If you are not child of God then all may appear, as if no one is in control, but you are wrong.
One of my favourite movies is the ,' The Quite Man', about a man returning to his homeland. But of course it is a movie, directed by that wonderful director John Ford, it is there to entertain. But Ireland the country I love has a dark side ,historically divided, by politics and religion, which continues in the north festering on like an open sore, and one despairs that it will never be resolved. From the founding of the Irish Free State, the Roman Catholic Church, held great power ,and still have to this day. When I think of Catholicism, I have great problems with their teaching, on the virgin Mary ,the Mass, the Priesthood, the Papacy, and there teaching that one is not saved by faith alone in the finished work of Christ. All these things do not line up with scripture, and of course when a so called Church or individual ,adds on or takes away from the scripture, that creates great problems .leading to so many things that are wrong. You start to change the unchangeable revelation of God, and clear truths ,that are taught therein. The cry of the reformation was, 'Faith Alone,' and ,'Scripture Alone', there is much more one could write, let me end by saying, let the word of God be your guide .The scriptures reveal to us Christ , who alone can save us ,and the scriptures will show us how to live, as a follower of Christ.
Lord, Thy word abideth,
And our footsteps guideth;
Who its truth believeth,
Light and joy receiveth.
( Words H.W.Baker)
That lovely hymn by Harriet Auber about the Holy Spirit, has a verse that goes,
And every virtue we possess,
And every victory won,
And every thought of holiness,
Are His alone.
Recently I had a hospital visit, everything appeared alright, after a while I received a copy of the report that went to my GP., The opening words read ,' Thank you for referring this delightful 77 year old gentleman', yes believe it or not, she was writing about me. It was nice to read those words, I do not know what she found delightful, what I would say is this, if I wasn't a Christian I would not be that delightful 77 year old man. I am not a self made man, I am an old sinner saved by the grace of God. I dread to think what I would have been, if Christ had not saved me. I do not see myself as a delightful old gentleman, but by the Holy Spirit I am a better person, than I once was, far from perfect and as we often say, I am a work in progress
To God be the glory great
things He has done.
