Fret not ( Luke 16 v 19 - 31 )

 Psalm 37 is a lovely Psalm, it was written by David, a man after God's heart, yet a man for all that, so let us consider it , we will start at the very beginning. v 1- 2.

                                         Don't worry about the wicked or envy those who do 

                                          wrong. For like grass, they soon fade away. Like  

                                         spring flowers, they soon wither.

Psalm 73 deals with this also, there the writer is deeply disturbed  when  he saw how the ungodly  were prospering, so much so that he envied them, they didn't appear to have the troubles that the godly have. It was not until he sought God, that the cloud lifted, like v1-2  of  Psalm 34 v 1-2 ,he is reminded of there end, it will come, 73 v 18 ,reads God places them on slippery ground, and causes them to be cast down to ruin. Envy no one, especially the wicked, Herbert Lockyer writes,' Why envy the wicked, when the candle flickers into everlasting darkness'. Some translation use the word fret, instead of worry, they say that fret means ,'burn not thyself  with grief  or anger, I  occasionally get angry, and  sad, when I see how money grabbing  rascals are taking advantage of  refugees, their time will come, of that I am sure.

Grace in Trials. ( 2 Corinthians 12 v 9 )

 I have a book called 'The Valley of Vison', it comes from a time ,when  many Christian were known as Puritans, they were strict ,but very godly people, They get a bad press, being seen as kill joys I do not believe that was true, they were people who wanted to purify the  church. So here is one the prayers from  the ,Valley of Vision.

                                                    O Lord,  giver of all grace ,I look

                                                    to Thee for strength to maintain them in me,

                                                    for it is hard to practice what I believe.

                                                    Strengthen me against temptations. My

                                                     heart is an unexhausted fountain of sin,

                                                     a river of corruption since childhood days,

                                                     flowing on in every pattern of behaviour;

                                                     Thou hast disarrned me of the means in which I trusted,                        

                                                     and  I have no strength  but in Thee. 

                                                     Thou alone canst hold back my evil ways,

                                                     but without Thy grace to sustain me I fall.

                                                     Satan's darts quickly inflame me, and the 

                                                     shield that should quench them easily  drops 

                                                     from my hand; Empower me against his wiles

                                                    and  assaults, keep  me sensible of  my weakness,

                                                     and of my dependence upon Thy strength.

                                                     Let every trial teach me more of Thy peace,

                                                     more of Thy love.  Thy Holy Spirit  is given to

                                                     increase Thy graces, and I  cannot preserve or

                                                    or improve them, unless He works continually 

                                                    in me. May He confirm my trust in thy  promised help,

                                                    and let me walk humbly in dependence upon Thee,

                                                                           For  Jesus sake,

                                                                                 Amen .

                                                     

 

                                    

When they're gone, they 're gone. ( Romans 4 v 7 - 8 )

 Psalm 103 is one of contrast, we have in v 3 , we have Gods forgiveness ,He is the one who forgives all your sins. that is something we can't do, forgiving sins is Gods business, No priest can forgive sins, the only priest that can do is Jesus our great High  Priest Hebrews 10 v 17- 18. He forgives all our sins, no matter how many they are, no matter how bad they have been, no matter how far back in our lives they have taken place. All our sins can be forgiven ,let me stress this again , all our sins. The death of Christ was for sins we have committed (Christ never sinned ),the blood that He shed, cleanses us from all sin,1 John 1 v 7. Consider v 12 of this Psalm , 'As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us', they are gone, vanished, we are free from guilt, no longer under the wrath of God.

                                                  My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought!

                                                 My sin , not in part but the whole,

                                                 Is nailed to His cross, and I bear it no more;

                                                 Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O  my soul.  ( Words H. G. Spafford)

                                                

So you think you are strong ?. (Ephesians 6 v 10 )

 There is an old hymn with the following words in it, 'Well our feeble frame He knows', in Psalm 103 v14 we have the same thought expressed, 'For He knows  how weak we are;  He remembers we are only dust', Mr Universe can catch a cold, and die from whatever, the very fit person ,can have many flaws  and weaknesses. Goliath was defeated by a young lad, and that lad when he grew up was defeated by lust. Who are the strong ones?, none of us, our Saviour left us a timely reminder where are strength  comes from, the answer is ,Him, John 15 v 5 ,tells us ,'Apart from Him we can do nothing'. The greatest of the apostles Paul declared ,' I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me' Philippians 4 v 13. So the lesson we need to hear is this, we need to rely ,on our Saviour ,for moral and physical  and spiritual strength.

Jesus is coming again. ( Revelation 20 v 11 - 15 )

 John 14 v 3 , Jesus said,'' And  if I go and prepare a place for you, I will  come back and take you to be with Me''. Yes  Jesus is coming back again, I wonder have you thought about that recently?, and if not , why not, especially if you are a Christian. It is not for us to know when ,stay clear of those who in anyway try to predict the time of His  second coming ,CP Matthew 25 v 13' It is a long time since He went away, but that changes nothing, it is Peter who deals with this, and he reminds us., that God's timing is not like ours CP  2 Peter 3 v 8. Our Lord stresses the importance of  living in the light of His coming ,and not to be caught out, that  would be very serious  CP Matthew  25 v 1 - 13. His coming will be to the air, CP Acts 1 v 11,1 Thessalonians 4 v 16- 17, this will result, in all true believers being removed from the earth, followed by judgement on unbelievers, 2 Thessalonians 1 v 7  - 9/  2 Peter 3 v 7 - 12. Everyone will be resurrected,  believers unto eternal life, John 3 v 16 .unbelievers to eternal judgement ,Matthew 8 v 12.  Believer rejoice in that blessed hope ,of your Saviours return, live in the light of that great event, ( 2 Peter 3 v 11)  If you are not a believer ,then flee from the wrath to come, and trust Jesus as your Saviour, now. ( Acts 16 v31 )

Christ can. ( Romans 1 v 16 )

 He's the devil, but don't hold that against him, he helps solve murders, and runs one ... of a night club, that's the summing up of a movie, called  Lucifer. Just let me say I have not seen this movie, but let me ask you a question, do people really believe in the devil?. In a sense that movie tells us a lot  about the times we live in ,and peoples attitude towards the devil, they don't  take this demonic being serious. Let me say I believe there is a being called the devil and he is   very evil and powerful . Because he is a spiritual being we can't see him,  but we can see evidence that he is there, consider these words from 2 Corinthians 4 v 4 ,' The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot  see the light of the gospel that  displays the glory of Christ , who is the image of  God', v 3 ,reminds us of the unsaved person as those ,'who are perishing'. One commentator writing on this blindness,' They refuse to give the gospel serious attention. All they have eyes for is the fashionable god of darkness. They think he can give them what they want, and they won't have to bother believing a truth they can't see. They are stone blind to the message that shines with Christ'. The devil as Paul Barnet writes,  inhabits and controls the minds of all people everywhere, not their  emotions, or the will but the mind of man'. Is the devil real you can bet your bottom dollar he is. But here is the good news ,'The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil' ( 1 John 3 v 8 ) That means Jesus can set us free from the devils power and control, if we turn to Him and trust Him as your Saviour.

Blind Faith. ( John 8 v 12 )

 Germany was loosing the war, the Russians were closing in, the generals and staff  and Hitler were reviewing  the situation. One general suggested a plan of action, that would help. He give sound military reasons, and to everyone's surprise Hitler agreed until others objected. The general continued to give reasons for what he said, but Hitler changed his mind, ,dismissing  the generals plan, and told him to have faith. Of course the  general was right, and Hitler was wrong, but he used the word faith, surely that was right, was it? ,no. We can use faith in relation to many things, many Germans put their faith in Hitler, many put their faith in Stalin, both very wicked people. Many  put their faith in religions that are fabrications of truth, we speak of blind faith, that kind of faith speaks for its self, it is blind, the old hymn declares, 'I once was blind but now I see. 'Christianity is not a religion of the blind, it is a religion of truth, based on the word of God , that word foretold that a Saviour would come and why He would come, it foretold  His death on a cross, and His resurrection. When we trust Jesus as Saviour we are not following a lie, we are following Him who is the Way ,the Truth ,and the Life .( John 14 v6 ).