He bore it all. ( Isaiah 53 )

 In Matthew 8 v 3 we read of  Jesus reaching out His hand and touching a leper, and immediately he was healed,then in v 14, He touched Peter's mother- in- law who was suffering from a fever,and she was healed.It is William Hendriksen writing about sickness says.'Our Physical afflictions must never be separated from that  without which they never would never have occurred, namely our sin. Note how very closely Isa 53: 4,5 context connects these two;; for to v4 reads -'' Surely , our  diseases . he has borne.... our....''- is immediately followed by; '' He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities''. W H, points out ,'That when He saw sickness or distress He experienced Calvary, His own bitter, vicarious suffering throughout His life on earth but especially on the cross. That is why it was not easy  for Him to heal ( Mark 2 v 9 ; Matthew 9 v 5 ). This also accounts for the fact that at the tomb of Lazarus he was deeply moved and agitated in the spirit'.

                                                 He took my sins and my sorrows,

                                                 He made them His very own;

                                                 He bore the burden to Calvary,

                                                 And suffered, and died alone.

                                                 How marvellous! how wonderful!

                                                And my song shall ever be;

                                                How marvellous!  how wonderful!

                                                Is my Saviours love for me.

                                                    Words C.H.Gabriel

I remember. ( James 1 v 17 )

 Times have changed,and of course much is for the better, I know in this country some have have it hard ,but not as hard as people had when I was younger,yes people did somehow manage. I remember attending a secondary,were a uniform was compulsory I don't know how my mother bought mine,she and my Father had separated, so she was left to bring up the four of us. I remember a friend of mine, Jimmy who was told off by the principal for not wearing a uniform .But I knew his circumstances his parents were very poor and could not afford to buy him a uniform.Most people got by in those days,but if a family had no wages coming in it was difficult,the pawn shop was there. Very few people owned a car, and very few people could go on to further education, even if they were smart enough.I remember wearing a pair of shoes till they nearly fell apart,and then taking them to the menders, and to his credit he mended them.My mother worked , but a woman was paid less than the men,so  it made things difficult.A slice of bread with butter and jam on it was much appreciated. I suppose in many ways we as youngsters never thought to much about it, we all seemed to have friends to play with.As I look back I am thankful how God brought us through those times,and am grateful for the blessing I have now,blessings are to be appreciated.I am so grateful to God for His kindness to me. I said to a  lady ,who is very well off , how I thank God for His kindness to me,and she said she would never think of thanking God, for what she had. poor soul.

                                                                    Oh God.      

                                       Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness!

                                      Morning by morning new mercies I see;

                                      All I have needed  Thy hand has provided-

                                      Great is Thy faithfulness , Lord , unto me.

                                                 Words. Thomas O. Chisholm.

                                   

                                             

We all have our demons. ( 1 Corinthians 6 v 9 -11 )

In case you misunderstand the title, I am not speaking about demon possession,but things that hunt us,and at times even cause us to hurt others. I can assure you I have mine, we all have to be honest, that's a good start. There are experiences we have in life that are awful,distressing, and we are to ashamed to admit them to anyone. Yes we might have tried to bury them,but alas they don't stay buried, they come back like a while beast to hunt us. Often we create our own demons, addiction, we humans are by far the most addictive of all Gods creation,stop and think about that. In one way that is important to see, for often that addiction isolates us,to our own morbid thinking. That's why help groups are beneficial, for we are after all, social beings. I am really trying to think of a word to help you, what can God say to you?.well let us move on in this short blog ,you may get some help.My answer would be found in one person Jesus. you see Jesus is a living Saviour., and here is what He said, 'The Spirit of Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me, to preach the  gospel to the poor,He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,to proclaim liberty to the captives,and recovery of sight to the blind. Luke 4 v 18.

                                                 Therefore if the Son makes  you free

                                                  you shall be free indeed.

                                                       ( John 8 v 36 )

Francis of Assisi. ( Isaiah 53 )

 I read this recently about Francis of Assisi , there was a gathering of Franciscans, Francis rose to speak to them.    As he rose to speak he gently instructed the birds to stop chirping, so the friars might hear his sermon, they stopped instantly.Are we meant to take this seriously?, Walt Disney may have made cartoons where animals talked, but of course it is just make believe.Dr Dolittle could talk to the animals but again that is just make believe,and the story of Francis is also make believe. There were fake gospels that told  things about Jesus as a young person and how he supposedly did things that were not true,we must understand that the only record we have of his childhood and life is to be found only in the four gospels. Trivia as is recorded of Francis with the birds, is nonsense,but Jesus was not into nonsense, His was a serious business , He performed real miracles,they would be signs of who He was,he said to those who wanted to destroy Him ,believe me for my very works sake.John 14 v 11.Their was nothing trivial about anything He said or did, Francis was called the clown of God, Jesus was no clown,He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, who would go to the cross and bear the punishment of our sin,so that whoever believes in him would not be punished

                                                        Take Jesus serious.  

Healing ( 1 John 5 v 14 )

 Most people who are suffering,would love to be healed,  that is why we go to the doctor,and go in for an  operation. There are people I know, lovely Christians, one has Parkinson's, last time I spoke to him  he had fallen.How I wish God would heal him,I of course have mentioned it to the Lord,of  course I know God can heal him, that is obvious,but will He?, that is the question.I remember a young lady ,who suffered from severe mental illness, saying she didn't want people to pray with her to be healed, for it did not happen. I can understand the way she feels, and yet there is always that possibility that God will heal. So what does one do?, how should one look at  what I call miraculous healing, does it happen now?. It  is a good question, is there an easy answer? no,that is a fact, I was reading Matthew 8  as to when our Lord descended from the Mountain,with his disciples ,were he had been ministering,when He was met by a  leper. We read that  he knelt before Him,and said,'' Lord......if you are willing,you can heal me and make me clean''. He was sure Jesus could heal him, but would He? There appears two things in his words, uncertainty and certainty, of course Jesus healed him. But is it His will to heal everybody?,the answer is no,but will He heal some? yes he will, we can ask, not demand,for healing ,and I will finish by saying, He will do what's best for us.

Are we immortal? ( John 3 v 16 .)

Janet Turner  wrote an article in the  Times newspaper titled,' Covid is a reminder that no one is invincible'. She then went on to write about a man who swam 2.4 miles, cycled 112 miles, then ran a marathon,he refused to be vaccinated, and to wear a mask and yet he died of Covid , only towards the end  did this man admit he was not invincible.The film industry churn our movies with super heroes, like James Bond,who appear invincible,but of course that is only in the movies . The human body is a wonderful creation,but it will not last.Janice  writes the following,'An obsession with fitness promises by your own slavish efforts, self denial and training, sweat and pain, you can barter your odds with God'. The fact is you cant, she mentions a book called ,'The denial of death'. by Earnest Becker.  Of course mankind is not invincible,but are we immortal?,the word immortal has this aspect to it living forever,God never created us to die, but of course we do,but that's not the end of the story.The word of God speaks of  an after life existence,there mankind will dwell,in two separate realities,which the word of God,calls hell and heaven.One, is a place of unbearable suffering,the other a place unspeakable joy.The question I leave with you is this ,where will you  spend eternity?.

                                                       Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ

                                                        and you will be saved.

                                                                 Acts 16 v 31.

Prayer

 Contnuing on looking Matthew 7 ,lets consider v 9- 10, our Saviour leads us on,two examples as regards asking,He commences ,'You parents- if your children ask for a loaf of bread , do you give them a stone instead?well would you?,of course not,you would  give what they asked.Then he continues,'Or if they asked for a fish, do you give them a snake?,of course not,it all very obvious,you will give them what they asked for.You can imagine everyone nodding their heads in agreement,yes your right, every loving parent would agree with Jesus. So Jesus continues,' If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children',again Jesus is speaking the obvious, it may come as a surprise to you ,your parents, my parents,every bodies parents are sinners. Jesus continues, these sinful parents,'know how to give good gifts to their children, yes everyone would agree,that what He is saying was  right. Having said this Jesus says,' How much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him.'That should be obvious, but it does not always appear so to many of us, for some people people they they don't think they should ask God for anything,it appears selfish to them,The fact  our heavenly father is more loving and kind than any earthly parent, I believe he delights to bless  his children,and He will always give us whats best. Spurgeon says this, 'He will give good which we did not ask, and withhold the ill which we so unwisely requested'.