There is a cost. ( Philippians 1 v 29 )

 In Matthew 8 v 18 we read of a man coming to Jesus, a teacher of the law, and he said to Jesus, ' Teacher I will follow you wherever you go''.I am sure this man was sincere ,but consider how he addressed our Saviour ,teacher, of course He was a teacher,the greatest that ever lived, but He was more than a teacher. There are those who seek to live out the teaching of Jesus, and don't know  Him as Saviour and Lord,  many people pray the Lord's prayer who don't know the Lord. Consider what Jesus replied, 'Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of  Man has nowhere to lay  His head'.I leave comments by W. Hendriksen,' The path of the disciple is not a bed of roses.It is said at the time of the Civil War ( U.S) there were many volunteers who eagerly joined the ranks, as if  going to war meant nothing more than taking part  in parades, drills, and reviews, and receiving medals and honors'. Every day in so many countries Christians are suffering dreadfully,we also must remember  the words of our Saviour in Matthew 16 v 24,''Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me''.

                                                    The way of the cross leads home.

Yes even the worst.( 1 Corinthians 6 v 9 - 11 )

 I am sure most of us know someone whose life is out of control,their lives are in a mess ,could be they are in and out of prison,or they are always breaking the rules,they are just hopeless cases.You would not want them as friends,or to associate with them,for they are just trouble.Let me tell you about a man of renown, the late Ian Paisley, that fiery minister of religion ,who also became a leading politician in Northern Island, a very controversial person. A friend of mine heard him speaking  on you tube,he spoke of his younger days when he would do personal evangelism, knocking on doors telling people about Christ, not many responded, except one, an notorious alcoholic,the change in this man was dramatic,the change was so dramatic that it spoke to many people,and  they started attending church,and many of them trusted Jesus as Saviour. We are all sinners,we all need  Jesus as Saviour, we should rule no one out ,as those who are so bad,they could never be saved.Who would ever thought that the thief on the cross would trust Jesus ,but he did,or a woman who was notorious for the many husbands, would trust Jesus , but she did,and who would ever thought a man whose life was possessed with evil spirits,would trust Jesus, but he did.

                                                          Christ Jesus came into the world

                                                          to save sinners. ( 1 Timothy 1 v 15 )

Everything. ( Philippians 4 v 6 )

 There they were ,sitting in all their glory, two flat packs, I  looked for the magic wand or even the magic word,but alas ,they did not come with the flat pack. So I prayerfully set out the jigsaw furniture kit, I confess I am not good at jigsaws ,I mentioned prayerfully,yes I prayed and prayed as I followed the instructions that came with the pack.And would you belief it ,there before my very eyes stood the two items fully assembled. What I did next was to thank God for His help,Philippians 4 v 6 reads ,' 'Don't worry about anything; instead ,pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done'.Consider these words, memorise these words and put them into practice. 

                                                    What a friend we have in Jesus

                                                     All our sins and griefs to bear!

                                                     What a privilege to carry 

                                                      Everything to God in prayer!

                                                      O what peace we often forfeit!

                                                      O  what needless pain we bear!

                                                      All because we do not carry

                                                       Everything to God in prayer.

                                                           Words Joseph M. Scriven.

                                                      

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.