Emptiness. ( Hebrews 11 v 24 - 27)

Jack London a famous author  said ,' 'The function of man is to live. Not to exist'', he lived a very full life ,what he said has a ring of truth about it. It meant not being a couch potato ,of putting effort into life and he did that. But there is a greater meaning to these words,our Saviour came that we may have life,and have it abundantly.I believe that what people call life is a life without Christ, and that can only be described as an existence, without Christ, life will always be just an existence,and when one dies it will still be just an existence.A life without God is missing the true meaning of life ,everything is but an anti climax without God.  I asked a lady how she was keeping,she replied in a negative way,and I said to her that Christ makes all the difference for life ,and for eternity.Most people live just for the here and now,with not a  thought for eternity, the prodigal went looking for a life that he thought would be wonderful, but it did not turn out that way. We have a choice if we really want to live  and not just exist, the answer is very simple,  Christ.

                                              O what emptiness without a Saviour,

                                              Mid the sins and sorrow here below!

                                             And eternity,how dark without Him!

                                             Only tears and endless woe!

                                            What though I might live without the Saviour,

                                            When I come to die what will it be?

                                             O to face the valley's gloom without Him?

                                            And without Him all eternity!.

                                                      Words David Hanson.

                                            

He see's,He hears, He delivers. (Psalm 34 )

 Let us consider v15 of this lovely 34 Psalm written by David ,at a time of great distress.  'The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,and his ears are attentive to their cry'.Another translation puts it like this.'The eyes of the Lord watch over those who  do right,and his ears are open to their cries for help.'Sometimes a parent may say to a child  ,'I'm watching you',well dear child of God, he is watching you, you are never out of his sight, 24/7.He saw Jonah in the belly of a whale,he saw Daniel in  a den of lions. It is a great comfort that God is always watching over us,there are dear children of God who are in prison,their families do not know where they are,but the Lord is watching over them.This should be a great comfort to every child of God,but it is also a challenge, to live as to be always in the sight of God. Next he says that God listens to  his children when they cry out to him, He is always available, He will always come to your aid,for' when the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles' v17.

                                 Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,

                                 Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heaven and home,

                                  When Jesus is my portion? My constant friend is He;

                                  His eye is on the sparrow,and I know He watches me;

                                  His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He cares for me.

                                                       Words  Chas ,H. Gabriel.

Are you in Trouble?. (Psalm 34 )

 So we continue to look at Psalm 34, written by David, at a time of great difficulty, v 6, reads ,'This poor man called and the Lord heard him, he saved him out of all his troubles'. He is not talking poor materially, no , it has the idea of being humble, he is acknowledging that he has no bargaining power,remember what our Saviour said,'Blessed are the poor in spirit,for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  (Matthew 5 v 3) David the great warrior future king, saw himself in God's sight as one who as William Hendriksen puts it ,'as one who realizes their utter helplessness (Romans 7 v 24), they expect nothing from self,everything from God'. The Living translation puts it like this,'In my desperation I prayed.'This is a heart wrenching prayer,all the niceties are gone,he was in desperate straits, so out of that desperation he calls upon his God.the result God answered not in a halfhearted way,He delivered David from all his troubles. Consider the word all, there is no trouble, that God cannot deliver us from, no matter how many they are ,or how difficult they  are.            

                                          'How great is our God how great is His name,

                                          How great is our God,He's forever the same.

                                          He rolled back the waters,of the mighty sea.

                                          And He said I'll never leave you, put your trust in Me.'

                                                             Linda Randel.

Are you fearful ?. ( Psalm 34 )

 When  David the future king of Israel was being hunted by King Saul. he fled of all places to the land of the Philistines, to one of their major cities Gath. ( 1 Samuel 21 v 10 -15 ) Why did he go to such a place?,had David not killed their champion Goliath, and why did the Philistines allow him in the country?. Possible because he would have been seen as a defector , David wasn't but they were not to know that,he was after all going to be Israel's next king,My study Bible writes,'Soon however the Philistines became nervous about David's presence, after all he had slain thousands of their people'.David felt himself  in real danger so he pretended to be insane,and then he fled to a cave in Adullam. Out that fearful experience he composed  Psalm 34, it is a song of praise, and a testimony to  God for his deliverance.In that life threatening experience David was fearful, remember even a great man has fears,but he didn't run with his fears,no, instead he ran to God. God did not turn a deaf ear to his prayer for deliverance,hear is what he says,( 4) 'I sought the Lord and He answered me',hear this, God answers prayer.next,'He delivered me from all my fears',Hear this,God can deliver you from all your fears. We will continue this next time.

Now . ( Acts 16 v 31 )

 In the play the Tempest you have the words 'The very instance I saw you did my heart fly at your service', someone put it this way,'  My heart is always at your service'. Of course he is not talking about the physical heart,but the center of our inner being, Cruden's describes it as,' our mind,soul, spirit,in fact our entire emotional nature and understanding'. In Proverbs 23 v 26, we have the words,' My son give me your heart'. I remember a preacher ,saying when he was young those words brought conviction to his heart,he was religious but he had not surrendered to Christ, but that night he did.Let me ask you have you surrendered your heart to Christ, why not? and why not do it today,why are you resisting Gods Spirit?.There is a little prayer which goes,' Come into my heart Lord Jesus,come in today,come into stay,come into my heart Lord Jesus'.

                                           ' Behold, now is the accepted time;

                                            behold, now is the day of salvation.'

                                                     2 Corinthians 6 v 2 .

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Be faithful. ( Isaiah 55 v 9 - 12 )

 My son Brian and his wife Tracey had a ministry in Ibiza a number of years ago,they led a team ,and worked under a Christian ministry called 24/7.  During that time  they and the team would go out and talk with the many young tourist,offering to pray with them,and also offering them Bibles. They started giving out Bibles in 2009,so we move on 10 years,when Brian was attending a Big Day Out festival,where well known groups performed. Brian found himself beside a young man, and they got talking. He said he was a recovering addict who had found Jesus.Brian asked him how that came about,so he told him,he was in Ibiza in 2009 and a girl give him a Bible, that started him on the road to salvation.When Brian heard this he started crying,the lad asked him why?,Brian explained  , they both hugged and prayed  together.I have witnessed to many people ,I don't know who came to Christ, but one day I will,in the meanwhile let us be faithful, trusting God to bless our witness.

Empty words. ( James 2 v 14 - 17 )

A particular thing happened that caused me concern, I have not told anybody about it,but of course I prayed about it.I am 77 yrs of age , and with old age there are things that can happen that are scary. Now they may not happen , but they may ,it can cause one to be afraid, to loose sleep. So I prayed, but I also asked God to give me a word,that which I can hold on to ,and so as I read the Bible ,the words that Jesus spoke to the disciples,when they were on the mount of transfiguration,and they were afraid, in fact they were terrified ,(Matthew 17 v 6).This is what He spoke to them,''Don't be afraid'',are you afraid?, you may be terrified,hear the words of Jesus, he does not speak those words in a flippant way,no he fully understands the depths of our feelings,unlike people who do speak in a flippant manner to those in need, to those are afraid.If there is a way to help that person we should help if we can,let us remember that faith without works is dead.Empty words help no one, Jesus never spoke empty words,he saw the hungry , he fed them, he saw the sick he healed them,he saw the fearful, he reassured them, he saw the downcast he lifted them up.When our Saviour speaks a word to us ,he will give us the help we need, the grace we need, the peace we need, his is not empty words.