It is well with my ... ( Matthew 10 v 28 )

 I was watching Joni  Eareckson  Tada  being interviewed by Pastor Chuck Swindoll, it was very moving and as usual I  blubbered.If you do not know who Joni is, she is a Christian lady who through an accident,was paralysed ,she can move her head,and has a degree of movement with her arms, she cant blow her nose,or wipe her tears,she is depending upon  her husband and others for support.She is aged 70,she was 17 when the accident happened, in spite of that  she is a very gifted person,heads up a Christian ministry for disabled people.she sings ,paints,writes books.She spoke of suffering chronic pain,she was very honest in what she said,depending on others and what that meant.What came through was a woman of God who manifested a positive Christlikeness. During the interview she would sing a verse of a hymn,one in particular stood out it was written by Horatio G. Spafford who experienced the lost of his four daughters,when they drowned  at sea.

                                                 ' When peace like a river, attendeth my way,

                                                   When sorrows like sea billows roll;

                                                   Whatever my lot,Thou hast taught me to say,

                                                    It is well with my soul.

                                                    Though Satan should buffet   ,though trials should come,

                                                     Let this blest assurance control,

                                                     That Christ has regarded my helpless estate

                                                     And has shed His own blood for my soul.

                                                               It is well with my soul;

                                                               It is well,it is well with

                                                                       my soul.

                                                  

Contradiction. ( Matthew 7 v 15 - 23)

 Every year in the UK awards are given to people,people from all walks of life, acknowledging their accomplishments  and contributions to society. One young lady an athlete said,'how proud she was',and then she followed it up by saying,,'how humble she was'.One wonders how a person can be proud and  humble at the same time. But the fact is we are all people whose lives often are contradictions, many of the  guards of the concentration camps,were good husbands and good fathers. That nice person in your office may  go home and only God knows what they may be involved in. Judas Iscariot was a disciple of our Lord,but he was thief. It is James in his letter  who writes of those professing Christians who  utter praise to God, but  also curse  their fellow man.. James 3 v 9 - 12.Someone has said that people often are different in the workplace,than what they are at home.I  met a man once,he and another person had just finished an evangelistic meeting,I happened to mentioned I was going to Bible college,and he started running me down, and I mention to him a brother he knew and he spoke very unkindly of him.Seemingly this person was going to be missionary.I still remember with great sadness that mans unkind words and attitude to me a fellow Christian ,and in some sense a stranger , he definitely was ,sad to say  least a contradiction.May God grant us grace to be what we should be,to be as  it says in a song,we are what it says on the tin, what a Christian  should be.

The gift of forgetfulness. (Isaiah 1 v 18 )

As I have grown older I am inclined  to be a bit more forgetful,there are things we never forget,and we will remember them until our dying day.When I was very young my father and mother separated ,and my mother ,sister ,two brothers  and I went to live with my grandmother .I have some memories of my father,and they are all good.Not so, with my sister and two brothers, they had bad memories, and they never forgot those bad memories,and the result was they never really forgive him. I supposed you would say that I was given the gift of  forgetfulness,I always thought kindly on him. It reminds me of what someone said to a person who had hurt them,''I will forgive them ,but I won't forget''.God the great forgiver of peoples sins declares  ,'And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their  sins'.and its not,I will forgive you ,but I won't forget.He does not hold a grudge,unlike us .When we trust Jesus as Saviour the slate is completely  wiped clean,the Psalmist puts it this way,' as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us'', (Psalm 103 v 12)'When they're gone they are gone'.  

                                                    Gone,gone,gone,gone!

                                                    Yes my sins are gone, 

                                                    Now my heart is free,and 

                                                    in my heart a song,

                                                    Buried in the deepest sea, 

                                                    Yes that's good enough for me,

                                                    I shall live eternally,praise God

                                                   my sins are gone.

                                                                  

Go private. ( Matthew 6 v 6 )

 Matthew 5 v 7- 8 reads,' Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you, For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and the who knocks, the door will be opened.'Here are dear Saviour is teaching us about prayer,in chap 6 v 5 - 8, He points out as William Hendriksen points out ,'that the Lord condemn ostentatious praying,that is, having one's private devotions in the most public place, with the intention  of being and honored of people'.I remember when I was in the Territorial army , which was a reserve force for the British army,we went on a training exercise,and we all slept in a large dormitory. I wandered what I should do as regards praying,should I get down at my bed and pray,? I wasn't sure what to do. Well I happened to read Matthew 6 v 6, where we are told, 'But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private', and I did just that. This does not rule out public prayer which is acceptable ,all prayer is acceptable,if it is done in the right spirit,we are not there to impress people, but to seek God.I have digressed  somewhat, but next time we will start to consider Mt 5  v 7-8.

Nothing has changed. ( John 1 v 1- 3 )

 I like watching a who done it mystery movies,it is not very often one really knows who done it. Life is full of many mysteries , one of these is the life force in all of creation. Of course if you don't believe in God, then it is a real mystery.  How did life begin?,it just happened, or else the god evolution did it,or is it a DIY universe?.  How did we end up with such wonderful bodies?,what's holding everything together?,how did gravity come about?,did it create itself?.Is there no answer to all these questions?, yes there is an answer , here it is,'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth', (Genesis 1 v1),you know it makes sense,or maybe you don't,of course it takes a step of faith to do that,without faith you will continue to be in the dark and it will always be a mystery.,a life of scratching head time. It is sad that in this day and age that God is totally absent ,He is not given a mentioned by the gurus of science, I wonder why?. Here is another mystery ,God stepped into this world in the most remarkable way,when Jesus came, into the very world He created ( John 1 v10).and here is the sad thing,they didn't recognize Him, nothing ha changed.

                              

Without Him.

As I was praying the thought came to me ,that without Him  (Jesus),life would just have been an empty nothingness,There is a song written by Connie Smith ,which goes,

                                            Roll back the curtain of memory ow and then,

                                            Show me where you brought me from,

                                            And where I could have been,

                                            I'm so human, and I forget,

                                            So remind me,remind me, dear Lord.

The Israelites in the wilderness so often complained and even wanted to go back to Egypt ( Numbers 14 v1-5){ ,in Egypt they where slaves, in Egypt they where put to hard labour , in Egypt their children where murdered . Again I want to leave you with words from a song,I am not sure who wrote it,but it expresses how I feel.

                                              Without Him I could do nothing,

                                              Without Him I'd surely fail,

                                              Oh, without Him I would be drifting

                                              Like a ship with out a sail

                                              Without Him I would be dying

                                              Without Him  I'd be enslaved,and

                                               without Him my life would be worthless,

                                               But with Jesus, thank God I am saved.

Giving thanks.( Genesis 50 v 19 )

 In Ephesians 5 v 20 we read,' Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ', These were penned by the apostle Paul,and the first we note in this verse ,the word always,This is to be a consistent thing ,always,is that possible?,we all know there are times that would seem impossible.well it is John Stott who points out,'That the grumbling spirit is not compatible with the Holy Spirit'.He does state we cannot praise for what He abominates,he goes on to write,'Of course God's children learn not to argue with God in their suffering,but to trust him,and indeed thank him for his loving providence by which  he can turn even to good purposes ( Roman 8 v28 ),but that is praising God for being God, it is not praising him for evil.'He further writes ,'Our thanksgiving is to be for everything which is consistent  with the loving Fatherhood of God, and the self-revelation he has given us in Jesus Christ,' that does come naturally to us ,it comes from the indwelling and infilling of the Holy Spirit. 5 v 18.

                                             ' Every joy or trial falleth from above,

                                              Traced upon our dial by the sun of love.

                                              We must trust Him fully all for us to do;

                                              They who trust Him wholly find Him wholly true.

                                              Stayed upon Jehovah hearts are fully blest;

                                               Finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest.

                                                          Words Frances R. Havergal.