An invitation. ( John 4 v 7 -26 )

When I was young our family to say the least would be, by todays standards, considered poor.There was no possibility of pocket money,or indeed of any money.So if one of our friends had a birthday party we looked forward to going and enjoying the goodies on offer. But I remember one of our friends had a birthday party, but we were excluded, we never got an invitation ,boy what a let down, we were disappointed. I suppose its wonderful to go to Buckingham Palace to see the Queen,so far it hasn't happened to me,but we live in hope.But here's a wonderful invitation by someone greater that the Queen,it is an invitation from Jesus ,who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.One writer put what Jesus said  like this,'Are you tired?,Worn out? Burned out on religion ? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me- watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill fitting  on you. Keep company with Me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly'These words are based on Matthew 11 v28-29 ,why don't you accept that invitation? ,you will never regret it ,if you do.

                                                      'I heard the voice of Jesus say,

                                                       Come unto me and rest;

                                                       Lay down, thou weary one,lay down

                                                       Thy head upon My breast,

                                                       I came to Jesus as I was,

                                                       Weary and worn and sad,

                                                       I found in Him a resting place,

                                                       And He has made me glad.

                                                            Words H. Bonar.

For thou art gone backward/ ( Jeremiah 15 v 6)

 I was speaking with a Christian and she mentioned a number of her family including her husband,and  son whom she said had backslidden. I understood what she meant, for as I look back on my early life,as a  youngster I trusted Jesus,and then I went away,later I came back,then later on I went away,then a week before my 20th birthday the Lord in his great mercy restored me, that was nearly 58 yrs ago. Since then I have sought to be faithful by God's grace,yet I have two brothers who one could say are backslidden. Those words from Jeremiah 15 v6 ,'For thou art gone backward',where spoken by God as regards Israel, that special people blessed beyond many,and yet time after time they backslid turned away from the God who loved them with an everlasting love, a love that they continually spurned.And yet God was not finished with them, as He was not finished with me,God is the great restorer,the words of an old hymn,come to mind,'When I would wander from the path astray, then He will draw me back into the way'. No matter how far you have wandered from God,and no matter how long its been since you wondered  away from God,He the good Shepherd can restore you,if you return and seek Him.

                                                       I've wandered far away from God.

                                                       Now  I'm coming home. 

                                                       The paths of sin to long I've trod

                                                       Now I'm coming home.

                                                       Coming home ,coming home,

                                                       Never more to roam,

                                                       Open wide Thou Thine arms of Love

                                                       Lord  I'm coming home.

                                                                Words W,J, Kirkpatrick.

                           

God said. ( Genesis 1 )

Let  us  consider the following ,'Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces'. Jeremiah 23 v29. Unlike the words of the false prophets that had only power to deceive, mislead, and destroy,those who blindly followed it. The word of God accomplishes His purposes,His words are words of truth and life and will accomplish the purpose for which He sent it. Isaiah 55 v 11.When God moves by His Spirit ,the word of God  will break the hardest of sinners,as we read in 2 Timothy 2 v 9.'that it cannot be chained',no one can stop it.' It is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged  sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires'. Hebrews 4 v 12. As  P E. Hughes says ,'Only God's  word . can pierce through the intangible realms of a human being'. He goes unto say,'And this is why this sword of the Spirit,which the Christian is given to wield, is the most powerful weapon in the whole universe'. 

Christ came. ( John 3 v16 )

Consider the words we read in John 1 ,as regards our Saviour coming into this world,first of all we see in v1, that Jesus is called the word and he was  God . C S. Lewis wrote of God in disguise ,He who was truly God, became a human being and dwelt among us.He came into the very world He created, but the world didn't  recognize Him v10. Mankind is spiritually blind, is this not the supreme evidence of that reality?.Things have not changed nor will they ever change, because mankind loves the darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. John 3 v 18. The don't only love darkness, they hate the light 3 v 20,every day I pray for dear Christians been murdered,imprisoned,despised, because they are followers of  Jesus .So John writes how the world didn't recognise  Jesus for whom He was,and it still  doesn't ,but we also read''He came unto His own people, and even they rejected Him'', Jn 1 v 11,are these not amazing words, this is the nation of Israel he is writing about. They unlike the non-Jews had the scriptures that clearly foretold of Christs coming,and when He came as a child we read he was born in a manger ,for there was no room  for Him.Those words to me are symbolic, of what awaited Jesus, the only place there was room for Jesus  was on a cross.Yes it a dark picture I paint, more darker than we realise ,and as long as mankind continue to reject Him ,the wrath of God will abide upon them .Jn 3 v 36. But the good news is this,' to all who believe in Him and accept Him, He gave the right to become children of God'. Jn 1 v 12.

                                                   Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,

                                                   and you will be saved.

                                                              Acts 16 v31

The Word of God. ( Matthew 6 v 22 - 23 )

 When I lived in Belfast many places where being bombed, one of them was a Christian book shop,some of the stock was saved, and from what was saved I purchased a Bible.It had a little bit of smoke damage but it was in reasonable condition,I still have that Bible ,I don't use it now ,for its a bit worse for wear,but the fact that it survived the bombing and the fire ,reminds me how the word of God has come under attack throughout its history,it has survived ,and indeed will continue to survive.There are so called Christian churches that have hid the word of God from Gods people, saying that they were the only ones capable of interpreting the word of God.But instead of interpreting it and teaching what God said,they taught so many things that were contrary to God word. Jeremiah that wonderful man of God was one of the last prophets who prophesied before the Babylonian captivity,he had to contend with so many things.I mention one,the false prophets, they prophesied lies and dreams, deceitful inventions of their own hearts.What they taught was of no value,worthless in contrast to the word of God, CP Jeremiah 23 v 28. If your religion is not based on God's word it is worthless, not only is it worthless it is dangerous and can only lead you into a lost eternity Our Saviour said ,''And if the light you think you have is actually  darkness, how deep that darkness is.'' Matthew 6 v 23.

Consequences.( 1 Kings 11 v 1 - 13)

 Suddenly he was no longer strong, he thought he was,but alas his strength was gone,you see all those great feats of strength was accomplished,because God give him the strength.So what happened he had a hair cut,he didn't mean to have it cut,but he would play with fire ,when he fell for a girl  called Delilah. He should have known better but as the saying goes, love is blind,and because of that he became physically blind,and he became  physically weak. Consider that there are things that can weaken us spiritually,like Samson,we get involved with the wrong kind of person or people.The word of God instructs us not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers, for what fellowship hath righteousness have with unrighteousness?, and what communion hath light with darkness .( 2 Corinthians 6 v 14 ) Most people apply this to believers marrying unbelievers,but  I am sure it can apply to other situations. As we view the history of Israel ,we see time and time again the disastrous consequences  of  them entering into relationships with foreign nations .The greatest example of this was Solomon who was endowed with godly wisdom, and yet acted in such a dangerous way by marrying many heathen wives, he should have known better,but his love for these women blinded him,he ended up worshipping their gods,

It's just me. ( Romans 8 v 29 )

There was  lady in the church where I was joint leader,and she was so unpleasant,people knew what she was like ,and they would say,'that's just Ann'.  and they where absolutely correct, that sums it up . Let me move away from Ann,to Bill the preacher,no, lets take away the preacher bit,and lets consider Bill,like Ann I have been a Christian a long time,and I often display the old Bill, I wander if  their are people,and they say about me,''oh ,that's just Bill'',and they are absolutely right,sad to say.. It was the greatest of the prophets John the Baptist ,who said something  so challenging,when  he said,''He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less''John 3 v 30,John was speaking about Jesus.It raises this question,how much of Christ am I like,in my character.oh yes I will always be Billy, but will I be a Christlike Billy?.I have a friend who became a Christian,and some of the family didn't like it ,but his mother said ,''he is different,''and the difference was Christlikeness.