I have a dream. ( Galatians 3 v 26 - 29 )

In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr, made a wonderful speech,before he got to the I got a dream,  he made various references to US history.but at  that point Mahalia  Jackson a famous Gospel singer shouted from the crowd,'Tell them about the dream',and so he did,as he launched into that wonderful speech,'I have a dream,'that dream was that black and white would live in harmony, accepting each other,free from prejudice, hatred and ignorance.In this fallen sinful world there will always be  some degree of prejudice,hatred , and ignorance.Of course we should not accept such  attitudes,and we should try to make it a better world free from such things. Of all places that these things should not exist is in the church of Christ, and yet often that has not been so,the church instead of representing the Kingdom of God it  identified with the kingdoms of this world.The church that was supposed to reflect Christ,but instead reflected an antichrist, a Christ that was not in the Bible. All politics is flawed and can never bring in a perfect society,yes politics is valid, and those involved in politics should try to make a difference.I have a dream, it goes beyond this world , to a new heaven and a new earth,where prejudice,hatred and ignorance will not exist.All those who have trusted  Jesus from every tribe,language, people and nation, will dwell in perfect harmony.

                                                'What a day,what day that will be,

                                                 come and join me'.

I will trust. ( Psalm 56 )

 Psalm 56  was written by David,it was written when David had fled from King Saul who wanted to kill him, and he ended up in Gath in the land of the Philistines. Why he ended up there I do not know,for they were Israel's enemies,David had come to prominence by defeating their champion Goliath, now here he was seeking refuge in their land. (1 Samuel 21 v 10 ff) And when the servants of the king of Gath  reminded him that David was the champion of Israel, David became very fearful,for his life. Fear is a common thing for all of us, at this time many are afraid of the war that's going on,many are praying,yes unbelievers are praying,yes they are fearful.David was a man like you and I ,and as Spurgeon writes , 'he feared, but that fear did not fill the whole area of his mind, for he adds, '' I will trust in Thee''.in fact three times in this Psalm, he mentions,that he is trusting in God.Albert Barnes writing on Davids declaration of his trust in God, that trust  is.

                                       'A good maxim with which to go into a world of danger,

                                       A good maxim to go to sea with;

                                       A good maxim in a storm;

                                       A good maxim when in danger on the land;

                                       A good maxim when we are sick;

                                       A good maxim when we think of death and judgement'

Trials. ( Hebrews 12 v 7 - 13 )

 I read the following,it is part of a prayer ,''Nothing can befall me without His permission; appointment and administration'. A telling example of that is to be found in the book of Job,God permitted Satan to afflict him, which included the the death of  his ten children, the loss of all his possessions ,and to be afflicted with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.Thankfully most us will not experience such severe suffering ,it is possible,but we will experience a degree of trials in life.But let us take note that God who permits our suffering can also deliver us from our suffering.we read that the Lord restored his possessions and granted unto him more children.Job 42 v 12- 17.God does not afflict His children willingly, but if He does He has His reasons, Job was not told why God afflicted him.That is where as Brennan Manning puts it, we need to exercise ruthless trust,it will not be easy, true ,but what is the alternative, anger, bitterness,and withdrawal?, who wants that?. Right at the beginning of his suffering  Job uttered these words, '''Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?,'' he also did not charge God with wrongdoing. Job 2 v 10/1v22. Here is something else he said , I will not comment on it.

                                                                   Job 23 v 10

                                                     But He knows the way I take;

                                                     when He has tested me,

                                                     I shall come forth as pure gold.

                                                     

My concerns. ( 1 Peter 5 v 7 )

 We all have concerns of one sort or another,some we seek to address, others we may not face up to ,which does not help,it may be a good idea to get help in resolving them. But then there are concerns that are beyond us, that we cannot do anything about, be they wars,relationships,and so on,and yet we worry about them. So the question is what should we do?.I read these words written by one of the Puritans,it was part of a prayer,  it requests help as to  our concerns,' Help me to leave my concerns in your hands'. Such very wise words, words that are instructive, helpful, and challenging. First it is instructive,it is telling us  what we can do,are we willing to follow these instructions?.Next they are helpful instructions,they are telling us where help can be found,like the Psalmist who prayed,' 'From where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth'(Psalm 121 v 1- 2 ).Then these words are challenging us to trust God with our concerns, 'Help me to leave my concerns in your hands'. The concerns are beyond us we have tried everyway to solve them,to no avail,leave them with God , trust Him to undertake.

                                                       'All your anxiety, all your care,

                                                        Bring to the mercy seat,leave it there,

                                                        Never a burden He cannot Bear,

                                                         Never a friend like Jesus'.

                                                              Words Edward H. Joy.

God's choice. ( Amos 7 v 12 - 15 )

 I have two friends and for a long time they have  suffered from severe mental illness,but they are both very spiritual men. We must be careful when we think that because a person has a disability that they are not spiritual.The word of God says that God chooses the poor of this world, James 2 v 5,the foolish, weak and lowly 1Corinthians 1 v27 - 28. It is Paul who tells us that the Jews demand signs ,it is interesting that many Christians appear to demand signs. He  goes on to  to say that the Greeks looked for wisdom,they were noted for their great philosophers. In reply to these two groups Paul declares ,'but we preach Christ crucified',which to them was foolishness,that Christ in fact was the power and wisdom of God. 1 Cor 1v 22-25. When it came to choosing a new King, Samuel was told not to look at the outward appearance,for God looks beyond that,He looked on the heart,and  that man would be  a young man, who had a heart for God, his name was David. 1 Samuel 13 v 14/ 16 v7/ . As we read the Bible it is surprising whom God chooses,As I write, my mind turns to a person called Gladys May Aylward, born of poor Christian parents. She had a burden for China,so she applied to a mission to go there and was turned down,because they said she was two old, and they felt she would not be able to learn the language,how wrong they were.Gladys did go to China she became known as the 'small women' she was only 4foot 10 inches,yes she was small, but she accomplished great things for God.

Learning. ( Psalm 119 v 105)

I remember a way back when I was in primary school the teacher telling the class,that her role was to teach and our role was to learn. I did learn much at school ,to read ,write,and basic maths ,those three  subjects are very important,without them my life would have been poorer.I am indebted to the teachers who taught me, and I praise God that he enabled me to have those tools. Of course teaching doesn't stop when one leaves school,life experiences teach us many things. When one becomes a Christian there are things that you have to unlearn, and things you have to learn.Again looking back at my school days there was a point when I didn't want to be there,as result I really did not learn very much after that.But when I came back to the Lord 57 yrs ago I wanted to learn Gods word, and this has remained with me all my Christian life,I want to grow in knowledge of God's word and to teach people out of that knowledge, to help them on their ongoing Christian life.Learning God's word is vital, to understand the truths in it, and most important putting what we learn into practice.One hopes in all this we glorify the Lord,and become more like Him.

Honesty. ( 2 Corinthians 12 v 1 - 10)

 A young lady was speaking at the church I attend ,and I was blessed, and the thing that blessed  me was her honesty,and when it comes to life, honesty is the best policy.For most of her life she suffered from anxiety, surly a Christian should not have such a condition.The sad thing about that statement is,it is judgemental and unloving,and it challenges the falseness of people who teach or believe this. It shows a limited understanding  of  Gods word and is also in denial to the realities within the lives of many Christians, William Cowper,Charles Spurgeon, John Calvin, Fanny Crosby,Joni  Eareckson, Paul the apostle. I know people who suffer as a result of childhood abuse,and so I could  go on.We often say there are no perfect churches,we include ourselves in that,yet we judge people who are not perfect in mental or physical health. There are those who believe God will heal everybody,and tell those who are not healed they do not have faith ,and so they  load that person with guilt, pain.and of being inferior..I may touch on this next time ,I will just say this the only time when any of us will be perfect in everyway, will be in Heaven,until them there are many difficulties we will all have to cope with, by Gods grace.I will leave you a verse from the hymn ,'Amazing  Grace', written by John Newton.

                                                    ' Through many dangers,toils, and snares,

                                                      I have already come;

                                                      Tis grace has brought me safe thus far

                                                      And grace will lead me home'