Twins. ( 1 Corinthians 13 )

Two of my grandchildren are twins,they are not identical,but they are close to each other . In the spiritual realm we do not have twins,all Christians are different,and what I mean by that is,Thomas was a doubter,Peter had obvious flaws,and so it goes,but they both loved our Lord .None of us are perfect, we are all at different levels of sanctification. J. C .Ryle writes the following,'Let it be noted that a man may have notable weaknesses and infirmities of Christian character, and yet be a disciple of Christ. We must not foolishly assume that all Christians are exactly like one another in details of character. We must make large allowances, when the main features are right'. We who truly know the Lord are fellow disciples, it is only when we get to heaven,will all the flaws in our personality be removed and be replaced by that perfect likeness of Christ. Until then we must make allowances for our fellow Christians,as they must with us.

Old age. ( Romans 8 v 38 - 39 )

 The psalms cover many aspects of life the seventy first Psalm, has mention old age, in fact it has been called,'The prayer of the aged believer'. It has no title but it has the ring of David with it , and as usual he writes of those who he classes as evil and cruel. Spurgeon  puts it like this,' the aged saint pleads against his foes'. In v 18 he prays ,'Even when I am old and Grey, do not  forsake me , my God', Of course God never forsakes us even in old age,John Newton wrote a hymn which begins with the words,'Begone unbelief', and the third verse reads,

                                                        'His love in time past

                                                         Forbids me to think

                                                         He'll leave me at last

                                                         In trouble to sink;

                                                         Each sweet Ebenezer

                                                         I have in review

                                                         Confirms His good pleasure

                                                         To help me quite through.

Yes the wonderful good news is this, God who is with us when we are young ,strong ,and healthy, will love us and be with us when we are old frail and weak. For He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us.( Hebrew 13 v 5)

You shall not. (Exodus 20 v 17)

 Many years ago things were tough financially,I was helping in a Christian bookshop,a customer was paying for what he had bought,he opened his wallet and I saw a lot of money.Well I thought if only he would  reach into his wallet and give me some, but alas he didn't, my coveting didn't work. Yes coveting desiring what someone else has, is  just that,I had sinned.Take sport most of its built on coveting, fans coveting,clubs coveting other clubs players.I don't think we realise  that coveting is a sin, committing adultery starts with a covetous thought,you desire that man,that  woman,even though they belong to another.A certain King called Ahab coveted land , who refused his request to buy it, eventually he did get that piece of land,but only after the kings wicked wife contrived to have the man murdered .( 1 Kings 21). A man called Achan coveted that which God  forbid, he yielded to that desire, and God was not pleased,and he paid with his life.(Joshua 7)Move back to mans beginnings , a woman was tempted ,and as she looked at a certain thing she coveted  it,and yielded, and took that which God forbid,she and her husband suffered,and all of humanity,and all of creation suffered. ( Genesis 3 ) .Its as serious as that, coveting  is a sin, we must take this very serious, and take heed because sin always has consequences.

Be ready ( Hebrews 3 v 15 )

I read this recently ,'Many years ago,a newspaper reported as regards a tragic disaster in one of our British coal mines.Many miners perished, and in one pocket the searches came across four or five miners all huddled together in death. But before they died, they scratched on a board,We are all trusting in Christ, and all added their names. I wonder if you were one of those miners,could you have added your name?One afternoon a person who was a Christian received a phone call from a friend called Jack,he said,''I've  just been  diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and I'm not ready''.The good thing about this was he came to know Christ as his Saviour and of course he was ready,the question is are you ready?

                                              The most important thing is, when you come to die,

                                                                      ' BE READY'.

Not half hearted. ( Proverbs 3 v 5- 6 }

I trusted you he cried out,to one he thought was his friend,one he felt that he could trust with his life,instead he betrayed him,let him down,and he found himself saying 'I will never trust anyone again'.Yes trust is important,and when it is broken it can have serious consequences. President Putin said he was not going to invade Ukraine, he lied, it will be hard to trust him,for many even among his own people  he cannot be trusted.There are two verses in the bible in Proverbs 3 v 5-6,you may know them by heart,you may be familiar with them,like hymns you know,and when you sing those hymns you do it without thinking. Here are the words of those two scriptures,' Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths'.The verses start with that simple word trust,as Christians we know the importance of that word ,but we have to put it into practice, wars and rumors of wars ,trust the Lord, the future all unknown trust the Lord,you have just lost your job,trust the Lord, money problems ,trust the Lord,whatever difficulties we may be facing what should we do?, trust in the Lord,how much should we trust Him, the answer is, this with all our hearts not half hearted, with all our hearts, remember He can be trusted.

The times they are a changing. ( 2 Timothy 4 v 9 - 18 )

 Suddenly things have changed, there we were, getting on with our lives and covid struck ,then when we seem to be coming out of that, war began in Ukraine,the times they are a changing.One lesson we should never forget is that we live in a changing world, great change comes into all our lives  when disasters strikes,and when death comes,or a multitude of  of other things happen. Change comes at different times slowly or suddenly,they may be for the good,  or they may be for the bad,and they can  leave us devastated. Often we do not understand why certain things happen, but they do affect us and can leave us in a state of anxiety,many people are very anxious  at this time,even fearful,and we can understand this. What is the answer?,what can we do?,Charles Albert Tindley wrote many gospel hymns,the first line of one goes,' The world is one great battlefield',it sure is ,I recently heard that wonderful singer Tennessee Ernie Ford singing one his songs, I hope it will be a blessing to you.

                                                When the storms of life are raging/ Stand by me,

                                                When the storms of life are raging/ Sand by me

                                                When the world is tossing me,like a ship upon the seas,

                                                 Thou who rulest  wind and water,/Stand by me.

                                                 In the midst of tribulation/ Stand by me

                                                 In the midst of tribulation /Stand by me.

                                                 When the hosts of hell assail,and my strength begins to fail,

                                                  Thou who never lost a battle/ Stand by me.

God is. ( Psalm 62 )

 Psalm 62 ends by stressing two important things ( 1) Power belongs to God. (2 ) God is merciful. As regards the first part ,power belonging unto God,Barnes writes that the word  power ,has with it a sense of strength,he declares ,'The idea is, that the strength that man needs - the ability to defend and to save him- is to be found in God. All else may fail, but the power of God will not fail.The result of this, therefore should  lead us to put our trust in God alone. ' As regards God being merciful, he write,'Man needs the assurance that God is a benevolent Being, as really as that he is a powerful Being,' As regards God being merciful it also brings with it ,His unfailing love,' As regards mercy ,it is not something we deserve,it is something we receive freely.When the sinner comes to God, he is not coming to a bargaining table, he is coming as  one who needs to be saved.and out of a heart of love God responds by showing mercy ,and forgiving their sins.

                                                    There's a wideness in God's mercy

                                                     Like the wideness of the sea;

                                                     There's a kindness in His justice

                                                     Which is more than liberty.

                                                      For the love of  God is broader

                                                      Than the measures of man's mind;

                                                      And the heart of the Eternal

                                                       Is most wonderfully kind.

                                                              F.W. Faber