God alone did it. ( 139 v 1- 18 )

 Psalm 100 is very short,only five verses,it is called , The Old Hundredth',and has been a great blessing to many.It is a very positive psalm.It begins,' Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.'Joy ,sometimes all we see is gloom and doom,but let us remember God is still on the throne,and he is in control,even though things appear out of control. they are not,God is still sovereign ,not the sovereigns of this world,they come and go ,but He still reigns,He has not given up control,nor will He,He is the same today as He was yesterday, and He will be same for all our tomorrows, So shout for joy to the Lord praise Him, and rejoice in Him. In v 3 we read,'Know ye that the Lord He is God', There are no other god's, consider the following scriptures,  Isaiah 44 v 6 ,'Apart from me there is no other god's, 45 v 5,'I am the Lord, there is no other ; apart from me there is no God'. v 22,'Turn to me  and be saved;all the you ends of the earth; for I am God .and there is no other'. 46 v I am God , there is no other'.Show that to Mormon missionaries,and others in their blindness who believe in multitudes of god's . V 3 continues by declaring  ,'it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves'.We are self made, no we are God made, it is the only possible answer, as Lockyer writes,'We did not make ourselves or contribute anything towards our  composition', God did it all.

Time will tell . ( Psalm 94 v 23 )

 I read this recently,'Do you believe that everything in the world and in our own lives down to the minutest details is ordered by the providence of God.?'Very searching question, very challenging also,yet it must be so , for God is sovereign .We have a God  who is not just a spectator of what is going on in His world, a world that appears to be out of control. I say appears,Faith looks beyond what we cannot see,to God,who rules over all the universe, and all that is going on, in this world.But the fact is His ways are past finding out,let us not judge God,as regards the evil that is going on in the world.Evil does not originate from God, evil originated from the devil,and from him it took root in humanity.Both these factors are continually at work in this world,we must  not be surprised at the war in Ukraine,although it saddens us,but we are part of the problem,for all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God.Painful and awful as to what is in this world,God purposes will be fulfilled.I read this as to the providence of God,''Providence arranges retaliations as remarkable as they are just'''In Psalm 94 v 23,we read,' He will repay them for their sins and destroy them for their wickedness;' Only Gods knows what will happen to the Kremlin , and to Russia itself, it's in God's hands,time will tell . 

God our teacher.( Hebrews 12 v 4 - 12 )

 We would all agree that education is a wonderful thing, I personally am grateful for what I learnt at school,I am also grateful for the Pastors and teachers who ministered to me and others. I am also grateful for the Christian books that I possess ,that have instructed me in the things of God written by godly people.I wonder do you realise that our God is also a teacher,  In Psalm 94 v 12 we read,'Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest ( disciplines),O Lord, and teaches him out of thy law'. Spurgeon comments ,'The afflicted believer is under tuition, he is training for something higher and better, and all that he meets with is working out for his highest good'.Herbert Lockyer comments,'It is by trials that God teaches.Trials, in themselves , can be severe schoolmasters,but the Divine Schoolmaster knows how to guide us into a deeper knowledge of all He is in himself through them. As seeds,  covered with snow in winter flourish mostly in Spring, so God knows that the sorrows of life can yield much fruit  in our witness for him'. Many of the Psalms were written by people who suffered,like many hymn writers, also consider Job and Saul,all these people were under the chastening hand of God. Consider what Paul wrote ,that out of suffering, blessings came , because of what it produces,Romans 5 v 3-4.

                                                I've had many tears and sorrows,  

                                                I've had questions for tomorrow,

                                                there's been times I didn't know right from wrong,

                                                But in every situation God gave blessed consolation,

                                                That my trials came to only make me strong.

                                                                  Andre Crouch.

Friendship. ( John v 13 - 15 )

I'm sure we would all agree that friendship is  important,some friendships last a life time,others come into our lives for a while and then move on,yes friendship is important.J.C. Ryle writes the following,'Every true Christian has a friend in heaven , of almighty power and boundless love. He is thought of, cared for, provided for, defended by God's eternal Son.  He has an unfailing protector, who never slumbers or sleeps, and watches continually over his interests. The world may despise him, , but he has no cause to be ashamed. Father and mother even may cast him out, but Christ having taken him up will never let him go. He is the ''friend of Christ'' even after he is dead.! The friendships of this world are often fair- weather friendships, and fail us like summer dried fountains, when our need is sorest ;  but the friendship of the Son of God is stronger than death, and goes beyond the grave.The Friend of sinners is a Friend that sticketh  closer than a brother.'

                                                  ' What a friend we have in Jesus'.

!

How important is truth?. ( Ephesians 2 v 1 - 10 )

 How important is truth to you?,and indeed to me? well if we don't have truth ,what do we have?. Consider if the god of this world is the devil,he is not in essence a god, its what people have made him. The apostle writing to Christians, reminds them of their former state,' You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil- the commander of the powers in the unseen world (Ephesians 2 v 2 ). Now we have pointed out  before that the devil is a liar and the father of lies,and that he twists the truth, so that it becomes a lie.So it is that many are spiritually blind, and really do not know what truth is,in fact they exchange the truth for a lie ,and worship all sorts of things ( Romans 1 v25 ) Chuck Swindoll states the following,'So potent is the power of Satan that he gets people to believe that truth is a lie and that a lie is the truth. He fills the world with temptation  and traps, and he reigns over his kingdom of darkness like a malevolent dictator oppressing his powerless victims' False  religions is one of his specialties,let us be very clear  about them,when we say that Christ is the only way to God,we are saying that all other religions are false.Their followers may be sincere, but they are sincerely wrong, Christianity is not just another religion,it is the only religion that can save a person from hell ,and take you to heaven.For only Jesus is the way the truth and the life,and the only one that can bring one to God.

Built on lies. ( John 8 v 44 )

 Nazi Germany was built on lies,the Nazi  party sought to control the nation,every home was supplied with a radio,those radios and what they broadcast was completely controlled by the government.The government believed if you told a lie often enough it would be accepted as truth.Their control went further, no one was allowed to raise a dissenting voice,if they did, they would be sent to a concentration camp were they more than likely be murdered. Does it all sound familiar?of course it does, consider what is happening in Russia now.It is a serious thing when a life or a society is  built on a foundation of lies, my mother used to say, 'you can never trust a liar.'Think how many lives that have been destroyed by lies,lying is a serious business,we all get phone calls from people who tell us lies,they just want to rob us.Consider how serious all this is and its consequences, for those build their lives on lies.Here is what we read in Revelation 21 v 8 -9 that liars with all sorts of wicked people, will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulphur. This is the second death'.

I can, I can't (Acts 12 v 1 - 19 )

I wonder what comes to mind with the following,'I can, I can;t',the apostle wrote that he could do all things through him who give him strength', ( Philippians 4 v 13) This fits in with what our Saviour told us, that apart from Him we can do nothing( John 15 v 5 ) These words stress the importance of reliance on Christ in all aspects of our lives. Samson had to learn that lesson,and it cost him dearly( Judges 16 ), as I look back I am amazed at the things God has helped me to do,completing a three course at Bible college ,learning to drive,to be able to stand up and preach,bringing up a family of five boys, even doing this blog.What about tomorrows challenges? you may be facing daunting tasks,let me remind you that the God who helped you in all your yesterdays,will help you in all your tomorrows.What about the I can't?, they are many,I can't change people,I can't save people,what is your I can't, at this time?,it's not about giving up, no,it's it is a fact that there are things we can't do,possible not meant to do,some situations that are beyond us,and so it could be best to simply walk away from. But let us remember the importance of prayer,it may be an obvious thing to say,but we all need to be reminded how vital prayer is, and not to underestimate its importance and power. When Peter  was in prison on the orders of Herod, in his cell he was bound by two chains,he had two solders standing guard over him, plus soldiers guarding the entrance of the cell. Coinciding with this the church was praying,that was all they could do,but praise God it was enough,for God heard their prayer ,and Peter walked out of that prison a free man.