There is none so blind . ( Romans 1 v 21 - 25 )

 I heard this recently ,'We are all instruments of 'Divine Providence', that does not mean God is controlling us.God does not cause anyone to sin. We are not robots ,do we have a free will,no we don't,our sinful nature has affected our ability in the exercising of our will,plus Satan who has a very strong influence over us.2  Tim 2v26. What we do have is the ability to make choices,and so God in his sovereignty has not forsaken this planet because it His planet. He is the one who holds all things together,if He withdrew ,the world and all who are in would cease to exist. He rules and overrules in all things,according to His will.He is working out everything,with an end in view.People may ask  why?, as regards so many things,but the fact is only God has all the answers.He is in control 24/7 ,His will , will prevail no one can stop it.A teacher wrote the following words on the blackboard,'God is nowhere', later a child went up and changed the words to,' God is now here'. When the  Russian astronaut Yuri Gagarin went into space he is reported to have said,''I went into space ,but I did not encounter God'',(Although a friend said he did not utter those words,it was possible the Soviet authorities who did).You only encounter the true and only God by faith in Jesus,until that happens you are like that teacher, and those Soviet authorities.

                                                    '' For in Him we live and move

                                                      and have our being.''

                                                             Acts 17 v 28.

Repent ( Matthew 7 v 13- 14 )

 When a Russian diplomat resigned his post in regard to the war in Ukraine ,he mentioned  about others in the foreign office,and said,''that he didn't see  that many would repent and change their views''.I  was surprised that he used the word repent, for I usually associate that word repent, with religion. It was John the Baptist who preached a baptism of repentance for forgiveness, what does the word repent mean?,it involves change in our thinking ,in our behaviour a turning round,going in the opposite way,in which we were going.It means choosing a different way a narrow way. (Mt 7 v 14),although it is a narrow way ,it is a way of freedom,a way of peace,it is a way that leads to life,eternal life,and it is following Jesus who is the way the truth, and the life. (John 14 v6 ).There is another road that is called the broad road,it is a very popular road.most people choose it , they are not for turning, their favorite song is,' I did it my way',not God's way,oh no they say ,'the majority cant be wrong', but alas they are.And were as the narrow way leads to life,the broad road leads to destruction, not annihilation,but an eternity in hell. 

                                               ' For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone,

                                                 declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!'

                                                                     Ezekiel 18 v 32 

Tired. ( Psalm 103 v 14 )

 Some days one feels tired ,not often, I suppose its my age,could be my visit to Belfast, for my sisters funeral, but it will pass. I think of our Saviour, who was so busy,so on demand, so available,we must remember that He was divine, but also truly human. There must have been times that He felt exhausted  and needed rest,as did His disciples.In that regards He was thoughtful for we read in Mark 6 how the disciples were so busy,He told them to go to a quite place and get some rest.In this busy world were demands on people are many, and indeed unrelenting. We need physical rest and spiritual , when we sleep we get physical rest so get some sleep,when we wait upon the Lord  ,the word of God tells us our strength will be renewed ( Isaiah 40 v 29 - 31)  . So what is God saying to you tired one,weary one?

The dark dark side. ( 1 John 1 v 7 )

 Someone said ,' Everyone is a moon.we all have a dark side',yes even me,and it's good to remember that,the question how do we overcome the dark side?. These words should not surprise us,someone I know  found out that a relative was looking at pornography.The dark side involves many things,the very name,'the dark side',says it all, whither its pornography, or whatever,it is something that is not helpful nor healthy.There is a point were we realise that we are addicted to it,we no longer control it, it controls us,we have made a prison of our own making, and who knows were it will take us, and make us do things we shouldn't. In John 5  we read of a man who had been an invalid for 38years, whom Jesus cured,Jesus said to him,'Sop sinning, or something worse may happen to you'. To me, and to some commentators it appears his affliction had come about as a direct consequences of some particular sin he was involved in. Our dark side may not cause us to become ill,but dark side behaviour ,will  affect us in so many different painful ways, that can cause us very serious harm, and the more we continue in them,as Jesus points out,' something worse will happen to us'. This man met the Lord Jesus and he was rescued from his awful sickness, but the question is ,would he blow it,and keep on walking in the dark side ?. Christ declared that he had come to set us free,we all have a choice ,what is yours going to be?

Change. ( Hebrews 13 v 8 )

 I recently returned from Belfast, I have not been there for 9yrs, and I have lived in England for over forty years. my visit was to do with my sister who passed away.She had suffered with dementia for two years, she was cared for by her husband,it was quite a challenge for him .One of the things that I observed in my visit home was the change that has taken place, since first I left Belfast,new houses built.,and so many other things.At the funeral I saw the change in those who were there,caused by ageing, and sickness, the hymn writer put it,'Change and decay in all around I see',so true.but he goes to say, 'O Thou who changest not abide with me'. I have seen much change in life,and experienced much,but here is the wonderful thing, the Lord Jesus who is with me, never changes,He always loves me, cares for me,watches over me,He is my constant friend and companion and I love Him so much, He will never,never,never,leave me ,nor forsake me.My burning desire is that all may know Him,who to know is life, and life eternal.

                                                      ' I have a friend that sticketh 

                                                    closer than a brother,his name is

                                                                    JESUS.'

Sort of. ( Job 19 v 25 )

 I was standing waiting at a certain place,as I waited , I was singing quietly to myself, someone passing by heard me singing and commented on it. I spoke to him and said,''if you have the Lord in your life you can have a song'',he began walking away from me, and I asked him ,do you know the Lord?'', he answered ,''Sort of ''. One the meanings for the term ,'sort of', is vaguely, in other words ,uncertain,unclear,which to be me is a clear indication that he didn't know the Lord. It was the Lord who said,' I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me' (John 10 v 14) There is a certainty  in those words,the apostle Paul wrote ,'I know whom I have believed,and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted  to  Him until that day'.I wonder can you say that ,or is your answer,'sort of ?'. I wonder can you say with a certainty,'The Lord is your shepherd?'. ( Psalm 23 v1 ) ,have you trusted Christ  as your own and personal Saviour?, my advice to you is ,to sort it out, trust Him today,and come into a sure and certain faith in Christ.

                                                       'Dear Saviour, Thou art mine,

                                                        How sweet the thought to me

                                                        Let me repeat Thou name

                                                        And lift my heart to Thee.

                                                        Mine! mine! mine! I know 

                                                        that art mine;

                                                        Saviour, dear Saviour, I know

                                                        that Thou  art mine.'

                                                               Words Anna Hudson.

Unconditional ( John 3 v 36 )

 The term unconditional love is banded about, lets look at this statement,consider this statement,'For God so loved the world, that He gave his only  begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish ,but have everlasting life'.Surely that means .God is offering the world unconditional love ?,my answer is no.It is true that in love God in love is providing for this world,being patient with this world, J.I. Packer writes of,'the longsuffering,  forbearance,and His slowness to anger that continues to show kindness towards persons who have persisted in sinning '  2 Peter 3 v9 .You could say that is a in a sense unconditional love,but that it is not in fullest sense,for when many who speak of unconditional love, they mean we are accepted unconditionally . To be accepted by God there are conditions,now we are entering into what J.I.Packer calls,sovereign redemptive love,and what John Stott calls holy love. Knowing that love ,experiencing that love, receiving that love,entails repenting of our sin,and believing in Jesus to forgave us our sins.Then and then only, will we be accepted by God .