Now. (Isaiah 1 v 18 )

 In Lewis Carroll's Alice in wonderland the white rabbit is in a hurry to get to the tea party,and he keeps saying, ''Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be too late''. In the animated  Walt Disney's movie he says why he was  late. ,''I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date.No time to say hello ,goodbye, ''I'm late, I'm late,I'm late''. I suppose we have all been late at one time or another, there are a number of reasons. There was a time in Belfast,when the shipyard employed thousands of people,in those days companies did not tolerate lateness.So it was if one arrived at the shipyard late,you would be shut out,that means you would loose a days pay. Our Savour told a story of 5 foolish virgins who missed a wedding feast , because they were not ready,they  called for the door to be opened to the wedding,but it was shut. They pleaded ,''Lord ,Lord,open the door for us,but He replied,''Truly I tell you , I don't know you''.Many people want and think they are going to heaven,but if you they don't Jesus as Saviour they will not get in, it will be to late,instead of the joys of heaven,they will go to a lost eternity.

                                                        'Now is the day of salvation'

                                                               '1 Corinthians 6 v2 '

Fear not. ( 1 Peter 5 v 7 )

In his book  'Jesus and the Disinherited', Howard Thurman  tells the following,'When he was a very  small boy, Halley's comet visited his  solar system,he wasn't usually allowed up to see it.one night he was awakened by his mother ,who told him to get dressed, and go in the back yard with her,so he could see the comet.As he stood with his mother, he was in utter, speechless awe,as he beheld the great spectacle with its fan of light spreading across the heavens.As they stood there,he asked his mother a question,'What will happen to us if that comet falls out of the sky?. His mother was silent for along time,later when they went indoors,he found his mother in prayer. When she spoke to him, she said,'' Nothing will happen to us, Howard; God will take care of us''.                    

                                                       'De not dismayed whate'er betide

                                                        God will take care of you

                                                        Beneath his wings of love abide

                                                        God will take care of you.'

                                                              Words  Civilla  Martin.

Stubborn. ( Luke 23 v 27 - 31 )

 I wonder if you ever think ,'what if'', as I look back on my life,there are so many things ,I could ask that  question. Would things have turned out any better?, in some way it seems a pointless exercise,what is done is done, none of it can be changed, so whats the point?.  Yet we can learn from our past, now I am not ant Semitic,like Paul of old I would love for those sinners Israel ,to come come to Christ. But the sad thing is they have a terrible history,and they never once learned from  the past. From the time they left Egypt  till their awful rejection of their Messiah,they continually forsook God,they never changed, I repeat never,we have in the book of Jeremiah, God crying out ,'For my people have done two evil things. They have abandoned me the fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves  cracked cisterns, that can hold no water'. Jer 2 v 12, and so it continued time after time with no let up,but then Messiah came that long awaited person ,who would bless them,but all to no avail, In  Proverbs 29 v1 we read,' He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck , shall suddenly  be destroyed ,and that without remedy'.There are many examples of this in the Bible, Pharaoh,Eli's sons,Ahab,and even Judas,they paid for their stubbornness, likewise Israel,likewise all who resist God's pleadings and warnings.

                                                      When mercy is rejected

                                                       Judgement will follow.

Some doubted. ( Isaiah 35 v 3- 4 )

What does God value ?,there are many things God values,but one thing for sure it is trust, we are so easily blown of course, things we think which may happen,and yet don't. We often anticipate the worst, and it doesn't happen,and you say to yourself,' why did I worry?' The answer is we let doubt take over,instead of simply trusting, our loving heavenly Father,we know we should,for we know He can be trusted. Is this not true?, of course it is, true beyond words,true beyond feelings,because God can be trusted.Just before our Saviour was about to leave and return to heaven,we read,that when the disciple saw Him they worshipped him ; but some doubted (Matthew 28 v 17)I wonder are we any different?, let us not be to quick to judge the weaker brother or sister, for our faith is not always consistent.

                                                       Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,

                                                       Just to take Him at His word;

                                                       Just to rest upon His promise;

                                                        Just to know thus saith the Lord.

                                                        Jesus, Jesus how I trust Him,

                                                         How I've proved Him o'er and o'er,

                                                         Jesus ,Jesus, Precious Saviour,

                                                         O for grace To trust Him more.

                                                           Words by Louisa M.R. Stead.

Liar. ( John 8 v 44 )

I saw a photo recently, it depicted a plaque on the wall of a dental surgery,with the following words on it,'Painless dentist'.  Underneath the plaque a young lad was stretching up with chalk in his hand,and he wrote the word liar.It made me laugh,but telling lies is not a laugh,God is not pleased when we lie,in Proverbs 12 v22 we read, ' The Lord detests lying lips, the Av ,translates it,'Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord'. One writer makes the following comment on these words,'God can't stomach lies', yes these words are severe but God takes lying very seriously,after all he is the God of truth. We read in Hebrews 6 v 18,'It is impossible for God to lie',when He speaks the truth,when He gives a promise he keeps it, that means that God is utterly trustworthy, and so we can take Him at his word.Hitlers Third Reich ,(Reich means kingdom) was built on lies.Hitler declared that the Third Reich would last a 1000 years,instead it only lasted about 12 .A kingdom built on lies will not last, God will see to that,likewise a life or relationship will not last,that is why we can be assured Satan's kingdom will one day cease to exist.There is an old saying that goes, 'Tell the truth and shame the devil',it is always right to speak the truth and honour God, than telling a lie and dishonouring Him.

To believe or not to believe.( Philippians 2 v 5 - 11)

 I just listened to a program about Arianism ,which many believed,it is named after  Arius who advocated a belief that opposed the doctrine of the Trinity. This was a belief that Christ was less than God, lets face it many people find this doctrine strange,and even not rationale .There are many things that people reject  as regards belief,that does not make the thing rejected ,wrong. Now consider who the early followers were ,they were Jews,who in no way would have tolerated anything,or anyone who undermined their scriptures, meaning what we call the Old Testament. In the OT  we have some pointers to the deity of Christ, Genesis 1 v26, Isaiah 9 v 6-7, Psalm 45 v6 -7/ 110 v1 ( CP Mt,22 v 41 -45) .So we go into the NT which I believe shows clearly that Christ was truly God, and truly man. The early disciples who followed Jesus,must have  asked who was this Jesus,?yes the Messiah, but was that all, but when He stilled the storm (Mark 4 v 35 - 45),they were terrified and did ask each other,'Who is this? Even the wind and waves obey Him.'I wonder is that what you are saying?,again they were men of the word of God, they would have died for the truth.It is John the beloved disciple who emphasises the deity of Christ, John 20 v 31. The very first verse in his gospel tells us,'In the beginning was the word , and the word was with God, and the word was God', v14 reads,'The word became flesh and made His dwelling among us'.There are many other passages in the NT that clearly declare Jesus to be God the Son.The program I listened to did not really deal with the Christ of the bible, and I feel in doing this,they were   following in the footsteps of Arius.

Such love. ( 1 John 4 v 19 )

 Let us consider the wonderful historical event about our Saviours coming into this world,and  let us remember that He existed as God before He was born.  John 1 v1. In 2 Corinthians 8 v 9,'For  you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich'. It is E.K.Simpson who writes,' Jesus takes on utter poverty that we might become unutterably rich. Here then is One who for our sakes gave up more than any other being  ever possessed, nay yielded Himself up body and soul to inexpressible pangs as our Hostage.'. The question is ,what motivated Him to do such a thing?,love,the hymn writer ,declared,'Love came down at Christmas',another wrote that it was not the nails that kept Him on the cross, no it was His love. E.K.Simpson declares,'Love is best gauged by  sacrifice'.If we want to see love in its totality,look at that person hanging on that cross,as E.K.Simpson puts it,''the offended died to set the offenders free'' But not only set us free,but as John the apostle wrote,'Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called ,children of God'.( 1 John 3 v1 )

                                                    'Such love springs from eternity;

                                                     such love, streaming through history;

                                                     such love, fountain of life to me;

                                                      O Jesus,such love'

                                                              Words Graham Kendrick.