Wolves in sheep's clothing. ( 2 Timothy 2 v 19 .)

In the 16th century Pope Alexander died ,it was said of him,'There was in him,and in full measure, all vices both flesh and spirit. There was in him no religion, no keeping of  word. He promised all things liberally, but bound himself to nothing that was not useful to himself . He had no care for justice, since  in his days Rome was a den of thieves and murderers.' It is said don't judge a book by its cover,it was also said by our Saviour, that people are known by their fruits,our Saviour spoke of the religious leaders,he said,'Beware  of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes,and love to be greeted with respect in the market -places and have the most important seats in the synagogues and places of honour  at banquets. They devour widows houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely'. Luke 20 v46-47.These people pretended to be pious, but behind it all they practiced ungodliness,being in a religious position should never be a opportunity to practice getting rich by exploiting others.

He delights in mercy. (Micah 7 v 18 - 20 )

In Jeremiah 29 v 11 we read,'For I know the plans I have for you , says the Lord.They are plans for good  and not for disaster,to give you a future and a hope'.These words were spoken to those in captivity in Babylon,they would be there 70 yrs.This was one of the lowest points  in Israel's history,God had been angry with His people because they had forsaken Him Jeremiah 2 v 13.if one reads Jeremiah and Ezekiel,you will get the awfulness of the nations sinfulness.So there they were in the land of  Babylon,in shock ,overcome with grief Psalm 137,they had no one to blame only themselves, but they were His people, he had rightly dealt with them, but he had not forsaken them. In Micah 7 v 18 -20 ,we read,Where is there another God like you, who pardons the guilt of the remnant,overlooking  the sins of His special people  forever, because you delight in showing mercy'.Some people  think God delights in showing wrath, He doesn't ,often judgement is a last resort,often the word longsuffering is used of God, but if mankind keep on wilfully sinning, judgement will fall. If you are a professing Christian ,and indulging in sin,repent seek forgiveness,if you are not a Christian likewise God is merciful , believe in the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved.

Unchanging One 2

 I am the Lord, I do not change  ,so reads Malachi 3 v 6, we considered last time how awful changeable  Israel were,talking ,there is a saying of 'biting the hand that feeds you'. Their whole history was of God looking after them,freeing them from slavery,giving them a homeland of their own. In spite of them continually backsliding,rebelling against God,and forsaking Him, He still loved them, and cared for them.Like Israel ,we who delight in Christ as our Saviour, and God as our Father,if we were truthful have not followed God perfectly.Yet God comes to us and  tells us that He still loves us,has not forsaken us, cares for us in so many ways. Yes He is the Lord ,who does not change,let us bow our heads  ,and whisper a prayer of thankfulness,and tell him how much we love Him.

                                            'O to grace how great a debtor

                                             Daily I'm constrained to be!

                                             Let that grace, Lord, like a fetter,

                                             Bind my wandering heart to Thee,

                                             Prone to wander,Lord ,I feel it,

                                             Prone to leave the God I love;

                                             Here's my  heart ,Lord, take and seal it,

                                             Seal it from Thy courts above.!.

                                                     Robert Robinson.

Lost. ( Luke 15 )

 As I returned home I was met by a very agitated wife,the reason she had lost one of her car keys,the good one, yes she has two, one recently had been playing up,the other was fine,but that was the one she lost.We were both a bit agitated now, car keys are really little computers,and they can be expensive to be replaced .I did my best to still my wife,I said lets pray about it,that's what we did. Later my wife suggested going to  an elderly lady my wife cares for,she is partially blind, this we did,I continued to pray.  When we arrived we  we discovered the key ,we were both very grateful, and I thanked God. There are a number of lessons one can learn from this experience, be careful not to judge the person who losses something ,that doesn't help.Next pray about it, bring our sovereign God into the situation,trust Him .As regards that which lost,remember that everyone is lost, and that is a fact, and unless they get saved ,they will die and consciously exist in an eternal permanent state for ever.Their only hope is Jesus, who came to seek and to save those who are lost, He is their only hope,the moment we die we go to either hell or heaven,what would you choose?.

                                                    'Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,

                                                     Weak and wounded, sick and sore;

                                                     Jesus ready stands to save you,

                                                     Full of pity,love, and power;

                                                     He is ale, He is able,

                                                     He is willing; doubt no more.'

                                                             John Newton.

                                                                  

                                                          

                                                    

Unchanging One. ( Psalm 51 )

 In Malachi 3 v6,God declares ,' I am the Lord,and I do not change', the book of Malachi makes very sad  reading, Instead of loving God obeying Him,being faithful to Him,they cheated on God, instead of recognizing their sinful ways they  turned it back on God,blaming Him accusing Him of so many things.The history of the old covenant Israel was deplorable,they never changed, they just kept doing the same thing over and over again.Our Saviour declared how they persecuted the prophets (Matthew 5 v 12)  , Stephen declared just before the Jews killed him,how they were stubborn,like the heathen,refused to listen to the truth, murders of the prophets,disobedient,even though they were favoured by receiving Gods word. Acts 7 v 51ff.Yet God did not change,He loved them,he was faithful to them,they deserved nothing from God,it was Jeremiah when standing amidst the ruins  of Jerusalem ,that had  experienced Gods judgement ,he was filled with despair,but then he remembered the following.

                                                   'The faithful love of the Lord never ends!

                                                    His mercies never cease.

                                                    Great is His faithfulness,

                                                     His mercies begin afresh each morning.

                                                               Lamentation 3 v 22 - 23.

                                                   

Put to death. ( 2 Peter 3 v 10 - 14 )

 In Colossians 3 v 5-6,we read ,'Put to death ,therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature; sexual  immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these the wrath of God is coming'.Theology always has an application, Paul has been dealing with the problems in the church,this  involved the person of Christ, there were those who were teaching that their faith in Christ was not  enough,beware of anyone who tells you such a  thing,if we have Christ, he is all we need,no adds on's. Now let consider 3 v5-6,  v5 commences by saying,'Put to death', and he names those immoral things,  although they were Christians ,they still had within them the potential to get caught up in immorality,Dick Lucas writes,' Not until death shall we be free from evil desires'.We must be severe with ourselves, think of the term he uses,'Put to death', do all you can by God's grace,to avoid such things,see them for what they are, evil.Let us not be sucked into the worlds moral morass, people are being conditioned mainly by the media to accept immoral behaviour. Lets us have a godly morality,that does not mean we will be Pharisees it will mean we will be walking a path of holiness, with our holy God and Saviour.

Troubles .( 2 Corinthians 4 v 8 -9 )

 Life is full of troubles there is no end to them , the troubles that humanity has to face are to many to number,we read in Job 5 v 7,' People are born for trouble as readily as sparks fly upward'.Matthew Henry comments, 'Such is the frailty of our bodies,and the vanity of our enjoyments, that our troubles arise as naturally as the sparks fly upward'.I often turn to the Psalms when troubles come,most of them were written by David who experienced many troubles,life threatening troubles, troubles from even his own family. In   Psalm 46 we have these words ,'God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help  in times of trouble,' Consider those words ,'always ready to help in times of trouble', God is not a reluctant helper,there are people who will help you but very reluctantly,not so God,he is always ready to help. v 2-4 of Psalm 46 reads .' So we will not fear  when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam . Let the mountains  tremble at the water edge'.No matter how great the troubles we may be facing ,God is greater,He can do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think.

                                                         'A sovereign protector I have,

                                                          Unseen, yet forever at hand,

                                                          Unchangeably faithful to save,

                                                          Almighty to rule and command. 

                                                          He smiles  and my comforts abound;

                                                          His grace as the dew  shall descend

                                                          And walls of salvation surround

                                                          The soul He delights to defend.

                                                                 Augustus M,Toplady