The quite man. ( Matthew 18 v 21 - 35 )

 One of my favourite movies is the ,'The Quite Man',it is about a man an Irish American  called Sean Thornton ( Played by John Wayne)returning to his roots in Ireland.He falls in love with Mary Kate Donaher,( Played by Maureen O' Hara)  the sister of Squire Donaher ( Played by Victor Mc Laglen.) The squire is a big man who would start a fight at the drop of a hat,if anybody offended him,he would tell his little side kick to put their name in the book,so he would have a record of those offended him, and deal with them.In 1 Corinthians 13 v 5, we read ,that one aspect of love is,one does not keep a record of wrongs.If we, like Squire Donaher keep a record of wrongs then we are not being loving.We can all justify keeping a record of those who have hurt us,offended us,and instead of loving and forgiving,we hold unto it,and its becomes like a cancer eating away at us. In the Lords prayer, we ask God to forgive us our sins,and yet we are not willing to forgive others. When we trust Jesus as our Saviour a wonderful things happens,all our sins our gone, as far as the east is from the west ,so far has he removed our transgressions from us.( Psalm 103 v 12 ) Don't be a squire Donaher.

Feelings ( Psalm 37 v 3 )

 How am I feeling today?,I feel fine,tomorrow I may not feel fine,that is the way we are as humans,one day we are up the next day we are down. Is it possible to always feel fine?,to be honest I do not know, being part of planet earth,brings with it so many things that can effect us.I cannot say that I am happy all the time,I wish I could,but what I will say is this,I am on a walk of faith,and one thing for sure I am not to be ruled by my feelings,the scripture tells in Habakkuk 2 v 4 and  Galatians 3 v 11, 'that the just shall live by faith', not by feelings.The Christian life begins by faith in Jesus Christ, (Acts 16 v3),but it does not stop there, we have to face life's realities, the sun will not always be shining upon us,but we will have the light of the world  to lead us through.I may change but He will not change, He is the same today ,yesterday, and forever,my feelings don't effect that,so how am I feeling today,is not the important consideration, I am trusting Him ,that is what is important, yes I am changeable, He is unchanging.

                                                         'I change, He changes not;

                                                         The Christ can never die;

                                                         His love, not mine, the resting place;

                                                         His truth, not mine, the tie'.

                                                               Horatius Bonar.

Peace .( Psalm 23 )

When I was younger,people used to say ,'will you give my head peace', the person who said this was very distracted, by whatever. The whatever can cover so many things ,our jobs,family ,unemployment,sudden bad news,and so we could go on,is it possible in such a world that we live in, to know  peace?.Just before our Saviour would die, He said something very precious to His followers ,here is what he said, 'Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful' John 14 v 27. Yes he left it  here for us ,that in a very, very troubled world, we may know peace, we need to be reminded of this, we need to claim it,and experience it.Remember although He has gone to heaven,He is still with us,for he has said ,He will never leave us ,nor forsake us,the Lord is near at hand,to help us, and to bring us through.You may be going through the deepest valley of your life, here is what King David said  ,'I will fear no evil for thou art with me.'Psalm 23 v 4. What applies to David applies to all God's children, that means you ,and it means me.

Roots of bitterness ( Psalm 133)

I remember my friend Derry Nash speaking many years ago,he used an aspect of gardening to stress a point, he if you want to get rid of weeds,you have to dig up the roots. In Hebrews 12 v 15, the writer stresses  the following,'See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God,that no''root of bitterness'' spring up and cause trouble, and by it the many become defiled'. One writer commenting on this' root of bitterness' says the following,' The phrase comes from Deuteronomy 29 v 18; and there it describes the man or woman who goes after strange gods, and encourages  others to do so, and who thereby becomes a pernicious and  poisonous influence on the life of the community'. You know what it says about one bad apple,it ruins the barrel,it ruins all the apples, likewise the covid virus, started by one person.There are many things even in the church that can upset us,and it is so easy to let bitterness take over, and then we start to spread that, and then soon people begin to take sides,and they are odds with one another. We have a choice when we are hurt,we can nurse it, chew over it, and let it take over us,or we can seek the grace of God that will enable us to forgive and to leave our hurt in God's hands.

                                           ' Behold, how good a thing ,it is to dwell in peace;

                                             How pleasing to our king this fruit of righteousness;

                                             When brethren all in one agree,who knows the joy

                                                                    The joys of unity.

Solemn alternatives. (Revelation 6 v 12 - 17 )

 It is John Stott who writes the following.'  Heaven is to be 'with the Lord for eve'r (1 Thessalonians 4 v17); hell is to be excluded from the Lord for ever.  Heaven is sharing in Christ's glory as He is glorified in us, hell is a total nonparticipation in his transforming glory. Those in whom Christ is glorified thereby find themselves and the fullness of their humanity; those excluded from the glory of Christ thereby lose themselves in total, irrecoverable ruin'.These are the alternatives that all humanity have to face,neutral you cannot be,Jesus said,' He who is not with me is against me'.( Matthew 12 v 30 ), there is no sitting on the fence,your decision will settle your eternal destiny,whither you will go to heaven,or whither you go to hell.

                                                     ' Where will you spend eternity?

                                                      The question comes to you and me!

                                                      Tell me, what shall your answer be?

                                                      Where will you spend eternity?

                                                                   E.A.Hoffman

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I am not like that. ( John 21 v 20 - 23 )

 A friend of mine told me when he was a young Christian, he was upset how some Christians got on, and he took it to the Lord in prayer,and he felt the Lord said to him,'that's people ,I'm not like that.' The church will never be perfect, even in a state of Grace we do not always reflect Christ. The vital thing for all us who are Christians ,we must keep our eyes on our perfect Saviour. Christ loves His church,even though  it is not a perfect church, far from it. Read the book of Corinthians the problems Paul had in that church ,and it made life very difficult for Paul . Paul could always see the bigger  picture, he kept His eyes on Jesus, and he pressed on.He sought to put the past behind him.The past clings to most of us ,often hindering us, trying to pull us down ,and even pull us back.We must be realistic, the church is full of imperfect people,and that includes you and me,Christian shouldn't do certain things ,they shouldn't , but  alas, they do.Think what Jesus had to cope with,not just the religious leaders,but even his disciples , think of Peter, or even Judas.The hymn writer wrote,about ones friends despising ,and forsaken them,and then he added, take it to Lord in prayer,I remind you again  what our Lore said to my friend,'that's people, I am not like that'.

Friendships. ( John 15 v 12 - 15 )

 I am just in from visiting a friend,as I look back in my life I recall the friends I've I had ,I remember in primary school having a friend called Billy Harris,I had a fight with him and I bit him,I was only little lad.Another friend called Victor he wasn't a helpful friend,he drew me into something I regret doing,you are better without friends like that.Another friend was Raymond Fullerton he was a good friend we went on holidays together,played snooker,and went to football matches together.And so I could go on telling you of the friends I've had in my life,and the friends I have in my life now,good friends godly friends. The bible tells us ,'A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother,' Proverbs 18 v 24. I found that friend ,the one who sticks closer than a brother, his name is Jesus.I have known Him for most of my life, in spite of the fact that I at time left Him,he always kept an eye on me,preserved me in my foolish sinful ways,and could have cast me aside but He didn't. I remember it well 58 years ago I had an encounter with Him, and our friendship ,and fellowship was restored. I  am so glad that happened, for without Him ,life would be empty, and meaningless,and I would miss Him so much, this friend, called Jesus. You can know Him ,he can become your friend, if you trust him as your Saviour

                                                         'What a friend we have in Jesus

                                                          All our sins and griefs to bear,'

                                        'He is my forever friend, he can be your forever friend'