Growing. ( Psalm 139 v 23- 24)

 My lawn looked a mess,the long hot weather, with no rain,had done the damage,but recently we have had some rain,with the result that some grass is coming,only some.Most of the lawn  had a lot of dead stuff,that would prevent the grass coming through,what I needed was a lawn scarifier,it is a mechanical rake.I borrowed one from a friend,it was an electric one,and my it was really very effective,I got rid of so much rubbish,my lawn has now a chance to recover, and to grow.The last verse in 2 Peter3 ,reads ,'But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ'.    Dick Lucas comments on this,he writes,' No matter how long we have been Christians, we cannot rest on years of Sunday School lessons, sermons and quite times. Every day represents a fresh challenge, when we will be tempted to forget everything over the years,and trade it in for a novelty item.Peter's solution is to grow in the grace and knowledge of ....Jesus Christ'. Do we want to grow spiritually?what is stopping us?,why is we are not growing?. The fact is we are meant to grow, how are we in relation to our Saviour? are we seeking to know Him more,are we developing a relationship with Him?. Remember we all have a chance to grow,whatever is stopping us growing count it as rubbish,and get rid of it,and then we will have a chance to recover,and a chance to grow.

Honour God. ( 1 Samuel 2 v 30 )

 When king Saul sinned against God again, he was rejected from being king, God was going to replace him with a  person who would obey Him, and do His will,he would be a man after God's own heart (1 Samuel 13 v 14) Remember how important obedience is in relation to God it is vital,when we disobey God, we create a barrier between God and ourselves.God will forgive us if we repent and seek forgiveness.We must assume that Saul never repented,and that  he would continue in that same frame of mind.The Lord knew Saul through and through,as He does us,are  we like Saul or are we like David?.David would be an obedient person, he would not be a perfect person,but he would be a person who would repent when he sinned Psalm 51. One of the problems as regards Saul,is revealed by what Samuel said to him,' When  thou was little in thine own sight, 1 Samuel 15 v17.One person commenting on these words,said the following,'When you started out in this, you were nothing, and you knew it. Then God put you at the head of Israel , made you king over Israel'.  Matthew Henry writes,'Those that are advanced to honour and wealth ought often remember their mean beginnings, that they may never think highly of themselves but always study to do great things for the God that has advanced them'.

                                                          'The best way to honour God

                                                                 is by obeying Him.'

Valued. ( 1 Corinthians 2 v 26 - 29 )

 Commenting on the 7 letters to the churches in Revelation, Leon Morris  points out,' The longest  of the seven letters  is written to the church in Thyatira the smallest and least important town', then he adds,'The values of God are not the values of men'. Think of how people don't value other peoples lives,think how many people are needlessly dying from wars,starvation,murders, by people who don't really care.There is so much evil in the world,the rich get richer, and the poorer get poorer,so many people are exploited.One does not have to go far to discover what people value,that are at odds with what God values.Some religions like Buddhism and Hinduism teach that people suffer for  the wrongs they perpetrated in a previous life,Buddhism include disabled people.The result is ,those people are discriminated against ,despised, and undervalued.As a believer in Christ I value everyone,I remember Paul he was in my Sunday school class, he was very disabled,I loved him and valued him,as did God. Think of Jesus dying on the cross,why? ,because every human being is of value in God's eyes, that means you and it means me.

                                                       '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.

                                                                    John 3 v16 .

Unclean,unclean. ( 1 John 1 v7 )

 Our dear Queen has died, aged 96,I wonder what you think of death?, you may not think much about death, I think about dying,not in a morbid way,but I do think of it. Am I ready to die?,I am ,because Jesus is my Saviour, without Jesus as your Saviour you are unprepared,which will be disastrous,so think about trusting Jesus to forgive you, your  sins. Remember  unforgiven sin is the barrier to heaven,nothing that is unclean can enter heaven (Revelation 21 v 27) ,sin is seen as being unclean,the sinner needs to be washed, ( Psalm 51 v 2) so that they may be clean. In Zechariah 13 v 1, we read of a fountain being opened for sin and for impurity,these words foreshadowed the coming of Jesus,and  the shedding of His blood on the cross. This death brings as Joyce G. Baldwin writes,' the wonder of forgiveness,cleansing ,restoration,.to a  guilt - ridden world. William Cowper wrote a famous hymn, here are two verses from it.

                                                   'There is a fountain filled with blood,

                                                    Drawn from Immanuel's veins;

                                                    And sinners plunged beneath that flood

                                                    Lose all their guilty stains.

                                                    The dying thief rejoiced to see

                                                    That fountain in his day;

                                                    And there have I , as vile as he,

                                                    Wash all my sins away.

More than these. ( John 21 v 15 - 17 )

 I have always enjoyed football, played it a bit when I was younger ,but most of the time I was a spectator, I watch it on the TV, and follow a certain team.I  love football but I love so many other things more,it is important, but there are so many things more important. My wife and family,my friends, and so many other things,I love more. Jesus said something that appeared very strange in Luke 14 v 26,' If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother,wife and children, brothers and sisters,yes , even their own life, such a person and cannot be my disciple',At first glance it appears a very hard thing to say, hating loved ones, surely not?. One writer  explains it like this,'Eastern language is always ae vivid as the human mind can make it.' When Jesus tells us to hate our nearest and dearest, He does not mean that literally.' A simple explanation for the use of the word hate, means to love less. We move forward ,to after our Saviours death and resurrection,where He meets Peter on the sea shore , and he asked him,'Do you love me more than these'?. (John 21 v 15).Well what would your answer to that question?,can we say the following?

                                            'I love Thee more,than this old world can offer,

                                             All sinful follies, I deny, for Thee,

                                             My love, my life, my all,I ,pledge Thee,

                                              I love Thee more , I love Thee Lord,

                                              More than these,More than these.'

                                                             Emie Haase.

Simply Trusting. ( Proverbs 3 v 5- 6 )

Trust is very important ,when there's infidelity in a marriage,it usually means for the innocent party trust is gone.That usually means the marriage is over,because the innocent one  says', I can no longer trust you'.In our relationship with God ,trust is vital , without trust our relationship with God will be affected,in Hebrews 3 v 13,we read,'I will put my trust in Him',that is what God wants us to do,are we prepared for that.faith  and trust can be linked together,often we will not exercise faith,because we do not trust Him. Read the history of Israel.they were a nation that God delivered from 400years of slavery.They actually witnessed miracle after miracle,but when it came to entering the promised land, under the leadership of Moses,they would not enter . They heard reports of a formidable race of giants called the Anakites , also the largeness of their cities , it all became to much for them.and they refused to go forward.When we refuse to go forward with God we are going back. The will of God for the Israelites and indeed for us,must be taken seriously,  fear can take over and we can become like the Israelites of old,pull back because we are afraid,loosing sight of the fact,the Lord will be with us , to aid and help us on our onward journey .E.Page wrote a hymn about trusting God, here are two verses.

                                                      'Simply trusting every day,

                                                      Trusting through a stormy way;

                                                      Even when my faith is small.

                                                      Trusting Jesus, that is all.

                                                      Singing if my way be clear;

                                                      Praying if the path be drear;

                                                      If in danger, for Him call;

                                                      Trusting Jesus that is all.'

                                                            

Such love. ( Galatians 1 v 3 - 5 )

 It is John Stott who wrote the following,'Lowliness was much despised in the ancient world. The Greeks never used their word for humility (tapeinotes) in a context of approval, still less of admiration. Instead they meant by it an abject, servile, subservient attitude, 'the crouching  submissiveness of a slave'. Not till Jesus came was a truly humility recognized. For  He humbled himself. And only He among the world's religious and ethical teachers  has set before us as our model a little child'.There is a hymn with the words, 'Jesus takes the highest station', and rightly so,in heaven he is now the exalted risen Lord, having completed the great work of redemption. But when Jesus came into this world He took the lowest station, He personified humility,from being equal with God, He did not grasp that ,He didn't hold on to it,and then on, everything was a downward step in humility, He became the God man,the Athanasian Creed states,'He was equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood'.Becoming human involved humility in extreme, for we read,'He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross' (Philippians 2 v 8) Why,why, did He do such a thing?, 

                                             'It was for me my Saviour died,

                                             On Calvary's cross was crucified,

                                             For me he bore the guilt and shame.

                                            That I a pardon free, might gain.

                                                           S.L.Long