It's a secret. ( Isaiah 55 v 8-9 )

 Who was John the Baptist? he was related to Jesus, when he grew up he became a prophet,our Saviour called him great (Matthew 11 v 11) ,and his message  was great,his ministry  was a fulfillment of OT prophecies ,Isaiah 40 v 3/ Malachi 4 v5.That ministry was to prepare the way of the Lord,he called the people unto repentance,He was very popular and he was acknowledged by the people as a prophet Matthew 21 v26. He made it clear that he was not the Messiah ,John 1 v20.He had his disciples, and when Jesus became popular, they were concerned, but John said,'A man can receive nothing, except it be given  him from heaven John 3v27. Leon Morris says this,'John sees the hand of the Father in everything'. This struck me as a very interesting and challenging statement.What to you see when you think of Ukraine?, Putin,is not our sovereign God,got a purpose in this awful war?.At this stage I must confess I don't know what that purpose is ,what I would say is He is not guilty of the evil perpetrated in it. Most of us don't know as regards why so many things happen in this world,because we are not God, the greatest thinkers,when it comes to it,know very little. One of the most interesting verses in the bible is to be found in  Deuteronomy 29 v 29,which reads ,'The secret things belong unto the Lord our God,' God is not obliged to tells us everything, nothing will change that, may God grant us the grace,to leave it at that,and to trust Him.

                                                

Here I stand. ( Jude v 3 )

Things have not change as often we are confronted with a choice,time after time,do we hold to scripture alone or accept those who have other authorities .The Mormons would say that they believe in the Bible ,the AV translation, but they also have their book of Mormons and other authorities .  The Roman Catholic church hold to the bible, but also holds unto church authority,and church tradition.The liberal theologians would have the Bible,but accepting only what appears to them as rational.Taking his life in his hands,while standing before church authorities, Martin Luther declared,' Unless I  am convinced by Scripture and plain reason....I cannot and will not recant anything'. He went on to say,' Here I  stand; I can do no other. God , help me.Amen.'  As a Christian minister I believe in disciplining myself, to stay within the confines of the word of God,to do other than that, is a very dangerous path to take.Many are doing it these days,especially those who are ministers,their liberalism can lead so many astray.We do not burn heretics,and rightly so, but we must challenge their unbiblical beliefs,and we must hold fast to the truth of the word of God.

                                                    'Here I stand ,I can do no other'

Down memory lane. ( 1 John 3 v1 - 3 )

The memory is a wonderful thing,of course there are things from the past ,we would rather not remember, and all I can say to that is,don't dwell on them. There are very good memories , I recall some of my early  spiritual memories,one was when I very young I was lying in bed,and I talked to God,it was time when my mother and father separated,and I said to God about not having a father,then I said you are my Father. God is a father to the fatherless,but he is not father to those who do not know Christ, Christ is the key to all things spiritual.The word of God declares ,' To all who receive Him ,(Jesus) to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become Children of God'. ( John 1 v 12)  My son and his wife adopted two children,before they were adopted they could not call my son father.Adoption was not common among the Jews, but it was common among the Romans ,and when they adopted a child,all the rights of a natural born child became theirs. We read in Ephesians 1 v 5,'In love He predestined us for adoption to son-ship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will' . What a blessing this adoption has brought us into ,we have been forgiven though Jesus,we are now connected to our loving heavenly Father, that means we have come under  .This means you and I are not nobodies, no we have a special status, we are children of  God.

                                                        ' I'm accepted,I'm forgiven,

                                                         I am Fathered by the true and living God.

                                                         I'm accepted, no condemnation,

                                                         I am love by the true and living God.

                                                         There's no guilt or fear as I draw near

                                                         to the Saviour and creator of the world,

                                                         There is Joy and peace as I release

                                                         my worship to you ,O Lord.'

                                                                 Rob  Hayward.

                                                     

                                                     

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.