The school of unlearning. ( Proverbs 3 v 5- 6 )

 There is a very popular book called,'The Boy,the Mole,the Fox,and the Horse',written by  Charlie Mackesy', it is full of many meaningful quotations,here is one ,''I wonder if there is a school of unlearning''. As a Christian I have had to unlearn many things,in relation to sex,money ,violence,forgiveness,love and obedience.There are many other things one could mentions,' leaning on one's own understanding'.As a non - Christian so often that's what I did,like most people, unfortunately our own understanding is very flawed,and causes us to be judgemental critical,and make wrong decisions. The word of God tells us to,' Trust in the Lord with all our heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding'.( Proverbs 3 v 5 ) These words are very important, it is not telling us to stop thinking,but submit our thinking to God.Before we came to the Lord ,it was all us ,King 'I' reigned,we did it our way,but it should not be that way now.The verse starts were we all should start,'Trust in the Lord',the American dollar has the words,'We trust in God',on it,but how many Americans do?, .those words means nothing to them they trust in so many things, other than the Lord. Words are not enough,we must go beyond words,and exercise trust in God,that's what we are  told to do,are we prepared do do that?,yes we all have a lot of unlearning to do if we are honest.

Seize the moment. ( Isaiah 1 v18 )

 It is W. Barclay who highlights the following,'The tragedy of the unseized moment',consider how many people heard Jesus speak,saw the miracles,felt moved,but that is as far as it went.I worked with an old man,I used to talk to him,he used to go to church were Ian Paisley was the minister, Ian was a great gospel preacher,many came to Christ under his ministry.That old man told me that he was in tears as he listened to the gospel,but he never seized the moment.He was almost persuaded,almost,the gospel must be acted upon,everything depends on that,we have to seize the moment. Many are in hell who heard the gospel yet never responded,I wonder do they ever think ,'if only',if only I had seized the moment,,and trusted Christ. Life at best is very brief,and very uncertain,none of us known when we are going to die,even though we know that everyone is going die,there are no exceptions,none. Seize the moment, if you re not a Christian, your greatest need is Christ,to die without him is to go to a Christless eternity, don't believe that there is no hell,don't wait to find out.I can assure you there is a heaven and there is a hell,where will you spend eternity, seize the moment trust Jesus as your Saviour ,now.

He lives. ( Acts 9 v1 - 18)

So that's it ,the long promised child had come,and for Mary,Joseph,life would never be the same, a young man met a friend one day,and he said to him ,'you've changed',and his friend replied,yes,I know,'I have met Jesus'. You cannot but be changed when you meet Jesus,and that change will always be for the better, Christmas cannot change anybodies life, only Christ can do that,it is nice to receive gifts ,but the greatest gift one can ever receive is the gift of God which is eternal life,through our Lord Jesus. (Romans 6 v23 ).His coming has changed millions of lives,and so it goes on,and on, and on, it will never stop, how is that possible?, because He lives in the power of an endless life.The great religious leaders ,they all died, their teaching has influenced many people,likewise powerful leaders,Lenin's body has been preserved ,but he is dead, nothing can change that,but Jesus is alive,

                                             'I serve a living Saviour, He's in the world today;                                          

                                              I know that He is living , whatever men may say;

                                             I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of Cheer,

                                             And just the time I need Him He's always near.

                                             He lives,He lives, Christ Jesus lives today!

                                             He walks with me, and talks with me,along life's narrow way,

                                             He lives,He lives, salvation to impart!

                                             You ask me how I know He lives,He lives within my heart'

                                                              Words  A.H. Ackley.

Don't miss the meaning. ( John 3 v16 )

So this is Christmas, a time to rejoice  and praise God, like the angels all those many years ago,for Jesus,the gift beyond words. From the moment He was born, He would have one thing in view,fulfilling the will of God. It is was William Holman Hunt who painted a pictured which is called ,The shadow of death', it depicts Christ as a carpenter in His workshop,He is shown stretching His arms after sawing some wood,the sun is shining on Him. The shadow of His outstretched arms fall on a wooden spar on which carpentry tools hang,creating a shadow of death, prefiguring the crucifixion. His mother  Mary is depicted behind Him kneeling,gazing at the shadow.The cross was always there, His journey began as it were in a cradle and would end on a cross,that's why He came.An old friend recently died, she was a Christian,after the funeral,family and friends gathered at  a local church ,most of them are not Christians.One of the hymns we sung was about the cross,I have ministered in song during my life ,I put all my heart into singing this hymn, it is called ,'Beneath the cross of Jesus', here is a verse from that hymn.

                                       'Upon that cross of Jesus, mine eyes at times can see,

                                       The very dying form of one,who suffered there for me;

                                       And from my smitten heart with tears,two wonders I confess;

                                       The wonders of His glorious love,and my own worthlessness.'

                           

                                

Our only hope. ( Ephesians 2 v 12 -22)

' Once upon a time', that's how Fairy Tales usually begin, I am concerned that when it comes to Christmas and presenting it ,it becomes like a Fairy Tale. But even many Fairy Tales have a dark side to them, as regards Christmas it was not written by Hans christian Anderson, it is based on a real event,based on real people.There is the miraculous in it,Mary the mother of Jesus was a virgin,the child was God manifest in the flesh.Even though it is true,we cannot stop there,if we do then we are leaving out the meaning of the event,the why it all happened. What is the clear answer to the why question? ,humanities lostness ,sinfulness,as I read history, especially the 20th century,I am struck by the unremitting violence. I could  include so many other things,that is very frightening,and it leaves me in no doubt as to mankind's sinfulness, and their desperate need  of a Saviour. If we forget this we will be held accountable by God,the Christ coming into the world, is not a Fairy Tale.it is Gods only answer for humanity to be saved, without it ,there is no hope, and we need to let everyone know that.

                                                   'Child of the stable's secret birth,

                                                   The Fathers gift to a wayward earth,

                                                    To drain the cup in a few short years

                                                    Of all our sorrows, our sins and tears-

                                                    Ours the prize for the road He trod;

                                                     Risen with Christ; at peace with God.

                                                               Timothy Dudley- Smith.

Our heavenly home. ( 2 Timothy 2 v1 )

 I came out of the supermarket, got into my car,and as I drove off ,I prayed,'Father get me safely home',driving is potentially very risky and dangerous. All of a sudden those words took on a different meaning,and I uttered them again to God my Father,for I was thinking of my heavenly home.From the moment we become a Christian we are on journey,to heaven,we are foreigners and strangers on earth,and we have a longing  for a heavenly country.(Hebrews 11 v 16)On this journey to heaven we face many difficulties, I stress many, the hymn writer ,wrote of the many dangers,toils,and snares, he had come through. John Bunyan wrote ,'Pilgrims progress', about a man called Christian,who on a journey to that Celestial city,faced a giant and many other dangers.But by the grace of God he reached his destination,our responsibility is not to give up, it is called the perseverance of the saints.It goes without saying that we cannot do it on our own strength, Jesus said ,''without me you can do nothing'. (John 15 v 5) We need to keep , looking and depending on Him,and like Him who for the joy that was set before Him,  endured the cross, scorning its shame,so we must follow in his footsteps,and as we do,our great God will bring us safely home.

                                                     'Since ,Lord, Thou dost defend

                                                      Us by Thy Spirit.

                                                      We know we at the end

                                                       Shall life inherit.

                                                       Then fancies flee away!

                                                        I'll labour night and day 

                                                        To be a pilgrim.

                                                                 John Bunyan

Shine. ( Matthew 5 v14 )

Bruce wrote ,' An empire founded on violence,plunder and exploitation is like a jerry-built house. It is bound to collapse because it has no inner coherence. The  various, parts of the structure, the walls and the beams, stand in perpetual tension with one another instead of providing mutual support. At last ,the tension becomes too great and the building crashes in ruins'.Consider ,Hitlers Third Reich,that  supposedly  was to last for a thousand years it lasted 12 years. The Soviet Union founded by Vladimir Lenin  lasted 69 yrs, both these governments,were founded on wickedness,millions and millions of poor souls suffered dreadfully.  In Proverbs 14 v 34 we read,'Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin condemns any people' The question I ask , are there any righteous nations?,it is a good question ,it appears to me that all nations are living on borrowed time,and I believe that when evil has reached its zenith,the end will come,only God knows when that will be.The important thing for the children of the kingdom of God, is to live godly holy lives,to walk in the light,in fact to be a light,in this dark world of sin.

                                               ' Jesus bids us shine, with a clear pure light,

                                                 Like a little candle burning in the night,

                                                  In this world of darkness,we must shine,

                                                  You in your small corner,and I in mine.

                                                             Words Susan B, Warner.