Eugenics. ( Romans 5 v 8)

 A writer in a national newspaper wrote,' Eugenics was invented by a certain kind of person,solid in their belief that they were superior,to describe other people they thought to be unfit,badly raised, inclined  towards feral immorality or just from bad stock'. She further comments,' The birth control pioneer Marie Stopes was partly inspired by her desire to prevent ''reckless breeding'' from the ''worst end'' of the social scale. And then of course ,there were the Nazis'. There will always be people who think they are better than others,today in schools, some children will be made feel they are inferior to others. As one looks at history we see it magnified to a fearful scale,and so it will continue,for we humans are so often given over to pride, which drives us to look down on others.It is all very flawed and deeply sinful, the fact is God loves everybody,that means everybody,He puts no one down on account  of any deformity, colour ,status, nationality,He loves everyone.He loves everyone so much that He give His only begotten Son,that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  (John 3 v16)

No ( Psalm 18 v 30)

 There is one word Children don't like,and it is no,when I am at a supermarket ,I hear the wail of the Banshee,the sound fills the whole supermarket,no it's not the Banshee,it is a child being told 'no  you can't have that',by it's mother, I exaggerate not,and I say to myself ,'children should be seen and not heard'. There are times when God has to say no to us,we have a number of times recorded in the Bible when God said no to three people .( 1) Moses,he acted rashly,didn't trust the Lord,he was not allowed to go into the promised land,(Numbers 20 v12),later he pleaded with God to go into the Land,but God said, no.( Deut 3 v23- 26)   (2 )David ,he wanted to build a temple for God and God said ,no ( 2 Samuel 7)  (3) Paul was suffering from what he called a thorn in the flesh,he prayed for healing, God said no.  ( 2 Corinthians 12 v 7 - 10) Why did God say no?,well there were good reasons why He said no. When we were Children our parents  would say no to us, and we didn't like it,and we huffed and cried,but now looking back,we realise they knew best,and usually it was for our own good,and also they loved us. So it is our heavenly Father who loves us,and knows what's best for us,will say no to us .Although it may be very painful at this time, remember the words of Paul when he wrote ,'then shall we know' (1 Cor 13 v 12)

Free to choose.( Deuteronomy 30 v 15)

 The poet Whittier wrote,  'For  all the sad words of tongue or pen,  The saddest are these;' It might have been'.    The greatest tragedy that ever happened took place in the garden of Eden,God give clear instructions to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,He told them the consequences,if they did Adam and Eve would die.(Genesis 2 v 17). Alas they disobeyed,they died,for the wages of sin is death ,and all that followed had the stench of death upon it ,for we inherited a sinful nature.If only they had not sinned,if only they had obeyed,what might have been.Very sad and very depressing,yet God had a plan a rescue plan a plan filled with hope,from what have been,for what could be,a Saviour would come,His name would be Jesus.Through His death and resurrection we could be forgiven all our sins,and death would not hold us, we could experience eternal life.It depends on one thing obedience to the gospel,would we believe on Christ as our Saviour ,God has given us the freedom of  choice,just like he granted to Adam and Eve.What will be your choice, will it be life by accepting Christ?,or  death by rejecting Him?, the choice is yours.

We change,God doesn't. ( Malachi 3 v 6)

 I read this recently,' Change is the only constant in life',so very true, I am sure I don't need to remind you of this,we are reminded of this everywhere we look.It was Heraclitus who said,'You cannot step in the same river twice',because the river is constantly changing.in other words if you step in a river,you are stepping into a specific bit of water,and If you withdraw your foot and step in again,you are stepping in a different bit of water. It was Henry F.Lyte who wrote,'Change and decay in all around I see; O Thou who changest not ,abide with me'. Unlike creation that is always changing God does not change, God is immutabile, He has no physical body,He is spirit, his moral character does not change. Tozer wrote,' In God no change is possible; in men change is impossible to escape'. Charles Wesley wrote,'And all things as they change proclaim. The Lord eternally the same'. 'For the Christian it is a great comfort that He is the same everyday always welcoming,never changes His  mind,His love is constant ( Jeremiah 31 v 3) His mercy is assured ,likewise His presence,and His power. It is a source of wondrous strength to know that the God with whom we have to do changes not. That His attitude towards us is the same as it was in eternity past and will be in eternity to come'.( Tozer) 

Do you want to know a secret?( Proverbs 3 v5 - 6)

 Augustine was asked a question, 'What was God doing  before He made the world'? Augustine answered,  'Making  hell for people who ask questions like that''. The fact is there are so many  things we don't  about God,and we may never know. God is under no obligation to tell us everything. Deuteronomy 29 v 29,tells us,'The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, that we may follow all the words of the law'.  We have two things highlighted in this verse, God has His secrets which He will not  reveal to us,but there are things He has revealed to us.Nothing is going to change that,it will remain locked to us those secret things.That is where obedience and trust comes in, when God commands us do something then we must obey,though it may cost us everything. Whatever it may cost us,we are called to trust our God and follow Him,ours is not to reason why our's is but to do or die',Why is  it,I continually hear the words ,'Trust Me'?, for that's what I need to do, that's what we all need to do,it  was Edgar Page Stiles who wrote the following hymn.

                                  'Simply trusting everyday,trusting through a stormy way;

                                   Even when my faith is small,trusting Jesus that is all.

                                   Brightly doth His Spirit shine,into this poor heart of mine;

                                   While He leads I cannot fall, 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.

                                   Trusting Him while life shall last,Trusting Him till earth shall past,

                                    Trust within the jasper wall; Trusting Jesus, that is all.

                                                      Trusting as the moments fly,

                                                      Trusting Him as days go by;

                                                      Trusting Him whate'er befall

                                                      Trusting Jesus that is all.'

                                                     

Hudson Taylor. ( Matthew 9 v 37 - 38 )

 I would like to share with you something I  read recently as regards Hudson Taylor. He was the founder of the China Inland Mission, now known as the,'Overseas Missionary Fellowship'. He believed that the work in China needed a thousand new missionaries to be found in the space of five years for the work to be established. He took the matter to the Lord in prayer and shared his concerns with Christian friends. The task seemed impossible to some of his friends. So they asked him how he could imagine that so many people could be found in so short of time. His answer was simple and convincing. 'When I look at the map of mainland China  I cannot see how I could ask for less. And when I look at the promises of God in the Bible, I do not see why I should ask for less!

                                                            'Have faith in God'

Rough diamonds. ( 1 John 3 v 2 )

If I would describe myself, I suppose I would call myself a rough diamond,yet I feel we are all rough diamond to some extent, for the simple reason we are all sinners. A friend of mine has a young daughter who was having a bit of grief,with other children.Her dad sought to explain to her that there are nice people  out there ,and this young child answered ,'yes there are, but they are still sinners'.Very insightful for a young child,all Christians are but sinners saved by grace,and although we have been forgiven, we still have a sinful nature within us (Galatians 5 v 16ff), so does that not mean that we are all rough diamonds to some extent?, I think so .Did not the greatest of the apostles say he was not perfect (Phil 3 v 12). So we are all imperfect beings,rough diamonds. Consider when a diamond comes out of the ground,it may not look like a diamond,it has to go through a process,before it becomes that beautiful gem, that we all so admire . So it is that we have to experience a  process which we could call sanctification,in order that we may look more and more like Jesus. That process can involve many things,like Pauls thorn in the flesh, like Davids painful experience with a son who sought to kill him,like Joseph being hated by his brothers,being sold into slavery,of being  falsely accused and imprisoned for something he didn't do.Someone has said ,'Nearly all of God's jewels are crystallized tears'.As one song puts it                                                     

                                               'When He cometh ,when He cometh

                                                To make up His  jewels.

                                                All His jewels,precious jewels

                                                 His loved and His own

                                                 Like the stars of the morning

                                                 His bright crown adorning,

                                                 They shall shine in their beauty

                                                  Bright gems for His crown.'          

                                             

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