Form filling. ( Psalm 4o v 1)

Because I am over seventy I have to renew my driving licence every three years,so they sent me a form to fill in ,I thought I had completed it,but I hadn't so they sent it back to me to complete,I ticked the box I felt was the right box and returned it.But low and behold I had ticked the wrong box,so they sent it back to me again,I then ticked the right box and sent it back with apology.So I waited and waited for my licence to come through, I was getting quite anxious and was praying about it,and suddenly these words popped into my head,'The answer is already on its way', the next day I phoned the licence people up,and they assured me it was in the post,and today I received it. I must confess I was at fault for not taking more care in filling in the form, well I am 79,thats's a good get out of jail card.But having said that  God encouraged me with those words,'The answer is already on its way',and so it came to pass.

Restraining Grace.(Matthew 6 v 13 )

 A  man called Blaikie wrote,'' It is a mark of sincerer and genuine godliness to be not less thankful for being  kept from sinning than from being rescued from suffering''. King David was very angry with a man called Nabal, so he strapped on his sword , and with 400 men ,set out to kill that man and his whole household ,but the wife of Nabal, Abigail intervened and persuaded him from taken that action,and David declared,  ' 'Blessed be Yahweh(Lord) who.....has held back his servant from evil'' 1 Samuel 25 v39'.As I look back on my long life I can remember so many times I could have sinned,but didn't as God held me back.We talk about God's saving grace,but what about His restraining grace'. It was Robert  M. M'Cheyne who penned the following words as to when we are in Glory,' Then ,Lord , shall I fully know,not then ,how much I owe'. God is forever watching over His children ,protecting them,preserving them, and restraining them, yes not till them,so true.

                                                     'When I stand before the throne,

                                                      Dressed in beauty not my own,

                                                      When I see Thee as Thou art,

                                                      Love Thee with unsinning heart,

                                                      Then ,Lord, shall I fully know,

                                                      Not till then,how much I owe'.

God will act. ( Exodus 34 v 6 - 7 )

Dale Ralph Davis writes,'We expect opposition from society at large, but what can we do when the  creeping death seeps into the church, especially when her human leaders are  indifferent in faith and  unholy in life'.We move to the book  of 1 Samuel to consider the High priest Eli,he had two sons  Hophni and Phinehas, they all served in the tabernacle  at a place called Shiloh ,these two men were also priests.They are described as scoundrels and having no regard for the Lord or they did not know the Lord,yet they served as priests.( 1 Sam 2 v12) I was surprised to read a survey made a number of years ago,that in a certain denomination300 ministers did not believe in God. The problem was Eli's two sons exploited their position,by showing contempt as regards the sacrificial  offerings made to God,and exploiting there position sexually (1Sam 2 v22)They were rebuked by their father but they did not listen,the father Eli should have stopped them but he didn't,it demanded action not words.  But Eli was to weak for whatever reason,God spoke to Eli twice, warning him that judgement was coming,no longer would his family serve in the priesthood and his two sons would die.,and so it came to pass.In 1Peter 4 v 17 we read that God will judge His church,He will  not stand idly by while those who  act wrongly and teach things that are contrary to His word,judgement will fall.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Grieving. ( 1Thessalonians 4 v 13 -18 )

I would like to share something by Dale Ralph Davis,which I hope will be helpful, on grieving,,'Sometimes in the church there is such an impatience with grief. Why isn't Allan 'over' Carol's death or Connie over Tom's since it's been eighteen months- why can't that mother get beyond the death of their ten year old. I do not deny  that believers may deal with loss in grotesque and twisted ways. However, the persistence of grief is normal not pathological. With passing of time the acuteness of sorrow may lessen but its ache remains. I recall a Christian woman in her seventies telling me that her husband had been dead thirteen years and still she felt the loneliness and missed his companionship. She was a well balanced  mature , joyful Christian woman. But she lost the person she loved, and in one way, she had never gotten over it. Nor should she. Great love has the greatest pain'.

We are making a difference. ( Matthew 5 v16)

 The Medical missionary news,Stand by me, The Missionary Aviation Fellowship,and so we could go on, these are just some of the many Christian organizations that are involved in helping the worlds needy people.History is full of Christians working for the good of mankind ,they have and are making a difference to millions of peoples lives.Dale R. Davis,writes the following,'They are the ones who are the salt of the earth( Matthew 5 v 13) that is,who keep society and culture from rotting into complete  decay,who keep the world from being worse than it is' One day an agnostic confronted  Spurgeon as to his  Christian beliefs. Spurgeon pointed out how unbelievers organizations failed to provide any definite and ongoing program of help to thousands of needy people.By  contrast he pointed to the various works that flowed from evangelical faith. He closed by paraphrasing Elijah's defiant challenge  before the prophets of  Baal( 1 Kings 18 v24 ), ''The  God who answereth by Orphanages, LET HIM BE GOD! End of discussion.'' I know that there secular organizations involved in helping people,but even so it is still a valid argument, that Spurgeon put forth.

Daffodils ( 1Corinthians 15 )

There is something lovely about daffodils ,they burst into bloom as winter is ending,they are very popular,we see them in parks, we see them by the roadsides ,I have  some in my garden,not enough,one can never have enough daffodils. It was the poet Wordsworth who penned those lovely  and unforgettable words.

                                                       'I  wandered lonely as a cloud

                                                       That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

                                                       When all at once I saw a crowd,

                                                       A host ,of golden daffodils;

                                                       Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

                                                       Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Yet another poet  Robert  Herrick wrote

                                                         Fair daffodils, we weep to see

                                                         You haste away so soon;

No matter how beautiful any living thing is,the bible says,'What is seen is temporary' but then it goes unto  say,'but what is unseen is eternal'.(2 Corinthians 4 v18)  The good news is this, for all who are trusting Christ,there  will be a glorious eternal future, in which we will not die, change and decay will be no longer

                                                           'What a day that will be'

Disasters ( Genesis 19 v 14 )

Disasters continually  happens and are very sad,when we think of all the suffering involved,but along side  that ,there are lessons to be learned..Often in considering life ,the thought  that strikes me is how God is not mentioned ,I watched a movie recently and that thought struck me again,it came over as if God didn't exist . Even though the heavens declare the glory of God,people are blind as regards God,He is not in their thoughts Psalm 10 v 4 .Disasters should  be a wake up call, to turn to God. it is also a  reminder as Gordon Bridger  writes ,'that life is short,death may come to us at anytime; that this life is not all there is;  and that we should be ready to meet with God, to repent  of our sins and to put our trust in the Lord. 'Man is destined to die once,and after that the judgement'. ( Hebrew 9 v27 )

                                                      'Where will you spend eternity?