Meaning ( John 1 v1-5 )

 Is that all there is?,we are born ,live how many years and then we die, and that's it!, I have just finished reading a book  called,' Life change',in it 16 men tell their extraordinary stories.Those 16 people would as you would expect come from various backgrounds,a number of them were involved in crime ,drugs violence,but one was an entertainer ,another was an adventurer.The common denominator was they had no meaning to their lives,some had plenty of money,non of them believed in God.The question is what changed them?,what transformed their live?,or  should I say who changed them?. Let us ask the question first ,what is the meaning of life ?, why do we exist?, why? yes why?. Most live especially in our western society ,at a physical,and material level,that's it, so many are content to live at that level.But if for a moment we think about life at a deeper level, we may begin to ask the question ,surely there is more to life than this. People put a lot confidence in science, but they do not have the answer to the meaning of life.On a personal level ,there was a time when I had got away from the Lord ,and to me there didn't appear to much meaning to life,we are just here because of supposedly a freak accident,following a big bang.and planet earth with all the variety of life just happened of its own accord. Well thankfully like those 16 men  I found the answer in God through Jesus,we often here people say,that Christ is the meaning of Christmas He is , but He is more than that,He is the meaning of life.To get to know Him one must accept Him as their Saviour, and then all things will fall into place.

A word in season. ( Proverbs 15 v 23 )

 It was Charles Spurgeon's first year of ministry in London, Cholera struck. One family after another called Spurgeon to the bedside of loved ones and almost daily he stood by a grave. At first Spurgeon  threw himself into his visitation of the sick with all his youthful vigor. Soon , however, ''weary in  body, and sick at heart'', he began to think he was about to succumb. He was on the great Dover road dragging himself home from a funeral when a large broadside posted in a shoemaker's window arrested his attention .It did not look like a trade announcement, nor was it, it was a quotation from Psalm 91 v10 which read,  'Because thou hast made the Lord , which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation, there shall no evil befall thee, neither  shall any plague come nigh dwelling'. These words greatly encouraged Spurgeon, and he appropriated them by faith.He felt refreshed and secure,and carried on his visitation of the dying, in a calm and peaceful spirit'.

Idols. ( Exodus 20 v 2 -4 )

 I was watching a popular TV program called the,'Antique Roadshow', one man had brought two wooden idols,to have them valued,he  said they had spiritual significance. When he was told  what they  were worth ,he said ,'I am not selling them, I am keeping  then to protect my home'. In relation to idols we read the following in Psalm115 ,they are made by human hands.they have mouths,but cannot see. They have ears,but cannot hear, noses ,but cannot smell. They have hands , but cannot feel,feet but cannot walk, nor can they utter a sound with their throats.Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them'. Some idols were made of silver or gold, that did not change anything,they had no power to do anything, Even Socrates spoke of them with contempt, yet people did and still do,trust in such things.In making the point of the uselessness of idols, the Psalmist exhorts Israel ,to trust in the Lord,He will help and protect them,for He alone is the living God,in Him alone is there salvation through Jesus.So get rid of your lucky charms,and if are trusting in a wooden idol ,burn it,a stone idol, take a hammer to it, if money is your idol or any other thing is your idol ,forsake them and turn to the living God.

                                                      The dearest idol I have known,

                                                      Whate'er that idol be,

                                                      Help me to tear it from Thy throne

                                                      And worship only Thee.

                                                              W. Cowper.

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'.