Procrastination. ( Revelation 3 v 20 )

 I said to myself ,''I will do it later,then I said no I will do it now,and so I did,my wife can be a bit critical at times,when I say I will do it later,she very cynically, and very annoyingly'I suppose it will never get done'',as if. I ask myself the question are all wives like this?,well she may have a point.I suppose its possible, some things don't get done,we put off,and we put it off, but not today, I got over my procrastination spirit,and did it,I must tell my wife,but I don't think so,for she may say,'so what,do you want a medal?''Ah procrastination, the art of putting things off,Martin Luther said, 'How soon, ' not now ' becomes never'. People make jokes as regards procrastination like the following, , My mother always told me I wouldn't amount to anything, because I procrastinate,'I said ,'Just wait'.One can laugh at this but of course when it comes to salvation to procrastinate can be a very serious business. On one occasion the apostle Paul witnessed to a Roman governor (Acts 25 v 24 - 25) God spoke to him ,but he  resisted that ,and then he said to Paul,''when I have a convenient season I will call for thee''.In Isaiah 55 v 6, we read ,'Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is neat''.The whole point is the urgency, a limited time of opportunity. tomorrow may not come for you,take the opportunity now to trust the Lord.

                                                          ' Now is the day of salvation.'

An aroma ( 2 Corinthians 2 v15 - 16)

 An author called Rita Snowden tells of her visit to a small town near Dover,England. She was having tea in the late afternoon when she became aware  of an unbelievably  pleasant scent filling the air. She asked the waiter the source of the scent and was told that it came from the people passing by . He explained to her that they worked in a perfume factory down the street and were on their way home. When they  left the factory  they carried  with them  the fragrance  that had permeated their clothes during their day's work.     I remember meeting my cousin  whom I hadn't seen for many years, he said to me your different, I hope that difference was that Jesus was somehow shining through this earthen vessel that I am.When the apostles were arrested and brought before the Jewish authorities, (Acts 4 v 13)' they  took note that these men had been with Jesus'. In  2 Corinthians 2 v 15-16 ,Paul writes ,'For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other ,an aroma that brings life'.The fact is there will those who will accept the wonderful fragrance of the Gospel  will receive eternal life,others will reject it  and will die in their sins.

Who is this man.? ( Isaiah 9 v 6)

 Some call him his holiness, but his holiness  made a lewd suggestion to a young person,he is seen as a god ,gods there are in plenty in this world, but what are they ?They are only bit actors playing a role,that in no way represents a true deity,I would go farther and say they are satanic, who enslave their followers  and lead them into the dark, a darkness that will never cease. Now let us turn away from these phonies, and let me point to an unique person,he was born of a virgin, born in obscurity, when He grew up,he began ministering,in word and in doing  good,that  good involved miracles,He turned water into wine,walked on water,calmed a storm,raised the dead,give sight to the blind,hearing to  the deaf, speech to the dumb,freed people from Satan's power,and so many other things,and He unlike that lewd person whom  some address as His holiness,He never sinned in word.thought,or deed. This man's last acts was His death and resurrection,His death was awful ,crucifixion ,yet in that death mankind could escape the just punishment for their sins,as He would bear the punishment for them,when they put their trust in Him..Three days after his death He rose from the dead,if a person trusts Him as their Saviour, they likewise will rise from the dead. Who was this man His name is Jesus,otherwise known as Emmanuel, meaning,' God with us.'

                                                             ' My Lord and my God'

Have you? ( Acts 16 v31 )

 Jesus said,'But you will receive power when the Holy Ghost comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,and in all Judea  and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.' (Acts 1 v 8 ) Tony Campolo wrote the following,'It so easy for those of us in the  evangelical community to talk about people  going to hell.But if in the depths of our being we really believed this ,we should  constantly be witnessing , because the thought of  people going to hell without having heard about Christ should be an intolerable burden to bear'.It is a fact if you asked ,do most of them want to go to heaven when they die,they would say  yes,but everyone is not going to heaven because they have not received Christ as their Saviour. The question is,have you?.

Little providences. ( 1 Kings 17 v12 -14 )

 I read this recently,'Little providences make big differences', I remember getting a puncture I hadn't changed a wheel for along while,and a man passing by took over and changed it for me,a little providence. As I look back on my life I see God intervening in small ways.God does that,it was a lost donkey that brought Saul in contact with Samuel ,and what followed was ,Saul became Israels first king.I remember many years ago we had absolutely no money,and we had two commemorated Churchill coins given us a few years previous by my wife's aunt,so we cashed them in.A similar case arose,we were living by faith, no money,but I had a bought a trombone a few years earlier,so we were able to sell it and get some money for food. I had tried many places to get into Christian ministry, I saw in a Christian magazine a church advertising for a minister,and lo and behold I got the job. During my time at Bible college we lived by faith that meant trusting God for our needs, we did not get a grant, during that time there was man in the church we attended called Jackie Dunbar ,and during that time he give me on a regular bases two pound .We should think of Gods providence continually , even in those,'little  providences' ,they can make a difference,yes a very big difference.

Repentance (Luke 19 v 35 - 43

Cruden's writes the following about repentance,'Repent or repentance is used of regret  and sorrow for having done some deed. It is not always used for godly repentance,which means such sorrow as shall cause a complete change of action. Judas repented of his betrayal of Jesus,(Mat 27 v 8 ), but did not change his life.When it is used in regards to God it is in a figure of speech,which speaks of Him almost as if human; and since his actions are changed,attributes to Him the feelings in a man, would cause such a change'.Repentance is very important, it would be evidence by change. an abuser would stop abusing,a thief would stop thieving,take the example of Zacchaeus mentioned in Luke 19,he had an incounter with Christ,he was a hated tax collector,those tax collectors would exploit their position,making people to pay more than they should,but getting to know Jesus changed all that,he had Jesus as a guest in his home. We read that he stood up and said,'Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything I will pay back four time the amount'.'True repentance goes beyond a merely emotional response'. (Davis)

Death. ( 1 Corinthians 15 )

I had a birthday recently I was 79 ,my oldest son gave me a present of two books,one of them was called,'This Mortal Coil, a history of death'. I wonder if he is trying to tell me something?. One thing it did do was make me give up smoking, I joke I do not smoke, it made me laugh.Of course death is not  a laughing matter, but it is inevitable,but humanity is doing all they can to hold it back. I am reminded of the story how King Canute (who was also called Canute the great) is reputed to have tried to stop the tide come in, of course he didn't do that, he was a Christian, he was seeking to show were real power lay ,in God alone.In Revelation 1 v 18 we read of Jesus who holds the key of power of death and hell.Yes we cannot hold death back ,it will happen,what then? There are two destinies heaven or hell,we don't have to go to hell,and we can most certainty can go to heaven..When we trust Christ our sins are forgiven,and we are given eternal life, so it means when we die, we shall live again,in that wonderful future he has prepared for all those who trust Him.