Lord ,is it I ? ( Matthew 26 v 21 -22 )

 There's a  David in us all, I don't mean the killer of the evil giant,but the adultery and the murderer we read of in 2 Samuel11.There is a Solomon in us all I don't mean the man who wrote that wonderful book of Proverbs,but that besotted old man  who turned to other gods,and brought judgement on Israel (1 Kings 11,There's a Peter in us all ,not that faithful disciple of Jesus ,but the one who denied Him ( Mark 14 v 67 ff).There is Demas in us all not that professing Christian and friend of Paul in the cause of Christ, but the one who forsook him because he loved this present world.The word of God  says ,'Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall ( 1 Corinthians10 v12) It was Robert Robinson who wrote that lovely hymn ,'Come Thou fount of every blessing' two lines in that hymn read ,'Prone to wander,Lord I feel it,Prone to leave the God I  love'. Unfortunately he did just that and confessed' I would give a thousand worlds,if I had then, to enjoy the feelings  I had then'. Oh God grant us grace to overcome the weak,foolishness and sinfulness of our fallen nature,may we continually seek to be under the control of God the Holy Spirit, in Jesus name. Amen.

To God be the glory. ( Philippians 4 v 20 )

 I don't want to be weak, but the fact is I am,I find myself worrying about things,I make mistakes,I get angry at times,with my dear wife,and need I go on. I know those who are reading this are saying ,shame, shame  ,take him out and stone him.Then I remind myself,I am a work in progress,by the grace of God I have come this far,you are no different ,I hope you recognise that,for He does.We have no righteousness of our own,none  whatsoever ,consider the words of Isaiah 64 v 6,'(We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags.)Dale.Ralph. Davis writes,'The living God  does not have clean material to work with. And don't get sentimental when you sing  hymns about the Potter and the clay;  remember it is only sinful( i.e., sin-full) clay  the potter works with'.Years ago I stood up to give a word of testimony,and I just a read a hymn, here's part of it,the words are by James M. Gray.

                                                ' Naught have I gotten but what I received

                                                  Grace have bestowed it since I believed

                                                  Boasting excluded, pride I abase,

                                                  I'm only a sinner saved by grace.

                                        THIS IS MY STORY ,TO GOD BE THE GLORY.

Lessons I've learnt. ( Psalm 37

Andrae Crouch wrote a lovely song that became very popular,it was called ' Through it all'. I just want to leave it with you.

                                  'I've had many tears and sorrows, I've had questions for tomorrow,

                                  There've been times I didn't know right from wrong;

                                   But in every situation God gave me blessed consolation,

                                   That my trials come to only make me strong.

                                    I've been to lots of places,and I've seen a lot of faces,

                                    There've been times I felt so all alone

                                    But in my lonely hours,yes those precious lonely hours,

                                    Jesus let me know that I was His own.

                                    I thank God for the mountains, and I thank Him for the valleys,

                                    I thank Him for the storms He bro't me through;

                                    For if I never had a problem I wouldn't know that He could solve them,

                                    I'd never know what faith in God could do.

                                    Through it all, Through it all, I've learnt to trust in God,

                                    Through it all, Through it all,I've learned to depend upon His word.

    

Be careful ( Isaiah 6 v 5 )

My grandson whose wife is a teacher said of pupils that they are not very respectful towards to their teachers,respect is important.I  recently was on the London underground and people did offer their seats to me,because I am elderly, not all young people are disrespectful, but were it raises its ugly head it is not very nice.But let us consider reverence,it has respect to it,but it goes deeper especially to God. I believe God is the most friendly being in all the universe,friendship is a wonderful thing,I have a number of friends whom I treasure. We often sing ,'What a friend we have in Jesus', and it is true he is our best friend ,and the one who sticks closer than a brother,so much we can say about him. And of course He reflects that greater friendship we have with God Father ,and God the Holy Spirit,the blessed trinity. But we must be careful to not cross the line from friendship to familiarity,we must always treat Him with reverence.a reverence that sometimes is filled with awe, and even fear.A man in the OT crossed that line and suffered for that 2 Samuel 6 v 6 - 7 ) .D.R.Davis writes the following,'God's people tend to forget what sort of God they face. We forget that there is heat in His holiness. No we do not need to be terrified, but being scared  wouldn't hurt'.

Why me Lord. ( Luke 18 v 9 -14)

The country and western singer  Kris Kristofferson went to a church with a friend, during the service the preacher asked if anyone was lost,to put up their hand,he was reluctant to do that,but suddenly he felt himself doing it.People were asked to come down to the front,which he did,he was asked did he want to receive Jesus,he wasn't sure,but all of a sudden he started crying,and he felt forgiveness.From that experience he wrote a song called ,'Why me Lord'. Here are the words of it.

                  '  Why me Lord,what have I ever done,to deserve even of  one the pleasures I've known?,

                     Tell me Lord,what did I ever do that was worth loving you,or the kindness you've shown.

                     Lord help me Jesus I've wasted it so help me Jesus,I know what I am,but now that I know

                     that I've needed you so help me Jesus,my soul's in your hand.

                     Try me Lord if you think there's a way, I can try to repay,all I've taken from you,

                     Maybe Lord I can show someone else,what I've been through myself

                      on my way back to you.

           Let me ask you the the same question that was asked to Kris, do you want to receive Jesus?

Take heed. ( Psalm 90 v 12

 I remember reading how Paul Newman visited Elizabeth Taylor when her husband had died,and she told him off when he started speaking platitudes to her.  A platitude is trite and meaningless, and is the last thing a grieving person wants to hear.When Jesus stood outside the tomb of a man called Lazarus,He wept, tears can speak  to people, likewise silence,Jobs comforters started well for when they came to him none of them said a word, because they saw  how great his suffering was.( Job 2 v13 ) I am reminded of the words from the musical Les Miserables , 'There's a grief that can't be spoken, there's a pain that goes on and on'.Death and tragedy speaks for itself,often we do not know why certain things happen, and we may never know, So where do go from there?,in Ecclesiastes we read,'It is better to go to the house of  mourning  than to go to a house of feasting,for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take it to heart',( 7 v 2 ).We should not live with a morbidness as regards death and tragedy and yet at the same time we should  not ignore them, for they remind us of that hidden but real reality , that we all one day will be ushered into the presence of  God,and depending whither we have trusted Jesus  or rejected Him, will determine where we will spend eternity in heaven,or eternity in hell.

Annihilationism ( Mark 9 v 42 - 48 )

 Just lately I discovered that a very well known Bible teacher,believed in annihilationism,,which is a belief that after the last judgement, all unsaved human beings,all fallen angels and Satan himself will be totally destroyed so as not to exist.Many people believe that when you die that's it,some Christians find the doctrine of hell,that place were all the unsaved will exist in a place of punishment for all eternity,hard to accept. If that is what the Bible teaches then we must accept that, there is a heaven and there is a hell.as heaven is wonderful,so hell is an awful place to be avoided at all cost ,CP Mark 9 v 42 -48. Bruce Milne writes,'There is no more terrible prospect conceivable than of being consigned to hell'.  in Matthew 25 v 41 ,Jesus declares to those who are not saved,'Depart from Me,you who are accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels' The term ,'eternal fire',is also used in Matthew 18 v 8, and in Hebrews 6 v 2,we read of 'eternal judgement'. Jesus taught much on hell ,one may struggle as many do as regards hell, how can God who is love cast people into hell?,yes He loves but His is holy love.Christ death on the cross tell's us of the love of God,but it also tells us clearly of the awfulness of sin,Christ on the cross bore the punishment for sin,we need not go to hell if we but only believe in Christ,if we don't then eternal hell awaits us. Bruce Milne writes,'It is not just that hell is so terrible,but that heaven is so wonderful that every effort is to be made and every possession,if necessary, relinquished in order to arrive there'

                                                  'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ

                                                   and you shall be saved'