The race is not to the swift. ( 1 Corinthians 1 v 18 - 31 )

 Ecclesiastes 9 v 11 reads,'The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favour to those with knowledge,but time and chance happen to them all'.  As the writer observed life  does not always go as planed,the fastest runner does not always win the race,sometimes the tortoise wins. The strongest man does not always win the fight as Goliath found out.The wise and intelligent don't always succeed in life ,sometimes the Nabal does,though wealthy,his name means fool,and as was his name so was he. (1Samuel 25 v25 ) There are so many examples of these things in life, the writer sums it up by saying ,'Time and chance happen to all',It is Matthew Henry who writes,'All these disappointments to us  seem so casual, and we call them chance, but really they are according to the counsel of God'  King David wrote, 'My times are in your hands'. (Psalm 31 v 15), let us hold fast to the truth of God's sovereignty, it is CH. Spurgeon who wrote, 'God in providence often laughs at pedigree and ancestry. and stains the honour dignity of everything in which human nature boasts itself,from the kennel to the palace is an easy ascent when heaven favours'.

Holiness ( Leviticus 20 v20 )

 A  notable Christian who lived in the 19 century called John Duncan otherwise known as .'Old Rabbi  Duncan', said on looking back on decades of his life,confessed,'' I have never done a sinless action during the seventy years''. Is he not exaggerating?, no he's not,for sin comes in many ways,even in what we may call our most holiest of moments,our fallen nature ,is felt. Consider the sermon on the mount,were our dear Saviour touches  on so many things,not just our actions but our motives. I have a reasonable singing voice but often I wonder ,for whose glory was I singing .Often our Saviour stressed the doing of things secretly, like praying,giving, and fasting.He stressed the importance of forgiving others,turning the other cheek,the list goes on.There are people who feel that one could reach a point of not sinning,in spite of the fact that we are told ,' If we claim to be without side sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us'.(1 John 1 v 8 )Only God is holy,we are called to be holy,the holiness process will not be complete until we get to glory, although holiness may elude us,we must never give up in the ongoing challenge to be holy. It was Robert Murry MCheyne that godly man who said the following,'I earnestly long for more grace and personal holiness,and more usefulness'.  I often pray,''Lord make me as holy as a pardoned sinner can be made''.

Ungrace ( Matthew 6 v 14)

 It is Philip Yancey who writes in his book, 'What's so amazing about Grace',of ungrace ,meaning those who refuse to forgive,will not utter the words,sorry. I knew a lady who who was a professing Christian,  and she was so ungracious, she sought to undermine my leadership,said unpleasant things about me,she was confrontational,I must confess I avoided her.She has now passed away, I suppose I should have went and saw her,and told Her I forgave her, the hurtful memories still remain, so I did something,I prayed a prayer, I said,' Father I forgive her'. If you are carrying hurts ,that has turned to hate,yet that person has passed away, yet for you the hate remains ,that's ungrace ,harbouring hatred and unforgiveness is not the way of grace, it is like living with a permanent open sore. It is one thing singing,' Amazing Grace' when we think of the grace God has shown to us,yet we ourselves refuse to show that grace to others.Our dear Saviour who experienced so much  hurt and hatred from His enemies,could pray while they nailed him to the cross,'Father forgive them', He wants us to follow His example. In Matthew 5 v 44 we read ,' Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you'. Why not pray that simple prayer. 'Father I forgive them'.

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'.