Mary. ( Mark 14 v 1- 10 / John 12 v 1- 8 ) 1

 It is six days before Passover ,Jesus was staying in a friends home called Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead,it was also the home of his two sisters,Mary and Martha. His disciples were there also and among them was Judas the thief,and he was the one who would betray Jesus ,for the love of his life ,money.(This account is in John 12 v 1-8 )  They were all sitting down to a meal, in which Martha was serving ,and as they reclined there, Mary came up to Jesus and poured very expensive  perfume on Jesus feet and wiping his feet with her hair..The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume,but it was also filled with  the voice of the lover of money,he made what seemed a valid point,why was the perfume not sold and the money given to the poor . It  would have  been an opportunity for him to get his hands on some of it,he didn't care for the poor. Sadly the other disciples joined in the criticism,and they rebuked her harshly. It was at that point our dear Saviour intervened, 'leave her alone' He said,'why are you bothering her?,She has done a beautiful thing to me.Jesus reminds them that she did this deed with his death in mind. J. C .Ryle wrote the following,' Let us not heed what men say or think of us because of our religion. The praise of Christ,at the last day, will more than compensate for all we suffer in this world from unkind tongues'.

                                                  

                                                 

Hope ( 1 Corinthians 15 )

 'I wrote this down recently,'This old world keeps going from one crises after another,like so many peoples lives.' I sense that so many people  underestimate the awfulness of mankind's history, take the 20th century,it was a century of absolute horror,yes even that word horror is not strong enough  to describe that century. I look with great concern on the century we live  in ,and wonder if it is going to be worse than 20th, it may be. Because of man's fallenness  the future is not  very bright,of course we have the so called natural  disasters,they are bad enough. I do not paint a very optimistic picture as regard this world, but history bears it out,things will not change. One could ask this old prophet of doom,me,is their no hope for this old world?,no,that's my final answer.In all the gloom and doom ,we are told there is going to be a new heaven and a new earth,whose inhabitants will be those who have been  made new in everyway. Those who have been made completely new with a new nature sinless and perfect (2 Corinthians 5 v17 ) They will have new bodies it will be a spiritual body,and Christ image will be stamped upon them from being a perishable body we will have an imperishable body,and we will be immortal, death will be no longer,life eternal with all it's glories will come into being,and it is all because of Jesus ,you can be part of it, if you trust Him as your Saviour.

We are not god's. { Exodus 20 v 2- 6 )

 A worldwide famous chef is opening a restaurant in London ,his name is Yannick Alleno, and he said the following,'I want my guests to feel like god's'.It is an interesting statement when the devil tempted Eve as regards eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He said if you eat it you would be like God ( Genesis 3 v 5) One writer says the following,'It wasn't wrong for Eve to be like God. To become more like God is humanities goal, it is what we are supposed to do.But Satan  mislead Eve concerning the right way to accomplish this goal. He told her that she could more like God by defying  God's  authority, by taking God's place and deciding for herself what was best for her life. In effect, he told her  to become her own god'. There was a very pompous politician ,and it was Winston Churchill who said,'there but by the grace of God, goes God'. Nothing has changed,we may not be pompous ,and yet we may be,but like Eve of old our first mother, we have chosen not God or His way,but our way.That great chef may want to make his guests feel like God,but feelings don't change anything,we are human and we will die,and then we will face the one who is God,are you ready?, better get ready,by trusting Jesus as your Saviour.

I'm going to live for ever. ( Romans 8 v 35 - 39 )

 My Saviour said,' My sheep listen to my voice, I know them,and they follow Me. I  give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, no one will snatch them out of my hand.My Father, who has given them to me,is greater than all, no one can snatch  them out of my Father's hand, I and my Father are one'. (John 10 v 28-30 ). John Stott declares,'' No profounder security is conceivable for the follower of  Jesus'' 

                                              'The stars shine over the earth,

                                               The stars shine over the sea,

                                               The stars look up to the Mighty God,

                                               The stars look down on me;

                                               The stars will live for a million years,

                                                For  a million years and a day!

                                                But Christ and I shall live and love

                                                When the stars have passed away.'

                                                                   Anon

'

                                       

Ungodly ministers .( Acts 20 v 25 - 31 )

 Dale Ralph Davis tells the story about a minister called Thomas Hogg who ministered in a place called Kiltearn ,Scotland,who charged his congregation to dig his  grave at the threshold of the church building where  he might act as a silent sentinel against any unworthy minister coming into the charge. The inscription on Hog's tombstone read;

                                            'This stone shall bear witness against the

                                             parishioners of Kiltearn if they bring an 

                                            ungodly minister in here'

The forefathers of the church that I attend,put into the constitution that any minister who came to the church must be an evangelical.Why did they do it?because they realised that all ministers do not hold fast to the truths in the Bible. The gospel will not be preached,many precious truths will be denied or neglected and God 's people will suffer and God will not be honoured it will cause havoc in the church.

Where are you going? ( Matthew 10 v 28 )

 I was in a traffic jam,the driver in the car behind me pumped their horn telling me to move,but I couldn't,when I did move I saw him shooting off ,going to his destination.All these car owners speeding everywhere, were is their destination?.From the moment we are born we are heading towards a destination I am not just talking about death,but after death. There are only two destinations one is heaven the other is hell,no one would want to go to hell that seems reasonably enough, and everybody would want to go to heaven.Oh yes I know that many people do not believe in either,they think there is no such place as heaven or hell. I do not say this flippantly,but they are in for a big,big surprise.Hell is a terrible place,best avoided, heaven is an absolute wonderful place.It is Bruce Milne who writes,'It is not 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'. Everything here is worth losing if it leads to the incalculable gain of 'life' everlasting'. Our blessed Saviour personified truth,He never told a life,and he spoke of judgement  a lot ,and made it clear that death does not end our existence  , and He did something wonderful on  the cross in which he died,that if we asked forgiveness, and trust Him as our Saviour , the door of heaven would be opened. We all have a destiny,what is going to be your destination?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         ,                                                                                                                                                                                          

Are you a plodder? ( 2 Timothy 4 v 7 )

 I am not a fast reader,it usually takes me awhile reading a book,but I usually get there in the end,I was encouraged to read that William Carey otherwise known as the father of modern missions, suffered  innumerable  hardships during a lifetime of missionary service ,said the following to his nephew,'' I  can plod. That is my only genius. I  can persevere in any given pursuit. To this I owe everything''. There is a lot to be said for being a plodder,there are those who start with great enthusiasm, but they give up that thing they were doing. There is an old song called ,'Old father Thames', by Raymond Wallace,here is a verse from it,

                                                'He never seems to worry

                                                 Doesn't care for fortune's fame,

                                                 He never seems to hurry

                                                 But he gets there just the same'

As Christians we are in a race, but it's not about who finishes first,it is about finishing,no matter what the difficulties, plod on ,persevere on by God's grace,don't give up.