Christ will remain. ( 1 Kings 19 v 14/18 }

When the communist took over China,all missionaries had to leave,but the good news is the church did not die.Our Lord said I will build my church, and He is doing just that ,in spite of  Christians being persecuted. I read of a certain place were some Christians took up residence,they built houses ,planted crops,and prospered,they also witnessed to the people and many came to know the Lord.But the non-Christians did not like that,as it was having an affect as regards the witch doctors powers,plus other things. So the authorities told the Christians they would have to leave.The Christian leader said this,'we will leave , but Christ will remain'.At this time I think of  dear Afghanistan where the Taliban have taken over,many Christians have had to flee as being ex-Muslims they would be put to death.So that's it? no,I  believe Christ is still there.The prophet Elijah lived at a time when the true followers of God were under attack,Elijah cried unto God,' I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty,. The Israelites have rejected your covenant,torn down your altars,and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left,and now they are trying to kill me'.But God replied,' Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel,all whose knees have not bowed to  Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him' ( 1 Kings 19 v 14 /18)

                                           'In times of the greatest degeneracy and apostasy

                                           God has always had, and will have, a faithful remnant.

                                                                Matthew Henry

Deliverance. ( Luke 4 v16 -21 )

 Lets continue on in Luke 8 and consider a case of demon possession,here in the west we are not acquainted with such things, but in v26- 39,we read a very obvious account of a man that was demon possessed.A man out of control,he was naked,lived among the dead,his life was an absolute nightmare,but help was on the way,in the person of Jesus,the one who calmed the raging storm,was going to be set him free.With Jesus there is always hope,but the story involves other things.as we will see. The man runs up to Jesus,but it is not him who speaks to Jesus, it is the demons,they don't just speak they shout,they are afraid,for though they have never seen Him ,they knew who he was,they address Him as,'Son of the most high God'. They beg Him to not torture them,for Jesus had began to command these demons to come out of the man,the damage they had done to this man was awful.Jesus speaks to them,'what is your name?',they replied Legion for they were many. They further asked not to be cast out into the Abyss,and to cast them into pigs near by,this was a Gentile area,so Jesus did that,when they entered  the pigs  they ran into the sea and drowned .When the local people heard what happened, they hurried to the scene and there they  saw an  amazing sight, the demons had been cast out and there he was sitting at Jesus feet, clothed and in His right mind.

                                          ' From home and friends the evil spirits drove him,

                                            Among the tombs he dwelt in misery,

                                            He cut himself as demon pow'rs possessed him,

                                            Then Jesus came, and set the captive free.

                                                         Words Oswald J.Smith

                                          

Miracle and Mystery.( John 20 v 28 )

 Retuning to the disciples and Jesus in the storm( Luke 8 v 22 -25,to what was a miracle ,it was an ancient King Canute the Great, who in humility showed to his subjects that he couldn't turn the tide back.He had no control over the elements,Kenneth Copeland boasted he controlled the weather,well so much for that.,of course he believes he is a god. It was a miracle performed by Jesus in spite of the disciples lack of faith, what Jesus did filled them with fear and amazement,and questions,'Who  is this? He commands even the wind and water, and they obey Him',let us consider two OT quotations Psalm 107 v29,which reads'He stilled the storm to a whisper,the waves of the sea were hushed'. Here it is speaking of God  the only one who has control of the elements, likewise in Psalm 106 v 9,we read  ,'He (God )rebuked the Red Sea.,the word rebuke is the same word in Luke 8 v 24, were we read,' Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the waters',immediately the storm ceased.So we answer the question,that the disciples asked themselves,' who is this man?'( NLT), is it not obvious?

In a storm. ( Psalm 46 )

 One day Jesus said to His disciples,'Let us go over to the other side of the Lake, (Luke 8 v 22) as fishermen that would have been no problem with that,but they did not know what lay ahead. The Bible tells us that we do not know what a day may bring forth. In Proverbs 27 v1 we read ,' Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day will bring forth'.People read their horoscopes in a vain effort to find out what a day will bring forth.Hoping it will bring happiness ,love,and storms,no they don't hope for storms,no more than the disciples hoped for a storm,a  life threatening storm. Well after all Jesus was with them surely all will be well ,wrong, Jesus can lead us into a storm,!, But we read that Jesus was asleep ,and even though the storm grew more fierce,He continued to sleep,but the disciples became more and more anxious, until it reached the panic button time.In that panic they went to Jesus,and in their panic they woke Him,with the words ,'Master, Master, we're going to drown''. Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm'. I will stress of one lesson we can learn from this event,If Jesus leads us into a storm,He will most surely bring us  through the it. Here are some words from a hymn by Mary Ann Baker.

                                                ' The wind and the wave shall obey Thy will

                                                                  '' Peace be still''

                                                 Whither the wrath of the storm tossed sea,

                                                 Or struggles or evil,whatever they be,

                                                                      ''Peace be still''

One way. ( Acts 4 v 12)

 If I raise certain issues I  could be classed as intolerant  ,offensive,and not reflecting true Christianity,  which is a religion of love.   I raise this issue as recently our king went to Scotland to confirm that he is king of Scotland.There was a service held in a Cathedral, representatives of different religions were there,Muslim's,Buddhist, Jews,and others.each were invited to pray for our king. All very nice or was it?,of course not,why not?,simple because they were been  given credibility to that which is not credibly. None of these religions represent the truth,I have listened to Christian apologists,they are those who seek to defend the Christian faith,and it is clear as to the errors of these religions   .There are many things one could challenge as regards these religions,the morality of the so called prophet Muhammad, who had sex with a nine year old girl,he also  married his adopted son's wife.Then what did he believe about Christ?,he tells us Christ did not die on the cross,the implications of are very serious. None of those religions present would accept Christianity,in fact I pray for fellow Christians who are being murdered and persecuted by these other religions. None of those religions would recognise that they need a Saviour, look at mankind ,what does mankind need ? they need a Saviour, and there is only one Saviour, Jesus.

                                                             'Jesus said ,'

                                          '' I  am the way,the truth, and the life,

                                            No one comes to the Father except

                                            through Me.''

It's impossible. ( John 1 v1 - 5)

 I was watching a nature program on the TV, and one the presenters was speaking about a beautiful moth, and she said this,''what an amazing design'.I do not think she appreciated the full significance of what she said,as most of the presenters of nature programs ,believe in evolution,in other words creation just happened .My reply to that is ,it is impossible, for where you have design you must have a designer,it is all around us everyday,but most of these evolutionist are atheist,they don't want to believe in God.The Psalmist declared as regards his body,'I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made'.(Ps 139 v 14 )One has said ,'every birth is a divine creation',it is something of a mystery ,but a greater mystery if you believe it just happened.   Jason Lisle  declares that there are three things that support the biblical view. of creation; laws of logic, uniformity of nature,and morality'.Take logic, at this time we have those who are hold views that are illogical as regards gender,likewise it is illogical to say everything just happened and that there is no designer of the universe. Why do we have uniformity in creation? it just happened? impossible, next morality, why do most nations have a degree morality,why is that?,where did it come from?why do they have a conscience?. I just mention these things, I am not an expert on this subject,but the fact is without God there is no meaning to life,and no future

                                            'He whom by all things were made

                                            came into this world to reclaim back 

                                             His creation. 

A reluctant prophet, ( Galatians 1 v13- 17 )

 When Moses was called to go into Egypt ( Exodus 3-4 ) ,it was very obvious that he didn't want to go,and each time God dealt with the issues he raised, he still didn't want to go.He wanted out of it ,even asking God to send someone else,at that, the Lord became angry with him.It is wonderful how patient God was with him, I often wonder how God puts up with me, but He does,it is amazing,there is a word as regards God putting up with His people, 'longsuffering', yes that seems right.But God will have His way,he didn't let Moses of the hook,and likewise  he would not let let Jonah of the hook either. Moses truly was a reluctant prophet,there are reasons why he felt the way he did,Alec Motyer points out as regards Moses,' That he needed tons of reassurance', he was chronically uncertain about himself',He had left Egypt under a cloud it had left it's mark on him,As  A.M writes ,'He was no longer a prince of Egypt,but a shepherd of Midian who needed a tender loving hand holding him.Moses was the man for the job,all that went before equipped him for the task that lay ahead. I think of my own experience,I was so willing to go to the ends of the earth to serve God,but God held me back, I was not equipped ,if truth were told.If God calls one to serve Him he will have equipped them for that task.