The devil. ( 1 John 3 v 8 )

  He told me a lie,so said my friend about her brother,it has upset her, she is wondering why he did it. I  remember when I was young ,my friend denied that he been dinking the milk from the fridge,but alas he had ,as one could see a milky ring around his mouth.My mother use to say you cannot trust a liar,and of course it is true you cannot trust a liar.I wonder do you realize that all the trouble and evil we have in the world began when someone believed a lie. The one who told the lie was the devil,our dear Saviour  ( John 8 v 44) called him the father of lies,those words were spoken to very religious people.It all began at the very beginning of creation,Eve our first mother, chose to believe a lie and disobeyed God ( Genesis 3 ) ,and so sin entered the world ( Romans 5 v12 ),A great divide came into being,and as dear C Swindoll points out,'The universe  is sharply divided between light and dark, truth and lie, the kingdom of  God and the world'. The devil continues to cause havoc by his lies,consider the false religions,lies from hell,he blinds multitudes,with false promises (Matthew 4 v 8 ),gives people false hope.. But I will leave you with words from  James 4 v7.

                                                     'Submit  yourselves, then, to God. 

                                                      Resist the devil, and he will flee

                                                      from you'

                                           

God the Father. ( Nehemiah 9 v 17 )

I recently was looking at comments on a book that I was going to order,I found one interesting,it was a man in his early eighties.He mentioned his early Christian  experience,which he said was miserable,one of the reasons he said was ,he never felt he was good enough.He went unto write that the second half of his life was happier,because he was not living under the shadow of an angry God who would punish him every time he didn't get things right.I was very sad what that man had to say, I just wonder ,where this came from?,was it from his family ,or his church situation? or was it from both?.For the God he mentioned is not the God of the bible,When I was young ,school teachers were permitted to use a cane, to punish what they considered were  wrong doings, some had a reputation of being very severe,God is not like that . That persons religion appears to have been  very legalistic , like living under the law.I have never looked on God like that,He has always been my loving heavenly Father,and although I am 79 He still is my Loving heavenly Father.I have never been the perfect son,but He has been the perfect Father.Yes He will  like any loving father discipline us when we do wrong,(Hebrews 12 v 5-6 ),but He is not standing over us to beat us into the ground ,and  our acceptance by Him, is not on the bases of what we do ,but what Christ has done.

                                                         'There's a wideness in God's mercy,

                                                           Like the wideness of the sea.

                                                           There's a  kindness in God's justice,

                                                            Which is more than liberty'

                                                                 Words F.W.Faber.

Be ready ( 2 Peter 3 v 1 - 14 )

 A number of years ago I felt the Lord told me that I had so many years to live,I  told a few people,and it didn't happen,yes I'm by my sell by date. It's a bit like the Lord's coming we know He is coming , and like I did,there are those who have made forecast when He is coming.and of course it hasn't happened.The JWs have done it a number of times,instead of admitting they got it wrong they waffled round it,but that's the cults for you. Our Lord said in Acts 1 v 7, 'It is not for you to  know the times or dates the Father  has set for His own authority.In Matthew 25 13, our Lord said ,Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.' In Deuteronomy 29 v29,we read,'The secret things belong unto the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us'. So only God knows,it is His secret,people  still try to figure it out,and they say all sorts things,to  have us believe ,he is coming soon ,they point to certain signs.No let us not become members of the curiosity club. but let us take to heart the words of our Lord,'Be ready ' , ( Matthew  24 v 44) I apply those words in a two fold way,(1 ) If your are not a Christian you are going to die,the most important I would say to you,'Be ready',trust Jesus as your Saviour. (2 )For us who are  Christians live in the light of Christs coming,'Be ready'.

Holy ground. ( Isaiah 53)

A well known American actor,who served his country in the second world war,would speak at events for war veterans.He was at the D Day landing,were many of his colleagues and friends died. In going over these things he spoke of ,'The holy ground of our memories', of the many who who had died,and  who had shed their blood,to defeat a very wicked enemy.I never served in combat ,but I like all Christians have a holy ground within my memory,it is not about battle field as such, its an old rugged cross,on which a mangled body hangs,it is our beloved Saviour, Jesus. Those who put Him on that cross mocked Him, to them He was an imposter, one whom they hated,because He challenged their heartless ,oppressive religiosity.But scripture  tells us clearly who He was ,our Messiah, our Saviour ,who willingly laid down His life as a sacrifice for our sins, Calvary  will always be ,'The holy ground of our memories'.

He is leading (Psalm 18 v 30)

 Often I  look back on my life and consider how God has led  me,to where I am now,it was the servant  of Abraham, who was sent to get a wife for Abraham's son Isaac from his relatives.He had no satnav but was guided to the very girl, her name was Rebekah , He declared ,''the Lord has led me'',( Genesis 24 v27 ). On the day I was coming from Northern Ireland to come to England,God gave me two wonderful promise's,'He laid them on safely',(  Psalm 78 v53)/ Behold, I send an Angle before you to keep you in the way to bring you into the place I have prepared'. ( Exodus 23 v 20 ) ,so it came to pass.God is in the business of guiding us all the days of our lives. In Psalm 48 v 14, we read,'For this God is our God  for ever and ever; He will be our guide even to the end'.He does not leave us stranded, in fact He does not leave us.He will bring  us to that place, He wants us to go,He is a sure guide, He will make no mistakes,we can rely upon Him completely.  He guided the Israelites for 40 yrs in their wilderness journey,we read in Exodus 13 v21 -22, how God granted them a pillar  of cloud during the day, and a pillar of fire during the night to lead them . He is leading us to our heavenly country,this world is not our permanent dwelling, all that we look upon will be no more,and then we will enter into our glorious rest with our glorious Saviour.

                                            ' Jesus, still lead on till our rest be won;

                                              Heavenly  Leader, still direct us,

                                              Still support, console,protect us,

                                              Till we safely stand in our Fatherland.'

                                                         Jane Borthwick.

Give glory to God .( Joshua 7 )

When Achan  who had disobeyed God was found out ,he was told by Joshua ,'To give glory to the Lord,the God of Israel,and honour Him',and confess what he had done. ( Joshua 7 v 19 )When a believer sins he dishonours God,but all is not lost,Matthew Henry says the following,'In confessing sin, as we take shame to ourselves, so we give glory to God as a righteous God, owing Him justly displeased with us, and as a good God,who will  not use our confessions as evidence against us, but is faithful and just to forgive when we are brought  to own, that He would be faithful and just if He should punish'.When King David sinned he was willing to live with it, even marrying the wife of the man he had murdered,but when His sin was exposed,he confessed and God forgive him,but God also justly punished him. ( 2 Samuel 12 .CP Psalm 51) 

                                                'You may ignore your sin

                                                     BUT GOD WON'T'

No negotiating. ( Psalm 97 v 10 )

 R.Davis said,'Whether it is the evil and sin  within us or some form of it outside us God does not call us to negotiate with sin and evil but to wage war on them, to nurse  a holy hatred  toward them in all their multicolored forms'.Recently churches in a certain denomination  were sent questionnaires,as regards allowing people in a self same gender relationship,to become ministers.The questions is why are we as so called Christians  appearing to be negotiating about something that which is clearly condemned in the bible ?,An other denomination  has just appointed a transgender person to be an archdeacon. Transgenderism is being pushed upon people, in our schools where  it is being taught ,and some parents are running with it.How society deals with these issues is their business,but as Christians we must take our stand on what the Bible teaches.We must not negotiate with those who want us to accept such things and we must make it clear  that we stand against them. We are to hate evil, I am not saying we should persecute anyone,but we must definitely not accept or practice the things mentioned, they are totally unacceptable to us as Christians.

                                                  'Dare to be a Daniel! Dare to stand alone!

                                                   Dare to have a purpose firm! Dare to make

                                                   it known.

                                                                    Words by P.P.Bliss