Watchmen . ( Ezekiel 3 v 18 )

 I attended a Christian meeting where a man and wife told of their ministry in Romania,but it also touched on Moldovia ,Ukraine.They ministered to the practical needs of the people in those countries,and helped so many people in dire straits.Many people don't realise the tremendous ministries like that mentioned ,that are involved  in helping so many needy people in so many needy places.Being a Christian brings with it a tremendous responsibility, that is in helping people,by our giving and our doing. No Christian can op out of that,or ignore it,it is our duty to do good works,but as I have pointed out often ,that that none of those good works save us Ephesians 2 V 8-9 , But they are the evidence of us being Christians, James 2 v 18. But another thing that impressed me as regards that couple,was their clarity in speaking about the gospel. They told of people being saved, and being baptised, and it made me think of days long ago in my beloved Ulster ,where the Gospel was faithfully proclaimed, in a clear manner.It appears to me that in the land that I now live in,many preachers have lost  that clarity and simplicity in relation to people as regards  being saved, I wonder why?. Well I suppose they don't want to offend people,or they may find the gospel  offensive to  them, so they avoid preaching it,or they camouflage it,such a dreadful thing to do. When we think of  the consequences of not being saved,shut out from heaven ,and shut in to hell for ever, I call it soul murder,and they will be held accountable before God.

Well done. ( Matthew 25 v 21 )

 I have been doing this blog for about 15 years,and its been an interesting experience,I do not desire any  comments,I just do it and pray the Lord will bless it. I  hope that people will get saved and Christians will be built up in their faith.This year has been interesting as regards numbers, one month I had 47 thousand, click on's ,now the numbers have plummeted to  hundreds .So does one give up because of so few people are  clicking on ?,what would the Lord want me to do,give up, why should I minister to the few?. The answer is if it is His will to give up then one should,But if it is His will to carry on,then that is what we must do. just be faithful.When our dear Saviour was on earth, he ministered to thousands, but He also ministered to  the few. I don't know how fruitful my ministry has been, and so I just leave that with God,after all it is He  who gives the increase 1 Corinthians 3 v 6/ John 4 v 38.

                                        'Won't it be wonderful when we stand before our 

                                         Saviour ,and hear Him say ,''Well done, good and 

                                         faithful servant''.

Painful memories.( Hebrews 4 v14 -16 )

It could be because I'm old, I feel more emotional , and feel past hurts past sorrows,but recently two elderly people whom I know died, and the dying process was painful.When my first wife died I grieved,  thereafter one tried not to dwell on ones loss,but every now and again, the memory resurrects itself, and its painful. I suppose it will always be that way. In Psalm 25 v7, David wrote ,'Do not remember the sins of my youth,and my rebellious ways'.but of course when God forgives us He chooses not to remember our sins, in Jeremiah 31 v 34 we read these words  spoken to Israel ,'For I will forgive their wickedness and will  remember their sins no more'.So it is when we trust Jesus our sins are forgiven there is no remembrance of them (Hebrews 10 v 17 -18). Of course we will always regret our sins,but we should never live under the guilt of them, but rejoice in the grace of God that brought us to Ghrist. Coming  back to where I started as regards the bad memories,the sad memories ,the hurtful memories. That's where Christ our great high priest comes in,Hebrews 2 v 18 reads ,'Since He himself has gone through suffering and testing, He is able to help us when we are tested'.Someone has written,'Through His sufferings Jesus Christ  identified Himself with man'. Because He experienced so much suffering He understands what we are going through, no one suffered greater,look at the cross. And so as we can come to Him in all our difficulties and painful memories,He is more than able to help us and to bring us through.

                                                     'No one understands like Jesus,

                                                      Every woe He sees and feels,

                                                      Tenderly He whispers comfort

                                                      And the broken heart He heals'.

                                                             Words J W. Peterson.

Brokenness ( Psalm 31 )

 What a wonderful  world we live in,and of course it is,but we live in a broken world,and you don't have far to look to see its brokenness, in the street I live in I see brokenness,broken marriages and with that brokenness comes a lot of pain. A neighbour who is disabled,whose son never visit her,yet she was a good mother,then there is her grandchildren who will only help if she gives them money.Then their is a elderly mother,who has infected her children with hatred,towards a certain person.Another neighbour  whose mother is an alcoholic and the pain she has brought to her family. Brokenness comes to us in different ways,death of a love one, being violently attacked,robbed,addictions,rejection,so one could on.Think about wars,the wars may finish but for many the brokenness continues,yes we live a broken world,but there is hope in the God of hope, King David had many traumatic experiences,being hunted like a criminal ,by a king who wanted him dead,a son who  led a rebellion against his father to kill him,and become king.He recorded how he felt in his times of trouble.In Psalm 31v12 he writes,'I am forgotten as though I were dead;  I have become like broken pottery'. He further speaks of people whispering and,terror on every side, of those conspiring to kill him and take his life v 13.What can one do in the brokenness of life,here is what David  did,he turned to the only one that could help him ,'God'. This is part of what he prayed,'But I trust in you,Lord; I say,''you are my God''.If you are a Christian and you feel so broken,turn to your God ,He is the one who heals the broken hearted (Psalm 147 v3 )

God will lead . (Proverbs 3 v 5-6 )2

 Now lets consider Proverbs 3 v 6, 'In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths'.our dear lord is not there just for emergencies,we need to consult Him,acknowledge in all our goings and doings,till one gets up in the morning,till we go to bed at night.Share everything with him,hold nothing back,our dependence  on Him ,must be total,as the hymn writer says,

                                                    ' Lead us heavenly Father, lead us

                                                      O'er the world's tempestuous sea;

                                                      Guard us, guide us,keep us ,feed us,

                                                      For we have no help but Thee.

                                                                J.H.Newman.

Here is the promise, if we obey the exhortation,He shall direct our paths,not  just path,but paths, all the different paths we take in life,no matter how difficult they may be. We can take God at His word ,he cannot lie ,Titus 1 v 2. He will keep His word;you can depend on it.Charles Bridges writes,' God loves to be consulted.Therefore take all thy difficulties to Him, Be in the habit of going to Him in the first place- before self-will, self pleasing,self wisdom, human friends,....Before any of these have been consulted go to God at once'.

                                             'He lead them on safely,so that they feared not' 

                                                                     Psalm78 v53.

Trust ,( Proverbs 3 v 5 -6 ) 1

 I love all the Bible and there are two verses that I have found both helpful and instructive, Proverbs 3 v 5 - 6. 'Trust in the Lord  with all thine heart, and lean not to thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.' What wonderful  words they are even more wonderful if we put them into practice. It commences  with trusting the Lord, how do we get saved? ,by trusting the Lord Jesus as our Saviour. It is not hard to do that ,a child can  do it,in fact we are told unless we become as little children we can never enter the kingdom of  heaven. ( Mt 18 v3) Trusting Jesus for your salvation  is the beginning of our relationship with God, but it does not stop there.The words of a hymn by Edger Page come to mind,'Trust as the moment fly,trusting as the days go by,trusting Him whate'er befall,Trusting Jesus that is  all'. But next it says ,'with all thine heart,it demands no half heartedness, no wavering between two opinions ,remember He is the only one we can fully trust. Next it says ,' and lean not to thine own understanding'.Charles Bridges writes,''Our trust must not only be entire; it must be exclusive, no other confidence, no confidence in the flesh (Philippians   3 v 3 ) We will look further at verse 6 next time.

Home ( Hebrews 11 v 13 -16 )

 Recently I  went home to Ireland,that's my home of the past,then I  returned to England my home of the present,so that's it, no!.One day God knows when, I will go to my future home,its called heaven,I often think about heaven,and although I have never been there I feel homesick for that home.I  think with sadness of the many  people who will never know the unspeakable joy of heaven.Before Jesus went home to heaven He said ,''I go to prepare a place for you''  ( John 14 v 2),there He is preparing  a place for a prepared people,all those who are his, all those He purchased with His precious blood. In 2 Timothy 4 v 9,we read of a man called Demas, he is mentioned in Colossians 4 v14 and Philemon v24,  he was a fellow worker with Paul, but  there came a point when he stopped being his friend and fellow worker,why? because as Paul says in 2 Tim 4 v 9, 'he loved this present world'.Yes there is always reasons for giving up as a Christian,love of this present world, suffering,persecution, being hurt by a fellow Christian, and so we could go on.We forget that all the glory of this present world is temporary,not permanent,in contrast to heavens eternal glories. As regards suffering we are told,that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory  that will be revealed in us (Romans 8 v 18) I often imagine that as I enter heaven , I will hear my Saviour say,welcome home Billy,well its just a thought.