Are you thirsty? ( John 4 v 4 - 13)

 Our wonderful Saviour spoke to a woman who came to draw water from a well,and he said this to her,''Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again'',(John 4 v 13).Jesus in saying this highlights a very important truth ,which can be summed up by a phrase  used by Charles Bridges, 'Present gratification is humanities main object'. It is a blindness that just lives for the here and now,take those who are on drugs,they want that instant fix, but that's all it is instant .The instant fix  leads to dire consequences, we are blinded to the effect that God has placed eternity within all our hearts,(Ecclesiastes 3 v 11).This means as one writer puts it,' That there is an eternal longing or sense of eternity in the human heart,and that we have a divinely implanted awareness that the soul lives for ever.This world is not our home'.That is why as Christians we are urged to keep our minds on eternal realities,because what we see with the natural eye is passing (Colossians 3 v 1-2 ). I remember a lady who every day was driven by the desire to be always happy , but she never found it.Why do people drink so much alcohol?,why do they eat themselves into an early grave?,the woman at the well had been married 5 times,and she was now living with someone who wasn't her husband?. This is what Jesus said to her,and to  all humanity,'' Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst'', (John 4 v13)

                                            'Come to Jesus and have your thirst quenched'

Not listening. ( Mark 14 v 61 -64)

 While visiting my son and family recently ,I  noticed a group of  Jw's, it reminds me of the many time I  witnessed to these people,. I do not know what good it did,it often left me frustrated and wondering was it worth my while speaking to them.Let us remember they are not seeking the truth,they believe they have the truth,they are not wanting to hear what you believe,they want you to believe the teaching of their founder Charles Taze Russell a man who broke away from Christianity,rejecting the doctrine of the trinity,and many other things. They have their own translation ,which mistranslations so much,the most obvious one is John 1 v 1,which reads,'In the beginning was the word, and one of the main things he  emphasises that Christ  is God'. The writer of that gospel was John a orthodox Jew, and one the main purpose was to declare the deity of Christ  John 20 v 31,the term,' Son Of God',  is a divine title,( John 10 v33)    There are many scriptures that clearly teach the deity of  Christ, So what do the Jw's do?, they alter the scriptures, the most  obvious one is the one I mentioned John 1 v1,  where they change ,'the Word was God', to the ,'Word was a god'. those who know Greek say it cannot be translated that way.  That will make no difference to Jw's , remember that,so tread carefully and prayerfully when you come into contact  with them, and remember they are not really listening to what you will say.

The providence of God.( Romans 8 v28 )

 I was backing my car out of my driveway and I hadn't seen the car parked on the road opposite  ,fortunately I didn't hit it. I could have so easy hit it. I hadn't looked in my mirror and it reminded me again of God's providential care for me.What people call chance I call the providence  of God,as Christians we need  to be different than the non-Christian,they talk about chance,about luck. Consider Romans  8v 28,'And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God,to them who are the called according to His purpose'. Consider those profound words ,all things,our disappointments, our trials,He is overlooking all things in our lives,He opens doors and shut  doors, that job we didn't get,and the job we did get. He keeps His eye upon us 24/7 ,52 weeks of the year,and every minute of every hour . Let us rejoice in such a wonderful God,even in our trials.Consider dear Joseph and all the wrongs  his brothers did to him,Hear what he said to them,'But as for you ,ye thought  evil against me ; but God meant it for good.' ( Genesis 50 v20 ),What applies to Joseph applies to you,and to every child of God,so let us think much on God's providential care for us His Children,even when we do not understand it.

Amazing grace. (Ephesians 2 v 8 - 9)

We are experiencing  a period of very heavy rain,with the result that many places are being affected by floods,fortunately not many have died. The Word of God tells us how God flooded the whole world,it was so severe that all the population of the world,with the exception of eight people drowned.(Genesis 6 v13 ) It was  a one off  event,God promised never to repeat it (Gen 8 v 21)The flood was a judgement on mankind for their sinfulness, Gen 6 v 5,reads,'The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth,and that every inclination of the thoughts  of the human heart was only evil all the time.' There are exceptions to the rule,those who walk with God,as opposed to those who don't. there is no middle  road.In the midst of the world about to be judged, we read,'But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord'.Gen 6 v 8. The word grace means, undeserved favour, something that cannot be earned,it is something that is freely given,and that's what saved Noah.Noah was a good man compare 6 v 9,let us remember even good people are sinners.( Romans 3 v 23). Like Enoch ,Noah walked with God, he was a godly man,the grace of God had touched his life,and so he walked in newness of life, all good men are not godly men, by the grace of God Noah was a godly man. We get saved by the grace of God through faith in Christ, and so our walk continues by the grace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Heed the warnings. ( John 3 v36 )

We have two alarm detectors in our home,a smoke detector,and a carbon monoxide detector,most homes have them,but some don't. I mention this because of an incident that happened in one of my son's home,my wife and I where visiting him and the family. While we there the carbon Monoxide alarm went off,my son had turned on the central heating, but the boiler was malfunctioning,and it was pouring out carbon monoxide. We responded by turning the gas off and opening the windows.my son phoned the emergency people,who soon arrived.Here is something we were told ,that little detector saved our lives, because this gas has no smell,it will surely kill if left undetected. I read that it is a leading cause of deaths by poisoning in the United States, about 40 people die of it in the U K .I thank God for the warning the detector give us,that our lives have been spared.  The prophets of old were like alarm detectors , warning the people to forsake their sins and turn to God,Jonah is a fine example of that ,he told the people of Nineveh that in forty days judgement was coming from God, because of their sin,so they responded and God forgave them and judgement did not come .What about now?,the fact is that every Christian is meant to be a warning detector,because God has not changed,He still will judge sinners,unless they  like Nineveh, repent ,forsake their sins,and come to Christ to forgive them. Consider this if  we had ignored the warning given off  by the alarm detector we would have all died, I urge you, don't ignore the warning that I am giving.

                                                      'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ

                                                      and you shall be saved'.

                                                               Acts 31 v16

Being generous ( Luke 6 v 38 )

 When our Lord performed the feeding of  the 5000  John 6 there was left overs,the fact is our Lord is very generous,oh yes I know that we are told that our needs will be supplied,and that's very true,as Israel experienced in the wilderness,but there are times when are cup runs over,or overflows with His blessings. The word of God tells us He will do 'exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think'(Ephesians 3 v 20 ) God is the giving God,and here is challenge for all of us  He wants us to be like Him,to have an open hand,not a clinched fist. Remember God delights in a cheerful giver, I personally try to live up to that,but I don't always succeed ,while on holiday recently,with my wife,our son ,his wife and our two grandchildren, we went into a restaurant for a meal.  The young girl that served us very helpful and I felt I should give her a tip,let me say tipping is not necessary in our country, I only had 10 pound on me,but I wanted to give her five pound,so I didn't  give anything,but I did personally thank her .Later on I thought I should have given  her the 10 pound, I could afford to do that, it is an on going challenge,to be generous like our loving heavenly Father.

God the object of trust. ( Proverbs 3 v 5-6 )

 The word trust in reference to God appears so many times in the Bible, in  Charles Bridges commentary I found what he had to say as regards trusting in God. Proverbs 16 v20  we read, 'And  whoso trusteth in the Lord,happy is he'. 'God the object of  trust'.  This is our peaceful security in all things'- Luther said- 'in my hands,and I have lost them all. But  whatever I have been able to place in God's, I  still possess.' In this quite confidence we have nothing more to do with ourselves. A  thousand perplexing thoughts are scattered to the winds. God now takes the place once filled by my unquiet  agitations. The soul is fixed in God.  He reigns over all with an unseeing eye, and an all moving hand.' He mentions in relation to the promises of God ,'that all the world cannot rob us of one word of God.There is more reality in the least promise of God, than in the greatest performance of man. I will therefore ever trust Him on His bare word; with hope, beside hope,above hope, against hope,for the small matters of life.Never did God intend to create our happiness out of our own resources.To feel that we know nothing,that we can do nothing , contrive nothing; then to look up to Him as our supreme Good, and to trust Him as our only Friend - when was such reliance and expectation ever disappointed?.