From death unto life ( John 11 v 1 -45 )

 Christmas is a time for families,presents,food,drinking, but also loneliness ,sorrow as regards loved ones who have died,in the midst of it all many people are suffering in so many different ways ,and it will always be like this. One prays that the miracle of salvation will take place in many lives. Lets look beyond the sentimentality that engulfs Christmas and consider the most important thing, mankind's need ,a need that goes beyond the here and now, lets not be fooled  into thinking of mans so called inherited goodness. I am not saying we should not enjoy Christmas but our enjoyment goes beyond the tinsel it is based on reality, of  the Christ who came to save us,not in a season but in a Saviour who is Christ the Lord.  The unsaved are what we once were,dead in trespasses and sin,yes no matter how they appear ,they are  dead spiritually.I am reminded that one day our Saviour stood outside a tomb wherein lay a dead person, and He spoke with a voice that woke the dead.My prayer and hope is that in this dark world of sin ,the voice of Jesus will speak and the dead spiritually will arise in a newness of life .

Listening ( James 1 v 19 )

 I visited a friend recently , I thought we could share things together, but it turned out differently, the visit lasted just over two hours. Now we are all encouraged to be good listeners, it is important, well I really put it into practice during this visit.for during the visit I must have spoken about ten minutes,I just listened. He is a godly man,and he appeared to just want to talk. He shared much of his past experiences ,as regards  his family,the time before he became a Christian,how he became a Christian, and so it went on, and I just listened, I didn't mind,he is my friend. One of qualities to being a good counsellor is to be a good listener,I believe to know when to keep quite is important.In Proverbs 17 v 28 we read,' Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent,and discerning and if they hold their tongues'.There is a time for speaking and  there is a time for being quite,in times of provocation the less said the better. My friend needed me to listen. he needed to talk ,so I listened,but just a closing  thought we need to listen to what God is saying to us,that's very important.

What a day. ( 1 John 3 v 1- 2 )

A friend of mine has an elderly aunt in a residential home, her mind is slowly going,and she is at a point were she does not recognise her niece.One day when she visited her and it made her feel sad, but she felt the Lord saying to her,'that her aunt's soul was alright'. It was Horatio G. Spafford who experienced a tremendous loss in  his life that led him to write a wonderful hymn ,the first verse goes like this.

                                           'When peace like a river, attendeth my way,

                                           When sorrows like sea billows roll;

                                            Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,

                                            It  is well , it is well with my soul.

Yes that old ladies mind was gone,her body worn out by age,but she has a soul that will soon depart and be with the Lord, what a glorious future she will have. The word of God tells us that we will have a new body a spiritual body (1Cor 15 v 44) No more suffering ,no more pain,no more death,and what a glorious future we will have,I can only imagine. We will see  our great King in his beauty,and we shall reign with  Him for ever,and just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man,( 1 Cor 15 v 49 even Jesus ,( 1 John 3 v 2 )

                                      '    What a day that will be,When my Jesus I shall see,

                                  When I look upon His face the one who saved by His grace,

                                  When He takes me by the hand,and leads me to the promise land,

                                             What a day,glorious day, that will be.

                                                            Words Jim Hill

                                       

Freedom. ( Luke 4 v 16-19 )

I have a home mini google,I asked for some information which it gave me,  and just for a joke I said,''Thank you'',and the answer I got back ,was,'' I'm honoured to serve''.Don't worry I know it's was  just a machine talking,I wonder how you feel as regards serving people?. Do you feel it is an honour?, One may think it is an honour to serve a king ,or a Queen,or someone important, but here's the thing ,in God's eyes everyone is important,sad it is that so many people serve the devil,well if you do I can assure you he will not  honour you,but instead he will destroy you,make no mistake about it,he is a hard taskmaster ,and those who are in his employment ,sad to say and there are so many doing his bidding. In 1 John 5 v 19,we read,'That the whole world is under the control of the evil one'.There was a moment in Americas history  a wonderful thing happened.it was during the civil war,and one of  reasons for that war,was slavery,'President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, It read,'That all persons held as slaves' ........''are, and henceforward shall be free.'' What a wonderful thing for those dear people who had been in bondage ,often serving wicked and abusive owners .They had no rights,no say in anything ,  children could be taken of them,so many wrong things,but now they were free.Then let me take you to that moment in history when Jesus died on a cross,that we can be free,from  Satan,and sins power,yes it is true.

                                                        Here that cry from the cross

                                                                    'FREEDOM'

Mercy. ( Luke 18 10 - 14 )

 C.H. Spurgeon wrote the following ,'When Dr .Carey was suffering  from a dangerous illness,the inquiry was made,'' If this sickness should prove fatal, what passage wold you select as the text for your funeral sermon?'' He replied,'' Oh, I feel that such a poor sinful creature is unworthy to have anything said about him; but if a funeral sermon must be preached let it be  from the words,' Have mercy  on me ,O  God , according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.'' In the same spirit of  humility he directed in his will that the following inscription and nothing more should be cut on his gravestone;

                                           'Willian Carey Born August 17th, 1761

                                                                     DIED

                                           '' A wretch, poor, and helpless worm

                                                       On Thy kind arms I fall

God requires. (Micah 6 v 8 )

What do we need ever day in our Christian walk? we need the grace of  God,to live out what it means to be  Christlike. The first sermon I ever preached in England was Micah 6 v 8,it reads,'He has shown you O man, what is good,and what the Lord require of you;But to do justly,To love mercy,and to walk humbly with your God'.We can understand this if we take it in its context,that these qualities were lacking in the nation,oh yes they were religious like the Pharisees in New Testament. Religiosity , they had in plenty,but they lacked the moral qualities that God demanded of His people,the powerful and rich were oppressing the poor and the vulnerable The first thing mentioned relates to being just  in their business dealings (6 v 10-12 ),David Prior writes,'Business is a matter of justice,'. Then Micah stresses, 'To love mercy',Lenin and Stalin's reign could be summed up in one word,'Merciless',but God who is merciful ,challenges His people to not only show mercy but to love mercy.Our Saviour said ,'Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy'( Matthew 5 v 7 ). The next thing that follows ,is humility, summed up in the following words,'To walk humbly with your God'.  we are all prone to moments of pride,may God enable us by His grace to follow in the footsteps  of  Him who humbled Himself , left the eternal glories,  became a servant ,and became obedient unto death on a cross, yes by His grace we can.

5 Castles. (John 21 v'15 - 21)

 A man called Anton was being baptised, before  he did,he told of his history, and the events that  led  him to Christ. He was successful ,had a very good job,and he went on to describe the things in his life,he called them, his five castles.They were ,his career,finance,a wonderful pension,health,and last of all his family, but over a period of years,each of those castles collapsed but one ,the last one..It began to make him think,so he studied self help books, a couple of books he read,were written by Christian's,so he ended up buying a Bible,and read it continually,now as I said that one castle still stood ,his family,of course he loved his family.Then he read what Jesus said in Luke 14 v26,' If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children,brothers and sisters,yes ,even their own life,such a person cannot be my disciple'.This threw him ,as I said he loved his family,so he sought to understand what Jesus meant,he discovered that it meant,to love Jesus more,Michael Wilcock puts like this,''Love for parents..... is to be far surpassed by love of Him that it will seem in comparison like hatred'.He realised that he should love Him his creator more than anyone else,and so he rose to that last challenge and that last castle came tumbling down.

                                                   'Jesus says to us all,' Do

                                                    you love me more than

                                                    these?' (John 21 v15 )