Judge not. ( Matthew 7 v 1- 2)

 I visited a friend recently he suffers from mental illness,one aspect of his illness is panic attacks, but he suffers other symptoms. His sister who is deceased also suffered from severe mental illness,she would phone him up very distressed,but he had very little sympathy for his sister.He was impatient with her,thinking ,why doesn't she pull herself together?.Now he looks at things differently, now he understands how she must have felt.  I worked with a mental health team for twenty years,so I have a degree of understanding as regards this condition,first of all it is an illness, mainly  treated with medication.Now lets come back to my friends attitude to his sisters illness,and lets broaden it out,first of all Jesus said judge not, ( Matthew 7v 1-2). I remember watching  a program on TV as to the victims of a serial killer,most of them were prostitutes,and people at the time were making moral judgements on them,it was as if they deserved what they got, the police were not much better. This was a time when one got very little help from the state,many of these women had children,but no resources to feed them, or even clothed them,  some had escaped abusive relationships,others had husbands who had left them, so they turned to prostitution in order for their families to survive.Yes prostitution is wrong, does that give us a right to pass judgement on them?,our dear Saviour said this to very religious people who wanted a lady stoned to death,because she had committed adultery,'Let anyone of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her,and they all left.( John 8 v 1- 11 )

                                                     ' Judge not, but tell them about 

                                                       Jesus who came to save sinners.

                                                       Remember you have not walked 

                                                        in their footsteps.'

The next question is. ( Psalm 46 v 10 )

 The next question is ,'What will the future hold?', well I am no fortune teller,and nor is anybody else in this world,but there is  one who does know, and of course that is God. As we look at the world,it can be a very scary place,there are so many uncertainties ,things appear to be out of  control at times.Well on that happy note what can we say, well first of all let us bring God into this situation,for the sad thing is when it comes to the future,for most people God is sidelined,instead we have so called experts with their forecasts.But as a Christian the one vital thing we must do,is to to simply trust God,yes that seems simple,but never the lest ,that's what we must do if we are going to get through. As we look into the future it may appear that it holds nothing but foreboding,but ours is not a blind faith,yes I once was blind ,but now I see, but what do I see?, that God has not forsaken me in the past,and indeed assures me that He will never leave me nor forsake me,here is what the Lord God says,'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you'....So we can say with confidence,'The Lord is our helper,we will not be afraid'. (Hebrews 13 v 5-6) He is not just a spectator looking on ,leaving us to our own devices,no, He is involved in our future to guide us through, what to us is the unknown future,but it is not unknown to Him, Remember He is totally trust worthy,He keeps His word, and those  exceeding great and precious promises to us His children.

                                               'Peace perfect peace,our future all unknown,

                                                Jesus we know and He is on the throne'

                                                            Words E.H. Bickersteth.

                                                

                                                           

How will we cope? ( Isaiah 40 v 29) 1

 So we have entered  another year by the grace of God, so what about the year that lies ahead?,how are we going to cope?.what will the future hold?. Well lets think about the first question,how are we going to cope?,well just like last year,by the grace of God,nothing has changed, grace has not changed.God says to us, 'As your days, so shall your strength be'(Deuteronomy 33 v 25 )This goes beyond natural   strength ,for we have little strength in ourselves (Revelation 3 v 8) ,this comes  from a dependence on God.Consider Samson  was he a mister universe,how did he accomplish all those great feats?,in God's strength. How will we cope?,how will we manage?, how will we face each day?,in the strength of the Lord.who is the Lord?, He is  our refuge and strength (Psalm 46 v 1).When we feel down down He will lift us up,when we feel like giving up he will give us strength to go on. David was overwhelmed he was living among his enemies  ,disaster came upon him and his men,and his own men turned on him threatening to stone him,but we read these words,'But David found strength in the Lord , and went on to victory( 1 Samuel 30 v 3- 6 ) The great God of David is our God, here is the word of God for us as we go forward in our journey to glory.

                                                       'So do not fear, for I am with you;

                                                       do not be dismayed,for I am your God.

                                                        I will strengthen you and help you; 

                                                        I will uphold you with my righteous

                                                        right hand'.

                                                                            Isaiah 41 v10.

                                         

                                                                  

He is qualified ( Acts 4 v12 )

 Writing about Jesus  the writer of Hebrews in 5 v 8 -10,declares  , 'Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things He suffered.And  having been perfected,He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, called by God as High Priest''according to the order of Melchizedek''. Let me point out that the word perfected,can be translated ,' Qualified'. So what the writer is saying that all Christ suffered qualified Him to be the source of our salvation.'That meant surrendering His will to the obedience and will of  God ;  so on the cross He offered the perfect sacrifice.'(Thomas Hewitt} ,which means ,He bore the wrath of God,so that we do not have to bear it Who is the ,'We', to all who obey Him,Again Thomas Hewitt points out something very important,'This leaves no room for,'universal salvation'.God has provided the perfect salvation for us sinners,for all those who trust Jesus as their Saviour.

                                                    'Christ suffered that we may not suffer.

                                                     Christ died that we might live,

                                                     

Ebenezer, ( 1 Samuel 7 v12 )

1n 1 Samuel 7 we read how Israel had turned away from God and began to follow false  god's,the Philistines were in the ascendancy.So the prophet Samuel urged them to forsake those so called gods ,and return to the Lord and He would help them defeat their enemies. So Israel did just that,they confessed their sins, they say that',confession is good for the soul'.It is not only good for the soul, it is vital if we are to have a relationship with God,and to receive his blessing.Now things began to happen,the Philistines who had previously defeated Israel ,were coming against them,and Israel was afraid.So they turned to the man of God Samuel to pray for them, and Samuel did two things ,he sacrificed an animal,and prayed for God to deliver Israel,and he did just that,and the Philistines were defeated.Then Samuel set up a stone and named it Ebenezer, meaning ''Thus far the Lord has helped us''. As we come to the end of this year, let us cast our minds back to all  our yesterdays,and consider how our great God has helped us in so many ways,He is not only the God of yesterday,He is also the  God of the present and the future,He will not fail us,for we are precious to Him and He loves us dearly.Dear old John Newton wrote the following.

                                                       'His love in time past

                                                       Forbids me to think

                                                       He'll leave me at last

                                                       In  trouble to sink;

                                                      Each sweet Ebenezer

                                                      I have in review

                                                      Confirms His good pleasure

                                                      To help me quite through.'

Why? ( John 10 17 - 18 )

 Napoleon is greatly admired, during his reign he warred against 5 countries  ,millions of soldiers died fighting these wars,possible millions of civilians died also. He never expressed any regrets at the lost of so many people. The Duke of Wellington said as he surveyed the carnage after the battle of Waterloo,''Next to a battle lost,the saddest thing is a battle won..'' From the slaying of Abel by Cain, humanity has been at war continually with each other, one writer said that the worlds history has been like a slaughter house.Why this intense desire to kill each other?,well their is a saying that declares as regards such violence,as being ,'the nature of the beast'. The word of God  declares that mankind has a sinful nature ,in Romans 3 v11-18 ,the writer declares different aspects as regarding that fallen nature, v 18 tells us that,'that our feet are swift to shed blood'. Life history bears this out, we read it every day in our newspapers,on TV, and it is seen as entertainment in movies.Here is something mind blowing for into this world of gratuitous violence ,a babe was born,his name was Jesus, the Son of God,no one forced Him to come, but He came,why?.

                                                           'Out of the ivory palaces,

                                                           Into a world of woe,

                                                            only His great eternal love

                                                            Made my Saviour go.'

                                                            Words  Henry Barraclough.

                                                            

Give me your heart ( Revelation 3 v20 )

In Proverbs 23 v 26 we read,' My son,give me your heart', spoken by a father ,warning his son as regards getting involved  with an immoral woman.Enid B.Mellor  points out what the father is asking,that his son would give him his full,undivided attention.There is most definitely that to it,we can get so easily distracted,the result is we don't listen,and of course there are times we don't want to listen, especially if we are young.Not realising that we would avoid a lot of dangers and hurts .if only we had listened,if only,I remember a man who used to preach in my church,we called him the pig farmer,telling us that he was convicted by those words,'give me your heart', the result was he became a Christian.There are so many things and voices tugging at our heart.Charles Bridges writes,'Many are the claimants for the heart,Heaven and hell contend for it. The world with its riches, honours, and pleasures; and science with  its more plausible charms- cries - Give me your heart'.Christ stands at the door of our hearts saying let me in,let me in,'give me your heart'. I made decisions as regards Jesus to come into my life when I was young,but unfortunately I give my heart to other things,but it wasn't until I grew older,in all my need,I give Christ my heart.

                                                                'We all have a choice'