Faith (Hebrews 11 v 6 )

Some days stick in our mind ,likes ones wedding day,graduation day,and Valentine's day,I mention Valentine's day for it takes me back to the time many years ago,when something very important happened.It was the day I passed my driving test, I say that because of what led up to that moment .My then wife and I were living by faith,we had very money,and that time we had three children.I couldn't drive, the means of transport was my bike.We had a little bit of money to spare,not a lot,my wife Eileen suggested that I learned to drive,and so I booked 10 lessons each lasting an hour. when the lessons were coming to an end ,I put in for my test,cause we could not have afforded any more lessons.I told my instructor what I had done,his reply indicated  what I knew myself,I was not really up to it,he suggested that I shouldn't take it,and one could get out of it by sending a sick line,but I declined.When I went to do my test I was very anxious,and as I was taking the test my legs were actually shaking.Yet the examiner spoke to me and encouraged me,and lo and behold I passed. Much prayer had gone into this event ,my wife and children had been praying during  the test, and I had been praying also. Looking back I see how important it was for me and my family to pass that test,in so many ways. It  was for me a step of faith , yes I was anxious and my legs were shaking,but I still went forth in faith and I believed God honoured that.

                                                     'God honours Faith, not feelings.'

Not knowing our way. ( Hebrews 11 v 8 )

I remember well the evening I graduated from Bible college,I had just completed three years,it was  quite an achievement to get through my time at college.I did not do so well at school so I had no qualifications,but God helped me. My wife and I had to depend on God to meet our needs,that was challenging, but God was faithful .My then wife had also attended a one year course at another Bible college. Although we had applied to a missionary society they didn't accept us, so we were in a position of not knowing where we were going. But I do remember what the speaker ,spoke on ,it was from Acts and the arrest of Paul in Jerusalem ch 21  which tells of him being rescued by the Roman soldiers and being taken into custody,and so started a time of testing when the Jews tried to have him put to death. It was during this time God spoke to Paul telling him that he would testify in Rome ( 23 v 11),this did not happen immediately,( Acts 24 v 27)All the time the Jews were trying to have him executed but God preserved him,Paul as a Roman citizen appealed to be tried before Caesar( and this was granted .Eventually he set of for Rome under guard,during the journey they experienced a terrible storm,and the ship sank.but God preserved everyone on board.It is  in Chap 28 v14,we read ,'And so we came to Rome'. My wife an I didn't know were God would lead us,but we had obeyed the call of God eventually God called me to be minister in England and as we sailed toward England God spoke to me,He said,'Behold , I send an Angel  before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared'. (Exodus 23 v20) and so it came to pass ,the journey had been difficult and testing but like Paul we reached our destination.

                                               'God's will we obey not knowing our way'

A Cert. ( Psalm 119 v 42 )

 There are those who gamble and they put their money on a horse that appears to be  a cert to win.and it doesn't win, I remember years ago Cassius Clay who later became known as Muhammed Ali, was going to fight the boxer Sonny Liston known as the ,'Big Bear', his record was very daunting,of his last 35 fights he  had won 24 by a knock out,but to every one''s surprise Cassius won.The point I want to make is this, there is no  guarantee in life , that the so called cert will win.No, life on planet earth can be very uncertain  but as a Christian we have a hope that is sure and certain,that nothing and no one can destroy. Consider  the words that Jesus spoke to His disciples,and indeed to everyone who puts their faith in Him, 'My sheep hear my voice, and I know them,and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them,and they shall never perish', and no one shall snatch them,out of  My hand. My Father who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and mt father are one'.  (John 10 v 27 - 30).There is something that our great triune God can't do,indeed it is impossible for Him to do, 'to lie',what He promises to do is certain to be fulfilled. (Hebrews 6 v 18/ Titus 1 v 2/ Numbers 23 v19)

                                                                    'Trust Him' 

       

Hypocrisy. ( Matthew 23)

 There is a saying  that goes,'Do what I say, don't do what I do',  I had an uncle who visited one of his sons in hospital,and he told him off for doing things that caused his stay in hospital.I loved my uncle,but his son said his dad was guilty of the same things that he was accusing him off.I knew a person  who had a friend who had a gambling problem. He told me  about his friend and how wrong it was , yet later on  I discovered he had a serious gambling  problem. In Matthew 23 ,our Saviour  warned the people against hypocrisy,He was speaking of the religious leaders of  His day, He summed it up by saying,'They do not practice what they preach'( v 3 )During the Covid  outbreak a certain politician would come on the television,and told us what we shouldn't  do,it turned out later we discovered that he didn't practice what he told us. Hypocrisy wherever one finds it is wrong, be it in the pulpit or politics ,or in the everyday  person in the street. As Christians may our lives correspond with our words, and deeds,with what it means to be a Christian.

                                                     ' Let us practice what we preach'

He shall choose.( Acts 16 v 6 -10 )

There are three verses that have been very helpful to me  Psalm 47 v 4,'/ 75 v 6-7. the first one reads,'He shall choose our inheritance for us.The second  reads,'For promotion cometh neither from the east,nor from the west,nor from the south.But God is the judge; He putteth down one, and setteth up another'. These verses tell us a wonderful truth that our sovereign God rules over all the affairs of our lives.I want to transfer you back in time to the mighty powerful nation of Babylon,and a mighty King called Nebuchadnezzar he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon.This is what he said,' Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence,by my mighty power and the glory of my majesty?'.Immediately a voice from heaven spoke challenging what he said ,he would be smitten with insanity live in the fields like an animal until he would acknowledge that God ruled over all and it was Him who promotes and demotes whom He will.(Daniel 4 v 28ff.Yes on the grand scheme of things, kings ,Presidents,and all those in power are raised up ,promoted by a Sovereign God.And what applies to them applies to all of us, I wanted to be a missionary a noble aspiration, but mission after mission turned my wife and I down,sometimes without even given us an interview.It was a very great disappointment,but it was not God's will,but eventually God promoted me to be a minister.Fret not if doors shut,the way is closed to you, our times our in His hands,whither it is promotion or demotion, as for God His way is perfect ,trust Him.

Be Still. ( Psalm 46))

 Scroggie  points out that,'Psalm 46 is a Psalm for every time of trouble',it commences with these wonderful words,' God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble',then he goes unto elaborate,'Therefore we will not fear,if the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,though the mountains tremble at its swelling'.Michael Wilcock comments 'Fears  increase; yesterday it was the nuclear winter, today it is global warming, tomorrow it will be some  newly discovered threat from our unquiet earth.Does faith increase to cope with them?'. It is thought that the Psalm was written at the time of King Hezekiah,when the Assyrian army  were besieging Jerusalem they had a vast army,but God intervened and delivered the city and the land.(Isaiah 36-37)so many times God delivered His people from powerful armies and nations,He has not changed, He is the God who rules, He makes wars to cease to the ends of the earth,v 9.And so God declares,'Be still and know that I am God', ( v 10)  In many places the Church is under attack,God will preserve His church rest assured of that.In our own personal lives there are many things that can threaten us and cause us to fear,hear those words again, 'Be still and know that I am God'.

                                                'Be still  my soul,thy God doth undertake

                                                 To guide the future as He has the past,

                                                 Thy hope ,thy confidence, let nothing shake;

                                                 All now mysterious shall be bright at last.

                                                 Be still, my soul, the waves and wind still know

                                                 His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below'

                                                                     Words K A.D. Von Schlegel

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Overwhelming thing.( Psalm 61 v 2 )

 I read the following in one of my daily readings,'Irish missionary Amy Carmichael knew what it was to live through life's storms; poverty,illness,chronic pain,persecution. Having weathered so many hardships with God's help,she reflected,''God is God of the waves and the billows,but they are still His when they  come over us;again and again we have proved that the overwhelming thing does not overwhelm''.Let me say there is no prosperity gospel in that account, but there is an honest account of the real life that can easily overwhelm us,if we let it.We all have a choice ,we can give up,we can turn away from God.we can give up in despair,we can turn back,or we can turn to God,it is our choice. It is like standing at a cross roads,not knowing what to do?.George Stiffler wrote the following.

                                          'Is your life full of heart-aches and sadness?

                                           Are your dreams all shattered and torn?

                                           There is one who through mercy and suffering

                                           For you every sorrow has borne

                                            Do the threads of your life seem so tangled

                                           That you wish you had never been born?

                                           There is one who is willing to help you

                                            He knows every sorrow you've borne.

He's the healer of broken hearts,He'll mend your shattered dreams,He'll pick up the threads of a broken

life,and weave them together again,To your soul He'll bring peace and joy,a friend in life He'll be The

healer of broken hearts,is Jesus of Galilee'.      ( Words Ceorgia Stiffler)