Facing Death. ( Luke 23v 39 -43 )

 I visited a dear brother in a hospice,he is a godly man,and of course the fact that he is in a hospice means he has not long to live. He found it difficult to speak so our conversation was limited,I read the scriptures at his request, it was from Romans 8 v 28-39. When I had finished reading,he repeated the words,'That neither death nor life'.the readings end with the words....'.can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord'. Yes death does not have the final say,One writer says the following,'Death is not the end;it is only ''the gate on the skyline'' leading to the presence of Jesus Christ'. I prayed with that dear brother,he held in his hand a wooden cross,for the Christian the cross reminds us that we are no longer alienated from God.We no longer stand condemned before a holy God,no longer does  the wrath of God rest upon us,no longer is heaven shut to us,why ? because of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.In heaven we will cry out,'Worthy is the Lamb that was slain'.(Revelation 5 v 12)The Cross is the only way humanity can be saved and have hope for eternity.

                                                           ' There is victory in Jesus'

All things new. ( 21 v 1- 5 )

 I met a friend when out shopping she is two years older than me 82,she can walk but needs the use of a mobility scooter. She mentioned she needs two new knees,and two hip joints,I jokingly said to her she should go the 'Body Shop',(it sells perfume),well she laughed. In Psalm 139 v4 we read,'I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made'. yes that is so true,but,there's that but again,it wears down,to a point when we need more than body parts. Shakespeare wrote of the ,'Seven ages of man',highlighting the different periods of our existence,the last being ,'dotage and death'.In the 12th chap of Ecclesiastes there is a very descriptive passage of our bodies decline . The Message puts it like this,'Your hair turns apple-blossom white. Adorning a fragile and impotent matchstick body'. Sorry folks that's the way it is, but its not the end of the story for the Christian,in Revelation 21 v 5 we have Jesus declaring,'I am making everything new!.' In 1 Corinthians 15,we have spelt out what that  means as regards our future bodies,first of all it will be a spiritually body,from earthly beings to  heavenly beings,we will all be changed,from that which is perishable to an imperishable being,from being mortal to being immortal,death will have died,everlasting life commences,the future will not only be bright, it will be glorious,and here is a wonderful truth we shall be like Jesus. (1 John 3 v 2 )

                                          ' Yes wonder of wonders ,we shall be like Jesus'

Easy street. (Hebrews 12 v 1 - 13 )

 Someone said ,'When things are easy the Christian tends to stray from the path, whereas trouble sends him back to the word,of God'. Someone put this heading over  Deuteronomy 8, 'Do not forget the Lord'. Israel was about to enter the promised land,God had brought them through so much, He had delivered them from the Egyptians who had oppressed them and made them slaves. In spite of what God did Israel was not always faithful but God remained  faithful ,now the promised land lay ahead, As they were about to enter the land God spoke to them .He said when you possess the land, they were to obey His commands,and if they did they would prosper. We all want prosperity,but God knows the the human heart,so He tells them, 'Do not forget the Lord your God , and all that,that meant.They must not forget that their prosperity comes from God, their history,shows clearly they did forget ( Jeremiah 2 v11ff) Consider the lives of two godly people,David and Solomon,David was now king ,God had delivered him from so much,things were easier,but he strayed from the path of righteousness in a big way(2 Samuel 11)Then Solomon ,he was abundantly blessed but what do we read, he turned to false god's,(1 Kings 11).If you are on easy street remember it is so easy to take ones eyes of God  and stray from our Saviour. For Israel it had consequences,likewise for David and Solomon,and for all who stray from the path,God will deal with you, yes He  loves you,but remember whom He loveth He disciplines.

Blockage ( Lamentations 3 v 40)

 Every now again I pour a certain liquid down my drains, to clear any blockage,blockage has consequences.It caused me think about the things that come into our lives that can be classed as a blockage ,the result they have consequences in our relationship with God.It would be a good idea to pray what the Psalmist prayed.'Search me ,O God, and know my heart ; test me me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you,and lead me along the path of everlasting life'. (Psalm 139 v 23 -24 ) Francis Bottome wrote a hymn  based on the words from that Psalm, here are the words from that hymn.

                            'Search me, O God! my actions try,and let my life appear

                            As seen by Thine all searching eye,To mine my ways make clear.

                            Search all my sense and know my heart,who canst make known

                            And let the deep, the hidden part ,To me be fully shown.

                            Throw light into the darkened cells,where passions reign within;

                            Quicken my conscience till it feels, the loathsomeness of sin.

                             Search all my thoughts,the secret springs, the motives that control;

                             The rebel heart where evil things, hold empire o'er my soul.

                             Search,till Thy fiery glance! i'ts holy light through all

                             And I by grace am brought at last,before Thy face to fall.

                            Thus prostrate I shall learn of Thee,what now I feebly prove,

                             That God alone in Christ can be Unutterable love'

                            

The ripple effect. (1Corinthians 10 v 12 -13 )

We are all familiar with the term,'cause and effect', and it can be applied to so many things.what causes ripples in the water?.Well we all know that its when you throw a stone in the water, when you do the  ripples go out in a circle,having an affect on the surface of the water. Years ago I read in a book how a man was tempted,and then he thought about his family, and the damage to them ,if he yielded to that temptation . Chuck Swindoll a well known preacher,said that when  he was away preaching,and was out for a meal on his own ,he put a photo of his wife on the table,it was a reminder to him of  the consequences of being unfaithful. When one sins it has a ripple effect,it can cause so much hurt and pain,all the good things you have done will be forgotten ,you will always be remembered for that sinful act. Yes God forgives his erring children, if they repent and seek forgiveness, but when you consider the harm you have done,you may find it hard to forgive yourself. Your spouse may not forgive you,so you will have lost the one you love,who knows how far the effect  of what you have done will go.Whenever your tempted ,be it sexual,or financial, or whatever, think of the ripple effect.

                                                   'Yield not to temptation,for yielding is sin,

                                                    Each victory will help you some other to win;

                                                    Fight manfully onward,dark passions subdue,

                                                    Look ever to Jesus, He'll carry you through.'

                                                                   Words Horatio R.Palmer

Tomorrow ( Matthew 6 v25- 34)

 None of us know what tomorrow holds,oh yes we make our plans,but there is nothing certain,who knows what tomorrow will  bring to us,for good or ill.One of the things Jesus taught as regards tomorrow, we can read about in Matthew 6 v34,'Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.Each day has enough trouble of its own'.The word, ' therefore',  takes us back to what Jesus previously taught, He reminded his listener's  to consider how God looked after  his creation,the birds do not sow or reap.or store food  in barns, but our heavenly Father feeds them. and He reminds us that we are more valuable than them. As Christians our Saviour said that we are not to be like the non-Christians, nothing is hid from our heavenly Father ,what our priority must be, is to put God first and all will be well .He also reminds us of the pointlessness of worry. (Mt 6 v 25- 34)  Tomorrow inevitable will bring all sorts of troubles,so here is something helpful that David Livingstone wrote.,

                                             'Leave tomorrow's troubles for tomorrow's

                                             strength; tomorrow's work for tomorrow's

                                             time; tomorrow's trials for tomorrow's grace-

                                             and all for tomorrow's God.'

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The worst of people. ( 1 Kings 1 v 12 - 17 )

 I wonder if the Christians living during the persecution by Saul ,later known as Paul ,(Acts 8 v 3),that one day he would become a Christian ,not only that, but an Apostle, they would  have have not believed it, would you have believed it?. Most of us wouldn't have,  it was just to far fetched,oh yes the Christians would have prayed for those being persecuted,and that God would him stop him persecuting God's people, someone may have prayed that God would deal with Him. The word of God says that Christ our Saviour came into the world to save sinners,no matter  how evil ,no matter how wicked,yes even the worst of sinners. And in the case of Saul / Paul ,he did just that.One of most amazing conversion in the Bible , was that of king Manasseh son of  King Hezekiah,read about him in 2 Kings 21 and 2 Chronicles 33.It was possible under his reign he had the prophet Isaiah put to death,he did terrible evil things.But God whose ways are not our ways dealt with him ,he was taken as a prisoner by the Assyrians with a hook in his nose,and bound with bronze shackles to Babylon.But there He greatly humbled himself,and prayed to God ,the result was God forgive him, He brought him back to Jerusalem and restored him as king,and blessed him,

                                                       ' God can save the worst of people'