Unlearn. ( Isaiah 43 v 18 - 19 )

I think one of the of the hardest things to do is to unlearn,many churches are filled with people who will say,' we always did it that way.' They resist  doing things another way, even though the church is dying on it's feet.There ears are closed to any suggestion that means doing things differently,examples there are in plenty.Many businesses are closing because they have not learned to unlearn, the words of a songs which goes.I done it my way is not always the best way to go,We accumulate  so many habits in our lives,habits that are not helpful,holding us back ,The apostle wrote to a church who were doing things in a wrong way,and he said ,'I want to lay out a far better way for you' (1 Corinthians 12 v31) Many battles have been lost by generals who were unwilling to unlearn ,unwilling to change,we don't use a quill  to write with.The book of judges could be summed up in the following  words ,'everyone did what was right in his own eyes', and time and time again that brought them into conflict  with God,That habit prevailed throughout Israels history,what about your history and my history?on a personal note,one of the things I have to  unlearn is the bad habit  of failing to acknowledge God in all my ways,its on going ,we easily slip back into our old ways.

                                                   'For to long it's been our way,let us

                                                    unlearn,and do it God's way'

Time and chance ( Romans 11 v 33 )

Hear are a few thoughts that came to me,'Even the strongest Oak tree will fall,even the biggest giants will be defeated,even the wisest man will act foolishly, and even the most successful businessperson can go bankrupt' The writer of Ecclesiastes 9 v 11 writes,'The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong,nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favour to the learned;but time and chance happen to them all'.One writer puts it like this,'Unexpected and unpredictable circumstances are a part of life and often interrupt the predictable flow of events.We cannot  control ,understand, or perfectly anticipate what life has to answer'.Most us our unprepared for the unexpected,try as we may,James reminds us of the foolishness of boasting about tomorrow,(4 v 13ff) simply because we do not know what a day will bring forth. I believe that God is sovereign,each day we awake we step into the unknown, but it is known unto God.I believe that God in his providence  is watching over His own. Derek Kidner  writes of,'providence acting in secret', it is only in hindsight that we come  to some degree an understanding of God's providence,eternity will reveal a fuller understanding.1 Corinthians 13 v 12.

                                                           'Blind unbelief is sure to err,

                                                           And scan His works in vain;

                                                           God is His own interpreter,

                                                           And He will  make it plain'

                                                                 Words W,Cowper.

Show no mercy. ( Colossians 3 v 1 -10)

 Even though I  am a senior citizen, I still like the character Winnie-the Pooh or Pooh for short, by A.A Milne.He had many friends,the main one being Christopher Robin. He is described as a bear with very little brains,but he was also a little bear with a big heart. Ah but he was not a perfect bear ,he had a weakness,honey, and at times he over indulged in it,the result was he got stuck in an entrance of a tunnel. The only way he was going to get out of  that ,was to loose weight,and that meant he had fast(I don't think he prayed),eventually he succeeded in freeing himself from that situation.It is a nice little story ,yet let us ask the question,what are our weaknesses?,we all have them,I wonder does one particular weakness get us into trouble, even into sinning,a sinful weaknesses .Not all weaknesses are sinful but they can be,and they can lead into sinful practices,into which we are trapped. Our weaknesses don't only affect us but can effect our family,our parents,our friends.Pooh's answer was to stop eating,our answer if we are Christians ,is to stop indulging our weaknesses .We must not pamper our weaknesses,we must deal with them with the severity they deserve show them no mercy. Colossians 3 v 5 reads.

                                      ' Put to death,therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly

                                       nature; sexual immorality,impurity,lust,evil desires,and 

                                       greed , which is idolatry.'

My Witnesses. (Acts 1 v 8)

 I was out spending my birthday money\,big decision were made,should I buy it or shouldn't I ?,well I did,and as I paid for it I witnessed to the person serving me.Here is how the conversation went,'Are you a Christian? well she replied,''I don't go to Church,'' I said, 'I didn't ask that,''I replied,in a nice way.Then she replied,'' yes I believe there is someone out there'',I stressed the importance of knowing Christ,She mentioned,''that will give me something to think about'', The conversation ended with me saying,'' it would be the most important thing she could ever think off''.

                                                            'A Prayer'

                                                'Lead me to some soul today

                                                Help me Lord to know just

                                                what to say,friends of mine

                                                are lost in sin and cannot

                                                find their way.'

                                                              Amen.

Doing one's own thing.( Matthew 16 v 24 - 26 )

R.T.Kendall writing on two of Aarons  sons, Nadab and Abihu who were priests whom God struck down dead because they offered up unauthorised fire (Numbers 3 v 4),quotes a Jewish Rabbi as to what they did ,'The simple meaning is they were ''doing their own thing''. Yes instead of doing what God said,they did their own thing ,He expects obedience,He expects us to do His thing,His bidding.King Saul likewise did his own thing and lost his throne,he offered sacrifices to God, he was not qualified to do that,The prophet Samuel told him,'To obey is better than sacrifice',(1 Samuel 15 v22)No matter how sincere we may be it will not give you the right to disobey God. Let none of us be fooled into thinking God will overlook our disobedience,He won't.David was favoured by God greatly,he was described as a man  after God's heart.  (1 Samuel 13 v 14) But that didn't last ,instead of being a man after God's own heart ,he became a man who followed the lusts and violence of his own heart,(2 Samuel 11-12 )in other words he did his own thing.In our society there are laws,many  ignore  those  laws,drinking and driving, taking drugs,yes there are many other things one could mention,but it all comes  under doing our own thing.The world on the whole are doing there own things,they reject God's way, Jesus ,Provers 14  v12 tells us about them it says ,'There's a way of life  that looks harmless enough; look again- it leads straight to hell'

God ( Numbers 23 v 19 )

 What can God do?,we are told with God all things are possible, (Mark 10 v 27) this our God who created all things out of nothing CP Romans 4 v17/Hebrews 11 v3 /,but its impossible,but not with God. He spoke and it came into being.So what can God do for you?,what difficulties are you facing? again let me stress with God all things are possible,what difficulties are you facing? God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think (Ephesians 3 v 20)

What will God not do?,in fact it is impossible for Him to do ,He cannot tell a lie ( Hebrews 6 v 18), it goes against His holiness, He is the God of truth,when he speaks he only speaks the truth,unlike us he will never deviate one iota from the truth. So when we read  His word we are reading the creation miracles,promises we are reading the truth,the whole truth,and nothing but the truth.My mother used to say ,'you cannot trust a liar', you can trust God.Also He will not act contrary to His will,prayer will not change that,we must always bow in humility to the will of God,no matter how painful it is

What will God do?,on the big stage He will bring an end to this present world,He will bring judgement upon it,just as He did at the time of Noah (Genesis 6 - 7) but the next time the world will be consumed by fire (2 Peter 5 v 7 ).This will happen when Jesus comes back again (2 Thessalonians 1 v 7) What will God do for His children?as we have trusted Jesus as our Saviour it means we are not appointed unto wrath (1 Thessalonians 1 v10). Until that day comes He will preserve us unto his heavenly kingdom.(2 Timothy 4 v18 )

The unwanted guest ( James 1 v 13 - 15)

I have a dear friend who is nearly 90,and he shared with me how he still feels tempted with lustful thoughts,and that is distressing him. The fact is no matter what age we reach, 90 or a 100 ,temptation will still knock on our door,let me remind you being tempted is not a sin,it is when we yield to it,then it become a sin. There was man and he invited a friend into his home ,in spite of the fact he came with a bad reputation,but he liked him ,he was good company,he was good at telling jokes ,he was a grand fellow.But soon things changed,things went missing,not only that ,the man was very overbearing.One day the went out leaving his  guest on his own,and when he came back,he could not get into his own,his guest had taken it over. I tell this little story just to illustrate the danger of letting temptation into you life as a guest,for if you do you will regret it,it will take over and there will be dire consequences. The wisest king who ever ruled Israel  invited temptation into his life,and it took over his life and brought judgement upon  the nation,his name was Solomon,the wisest man who became an utter fool ,it all started when he invited temptation into his life. (Read 1 Kings 11 v 1 13 )