The light shines into our darkness. ( Romans 1 v16)

 When will it ever end,my dear wife is with a friend from our church,her daughter has cancer,she is in a hospice, she is waiting on a phone call,need I say anymore .Forty years ago I was in that position,my dear wife had cancer,need I say anymore.Every human that is born is going to die one way or the other,it is to say the least not very nice. We were never meant to die ,John Calvin writes the follow as regards our innocent states,'Adam was wholly free from  death,his earthly life truly would have been temporal; yet he would have passed into heaven without death,and injury'.It makes one realise what he lost and what we lost,for we read,'Therefore just as sin entered the world through one man,and death through sin,and in this way death came to all people'(Romans 5 v 12) John Calvin further states,'Death,therefore,is now a terror to us;first, because there is a kind of annihilation,as it respects the body; then, because the soul feels the curse  of death,namely,alienation from God'. Into all this darkness we have the light of the gospel blazing forth bringing hope,for we read in Romans 5 v 19,'For just as through the disobedience of one man the many were made sinners,so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous'. Yes the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord'.(Romans 6 v23)

                                                    'Sin changed everything for the worse,

                                                  Calvary changes everything for the better'

Faithfulness ( Exodus 20 v14 )

 I buy a newspaper once a week,it's consider an up market newspaper ,but I have noticed recently that they have a liberal agender ,as regards the sanctity of marriage..Time and again  I read articles on people who have extra marital affairs,hear's an example,'Are you in a 'tolyamorous' marriage?',that means turning a blind eye to infidelities within one's marriages,so they give examples of married couples who supposedly don't mind their husbands /wives having other sexual partners .One so called expert states,'I think we are starting to recognise  that you can have a really beautiful , fulfilling relationship and nourishing relationship,but it may not be openly exclusive,and if you can make peace with that,then  that's going to be OK'  ,is it?, no, far from it ,these articles don't take into account the carnage that infidelity brings into multitudes of families, the children especially suffer the most.When we go against God's order there is always going to be  consequences,people suffer ,society suffers.Many still take vow's and say ,'Till death do us part'. God expects us to keep our vows, God expects us to be faithful, of course the people I am writing about are not Christians,but even if you are not a Christian being faithful is important, of course it does cost,marriage is not a fairy tale,it brings it's challenges,but in spite of everything, it is worth being faithful in your marriage.

Moral values ( John 3 v 36 )

Moral values have changed in society ,there are things today that were unthinkable when I was younger ,but now they are acceptable. Years ago living together and not married would have been considered a sin,and for Christians it would have been totally unacceptable.In churches we don't hear much preaching on morality ,even though God's moral standards have not changed.We do not want to  be like the hardened Pharisees,but it is important that we grasp the reality that God has moral standards ,that we must live by. In Ephesians 4 v 17 ff we are told a number of things,that we are to be different than unbelievers,to be honest ,to not let any unwholesome talk come out of our mouths..To get rid of all bitterness,rage and anger,brawling and slander,to be forgiving. In chapter 5 we are told that there must not be even a hint of  sexual immorality,no obscenity,foolish talk or  coarse joking.God does not look kindly on sinful behaviour His wrath is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness.Look on the cross,look on Jesus, suffering untold agony for our sin,He bore the wrath of God that was our due,that when we trust Jesus as our Saviour, we are free from that righteous wrath of God.no longer will we face eternal suffering,instead we can look forward to the eternal glories of heaven,where Jesus has prepared a place for us. In that lovely hymn ,'Beneath the cross of Jesus',by Elizabeth C. Clephane, we read the following words,as regards the cross

                                             ' There lies, beneath its shadow,but on the farther side

                                        The darkness of an awful grave,that gapes both deep and wide;

                                        And there between us stands the cross,two arms outstretched to save;

                                           Like a watchman set to guard the way from that eternal grave.

                                            

Hasty words and actions. ( 1 Peter 2 v 21- 23 )

 There was a very popular song in Victorian times,called ,'After the ball',written by Charles K. Harris, about a man who lost his sweetheart,and it should never have happened ,His young  niece asked him why he was lonely,had he no sweetheart?,well he went on to tell her the story,of the sweetheart  he had,and lost. He went to a ball where he was to meet his sweetheart,when he arrived ,he saw her being kissed by another man, well that finished the relationship,he would not listen to anything his sweetheart said,He still loved her but it was finished,years passed and she died it was then he received a letter from the man who kissed his sweetheart,it was her brother.It was king David who acted in a very hasty spirit because someone  offended him,but fortunately a lady called  Abigail stopped him.(1 Samuel 25)  A person I know spoke in haste and lost his job,hasty words and hasty action can cause us great deal of trouble,The wise words of James comes to mind,''Be swift to hear;and slow to speak'', (James 1 19 )

                                           '  The evil of haste under a worldly 

                                              impulse is truly fearful'.

                                                      'Charles Bridges'

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.'