Without God ( Psalm 124)

Thomas A Kempis wrote,'There is no holiness,if you withdraw your hand .  No wisdom is of any use,if you no longer guide it. No strength can avail if you do not preserve it. No purity is safe if you do not protect it, No watchfulness on our part can affect anything unless your holy vigilance is present with us.If you abandon us ,we sink and perish;but if you come to us we are raised up and we live'. Consider the three tenses,'Past,Present,and Future'.Lets consider the past when we knew not Christ as our Saviour, it took  the grace of God to open our minds eyes to the fact that there was nothing we can do to save ourselves,yes absolutely nothing.The word of God tells us ,'For it is by grace you have been saved,through faith- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works,so no one can boast.  (Ephesians 2 v8- 9). Now the present,our dependence on God has not ceased,for our Saviour tells us that without Him we can do nothing (John 15 v 5)We are not to be independent builders as Psalm 127  tells us, 'Unless the Lord builds the house,the builders labour in vain'. Next the future,it can be a bit frightening and overwhelming, all will be well as long we rely upon the  Lord,and we discover that He will bring us through to our desired destination.,heaven and home.

He made no reply. ( 1 Peter 2 v23)

Sometimes I get angry  ,especially if anyone hurts someone  I love,I remember years ago when a neighbour acted unkindly to one of our children  ,and my then wife became angry with her.That was it, no that Sunday as a family we went to go to church, there she was waiting and called us all sorts of things thankfully we didn't respond,we just went on our way.I know that was the best way ,it would be easy to retaliate, word for word.I have done it sometimes but it doesn't help. Spurgeon wrote the following,'Calm assurance answers some questions infinitely more conclusively than the loftiest eloquence.. The best apologists for Christianity in the early days were  its martyrs,The anvil breaks  a host of hammers by quietly bearing the blow'. It is Isaiah  writing prophetically of our Saviours suffering wrote,'He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth,it says the same words again (53 v7)What an awesome example he left us,when we are unfairly treated,or when we are being persecuted, it  is contrary to the natural man,Our Saviour said ,'Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth'.(Matthew 5 v 5), and so they will.

Unique ( Psalm 139v 13 - 18 )

Stop comparing yourself to others,you are unique ,when God made you ,yes you,He broke the mould, as one has said ,'God crafted you to be one of a kind,and of all the billions of people alive right now on planet earth, no one is just like you'. I have just heard that one of my granddaughters has had a baby boy,10lbs 3 oz, he is unique. Identical twins may look the same but they are different,their personalities will be different.In some families some parents make more of the bright child,so undermining the not so bright child,and they grow up with an inferiority complex.I have 5 sons they are all different, some are gifted academically, others are not but they all have special gifts, different strengths,and different personalities,and to me they are all precious. Today stop comparing yourself to others be yourself,be the person God made you be. Of course as Christians God has a plan for His children that they would be conformed to Christ image (Romans 8 v 29)but we are not being made clones ,we are being made Christlike, perfect in everyway.

Safe and Secure, (Deuteronomy 33 v 27)

 It is so easy to feel insecure in this world,and also to feel fear, the list of Phobias could fill a book, here are some ,fear of heights,flying,water,storms,closed spaces,crowds,etc.There are many people who  suffer from panic attacks,brought on by stress.Very few of us could say ,'I will fear no evil', even though the Lord is with us,let me say this,we will all feel fear,it is how we react to it, that is important.I believe God can give us strength to go forward,in spite of our fears. When I passed my test many years ago,my legs were like jelly,but by faith I still went ahead with it. As I grow older at times I still have my fears,real and imaginary,but God has been faithful,and I have no reason to think that will change.I admire the apostle Paul,in his writings he tells how he felt in troubles.he wrote of a time when he and others faced great dangers,he speaks of being crushed and overwhelmed not expecting to survive. So what did they do, they turned from self to their Saviour who rescued them from mortal danger (2 Corinthians 1 v8 -10) Thomas Brooks wrote the following,' Our safety and security lie not in our weak holding upon  Christ, but in Christ's holding us fast in His everlasting arms. This is our glory and our safety,that Christ's left hand is always under us,and his right hand doth always embrace us'.

We all have a choice.( Isaiah 55 v 6-7 )

I have been  diabetic for quite a number of years, I am not on medication, and it has never caused  me any problems. In some cases it can be very serious if you do not watch your sugar intake,a neighbour of mine ignored  the warnings,showed no restraint,well he had an injury on his leg,he neglected to have it treated,gangrene set in, and then he died.I do try to watch what I eat,one think I always liked was apple pie,recently I was in a supermarket,and saw apple pies for sale,oh I would have loved to have bought one,but then I heard myself saying,'Yield not to temptation',and I didn't. One thing God has given us is the power to choose, yes we do have a choice when faced with being unfaithful to the one we are married to,we do have a choice between telling the truth or telling a lie, when we yield to sinful temptations,we sin ,and that's very serious.It might be in a major thing or minor thing, but sin is sin, there is no such thing as a venial sin or a mortal sin ,God does not differentiate  as regards sin. My neighbour choose to ignore the consequences of what he was doing,and he paid the price, if you are not saved,remember  there will be very serious consequences as regards  your sin, don't yield to the temptation of thinking that God will not judge you,He will, make the right choice and seek forgiveness by trusting Jesus as your Saviour.

He knows. ( 1 Peter 5 v7)

 Things happen and one cannot do much about it,three years ago we purchased a car for my wife,it was I who choose the car. Before we bought it I spent much time reading up on different models,one particular model stood out,it was very impressive,everything seemed right about it.The mileage was very so we eventually went and saw it ,and we liked it,and we bought it.Of course we prayed about it asking God to guide and direct us,and I believe He did. So for the next three years my wife enjoyed the car,it was lovely, but then my wife said she could heard a noise,and so we arranged to ia having a diagnostic report,when that was done they told us  it needed a new engine,which involved a good bit of money..The point is, it still has a low mileage,yes things happen,had we not prayed about it,so why had this happened?,the answer is very simple,I don't know,but here is what is important, God knows , and we can rest assured that it will work out for our good,and His glory,all things are in His hands,be what they may.I am conscious that there are those of you who are reading this ,who may be facing far more  severe difficulties,dear child of God remember He knows,yes you may not know,and you may be asking why?, I just want to encourage you to trust your loving heavenly Father,who loves you,and will never cause you ,His child to have a needless tear.

Let us magnify the grace of God. ( Galatians 6 v 18)

 I am 80,and have been following the Lord for 60 years,and as I look back on my life the words penned by John Newton come to mind,' Through many dangers, toils and snares,I have already come; Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,and grace will lead me home'. Those words speaks volumes,reading the life of John Newton one can appreciate why he wrote then,but they ring true for all of  God's children. I often hear  people who live to  a very old age, when asked  ,'what is the secret of your long life?,'and they give different reasons,but I don't think I have ever heard one say,'by the grace of God'.  I have been driving for many years,Like all of us I am not a perfect driver,how have I survived? ,by the grace of God. How  have I survived morally?,yes morally, I have no other explanation, than the grace of God.Then what about the trials that have come into our lives? things we never expected, most certainly never expected.You may have thought this should not be happening to me, even though our Saviour told us, 'that in the world we shall have tribulation,(John 16 v33) How have we come through those trials? 'by the grace of God'. I am told that there are 5 graces of God,' saving grace,sanctifying grace,strengthening grace,sharing grace,and serving grace'. As regards coming through trials  we highlight ,'strengthening grace', that grace has never dried up,and never will. Yes its true.'His grace has brought us safe thus far,and grace will will lead us home'.