Temptation ( Hebrews 4 v 14 -16 )

 We will all be tempted to do wrong ,no one will escape that,it is W Barclay who writes on ,The Defence against temptation'.He tells how President Garfield was once urged  to take a profitable, but  dishonourable course of action. It was said,'' No one will ever know'', His answer was,''President Garfield will know- and I've got to sleep with him.''  How true , there are  some things in my life I've done ,and I still remember them with regret.That is one aspect of defending ourselves against temptation,another is to not put ourselves in the way of temptation,the Lord's prayer touches on that ,in the words.'Lead us not into tempatation,' but deliver us from all evil ', some translations have,' deliver us from the evil one'.(Matthew 6 v 13) Left to our own devices we can so easy put ourselves in the way of temptation,let us always be aware of our weaknesses  , in praying those words we are acknowledging our dependence on God to deliver us from all evil which includes the evil one.Yes there is evil within us,a fallen nature that we have to be always aware of.The other is the evil one  the devil, who will always be seeking to take advantage of us,to lure us into evil which comes to us in many different ways. We must remembe that we will always be in a spiritual battle,as  Michael Green writes,' Jesus well aware of this, bids us to daily seek the Fathers strength to be delivered from the seductions of the svil one,' that includes the evil of our own hearts. 

Only one way.( John 3 v 3ff)

One should never underestimate the fact that children can come to know Christ as their Saviour, R.T.Kendall,tells in a book that he wrote of how he became a Christian, he writes the following, ' I  was converted  at the age of six,on Easter Morning April 5,1942. As we were getting ready to go to church, I told my parents I  wanted to be a Christian,I knelt at my parents bedside,confessed my sins,and asked the Lord to save me'.Yes six years of age but it was real,and when he grew up he became a preacher,and was the minister of Westminster Chapel in London, when Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones left. In 1 Samuel 3 v 7,we read  that the boy Samuel ,'did not yet know the Lord', even though he served in the  Tabernacle ,one does not automatically become a  Christian, that only comes when we put our trust in Jesus ,Samuel  eventually did come to know the Lord .  Attending a church or having Christian parents does not make one a Christian,we must be born again John 3 v 7.

                                                   'Becoming a Christian only comes

                                                    through a second birth.'

Know all's. ( 1 Corinthians 13 v 12)

 Sometimes there are people who give the impression that they know it all, yes they are know all's,  if only,of course  there is no such person who knows it all,I must confess I don't know it all.I was visiting an elderly couple who live in a residentual place, they are Christians of long standing,the lady is in her 90s her husband s not far behind her,he suffers from Parkinsons.During my visit the lady raised the question,will we know each other in heaven?,it is a good question,do you know the answer? .I often think about heaven, the main thing I am concerned with,that those we love  will be in heaven. All the relationships we have now will be no longer,we will all be in one perfect relationship.There are so many things we don't know,and may never know this side of eternity. in Deueronomy 29 v29 (a), we read these very,very important words,' The secret things belong unto God.' Often we struggle with so many things,and we cry out to heaven,'why'?, and we don't get an answer,and we may never know this side of eternity.At this stage  only God knows,and we just have to trust Him, it is His secret,known only to Him.But there are things God has revealed to us CP Deut 29 v29 ( b),let us hold fast as to what we do know,and trust Him as regards the things we don't know',remember what Jesus said,'Blessedare those who have not seen and yet have believed' ( John 20 v 29 )

We don't need God.( Revelation 3 v14 - 22 )

 A  friend of mine said that in the 1970's people began to have more money to spend,they began to go on foreign holidays,and generally they were better off.One of the effects of this was felt when he and his collegues went door to door evangelisim he was told,'we don't need God anymore we have got everything ,more than we need'.There was time when people needed the church,especially children,things were different then, people could not afford much,for children  it was somewhere to go.Once a year the church would hire a bus and parents and children  would go away for the day to a holiday resort.When people die  many are not having a minister take a service,also some have the body taken away to the crematorian,and the ashes are brought back to the loved one's, simple as that.It is all very sad,and I believe  it won't get any better.In Proverbs 30 v 7-9  we have a very wise prayer.it reads.

                            ' Two things I ask of you Lord ;donot refuse me before I die;

                               keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty

                               nor riches,but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise ,I  may

                               have to much and disown you and say,''Who is the Lord?'' 

                               Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonour the name

                                of my God'.        

                                                                                         

Don't do it.( Psalm 121 )

 I don't know if you have ever heard of Roy Taylor,he was a fellow Irish man ,I never met him I wish I had,he was an entertainer ,a singer who represented Ireland in Eurovison 1988.He died of Moter Nrurone Disease.I heard him sing  with Finbar Furey ,while having that disease,i the song sounded lovely.I saw a picture of him holdng a plaque,with theses words on it,'Never,Never,Never,Give Up'.These words challenged me conaidering the person who was holding the plaque,that disease is dreadful ,there is no cure ,he died of it in 2023. Life on planet earth can throw a lot things at us,awful things,and it seems easy to give up, you loose a love one,you loose the job you need,you husband or wife may have been unfaithful,and walked out on you.The present is dark ,the future appears even darker ,the answer is not sucicide,or running away,or being engulfied with dark thoughts,I'm speaking to you if you are a Christian,I want you to look to Jesus ,listen to what He says to  you ,'look to Me', and I will bring you through,in your darkness I will be your light,in your weakness I will be your strength,in your sadness I will be your joy,in your lonliness I will be your friend.He knows how you feel,  It may seem beyond you to carry on, it would be, if it was just you,Here is what Jesus again would say to you.'So do not fear,for I am with you; I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand'. ( Isaiah 40 v10).

                                                            ' Never Give Up,

                                                             Never Give Up,

                                                             Never Give Up'

God is not a spectator. ( Romans 1 v18-32)

I used to play football a long time ago,I wasn't very good,now I am just a spectator ,no influence,I don't get involved I just criticise ,and  try to enjoy the game,yes I'm just an onlooker. The thought came to me as regards God,is He just a spectator?,does He just sit enthroned above the circle of the earth,just looking looking on?.The fact is a vast number of people look at God  as being a spectator not really involved in the affairs of this world. and is definitely  not involved in anyway in their affairs.They speak with no reference to God,other than using His name in vain,living only on a horizontal level.when Pharaoh was confronted by Moses and the words that he spoke,'The God of Israel says'; Pharaoh replied ,'Who is the Lord, that I should let Israel go? I do not know the Lord'. (Exodus 5  v 1-2 )Millions upon millions do not know God ,I spoke to a man today he said he was an atheist,so he is not accountable,most people are practical atheist in other words they act as if He does not exist .I said to that atheist,'so all this just happen,its impossible '. The apostle said,' in Him (God ) we live and move and have our being (Acts 17 v28).he then goes on to declare,'For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice  by the man He has appointed,He has given proof of this to everyone by raising  him from the dead'.(Acts 17 v 31)God is sovereign we are heading at brake neck speed to that day when we all will be ushered into the presence of God  and they shall bow the knee before Him in fear,as judgement falls upon them,and oh what a weeping and whaling will  be heard as they hear of their fate.

                                                     'There are no atheists in foxholds'

Boasting excluded. ( 1 Corinthians 15 v 9- 10)

A man was heard saying ,'I suppose those Christian think they are better than everybody else',no, that is not true.Some religions like Hinduism  can lead those in a higher cast,think that they better than those in a lower cast,and so they despise them,and have no sympathy for them. We read of the Pharisees in the gospels they called the common people sinners,yet our Saviour had said some very serious things about them that they  were children of hell (Matthew 23 v13) . Do Christians think they are better than the non-Christians?,I hope they don't ,for the fact is we are not.But we are better off than non-Christians, simply by the grace of God, the Christian is a sinner saved by grace, We are better  off than the non-Christian for Jesus is our Saviour, and  that changes everything,instead of going to hell we are going to heaven.(John 3 v 16) Upon every non -Christian  the wrath of God remains  ,but not upon those who trust in Jesus(John 3v 36). Yes the Christian is better off than the non-Christian, because when Christ becomes our Saviour, God becomes our Father (John 1 v12) Yes we not better that anyone else ,but because of Jesus we are better off than them .

                                                     'Naught have I gotten,but what I received;

                                                      Grace have bestowed it since I believed;

                                                       Boasting excluded,pride I abase;

                                                        I'm only a sinner,saved by grace.'

                                                                 Words J.M.Gray.