Atheists do pray sometimes. ( Luke 17 v 11- 19)

 There is a saying,''There are no atheists in foxholes'',this is an aphorism used to express that at times of extreme stress or fear one will pray to a higher power .It does not mean that they will become a Christian,it did in the case of John Newton.although he was  firmilar with Christianty ,he lived a very ungodly life. It was on a boat voyage back home to England ,the boat he was in was caught up in a severe storm, and was at the point of sinking,it was then that John called for God's mercy,Soon after the storm ceased,and he arrived safely home,it was the beginning of him becoming a Christian.The idea of writing this came from an article I read in a news paper,about a North Korean diplomot who defected to South Korea.He describes the awfulness of living in North Korea.He came to a point when he wanted to get out of N K, but it is a very dngerous thing to do,as defactors pay a  terrible price if caught.He was not a religious person ,but there was a moment just before he escaped,he prayed' One can hope that the experience will lead him to seek the truth and find Christ. A prayer in a time of temporarly trouble does not make one a Christian,and will not  make any difference,to one's eternal destiny,and the awful storm that faces everyone without Christ.

The cross ( Romans 12 v1 -2 )

 When on holiday a number of years go I  bought a braclet for my wife,it ia made of leather with a round metal  inset ,with a cross on it.My wife give to me, so I am wearing it ,I hope it will arouse somebody's curiosity,and ask me about it, and so give me an opportunity to witness. Many people wear crosses,some wear then as a fashion accessory being devorced from any religious significance. There are some Christians feel uneasy about anyone wearing a cross,I wonder why?.I have said I hope me wearing this bracelet wiill be a tool in evangelisim,let's hope and pray it will be.I also hope as I look at it,its significance will bear in on  me, Fanny Crosby wrote a lovely hymn,here is a verse from it,'Near the cross! O Lamb of God, bring its scenes before me; Help me walk from day to day,with its shadow o'er me'.the cross speaks of many things,it speaks of forgiveness,reminding us we have been forgiven, so we must forgive,it speaks of the wonderful love we have experienced from God,and so we must also love,it speaks to us of one who died for us sinners,and that we must die daily to sin, it speaks to us of humility,of one who was equal to God and became a servant,reminding us that we are called to serve. So one could go on and on reminding us ,of all that the cross stands for ,challenging us each day to live day by day in its shadow.

No chance happenings. ( Genesis 24 v1 - 27 )

I believe it is important to be reminded of the providence of God,that He is sovereign as John Flvael writes,'That everything in the world and in our own lives down to the minutest details is ordered by the providence of God.As Psalm 57 v2 declares,'God that performeth all things for me'.not only that He works all things for our  good.Read the book of Esther how God intervened to preserve his ancient people.,it didn't happen by accident.How David was preserved time after time from King Saul  his persecutor..When Abraham sent his servant to get a wife for his son,he guided him to the very place and the  person who would become Abraham's sons wife 24 Genesis 24 v27,here is what he said,'The Lord led me on  the journey to the house of my fathers relatives'.That servant had strong faith in the providence of God,a certainty that the greater as well as the smaller happenings of life are very defintely controlled by the Lord's hand'. (Leupold) 'Our  times are in God's hands', we could not be in better hands,he makes no mistakes,Yes God  is sovereign He rules and overrules in all the affairs of life,there are no chance happenings,none.John Ryland wrote the following..

                                                    'His decree that formed the earth

                                                     Fixed my first and second birth;

                                                     Parents, native place,and time,

                                                     All appointed were by Him.

                                                     He that formed in the womb,

                                                     He shall guide me to the tomb;

                                                     All my times shall ever be

                                                     Ordered by His wise decree.

                                                     Plasgues and deaths around me fly;

                                                     Ti'll He bids, I cannot die;

                                                     Not ab single shaft can hit,

                                                     Till the God of Love sees fit'

Forgiving others. ( Matthew 18 v 21-22 )

 A friend of mine bumbed into his ex-Pastor and his wife,he was no longer in the ministry because of his mental illness.When my friend spoke to them they said they no longer believed in God,the reason , people in the church he pastored had been unkind to them. So instead of forgiving those people they forsook God.it appears to me, that was a strange and foolish thing to do.The movies entertain us by showing people wanting revenge on those who have hurt them,very rarely does it show people forgiving those who have hurt them.Yet that is the very thing Jesus says we should do, in Matthew 6 v 14-15 we read,' For if you forgive other people when they sin against you,your heavenly will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their sins,your heavenly Father will not forgive your sins.'I believe those words are a tremendous challenge to us all. I pray for many people who are suffering terrible things by very wicked people, What are they supposed to do?,forgive.Looking back on my own life I have been hurt ,treated unfairly ,as maybe  you have,what are we to do? the answer is very  simple and challenging,we are to forgive.

                                               'Unforgiveness will drive us away from God

                                                Forgiving others will draw us closer to God'

                                                   

                                                

                                                     

God's complex plan. ( John 13 v 7 )

Yesderday we thought on  ,'God incomprehensible',yes God made us in His image ,that image reflects God to a degree,but in no way does it reflect God's fullness,because we are  not god's,The Bible tells us He is Spirit that He is not a man,Christ one of the divine beings in the Trinty ,was a man,but He was also God,he became a man in order to redeem us on the Gross,but it did not diminish in anyway His divinity,in other words He never stopped being God, John 1 v1/ Colossians 2 v 9. Now consider God's complex plan,in relation to our lives,we read in Romans 11 v 33ff 'Oh, the depths of the riches  both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways are past finding out! For who has known the way of the Lord?.' Isaiah 40 v 28,reads,'His understaning is unsearchable'.God declares ,'For my thoughts are not your thoughts,Nor your ways my ways,says the Lord.For as the heavens are higher than the earth,so are my ways higher than your ways,and my thougjts than your thoughts'.Isaiah 55 v 8-9.God's ways are complex and we struggle with that,yes people say ,if He is God then why? yes why?.Sometimes we get some light on His ways,but often we don't,and that's when trust takes over, a great example of this is seen in the book of Habakkuk .God gave him  a vision of coming judgement on Israel by the ruthless Babylonians, for their sins. In the end  he Had to Trust God, Habakkuk 3 v 17 -17 -18.God has a plan it is a complex plan,and so the challenge comes to all of us that we are to trust in the Lord with all our hearts,and lean not upon our own understanding,I will finish with a verse of scripture that has being been a blessing to many of Gods children,

                                       'And we know that all things work together for good

                                        to those wholove God,to those who are the called

                                        according to His purpose.'

                                                                    Romans 8 v28.

God Incomprehensible ( Psalm 86 v10 )

 It is A.W.Tozer who wrote in his very profitable little book  called ,'The knowledge of God', 'Why we must think rightly of God'.I wonder when you think of  God,what comes into your mind?  The god's of this world are made in man's image,but the God of the Bible is incomprehensible we can never fully know Him,it is beyond us,but we can know God,and in the most personal way,when we come to know Christ as our Saviour.Recently when a group from the church I attend met one morning for a breakfast fellowship.We shared different things,one brother said there was a time when he could not figure out how God could possibly hear all the millions of prayers coming to Him ,at the same time. But God can and does,not only hears bur answers our prayers.We can carry that on further,He knows everybodies thoughts,He see's everyone ,nothing is hidden from Him,He is the great inescapable one, God declares  in Jeremiah23 v 23-24 ,'I am God who is everywhere.........I am everywhere in  heaven and in earth'.Who can explian that great mystrey of the 'Holy Trinity'. it is impossible to understand the unchangeableness of God, that God is eternal,he always exsisted,he has no beginning and no ending and so we could go on.We can know God, I know God,hopefully you know Him.As I said at the beginning  when we trust Jesus as our Saviour,by simple faith,and we must continue to follow Him in simple faith,believing only what has been revealed to us from His word,and not stray from the revealed truth they're in.

                                                 'Dear God teach us to know that we

                                                  cannot know,for the things of  God

                                                  knoweth no man,but the Spirit of

                                                 God. Let faith support us where reason

                                                 fails,and we shall think because we 

                                                 believe,not in order that we may believe.

                                                                  In Jesus' name.

                                                            'A prayer by A.W.Tozer'

'                                 

                                                 

                                                 

Have faith in God. ( Psalm 46 v 10)

 Let us look at the prayer that Jacob prayed in Genesis 32 v 9-12, he says to God,'But you have said ,''I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea,which cannot be counted'.He is saying hear I am and possible going to be annihilated by my brother,but you have said,you will bless me and prosper me.He is an honest man telling God he is afraid,so really he was asking God to honour His word and to save and deliver him.And so it came to pass,for we read in chap33 when Esau came he ran to to Jacob embraced him,throwing his arms around him and kissed him,Instead of hating ,he showed that he loved him,this was a wonderful answer to prayer,God was faithful as to what he had promised Jacob .Although Jacob had been very afraid,he sought God believing what God had said.Do not let feelings rule your life,(but let me add ,don't ignor if you feel unwell, go and see your doctor),but don't let feeling rule your life, feelings have a place in our lives,but so has faith,faith in relation to salvation, faith in relation to God's care ,protection and provision.Don't let fear drive you away from God, let it drive you to seek God in prayer, and as it did with Jacob .

                                                    'Teach me ,Lord, to understand

                                                     Even in the darkest night,

                                                     When storms are high and seas are wild,

                                                      Thy way is right.'

                                                                N R.Perry