Suffering for Christ ( 1 Peter 2 v 23 )

 Many people around the world are suffering for Christ,there are two brothers in Christ in Eritrea who have been in prison for 20yrs,in Iran, Mina and Malihe have been sent to prison for six yrs,there seems to be no let up in the persecution of Christians.There is a church in China called the Early Rain Church, in Dec 2018 there was a large crackdown by the authorites,,Pastor Wang Yi was arrested and sentenced to 9yrs in prison,of course they declared why he was imprisoned,they said he was guilty of underming the power and authority of the state,plus he was involived in illegal business operations. After his trial he wrote the following.

                                            'If anyone attacks me,I will be as meek as a lamb.

                                             If anyone attacks the church,I will be as brave as a lion.

                                             If this is from the Lord, I will not open my mouth.

                                             I gave my opinion of those in power out of love

                                             rather than hatred. Only by being obedient when

                                             arrested could I  let all see that I was truly motivated

                                             by love'

                       'Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow 

                        His steps.Who committed no sin ,Nor was deceit found in His mouth.'

                                                                   1Peter 2 v 21-22

What people do to people ( Matthew 27 v 12)

 Yes what do people do to people?,yes there are many people doing good things,and I'm sure we all know many such people, and of course if we are a Christian we should be at the top of the list in doing good things. But the bad things that people do to others, from scams to ,'you name it',the list is endless,and its very depressing ,frightening,and very, very sad..We were made for better things than that,and it shows the awful,destructive,catastrophic,consequences of the fall of mankind.And it doesn't stop there,in John 1 v1 we are told of a great and awesome,breathtaking ,astonishing  truth,Jesus who was and is God,became flesh, and dwelt among us (v 14).He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him,the world did not recognise Him.imagine that,and alas they still do not recognise Him. But it does not stop there,He came to that which was His own,but His own did not receive Him  (John 1v 10-11). Not only did the world not recognise Him,and His own people rejected Him, they hated Him,with a hatred reserved for the worst of  people,They arrested Him,give him a farce of a triaL. They mocked Him ,physically assulted Him,and nailed Him to a cross. Isaiah leaves us a description of Christ hanging on that cross.,'They are appalled at Him,his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any human being,and His form marred beyond human likeness (52 v 14) This is what people did to Jesus,that's the gravity of what they did, let me ask the question, what are you going to do with Jesus?.

Can good works save us? ( Matthew 7 v 21-23 )

 When one witnesses to different people you get different reactions,some do not want to listen,don't say anything, others give a brief reply,here is a reply by one lady I spoke to,she served in a charity shop. I started by asking her did she go to church? she replied no,then I asked was she was a Christian?,she replyed,I think I am ,I help people.I commended her for that,and her work in the charity shop,and then  I went on to tell her about my wife,who is a carer,helping many,but that would never save her.It is said that there are two types of religions ,one is based on their works, and the other based on faith in the work of Christ alone to save them.The first one is what many people think,that their works must count for something in God's eyes.But they are tottally wrong ,sad to say they keep persisting with that belief ,though the lady said she would think about I said. Works cannot save us they are not meant to ,yet we cannot discount them, and think they are not important,they are. but not as a means of our salvation,but as an evidence that we are saved, as James tells us in his epistle,'show me your faith',  ( James2 v18).It is only the work of Christ on the cross that saves us, nothing else.This is not a trivial matter,it is vital that we see that the best we do is not  good enough to save us,our best efforts cannot blot out one sin,if you think  you can be saved by climbing the ladder of good works that will take you into heaven,they won't,not if one did good works for a million,million,million years, it will all be in fain and will end in tears, give it up as a bad job,and turn in simple humility and faith in Jesus to save you.

                                                      

The Fatherhood of God ( Isaiah 64 v7/ 1John 3 v1 )

 One of the most precious prayers we have is the one we call the' Lords prayer',it was our lovely Saviour who taught us this prayer,each Sunday in our church we pray it. There is so much in that short prayer to instruct us as regards prayer itself. It starts,'Our Father who art in heaven', One of the most precious truths we have,is the 'Fatherhood of God'.When I was a child my mother and father seperated on bad terms, it meant I never really had a father,that's a big loss to a young child. I remember lying in bed and praying, about it, and I said to God,your my Father, that was a great comfort to me,and has stayed with me all my life,not only is He my Father He is my loving heavenly Father. Just recently a certain minister said calling God  Father was inappropriate,because some children have been abused by their fathers. It's very very sad when children are abused by their fathers,someone I love was abused ,so to some degree I understand the awfulness of that. Our Saviour taught us to recognise God as Father,He  used that term many times,so we have no right to rob us of the wonderful truth the,'Fatherhood of God'.Do we change everywhere in the Bible where  God is called Father,I think not,we must be true to the word of God,in all things.

                                                      'Our Father who art in heaven hallowed

                                                                        be Thy name'

                                                                       Matthew 6 v 9

What a mess. ( Psalm 34 v 6)

 I think of two men who got themselves  into terrible difficulties,one is Jonah the disobedient prophet,and David the adulterer and murderar.They were both men of God but they blew it big time,and found themselves in a mess of trouble.Put yourself in their place,imagine finding yourself in the belly of a great fish,in the depths of the ocean,what a mess he got himself into,a mess of his own making.Then imagine David,a man after God's own heart,who give in to his lustful thoughts, even though  he knew Bathsheba was married to Uriah one of his mighty men; when Bathsheba told him she was pregnant,he tried to cover it up by having Uriah that noble man murdered.He thought he had got away with it,not so, God saw what he did, as a result Nathan the prophet spoke to him,told him a made up story about a great injustice,David was indignant,imagine how the blood as it were drained from his face,as he heard the words ,'you are the man'. (2 Samuel 11-12) What a mess he had got himself into, these two men's experiences are not unique could it be that you are in that situation? your marriage is fallen apart or whatever,whats the answer?,well those two men did something,they sought the Lord . The Gaithers  have written a lovely song of a man who got himself into an awful mess,here are some of the words.' I havn't slept since midnight,because of my foolish choice.the night is so very dark, Ive spent so much time in misery .'Lord can you undo the terrible mess I've made?' The answer is He can, He did it for Jonah ,and David ,and He can do it for you because God is merciful, be you saved or unsaved.

                                                            'Remember mercy flows through

                                                                             JESUS'

 

It's impossible.( Matthew 19 v 16 -26 )

Most people have heard of King Canute,the story goes that he set his throne by the sea  side and sought to stop the tide coming in,was he a fool?, I don't think he was,I believe he was making a point,'that his powers was nothing compared to God's power. Deluded leaders often forget that,to their own destruction.When anyone whoever it is seeks to dethrone God,then they are utter fools,it was Christ that could walk on water,and calm the storm, no wonder the calming of the sea  terrified the disciples, and they asked the question,'Who is this? even the wind and the waves obey Him!' We often hear said, the sky is the limit meaning  there  are no limts and that anything is possible.Yes people can rise to great hights in politics ,buisness or whatever.it is possible,but there will always be limits,for we cannot do the impossible only God can do that,we can try to delay death.but it is impossible to stop it, no one can beat death, people have their bodies frozen,in the hope that a discovery will be made to bring them back to life.,unlike King Canute they fail to see that they can't stop the inevitable,they are just fooling themselves.Here is something else that man cannot do they can't save themselves,it's impossibe,here is another thing they cannot do they can't get to heaven without trusting Jesus as their Saviour,yes it's impossible,but with God all things are possible. 

                                                        'Salvation is of the Lord'

                                                                Jonah 2 v 9

 

Search me. ( Jeremiah 17 v 9-10)

 In  chap 11 of the book of Hebrews we have a list of people who lived by faith,and  followed the Lord in spite of the challengres they faced, v35ff, tells of the awful things they had to endure,to say the least it was no picnic,being tortured ,being imprisoned,flogged,stoned ,sawn in two,being destitute and so on,yet they did not give up. They and all the people mentioned in this chapter are witnesses to the Christians the letter was written to, and to every generation of Christians ,who follows in their footsteps.So the writer in Hebrews 12 v1 encourages his readers to deal with every thing that would hinder them,and the sin that so easily entangles them, in following the Lord. Maybe we need to stop and ask God about the things that are hindering us and the sin that so easily entangles us. Here is a prayer we could pray.,

                                                      'Search me ,God, and know my heart;

                                                       test me,and know my anxious thoughts.

                                                       See if there be any offensive way in me,

                                                       and lead me in the way everlasting.'

                                                                    Psalm 139 v23 -24.