Change . ( Philippians 4 v 8 /Colossians 3 v1 -2)

 It was Reinhold Niebuhr who wrote what is known as the Serenity Prayer, it is a very popular prayer  ,here are the words                                         

                                               'God grant me the serenity,to accept the things

                                               I cannot change,the courage to change the things

                                               I can,and the wisdom to know the differnce'

Yes there is much wisdom in that prayer, there are things we cannot change ,death,yes it obivious it is inevitable,but we can rejoice in a Saviour who died and rose again,and said ,'I am the resurrection and the life. The one who beleves in Me will live, even though they die'. (John 11 v25 ) Yes we cannot change death but we can have peace and serenity when our time comes,as David the Psalmist tells us ,'Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for you are with me'.(Psalm 23 v 4) There are many things we cannot change,we cannot change our past,the abuse we may have suffered,the mistakes we made,the hurts we have experienced,the failed marriage,the missed opportunities. All these things and more may hunt us ,but we cannot change the past ,but we don't have to be prisoners of the past,yes we may never forget them,Think of the people Jesus dealt with and how He healed them,how he gave them hope,He sets the prisoners free ,He can set you free from the past,that's why He came.Then the prayer says there are things that won't change,the apostle Paul had an affliction ,like all of us he prayed and prayed,and prayed that God would heal him but God said no,but he promised him grace to bear it.(2 Cor 12 v 9) One writer puts Paul's  response in the following words,'I quit focusing on the handicap ,whither they are,abuse,accidents,oppositionns,bad breaks'.Yes change by the grace of  God  can happen if we stop focusing on the past ,by God's grace we can,it is possible.

                                              

                                              

We die twice. ( Romans 6 v 1- 14 )

 When we think of dying we automaticly think of dying once,but in actual fact a Christian dies twice,now what do I mean by that?. We need to turn to Romans 6 to get the answer,the apostle is dealing with those who are saying if we are saved by grace alone ,it does not matter how we live. Paul was exalting the grace of God,he wrote ,''Where sin abounded,grace superabounded'', William Barclay writes that their argument would be something like this, ' The objector; You have just said that God's grace is great enough to find forgiveness for every sin.  Pual; That is so. The Objector; You are in fact,saying that God's grace is the greatest and most wonderful thing in all this world. Paul; That is so. The Objector; Your argument is that sin produces grace; therefore sin is bound to be a good thing if it produces the greatest thing in the world'. Of  course Paul is not saying that,and that he is horrified at such a thing,and replies ,'What a ghastly thought' (J P Phillips trans)Then Paul raises the issue of Baptisim and its meaning, v 3 ff ,Again W B writes,Baptism was by total immersion that was symbolically like dying and rising again, in which we die to the old life of sin and rise to a new life of grace.' as WB goes unto say we underwent '' a voluntary death''. We are now dead to sin,it is not that we won't sin,it is obvious we do,yes we fall into sin but we do not live in sin .We take no pleasure in sin,we are dead to it, Martyn Lloyd Jones says ,'that being dead to sin ,means,'That we died to the realm and to the rule and to the reign of sin'. 

                                                  ''Called unto holiness'' Church of our God,

                                                    Purchase of Jesus,redeemed by His blood;

                                                    Called from the world,and its idols to flee,

                                                     Called from the bondage of sin to be free''

                                                                     Words Mr . Morris.

Walking in the darkness.( Luke 15 v11- 31)

 I sometimes think back to the days when  I was away from the Lord,I was like a man stumbling along in the darkness.Not knowing where I was going, and I felt so lost,not realising the danger I was in ,not knowing where I was going, or whom to turn to.The darkness like a fog enveloped me,life was just a dark hole in which there was no escape. In that darkness of evil that beckoned me,the moral walls began to crumble ,I was blind to what was right and what was wrong, I who once knew the right way,had strayed from the one person I used to follow 'Jesus' I had lost sight of Him, and in doing that I  found myself walking in the darkness,I was often looking for a friend ,I felt a lonliness within my heart,it is said that one can be lonley even within a crowd. There is no darkness that can be compared to  the darkness of the soul, who knows where it will end up,one goes on in blind ignorance,yet one can see ,but it is only a short sightedness, one is fixiated in the temporal,the transient,that which is fleeting and of no lasting value,I was searching but not finding,because I did not grasp what I really needed.The word of God tells us that the world and its desires pass away,in my confusion and darkness,I couldn't see that,the lust of eyes ,and the pride of life was what mattered to me.Then one evening standing on a street corner lonely and forlorn,God interviened,that evening I found myself or should I say  God found me,and I found Him,and all things were changed.

                                                 'Like a blind man who walks in the darkness,

                                                  I had longed,I had searched for the light,

                                                  Then I met the Master,now I walk no more

                                                  in the night.

                                                  For all thigs were changed when He found me,

                                                  A new day broke through all around me,

                                                  For I met the Master ,now I belong to Him,

                                                              Words ,'The Booth Brothers.'

                                                  

Safe am I. ( John 3 v 36 )

 When I was a young boy I went to the local swimming pool,it was my first visit,I could not swim,and as I stood on the edge of pool someone pushed me in,I remember it so well, I actually was drowning but an  attendant jumped in and rescued me.God is merciful ,I could say why me?,I don't know, but I will always be eternally grateful that he did. I am reminded of another young boy his name was John Wesley he was aged five, he was asleep in his bed ,when a fire broke out in his home,and in the confusion and panic ,he was overlooked. John woke from his sleep he could see that the staircase was on fire so he  dragged a chest up to the window,climbed on to  it,and fortunately he was rescued.Later on his mother Susannah had a painting of John done,and these words were written on it,'''A brand pluked from the burning''. Every soul who is saved are brands pluked from the burning of hell ,it is as serious as that,this is not scare mongering, there is a hell as there is heaven. We are told that the wrath of God abides on every unbeliever,  John and myself had  people who were rescued us from death, so it is that God has provided one who can rescue sinners from God's wrath, his name is Jesus the word of God clearly teaches that if we call upon Him ,he will save us.

                                           'I was sinking dep in sin, sinking to rise no more,

                                           Overwhelmed by guilt within,mercy I did implore.

                                           Then the Master of t from he sea heard my desparing cry,

                                            Christ my Saviour lifted me,now safe am I.

                                                 Love lifted me......Love lifted me!

                                                When no one but Christ could help,

                                                            LOVE LIFTED ME.  

                                                              (Words J Rowe)

                                            

Waiting on God( Psalm 40 v1)

Let me ask you a question, are you good at waiting ?,years ago as childrem we would say to our mother when's the dinner going to be ready?,and she would reply, 'it's in the hottest place in the house'. Children can be very impatient, and so can adults,my wife gets impatient often when we are in a queue ,and she will say to me,'look there's only two people on the till.' But what about waiting on God?,now that's a challenge, for  often it means literally waiting maybe a long time and still we wait. My experience of getting into the ministry was praying and waiting,praying and more waiting. I looked up a poem by a  man call Russel  Kelfer on waiting,it is a very long poen but is it well worth reading, I leave you with some of the verses from it.

                  'Desperately, helplessly, lovingly, I cried. Quietly , patiently, lovingly,He replied,

                      I pleaded ,and I wept for a clue to my fate, ,and the Master so gently said,

                                                             ''Child,you must wait''

                  ''Wait?.you say wait?''my indignant reply''Lord ,I need answers,I need to know why'

                   Is your hand shortened?Or have you not heard? By faith I have asked,and I'm 

                                                                claiming your word.

                  My future,snd all to which I can relate.hangs in the balance,and you tell me to wait?.

                  I'm needing a 'yes'a go-ahead sign,or even a 'no' to which I can resign.

                 'And Lord,you have promised that if we believe,We need but ask,and we shall receive,

                 And Lord I've been asking,and this is my cry,''I'm weary of asking, I need a reply''

                Then quietly,softly,I learned my fate,As my Master replied once again,''You must wait''

                So I slumped in my chair,defeated and taut,and grumbled to God. ''So I'm waiting for what?''

                He seemed to kneel,and His eyes met mine,and He tenderly said,''I could give you a sign''.

                I could shake the heavens,darken the sun,raise the dead,cause the mountains to run.

               ''So be silent my child,and in time you will see,that the greatest gifts is to get to know Me.

                And though oft' may my answers seem terribly late,My most precious answer of all.....

                                                                   is still....Wait

                             'The  only thing harder than waiting on God,is wishing you had'

                                                               

                                                                  

                  

                      

                                                               

                                                                 

             

 

The only certainity. ( John 11 v 25)

 I heard this recently,' Certainty is a grave for little children', lets face it,we live in a very uncertain world, I'm sure you know the saying that the only certainty in life is ,'death and taxes'.I don't want to unsettle any of you, but we have to face the fact we live in an uncertain world. Sport has examples,one that gives me much pleasure ,when a little cricket team in Sion Mills in Northern Ireland routed the great West Indies for 25 runs,in  Jan 1969. Many people have been ruined by  betting on that horse,that investment, the South Sea Bubble in the 18th century ruined thousands of  investers,it was the worlds first financial crash,the first of many. No matter how careful you are in life,there are no guarantees, of a life free from uncertaity. The Goliath's in this world can be defeated,even by a young lad,one has said,'People cannot control,understand,or anticipate what life will bring'.Let us rerturn to one certainity I mentioned death,now that is a certainity,I can guarantee that,people look at death in different ways,billions  believe there is an after life,and so they place their hope in dare I say false religions,that is a false hope. In Hebrews 6 v19, we read,'We have this hope as an anchor for the soul,firm, and secure', that hope is in Christ and what He has done,by His life,death,resurrection,and ascension. He is the certainity and the only certainity we can build our hopes on.

                                                       'Upom a life I have not lived,

                                                        Upon a death I did not die,

                                                        Another's life,another's death

                                                        I stake my whoe eternity.

                                                        Jesus,O Son of God,I build

                                                        On what Thy cross has done 

                                                        for me'

                                                              Words Haratius Bonasr 

God is faithful. ( Hebrews 13 v 6)

 Recently I had Cataract surgery on my left eye ,it went fine, and I hope to have the other eye done shortly, well this has brought me a little problem, I can't always remember how to prononce the word Cataract,so  I wrote it on the palm of my hand. This reminded me of the words in Isaiah 49 ,I will come to the words shortly , but lets look  at the context,Isaiah had prophesied that Israel would be taken to Babylon ,( Isa 39 v 5 -6) he also prophesied their return (Isa 49 v v8ff),but the people found it hard to believe,they had suffered a great deal,and had lost much,and were filled despair,here is what they said,' The Lord has forsaken me,the Lord has forgotten me'.v14.Forsaken and forgotten even by God ,sometimes the trials that we face can overwhelm us,and we feel  like Israel of old,and we say where is God ?,has He forsaken ,and forgotten me?. God replied  with very reassuring words,'Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?  Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See I have engraved you on the palms of my hands' .(Not just one hand ,but both hands ) As with Israel of old, apply these words into  your situation  ,He hasn't forsaken you,nor forgotten you,it could be that it may help us to write those words on the palms of our hands,yes both hands, and they will remind us daily that God's presence is with  us ,in our darkest trials ,and experiences.

                                                  'Forsaken ,forgotten,by God?

                                                                 'Never'