Peace. ( Numbers 6 v 24 -26 )

 When I was a young boy,and our mother was finding things hard,,she would say, 'give my head peace', we look out at the world,we see so many conflicts,so many disturbing things.I read this recently that there are 92 places in this world where there is comflict and no peace.  That's only part of the story,so many people  would say  what my mother said,'give my head peace'.The Bible speaks of two types of peace,'Peace with God, and the Peace of God'.In our unsaved state we are at war with God, look to Calvary that's the Son of God hanging on the cross.The way for things to change comes when we lay down our arms and surrender to Jesus,'Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith,we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.'Let us consider the  ,'Peace of God'. what a precious gift that is. if you are a Christian  you have that gift within you a gift from Jesus John 14 v27.It is called a peace that passeth all understanding(Philippians 4 v7)  I want to leave you with two verses, Isaiah 26 v 3-4,'You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the  Lord for ever, for the Lord, himself,is the Rock eternal'.

                                                                     A Prayer

                                             ' Dear Lord help our minds to be steadfast,

                                              our trust to be unwavering,because you 

                                              are our eternal Rock.Amen

God's in the Dock ( Romans 5 v 12 )

There is a famous actor called Stephen Fry,he is often voicing his opinion  as regards God,and why He created such an evil world,basically he blames God,its all His fault,and why should he believe in such an evil being. What can one say to such accusations,?.In other words no one is responsible for the evil they do,the murderer,the rapist,the thief,the adulterar, and so on.Twice I have heard him say  these things, no one has given him an answer,so what is the answer?.It all began in a garden ,nature and man were  one,they dwelt in total harmony,likewise Adam and Eve peace reigned. Now when it came to God and man,all was fine no conflict,no sin,perfection ruled, We do not know how long this lasted,but suddenly and unexpectantly everything changed,and I mean everything.Eve and Adam sinned ,they didn't have to sin ,no one forced them,it was there free choice.It had an effect on all creatures great and small, and also mankinds relationship with each other.And most serious of all ,it involved  humanities relationship with God.Why God permitted this evil to happen I don't know,but one explanation is  that God granted them the freedom of making a choice.Adam and Eve knew what they were doing ,and the consquence of disobedience (Genesis 2 v 16-17),so they ignored that,from that time on ,the floodgates opened, nothing  would never be the same again . We are in the dock,not God ,we are the guilty ones. God's wrath and Judgement came upon us, but God is merciful, and He has made a way back to Him from the dark paths of sin,He  opened a door that we may go in,Calvary cross is where we begin ,when we come as a sinner to Jesus'.

                                                           'We all have a choice'

What God requires ( Micah 6 v 8)

 We look at certain religions and our horrified at the brutality they engage in,but sad to say as one looks back in history there were those who came under the banner of Christianity,and they acted very cruel.How can one defend Henry the V111 ,and how he treated his wives,in his pursuit to have a male heir.Someone has said that so much of Christianity is good but often it has been unkind.How can one justify torturing people, and burning people at the stake.Philip the second of Spain was a very religious person yet he founded the Spanish Inquisition with all its hideousness. In my own country women who had children outside of marriage ,were treated like criminals put into institutions and abused one way or the other.The men who fathered the children got off scot free, we could also mention the abuse that many dear children  suffered at the hands of religious people.and the cover up by religious authorities As Christians we must never condon sin, we want to see sinners saved,repenting of their sins and trusting Jesus,we are not against the wrong doer being punished, every society should have just laws,but not cruel laws.

                                                                  W. Barclay  

                              'So many good Church people would have sided with the rulers

                               and not with Jesus if they had had to deal with the woman taken 

                               in adultery'

Holiness. ( 2 Timothy 1 v 9-10)

 Someone asked how would you de scribe holiness?the answer John Stott gives is Christlikeness,yes I would agree with that,in Romans 8 v 29,we read,'That God has predestined us tobe conformed to the image of His Son'. Is it possible to be like Jesus?,we can, but how? in ourselves it is impossible, in Romans 8 v 26 we read,'The Spirit helps us in our weakness'.the fact is the Christian life is not a do it yourself religion,some people say Christianity is not religion,it is a relationship.I believe that is so ,while we do religious activities,but it's my  relationship with God that is the core being of my life.It is understood if one considers an Old Testament saint Enoch, who we are told, that he walked faithfully with God (Genesis 5 v 21) and in that walk he pleased God. (Hebrews 11 v 5) Was he perfect? the answer is no,there are people who believe  that one can experience sinless perfection,it is impossible. I have only met one person who was perfect,Jesus, we read in Hebrews 7 v26, that He was ''Holy,harmless, '',undefiled separated from sinners''He claimed to be perfectly sinless (John 8 v46), We must always remember that Jesus was truly man and truly God, so it follows that He was sinless. Here is the wonderful thing,  one day we will be sinless ,perfectly conformed to the image of Jesus'.Just a footnote ,holiness of the saints is an evidence,just as works are.

                                                   'There is no sin in heaven;

                                                    Behold that blessed throng,

                                                    All holy is their spotless robe,

                                                     All holy is there song'

                                                                F.M.Knollis

                                                                          

Grief and pain, ( Psalm 55 v 22)

                                In the musical ,'Miserables', two lines from one of the songs goes,

                                               'There's a grief that can' t be spoken,

                                                Ther's a pain that goes on and on'

Those words,that experience could be written over many peoples lives, the context of those words concern those who died in an uprising against a goverment,The song expresses the feelings of one of their  comrades who didn't die,he feels guilt that he hadn't died with them,and now he's left with the grief and pain that will not go away. People die in wars,in accidents,a mother looses a new born baby, and so it goes on.But its not just in relation to death ,marriage breakups that can affect children for the rest of their lives. So many get hurt in  many ways that leave them with a grief and pain that won't go away.We  forget  that we live in a broken world full of broken people.It was never meant to be this way but all  changed when sin entered into this world.Job who knew his fair share of troubles wrote,'How  frail is humanity!How short is life,how full of trouble! We blossom like a flower and then wither.Like a passing shadow,we quickly disappear'. (Job 14 v 1) One way or another we all will experience pain and grief,that will not leave us. I love those words that Jesus spoke in Matthew 11 v 28,' Come to Me, all of you  who are weary and carry heaven burdens,and I will give you rest'.He alone can only meet the needs of the human heart  and give peace,in our sorrows he can be our comforter in our darkest moments, He can be our healer in our grief and pain. .Remember He has walked the road that we are walking and experienced what  we are going through,and so He says ,'come to Me.'

                                                      'No one understands like Jesus'

Honour God. ( 1 Samuel 2 v 30 )

Just recently one of my grandsons wives had a baby boy, he told me it's weight , and its name,'Judah, William, Heasley.I was emotional ,to think that he honoured me in this way,for my name is William,One of my other sons called one of his sons William in honour of me.One of the commandments has a promise attached to it, it is the 5th commandment'Honour your father and your mother,so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you'. Thomas Watson writes,'Honour is shown to parents in relieving their wants'.This is something that is pleasing to God, I have known children who have treated their elderly parents badly,God is not pleased with that. God is the Christians heavenly Father and we should always honour Him in all things in our obedience,in our service.You may have heard of Eric Lidell a great athlete,his parents where Scottish,and where missionaries in China,that was were Eric  was born. but he was brought up in Scotland. He played rugby for Scotland, but he excelled in athletics ,he was chosen to run in the 1924 Paris Olympics.He was a 100m runner but that created a problem for it was to be held on Sunday/Sabbath,and his Christians convictions would not allow him to run on that day.So he choose to run the  400m.On the morning of the event someone handed him a slip of paper with these words on it,'In the old book it says; 'He that honours Me I will honour them'.he won the race.

                                                       'In all things let us honour God'

More than Conquerors. ( Ephesians 6 v 10- 18)

Some religions are very violent we read about them everyday, I could give you many examples of the awful things they do to people,Dr Lloyd Jones wrote the following,'There is no violence in Christianity,no one should ever be forced or even bribed to become a Christian .Likewise  there should be no threats made to anyone who leaves Christianity,,that's their choice. It is not by the sword we conquer,so how do we conquer?by love,by the Word of God, and by the Spirit of God. Love is expressed and seen in many ways, when a mother gives the last food in the house to her children,and she goes without.Love is when you give out of your poverty ,love is when you give your life for another,Such was the love manifested by Jesus, when he not only died on that cross,but He also bore the punishment for our sins,yes He did it out of love. We conquer by God's word,'The writer of the Message makes these telling remarks on Hebrews 4 v12, 'His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon's scalpel,laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God's Word. We can't get away from it,no  matter what'Yes we conquer by God's Word.We also conquer by God's Spirit,every child of God has the Spirit of God within them.By God's Spirit we live the Christian life,and by that Spirit we can be overcomers,by that Spirit God can use us in His kingdom, and by that Spirit God can use us in His service and our efforts to win the lost.