Thank your luckly stars.( Psalm 20 v 7)

I was at the opticians,and I saw that the optician was wearing a bead bracelet, I know that muslins use prayer beads,they honour their god repeating his name,or for asking forgiveness.So I asked the optician was he a  Moslem he said he wasn't, he siad he wasn't,but I think he may have been, but he said the beads were to bring him good luck. The thing is ,will those beads bring him good luck ?.will a rabbits foot bring one good luck?,it wasn't very lucky for the rabbit. When footballers are going out to play,they often cross themselves,people have a number they consider lucky. There is a saying,'thank your lucky stars',and of course there are things that people believe will bring them bad luck,like walking under a ladder. As I was leaving the opticians ,the optician shook my hand,I  said to him I will not wish you good luck,but I pray the Lord will bless you.As  a Christian I don't believe in good luck,lets face it ,how can beads do anything for anybody?  ,the answer is they can't. The Christian does not buy into the blind superstitions of this world ,their faith is in almighty God. When David faced Goliath (1 Samuel 17) he said,'I come to you in the name of the Lord of  Heaven's Armies'.When Abraham was called by God to leave his home land,we read,' By faith he obeyed ' ( Hebrews 11v 8).Faith, not in meaningless so called luck,faith in God,who alone rules over all things,our going out and our coming in.Let us cast down all the false and foolish idea's that poor blind people hold unto and let us trust in the living God.

                                                     'Trust in the Lord with all thine heart;

                                                      and lean not unto thine own understanding.

                                                      In all thy ways acknowledge Him,and

                                                      shall direct thy paths.'

                                                                   Proverbs 3 v 5-6

                                                      

A closer walk with God. ( Hebrews 12 v 1-3 )

Last time we considered our position in Christ, now let us consider  what Saria said,'She wanted to have a closer walk  with God'. Yes we are children of God, that's our position,but about our walk with God, When a soldier marches on the spot,it's called ,'Marking Time', that means maintaining their position,without moving in any direction. That's not walking with God,if that's all we are doing then we are not walking with God. Jesus said follow Me,it implies walking,no standing still,everyday brings with it the challenge to walk with our Saviour,it is a walk of faith,keeping ones eyes fixed  on Jesus,take your eyes of Him, and you start walking in the darkness.Walking in the paths of righteousness,one cannot walk with Christ  and walk in sin,we must walk in the light,and all that it means,'if we say we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness,we lie'(1John 1 v 6).Our walk must be a walk of love, so easy to forget that,it means loving God ,with all our being and to love others (Matthew 22 v 37) .It must be a walk of obedience, disobedience has a cost with it,consider the terrible price brought upon humanity.Last but not least our walk has a goal in mind we are walking on a pathway towards heaven,

                                                            

Brought near to God. ( John 1 v 11-13 ) 1

Saria came up to me in church and she said,I want to have a closer walk with God,she is a very earnest Christian,and gifted Christian,she is also a very godly person.And yet she wants to have a closer walk with God.I said two things to her the first applies to all Christians,it tells us about our position in Christ. In Ephesians 2 v 13,we read ,'Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to Him through the blood of Christ'.Gatesby Paget wrote the following,

                                    'By nature and by practice far,how very far from God;

                                    Yet now by grace bro't nigh to Him,through faith in

                                     Jesus blood.

                                     So near,so very near to God,I cannot nearer be;

                                      For in the person of His Son,I am as near as He'

                                   

Our security. ( 2 Timothy 4 v 16 -18)

 George Matheson was a minister in Scotland,he was a prolific writer ,even though he was blind,he also composed  a number of hymns.His most well known hymn was ,'O love that wilt not let me go'.It is thought that two experiences inspired him to write that hymn.The first one was as a young man he realised that he was loosing his sight,he was engaged to a girl, and he told her that he was going blind,she didn't take that to kindly,and ended her relationship with him,The next was in relation to his sister,who supported him,and as a blind person he depended on her. His sister came to him and told him she was getting married,this must him affected  him greatly.Following that there was a moment when he felt led by the Holy Spirit to write that hymn,he said it only took him 5 minutes to write it.In writing this song the words from Psalm 139 v 9-10 influenced him, they read, 'If I take the wings of the morning,and dwell in the uttermost most parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me,and thy right hand shall hold me,' It reminds us that God's hand will reach out and lay hold of us,no matter where we are,and what we are going through .He will hold us up and help us to stand.

A new back ( Revelation 21 v1 - 8)

I had being some work and my back was very sore,and I said ,'Lord would you give me a new back,and the thought came back into my mind,'not yet',I had to smile at that,it is in Revelation 21v  5,we read ,'He who sits on the throne said,'I am making everything new'.   In the new heaven and new earth all things will be new, ' for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.`In some ways we are so condition to the here and now, in a world that at times seems to be falling apart, at best all we can do is try to patch it up, unfortionately it seems that the patches are coming apart at the seams.We are continually hearing  what  we should be doing to save planet earth,and yet we hold at the ready, weapons of mass destruction. Mankinds abilities to ravage this world is to say the least is fearful and very disturbing.The days of this world is numbered and God is doing the numbering,and in His time, this old world will cease to be.and He will usher in all things new. I will not get a new back I will have a new body,a perfect body,that will never we're out,no more going to the dentist,optician ,doctor ,hospital,no more taking pills,won't that be wonderful,perfect bodies,and we will live in a perfect environment,no murders,no rapes,no violence of any sort.A place of perfect harmony,peace and tranquility,and we will be with our perfect Lord

                                              'Since ,then,you have been raised with Christ,

                                               set your hearts on things above,where Christ is,

                                                seated at the right hand of God.Set your minds 

                                                on things above, not on earthly things.'

                                                                   Colossians 3 v 1-2.

Words (Psalm 19 v 14)

I wonder if you have opened your mouth ,and wished you hadn't spoken, and you wished the ground would open up and swallow you. It is James who points out how difficult it is to tame the tongue ( James 3 ) no one is immune from opening their mouths and putting their foot in it. Take Moses ,in Psalm 106 v33 we read that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips,or he spoke rashly,he was angry with Israel, who were complaining not for the first time,that there was no water.So God told Moses to speak to the rock and water would come out of it. Moses didn't do that,he said to the people ,'must we bring you water out of the rock', he then struck the rock with his staff,and water came out.In his rashness he said 'we' ,instead of God.God rebuked him and told him he would not bring Israel into the promised land (Numbers 20 v12) Think also how Peter denied his Lord( John 18 ) those words he would always remember with shame.Someone said,'Some words once spoken can't be taken back. Nor the pain that they cause' Let us be careful as to what we say,let our words be words that will bless and not hurt.I leave you with this little  children's chorus.

                                        'O, be careful little tongue what you say

                                          Be careful little tougue what you say,

                                     For the Father up above is looking down in love,

                                            So be careful little tongue what you say.'

                                             

                                             

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Meaning, ( John 1 v 1-18 )

 A  life with Christ means ?, well what do you think it means? it means one has found the meaning of life, that's a precious thing to know.It means we know why we are here, when we know Christ as our Saviour the mystery of life is revealed to us,we see that the universe just didn't happen,that's impossible.The Bible tells us tells us why evil exists ,and its consequences,we look at evil, and we don't have far to look,everyday we are confronted with it,wars and more wars,murders and more murders,rapes and more rapes,and so on .Yes sin brings its consquences, we rightly say no one is perfect,but then you may say,surely in all of history there was one perfect being with no flaws,no faults,no hangovers,there was one exceptoon Christ,yes he was the the only perfect person.This  person whose birth we celebrate every year,who was the same as us,yet not the same,for He was also the Son of God in Colossians 2 v9,we are told 'For in Christ lives all the fullness of  God in a human body'.He who came from heaven born of a virgin,came  to rescue sinners and bring them to heaven.What is the meaning of His awful death on the cross?,it is described as a sacrifice for sin, ( Hebrews 9 v28 ),a sacrifice in which He bore the wrath of God,so we would not have to bear it,when I say we ,I am speaking of those who put their faith in Him as their Saviour,that is the meaning of His coming,until we enter into that personaly ,life will never have meaning,it will always remain a mystery.

                                                    'We will continue walking in the dark,

                                                     until we trust Christ who is the light

                                                      of  the world'.

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