Pass on a blessing. ( John 5 v 39)

The words of a modern song had these words in it,'You are blest to pass on a blessing', I do try to do that in different ways.One of the ways I would seek to pass a blessing unto others,is to give a  Bible to someone .I have a window cleaner ,he has been cleaning  my  windows for a number of years,I usually give him a cup of coffee when he comes, and we often talk to each other,he knows I'm a Christian,and so we often have discussions,and one day I give him a Bible, I had forgotten all about it,he mentioned recently ,he had given the Bible to his daughter.She was very keen to get it,and she is reading it and underlining it,I don't know if she is a Christian,but the good thing is ,it is a blessing to her. That's one wonderful way we can bless people, I have a dear friend who was an ardent Roman Catholic,his brother was a priest,he himself  entered a religious order for a while.Roman  Catholics were not encouraged to read the Bible,when he was a young lad he asked the  priest why they were not encouraged to read the Bible? he answered,if they read the Bible they will become Protestants.Pass on a Bible to someone,who knows, they may become a Christiasn.

                                                     Psalm 119 v 130

                                    'The entrance of  Your  words gives light'

                               

Your Kingdom Come. ( Colossians 1 v 13-14 )

A friend told me about a man he knew,he said that he and his wife had got involved with the JWs,one day my friend visited him,and give him a scripture,his friend started crying,and cried out,'I don't know what to believe'. The sad end of this story was he committed suicide,yes there is much confusion in the world. In one of my daily readings I read how Satan is a master counterfeiter,the cults proclaim a Christ,but their Christ is not the Christ of the Bible. In 2 Corinthians 4 v4 we read ,'The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ ,who is image of God'.No wonder there is so much confusion in the world.'Satan has blinded , not the emotions,or the will,but the mind of man', writes Paul Barnett.Consider the following words ,'The whole world is under the control of the evil one' (1 John 5 v19) These are very awesome words,how did one very evil man take over Germany,and lead them into so much evil. Germany is only the tip of the iceberg. It is time we began to take serious that there is a devil and the power he has over all humanity,and why there is so much confusion in the this fallen world.There are two kingdoms in this world ,the kingdom of darkness ruled over by Satan, and the kingdom of light  ,in which God rules.Every day I pray what our Saviour told us to pray,' Your kingdom come', (Matthew 6 v 10) The gospel is the key to open the prison in which humanity is held captive,it is  Charles Wesley who wrote the following.

                                                      'Long my imprisoned spirit lay

                                                       Fast bound in sin and nastures night                  

                                                       Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,

                                                       I woke ,the dungeon flamed with light;

                                                       My chains fell off ,my heart was free;

                                                       I rose, went forth,and followed Thee'                                                                                                                                                                     

Go. ( Acts 1 v 8)

 John 3 v16 tells us of God's love for the world with all it's billions of people,in 1 Timothy 2 v1,we are urged that we should pray for all people,and in v 3-4  we read,'This is good,and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.' William Carey is known as the father of modern missions.He felt the call of God on his life to go to India ,and when he stood up and expressed that  desire at a gathering  of Christian leaders he was told,'Young man,sit down! You are an enthusiast.When God pleases to convert the heathen,He'll do it without consulting you or me.' Thankfully he didn't listen to him ,and so he went to India,and God used him to accomplish great things. One of the things he said was,'Expect  great things  from God,attempt great things for God. To know the will of God,we need an open Bible and a open map'. When we forget to evangelise,to tell people people the good news of Jesus and His love ,we have lost our way,we cannot take the go out of the gospel.When we have a desire to reach the lost,we are doing what God desires.Consider 'how shall they hear without a preacher ?, the fact is they won't,if we don't tell them. Proverbs 11 v30 tells us,'He that winneth souls is wise'. Let us be wise,people may think you a fool, but don't worry about that,be a fool for Jesus.

                                                       'He that winneth souls is wise;

                                                        In the home beyond the skies;

                                                        There's a crown of Glory,oh, the

                                                         wondrous prize,

                                                         He that winneth souls is wise'.

                                                              Words Elizae E. Hewitt

                                                        

Tomorrow .( 2 Corinthians 6 v 2)

In Revelaton 3 v 14-21 Christ speaks to the church in Laodicea that wandered from Christ  ,to a point that Christ was shut out,the riches of this world had blinded them to the riches of Christ. So Christ speaks to them with  words of love,for He did truly love then, but warns them that He will deal with them,and urges them to repent. In verse 20 we have a picture of Jesus standing at a door knocking,the church is on the otherside,here is what He says,' Here I am!I stand at the door and knock.If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,I will come in and eat with that person,and they with me'.Although He is speaking to the church it is addressed to anyone in that church ,to respond and  open their hearts to Him. The question will they respond? These words are spoken to a Church but they can be applied to anyone,to  the unsaved ,and to the saved.My mind goes back to a long time ago,to an elderly person I worked with, he attended church,heard the gospel many times, and wept,yet kept Christ out of his life.There are those who hear the gospel, and say not now, tomorrow,'And when the morrow came in the words of the poet ,'' they answered still,''Tomorrow''.No matter who we are  be it a Christian or non- Christian ,if today you hear His voice harden not your hearts.

Two roads. ( Revelation 3 v 20)

                                          ' I shall be telling this with a sigh,

                                      Somewhere ages and ages hence;

                                          Two roads diverged in a wood,and I-

                                           I took the one lessed travelled by

                                          And that has made all the difference.'      

This is a verse of a poem by Robert Frost,it the last lines  spoke to me,'that he took the road less travelled ,and that made all the difference'. iIt reminds me of what our Saviour taught in Matthew7 v 13-14 ,which reads of a broad road that leads to destruction ,and that there are many on that road.Then there is the narrow road that leads to life,and only a few find it.   In luke 13 v 23 someone asked our Saviour ,'Lord are only a few people going to be saved',putting the two scriptures together  it appears that the answer is yes,it reminds us of the flood in Genesis  6-8 ,were only 8 people were saved.I believe there will be millions who will be saved,but billions won't be. It is very sad that the majority of people that has ever lived will perish .In Luke 13 v24 our Lord stresses that people should make every effort to get saved while there is still time ,death is coming to all of us ,we must see the importance of trusting Jesus as our Saviour now ,no matter what it cost us,yes, even if it cost us our lives .(Matthew 10 v28)   Our Saviour used a very graphic term to describe the suffering of the lost, 'That they will be thrown  outside into darkness,where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth', CP 'Matthew 8 v12/ 13 v42/25 v30. If people die without Christ there will be no mercy shown, so  very simply, I say to you in Love ,'Believe in the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved' (Acts 16 v31)    

A hymn of repentence ( Psalm 130)

                                                    Words by Horatius Bonar.

                   No, not despairingly come I to Thee; No, not distrustingly bend I the knee; 

                   Sin hath gone over me, Yet this is still my plea; Jesus hath died.

                   Ah! mine inquity crimson hath been,Infinite,infinite,sin upon sin;

                   Sin of not loving Thee,Sin of not trusting  Thee, infinite sin.

                   Lord ,I confess to Thee sadly my sin; All I have been;

                   Purge Thou my sin away,Wash Thou my soul this day;

                                     Lord, make me clean. 

                   Faithful and just art Thou,forgive all; Loving and kind art Thou, forgiving all;

                   Loving and kind art Thou when poor one's call;   Lord, let Thou cleansing blood,

                   Blood of the Lamb of God, Pass o'er my soul.

                   Then all is peace and light the soul within;Thus shall I walk with Thee.the love unseen,

                    Leaning on Thee ,my God , Guided along the road,nothing between.

                                                                     

                  

                                                     

I am home sick. (Colossians 3 v 1-4)

Someone described a former President of America and his wifes new home,as looking like heaven,so if you want to know what heaven looks like,go and look at that home. Well lets come back to reality,I   believe heaven will be a wonderful place,I know that only those who know Jesus will go there,I know our triune God is there,and the angels are there,I know that there will be no sickness or sorrow ,and no death, all suffering will have ceased,no lonliness or fear will exsist,it will be a place of perfect harmony, we will never feel anger, we will be perfectly content,everyone will be our friend,everyone will be our family,it will be truly wonderful.Comparing a building here to be like heaven,is foolishness.There is so much we don't know,but this I do know it will be wonderful beyond description, it will truly be heavenly. As one writer puts it ,Heaven is not simply a polished enhanced and sanitized version of earth,a different and better tune played on the old,familiar instruments. It will be new!

                                                  'Are you going to heaven?

                                                   or are you going to......?