Visionaries (Titus 3 v 3- 7)

 Whats a visionary?, well it can cover  lot of things,it can be a person who sees  what others don't see,it was Michael Angelo who said as regards a piece of marble,'I saw an angel in that marble,and I will carve it until I set it free'.I watched an English couple  on TV whom I would call visionaries,they went to live in France and looked for a house to buy,and what they fell in love with was derelict,it was in a terrible state,plus the ground it stood on was on was overgrown with whatever, it was terrible. If was me I would not have bought it, in fact I would have bulldozed it all down.But this couple had a vision of restoring it,from the wreck it was to what it could be.It reminds me what our great God does, He looks at people whom we would say were derelict,beyond recovery,we would just give up on them,but He doesn't ,why? well like that couple who loved that house,He has a great love for us sinners no matter how far we have gone,no matter how squalid we are.The Pharisees despised and shunned sinners they  saw then as being only fit for hell but God saves siiners and then begins to transform their lives into something beautiful,such is the love and mercy of God to us sinners.

                                                     'Christ Jesus came into the world

                                                                  to save sinners'

Remembering ( Lamentations 3 v22 - 23 )

 I am 81,and I often stop and look back,not in a negative was but in God's goodness and faithfulness, David did that, here is what he said,'I  was young and now am old,yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread'  ( Psalm 37 v25) And I can say Amen to that ,and it is important that we do not forget the past mercies,and offer up to our Loving heavenly Father, praise and thanksgiven. David of old had many difficulties in life, but God was faithful and brought him through them.So many things come into our lives, like the loss of a loved one ,difficulties in marriage,financial trials, children who went astray,disappointments that you didn't get that job,and so on. It is said that the providence of God is best understood in looking back,and  its so true.It was George Matheson the blind preacher who wrote,'O love that wilt not let me go'.yes there were times we may have given up ,but His love would not let us go. There is a modern song that blesses me ,here is a verse and the chorus from it.

                                                     'You lead me through the fire

                                                      In the darkest night,

                                                      You are closer than no other.

                                                       I've known You as a Father,

                                                       I've known You as a friend,

                                                       And  I have lived in the goodness of God.

                       All my life You have been faithful,All my life You have been so,so good,

                       With every breath that I am able,Oh I will sing of the goodness of God.'

In Christ alone ( Hebrews 12 v2)

I used to sing solo's mainly in church services,I love singing,but unfortionately age has taken its toil,the vocal cords are not what they used to be, often I struggle trying to sing.But recently while attending a service in the fellowship I attend ,I think I prayed that I would be able sing one song.God heard and answered my prayer.I really felt the Holy Spirit helped me,and the words of the hymn touched my heart it blessed me and I hope it blessed others,here are the words of this hymn.

                      1'In Christ alone my hope is found, He is my light,my strength ,my song;

                        This corner stone,this solid ground,Strong through the fiercest drought,and storm.

                         What heights of love,what depths of grace; When fears are stilled,when striving cease!

                         My comfort,my all, in all,Here in the love of Christ I stand.

                     2  In Christ alone who took on flesh,Fullness of  God in helpless babe.    

                        The gift of love and righteousness, Scorned by the ones He came to save.

                        Till on that cross as Jesus died, The wrath of God was satisfied,

                        For every sin on Him was laid; Here in the death of Christ I live.

                      3 There in the ground His body lay,Light of the world by darkness slain;

                        Then bursting forth in glorious day, Up from the grave He rose again!

                         And as He stands in victory,Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,

                         For I am His and He is mine,Bought by the precious blood of Christ.

                       4 No guilt in life,no fear in death,This is the power of Christ in me;

                          From life's first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny.

                          No power of Hell,no scheme of man,can ever pluck me from His hand,

                          Till He returns or calls me home; Here in the power of Christ  I stand'.

                                                        (Words Stuart Townend)

                                                      

Forgiveness (Ephesians 4 v 31-32)

 The wonderful message of salvation tells us that God is willing to forgive our sins, all of them,but that brings a challenge to us ,are we willing to forgive those who sin against us.A friend of mine told me of a friend of his who received a call to be a minister in a church in America and he told my friend that there were people in the church who were taken reprisals on people they had grudges against.They were spray painting cars,cutting the brake pipes of the cars,and doing a lot of other stuff.I dont know what could have happened to provoke them to act in that way .He did go on to say that things got sorted out.We may not act like those people but speaking for myself I remember old hurts going back many years,and I still get angry,I am very sure that I am not only only one who feels like that,and I confess that it is very hard to come to that place of  forgiven those who have hurt us or hurt our family or friends, think how hard it was for our God to forgive us ,but He did,think of what it cost Him ,we just have to look at Jesus dying on the cross on  Calvary.And so God says to all us, just as I have forgiven you, then you must forgive others unreservedly,Remember confession is good for the soul,and it pleases God our loving heavenly Father.

Double Guidance. ( Revelation 3 v 7-8 )

When Abraham responded to  the call of  God he obeyed and went out ,not knowing where he was going.(Hebrews 11 v 8).When I went to Bible college my wife and I thought we knew where we were going,well we were in for a surprise,it didn't work out that way. We applied to the mission we thought would accept us,but they didn't,but we still  felt the call of God heavy on our hearts.it took another two years before God opened the door,we ended up in England,The day we set off  for our destination ,I read this verse,'Behold ,I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared' (Ex 23 v20) It is A.T.Pierson who writes of 'the double guidance  prohibition and restraint the other being 'permission and constraint',in other words the Spitit says,''go not''; and then He says ''Come''. (CP Acts 16 v6 ff)Here are some examples of 'double guidance'Dr Barnardo believed he was going to China as a missionary,C T.Studd likewise thought he was going to China,instead he went to the Congo.Willian Carey planned to go to Polynesia but God guided him to India. When God calls us,we need not be surprised or disappointed if he shut doors,but if your call is of God He will open the right door.

Glorification( Colossians 3 v 1-4)3

Is this all there is?so many people dismiss an after life,and so they try to focus totally on this life, the very rich will build a little heaven here on earth.When one witnesses to people often they do not want to know, its as if they are saying don't intrude into their little world .But then as a Bishop Blougram writes,'Just when we are safest,there's sunset touch,A fancy from a flower bell,some one's death'.Or as Bruce Milne writes,'Or, as we may add,a terrorist outrage.Something breaks into our lives that cries out against our materialistic complacency,The great questions of existence rise up once again;What is life? Where is it going?What about death and beyond?. Yes ,what about death and beyond?,the Bible gives us the answer,it is not an ambiguous answer,no it is very clear, that answer is to be found in Jesus,who came from heaven to earth for a purpose, that is to rescue humanity.Oh yes we need rescuing,look out on this world and the awful suffering,and wickedness we hear about everyday,why with all our abilities can we not create a perfect world,why?,because we are all imperfect,or as the word of God says we are all sinners,I was witnessing to a person once and he said you always mention about sin. Yes I do ,for unless our sin is forgiven,Hell awaits ,once you cross into eterniy ,all hope of going to Heaven ,and escaping Hell is gone.There will be no glorification for anyone, but for the believer the one who has trusted Jesus glorification awaits.One writer puts it like this,' glorificationis that final stage of salvation where believers are fully transformed to be like Christ, experiencing a state of perfect holiness and glory in the presence of God,free from sin and suffering'

Sanctification ( Jeremiah 18 v 6 )2

 From justification to sanctification, no Christian is perfect,that does not affect our position in Christ,we are saved and we will not perish,our eternal future is secure (Romans 10 v 28).But God did not only predestined as regards salvation(Ephesians 1 v11), He also has predestined us to be conformed to the image of  His Son' (Romans 8v 29),That is sanctifiction,to be like Jesus,we often hear people say ,he gets more like his father everyday,as it is in the natural so it should be in the spiritual,we should be- come like Jesus everyday.that should be our aim and purpose in life.we are all the unfinished artical,unpolished diamonds.This is a work of God in all our lives,the apostle Paul wrote that He was confident that God who has begun a good work in us would carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.(Philippians1v6).We are not passive in this process we have to march to the beat of a different drum,crucifying the flesh with its passions and desires and keeping in step with God's Spirit.[Galatians 5 v22ff) Yielding and accepting God's will in all things including suffering.

                                                    'Have thine own way ,Lord,

                                                     Have thine own way;

                                                     Thou art the potter,I am the clay;

                                                     Mould me and make me after Thy will,

                                                     while I am waiting,yielded and still.'

                                                                  Words  A A Pollard

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