Yes He can (Ephesians 3 v20 )

 In 2 kings 6 the city of Samaria was under siege ,and food was running out and Elisha declared.'This is what the Lord says; about this time tomorrow,a seah of the finest flour will  sell for a shekel and two seahs of  barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.'An army officer  challenged what the prophet said,this is what he said,'Look even  if the Lord should  open the flood gates  of the heavens,could this happen',but it did. What God says He will do ,He will do it,be it ever so strange,be it every so great,or be it ever so small. If it is really off God it will come to pass ,but alas we let human reasoning take over,and we fail to rise in faith.I believe that God answer's prayer . In Ephesians 3 v20 we read,'Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,according to  His power that is at work  within us'.Let us remember as John Stott says 'God's power is limitless'. Why do we not see more of  what is declared in those words?,it must be lack of faith on our part. It does not mean that God will remove from us suffering but it does mean that He will give us Grace to come through our suffering,you may be saying I can't cope ,God says you can by my grace. In Gods will He can move mountains, He can and will meet your needs, He can open doors,give you success,give you that child you long for,need I go on,have faith in our mighty God to do immeasurably more than all you ask and more than you can imagine,according to the power that is at work within us.

Come ( Ephesians 5 v18)

 Ephesians 3 v  16  is the beginning of a prayer by Paul for the saints of God so it brgins,'I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen  you with power through His Spirit in your inner being' Now while it was meant initially for the Ephesian Christians,it is now a prayer for all Christians. He write of God's  glorious riches,these glorious riches are not silver or gold ,they are spiritual riches. Paul prays that they may  be strengthened with power through the Spirit in their inner being.'If we are going to experience  a growing in Christ it will be by the inner indewlling of the Holy Spirit.(all Chistians have the holy Spirit)But the question is this how much has the Holy Spirit got of us?. In Ephesians 5 v18 we read 'Do not get drunk with wine, which leads to debauchery.Instead be filled with the Spirit'. This is not a word for Pentecostals but for every Christian, and again let me ask the questian,what is filling our lives,is there room for Him to work through us,or are we crowding Him out of our lives?

                                      'Come as wisdom to Children, Come as new sight to the blind;

                                       Come,Lord, as strength to my weakness,Take me soul,body ,

                                       and mind.

                                       Come,Holy Spirit, I need you, Come sweet Spirit I pray;

                                                  Come in your strength and your power ,

                                                     Come in your own gentle way.'

                                                              Words Bill Gaither.

                                                    

My citizenship ( Philippians 1 v 21- 24 )

 I have two passports,one because I'm British,and  because I'm Irish ,so I am a citizen of two countries.Yet here is another  aspect of my citizenship  I am a citizen of heaven.  In Philippians 3 v20, we read,'But our citizenship is in heaven',and in 1 Peter 1 v1 we read,'To Gods's elect strangers in the world'. Elijah T. Cassel wrote 

                                                 'I am a stranger here ,within a foreign land,

                                                 My home is far away,upon a golden Stand'.

I knew a pastor who believed we don't go to heven when we died, in spite of the fact that there are so many  references in telling us that we do.It is baffling also how many people do not accept that the Bible tells us clearly that there is a hell.We are reminded so often to not loose sight of our heavenly home,in Colossians 3 v 1- 6 we are told to set our hearts on things above where Christ is,and to set our mind on things above,not on earthly things,and when Christ appears we shall appear with Him in glory.Paul goes on to say 'Put to death,therefore , whatever belongs to your earthly nature; sexual immoralaty,impurity , lust ,evil desires and greed which is idolatry . Because of these , the wrath of God is coming'.Yes that is a reminder how we should live in the light of coming glory.As Peter tells us we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth,where righteousness dwells,we should make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.(2  Peter 3 v13 - 14)I will leave you with this challenge from 2 Corinthians 5 v 20,that,'We are therefore Christ's ambassadors',so not only are we citizens of heaven,we are called to to represent  heaven,and our Saviour in all that we do.

He is watching over us( Psalm 23)3

Our last look at Psalm 23 v4  ,and  the words ,'Your rod and your staff comfort me' It appears that the rod was a weapon to defend the sheep from wild animals,and the staff was used to gently guide and to rescue the sheep.So when David considers the Lord as his shepherd he sees him as the one who protects and  gently  guides him ,and that's a great comfort to him, as it is to all of us.Im sure if you are a Christian  you can recall how God has protected you,I think of all the miles I have driven my car,only God has protected me.I lived in Northern Ireland I could have been killed by a bomb,or I could have been shot.We may not realise it ,we are all very vulnerable,but God watches over us,He protects us from the devil,'But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one'  (2 Thessalonians 3 v3) He will protect us from the elements 'The sun will not harm you by day nor the moon by night'(Psalm 121v 6) He will keep us from all harm and watch over our lives (Ps 121 v 7)The Lord gently guides His children ( Proverbs 3v 6)and indeed rescues us from going astray(Isaiah30 v 21)

                                                      'All the way my Saviour leads me;

                                                       What have I to ask beside?

                                                        Can I doubt His tender mercy,

                                                         Who through life has been my Guide'

                                                                       Fanny J .Crosby.

Fear no evil, ( Matthew 28 v 20 (b) Ps 23 (2)

 Let us continue  to look at Psalm 23 v4  ,last time we considered ,'The dark night of the soul',next we consider the words ,'I will fear no evil,for you are with me',I don't have to tell you that there is much evil in the world,and its all very frigheningt,with the result that many peoples hearts are failing them for fear. David who wrote these words,was faced with  many fearful challenges,for a great deal part of his life,how did he cope? The answer is very simple his faith was in God, in Psalm 27 it begins ,'The Lord is my light and my salvation,whom shall I fear?,after all he says''The Lord is the stronghold of my life of whom shall I be afraid ''?.A little boy,as he lay in bed  was very frightened because outside a violent storm was raging, and he began to cry,his father heard him crying,so he went into him,and  took him in his arms,and the little boy said,Daddy I'm not afraid now because you are with me'.And that's what David is saying to God ,'I'm not afraid because you are with me.

                                                 'To this I hold,my shepherd will defend  me,

                                                  Through the deepest valley He will lead me on.

                                                   The night has been won,and I shall overcome,

                                                    Yet not I ,but through Christ in me'

                                                 (Words M Farren/R Thompson/ J Robinson)

The dark nigh of the soul. (Psalm 30 v 5) Psalm 23 ( 1)

In that wonderful 23 Psalm v 4, we  read,'Even though I walk  through the valley of the shadow of death,I will fear no evil,for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me'. Let us consider first,

                                                   'Even though I walk through the valley

                                                    of the shadow of death

It was John of the cross who wrote a poem called, 'The dark night of the soul' it reminds us that even for the Christian there will be that dark night of the soul, brought about by different experience,the death of a loved one, being diagnosised as having a life threatening illness,of being rejected,and so many other things,it may last for a long time, It was Bill and Gloria Gather who wrote a song based on the words in Psalm 30 v 5 ,'Weeping may e(ndure for a night,but joy cometh in the morning'.

                                1    'If  you've knelt beside the rubble of an aching broken heart,

                                      When things you gve life to fall apart,

                                      You're not the first to be acquainted with sorrow,grief ,or pain,

                                       But the Master promised sunshine after rain.

                                2    Hold on my child ( Hold my child)

                                      Joy comes in the morning,weeping only lasts for the night,

                                       Hold on my child,(Hold on my child,)

                                      Joy comes in the morning,The darkest hour means dawn is

                                                                  Just in sight'

 

A bright future (Psalm 27)

The first line of a hymn goes, 'Sometimes a light surprises the Christian while he sings',well I  wasn't singing,I was coming out of a shop,after buying a news paper,when the words of Psalm 27 v13  came into my mind by the Holy Spirit ,'I had believed to see the goodness in the land of the living'.David who wrote that lovely Psalm,writes out of a situation were enemies abounded . He mention how cruel  they could be v 2, and how many they were v3 ,yet even if that was all true his confidence was in the Lord v3 .In verse 10 he declares that  even if his nearest and dearest would forsake him,the Lord won't, he could easily have given into despair, but for one thing , faith in His God  and he that he would see God's goodness in the land of the living. I do not know what dark hole you  may be in at this moment but the Lord who is your light will be your  salvation.(Ps 27v 1).No matter how many difficulties you may be facing God is greater than those difficulties. Wait on the Lord ,trust on the Lord,hope in the Lord,and you shall see the goodness of the Lord in the Land of the living.