It is a sin ( 1 Corinthians 10 v 13)

A person writing about the friends he had,said the following,' I used  to have one or two wealthy pals, up in the billions,on all the lists, and I liked them a lot,I really did. But the problem was that when ever I was round their house, sitting at dinner with a Magritte on the wall or a Gauguin over the fireplace,I'd be thinking, ''Give me the picture, come on,it makes no odds to you, it's a million quid, change my life, just give me the picture.''Now that is called coveting and it is a sin (Exodus 20 v 17) Many  years ago  when money was very scarce,I was working in a Christian bookshop,and a man bought something,and he took out his wallet, and it was full of a lot of money, and I thought if only he would give me some,now that's coveting.It was the apostle Paul who declared that at times he was seized and convicted of the sin of covetness (Romans 7)Make not light of that sin,whatever form it may take,it is a sin,and our holy God takes it very serious.If it takes a hold of us  it may lead us into all sorts of evil, like stealing,murder, adultery,wherever it may lead us, there will be a cost, There is no use making light of it,as if it was a trival thing, it's not, if one is a Christian,and beset by this sin,we must repent and seek the  Lords mercy.

Be on your guard ( Ephesians 5 v 14)3

 Edmund Clowney writes,'The imperatives of Christian living always begins with'therefore'.in light of what  God has done for us,in the light of that he puts in the word therefore .God has given us a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and a heavenly inheritance (1 Peter 1v3 -4) 'Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober,glorious as the future is, we must be alert in the here and now.1Peterv5 v8,declares ,'Be sober(Well balanced and self disciplined)Be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours ,the devil ,prowls around like a roaring lion(Fiercely hungry)seeking someone to devour'. When our dear Saviour was in the garden praying with His disciples,he found them sleeping. He said'Get up and pray so you will not fall into temptation( Luke 22 v46) Samson fell asleep on Delilah's lap,and it cost him his eyes (Judges 16 v 19-21),if a sentry on duty fell asleep it would cost him his life.

                                                          ' Christian ! seek not yet repose,

                                                            Cast thy dreams of ease away,

                                                            Thou art in the midst of foes;

                                                            Watch and pray.'

                                                               ' Words Charlotte Elliott'

Hope on. ( Hebrews 6 v 19) 2

 It is Peter who tells us' to set our hopes on the grace to be brought to us when Jesus is revealed at His coming'.One commentator writes,'It is the great charactistic of the Christian that he lives in hope;and because he lives in hope he can endure the trials of the present.For the Christian the best is always still to come.The Christian can live with gratitude  for all the mercies of the past,with resolution to meet the challenge of the present,and with the certain hope that in Christ the best is yet to be.'

                                                'Be still my soul ,the hour is hastening on

                                                When we shall be forever with the Lord,

                                                When disappointment,grief and fear are gone,

                                                 Sorrow forgot,love's purest joys restored.'

                                                                  'Jane L. Borthwick'

He sees,He hears( 1 Peter 3 v 12) 1

 Peter writes,'For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their prayers' 1 Peter 3 v 12.Dear child of God think on these words,you may be in a place of great lonliness,like Paul who declared that everyone had deserted him,but God was watching over him (2 Timothy 4 v 16-17).As a father of five children when they were very young I would keep watching them in case anything would happen to then, but you know what children are,they  can be very elusive,and sometimes you would loose sight of them.But not so with our loving heavenly Father,He is watching over us,He never looses sight of His children.Hagar  said,'You are the God who sees me'(Genesis 16 v 13)The song writer pennd these words,'His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches over me'From watching over His children Peter goes unto say,'That God is attentive to their prayers',these are words to encourage us in our prayers,could it be that you are thinking,whats the use of praying,don't give into that despair,God is attentive to your prayers.pray with that confidence,'He's listening',to you when you pray,He hasn't turned a deaf ear to your prayers,he hears your  faintest whisper when you pray.He is no respecter of persons,in other words He doesn't have any favourites,he hears a young childs prayer,and an old persons prayer,He hears all his Children's prayer,He not only hears their prayers, but He also answers them.

Who I am ( Matthew 6 v 9/14)

 Rory Mcllroy who recently won the Masters golf tournament said ,'Golf is what I do,it's not who I am',it is the apostle John who declared in utter amazement,' See how very much our Father loves us,for he calls us his children'(1 John 3 v1). One may be a golfer, a dad,a husband,a carpenter,and so on,and we may even be considered a nobody, but when we become a Christian the most wonderful thing in the whole wide world happens,we are Children of living God.

                                                              'Father, I call You Father,

                                                               For I am your child today,                   

                                                               Tomorrow and always,

                                                                You  are my Father.'

                                                            'Words by Danny Daniels.'

    

                                                                  

A chosen people ( Ephesians 2 v 1-13)

 Let us continue to look at 1Peter 2 v 9-10,we finished looking at the church as a holy nation,now let us consider,that not only are they a holy nation,they are ,'God's special possession'.what does that mean? it means we belong to Him,He has become our Father, and everyone is special,yes we are,how special? just look to Calvary  and see the middle cross,there hangs ,the Son of man,the Son of God,Jesus, dying as the prophets told,redeeming a people unto Himself,amazing beyond words.It continues,'That you may declare the praises of Him  who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light'.Yes we were in darkness ,not now we have been brought into the kingdom of light,by the mercy of God,surely He is worthy of  praise.It was Charles Wesley who spoke to a congregation telling them ,'not to sing as if they were half dead',our God deserve more than that.' Verse ten reminds us Gentiles of our former state and our present state,'We were not a people, but now you  are the  people of God,Once you had not received mercy, but now  you have received mercy'.these words were taken from  Hosea 2 v23They reminds us of our state as Gentiles we  were not children of God, we had not special relationship  that Old covenant Isreal had.Now that has changed through faith in Jesus.As John puts it,'See what great love the father has lavished upon us that we should be called children of God'  (1 John 3 v 1.) In our unsaved state we lived and died in our sins  and went to a lost eternity.But praise God all this has changed through our Lord Jesus, God opened a way and its simply this ,come to Christ and you will receive mercy, you will no longer shut out ,but by the mercy and Grace of God,your sins can be forgiven.

                                                  'Saving  mercy is only given                       

                                                            through Christ'

We are ( 1 Peter 2 v 9-10)1

 1 Peter 2 v9 - 10 reads ,'But you are a chosen people,a royal priesthood,a holy nation,God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God;once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.' Peter tells us firstly that  we are a chosen people,we were not an after thought ,for we  read in Ephesians 1v 4 ,'For  He chose us in Him before the creation of the world'. Our dear Saviour said to his disciples ,'You did not choose me ,but I chose you' (John15 v16) It speaks of the divine initiative, after all God is sovereign.Then we are told that we are a ,'a royal priesthood'.a friend told me how a Roman Catholic priest started to study the scriptures,and he declared we are all priests.Every child of God is a priest who offers up sacrifices of praise (Hebrews 13 v15).Next we read ,'a holy people'one writer says this means, 'That we are a specifie group of people called out and set apart from all other nations',the unsaved know nothing about holiness, but for the Christian holiness is vital,we should all be striving to be holy.We should not follow the sinful practices of the world,we must take this very serious for we told without holiness no man will see the Lord. Hebrews 12 v 14.   

                                 'Robert Murry McCheyne prayed ,'Lord make me as 

                                  holy as a pardoned sinner can be made'