I broke the law ( Isaiah 53 v 6) 1

I broke the law,no I didn't murder anyone,I received a parking ticket,I must confess I wasn't happy,I didn't realise that the place I parked had now become a permit holders district. So I got fined,yes breaking the law brings a penalty,we may not like it, but that's the way it is,and no amount of protesting  can change that. So  I paid the price for what I did,but what about God's law? the ten commandments, (  Exodus 20 ) can I be saved if I break  it?,is it possible to be saved by keeping it?,The answer to the first part, is yes,we can be saved  if we repent of our sins and trust Jesus as our Saviour.The fact is we all have broken God's law,that's why we are told that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,Romans 3 v23.Consider that the only person in all of history who kept the law perfectly was Jesus,unlike us He never sinned in word,thought,or deed.In other words Christ was absolutly sinless.In John 8 v46,Jesus asked the question to the religious people,'Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?,they couldn't,because He was sinless.In 1 John 3 v 5 we read,'In Him is no sin'in Hebrews 4 v15 we read that He was,'Tempted in every way,just as we are-yet He did not sin'. His death on the cross was for a purpose, 1Corinthians 15 v 3 we read ,'Christ died for our sins'.in other words, the just one would die for the unjust 1 Peter 3 v18.Christ the innocent one would die for the guilty ones,you and me.

                                                           'Alas and did my Saviour bleed?

                                                            And did my Sovereign die?

                                                            Would He devote that sacred head

                                                             For such a worm as I?' (Words Isaa Watts)

                                                                       'The answer is yes'

I am not a sinner 1( 1 John 3 v 6) 1

 I don't know why Joyce Meyer said she was not a sinner,it is obvious she has not thought through what she said, and of course everyone appears to be wrong but her. She also said,'I am righteous,and you cannot be a sinner at the same time.'Well lets think about it and see what God's word says,in 1John 1 v 8-9,we read, 'If we say we have no sin ,we deceive ourselves,and the truth is not in us.If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,and to cleanse from all unrighteousness'These words were written to believers,likewise Paul wrote of himself,' For I know that in me( that is in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing, (Romans 7 v18)The fact is very obvious that Christians do sin,read most of Pauls epistles,and it is evident that Christians do sin,look at our own experience we sin,by our words our deeds our thoughts, but we don't walk in sin,that's the difference between the saved and the unsaved.All sin is very serious,we must always realise that,As believers we will be tempted to sin,it is only as we yield to it, does it become a sin,but if we do yield ,repent of it and seek forgiveness as soon as possible,God will forgive us,but He may also chastise us CP  Hebrews 12 v4-6.

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They were vile.( Hebrews 10 v31) 2

 Looking at the book of Nahum again,were Nineveh is coming under judgement in v 14 God says,'You will have no descendants to bear your name',I often wonder why Germany did not surrender and why did the bomb plot not succeed?,if they had succeeded,and negotiated a surrended,the Nazis would have still have been there,trying to hold unto power ,no they needed to be dealt with,so that they would cease to exist as a force.One can't play around with cancer,it needs to be eradicated,and that's what God was going to do with Nineveh,completly annihilate them.God was going to bury Nineveh and all their false religions, God declares ,'I  will prepare your grave'. Why is God doing this?,here is the answer,'For you are vile' Homer Hailey writes the following,'God would so completly bury Assyria the nation,and Nineveh the capital,that they would pass into oblivion'.

No turning back ( John 16 v33 )

 The person who turns back from following  Christ,is a back slider,yes instead of going on with the Lord ,they have gone back.In John 6 v 66,we read,'From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him'.They turned back because they took what Jesus said literally,instead of seeing the spiritual truth in it, that it was a metaphor ,in other words not a literal application (John 6 v 53ff) So they turned back,people turn back for many reasons,intellectual,the lure of what the world has to offer,or because of  God not saving them from suffering.Let us not judge them ,but let us not follow them in forsaking our Lord.So how can we avoid becoming a backslider?,well what does the word of the Lord say?.in Ephesians 6v12 ,we read,'Our warfare is not against flesh and blood', yes we are in a warfare,you may not  have grasped this truth, if not ,it is time you did. We read in Psalm 78 v9,'The children of Ephraim,dispite being armed retreated in facing their enemies'. We are faced with enemies,'the world ,the flesh ,and the Devil', those words may be a bit daunting, but thanks be to God! 'He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ' (1 Corinthians 15 v57)

                                                              'No turning back,

                                                              No turning back'

Repent. ( Revelation 6 v 15-17) 1

 The book of Nahum  is about God's anger against Ninevah, although it is addressed to Ninevah,he is really  speaking to the powerful nation of Assyria .How can a loving God be angry?,surely that can't be right,oh yes it can be.His anger is a righteous anger, not all anger is wrong, God's is never wrong and acts totally appropriate,it is not like our anger which often is hasty,and sinful.Chap 1v 3 of Nahum tells us that the Lord is slow to anger.Assyria were a very wicked nation,kingAshurnasirpal hung  his enemies on posts,flaying them,and lining the city walls with their skins.They had many gods which were not god's , and they would have seen Israel's God ,as just another god who would not be able to stand against their god's (CP 2kings 18 v 32-35.) Nahum says that  He will not leave the guilty unpunished,and so He takes action against the wicked.Many wicked people have escaped just punishment as to the here and now,but they will not escape punishment in the here after. But let us consider what Jesus said in Luke 13 v1-5,as regards two groups of people who had suffered violent deaths, they were considered to be sinners, getting their just deserts by most people,but  Jesus turned the whole thing on them,and He said,'unless you repent ,you to will perish'.We can think of many people who have done very evil things,and they should be punished.but we are all sinners and if one is going to be saved from the wrath of God,we must repent of our sins and trust Jesus,remember even one sin will take you to hell.

God speaks. ( John 6 v 63)

C.S.Lewis said,'God whispers to us in our pleasures,speaks in our conscience,but shouts in our pains;it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world'.There are many voices  speaking to us,false religions,politicians, scientist,entertainers,there are many court jesters,experts on every subject under the sun,an example is  Sports Psychologist.But the most important voice of all is the voice of God,our Saviour said,'Whoever has ears,let him hear'.C.S.Lewis is right that when it comes to God the world is deaf, I add ,'stone deaf'.There are countries that ban the Bible,and imprison people who  proclaim the word of God.An example of that is Iran were three Christian women have been sentenced to long terms in prison,one is pregnant,that doesn't  matter to them,I understand why they do these thing,for faith comes by hearing the word of God,(Romans 10 v17)One commentator writes ,'We should listen to the word of God like our lives depend on it, because it does,for it relates to our eternal life and life here and now'.

                                                             'Are you listening? '

There is a way out.( John 10 v 10)

Looking back in my early life ,I had no qualifications,so one got poorly paid jobs,of course most of the  population had no qualifications. I was always looking for a way out but it never seemed to happen,I even joined the army as a boy soldier at the age of fifteen,as a band boy,although I could not play an instrument, I wasn't happy in it, so I was glad when  I got a discharge after 9 months,but I wasn't any further on,I got a number of short term jobs,and  then I was employed for a number of years, in a light engineering factory,but I didn't particularly like it ,but it was a job,but I was still looking for a way out.I'm not an exception,there are many people who are looking for a way out of poverty,of hunger,suffering, like the people who cross the English channel in inflatables,some loosing their lives.Many young men seek a way out through sport,boxing, etc, some make it ,many don't .Coming back to myself ,my way out began when I was just turning 20,as  a youngster I had been in and out of church situations, made dicisions that left a mark in my life,but  that was all.but one evening I went to church, and had an encounter with Christ, and He changed everything, and so the adventure began,I discovered the way out,and so it continues to this day,and it's not finished yet.

                                       'What a wonderful change in my life  has been wrought

                                        Since Jeuse came into my heart!I have light in my soul

                                        Which  so long I had sought ,since Jesus came into my

                                          heart.' ( Words R,H.McDaniel)