Hope in? ( 2 Corinthians 1 v 8-10)

  It was Isaac Watts who wrote that lovely hymn,'O God our help in ages past',it is not wrong to look back and remember how our loving heavenly Father has helped us .It was David in his old age wrote,'I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread'.In Deuteronomy 32 v7 we read,'Remember the days of old',he is speaking to the people of God.A writer on the internet wrote the following '. Moses encourages the people to reflect on God's past works and actions as a way to find comfort and strength during a difficult time.God's past actions can be a source  of wisdom, guidance and encourgement ,and can teach us valuable lessons,and  strengthen our faith'.Part of the  last verse of that hymn reads ,'Our hope for years to come',people place their hope in many things, other than the word of God,in Psalm 43 v 5 the writer speaks to himself, I'm sure we all do that,so this is what he says'Why,my soul, are you downcast?Why so disturbed within me?Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him,my Saviour and my God.He repeats that again in verse 11, and also in the following Psalm  .Sometimes we have to remind ourselves  again and again ,and again, to put our hope in God,and in Him alone..

Good works ( Matthew 25 v 31ff)

 Just recently my youngest son had an operation,to have a kidney removed,because it had cancer,after the operation ,he could not to do very much,he experienced a lot of pain.We live at a distance from him,so his mother was there to support him,his wife suffers from a serious condition ,they have two young children.Here is a very positive thing,people in his the church  brought meals everyday to them.That's Christianity in action, a Christianity without good works is not Christianity,let me stress this, we are not saved by our works,only what Christ did on the cross saves.  In Ephesians 2 v8 we read,'For it is by grace you have been saved,through faith and this not from yourselves,it is the gift of God.' Jesus paid the full price for our salvation,our works cannot deal with sin,His death on the cross was  a sacrifice for sin, So as regards salvation that's it,but let us consider  Eph 2 v10 which reads,'For we are God's handiwork,created in Christ Jesus to do good works,which God prepared in advance for us to do'.It is James who writes,' show me  your faith' (James 2 v18),the good works are an evidence,that we are Christians.

                                                   'What good works has God prepared

                                                    for us to do today?'

The needy ( Proverbs 19 v 17)

When Israel came into the promised land God gave commands as regards provision  for the poor Israelites and non-Israelites in Leviticus 23 v 22 they are told when they harvested their crops,they had to leave a certain amount  for  the poor  Israelites and the foreigners.In Deuteronomy15 God declared that every seven years they were to cancel any debts owed to them by a fellow Israelite.God knew that could be a problem if the person came to borrow on the sixth year ,they would think they would not get their money back.If they did that God would hear the prayers of the poor, and declared what they  had done as sinful.God loves a cheerful giver. Nothing has changed,for we are told, in Galatians 6 v 9-10,'Let us not become weary in doing good,for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.Therefore as we have opportunity,do good to all people,especially to those who belong to the family of believers.'

He humbled Himself. (Philippians 2 v5-11)

 I wonder do we really  take in, the humility of our Lord, Let us turn to Philippians 2 v 6-8. it is all about Jesus ,who He was,and who He became ,and what He did. Lets  consider the opening words,

                                                     'Who, being in very nature God'

Can we stand back and consider what we are reading,remember the person who wrote these words ,Paul was a strict Jew,as were the 12 disciples,excluding Judas,and they all readily agreed what Paul wrote. What did Thomas say,'My Lord and my God!'  (John 20 v 28)This is a great mystery,no one can grasp fully the meaning  of it.Thousands of early Christians  were prepared to die ,because they would not confess  that Caesar was Lord,god's there are in plenty but they are not god's.Isaiah 45 v22 declares 'For I  am God,and there is no other,'The God we worship is a triune God,existing as one being, three co-eternal ,consubstantial ,whom we know as 'Father ,Son,and the Holy Spirit'They are all equally God one being ,yet distinct.In Hebrews 1 v 6ff,we read the Father declaring ,'Let all God's angels worship Him,and v8 declares.,'But about the Son he says,'Your throne ,Oh God .will last for ever and ever'. From the glory of that we read ,'He  made Himself nothing,by taking the very nature of a servant,being made in human likeness, and being in appearance as a man  He humbled Himself,by becoming obedient to death  even death on a cross'  

                                                  'His whole life was a life of humiliation.

                                                   But the lowest step of His humiliation

                                                   was His dying  the death of the cross'

                                                                  Matthew Henry

                                                    

                                                   

God Cares.( Matthew 25 v 31-46)

 In the land of Uganda there is a ,'Child Health Education and Rehabilitation Unit,'it is for special needs  children,it also has a strong emphasis on Christian witness.The name of this work is ,'ACHERU', the following is in brackets  (Afaayo,meaning God cares) One of the ways we know God cares is by God's children caring for others.It is not for the selective few to care for others,it is for all of us ,we should all be good Samaritans, good neighbours,and our lives should be full of Good works.(Matthew 5 v16);Let me just remind you that our good works have nothing to do with our salvation,the only work that saves us is Christs finished work on the cross. (Ephesians 2 v 8- 9)Verse 10 tell us that ,'we are God's handiwork',yes every bit of it,we are his new ceation ( 2 Corinthians 5 v 17) v10 goes unto to say that we have been,'created in a Christ Jesus to do good works,which God has prepared in advance for us to do'. How far in your list do good works fit in? our Christianity should have some degree of  good works ,It is James that stresses  that faith without works is dead,they are evidence that our faith is genuine (James 1v 18)So ask yourself what good works has God prepaered for you to do?

Unchanging one. ( Isaiah 41 v 10 )

I read this recently ,'The idea that, 'God is ever consant', these words signify His unchanging nature,   meaning His character,promises,and perfect being are immutable and eternal'. In Hebrews 13 v8 we read,' 'Jesus is the same yesterday,today and forever',and in Malachi 3v6 we read,'For I the Lord do not change', Linked together we see the Lord of the OT and the Lord of the NT are the same,a clear declaration of the diety of Christ,He is as one person puts it,'A foundation in a changing world'. Our dear Saviour said He would always be with us,that will never change.He will be us in the bad times,in our lonliness,in our failures,in times when we feel unloved,in our poverty,in our sorrow,when we are hurting. He tells us that He will be with us every moment of every day,not just be with us,but to help us,to undertake for us,care for us and love us,he will not turn to be changeable,no that's what we do,we are not consant,He is,he will never change.

Listening and doing. ( Matthew 7 v24-27)

 In most homes  we have mirrors,some Christian monastic communites  don't have mirrors they did this to combat vanity.I think I will get rid of my mirrors,every time I look in the mirror I see some old man, it surley can't be,I stopped asking who is the fairest in the land years ago,I never did get an honest answer from it .So lets turn away to something more profitable,to what James has to say, lets consider  1 v 22-25,  'Do  not merely listen to the word,and so deceive yourselves.Do what it says. ' It is not enough to say  ,that was a nice sermon,or I like that preacher,and not recognise the importance that just being a  hearer of what we have heard,and not putting that into practice.James further says, 'Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in mirror and after looking at himself,goes away and  immediately forgets what he saw'.It seems absurd that anyone could do such  a thing,but they do,let  us remember what Jesus told us in Matthew 7 v26-27,there He warns all of us against failing to do what He told us to do will bring serious consequences In James 1v25  we are told that those who act on what God has said will be truly blessed.

                                                   'To obey God's word it is better than

                                                    sacrifice,and it's also  rewarding'