Marriage ( Hebrews 13 v 4 )

 In these days marriage in our society marriage is being ignored by many, some  people just live together,even  Christians are doing this,I am sure they have their reasons, but whatever the reason marriage is what God desires , The first miracle was performed at a wedding CP John 2, and in John 4  Jesus spoke to a Samaritan woman, who had been married five times,and the person she was living with was not her husband v 17.There Jesus was making distinction between marriage and living together, The  Samaritans accepted the first five books in the Bible,and it is there we read where the Jews and the Samaritans based the divorcing of wives that Moses had given Deut 24 v 1,it reads that he could  simply,' give her a certificate  of divorce and send her away',thats all it took ,so simple,One can see how abusive that could be, simply by what was said as regards the Samaritan woman.It was seen by Jesus to be wrong ,and  he answered the religious peoples as to why  Moses had given this rule. Jesus answer was because of the hardness of their hearts. Mt 19 v 8.In a sense they were making a mockery of marriage ,treating women in a wrong way,and going against the sacredness of marriage as God intended it to be.

That final step ( 2 Corinthians 8 v 9)

That final step comes on the last moment of our walk to glory,but sometimes on that journey we  struggle,   so much so that we  can't go on to towards that final step .There are two things that should help us,one is keeping our eyes on Jesus ,and the next one is the joy of  heaven . (Hebrews  12 v 3)We cannot fully grasp what awaits us in heaven,so many things clouds our vision.Of course we walk by faith,but sometimes our faith is weak,our loving heavenly Father understands.So let me mention some things as regards heaven, there you will never feel tired, you will no longer be tempted to sin, imagine you will never think a wrong thought,be it sexual, covetousness ,anger,hate, or experience coldness of spirit, all the bad memories will be gone.There will be no evil people ,no more wicked dictators,no more depression,no more despair.Our minds will be free from all confusion,no more mental illness,no more darkness,for the Lord will be the light thereof. None of this could  have  come about if Christ had not come,by coming to this sinful world,he made it possible for sinners to be forgiven and that we at last could go to heaven.if we simply accept Him as our Saviour.

Just a carol. ( Luke 2 v 8- 14)

A friend sent me a Christmas card,with the words of a carol written by Charles Wesley, I have never heard it sung, so I like to share it with you.

                                                      1      'Let earth and heaven combine,

                                                             Angels and men agree,

                                                             To praise, in Songs divine,

                                                              The incarnate Deity;

                                                              Our God contracted to a span,

                                                               Incompressible made man

                                                     2        He laid His glory by,

                                                               And wrapped Him in our clay;

                                                                Unmarked by human eye,

                                                                The Latent Godhead lay;

                                                                 Infant of  Days, He here became,

                                                                  And bore the loved Immanuel's name.

                                                       3         Unsearchable  the  love

                                                                  That has the Saviour bought;

                                                                  That grace is far above

                                                                   Or  man's or angel's thought;

                                                                   Suffice for us,that God we know,

                                                                    Our God was manifest below.'

                   

                                                         

                                                

They won't fool Jesus.(Matthew 7 v 15 - 23)

 In  Titus 1 v 16,we read 'They claim to know God,but by their actions they deny Him',this again tells us clearly of the importance of showing the evidence of being a Christian.No matter what people say if  their lives are sinful ,it is obvious they are  not Christians. Our Saviour said in Matthew 7 v22-23,'Many will say to me on that day,''Lord,Lord,did we not prophesy in your name and in you name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly,''I never knew you.Away from me,you evildoers!'An extreme example of this is Judas  we read that he ,'he shared in the ministry Acts 1 v17,he fooled everyone but not the Lord.People can hide a lot of wrongful doings under a cloak of religiosity.Think of the atrocities have been perpetrated by very religious people, There are those who name Christ as their Saviour,claiming miracles,casting out so called demons.one day,yes one day,they will be shown for what they are,evildorers.Our Saviour said 'Watch out  for false prophets. They come to in sheep's clothing,but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognise them.( Matthew 7 v15-16)

Anger ( Ephesians 6 v 10)

One of the first things that happened after the fall, was a murder most foul,between two brothers(Gen 4),Cain  and Abel, the problem began when the two brothers brought offerings to God,Cains offering was rejected by God,  Abel's  offered was  accepted. It was God's choice ,it is His prerogative after all he is God,Cain should have accepted that but instead he became angry not with God but with his brother,God knew how he felt ,God sought to reassure him that if he did that which was right he would be accepted, and warned him of where his anger would lead,God told him to rule over his anger.Think of the many evil's that have come out of uncontrolled anger.There are scriptures warning about the danger and consequences of uncontrolled anger. Psalm  37 v8 tells us,'Refrain from anger,and forsake wrath', Ephesians 4 v27 ,tells us our anger gives the devil a foothold ,Cain destroyed his own brother,Remember what Peter tells us about our Lord,'When He was reviled,He did not revile in turn,when He suffered He did not threaten,but continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly' ( 1 Peter 2 v23)

Don't forget ( Joshua 9 v14)

 In 1642 Sir Jacob Astley was commander of King Charles the firsts army,(they were known as the Royalist)against the Parliamentarians,Just as he left for battle he prayed a prayer,'O Lord,Thou knowest how busy I must be this day.If I forget Thee,do not forget me.'A simple but profound prayer,and yet the fact is God never has memory loss,His eye is always on His children,in whatever battles we are in His eye is upon us,He is watching over His children 24/7.We can understand what that man said, we  often forget  God in our busyness, God knows,but we are often lax as regards praying,our Lords disciples fell asleep at a very crucial time. Our Saviour was just about to be arrested,he would be tried ,and then crucified,but they were asleep.Jesus said this to them,'  Couldn't you men  keep watch with me for one hour?' He was  reproaching them ,for not supporting Him when He needed them the most.How many times have we  forgotten to pray?, we rush into things,and fall flat on our face.I know  we have prayed  and it hasn't work out,because is was not in God's will(1 John 5 v 14)that is not to discourage us from praying ,our Saviour taught us to pray, ( Matthew 6 v 9ff) and not to give up praying ( Luke 18 v 1ff) Charlie Pride sung a song about prayer here are some verses from it.

                                                        ' Hey,you left your room this morning                                           

                                                          Did you think to pray?

                                                          In the name of Christ our Saviour

                                                          Did you seek for loving favour as a shield today?    

                                                          Oh, how praying helps the weary

                                                          Prayer will change the night to day

                                                          So when life seems dark and dreary

                                                           Don't forget to pray.'      

                                                       

   

                                                              

Hardness of the heart. (Matthew 11 v 28-30)

What do I want when I minister, and so this thought came to me,I want what I say or publish, to be from God's heart to my heart and then to your heart. There is a medical mission in Malawi called Lifeline and one patient said ,'At Lifeline, they treat my body and my heart', Christianity is  all about helping people but it's  also about touching people's heart ,what we mean is the core of their being.that which no one can see, but God.In Mark 3 we read of our Saviour he is in the synagogue,and there was present of a man with a withered hand.There were Pharisees present and they were not watching him in prayerful hope that He would heal that dear man,no they were looking to see if He would heal him,so they could accuse him of  breaking the sabbath.Jesus knew that they were out to destroy him.So Jesus  said to the man, stand up. .Before he performed the miracle he said the following,'Which is lawful on the sabbath: to do good or to do evil,to save life or to kill? but they remained silent.'And  when he looked at them it was with anger,being grieved  for the hardness of their hearts',then he healed the man.   Our Saviour did not speak well of the Pharisees, their religion put burdens unto  people, (Read Matthew 23) whereas Jesus said he had come to help the weary and the burdened ,and give them rest,may God give us grace to be more like Jesus.