Debt ( Psalm 51 v 3-5 )

Sin is seen as debt CP Matthew 6 v 12, where we read,'And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors',Luke 11v 4 reads,'Forgive us our sins,for we also forgive everyone who sins against us'.Charles Dickens father served time in the debtor's prison,one did not get out of the debtor's prison until the debt was paid,someone did pay his fathers debt ,and so he was released In our unsaved state we were in the debtor's prison,in other words we were all jail birds,Thomas Watson wrote,'A debt arises upon non-payment of money.....We owe to God exact obedience,'The Bible says all have sinned,and everytime we sin our debt to God increases ,if we remain in that condition and our debt remains unpaid,(TW) 'we are bound to eternal death'. No human agency can pay the debt for us,and we have no means of paying this debt. .Sin by far is the worst kind of debt because every sin grieves a Holy God,again as TW writes 'Every known sin strikes at the Godhead.the sinner would not only unthrone God,but ungod him,which makes debt infinite'.Every time we sin the debt keeps mounting,no one knows how many sins they have committed,but God does ,all will be revealed when judgement day comes.The good news is when we trust Jesus as our Saviour the debt is wiped out,all our sins are forgiven

Troubles ( Psalm 91)

When I lived at home in Belfast we had a period of conflict,it became known as the troubles,things have settled down,the bombing and shooting are finished, Yet people will still have troubles ,it is part of lifes experience,for the Christian and the non-Christian.   It is important that we remember that being a Christian does not mean we won't have troubles,we will have ,Jesus tells us not to let our hearts be troubled,so what should we do in our troubles? Let us consider Psalm 91 v15 where the Lord says,'When they call on me ,I will answer; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue and honour them'.He tells us when troubles come, why do they come ?  in Deut 8 v11 we read,'Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God',I recently said to a man,who is a Christian,who is neglecting to meet with God's people,'Don't slacken the reins'. Troubles often drive us to our knees .Next He tells us,'When we call on Him,He will answer', James 4 v2 reads ,'You do not have because you do not ask God',so ask Him.And then we  read', 'I will be with him in trouble',in all our troubles He will be with us,we are not on our own in our troubles,and He is not passive,for we are told ,I will deliver him,and then he adds,'and honour him'.Read the Psalm and you will see the honours He will shower on His children .

Ask Him (Acts 16 v31)

 I was talking to the Lord and I mentioned to Him that I had not witnessed to anybody recently,and asked Him to lead me to someone ,I forgot about it,but later on in the day I was in a shop,I paid for the items I was buying. I then made my way out of the shop.But I turned back and spoke to the lady,and asked her if she was Christian?. well it turned out that she wasn't,and so started a conversation .Her two sons  she said they were Christians ,and added that they met on Saturday instead of Sunday. I mentioned  that they may have been Seventh-Day Adventist.And I know that their are aspects of their beliefs that are contrary to the Bible.Hoekema published a book called ,' The four major cults' and one of them was,'The Seventh-Day  Adventist ,I did advise caution .I went on to ask her what Christianity meant,and she answered in a very educated way.I shared with her that what I had said to my neighbour, when you go home tonight  ask Jesus to be your Saviour,a simple prayer.,and I left it at that. God had answered my prayer and with tears I thanked Him. If you are a Christian ,pray for that lady, and if you are not a Christian,why don't you just bow your head and ask Jesus to be your Saviour.

Rescue the perishing ( Luke 15 v7 )

Recently I visited a dear friend I have known for many years,he comes from Dublin,I come from Belfast, now he is housebound , can't walk very much .On my visit he shared  his experience as a  hospice chaplain ,he told of two people  he had led to the Lord .One was a Jewish lady who came to know her Messiah, the next was an old man who was very afraid of dying, my friend spoke to him about Jesus,his son was present and  became annoyed with my friend told him not to talk to his father about Jesus,but his father told him to keep be quiet and let his pastor speak.He said to my friend that he didn't know how to pray, my friend said he would tell him what to pray,and so he trusted the Saviour.My friend spoke to his son saying that his father would soon close his eyes in death, and then he would open his eyes in heaven and he would see Jesus.I was really blest listening to what my friend said,he told me when he had finished,he went back to his office ,knelt down and wept tears of joy.

                                                                

                                                            'He that winneth souls is wise

                                                            In the home beyond the skies,

                                                                   

Nothing is to hard,( Luke 15 v 11ff)

Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah;  I am the Lord,the God of all mankind.is anything to hard for Me' ( Jeremiah 32 v27).I'm sure when you read those words you think  of  so many things,that God would perform a miracle in your life ,or in someone you know, or of some situation,yes there is nothing to hard for the Lord to do.It is always important to see the context to what is said,to see the context of  this scripture we need look at the whole chapter.The Babylonian army was besieging Jerusalem,and the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, telling him that Jerusalem would be given into the hands of the invading army.Yet the Lord tells Jeremiah to buy a portion of Land,this he did and it was puzzling what was the purpose of it? In Jeremiah 25v11-12 ,God told  Jeremiah that Israel would go into captivity for seventy years .The buying the piece of land was a  covenant sign that Israel would return them to there land.The nation had forsaken God and went after other gods  (2 v11-13),they had done nothing but evil in God's sight (32 v30)God suffered long with them (35 v15) but all to no avail,so now they must be punished. Like Israel of old if we persist in sin then we will be judged, but there is always a way back to God if we repent,He can restore to us the years that the locust have eaten (Joel 2 v 25)

                                               '  I've wandered  far away from God;

                                                 Now I'm coming home;

                                                 The paths of sin too long I've trod:

                                                 Lord ,I'm coming home'.

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Soul thirst ( 2 Timothy 4 v2 )

 While visiting my youngest son and family,we went to see our grandchild performing with other children it all very well.But during it my mind wondered to a dear friend of mine who is very ill,so I started to pray for him, my prayers were mingled with my tears,As we walked  into the auditorian I looked at the people, gathered,and thought if only I could preach to them and tell them about Jesus.Now coming back to me praying for my friend I also started praying that God would use me to be a winner of souls. I remember reading of a preacher known as ,''Praying Hyde'', who was remembered for his famous cry,''Give me souls,O God, or I die',and I prayed that in my prayers.Psalm 126 v 6 reads ,'He that goeth forth and weeping, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,bringing  his sheaves with him'.

                                                        'Dear Lord give us a hunger and

                                                         a thirst for the souls of men and 

                                                         women,who are perishing.

  

Make the right choice ( Luke 14 v 15ff)

 Can you remember when you first prayed to God? I remember one of my earliest prayers ,I was very young  and I was in bed. My mother and Father had separated, so this was the background to my prayer.I spoke to God about not having  father but I had Him as my Father.It has always been so precious to me ,it was not that I followed Him all my life at times I did not,but God did not give up on me ,and wonder of wonders He brought me back to Himself 61 yrs ago. I suppose there is to a degree the essence of the story that our Saviour told in the parable of the lost son in my experience.God has given us the ability to make a choice.I  remember so clearly a moment when I turned away from my loving Heavenly Father,I regret that but I'm so grateful that He drew me back to Himself . Everyday we make choices,that may appear obvious,but some choices are more important than others . If you are not saved,you need to make the most important choice in all your life.You may be a good living person but you are still a sinner and you are on the broad road that leads to destruction your destination is Hell,accept Christ as your Saviour.Then like me you may have wandered away from your loving Heavenly Father,for whatever reason,He has not given up on you, He still loves you,make the right choice now.