By the rivers of Babylon. [ Psalm 137 ]

Who would have thought Psalm 137 would have made the hit parade, but it did, I was reminded of this when I listened to the song,/By the rivers of Babylon /,the music is very lively and attractive, the words are both a lament and a prayer. This Psalm is borne out of suffering, suffering that should never have happened, Israel had a history of forsaking God , it was a very bad habit that they never broke. Time after time they would forsake God, God bore with them, pleaded with them ,chastised them, but to no avail, it came to a head under king Zedekiah. The prophet Jeremiah kept pleading with the nation , to change there ways, but to no avail, so God acted in judgement against the nation,by sending the Babylonion army to invade the land, killing most of the population, and taken a remnant to Babylon, where they stayed for 70 years. As I said this need never have happened, if only, they had been faithful to God and His ways.[ Dear God help us to be faithful to You, help us not to get into the habit of going our own way, knowing that if we do ,you in mercy will deal with us, in Jesus name we ask this. Amen ]

The glory of God. [ John 12 v23 36 ]

As a Christian the most important challenge in my life is to glorify God,our Saviour declared,I have glorified Thee on the earth [John17 v4 ], in every aspect of His life He glorified God, and especially in His death on a cross. It is understandable that we want to be free from problems in life , and so we pray for there removal, but the reality is ,they may not be removed [2 Corinthians 12 v 8 ff],we may not recieve the healing we prayed for ,or that perfect family, or that perfect marriage. Our Saviour prayed as He was facing death on a cross, if it was possible that He may not have to go through with it, have we not all prayed such prayers?. This is often where we stop praying, and yes in the will of God it may happen, but Jesus did not stop praying ,for the removal of the cross, He went on to pray, /Yet, I want your will not mine/. In John 12 v28 ,our Saviour prayed ,/Father glorify your name/, Ezekiel Hopkins wrote the following on this, /Though life is naturally dear,and the cup which I am to drink, very bitter,and the wrath that I am to undergo, heavy and infinite, yet all these things are not so considerable to me as your glory, and therefore , though it will bring agonies, by death, by the cross, yet, Father, glorify your name/. [ Dear God help me to see that the most important thing in my life is your glory,help me never to loose sight of this, in Jesus name Amen ]

Jesus, the Christ, and son of God. [ John 20 v31 ]

The Gosple of John was written with a purpose in mind ,and it is chapter 20 v31, we read that purpose, / But these are written , that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ,the Son of God, and believing ye might have life through His name/. He underlines the importance of belief, John continually challenges us to believe,we live in an unbelieving world, who reject creation, live just for what they see, John says believe. Believe in what or who ?, Jesus the one the O T scriptures foretold would come,and not only is He the Christ, but the son of God,in other words He was trully God , we must not compromise when it comes to truth. The result of believing, that we may have life through Him, eternal life, a fullness of life here and now,and a life of eternal glory. [ Dear God ,grant that many today may believe in Jesus , the promised one ,Jesus the son of God, who came and died for sinners ,such as us,that all may be saved eternally, Amen ]

Our vision [ John 3v 16 ]

The gospel of John is the last gospel to be written, it is different from the other gospels,it omits ,the conception and birth of Christ,His baptism,His temptations, the casting out of demons,the transfiguration, the last supper,Christs struggle in prayer in Gethsemane,His ascension. John became the leader of the church in Ephesus ,a gentile city,the church was going beyond its Jewish roots,expanding into the whole world,and so John must have written with that in veiw.[John 3 v16 ]. Many dear Christians in the lands of Islam are persecuted because Christianity is seen as a western religion, but they are wrong,it is not western, or eastern, no it is for the whole world. Christianity is not restricted to any culture,or race, nor can any culture or race claim to be Christian. Christs kingdom is a spiritual kingdom,and everyone is equal,and accepted by God,as Christians our vision should always be for the world.[ Dear God help us to see beyond our narrow vision of what Your church is, grant us a vision that embraces all mankind ,in Jesus name Amen ]

Value Him. [ Philippians 3 ]

I wrote this recently,/ We hang unto the rubbish in our lives, feeling that Christ wants to impoverish and weaken us, instead of realizing that He wants to enrich and empower us./It was the apostle Paul who spoke of the things that he once held dear,to him it was his pedigree,and religious standing, these things were everything to him, he was prepared to die for them and even kill for them. Them one day something happened ,he had a revelation of Christ,and all things changed, he not only saw what was important, but who was important, Christ,and so he writes in Philippians 3 v 8. /All the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life.Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my master, firsthand, everything I once I had going for me is insignificant , dog dung, I,ve dumped it all in the trash, so I could embrace Christ and be embraced by Him/. Let us ask the question,do we treasure Christ above all else, are we choosing dog dung ? ,have we failed to appreciate what is important , and who is important, Christ. [ Dear God help us to see that the most important thing in life is to know Christ, to value Him more than all else. Amen ]

Burdens [ Psalm 55 v 22 ]

I am sure we are all carrying some sort of burden,it is the nature of life, burdens come in different sizes,flavours, colours,and of course we dont have a choice, if we did ,we would not choose any burden. Burdens range from the major to the the minor,to the painful ,to irritations, as I say ,burdens are part of life, some come and go, some stay. As our dear Saviour looked at humanity,He saw the burdens that people were carrying, and He spoke these wonderful ,wonderful, words, /Come unto to me ,all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest [Matthew 11 v28]/. Come says Jesus , yes you have a choice, then He says ,all, it is an all inclusive invitation, so why not respond to this invitation by Jesus, come with your burden, and find that rest which you need. [Dear Lord Jesus I come to you with my burdens, grant me that rest , that I ,so need. Amen ]

I was not able to blog this morning,owing to someone messing about, my son John has sorted it out, so I will continue in the morning. every blessing