Our only hope. [Acts 16 v31 ]

Psalm 15 starts with a question,who can come into Gods presence, who can have a relationship with God?, this question that is asked is very important, for the believer and the unbeliever. In understanding the question we must appreciate two things ,the first thing to consider is God,that He is holy,the second thing is we are sinners.These two things create a dilemma ,and it is a dilemma that only God can solve,and indeed has solved,I stress only God can solve. I wear a small cross ,why?, it is to declare that the cross is Gods answer to mans dilemma,what is that dilemma?,the answer is sin and its consequences.Unless sin is dealt with there is no hope, all is lost, and all are lost,hell is the ultimate destiny of those who die in their sin,consider these solemn words,/The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God[Psalm 9 v17 ]. These are strong words, but they are true, who are the wicked?,all of us ,always remember it is how God sees us that matters,and if we read Romans 3 we have our sinful condition set forth, do read it and consider  what it is saying to you,its conclusion is this, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God [v 23 ].Anne Cetas says,/Do you believe it? Your eternity is at stake. Dont trust in faulty thinking, put your faith in Christ/.
A  prayer..../Dear God help us to see that our only hope to be saved is Jesus Your dear Son .Amen/

Morally upright. [Psalm 15]

I am just finishing a book called/ The end , Hitlers Germany/it is a very sad book  ,driven by one evil man,the nation of Germany followed,and became partakers of that evil,and suffered the consequences of such a decision. I ask myself would I have been any different if I had lived in Germany?,someone said it only takes good men to say nothing for evil to prosper. The challenge of the Christian life is to not just accept or go along with the evil and ungodliness that is ever present,we are called to be light,and to be salt,the light challenges the darkness, and the salt stops the corruptness.The early church experienced severe persecution because it would not say Caesar is Lord,the present crisis in the financial world has been brought about because of greed,and because not enough people spoke out against the  wrong practices that were going on. Yes there were those who did , I was speaking to a person who resigned,and took early retirement because he didnt agree with what was going on.But as in th case of Nazi Germany the darkness appears to have won the day,in the financial world,I wonder will anything change?. In the coming days we are going to be looking at Psalm 15, which my sturdy Bible declares that.in this Psalm God calls His people to be morally upright and gives us 10 standards to determine how we are doing/.
A  prayer...../ Dear God in this dark and corrupt world, help us to  be the light and the salt, in Jesus name Amen /

Abraham didnt give up. [ Romans 4 v16 -25 ]

In Romans 4 we read this about Abraham that ,/ even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping,believing v 18/.God has given me promises,which looks like they will never be fulfilled,it seems impossible,such was Abrahams case.His wife and him were old,as he looked he was not blinded by the realities. But he didnt give up, he could have,we all have that choice, to give up and walk away ,but let me say it again Abraham didnt give up.. In Hebrews 10 v23 we read,/He is faithful that promised/this is the character of God,one who is faithful,who will do what He has promised,He will not falter in this, because He is faithful.But not only is He faithful,great an all that is ,we also read , that God was able to do what He had promised[Romans 4 v21].This is often were we fail, we are not always able to do what we promised, our resources dry up, our strength fails us,none of those things apply to our sovereign God,we are told that God is not a man, contrary to what the Mormons believe.Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard,  that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not,neither is weary? there is no searching of His understanding[ Isaiah 40 v2]  Such is our God ,He is able to do  exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think[Ephesians 3 v20] Abraham believed in the character of God, and the power of God, the result he recieved what he desired.
A  prayer..../ Dear God help us to be strong in believing that what You have promised us You will fulfill in Jesus name. Amen/

Lost innocence. [ Galations 5 v16]

The speaker at the church I attend issued us all with labels,we were to write on them, those things we would like to change,we then were to tie them to, two fans,it was pentecost Sunday and this was all related to what we would have the Holy Spirit accomplish in our lives.I never wrote anything, it is not that I dont need the Holy Spirit to work in my life,of course I do,as indeed we all do., but I needed time to think.Later in the day I was watching a cartoon about one of my favourite characters ,Winnie the Pooh,and as I watched it,I thought what I could have written on the label,Holy Spirit grant me the innocence of Winnie the Pooh. We loose our innocence in life so soon,never to regain it, in this life,the canvas of our lives,becomes so quickly stained,by dirty thoughts,and so many other things,we wish we could get rid of.Well it was Pentecost yesterday, reminding us that we have a divine helper,one who can aid in the ongoing battle with our lost innocence,so let us not despair as regards our lost innocence, and let us rejoice that one day we will regain it,when all things will be made new.[Revelation 21 v5 ]
A  prayer..../ Dear God grant us grace by the Holy Spirit to overcome our sinful tendancies,and to rejoice that one day You will make all things new,in Jesus name Amen/

What is bothering us?. [ Psalm 5 ]

In   Psalm 5, we have a prayer of David ,a cry unto God to be heard ,for God to hear,and take into account what is bothering him v1.What is bothering you?what are you thinking about?, we often hold things in our hearts that we dont tell anyone about,and we maybe dont even tell God. God of course knows ,he knows when we are tempted, when we shut Him out, and run with the temptation,and fulfill the temptation.It appears to me God waits for us,to seek Him with the things that are on our hearts. So today we have a choice, keep things bottled up,dont tell God . Whats really on our minds,our temptations,pain,resentment,anger,needs,again let me ask the question,what is bothering us?.Often pride is a factor ,we can never discount that sin,pride is a curse, and can only cause us trouble, in 1 Peter 5v 6-7 we read./ Humble yourselves therefore uder the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time/. This is the path the Christian must take,it is the path our Saviour took, He humbled Himself, then He was exalted [Philippians 2 v 8 -9 ]. Next Peter follows up his exhortation for  humility ,by encouraging us ,to cast all our care upon the Lord for He careth, for us,all our cares,let us hold nothing back, especially those things that are bothering us.
A  prayer....../ Dear God we bring to You all that is on our hearts,for we realise that when we do this, then we will recieve the help we need, in Jesus name Amen /

When God is silent. [ Psalm 22 ]

As I mentioned ,in my previous blog, I am reading the book of Job, in fact I have just finished it this morning,it is a very instructive book,it deals with suffering and its aftermath. We read at the beginning about God speaking about Job,to Satan, and permitting Satan to attack Job,but then silence. We dont hear God speaking until the end of the book,it is as if God has withdrawn Himself , and of course Job struggles with this.In 23v3 we have Job saying,/Oh that I knew where I might find Him, /this caused him distress,this silence of God,and all he had to listen to was his three friends,who added to his distress,by what they said,they said all sort of things about Job that were wrong .Some people write of the dark night of the soul,such was the experience of Job, such may be your experience at this time,it  was Charlotte Elliot who wrote the following,/Clouds of darkness round about Thee,for a season veil Thy face/. So what is the answer for Charlotte,for Job,  for you and I ?well  Charlette goes on to write,/ Still I trust and cannot doubt Thee,Jesus full of truth and grace. Resting on Thy word I stand,none can pluck me from Thy hand/. 
A  prayer....../ Dear God in the name of Him who cried out,My God, My God why have You forsken me,we come to You,and ask for the grace to trust You even when You are silent. Amen /

Begone unbelief.[Psalm 34 ]

I came away from a meeting recently with a feeling of uncertainty as regards finance not mine,it made me think of how uncertain life is.One day you may be rich, the next day poor,one day you are in a fine healthy position, the next ,well you know what I am saying. I am reading the book of Job at this time ,he was godly man, but under a permitted attack by satan,he lost ,his children,finance, and health. Yes, even for the godly, life can be uncertain, there are no earthly guarantees, ah ,no earthly guarantees,exactly,if we stop at that point ,uncertainty will creep in,and we will begin to panic,begin to let fear take over. As  Christians we have a sure and certain hope that nothing can destroy,we are told nothing can seperate us from the love of God [Romans 8 v 35ff].,we are told that Jesus is always with us[ Matthew 28 v20 ],these are eternal guarantees, and cannot be broken. God has promised to care for us,I have been young, but now am old, and I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor His seed begging bread [ Psalm 37 v25 ]and I never will. Because the Lord is my shepherd I shall not want, because He is with me, I will fear no evil,as regards the present or the future ,I rest on Him assured that goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life[Psalm 23 ], so begone unbelief, my Saviour is near, and for my relief, will surely appear.[John Newton]
A prayer...../ Dear Lord help us not to live in uncertainty, and to challenge fear ,by faith in You, and in Your word,in Your name we ask this Amen /