The glory . ( Luke 24 v 13 - 32 )

                As I was out walking ,an old gospel song I used to sing, came to mind, its called
                The glory of His presence'', by Oswald. J. Smith.

                                                      I have walked alone with Jesus,
                                                      In a fellowship divine.
                                                      Never more can earth allure me,
                                                      I am His, and  He is mine.

                                                      On the mountain I have seen Him,
                                                      Christ my comforter and friend.
                                                      And the glory of  His presence,
                                                      Will be with me to the end.

                                                      I have seen Him, I  have known Him,
                                                      And He deigns to walk with me,
                                                      And the  glory of His presence will
                                                      Be mine eternally.

                                                      Oh the glory of His presence,
                                                      Oh the beauty of His face,
                                                       I am His, and His forever,
                                                      He has saved me by His grace.

His name not mentioned ( John 4 v 21 - 24 )

                       When you come to read the Bible, in every book, you would expect Gods name to
                       be mentioned ,but  it is absent in the book of Esther. Yet it is pointed out by M.
                       Wilcock, ''Esther's  story shows His hand unmistakably at work behind the scenes''
                       This is one of the major aspects of God and  His kingdom ,just before our Saviour
                       died ,He said something that many Christians have not grasped ,'' My Kingdom is
                       not of this world.If it were ,my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews.
                       but now my Kingdom is from another place''.During the Commonwealth under Olive
                       Cromwell there were those who felt ,that Gods earthly kingdom was being set up.
                       But they were wrong ,many of the Jews even among  Christ's follower's expected
                       Him be the Messiah ,who would overthrow all the powers of earth and rule over
                       them,but they were wrong.The Kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom,totally
                       different from the kingdoms of this would.Davids kingdom is gone ,the Holy Roman
                       Empire is gone.So it will always be , when we pray Thy kingdom come, what do we
                       expect? for the Christians to take power, it will not happen.But Christs Kingdom
                       will continue and continue to grow in the hearts men and women .Nobody and
                       nothing can stop the growth of Gods kingdom ,many have tried,many are still trying
                       but they cannot stop it, for the one who said My kingdom is not of this world also
                       said, ''I will build my Church,,and that nothing can stop it happening ( Matthew 16 v
                       18 )

                                                        My thoughts are not  your thoughts
                                                        neither are your ways my ways,
                                                        says the Lord..
                                                                    ( Isaiah 55 v 8 )
                                                             

Against You ...... ( Psalm 51 )

                   Humanity is  made up of nice people, not so nice people,cruel people ,kind people,
                   rich people, poor people ,white people,black people.So we could on describing the
                   contrasting differences of the human race,but every human being has one thing in
                   common ,we all without exception are sinners. That will never change ,never,no
                   matter how much we try, sooner or later , it manifests itself. Be it a king or a queen,
                   a minister,Sunday school teacher ,boy scout,girl guide,doctor ,nurse. We casually say
                   no one is perfect ,yes we would all agree on that, but God goes further,He says we are
                   all sinners,that means, we cannot relate our wrong doings,wrong attitudes, wrong words,
                   as something between us humans,no sin in the final analysis , involves us and a
                   holy God.When King David committed adultery, followed by murder , he prayed this
                   to God,  ''Against you, you only have I sinned , and done what is evil in your sight.
                   (Psalm 51 v 4 ).A person may murder or rob someone,and do time in prison,when
                   released, they may say I have paid my debt to society.But their sinful actions remains
                   unforgiven   ,and if there is no repentance,no seeking forgiveness, then there is still a
                   price to pay, That price involves judgement by God ,heaven is shut, and Hell beckons.

                                              For the wages of sin is death, but the gift
                                              of God  is eternal life ,in Christ Jesus our
                                              Lord.
                                                             ( Romans 6 v 23 )
               

The source of evil ( Jeremiah 17 v 9 )

                Our Saviour knew the source of evil, the people who opposed Him, where very
                religious,they observed all the religious feast.They prayed,  read Gods word
                kept the Sabbath,kept the food laws,etc,etc,etc.They also laid great store at being
                children of Abraham,true blue Jews,yet Jesus knew the source of evil. Do you?
                This is what He said out of the heart,yes out of the heart,the source of our being
                out of the heart comes evil thoughts, murder, adultery,sexual immorality, theft,
                false testimony,slander.Yes He knows us better than we know ourselves ,why do I
                pray everyday,Lord create in me a clean heart,yes a clean heart ,?, because although I
                am a Christian, I have evil thoughts, evil desires,and I know how they can so easy
                take over. We are told let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he falls( 1
                Corinthians 10 v 12 ) . In Proverbs  4 v 23 )we read ,' Above all else, guard your
                guard'.Wise words,what are you putting into your heart? what am I putting into my
                heart?.  In  Proverbs  23 v 26  ,we read  'My Son (Daughter) give  me your heart,
                will you ?, I remember a little prayer children would pray when they trusted
                Jesus as Saviour,why don't you pray it, right now.

                                                     Come into my heart Lord Jesus.
                                                     come into day, come into stay
                                                     come into my heart Lord Jesus.
                                                                    Amen.














             

Redemption ( Job 19 v 25 )

                            I was playing a game of indoor bowls, and  one of the players had a poor
                            game,but next game he played better,and someone was heard to say ,'you
                            redeemed yourself'. The word redeemed in the context of a game, means's
                            to make up for a bad performance.The word redeemed appears a lot of times
                            in the Bible,there the word means's  to buy back,to pay a price.It
                            has with  it the meaning of delivering and bringing someone out of bondage.
                            It is applied to our Salvation .Humanity is seen by God as being in slavery,
                            as our Saviour said, everyone who sins is a slave to sin (   John 8 v 34 ),
                            Solomon also said ,there is no man that does not sin ( 1 Kings  8 v  46)
                            Because of this we are alienated from a holy God , a slave to our sinful
                            impulses,lost and undone,we are truly on the road to Hell. Unlike a game
                            we personally cannot redeem ourselves, because everything we could offer
                            would be tainted by sin.So God in His awesome  mercy did something
                            He would send a redeemer into the world who would pay the price of our
                            redemption ,as the Psalmist wrote ,'God would redeem ,( 49 v 15 ) And
                            so He ,who was truly God and truly man, came and paid the price of our
                            redemption.,not with perishable things such as silver or  gold ..............
                            but with  His  precious blood   (1 Peter 1 v 18-19 ) So it is when we
                            trust Jesus as our Saviour, God accepts us on the bases of  the price Jesus
                            paid on the cross.

                                                             Not the labours of my hands
                                                             Can fulfil thy law's demands;
                                                             Could my zeal  no respite know,
                                                             Could mt tears for ever flow,
                                                             All for sin could not atone;
                                                             Thou must save, and Thou alone.

                                                               ( Words by A M Toplady )
                         

Confident ( John 8 v 12 )

                        Martin Luther wrote ,'Nothing is more familiar or characteristic among
                        Christians than assertion. Take away assertions, and you take away
                        Christianity'. Assertion means confidence,certainty, We know that our
                        Redeemer lives , (19 V 23 )we know that Christ rose from read, ( 1 Corinthians
                        15 ) We know that Christ has forgiven us our sins ( 1 John 2 v 12 ). The
                        The Christian hes received eternal life [ 1 John 5 v 13 ). In a world that so
                        often appears in crises,confused, the Christian has a powerful message,that
                        comes  from that wonderful relationship they have with God. It all come about
                        when Christ become ones Saviour,He declared that He was the light of the
                        world ,and that those who follow Him, would not walk in darkness ,but will
                        have the light of  life. (John 8 v 12 ) Children are afraid of the dark ,but many
                        people who are not children, are afraid, darkness has engulfed them,are you one
                        of them ?,Look to Jesus, trust Him,follow Him, you will not walk in darkness.

                                         ' When Jesus comes the tempter's power is broken,
                                           When Jesus comes the tears are wiped away.
                                           He takes the gloom and fills the life with glory
                                           For all is changed when Jesus comes to stay.

                                                      ( Words by Dr, Smith )

                                                     

Heaven (Romans 8 v 31 - 39 )

                    Heaven is the place where pretence is never needed; where we live in freedom
                    from judgement; where we will never need to pretend or assume an unreal
                    posture or claim an inappropriate credit.  It will be a place where we can live for
                    the first time in all our lives in freedom from judgement- the judgement of others
                    and the self- judgements which in this life so regularly cripple and enslave us.We
                    will live in the freedom of the judgement of God. We will have accepted His just
                    judgement on our lives, be utterly one with Him  is the embodied righteousness
                    of God., and be renewed in the image of the Righteous One. We will be righteous
                    and pursue righteousness. We will at last, and for ever, do justly....love mercy, and
                    walk humbly with( our ) God. ( Mic 6 v 8 av )
                                  (  From Bruce Milne's book ,Heaven and Hell )