Forbidden ( Deuteronomy 18 v 8 - 14 )

As Israel was about to enter the promise land they were warned not to engage in the religious practise's of the people who lived there ( Deuteronomy 18 v 8 - 14 )these practise were,'divination,sorcery, omens, witchcraft, casting of spells,spirit' ism,consulting the dead. These things were wrong then, and they are wrong now,they are not of  God,they are of the kingdom of darkness,and can only lead us more and more into darkness.They must be seen for what they are ,evil,opposed to God and His kingdom,a Christian should never be involved in these practise's.But unfortunately ,as Raymond Brown says writing of Israel,'One of the most dangerous  expressions of the people's waywardness and ignorance was to seek God's help by the wrong means' CP 2 Kings 17 v 16 - 17.There is only way to God, for the sinner it is through Christ as a Saviour,( John 14 v 6 ) and for the Christian ,Christ as their mediator.( 1 Timothy 2 v 5 )                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Stop looking at the stars,look to                                                                                                                  the Saviour,stop trying to                                                                                                                          contact the dead,and look to Jesus.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Just one sin ( Romans 3 v 23 )

In a local newspaper there is a list of people who were fined for breaking the speed limit,I do try not to break the speed limit, but there are times I fail. Even though I don't want to break the speed limit I do, would I be right in thinking  that all drivers have broken the speed limit?.When people get caught  speeding ,some will feel hard done by,because they where only driving one mile over the limit,the fact is, they  have broken the law,and the must suffer the consequences. The word of God tells us in James 2 v 10 ,'For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point   is guilty of breaking all of it'.Yes the breaking of Gods law in just one commandment, is a  sin and  has dire consequences for us.all, protesting your innocence does not change the fact that  in Gods eye you are a sinner,.and what does sinners need ? they need a Saviour,and Jesus is the only Saviour

Anger ( James 1 v 19 - 20 )

When I arrived home I was very angry,I was so upset,at the way someone spoke to me  publicly,I thought of the things I would say to that person.We are told in Ephesians 4 v 26 - 27.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      In your anger do not sin; Do not let                                                                                                          the sun go down while you are still                                                                                                            angry,and do not give the devil a                                                                                                              foothold.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   I believe that these words are telling us to not harbour anger ,like Cain did ( Genesis 4 ) with disastrous effect  . We should deal with it as soon as possible,because if we don't  our enemy will take advantage.I prayed about it committed to God and went to bed, the next morning my anger had subsided ,it goes without saying I am glad I did not act in a wrong way.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Compromise ( John 8 v 31 - 36/ 14 v 6 )

Viewing our country's political situation at this time, can cause one to be concerned,many voices are to be heard ,each zealously proclaiming their point of view.They have the answer,they know what to do, it reminds me of my history,in the land of my birth., a general strike brought down the government.The bombing and killing went on,until the one who appeared the most extreme person,compromised,the result, the violence stopped.Someone once said ,'the art of politics is compromise'.generally speaking that's true. Many conflicts in the world would cease,if people were willing to compromise,but unfortunately they wont,the result the suffering continues.As a Christian I know I cannot compromise in relation to vital truth,for truth is the most important thing in the world.I must hold fast not just for my own sake,but for others sake,and most of all for my Gods sake.There are many Christians who are paying the price  for not compromising ,they have lost everything,but they are still standing for the truth. It is my dear Saviour who said  the truth sets us free .C P.  John 8 v 32.true freedom is a very precious thing,many are enslaved in by false religion,by falsehood clothed in politics,materialism, science,race,but truth will not be silenced.

Its impossible ( Genesis 1 v 1 )

A friend of mine years ago was speaking at a school assemble ,in his message he spoke on creation, afterwards the person in charge challenged him,as the school taught evolution. As the conversation progressed, my friend said, 'that his wife  put his working shirt into the washing machine,he forgot to tell his wife that there was metal in the pocket.Well when the wash was finished they  discovered there wash a watch in the pocket,a perfect watch in every way,and his wife exclaimed,how could that have happened, there was no explanation, other than it just happened. That's impossible,yes it is,its like a hurricane blowing through a scrap yard,when it had finished the result a perfect aeroplane. Or like eating a beautiful meal and saying there was no cook,these are simple illustration, but they make one solitary point, this world with all its diversity of life, did not, could  not, have  just happened, its impossible.

God is not wasteful. ( Romans 8 v 28 )

I had received an order from Amazon ,but I had to return it,which I had never done before,I must confess I got a bit stressed out over it,but eventually it worked out,and I was able to return it. On reflection there are two things that stand out in all this, one ,stress,yes I got stressed out,sometimes it does not take much to stress me out.It reminds me how fragile I am,how easily it is to loose that all important peace ,even with small things.The second thing is, stress can drive us to God,yes it reminds me ,how weak I am,yes I do feel at time in the words of a song,'I'm the weakest of your children,how I need Thee'. The second thing is now I know how to to return things to Amazon,and possible be able to help someone with the same problem.God is not wasteful,he lets  us go through difficulties ,and in them He helps us ,and teaches us lessons,the result is we can help others,out of our experience .                                                                                                                                                                                                                             ' Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord                                                                                             Jesus Christ,,the Father of compassion and                                                                                               the God of all comfort, who comforts us in                                                                                               all our troubles ,so that we can comfort those                                                                                           in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves                                                                                           have received from God.'                                                                                                                                        ( 1 Corinthians 1 v 3 - 4 )                                                                                                                                                                                     

Sin ( Psalm 51 )

Psalm 51 was written after King Davids sin of adultery and murder, when the prophet Nathan spoke those faithful words,'you are the man' to which David responded, 'I have sinned against the Lord', (2 Samuel 12 ).It is in verse four of Psalm 51  , we read David praying to God,'Against you, you only,have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight'.This is telling us a very important truth,that the evil we do to others,goes beyond that person,they may forgive us, but that evil ascends to a greater level,to a holy God.We look at the evil we do at one level,as only important to our fellow man, the criminal is punished by society,sent to prison,they serve time,and come out feeling they have paid the debt  in full..We have not a thought for God, it is finished with, no its not,our sin remains,and will always remain until like David , we acknowledge that what we have committed was a sin against God.All sin is ultimately against God, it is an act of  defiance ,unforgiven we will be judged for our sins in a coming day.David realised this, I hope you do,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            The good thing is, David was forgiven,                                                                                                    we also can be forgiven, by trusting in                                                                                                      Jesus.