Our struggle .( Romans 7 )

As I grow older in the faith ,I have become  more conscious of my sinful nature,I identify with the apostles experience, which he writes about in Romans chap 7.Stuart Olyott  in his little book on Romans is very helpful, here is a few of the things he writes, as regards the Christian experience,'' He is not ruled by sin ( Rom 6 )but  nor is he free from sin (Chap 7 ) He knows nothing more of reigning sin (Chap 6 ),but nevertheless he is agonized by surviving sin ( Chap 7 ) He is not the same as the unconverted. They are at peace with sin, but he is at war with it. They live in sin; he does not ( 6 ) ,     although sin still lives in him ( Chap 7 ).'' S O,sums it up in these words, ''Romans 7 v 14 - 25 as the experience of the normal Christian life. ''It is a life of agonizing dismay at imperfection, not of claimed 'victory'. It is a life of earnest longing for glory, not of satisfaction at having arrived.''

Trust and obey. ( Psalm 37 )

Under the Old Covenant the Jews were required to fulfill certain things,one of them was that every seventh year, they were to let the land in which they grew their crops rest.(remember they were an agricultural people)They were not to sow anything on their land for one whole year( Leviticus 25 ) Even land needs  to rest, as we do,sabbath rest is important ,for us  and all creation. Of course it would  still produce some crops,these would feed the poor and the wild beasts (Lev 23 v 11 ).God has a heart for the poor, and wild beasts,so should we.What would the farmer and his family live on? well Raymond Brown makes this very important point,'obeying God means trusting Him', he goes on to say,''There are times in all our lives when obedience to God involves us in a venture of faith.We cannot always see the way  ahead with the clarity we would like but,if we are doing what He says, he will never disappoint us. Adequate resources will never be lacking.'

He had a plan. ( Luke 22 v 39 ff )

Writing on our Lords meeting with the lady at the well in John 4, K. E. Bailey makes a very  profound and meaningful statement,'He had a plan'.Our Saviours coming into this  world was not a haphazard affair, rather it was in keeping with Him , who worketh all things after the counsel of His will ( Ephesians 1 v 11 ), God is no haphazard being. Christ we are told  in Revelation 13 v  8, was the Lamb slain from the creation of the world.Salvation was fully worked out before it came into being,and when Christ came into the world,everything he did ,and said, was in keeping with that plan.He never deviated from it  one bit,everything He did was fully in keeping with Gods plan.and will.'Our Salvation depended on Christs   perfect obedience,to His Fathers will.In the garden His prayer that Gods will would be done,stands as a monument to the one who fulfilled God perfect plan, with perfect obedience.

Jealousy . ( Psalm 139 v 23 - 24 )

Events of our childhood can have a lasting effect on us, till the day we die,a man I know who is old in years has never got over the fact,that his brother who was very disabled,got most attention from his parents.It effected his relationship with his daughter,because he could not cope with the attention his only daughter received from her mother,which was a normal attention.That hidden feeling of jealousy was always there,how do you rate jealousy?,is God not a jealous God,CP Exodus 20 v 5 .Yes, God is a jealous God,so there is a jealousy that is good .When someone tries to steal the affections of a wife it is perfectly normal to be jealous. But there is a bad jealousy  by the man mentioned,a wrong attitude entered that man as a young person,and affected his relationship with his daughter.Just to end with this thought,let us not run with our childhood wrong feelings, if we do it will effect our relationships, even our relationship with God.

Guilt ( Psalm 130 )

Recently I felt guilty,it was not a nice feeling, guilt is never a nice feeling, I believe an awful  lot of people suffer from guilt.There are so many things that can cause one to feel guilt,but here is a wonderful remedy,it is a wonderful effective cure for those wrongs that we may have committed .It is illustrated in the word of God,  A man called David a king committed adultery,then murder, but after being challenged God wonderfully forgive him,and my he was so glad,so relieved.Read about it in 2 Samuel 11 v 1 ff, and His response in Psalm 51 .

We don't know. ( Romans 1 v 18 - 32 )

A famous scientist has declared ,' I cant be sure if there is no God', he went on to say we don't know how the universe began. At last a scientist that is showing some degree of humility and honesty,the fact of the matter is, there are no, know it all's ,in the scientific world. Because knowing God is a question of having faith, the natural person, will always be trying to find the answer to the meaning of this universe  by the knowledge they can accumulate.Yet in spite of the knowledge they have accumulated they will always come back to the point of not knowing,not understanding ,if we leave God out of the picture,how can we explain the life force,how can we explain so many ,many, things. The simple answer is, not the god called evolution ,or the god called chance,the science world will try to make it  plausible, by telling us about the billions of years it has taken to reach this point in our so called evolutionary journey.I believe that the wool has been pulled over humanities eyes.In Psalm 14 v 1, we read,' The fool hath said in his heart there is no God'. let me ask you a question are you a fool?.

It is true. ( John 3 v 16 )

Wide,wide as the ocean, high as the heavens above,deep ,deep as the deepest sea,is my Saviours love,though I'm unworthy,still I'm a child of His care,for His word  teaches me that His love reaches me everywhere. On my daily I sometimes get speaking to people, maybe about there dog,garden or whatever,one man I spoke to had suffered a stroke,but was able to walk, one morning I felt I should speak to him and tell him ,God loves him.We all want to be loved, even by our pets.well hears the good news God loves you, whoever you are.How do I know this?, this is what it says in His word,''For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,  that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life,that is why I know God loves you,loves me ,yes He does.