Amazing ( Ephesians 2 v 1 - 10 )

 It is amazing how the hymn ,'Amazing Grace', is sung in so many places,  even at the swearing in of the now President of America  ,Biden. I wish him well, and will be praying for him, he will need all the help  God  can give him. Now coming back to that old hymn , 'Amazing Grace', I  believe many sing that hymn, and don't really know what it really means, consider the first verse, Amazing grace that saved a wretch like me,.. I once  was lost  .... was blind. He was confessing his sinfulness , wretched, blind ,and lost, John Newton the author was very, very, aware of  the depths of his sinful condition, and how  he cried unto Him for salvation , and God saved him, by His unmerited favour, through Jesus the only Saviour. I add through Jesus, because  there is no salvation apart from Him. Singing ,'Amazing Grace', is not enough, we need personally to ask Christ to be our Saviour, for no matter who we are, myself included ,we are wretched , lost ,and blind. The first verse could be changed to read.

                                                  Amazing Christ, how sweet the sound,

                                                  He saved a wretch like me,

                                                  I once was lost, but now am found,

                                                  Was blind but now I see.

I wish. ( James 4 v 2 - 3 )

Sorry to say we don't have a good fairy who will grant us three wishes, most people at some time or other make a wish, if you go to the Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland, there is what is called the wishing seat. If you see a shooting star you can make a wish, or if you see a rainbow ,or if you blow out birthday candles, or if ,so it can go on. Some  people wish they had never been born, or when they are running a marathon ,say I wish I had never started this, or I wish I , and so it goes on. The thing is ,wishing will not change any thing, it cannot change the past, present or the future. For some people wishing is like  a substitute for prayer, but its not, prayer is borne out a relationship with God through Christ. There is so much one could say as regards prayer, but one thing is clear it is not about wishing. As a Christian I know God hears and answers prayer, but it must be in accordance with Gods will ( 1 John 5 v 14 ). If it is not according to Gods will, it will not be good for us, Father God knows best, so stop your wishing ,and pray to  God to hears and answers prayer.

Remember. ( 1 Corinthians 13 )

 My grandchildren heard someone calling out for John their father ,they went and told their dad, who looked out , and saw his elderly neighbour lying on the ground. It had been snowing and he fallen over, my son ran down, carried him into his home, when he got him into his home, he phoned for an ambulance. His neighbour said this to him, ''I am glad I have an neighbour like you John'', I am also glad that I have a son like John, he is a very  loving caring person. In Charlie Mackesy lovely book  , 'The  boy, the mole, the fox, and the horse', we read,'' What do you think success is?'',  asked the boy, ''to love'', said the mole.' Take time to read 1 Corinthians 13, written to a church that had lost its way, and needed reminding ,that the most important thing was love. One of the last things Jesus said to his disciples was,'' My command is this; love each other as I  have loved you''. (John 15 v 12 ), remember love never fails.

What's in a name. ( Matthew 1 v 21 )

Many people don't think much about the meaning  of their name, imagine if nobody had a name what would we do?. Who would we address our letters to,?, or what would they do to announce the winners of the Oscars?, yes we need names. Children call other children names ,not very nice name, Jesus experienced this ,not when when he was a child, but when he was grown up. We read about it in the gospel of John chap 8 v 48 , the religious leaders were challenging him, and the longer it went on the more frustrated they became, and so  they thought of the worst thing they could call him. Here is what they said, ''You are a Samaritan and have  a demon'', the NLT puts it like this,'' You Samaritan devil''. The Jews hated and despised the Samaritans, so that was bad enough, but it did not stop there, your also demonic. This illustrates how much they hated and despised Jesus.it is in Isaiah 53 v 3, we read these words,' He was despised  and rejected of men'. that hatred of Him would cause them ,to commit  the greatest crime ever perpetrated, when  they  later had Him arrested and crucified. Jesus knew all this, none of this surprised Him, he knew what he would have to endure, compare the following,  'Matthew 16 v 21/  17 v 12/ 26 v2 / Mark 8 v 31/ 9  v 9/ Luke  9 v 22/ v 41. There are other scriptures that shows clearly that He knew what was coming, even death on the cross. Not only did He know what  was coming, He knew why  he would suffer .

                                               Wounded for me ,wounded for me,

                                               There on the cross He was wounded for me;

                                               Gone my transgressions, and now I am free,

                                               All because Jesus was wounded for me.

Adapting ( Philippians 4 v 13 )

 As one looks at life  ,one of the great lessons one has to learn, is to adopt to so many things, because  if one  doesn't then life can become  difficult . I suppose there are three groups of people in life in relation to adapting. those  who do adopt, those who struggle with adapting, and those who refuse to adopt. Those who willingly embrace the challenge of adopting ,who say I am going  to do it, I am going to embrace it , and they do,  The worlds population is on the move ,people are having to live in new countries, and many of them do, and then there others who retire to foreign countries, and never learn the language of their new country. When the industrial revolution came in ,life changed dramatically, many fought against it, to no avail.  The Bible is full of examples of people like Abraham who had to adopt to a new life in a foreign  country, the Israelites  in exile. It is inevitable  that change will come  ,we loose our job, a loved one, old age with all the changes that can bring. It is vital that we learn to adopt in life, if you are a Christian then you have  a decided advantage ,I hear someone say ,no I haven't, yes you have, you have Christ with you. If you are old, remember the Christ of your youth, is still the Christ of your old age. Every change that comes into your life is not a reason to wring ones hands in despair, it is an opportunity to prove the faithfulness of God, to trust Him to help you to adopt ,to every new situation ,and He will.

Heaven . ( Hebrews 11 v 13 - 16 )

 I heard Billy Graham speaking on You Tube , that he was just turning 80 yrs of age, and he said he was asked, 'What was the greatest surprise in his life, he replied, ''the brevity of life,'', of course he went on to live another nineteen years. I am sure  he would  have still have said the same answer. Moses the man of God said that the days of our life ,' quickly pass and we fly away', (Psalm 90 v 10 ). Just before Billy Graham died, he wrote this in his last column, ''By the time you read this, I will be in heaven''. Some people say that  to be to heavenly minded, makes you of no earthly use, it is not true. Colossians  3 v 2 ,reads,  'Set your mind on things above , not on earthly things'. Again a quote by Billy Graham, ''Heaven doesn't make life less important, it makes it more important, the Bible says as long as we are here on earth, we are strangers in a foreign land. There are enemies  to be conquered  before we  return home. This world is  not our home, our citizenship is in heaven'.

                                           When all my labours and trials are o'er

                                           And I am safe on that beautiful shore,

                                           Just to be near the dear  Lord I adore,

                                            Will through the ages  be glory for me.

                                            O that will be glory for me, glory for me,

                                            When by His grace  I shall look on His face,

                                             That will be glory, be glory for me.   ( Words by C.H. Gabriel )

                                            

Messiah ( John 6 v 35 )

 So Jesus fed the multitudes ,did that make him the bread providing Master?, the  multitudes appeared to think he was .In John chapter they  followed him in their droves after the miraculous feeding of the 5,000 plus. The Jews  had a hope of a Messiah the anointed One, at Christmas we quote many OT scriptures like Isaiah 9 v 6 -7, just recently I heard a Jewish scholar mentioning about the Messiah coming. They are still the waiting people, their Messiah will come and establish his throne upon the earth, and they would never more be oppressed, never more go hunger, and they  his people would rule over all the gentiles . In John 6 v 14 ,they identified  Jesus with the prophet  of  Deut 18 v 15-18 ,and the fact that they wanted to make him a king, as they saw him as the Messiah. Moses declared that the prophet would be like him, for they gave Moses the credit for feeding them, in the wilderness. To them Jesus  was the bread providing Master, or was he?, and of course Jesus had to tell that he wasn't. In the early days of missionary work in China , there were those who were known as rice Christians, they converted to Christianity for material gain, not out of conviction. The bases of coming to Christ must never be for material needs, but for the need of Him, and the Salvation that comes through trusting Him.