He understands. ( Psalm 23 )

I met a dear Christian, a few years ago she lost her husband, I asked her how she felt,she said she was lonely. It is not a crime if you are a Christian to say you are lonely, or your sad. The words of a hymn by Francis H. Rawley  reads.

                                                 ' Days of darkness still may meet me,

                                                   Sorrow's paths I oft may tread;

                                                   But His presence still is with me,

                                                   By His guiding hand I'm lead'

It impossible to not feel sadness,or loneliness, after all we are not machines, we have emotions,it does not make us any less a Christian. Many people feel lonely,no use denying it, and sad, but here is the wonderful truth,' But His presence still is with us,by His guiding hand we'r  lead'. Yes He will bring us through,let us remember, He walked this earthly life,He is called a man of sorrows one who was acquainted with grief, and no one experienced the depths of loneliness that He felt on the cross when He cried out,''My God , my God, why hast thou forsaken me?''. We are told that Jesus our great High Priest, understands our weaknesses, for He faced all the same testings we do,yet He did not sin.Hebrews 4 v 15. Yes our Saviour is walking with us, He does feel for our sadness and loneliness, and He whispers to us,''I understand''.

                                                             Hebrews 4 v 16  .

                                     'So let us come boldly  to the throne of our gracious 

                                     God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will

                                      find grace to help us when we need it most.'

                                                 

                                    

The sea is not always calm. ( 2 Thessalonians 2 v 16 - 17 )

I remember many years ago, my family and I were on holiday in a town called Bangor in Ulster,it is a seaside town.One could hire a rowing boat to go out on the bay,so we did that,the sea was very calm, we were not to far from the shore. Then from the shore along the seafront we heard the sound of bagpipes,I stopped rowing and we sat and listened , they were playing amazing grace. As we sat there listening in the calmness it touched my heart, but as I reflect on it now,I am reminded that the sea of life is not always calm,far from it,but praise God,His amazing grace never changes,never, and we are told its always sufficient,and more than enough to meet our needs whatever trials we are going through. The writer calls it amazing grace, and rightly so,as I think of how many, many,dear Christians are enduring so much, how do they cope?,grace, as I read of the apostle Paul,and his suffering CP 2 Corinthians 11 v 23 - 28/ 12 v 7 - 10, how did he cope?,grace,that wonderful grace of God.Not only not did he cope, he glorified God,which is our chief end in life,Life being what it is,uncertain, we being what we are ,weak ,vulnerable,fragile, and a target for the ungodly ,and their master Satan,what do we need ?, grace. The grace of God will not dry up,and God will not withhold it from us,we are told ,He giveth more grace ,as the hymn writer wrote, as the burdens increase,He giveth, He giveth, and giveth again.

Wise words. ( Romans 8 v 29 )

Alan Redpath said the following, ''The conversion a of soul is the work of a moment, the making of a saint takes a life time''. These are wise words, to all of us who are Christians,the Word of  God speaks about growing, as in the natural ,so in the spiritual. It is something we should aspire to,it does not happen automatically,in 1 Corinthians 3 v 7, we read,' only God who makes things grow'.and that goes for the Christian,how does He do that?. It is the apostle Peter who writes,'Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation'. 1Peter 2 v 2. That spiritual milk he refers to is Gods Word, the fact is the word of God is a vital part of our growing as a Christian. I remember the TV  presenter Michael Palin on one of his travels visited North Korea, when he arrived in the country,the first question they asked him was,have you got a Bible.It seems to me they fear the Bible,and rightly so it can change people,set them free,and as Christians help to Grow.There is little chorus that goes,'Read your Bible ,pray every day if you want to grow'.Prayer, how do you find prayer? along with the word of God,it will develop your relationship with God ,which is vital if you are to grow.But there is more,more lessons to learn,life is like a school in which God  will teach us many things,with the sole purpose of making us more like our blessed Saviour.

No. ( John 11 v 25 - 26 )

 No ,it is not Christmas yet, but as I write my wife has put a Christmas CD on,and I am enjoying listening to it.Yes Christmas is a time most people  look forward to,even though they may not be Christians.Yes Christmas is very commercialised, yes that's true,but somehow it brings out a degree of kindness in people.People spend money not just on themselves, every Christmas a neighbour calls and gives us a present ,yet he is of the Sikh religion. The homeless are given more consideration, shelter is found for them, many people want to be kind,we send Christmas cards, wishing them a merry Christmas,and a happy new year. I do think Christmas makes a difference for many people ,some even attend church and join in the singing of carols. But of course the real meaning of Christmas for many  is missed ,I  don't say this in a judgemental way,but with sadness, and concern,for after after all He is the reason ,for the season , To miss the reason for the season is to miss the greatest gift that can one receive, the forgiveness of sins, and eternal life,and Christs presence with you.

                                                   How silently,how silently

                                                  The wondrous gift is given

                                                   So God imparts to human hearts

                                                   The blessing of  His heaven,

                                                   No ear may hear His coming;

                                                    But in this world of sin,

                                                    Where meek souls will receive Him still,

                                                    The dear Christ enters in.

                                                        Words Phillips Brooks

A donkey ride. ( Zechariah 9 v 9 )

 The time was drawing near for our Saviour to die, He knew this and told his disciples  Matthew 16 v 21/Mark 8 v 31- 9; 9;1/ Luke 9 v 22- 27 . His death can be seen as a tragedy as indeed it was ,because of the very people involved in it ,they were His own people,John 1v 11,but such is the sinful nature of mankind. His death  was voluntary, given of His own free will,He could have stopped it but he didn't,He could have easily called the forces of heaven to rescue Him (Matthew  26 v 53,) but as He said,''But how then would  the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen this way?. MT 26 v54. He is referring to scriptures like  Isaiah 52 v 13- 16 /53 v1 - 12, Psalm 22 v 1- 2. His death was set in stone in Gods purposes, and Christ would not waver in fulfilling this. During His ministry He played down that He was the Messiah, Matthew 16 v 20 ,but now things changed His actions would openly declare that He was the Messiah.He did it by riding on a donkey into Jerusalem,this was fulfillment of a prophecy by Zechariah 9 v 9, as to the Messiahs coming.William Hendriksen writes,'The King is not the fulfilment of men's dreams but of a specific Messianic promise. He is the One who in the very act of riding...to His death,and thus to victory, a victory not only for himself but also for His true people, those who believe in Him'.

Christs Kingdom. ( John 18 v 36 )

 One of the saddest and tragic things about the Jewish people is,. they are waiting for their Messiah to come, yes, they are the waiting people . Still waiting for a Messiah who will defeat their enemies,a warrior Messiah, they still are blind, it is a judgement by God on them Romans 11 v 8 - 10.As Jesus rode into Jerusalem the whole city was stirred,and they cried out Hosanna to the Son of David, which means ''save now''.Save now, their moment had come ,victory over their enemies, no more the underdogs. They used the  term Son of David, a term for Messiah , yes Jesus ,you are our Messiah. William Hendriksen writes,' It was deplorable, however that by far most of these people did not go one step further; they should have combined Psalm 118 v 26 with Isaiah 53 and with Zechariah 9 v9, 13 v1. Then they  would have recognized in Jesus who saves his people from their sins Matthew 1 v 21.When Jesus was before Pilate,he asked him, are you the king of the Jews,why did he ask Him that?,because his main concern was that Jesus was leading an insurrection,  of course he was a king,but he clarified what that meant, 'My kingdom is not of this world',John 18 v 36. His kingdom was a spiritual kingdom,totally different in character to an earthly kingdom.

                                                 Jesus my King rules in my heart.

Persevere (Luke 18 v 1 )

Let us consider, 'Persevering in Prayer.', the meaning of persevering is, continuing  on in a course of action even though it is difficult. Sir Harry Lauder wrote a song after the death of his son in the 1st world war,here are some of the words,

                                         Keep right on to the end of the road,

                                         Keep right on to the end,

                                         Tho the way be long,let your heart be strong.

                                         Keep right on round the bend,

                                         Tho your tired and weary, still journey on,

                                         Till you come to your happy abode.'

In a way that's the challenge of the Christian life,going on,sadly not all do  , some have fallen by the wayside.That which will enable us to go on, is prayer,it is vital that we persevere in prayer in the good times and the bad times,Jesus knew how hard that would be for us,the way can be hard,but the way also can be soft,and we neglect prayer,so gradually we stop praying,we think that we don't need Him.If only we would realise how much we need Him ,and how vital it is to persevere in prayer.