We are not god's. { Exodus 20 v 2- 6 )

 A worldwide famous chef is opening a restaurant in London ,his name is Yannick Alleno, and he said the following,'I want my guests to feel like god's'.It is an interesting statement when the devil tempted Eve as regards eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He said if you eat it you would be like God ( Genesis 3 v 5) One writer says the following,'It wasn't wrong for Eve to be like God. To become more like God is humanities goal, it is what we are supposed to do.But Satan  mislead Eve concerning the right way to accomplish this goal. He told her that she could more like God by defying  God's  authority, by taking God's place and deciding for herself what was best for her life. In effect, he told her  to become her own god'. There was a very pompous politician ,and it was Winston Churchill who said,'there but by the grace of God, goes God'. Nothing has changed,we may not be pompous ,and yet we may be,but like Eve of old our first mother, we have chosen not God or His way,but our way.That great chef may want to make his guests feel like God,but feelings don't change anything,we are human and we will die,and then we will face the one who is God,are you ready?, better get ready,by trusting Jesus as your Saviour.

I'm going to live for ever. ( Romans 8 v 35 - 39 )

 My Saviour said,' My sheep listen to my voice, I know them,and they follow Me. I  give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, no one will snatch them out of my hand.My Father, who has given them to me,is greater than all, no one can snatch  them out of my Father's hand, I and my Father are one'. (John 10 v 28-30 ). John Stott declares,'' No profounder security is conceivable for the follower of  Jesus'' 

                                              'The stars shine over the earth,

                                               The stars shine over the sea,

                                               The stars look up to the Mighty God,

                                               The stars look down on me;

                                               The stars will live for a million years,

                                                For  a million years and a day!

                                                But Christ and I shall live and love

                                                When the stars have passed away.'

                                                                   Anon

'

                                       

Ungodly ministers .( Acts 20 v 25 - 31 )

 Dale Ralph Davis tells the story about a minister called Thomas Hogg who ministered in a place called Kiltearn ,Scotland,who charged his congregation to dig his  grave at the threshold of the church building where  he might act as a silent sentinel against any unworthy minister coming into the charge. The inscription on Hog's tombstone read;

                                            'This stone shall bear witness against the

                                             parishioners of Kiltearn if they bring an 

                                            ungodly minister in here'

The forefathers of the church that I attend,put into the constitution that any minister who came to the church must be an evangelical.Why did they do it?because they realised that all ministers do not hold fast to the truths in the Bible. The gospel will not be preached,many precious truths will be denied or neglected and God 's people will suffer and God will not be honoured it will cause havoc in the church.

Where are you going? ( Matthew 10 v 28 )

 I was in a traffic jam,the driver in the car behind me pumped their horn telling me to move,but I couldn't,when I did move I saw him shooting off ,going to his destination.All these car owners speeding everywhere, were is their destination?.From the moment we are born we are heading towards a destination I am not just talking about death,but after death. There are only two destinations one is heaven the other is hell,no one would want to go to hell that seems reasonably enough, and everybody would want to go to heaven.Oh yes I know that many people do not believe in either,they think there is no such place as heaven or hell. I do not say this flippantly,but they are in for a big,big surprise.Hell is a terrible place,best avoided, heaven is an absolute wonderful place.It is Bruce Milne who writes,'It is not that hell is so terrible, but that heaven is so wonderful that every effort is to be made and every possession ,if necessary, relinquished in order to arrive there'. Everything here is worth losing if it leads to the incalculable gain of 'life' everlasting'. Our blessed Saviour personified truth,He never told a life,and he spoke of judgement  a lot ,and made it clear that death does not end our existence  , and He did something wonderful on  the cross in which he died,that if we asked forgiveness, and trust Him as our Saviour , the door of heaven would be opened. We all have a destiny,what is going to be your destination?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         ,                                                                                                                                                                                          

Are you a plodder? ( 2 Timothy 4 v 7 )

 I am not a fast reader,it usually takes me awhile reading a book,but I usually get there in the end,I was encouraged to read that William Carey otherwise known as the father of modern missions, suffered  innumerable  hardships during a lifetime of missionary service ,said the following to his nephew,'' I  can plod. That is my only genius. I  can persevere in any given pursuit. To this I owe everything''. There is a lot to be said for being a plodder,there are those who start with great enthusiasm, but they give up that thing they were doing. There is an old song called ,'Old father Thames', by Raymond Wallace,here is a verse from it,

                                                'He never seems to worry

                                                 Doesn't care for fortune's fame,

                                                 He never seems to hurry

                                                 But he gets there just the same'

As Christians we are in a race, but it's not about who finishes first,it is about finishing,no matter what the difficulties, plod on ,persevere on by God's grace,don't give up.

Everything's gone. ( Romans 8 v 28/ 38 -39 )

The German  miserabilist wrote,''The ordinary man places his life's happiness in things  external to him,in property, rank,wife and children,friends, society and the like, so that when he loses them....the foundation of his happiness is destroyed''.Of course those thing are important to most of us, yet in a moment all things can be destroyed,or taken from us. The fact is we can end up standing,naked and barefoot bereft us of all these things. Natural disasters, unforeseen events,can rob us of everything,and there is nothing you can do about it ,no matter how unjust it may seem. We who are in a comfort zone,and daily view on our TV's the terrible disaster in Ukraine caused by the war,it is sad beyond we can imagine,yet it may be that it could happen to us.The greatest example of this is to be found in the book of Job,were Job lost everything , a very extreme trial. I do know how I would react if such a thing would happen to me,but one thing for sure these things mentioned cannot rob us of  God's love which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

                                                 'Every joy or trial, falleth from above,

                                                 Traced upon our dial. by the Sun of Love.

                                                 We may trust Him fully,all for us to do,

                                                 They who trust Him wholly, find Him 

                                                                   wholly true.

                                                          Words Frances R. Havergal

Truth matters ( John 8 v 31 -47)

    We were eating at a well known  establishment, and I saw  a stand with  magazines on it,the words on  the front page read,'Does truth matter?'.It appears that during the covid they were accused of  wrong doing,the magazine sought to challenge what had been said about them/.The were seeking to show that truth matters,not the lies that they believe were told about them.. Whatever the truth of this matter is the fact is  ,truth does matter,in business,politics, the media, the justice system.When the truth is denied, suppressed,distorted,what takes its place is lies?. In his poem ,'If', Rudyard Kipling,speaks of truth being  ',twisted by knaves'. The Nazi regime was supposed to last a thousand years,instead it lasted 12 years,one should not be surprised , for it was built on lies,among other things. It was Jesus who declared that He was the way the truth and the life ( John 14 v6 ), the death of Jesus on the cross, was an attempt by Satan ,and indeed the world,  trying to kill the truth.but of course they did not succeed,for you cannot destroy the truth,and Him who is the truth.His birth,His life,His message,his death and resurrection are built on truth,the thing is ,we are sinners ,and Christ Jesus came to save sinners,that is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

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