Press on. (Philippians 2 v 27 - 30 )

 John Bunyan who wrote ,'Pilgrims Progress',about a man called Christian who got saved, and went on a journey to the Celestial City,and on that journey he met many obstacles.Believe not those deceiver's who tell you that the road to glory is paved with gold,and healing is guaranteed,that is what that liar the devil promises CP  Matthew 4 v 8. To be a Christian is very challenging,many people are suffering and dying for their faith.We may not be,but the challenge is still great,we are bombarded by many things, the devil is still active,doing all he can to discourage,deceive,and yes even tempt us to give up. Then the worlds influence is always there ,promising so much,and giving so little,the worlds values run contrary to God's values.Then we have the biggest enemy ,you will see him when you look in the mirror,and unless we die daily to Christ,denying ourselves,refusing to give in to our  baser nature,we will find ourselves in dire straits.Jesus said,' follow me',not the crowd,not friend or foe,not the self centered way,not leaning upon are own understanding,but in all our ways,trusting Him to direct our path. Our dear Saviour has promised to help us and keep  us, and bring us through to that Celestial city,where we will never grow old,so press on,persevere on,let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus,the one who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross,scorning it's shame.

                                                       

Stand by me. ( Psalm 40 v 1 - 3 )

The apostle Paul was in prison and he writes how ,'No one came to his support,but that everyone had deserted him',( 2 Timothy 4 v16- 17.)Then he adds,' But the Lord stood by my side and  gave me strength'. ( See John Stotts  remarks on this in the Bible Speaks Today series) There are I am sure many people who can identify with Paul's experience,it was Pastor  Bonhoeffer who was imprisoned by the Nazis who wrote of what he  missed most, was Christian fellowship.There are Christians in so many places who are literally on their  own,and there Christians who are in Pauls situation, in prison in isolation.Likewise we have many lonely people,and needy people ,well you get the picture,maybe your are in that position now,there is Christian song, which touches on this, it really is a prayer which you can pray,and  I believe God who drew near to Paul and strengthened him will do the same for you.The song is called ,'Stand by Me', written by Charles Albert Tindley.

                                      1     'When the storms of life are raging, stand by me,

                                              When the storms of life are  raging stand by me,

                                             When the world is tossing me,like a ship upon the sea,

                                             Thou who rulest wind and water ,stand by me.

                                       2     In the midst of tribulation, stand by me

                                              In the midst of tribulation,stand by me.

                                             When the hosts of hell assail,and my strength begins to fail,

                                             Thou who never lost a battle ,stand by me.

                                       3     In the midst of faults and failures,stand by me,

                                              In the midst of faults and failures, stand by me.

                                             When I've done the best I can, and my friends misunderstand,

                                             Thou who knowest all about me,stand by me.

                                             

                                             

Runaways ( Luke 15 v 1- 7 )

It was Francis Thompson,who wrote  a poem called,' The  Hound of heaven', it is about the pursuit of  the human soul by God's love. God follow's the fleeing soul ,and by His divine grace,until the soul  turns to God alone, in that ever ending pursuit'. (These words are not mine) Here are few lines from this poem,

                                                      ' I fled Him ,down the nights,and down the days;

                                                       I fled Him, down the archers of the years,

                                                       I fled Him ,down the labyrinthine ways,

                                                       Of my own mind, and in the midst of tears,

                                                       I hid from Him,and under running laughter'

When Adam and Eve sinned,they hid from God,and we their sons and daughters  have followed in our parents footsteps..We think that we are good at running and hiding from our Creator.be that as it may, God in mercy has intervened,and has been seeking us runaways. In Ezekiel 34 v 15 -16,the Sovereign Lord declares.'I will search for the lost'.Why did Jesus come? ,'to seek and to save that which is lost'(Luke 19 v 10 )He had to do that, for we told,' there is no one who seeks God (Romans 3 v 11) His seeking is the divine initiative,we keep running He keeps seeking until He finds the sheep that is lost,and  brings it home rejoicing. Ah but what a price he had to pay, He lay down His life for the sheep,oh the suffering He endured,why did He do that?love ,yes love so great that He who was equal with God,give up His divine privileges,made Himself nothing but  a servant,and became obedient unto death,even death on a cross (Philippians 2 v 5- 8)

Words ( Matthew 12 v 36 -37 )

 A lady said,''I  have the body of ET ,I am basically a torso with legs''. Why am I writing this? because  that phrase really caught my eye, it was such a wonderful description of her body.I recently heard a famous actress quote  a passage from Shakespeare it was wonderful to listen to. God has granted mankind  a unique means of communication  where we can be entertained in so many ways,in the written form,in songs that are sung,and so on. It is James in his epistle  writing about what we say with that little member of our body, the tongue ,and how difficult it is to control, words are so easily spoken,hurtful words, healing words. Our Saviour speaking to the the religious leaders of  His day said,'' that everyone will  have to give an account on the day of judgement for every empty word they have spoken''. ( Matthew 12 v36). The fact is we will be accountable for what we have said, all those who have spoken against God and His word,who have blasphemed,all those false religions,and false prophets,the broken vows.We are thinking mainly of unbelievers ,but let us who are Christians, take heed also,as to what we say,God is listening He does not ignore ,the wrong things we say,and will surely deal with us .

One day. ( John 14 v 1-4 )

 The apostle Peter writing in his epistle as regards our Saviour ,declared ,'Though you have not seen Him,you love Him'.( 1 Peter 1  8 )We would answer,'but one day we will see Him, the poet  Ray Palmer wrote;   

       1      'Jesus,these eyes have never seen,                       3     Yet though I have not seen,

                That radiant form of Thine,                                       and,still, must rest on faith alone,

                The vail of sense hangs dark,                                    I love Thee, dearest Lord  ,

                Between Thy blessed face and mine.                        But will unseen ,but not unknown.

       2       I see Thee not, I hear Thee not,                           4   When death  these mortal eyes shall see,

               Yet art Thou oft with me,                                            And still this throbbing heart,

               And earth hath ne'er so dear a spot,                            The rending veil shall Thou reveal,

               As when I meet with Thee.                                         All glories as Thou art.

                                                              ' We will see Jesus

                                                                     one day' 

                                 

           

       

         

       

     

             

What a mess .( Isaiah 55 v 12 )

 I was in my kitchen and as I opened one of the doors to get something out,and I heard a bang,and I looked down,a jar of tomato puree,had fallen out and smashed on the floor,what a mess. Yes it was a mess,but it wasn't to hard to clean up, thankfully,but some messes are not so easy to clear up.people do all sorts of things,and there comes a point when they look and say,'what a mess I've got myself into.' Many people in prison must think that,likewise many people destroy their marriages by getting involved with someone they shouldn't have.There are young people who have stabbed and killed another young person, and when the dust has settled,and they are in their prison cell,they will think what a mess I  have got myself into.Is gambling a sin?what I do know is this,it has ruined many peoples lives,likewise alcohol ,so many peoples lives become a mess of their own creation.Our dear Saviour told a wonderful story  that illustrates how the mess people can get themselves into deep trouble of their own making ,we read about in Luke 15 v 11ff,of a young man who had everything,but lost it all,and found himself in desperate straits,and he knew it.what a  mess he was in,no one would help him. No one but his father,the father who loved him.Fathers are like that ,and he did help him,and his life was changed for the better.The father in that story is a picture of God who loves mankind,that is why Jesus came, if your life is mess  for whatever reason,there is one you can turn to,Jesus and I can assure you He can forgive you and change you,like no one else can.

                                                  ' Out of my shameful failure and loss,

                                                    Jesus,I come! Jesus, I  come!

                                                    Into the glorious gain of The cross,

                                                    Jesus,I come to Thee !

                                                           Words  W T.Sleeper.

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I don't want to preach that. ( Ezekiel 2 v 7 )

 I sometimes wish I  could leave out certain things in my blog, but I can't,what am I referring to?,mankind's sinful condition,and the terrible consequence that follows. Wonderful,wonderful,there is heaven,for those who receive Christ as their Saviour. By the grace of God you have done that, as I have,and we can say or sing,'Amazing Grace that saves a wretch like me,I once was lost but now am found,was blind but now I see'.What a blessed assurance to know that one is saved,and we are going to heaven,what a wonder it will be when we arrive in that place that Christ has prepared for us.Which leads me unto  the other thing I don't like preaching but first let me tell you what a friend told me once. He was attending  his fathers funeral,I knew his father, he was named after him.He told me as the coffin was being lowered into the grave,his thoughts were not on his father,but rather on himself,and what awaited him beyond the grave. He had every right to be afraid,  and here is what I would rather not preach on,hell. Why? ,because I know it's awful, many ministers don't preach it,don't even mention it, the prophets  did not shy away from speaking  about judgement ,and many of them paid the price  for doing that.( Matthew 23 v37).There was a little rug in the pulpit I used to preach in, it had these words on it,'Preach the Word', yes even though you find it hard,and even though people don't want to here it.