Not my will. ( Psalm27 v 11)

Corrie  Ten Boom  and her family lived in the Netherlands,during the occupation by the German's ,the family chose to hide Jews from going to the  concentration camps.Someone informed on them,the result was Corrie and Betsie were taken to Ravensbruck where Betsie died ,but Corrie survived she was released ,it turned out it was a clerical error.A week after she was released,all the women of Corrie's age group were sent to the gas chamber.It reminds me how we will not go until God  permits, our times are in God's hands,and that has been delegated to the Son of God (Revelation 1 v 17). The question one may ask why did the Lord  not permit Betsie to live?, because  it was not His will for Betsie to live,we must all accept that,   though it may be very painful,and we argue ,but they were so young,so gifted,you needed them, you loved them, remember these words,'His good,pleasing and perfect will.(Romans 12 v2) Corrie was spared, God had an important ministry to for her to fulfill,it was a world wide ministry,and she lived to the grand age of 91.God did not use an angel to rescue Corrie ,but a simple clerical error. He does not always rend the heavens,He uses what He our soverign God chooses to use,and His timing is perfect.

                                      '  My will is not my own till Thou hast made it Thine;

                                        If it would reach the monarch's throne, it must its crown resign;

                                        It only stands unbent, amid the clashing strife,

                                       When on Thy bosom it has leant,and found in Thee its life.'

                                                                George Matheson

                                        

Abba Father ( Romans 8 v14- 16)

 There are scriptures clearly tell us that God is other than us,He is holy,and we are not,take Exodus 33 v 20,God is speaking to Moses and He tells him that he cannot see His face and live, and in fact no one can see His face and live.Other scriptures bear this out,(John 1 v18/ 1 Timothy 6 v14 v 16/ 1 John 4 v 12).It is in Exodus 12 v that God spoke to Moses face to face, it was a unique degree of intimacy. Of course God does not have  a body, He is Spirit  John 4 v24,and so He communicates to us in ways we can relate to,but it is only as when we get to  heaven,and we have our spiritual bodies  ( 1 Corinthians 15 v44),will we be able see God fully. God is not like us He is holy, when Isaiah had a vision of God  he was overwhelmed by His holiness he cried out ,'  Woe is me....I am ruined! for I am a man of unclean lips... and my eyes have seen the King,the Lord Almighty' (Isaiah 6 v5). Yes like Isaiah we are right to be fearful of a holy God, so how can we know this fearful being personallly?. Well God had the answer ,Jesus would come and  bring into being the means of dealing with sin that seperates us from God  (Isaiah 59 v2 ),He accomplished this,through His death on the Cross,sin could be forgiven  ,and we could know  God in the most personal way, as a heavenly Father. That brings us to consider the word which our Saviour used,'Abba , it was an everyday word ,a homely family word(John Stott),like the word daddy,oh yes He is a personal loving and friendly God, But God must also be held in reverence we cannot be familiar with Him. Let not this  detract from the fact that He is your loving heavenly Father.

                                          'Abba Father,let me be, Yours and Yours alone,

                                           May my will forever be ever more your own.

                                           Nerver let my heart grow cold,never let me go,

                                           Abba Father let me be Yours and Yours alone'

                                                          Words Dave Bilbrough.

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All without exception. (John 3 v16)

 The world is full of needy people and as Christians we cannot ignor that,yes the hungry need fed, and clothed,the homeless need somewhere to live, the sick need medical care. Then we have the better off people ,who can afford to live comfortably,they always have something to eat ,nice clothes to wear,and homes to live in, they even have a nice car,and can afford private medical care.Then there is the very rich, they have it all ,a life of luxury.So what's the conclusion of all this?,well I put it this way,mankinds greatest need goes beyond ,being poor,better of,or even being rich.God looks beyond these groups of people,for they all have one thing in common,the poor are lost,the middle class are lost,the rich are lost.They all suffer from the same condition, they are sinners,the poor person is a sinner, the middle class are the same,likewise the rich .God  looks on people differently ,He is not swayed by any of these things,he is no respector of persons in regard to all distinctions of social rank,or wealth, or knowledge.He offers to one and all the forgiveness of their sins through Jesus Christ His Son. God so loved the world that means all its inhabitants,without exception,let us remember that,and let us reach out to all with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Peace. ( Numbers 6 v 24 -26 )

 When I was a young boy,and our mother was finding things hard,,she would say, 'give my head peace', we look out at the world,we see so many conflicts,so many disturbing things.I read this recently that there are 92 places in this world where there is comflict and no peace.  That's only part of the story,so many people  would say  what my mother said,'give my head peace'.The Bible speaks of two types of peace,'Peace with God, and the Peace of God'.In our unsaved state we are at war with God, look to Calvary that's the Son of God hanging on the cross.The way for things to change comes when we lay down our arms and surrender to Jesus,'Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith,we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.'Let us consider the  ,'Peace of God'. what a precious gift that is. if you are a Christian  you have that gift within you a gift from Jesus John 14 v27.It is called a peace that passeth all understanding(Philippians 4 v7)  I want to leave you with two verses, Isaiah 26 v 3-4,'You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the  Lord for ever, for the Lord, himself,is the Rock eternal'.

                                                                     A Prayer

                                             ' Dear Lord help our minds to be steadfast,

                                              our trust to be unwavering,because you 

                                              are our eternal Rock.Amen

God's in the Dock ( Romans 5 v 12 )

There is a famous actor called Stephen Fry,he is often voicing his opinion  as regards God,and why He created such an evil world,basically he blames God,its all His fault,and why should he believe in such an evil being. What can one say to such accusations,?.In other words no one is responsible for the evil they do,the murderer,the rapist,the thief,the adulterar, and so on.Twice I have heard him say  these things, no one has given him an answer,so what is the answer?.It all began in a garden ,nature and man were  one,they dwelt in total harmony,likewise Adam and Eve peace reigned. Now when it came to God and man,all was fine no conflict,no sin,perfection ruled, We do not know how long this lasted,but suddenly and unexpectantly everything changed,and I mean everything.Eve and Adam sinned ,they didn't have to sin ,no one forced them,it was there free choice.It had an effect on all creatures great and small, and also mankinds relationship with each other.And most serious of all ,it involved  humanities relationship with God.Why God permitted this evil to happen I don't know,but one explanation is  that God granted them the freedom of making a choice.Adam and Eve knew what they were doing ,and the consquence of disobedience (Genesis 2 v 16-17),so they ignored that,from that time on ,the floodgates opened, nothing  would never be the same again . We are in the dock,not God ,we are the guilty ones. God's wrath and Judgement came upon us, but God is merciful, and He has made a way back to Him from the dark paths of sin,He  opened a door that we may go in,Calvary cross is where we begin ,when we come as a sinner to Jesus'.

                                                           'We all have a choice'

What God requires ( Micah 6 v 8)

 We look at certain religions and our horrified at the brutality they engage in,but sad to say as one looks back in history there were those who came under the banner of Christianity,and they acted very cruel.How can one defend Henry the V111 ,and how he treated his wives,in his pursuit to have a male heir.Someone has said that so much of Christianity is good but often it has been unkind.How can one justify torturing people, and burning people at the stake.Philip the second of Spain was a very religious person yet he founded the Spanish Inquisition with all its hideousness. In my own country women who had children outside of marriage ,were treated like criminals put into institutions and abused one way or the other.The men who fathered the children got off scot free, we could also mention the abuse that many dear children  suffered at the hands of religious people.and the cover up by religious authorities As Christians we must never condon sin, we want to see sinners saved,repenting of their sins and trusting Jesus,we are not against the wrong doer being punished, every society should have just laws,but not cruel laws.

                                                                  W. Barclay  

                              'So many good Church people would have sided with the rulers

                               and not with Jesus if they had had to deal with the woman taken 

                               in adultery'

Holiness. ( 2 Timothy 1 v 9-10)

 Someone asked how would you de scribe holiness?the answer John Stott gives is Christlikeness,yes I would agree with that,in Romans 8 v 29,we read,'That God has predestined us tobe conformed to the image of His Son'. Is it possible to be like Jesus?,we can, but how? in ourselves it is impossible, in Romans 8 v 26 we read,'The Spirit helps us in our weakness'.the fact is the Christian life is not a do it yourself religion,some people say Christianity is not religion,it is a relationship.I believe that is so ,while we do religious activities,but it's my  relationship with God that is the core being of my life.It is understood if one considers an Old Testament saint Enoch, who we are told, that he walked faithfully with God (Genesis 5 v 21) and in that walk he pleased God. (Hebrews 11 v 5) Was he perfect? the answer is no,there are people who believe  that one can experience sinless perfection,it is impossible. I have only met one person who was perfect,Jesus, we read in Hebrews 7 v26, that He was ''Holy,harmless, '',undefiled separated from sinners''He claimed to be perfectly sinless (John 8 v46), We must always remember that Jesus was truly man and truly God, so it follows that He was sinless. Here is the wonderful thing,  one day we will be sinless ,perfectly conformed to the image of Jesus'.Just a footnote ,holiness of the saints is an evidence,just as works are.

                                                   'There is no sin in heaven;

                                                    Behold that blessed throng,

                                                    All holy is their spotless robe,

                                                     All holy is there song'

                                                                F.M.Knollis