Do you fear death? (John 11 v25)

  Winston Churchill was asked if he feared death?,he replied,'I am ready to meet my maker,and added, 'whether my maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter'. Death is that intruder that comes into our lives which we often try to ignor, but as we all know its enevitable,it will happen.What would you say if someone asked you,'are you afraid of death?.' You may be a Christian and you may be afraid of dying,when you shouldn't be afraid,I'm not condemning you for that,the wonderful thing is there are many assurances given to the the Christian,that all will be well .Yes you say I know that, but I'm still afraid,think about this,what has helped you live the Christian life?,  the grace of God.So it is when you come to die He will give the grace that will overcome your fears,you will not have to cope in your own strength,our Lord tell's us that His grace is sufficent for us.But not only will He give us his grace to face death,He will also grant unto us a sense of His presence,we will not face it alone,think of those wonderful words from Psalm 23v 4,'Yea,though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,I will fear no evil; for thou art with me'.So even if you die alone you will not be alone ,the good shepherd the Lord Jesus Christ will be with you.

The word of God.( Matthew 4 v4)

There is a little childrens chorus which goes,' Read your Bible pray everyday,if you want to grow',it is Peter in his first epistle 2 v 2, writes to those who were relatively new Christians,'Like new born babies,you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into the full experience of salvation . Cry out for this nourishment.'The AV says ,'as new born babies,desire the pure milk of the word'. Edmund Clowney writes, 'Christians must be addicted to the Bible',and in relation to being like new born babies Peter writes ,'crave the pure milk of the word',what does a baby desire ,it desires to be fed by its mother milk,and as EC says, 'For an infant,milk is not a fringe benefit'. I love reading the pleasure it gives me knowledge and enjoyment,I have favourite authors,but most of all I love reading the word of God.I remember 60 years ago when Lord restored me,one of the first things I did was to buy a Bible,I have worn out many Bibles since then.The word of God has been my daily bread,I memorised it,studied it, preached it, and sought to live it out in my life. We neglect it to our cost, Hank Williams sang a song called ,'Dust on the Bible'. let us follow what that little childrens chorus tells us,read our bible everyday and we will surely grow spiritually. but I would also add study it,and seek with the help the Holy Spirit to understand what you read.

Hollow man ( Hebrews 11 v 24- 26)

 Edmund Clowney writes  the following,'In contrast with the empty life of 'hollow men',Christians are given faith and hope in God'.I like that phrase,'Hollow men',and yet it is a sad description of humanity,it is from a poem by T S.Eliot ,who paints a very dark futile description of humanities existence.One of the top golfers  earned over a period of time 100, million dollars,I don't think that is necessary wrong,but I cannot help thinking of what are Saviour said.'What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world,yet forfeit their soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for their soul' (Matthew16 v26)Can that wealth ,fame and power bring meaning into ones life?, I don't think so,yet there are millions seeking that wealth and all that comes with it.People fill their lives with many things  like power,sport,sex,Read the book of Ecclesiastes there we have a man who had everything,tried everything and in essences he found it all meaningless. E C writes how Chistians are given  faith and hope,money cannot buy those two things,achievement also cannot give you faith and hope,only God can give you those  two precious jewels.Tell me if everything precious that you have was suddenly taken from you,what would that leave you ,mister hollow man,hollow woman?.

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Yes He can (Ephesians 3 v20 )

 In 2 kings 6 the city of Samaria was under siege ,and food was running out and Elisha declared.'This is what the Lord says; about this time tomorrow,a seah of the finest flour will  sell for a shekel and two seahs of  barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.'An army officer  challenged what the prophet said,this is what he said,'Look even  if the Lord should  open the flood gates  of the heavens,could this happen',but it did. What God says He will do ,He will do it,be it ever so strange,be it every so great,or be it ever so small. If it is really off God it will come to pass ,but alas we let human reasoning take over,and we fail to rise in faith.I believe that God answer's prayer . In Ephesians 3 v20 we read,'Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,according to  His power that is at work  within us'.Let us remember as John Stott says 'God's power is limitless'. Why do we not see more of  what is declared in those words?,it must be lack of faith on our part. It does not mean that God will remove from us suffering but it does mean that He will give us Grace to come through our suffering,you may be saying I can't cope ,God says you can by my grace. In Gods will He can move mountains, He can and will meet your needs, He can open doors,give you success,give you that child you long for,need I go on,have faith in our mighty God to do immeasurably more than all you ask and more than you can imagine,according to the power that is at work within us.

Come ( Ephesians 5 v18)

 Ephesians 3 v  16  is the beginning of a prayer by Paul for the saints of God so it brgins,'I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen  you with power through His Spirit in your inner being' Now while it was meant initially for the Ephesian Christians,it is now a prayer for all Christians. He write of God's  glorious riches,these glorious riches are not silver or gold ,they are spiritual riches. Paul prays that they may  be strengthened with power through the Spirit in their inner being.'If we are going to experience  a growing in Christ it will be by the inner indewlling of the Holy Spirit.(all Chistians have the holy Spirit)But the question is this how much has the Holy Spirit got of us?. In Ephesians 5 v18 we read 'Do not get drunk with wine, which leads to debauchery.Instead be filled with the Spirit'. This is not a word for Pentecostals but for every Christian, and again let me ask the questian,what is filling our lives,is there room for Him to work through us,or are we crowding Him out of our lives?

                                      'Come as wisdom to Children, Come as new sight to the blind;

                                       Come,Lord, as strength to my weakness,Take me soul,body ,

                                       and mind.

                                       Come,Holy Spirit, I need you, Come sweet Spirit I pray;

                                                  Come in your strength and your power ,

                                                     Come in your own gentle way.'

                                                              Words Bill Gaither.

                                                    

My citizenship ( Philippians 1 v 21- 24 )

 I have two passports,one because I'm British,and  because I'm Irish ,so I am a citizen of two countries.Yet here is another  aspect of my citizenship  I am a citizen of heaven.  In Philippians 3 v20, we read,'But our citizenship is in heaven',and in 1 Peter 1 v1 we read,'To Gods's elect strangers in the world'. Elijah T. Cassel wrote 

                                                 'I am a stranger here ,within a foreign land,

                                                 My home is far away,upon a golden Stand'.

I knew a pastor who believed we don't go to heven when we died, in spite of the fact that there are so many  references in telling us that we do.It is baffling also how many people do not accept that the Bible tells us clearly that there is a hell.We are reminded so often to not loose sight of our heavenly home,in Colossians 3 v 1- 6 we are told to set our hearts on things above where Christ is,and to set our mind on things above,not on earthly things,and when Christ appears we shall appear with Him in glory.Paul goes on to say 'Put to death,therefore , whatever belongs to your earthly nature; sexual immoralaty,impurity , lust ,evil desires and greed which is idolatry . Because of these , the wrath of God is coming'.Yes that is a reminder how we should live in the light of coming glory.As Peter tells us we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth,where righteousness dwells,we should make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.(2  Peter 3 v13 - 14)I will leave you with this challenge from 2 Corinthians 5 v 20,that,'We are therefore Christ's ambassadors',so not only are we citizens of heaven,we are called to to represent  heaven,and our Saviour in all that we do.

He is watching over us( Psalm 23)3

Our last look at Psalm 23 v4  ,and  the words ,'Your rod and your staff comfort me' It appears that the rod was a weapon to defend the sheep from wild animals,and the staff was used to gently guide and to rescue the sheep.So when David considers the Lord as his shepherd he sees him as the one who protects and  gently  guides him ,and that's a great comfort to him, as it is to all of us.Im sure if you are a Christian  you can recall how God has protected you,I think of all the miles I have driven my car,only God has protected me.I lived in Northern Ireland I could have been killed by a bomb,or I could have been shot.We may not realise it ,we are all very vulnerable,but God watches over us,He protects us from the devil,'But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one'  (2 Thessalonians 3 v3) He will protect us from the elements 'The sun will not harm you by day nor the moon by night'(Psalm 121v 6) He will keep us from all harm and watch over our lives (Ps 121 v 7)The Lord gently guides His children ( Proverbs 3v 6)and indeed rescues us from going astray(Isaiah30 v 21)

                                                      'All the way my Saviour leads me;

                                                       What have I to ask beside?

                                                        Can I doubt His tender mercy,

                                                         Who through life has been my Guide'

                                                                       Fanny J .Crosby.