They need more ( Isaiah 55 ) 2

 Yesterday we considered the needy people in this world ,needing help  in so many ways,After Jesus had fed the five thousand , many of people followed Him,people who felt that He was their meal ticket (John 6 v 26),He reminded them that,'He was the bread of life',the bread He had given them,satisfied their physical needs,but it could not supply their spiritual needs,only He could do that.So many people are hungry  just for the things of this world, they are blind of their souls need, yes we should help people ,but we should never forget that their greatest need is Christ.There are religious charlatans ,in other words individuals who exploit people's  faith and gullibility for personal gain,They often perform  fake miracles,create elaborate scams,or present themselves as having a special connection to  God to enrich themselves,and building a following.These words describe the prosperity gospel people.We are and have a soul that will never cease to exsist,but without Christ we will go to a lost eternity. I repeat ,only Christ can meet the deepest need of the soul,your soul,my soul,everybodv's soul.

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None other. ( Exodus 20 v 3)

 When Geza king of Hungary became a Christian he was reproached by a monk for continuing to offer sacrifice 'to various gods',he cheerily acknowledged  that hedging his bets' had brought him both wealth and great power'.When Paul visited Athens he found an altar with an inscription .'To an unknown God (Acts 17 v 23) could be they were hedging their bets. The thing is you  cannot worship other gods,and be a Christian,there is one God,we cannot compromise . Satan  temped Jesus  by offering him all the glories of this world ,if only he worshipped him,and Jesus answered,'It is written:''Worship  the Lord your God and serve only Him''(Matthew 4 v 5-7) in  1 Corinthians 10 v 20  Paul told the Christians that the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons,not to God'. The devil is behind every false religion,yes every false religion,no exceptions.We must take that very serious,it is no good ignoring what scriptures tells us. Our great triune  God is the only God there is,there is none other.we worship Him and none other.

Storms ( Hebrews 6 v 19)

I was walking with a friend  and I noticed a large anchor,my friend told me it was called an'Admiral Patton Anchor'.It reminded me of a hymn we used to sing by Priscilla Jane.Owens , the first verse goes,'Will your anchor in the storms of life? that's a very good question and I wonder how you  will answer that question?there are many storms in life  some of our own making. We are married and our marriage appears to be falling apart, there is usually a reason ,but what ever  the reason,you're scared,frightened, and don't know where to turn to.Could be you just have been diagnosed with a serious health  problem,will you survive it?,so many things are going on in your head. Job loss how are you going to get by it is like being in in a storm,and you feel like you are  drowning.Then there is your children,they are in trouble,and it seems there is nothing you can do about it,another storm.They are never far away ,they come when you least expect them,these are some of the storms we get into,is there an answer?,here is the chorus of that old hymn.

                                                    'We have an anchor that keeps the soul

                                                     Steadfast and sure like the billows roll;

                                                     Fastened to the rock which cannot move,

                                                     Grounded firm and deep in the Saviour love! ,'

I read this on the internet ,'The anchor symbolizes Christ ,and its through Him,we receive inner strength, enabling us to persevere in all the storms in life ,and to be more conquerors.

                                                            

Stay clean ( Proverbs 2 )

 The Psalmist  in Psalm 119 v 9 writes,'How can a young person stay on the path of purity? now that's a very good question.Looking  back on my youth I was a bit out of control,but I wasn't going on with Lord then, yet I beleve God in His mercy held me back from certain things.The young people of the day face a lot things ,thing like drugs,sexual immorality,they have a lot of freedom,the sort of fredom that can lead them into trouble.Knife crime is prevalient among young people,many of them live in fear and so one could go on.The Christian young person has a graeat advantage,as to living a life of purity or as the Message puts it,'a clean life', here is the answer,'By living  according to your word'.Many drivers get into trouble by not sticking to the highway code,or whatever rules in different countries.So the young  Christians should  follow what the word of  God says about sex, in Hebrews 13 v 4 ,' we read 'Marriage is honorable',sleeping around is not honorable,Aids still  affects many countries,venereal disease is very prevalent,unwelcome pregnanices  are very common these day,if we put sex within marriage you rule out all those things. Remember sex outside of marriage is a sin, read 1Thessalonians 4 v 3- 5.

Freedom (Mark 5 v1-20)

In 722AD a bishop called Boniface was given the task of taking the gospel to the pagans east of the Rhine in central Germany. When he reached his destination  ,there stood a great oak,sacred to the  people there,they saw it as a fearsome god,whose hammer blows could split mountains.Boniface  chopped it down.Then ,with its timbers he built a church. The fact that nothing happened to  Boniface freed them from  the worship of that false god,and they turned to Christ,the Bible tells us that Israel worshipped god's who were not gods.The  world is full of so many god's who are not god's.God's that can do nothing for them,but enslave them,and take them to a lost eternity. In Colossians 2v 15 we read that Christ through His death on the cross and His resurrection ,triumphed over evil forces,defeating  them making a public spectacle of them.Turn from your false gods and turn to  Christ ,he can free you,from their power and bondage.

Giving (Deuteronomy 15 v10 ) 2

Last time we mentioned that we are not under a law of  tithing, so where does that leave us?.Our Saviour had much to say about money in Matthew 6 v 19ff He tells us not to be hoarders of money  and not to be slaves of money, money has not to be our master.He also speaks of the uncertainty of riches,and says we should lay up treasures in heaven. How do we do that? by being generous with it,and sometimes given sacrificially,like the poor widow women ,who give her all( Mark 12 v41-44/Luke 21 v1ff)Or like the Macedonian  churches in 2 Corinthians 8 who although poor give out of their extreme poverty, Paul adds but they first gave themselves to the Lord ,a reminder that God does not want or need your money,but He wants you,most of all.Those prosperity preachers don't want you they want your money,plain and simple as that.I remember someone said, this about money,'save some,spend some and give some.'  The Bible  tells us to give and it shall be given unto us,now we do not give to get,but God will honour our giving(1 Samuel 2 v30).When we give we should do it anonymously (Matthew 6 v3),whatever we do we should do , to the glory of God ( 1 Corinthians 10 v31)

Giving a tenth ( 2 Corinthians 9 v6-9) 1

Martin Luther said, three things happen as regards conversion,'Conversion  of the heart,conversion  of the soul,and conversion of the purse'.Lets  consider the latter ,for most of my Christian life,I went along with  tithing as was taught in the church I attended .But the question is this , as Christians  are we told to give a tenth of our earnings? are we under the law as regards tithing?Recently I listened to a minister on the importance  of Christians giving a tenth of  their money to support God's work. He used scripture in Malachi 3 v6-12,which  highlights that's God's people were breaking were Gods covenant by withholding tithes and offerings,declaring  they were robbing God.Again let me ask you the question  does this apply to us as Christians?,the answer is no. Most people mention one tithe,but in fact there were three tithes mention in the OT (Num 18v21-24/Deut 14v22-29)one could call them the law of the tithe. That minister who I heard preaching  never used any scripture from the NT in his preaching as regards tithing,because there is none.If we are not under the law of tithing  then how much should we give ?.1Corinthians 16 v2 reads ,'Set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income',we will consider  the  subject of giving next time.