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ÐÏࡱá
How many of us have a tale to tell about being almost persuaded, to do something, or to go somewhere, and realised after that for good or ill, we had made a mistake?
Some things are easy to shrug off and dismiss, others leave us with such a deep sense of disappointment, and loss, that we spend a lifetime regretting that we were almost persuaded, but not quite.
What is it within us that make us reject the right things, and choose the wrong even when we know deep down that we will regret it?
Picture in your mind if you can the end of time, you wake up one morning and all the Christians are gone! God has called home his own. All that is left are unbelievers, people with no consciences and no love, for God has withdrawn his love from the world, and our last chance for salvation is gone!
I knocked the door to bring to you
To sing to you,
A song of love
A song of angels over you
Bringing you blessings
From God above
But you did not answer me,
Acknowledge me, or even look up
When I stooped down to offer you
A sip from my loving cup.
The gift of life! You let it pass by,
Woe, woe and thrice woe,
Now the angels cry.
Revelations chapter six verses 12 to 17.
“I watched as he opened the sixth seal, there was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made from goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the
mighty and every slave and free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks ‘fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?
Who indeed shall stand when our Lord withdraws his loving care from us? Who on this earth can protect us from the wrath of God when that day comes?
We have no need to fear that day as our Lord God, shows us in his word, how we can be saved from that day.
If we were drowning, we would not breathe in water and get it over with, we would strive to save ourselves with all our might; we might even offer up a prayer for help, so why not pray for help as our lives slip by here and now? God is waiting. God loves us as we are, there can be no doubt about that, but, we are on a journey to redemption. It can be long and hard if we fight it, but if we surrender to the Lord, his grace will be all sufficient for us, and we will be fully persuaded. Almost is not good enough as we can see in Acts chapter 26 vs. 1 to 29.
Paul before Agrippa.
“Then Agrippa said to Paul “you have permission to speak for yourself.”
So Paul motioned with his hand and began his defence: “King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defence against all the accusations of the Jews, and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.
The Jews all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee. And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our fathers that I am on trial today. This is the hope our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. O king, it is because of this hope that the Jews are accusing me. Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?
I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. Many a time I went from one Synagogue to another to have them punished, I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them
On one of these I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. About noon, O king as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads’
Then I asked ‘who are you Lord?’
‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ‘Now get up and stand upon your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. I will rescue you from your own people and the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds. That is why the Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. But I have had God’s help to this very day, and so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen –that Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles.’
At this point Festus interrupted Paul’s defence.
‘You are out of your mind, Paul!’ he shouted. ‘Your great learning is driving you insane.’
‘I am not insane, most excellent Festus,’ Paul replied. ‘What I am saying is true and reasonable. The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe in the prophets? I know that you do.’
Then Agrippa said to Paul ‘Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to become a Christian?’
Paul replied ‘short time or long – I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today mat become what I am except for these chains.”
Poor king Agrippa, educated, intelligent with certain knowledge of the prophets; yet he was only almost persuaded. How sad is that?
Have you ever had that feeling about something that tells you that you are right, and you will not back down? Well you have never been alone. We all have that experience, and no matter how persuasive the argument to change our mind, our pride and our arrogance holds us firm in our opinion.
St Paul was like that. He thought he was doing God a favour getting rid of Christians. God had to blind him and re – open his eyes for him to see the light and admit the error of his ways. What bad things he did too, he persecuted people to the death for being Christians. Jesus in his infinite mercy and love forgave him, and used him to bring to faith the gentile, that is people that are not Jews.
I wonder what St Paul would think if he were here now, knowing that his words were still persuading many to become Christians, and almost persuading many more. He puts up a fantastic argument to encourage us to be strong Christians. Satan dogged his heels at every turn but St Paul, fully persuaded by his experience cannot let go of what Jesus has shown him he must do.
He was taken in chains to Rome by boat. A severe storm came and threatened to sink the boat and drown all on board.
Acts, ch 27 vs. 13 – 26.
The Storm.
When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had obtained what they wanted; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete.
Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the ‘north Easter’, swept down from the island. The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along.
As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure. When the men had hoisted it aboard, they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Fearing they would run aground on the sand bars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along. We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard.
On the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.
After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: ‘men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete: then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss.
But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said,’ do not be afraid, Paul. You must go and stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ So keep up your courage men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”
I can imagine St Paul, a big smile on his face telling the hard bitten Romans and the crew of the ship, ‘have faith, my God is going to save us all.’ Their reaction would be one of amazement and horror. They all had their own gods to whom they prayed, now this stranger was telling them that his God, who incidentally was only one, would save them; whilst their many gods did nothing. But once persuaded always persuaded, and St Paul was in no doubt that what the angel said would come to pass. And it did!
So St Paul went to Rome, full of the Holy Spirit he wanted to pass on the message of salvation, which Jesus had given to him. It is a most wonderful thing to be possessed by the Holy Spirit of God, it gives the most humble soul great strength and makes heroes of the most unlikely people, and it melts hearts of stone and turns the most stubborn into believers.
A few days after he arrived in Rome still bound in chains, St Paul wanted to speak to the Jewish people who lived there. He wanted to persuade them of two things, one was his innocence, and two? We will let scripture tell us that.
Acts 28 vs. 23 – 29.
They arranged to meet Paul on certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. From morning till evening he explained and declared to them the kingdom of God and tried to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets.
Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe. They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: the Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your forefathers when he said through Isaiah the Prophet:
‘Go to the people and say,
‘You will be ever hearing but never
Understanding;
You will be ever seeing but never
Perceiving.’
For this people’s heart has become
Calloused;
They hardly hear with their ears
And they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears
Understand with their hearts
And turn and I would heal them’
‘Therefore I want you to know that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles and they will listen.”
So God sent St Paul to the Gentiles. [That’s us] Appointed by Jesus to be the apostle to the Gentiles. It would not be an easy job. It was not easy speaking to the Jews and they believed in only one God, the gentiles had many gods and were allowed all sorts of immoral behaviour in their worship of these false gods.
It was going to be dangerous; St Paul’s powers of persuasion would be tested to the limit. The Gentiles were steeped in evil superstitions that St Paul would have to overcome, Christianity was a new religion that renounced all gods save one and his Son Jesus Christ.
Another obstacle to overcome was the aggression of the priests and all the people who made a comfortable living from the worshippers. Silversmiths, goldsmiths, carpenters, magicians, false prophets and all kinds of people would be put out of work. The priests would find their temples empty and their coffers bare. It was a very lucrative trade catering for the emptiness that people felt in their lives. Then as now people were always seeking to fill the void inside, created by God for God himself in every person.
Acts Chapter 28 verses nine to twenty five tells us of some of the opposition that St Paul came up against as he tried to convert people to Christianity.
Simon the Sorcerer.
“Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and had amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low gave him their attention and exclaimed, ‘this man is the divine power known as the great power.
They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his magic. But when they believed Phillip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptised, both men and women. Simon himself believed and was baptised. And he followed Phillip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.
When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptised into the name of Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands upon them, and they received the Holy Spirit when Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, ‘give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.’
Peter answered, ‘may your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord, perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.’
Then Simon answered, ‘pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
Simon, a sorcerer, and a perfect example of someone almost persuaded someone who has ascended from the darkest pit of deception into the light of Christ our beloved saviour, only to be dragged back down because he thought he could buy from God, what God freely gives to all believers. If only he had waited his turn, the apostles would have laid their hands on him also and he would have received the gift of the Holy Spirit, or would he?
God cannot be deceived. He showed Peter the bitterness in Simon’s heart. Simon had lost his followers, with them went his financial support and his prestige among the wealthy. When he saw what the Holy Spirit could do he immediately saw his chance not only to win back his followers, but also a chance to make money selling the gift of God to the wealthy people. Had Simon been fully persuaded he would have known better, and perhaps later he did because he asked Peter, ‘pray for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me?’
Was it remorse or greed that made Simon say that? After all Peter only said ‘may your money perish with you?’ Whatever his motive, poor Simon was not persuaded fully enough to change his lifestyle and accept God’s plan for his future.
What about us? Are we of that group of people who say “I believe there is a God, but?” There are so many ‘buts’ that lead to debates and arguments and worse. Many unpersuaded people will try to dissuade us because they cannot grasp the truth. Perhaps we are those who say’ I would like to believe BUT. I think it is too far fetched, or BUT I have not seen a miracle yet, or even But surely if there was a God these things would not have happened; whatever ‘these things were’
Do we lack the deep conviction that regardless of what the enemy does to distract us, God is, and is worthy of all honour and power and glory? Do we think that we can buy redemption from anyone on the face of this earth? I remember hearing that the late Frank Sinatra had paid the pope one million dollars to hear his confession! Now that is unbelievable!
Lord, grant me patience.
Lord, grant me patience for I have none
For those that say,
‘God does not speak to people like us
Or hear when we pray,
God does not see what is going on
Neither does he care,
When I hear things like that I could
Tear out my hair,
They don’t believe they blaspheme
Your holy name,
When disaster strikes they say that
You’re to blame
Then they say ‘where is he?’
It tears me apart,
If only they would listen to you
It breaks my heart!
Their utter contempt for your word
Makes me sick,
They say a miracle is
Just a trick;
They weary me so Lord
All I can say,
Forgive us all dear Lord I pray.
A Reading from the first letter of Paul to the Thessalonians.
Ch 2 Vs1 – 8.
You yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our coming to you was not in vain, but though we had already suffered and been shamefully mistreated at Phillpi, as you know we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of our God in spite of great opposition. For our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel even so we speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts. As you know and as God is our witness, we never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed; nor did we seek praise from mortals, whether from you or from others, though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children. So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but our own selves, because you have become very dear to us”?
When I was a little girl, my friends and I would go up to the top of our street to a small piece of waste land, and throw stones at the children playing in the next street. They in their turn would throw stones at us. It was a regular occurrence and sometimes we would experience the agony of a stone hitting us, for a moment the pain would be unbearable even though the stones we threw were only small.
One day, Jesus was walking along when he heard a loud rumpus, like gangs of children shouting and chasing one another. He waited, and there appeared a crowd of adults chasing one woman. When she saw Jesus she stopped running and so did all the people chasing her.
‘Kill her’ ‘stone her’ they shouted, ‘yes let’s do it’ they yelled.
The poor woman shook with fright,’ what has she done?’ Jesus asked.
“She was caught in the act, doing something really wicked, and we should stone her for it. We can do it, it says so in the law.”
Jesus bent down and wrote something in the dust on the ground, “ ok” he said, standing aside to give them room, ‘ let the one among you that has no sin throw the first stone’.
Those that had shouted the loudest were the first to stop. A shifty silence descended like a pall over the angry crowd as Jesus stood there looking from one to another.
The poor woman was cowering at Jesus’ feet waiting for the first stone to strike hoping it would render her unconscious so that she would not feel the rest as they pounded her body and broke her bones. She was afraid to look up. The quiet was to her a malevolent threat hanging over her. She listened and heard shifting feet and the swish of clothes as people moved, terrified she imagined they were picking up more stones and positioning themselves to take better aim. She heard footsteps walking away, then nothing!
Jesus said to her, “Where are your accusers? Is there none left to condemn you?”
“No Lord,” she answered looking around in amazement
“neither do I condemn you,” Jesus said ‘go now and sin no more.’
Jesus had forgiven her!
Jesus was the only one there that was without sin.
How often do we poke someone for upsetting us? We, not stopping to think of the mean things we have said and done. How many friends have we lost all because we did not follow the example of Jesus and be forgiving?
Those people were almost persuaded to commit a sin far more grievous than that of the woman, for they had judged the woman sentenced her to death, and were about to become her executioners.
They did not know that Christ the Son of the living God was in the world until the moment they came face to face with him, and under his steady gaze it was impossible for them to carry out their sentence.
How wonderful it would be if we could see our Lord Jesus looking at us every time we persuaded ourselves we were justified in doing wrong. We may not see him but we can be assured that he is watching over us, and persuading us to do the right thing.
ALMOST PERSUADED?
Almost persuaded, but no not quite
Lost my way in the darkest night,
Missed my footing, slipped and fell
Out of God’s grace, almost straight into hell!
Something inside me said God cannot lie!
Truth is all God knows why will you die?
Peace to your heart and soul he will give,
Ever protecting you as long as you live.
Resurrected, Jesus has fullest power,
Saving the lost ones in their last hour.
Under his wings like wings like chicks he will gather,
All those persuaded to him by his Father.
Death has no hold when God forgives,
Eternity in heaven is the life Jesus gives.
Do it, do it now persuaded be
Or you are lost for eternity.
Luke ch 18 Vs 18 – 30.
The rich ruler.
A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honour your father and your mother.”
“All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “you still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
When he heard this he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth.
Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus replied, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”
Peter said to him, “we have left all we have to follow you!”
“I tell you the truth,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.”
How sad was that young man? We know he loved God because he had kept the commandments all his life and, he believed in Jesus because he asked him, how he could inherit eternal life. He was a ruler so he had inherited his great wealth and with it all the responsibility for his vineyards, relatives, slaves and properties that made up his wealth. The thought of selling up and giving away what his ancestors had amassed and handed down to him was too costly for him. Perhaps he had a wife and children who did not share his desire for eternal life. I am glad he did not think he could buy it!
It is the truth! We cannot take our material possessions to heaven with us, the only things we can take are those we give away, for when we give to the poor, we actually do God’s will, and our blessing awaits us in heaven.
Jesus knows that we need money for food clothing and a place to live, he does not want us to be starving vagrants, but he does want us to share what we have with those who have nothing. When a child offered his two small loaves and five fish, a child’s lunch to Jesus to feed five thousand people, he had simply given all that he had. The miracle happened when Jesus blessed the fish, and made it an endless supply. So he will bless our smallest effort and make a miracle of it.
When we are young and have a nice house, a good job and are full of health, we do not think about death and hell, or life and heaven; we have that ‘ I am alright Jack’ feeling. We even kid ourselves into thinking we have done all by ourselves. Yes! We believe there is a God; we got married in church didn’t we? Had our children Christened didn’t we? Well then that is proof that we believe there is a God.
Revelations Ch 3. Vs 14 – 20.
To the angel in Laodicea write.
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were one or the other! So because you are luke – warm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ but you do not realise that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in fire, so that you can become rich; and white clothes to wear so that you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes so that you can see.
Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.’
What a fabulous invitation to have from the Lord of all creation! Shh, he could be knocking now right outside of the door to your heart; let him in please let him in! Or are you neither believing nor unbelieving, neither hot nor cold, but almost persuaded?
What colour are my Saviour’s eyes
Are they blue, blue as the summer skies?
Or are they grey as the clouds above,
Do they shine with perfect love?
Or are they brown as the earth below,
With a scolding glance that say’s I know’?
Or are they a soft and gentle green,
The loveliest eyes we have ever seen?
I am always thankful that the Lord saved me, I, of course was my own worst enemy. I kept asking the questions I am sure many people sitting on the fence ask themselves. ‘Why me! Why should God be interested in me? I have nothing of worth, therefore I am worth nothing.’ But the words of our Lord would interfere with my thoughts, words like, ‘ Jesus died for the ungodly’ and the story of two men who went to pray, one was very rich and the other was well, just like me or you. The rich man prayed like this.
Luke Chapter 18. Vs 9 – 14.
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable.
‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men – robbers, - evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but he beat his breast and said, ‘God have mercy on me a sinner.’
I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.’
This parable filled me with a great admiration for our Lord, and I really felt the meaning of his words: all I had to offer him was my sinful self, and in return he offered me eternal life with him in God’s kingdom in heaven! Wow! No one on earth can buy their way into the Lambs book of life, not with good deeds; money or any other thing, for it is free to all comers.
When we sit on the fence in an ‘ almost persuaded’ state, one of two things can happen to us, either we can fall forward into the loving and merciful arms of our Lord, or we can fall backward into an eternity of darkness without God! This is the choice we have to make, forward in faith, or backward in unbelief.
Here is something for us to think about!
Isaiah Chapter 65 Vs 1 – 3 and 11 – to 16.
“I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me.
To a nation that did not call on my Name,
I said, ‘here am I, here am I.’
All day long I have held out my hands
To an obstinate people,
Who walk in ways not good?
Pursuing their own imaginations –
A people who continue to provoke me
To my very face
“But as for you who forsake the Lord
And forget my holy mountain,
Who spread a table for fortune?
And fills bowls of mixed wine for
Destiny,
I will destine you for the sword,
And you will bow down for the
Slaughter;
For I called but you did not answer,
I spoke but you did not listen.
You did evil in my sight
And chose what displeases me.”
Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“My servants will eat,
But you will go hungry;
My servants will drink,
But you will go thirsty;
My servants will rejoice,
But you will be put to shame.
My servants will sing
Out of the joy of their hearts,
But you will cry out
From anguish of heart
And wail from brokenness of spirit.
You will leave your name
To my chosen ones as a curse;
The Sovereign Lord will put you to
Death,
But to his servants he will give
Another name.
Whoever invokes a blessing in the land?
Will do so by the God of truth;
He who takes an oath in the land
Will swear by the God of truth.
For the past troubles will be forgotten
And hidden from my eyes.”
God has never failed to keep his word, let’s pray.
Help us O Lord, creator of heaven and earth, who made all the weird and wonderful things that exist; let us see our true nature, that we may hand over to you our adverse qualities and receive the truth of your word.
Lord we are poor in spirit, and wisdom and understanding. Educate us in your ways, enlighten us that we may see, and believe. What can we do Lord? We cannot save ourselves, and our doubts and fears threaten to overwhelm us, especially when our whole social structure is about to collapse around us.
We face the loss of friends and family Lord, and we cannot deal with their scorn and unbelief as we struggle with our own. Strengthen our faith Lord; make it strong enough to withstand all that come against us. We are like helpless children totally dependent upon you our Father and our God.
We give you praise and thanks that we can put our trust in your word, and our hand into yours and you will never let us go………Amen.
1 John Ch 2 Vs 15 – 17.
Do not love the world.
“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world
Simple instructions do not put the things of this world before God. The lusts of covetousness must be avoided; happiness after all consists of forgetting the things we cannot have. With heaven within our grasp why should we crave the things of the world?
There are many lost treasures in the world that men spend a lifetime seeking after, and many souls lost because the greatest treasure of all is ignored.
All through the Old Testament God pleads with us to turn to him, and hear what he has to say. Like a patient father who continuously warns his child of danger, only to find his child whom he loves stubbornly refuses to listen, and brings destruction upon himself. His sorrow is great, and multiplied by thousands as we go our own way and not his.
God understands what it will cost us to follow his Son our Saviour Jesus Christ; he did after all give us all that we have. Jesus was reviled, he was rejected, flogged, spat upon and crucified all for love of us, was there ever such love in our lives before?
1 Peter Ch 4 Vs 12 – 14: Ch 5 Vs 6 – 11
” Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice in so far as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. Discipline yourselves; keep alert like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers’ and sisters throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal Glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen and establish you.
To him be the power forever and ever amen.
What more could we ask
To finish the task,
The Lord has for you and me?
Lord Jesus our light
Fighting the fight
Dying to set us free.
What! I ask myself do I believe. Well, I don’t know whether or not I can put it into words that you will understand, but I will try.
I firmly believe that on the cross Jesus, took upon himself all my sin and grief and pain, and died my death, that I might be set free and have eternal life. It sounds simple, and so it is; but before we can accept this we must confess our sins to the Lord and ask for and accept his forgiveness. We can hide nothing from the Lord, yet when we are repentant and he forgives us, he remembers our sin no more. As far as the east is from the west is where he will cast our sin from himself, for he is faithful to forgive and cleanses us from all unrighteousness through the blood of his Son our Saviour.
What I refuse to believe is that anyone is too great a sinner to be saved, if you think you are I have three words for you, repent—believe—be born again.
How? I used to ask myself could we bless a God so great, so wonderful, so full of mercy and compassion, who sent his only begotten Son Jesus Christ into this sinful world to save our lost souls, he who gives us everything, what can we give to him? All he asks is a simple thank you from a grateful heart.
Thank you.
Thank you for the music
Lord,
That lives within my heart
A melody of light, and life
And love.
Thank you for your word
Lord,
That makes up every song
And paints a picture there of
Heaven above.
Are we still only “almost persuaded?” stop! And listen and learn. When we die as we all do, our peers will not judge us. What our friends families or fellow workers thought of us, will count for nothing. Whatever our celebrity status, how we behaved toward the poor and sick and needy, it will not come up before God as a merit. We who are flesh are so because we envelop our spirit in Family, Leisure, Entertainment, Social life, Hobbies. We have a Selfish Indulgent Nature.
Jesus is the only way to eternal life. Believe him, he is the truth. You can trust him absolutely and when you do, he will give you peace and joy you never even dreamed of. Jesus alone is the path to eternal life.
John Ch 3 Vs 16 – 21.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes on him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the mane of God’s one and only Son.
This is the verdict: light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”
Nature.
It is my nature said the thief,
To cheat, and steal, and lie.
It is my nature said our God
To send my Son to die
It is my nature said the conman
To rob the gullible and old
It is my nature said the Father
To forgive hearts oh so cold
It is my nature said the cruel man
To beat and to abuse
It is my nature said our Saviour
To heal, can you refuse?
It is my nature said the sinner
To reject that which is fair
It is my nature said Lord Jesus
To show how much I care.
So your argument is futile
There is no way you can win
Hiding in the darkness
‘Neath the black dark cloak of sin.
The world it keeps on turning
The days and nights go by
And all the while your body
Prepares itself to die.
Salvation is before you,
Or eternity in hell,
This could be my last invitation,
So, are you coming? …WELL!
I like a disaster movie; the hapless victim is hanging by a thread while the hero is doing his best to save him. We are holding our breath almost as one thing after another threatens not only to foil the hero’s attempts at rescue but also to swallow him up as well. When the victim is finally dragged to safety, a great sigh of relief goes up and a feeling of great joy and well-being goes all around.
Is this our life before God as he watches us stumble, and fall over and over again as he waits for us to call upon his holy name for help?
Luke Ch 15 Vs 1 –10.
Now the tax collectors and ‘sinners’ were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and teachers of the law muttered,’ this man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.’
Then Jesus told them this parable:
‘Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety and nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbours together and says ‘rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you in the same way there is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety and nine persons who do not need to repent.
Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbours together and says, ‘rejoice with me, for I have my lost coin.’ In the same way I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Come on; let us be ‘the sinners’ that repent. Let us be the cause of great rejoicing in heaven with thankful, joyful hearts. Let us do it now! While we can, tomorrow may be too late.
I realise that I can say nothing to persuade you to Christ. It must come from inside yourself, you must respond to the love he generates. Just speaking his name quietly in your heart can fill you with a great longing for him that can only be satisfied, when you give yourself to him.
I know that there is nothing that can be compared to his love, and it enhances the love we have for our family and friends. We see everything so differently that even very racist people, lose that unreasonable hatred they have for other races and have learned to love them with the generous amounts of love given to us by our Saviour Jesus Christ.
He answers our prayers; there is unlimited power in prayer. It gives us direct access to God himself! But this can only be gained through Jesus.
If you have never prayed these words from Psalm 39 verse 12 say this.
Hear my prayer, O Lord,
Listen to my cry for help;
Be not deaf to my weeping.
For I dwell with you as an alien,
As a stranger, as all my fathers were.
For we are all strangers to God until we learn to speak to him. Jesus was constantly praying to God for us, and giving us examples of how we should pray.
Matthew Ch 6 Vs 5 – 16.
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love pray standing in the Synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth; they have their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard for their many words, do not be like them, because your Father knows what you need before you ask him. This then is how you should pray:
Our Father who are in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name,
Your kingdom come,
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those that trespass
Against us.
Lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil
For yours is the kingdom
The power and the glory
Forever and ever. …Amen.
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
We realise of course that it applies to all people and not least to ourselves for there is always something we cannot forgive ourselves for, but we must and when we do we feel the floodgates of our Father’s forgiveness wash over us and it is a thing most wonderfully cleansing.
Heaven is free for believers. If we had to pay ten pounds a week to get there we would pay up without a murmur; whether we believed or not, just in case. In the same way we take out insurance policies, just in case the house burns down, but we cannot get insurance that will guarantee to us heaven! What we can get is assurance from our Lord Jesus Christ that he will guarantee heaven for us.
Romans Ch 5 Vs 1 – 8.
“Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”
No one can tell us what to believe. God tells us the truth and leaves it up to us whether we believe him or not. There are great and wonderful blessings waiting for us if we but take to our heart the word of God and dire peril to our immortal soul if we chose not to believe.
When I was a child I used to lay in bed and listen to my heart beating in my ear as it lay on my pillow, and I would wonder what I would do if it stopped; it did not occur to me that I could have done nothing because I would have died! But the prospect of it happening made me not only afraid of the unknown, but also aware that there was something more than that which we can see and feel and hear.
I have just heard it said, ‘God is an imaginary friend for grown ups.’ and to some I dare say that is true. People like to talk to God, but they do not really believe that he is there, yet they feel comfortable talking to him because it brings them a peace they cannot find elsewhere. They feel a deep sense of loss when they try to stop, and they never actually pray; it is like living with God, yet living without him. God hears every word they say because once we just whisper his name we have his undivided attention.
A LITTLE VOICE.
I have a little voice inside
I call my conscience and my guide,
It says what is, and is not nice
I listen closely to its advice.
And so I live my life with ease
And do exactly as I please,
With no great responsibility
I need not worry about me.
I’ve even purchased my own space
For when I leave the human race,
But, hang on there, just a mo
When I leave here, where will I go?
Think about that’ said inner voice,
Do you think you have a choice?
The way to life after death has passed,
Where weary souls find peace at last;
Is not for the way you live today.
Eternity, forever, is not that far away,
Just a heartbeat away in fact,
And friend if you don’t quickly act,
You will never calculate the cost
Of an eternity that is lost.
So hear me now, do the right thing
Make a petition to Jesus the king
Plead for mercy forgiveness seek,
Confess your sins admit you are weak
The Lord is good his mercy true,
He will forgive and redeem even you.
God will not force himself upon us, however it is hard for him I imagine, to see the people he loves, that he has given everything for, to refuse him.
John Ch 20. Vs 24 – 29.
“Now Thomas [called Didymus] one of the twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came, so the other disciples told him, ‘we have seen the Lord.’
But he said to them, “unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”
A week later his disciples were in the house again Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
Then he said to Thomas, “put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
Thomas said to him, “my Lord and my God!”
Then Jesus told him, “because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Are we doubting Thomases? Or are we the blessed ones who although we have not yet seen our Lord Jesus Christ we are fully persuaded that he is Lord of our lives?
Holy and most merciful God who gives us faith, help our unbelief and take away our doubts and fears, clear our eyes that we may see the pathway before us. Let us not look neither to left or right but straight ahead to you. Fulfil our need of you and bless us with your presence Amen.
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