Tue, Aug 29th - 4:24AM

Ramblin's after a quiet time.

I have been keeping a low profile in the past few days as I have been trying to rid myself of an infection!  In total I have restored to a previous point about five times & getting to grips with whatever caused my system to collapse. So if anyone has had any strange e-mails which seemed to come from me, please ignore them, I have not not sent any.

Now I continue with my reading of Romans that great treatise, Paul's logical arguement in favour of Christ & why we should believe. In chapter 8 at verse 28, he tells us that "In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose...... This a well quoted verse which in itself has helped many a Christian who may have lost the thread for a moment. I include myself in that statement.  The next piece about "Predestination" is the word which upsets most people, people can have distorted views about the word predestination in fact, whole chapters have been written about it, we can have a distorted view.  The word itself means 'decide upon beforehand'.  Clearly a decision is required before we become a Christian, but it is God's decision before it is ours, not that we did not decide on our own, but because God had first loved us that made the decision to return his love all the more sure. So God knew already that he had given his grace, all we had to do was accept. Ephesians chapter 1 backs this up by reminding us that it was God's ; Pleasure, God's will, God's plan & God's purpose. His purpose to give grace to all & he foreknew that if we accepted his grace, if we decided for Christ,  he would carry out the rest of his programme.  Verse 30 tells us that "Those that he predestined, he also called, those he called he also justified; And those he justified, he also glorified". God was entirely responsible for our conversion & is responsible for our salvation, but we had to make the decision.

So many people get bogged down about the word predestination that some people do not know if they are indeed saved! It may bog  down the uncertain, but it a great assurance for the believer. Our security lies in the eternal predestinating will of God. Nothing else can bring such assurance & comfort to God's people.

Jesus himself says that "No one can come to me unless the Father draws them". Jn 6:44  It is God's love & grace which brings our attention to the fact that,   'God so loved the world......

So God has made us his people, not that we are favourites, but that we are to be his witnesses!!!  This promotes humility not arrogance, promotes security, not undecisiveness, assurance not apprehension, responsibility not apathy & most of all I think that it causes a holiness in us & not complacency. 

This is not to say that we do not have problems, but we should know where to take these problems, to Calvary, that is where burdens are lifted.

Finishing off with the famous verses: If God is for us, who can be against us? 

What a wonderful pasage this is, a perfect foil to all those little darts that the evil one throws at us, a perfect encouragement, that in God through Christ we have all things which work out for the good of those who love him.

The Holy Spirit using Paul's knowledge of the scriptures used him to pen these mighty words.

That my friends is Awesome,  may each one of us know that our Saviour will take us right into that eternal Glory to be with our Father & each other.

Love in His Name   Stuart

Thu, Aug 17th - 4:08AM

Further Ramblings

With all the problems that are around today I sometimes wonder where when it will all end, I know that God is in control, but where will the current, future troubles take us?

The Patriarch of the three involved religions is the same person, Abraham is Father to the Hebrews, Father to Christians because he trusted God's promise & it was credited to him as righteousness, through Ishmael he is the Father of Islam.

I say this because the happenings in the world do not bear out these facts. Islam is fighting Islam, they are all fighting the Jews & hate the Christians for all they stand for. Nothing west of Suez is worth having one would think.

But they all recognise Jesus as a great teacher & Prophet. They do not recognise him as the Son of God, but they hold him in higher esteem than some people I know. So why the emnity?

My morning readings in Romans, remind me of these facts & yet I realise fully that Jesus said,  "there will always be wars & rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed, such things must happen for the end id still to come".  Mt. 24:6

Although we as Christians must pray for peace, it will be God's peace & not the cease fires of man which will prevail. God has promised to all who believe the same as he promised to Abraham & by default all his followers. So the way I see it is we should unite through our common heritage & not diverge through our differences.  Where did it all go wrong? 

For the love of money is the root of all evil, 2Tim. 3:2 & Jesus again said, "you cannot serve two masters, both God & mamon.  Mt. 6:24. "You know that the rulers of the gentils lord it over them......Not so with you, ..........  The son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransome for many"   Mt. 20:25ff

Blessed are  the peacemakers, for they will be called Sons of God.   Mt. 5:9  Thats God's peace as I said above, its God peace that should rule in our hearts, through the works of His Son, Christ our Lord.

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.....    Rom. 8:1ff  So again I ask where is it all going?

This is not meant as a political rant, but a genuine simple trying to understand, what we as Christians should do in the circumstances we find our world in today.  The ceasefire in the Lebanon, (a land which had the great cedars which were used in the Temple at Jerusalem), is currently holding. It is our desire that God's peace should come, a permanent peace that will hold.  That son's & daughters of men & women will no longer be brought to a violent end on each side, or faction.

I fully realise that perfection will only come with the second advent of Christ, but I believe with all my heart that we should do our bit, as collective prayers rise to our heavenly Father, through Christ the Prince of Peace.

May the rabble rousers & trouble makers be brought down, may the States in conflict come to know lasting peace, as through knowledge they each come to understand, the route to uncertainty & failure is the way of all wars.  May those who misuse power for their own ends be doomed to failure, may the way of Christ prevail.  Would that not be awesome, in our time!

In adavance I apologise to anyone I may have offended, that is not my intent.

Pray for peace my brothers & sisters in christ.

Love in His Name   Stuart

Wed, Aug 9th - 2:44PM

Ramblings from memory

I love Romans Chapter 5 After the logical arguement & layout of the facts, chapter five commences with Paul's famous 'Therefore'.  Having laid out his stall on how we as believers are justified through the sacrifice of Christ on calvary's awesome cross.  We have peace with God, in his infinite mercy God found a way in which we can have peace at no cost to us, God in Christ has done it all for us. I particularly love the verse 2, we rejoice in the hope of the Glory of God.

When I was younger I heard Romans being described as a treatise, by the speaker, & I remembered the the logical way in which Paul wrote it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. As we go into Chapter 5 we can begin to understand all that God has for us, not only that but why he did it. God demonstrated his love for us, in that whilst we were yet sinners Christ died for us.  How would you demonstrate your love for someone?  Have you ever done something like that for the person you loved? Without being asked or without our knowledge God did this for us, because he knew that in our time, we would need it!  God realised that we would need him, not he would need us, so he planned a way that we might be reconciled to him in our day.  At the moment when we were powerless, v6  before our birth, Christ died for the ungodly, that my friends is us, we were ungodly, we were under the curse of Adam & needed someone to clothe us, if we were to be in the presence of God. So it turned out, to be at peace with God we need to be wrapped in the body of the risen Lord.

WoW wonder of wonders there it is friends, the simplicity of it all is not to be missed. God loves everyone & proved that love, not in some abstract way, but in a real tangible way. Christ died for our sins, that we might become the righteous of God. Not only that, for that is only the beginning, I always find that when it comes to God's grace there is always more.  Because of this justification, we now have peace with God. We are reconciled to him. Christ Jesus was the bridge that God raised that we might be restored to him, that would link the road we travelled, to the road God wished us to travel.  From our ways to God's ways, Christ bridged the gap, the cross was the link required, no wonder the write of Hebrews can say, "Who for the joy set before him, endured the cross, scorning the shame & sat at the right hand of the throne of God".  Heb. 12:2b

Christ considered it a pleasure in carrying out God's plan for the salvation of mankind. What is our reaction to be when we are confronted with these logical facts?  I firmly believe that there is only one action that makes sense, we simply fall on our knees & ask Christ to be part of our individual lives, that we might fully appreciate, "the peace with God" Which is on offer, for all. 

Brothers & Sisters in Christ this is something that we cannot keep to ourselves, God does not wish that, He wants us to go forth & tell, go to your neighbour's house & tell him  or her of God's love. We have Paul reminds us in verse 5 that God has poured his love in our hearts by the Holy Spirit & that same love is overflowing to our neighbours if we but let it. How would you have learnt of it, if someone had not told you?

God's love is Awesome, but must be shared, Love is nothing less you give it away. Why not start today?

Love in His Name   Stuart