Mon, Dec 19th - 3:17AM

Further Ramblings

The other day, out with my wife,  we met an old friend whom I han't seen for years.  He looked tired & over worked, agitated & distinctly worried about something.  The last time I had seen him was at an Easter  conference for evangelicals called 'Spring Harvest'. He worked with a group of young folks called Crusaders. Full of the Lord, full of life.

Now I find that he is so worried about the world that he is beginning to lose sight of the goal. He has taken his eyes away from Jesus & allowed the world to suck him in. Naturally we were concerned. Over coffee he began to unwind & we learned that with the death of his wife, he had shunned all friends & fellowship.  It had all started when he heard a Bible teacher saying things which went against everything my friend had believed in.  Whilst trying to make sense of it all he accepted a couple of things the preacher was saying, not all but some.   

Here was a man of God who in his grief had allowed his breastplate of faith to drop & let the evil one in. I thank God that we met, he told me that he had been thinking about us during the previous few days.

With the Lord on our side our friend will soon be back on the narrow road, he has returned to his fellowship & explained it all to his fellow Elders. They were very understanding & we have arranged to meet again in the New Year after the Christmas celebrations have finished.  We are away for Christmas this year at our Daughters in England.

From this I can see how easy it is to fall away & lose a little faith, questioning every thing you ever believed in. Coming up with wrong answers because we are not thinking straight. I believe that the key to being a Disciple is right thinking, it is possible to believe in something even though it does not add up or is logically unsound, never mind scripturally wrong. That is one of the reasons I love this site, it allows us to speak to fellow Christians without having any hassle.  Supporting each other, is the way of the Lord, if only we had a few more Barnabuses,  rather than the Christian fire brigade with their buckets of cold water!!!

It is my earnest prayer that all the members have a wonderful Christ Mas & have that special time with family, friends fellowship can be so sweet & life can be so good. 

To all those who are hurting, & there are many, some are too proud to tell, like my friend, his troubles did not start the day before I met him, but months previously. We pray that you will meet the 'stranger in the manger' & come away with a picture of the Living, Crucified, Risen, Lord.

"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord,  plans to prosper you & not to harm you, plans to give you hope & a future.   Jeremiah 29:11  NIV

Keeep your eyes on Jesus,

look full on his wonderful face

& the things of the earth grow strangely dim,

In the light of His Beauty & Grace.

May the Grace of God Almighty, Father, Son & Holy Spirit, be with you all & remain in you, both now & evermore.

Amen.

Thank You, In Jesus Name  Stuart

Mon, Dec 12th - 2:11PM

Ramblings

The last time I posted I was a bit bogged down on the actions of the individuals rather than the faith of a nation. God in the OT was bringing a whole nation to faith in Himself. The prophets both major & minor, all telling of one who will come as God's representative on earth to lead his people. Interestingly for about four hundred years before Christ, there seems to be no contact between God & his people through Prophets.

The Prophet Isaiah in Chapter 40 seems to be one of the links in this situation, he foretells of one who will call out in the desert, preparing a way for the Lord.

We know this one as John the Baptizer, or Baptist. John lived like a prophet of old, foretold of one who is coming, & the people should be prepared, by going through a baptism of repentance. Amos was saying this almost 700 years previously, but now there is an immediacy in the Baptist's works.

John the Baptist seems to be the pivot God uses to change from bringing a nation to faith to bringing an individual to faith! Hence the individuality of the"Baptism of repentance".

We know this as the New Covenant with God through Christ's work of atonement on the cross at Calvary.

Christmas & Easter cannot be separated, for the believer awaiting the Advent of our Lord, which culminates at Calvary's Cross.

 In the Gospel according to John, The baptist tells us that "he is the one preparing the way of the Lord"  Jn. 1:23   What an amazing story, History in the today, the God of History becomes God of the present.

I can see where the writer of Hebrews is coming from, in chapter 11, people of faith. The New covenant with Christ the prophet priest & king, in the order of Melchizedek. WOW what a realisation, little wonder the Jews of John's gospel did not understand, we have the facts written & commentated on for 2,000 years & we still do not understand.

When we look forward to Christmas & God's present, the Infant Holy, wrapped up in grace with bonds of love, what do we think about? The stranger in the manger or the cross at Calvary, they are so closely linked.  No wonder the hymn writer wrote;  "Lo he comes in clouds descending."

I sang this twice on Sunday last, stirring stuff, I really think that Christianity has changed its course in the wake of consumerism & all that means, looking at the fuller picture instead of taking each event as separate entities, linked but still events for other times.

God's picture of Salvation for the World & not just a Nation is really Awesome, all this done through individuals like you & me, in a baptism of repentance.

Hallelujah What a Saviour. Please do not take offence at my ramblings, these are my thoughts on a mighty God,  not words of dissent, when looking at scriptures.

Is not Our God Awesome

Love in His Name  Stuart

Thu, Dec 8th - 2:39PM

Superiority of Living by Faith.

My quiet time recently has been taking me into the realms of faith. I read with interest chapter 11 of the Book of Hebrews. I find that this chapter tells me a lot about those people who have lived for their God, all the great heroes of the OT are mentioned by name, even Rahab the prostitute is mentioned, she believed that if she hid the spies, when the battle was over she would be saved. This is told in Joshuah 21ff  where in order to be safe, Rahab was to gather her family in her house & not enter the fray in any manner. Amazingly this woman is mentioned in the genealogy of Our Lord. Mt. 1:5, she was the mother of Boaz, told in Ruth.

I find this fascinating, where it all fits in to come together on that glorious moment of the birth of Jesus. What else I find fsacinating is the fact that Joshuah is not mentioned as a "Man of Faith" 11:30 tells us that 'the walls of Jericho came down by faith but not that Joshuah was in charge?

What can this mean for us in 2005?  Joshuah did not carry out the Lord's instructions to the letter, we are told, is there some kind of lesson for us? Do we need to remember the love & forgiveness of a father when we fail? or can we just keep going on as before? Doing our best!!

The scriptures reveal so much, & yet seem to leave so much unanswered, I guess we shall never know it all.

Keep enquiring

Love in His Name  Stuart

Mon, Dec 5th - 3:12AM

Hope leading to joy.

We have been away for a wee while refreshing ourselves in the world of prayer & peace,  taking time out for refreshment & meditation.

I have been reading & thinking about the joy that we can have as we look forward to the celebration of our Lord's birth. I find that there are two ways to approach Advent, to keep complaining about the action of others in trying to downgrade Christmas to a mere holiday, thereby taking the joy away from us as we 'mump & moan' about them. I find when we do this, we avert our eyes from the target. That is the coming celebration. We allow the evil one to succeed by taking away from us the JOY that can be ours as we anticipate the birth of our Lord.

The Psalmist in Ps. 37:1 writes "Do not fret because of evil men, or be envious of those who do wrong." That is what we are doing if we allow ourselves to become 'grumps'.

One of the other ways, can be to look forward in Hope, to what God is doing,  this in itself brings us peace. As we see the baby in the manger, we remember what it is like to fully appreciate the names that he is known by, " Wonderful councellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of  peace. What a wonder we anticipate. No surprise then,  that for two thousand years people have been saying Hallelujah. My favourite NT book Romans reminds us, 'that hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love in our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he has given us. Rom. 5:5

This I find can be a wonderful blessing to us, our hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus & his righteousness. So my brothers & sisters do not let anything mar the pleasure that can be yours because Jesus has promised never to leave you, never to forsake you. The joy that this promise brings, makes the world diminish as we realise that hope, which is surefast & certain. Our saviour who saves us from ourselves in the world, bringing us to the well, where we can drink that 'water of life'. This same Jesus who stood in our stead at Calvary, took on himself, our rebellion, our transgressions, our sin, so that by his stripes we are healed.

That is the way for us to go, is it not? pray for the people who would deprive the children a place at the table of our Lord, pray for all those who let the evil one have his way, by trying to demean our glorious hope in Christ. Pray for those who think that equality is something which Christ cannot bring.  Tell a non-believer what it is that gives us hope. not by a great theological treatise, but simply that, "God is love",  in him we have joy, hope which brings us peace.

That is really awesome.

Love in His Name  Stuart