27: LAZARUS IS RAISED FROM THE DEAD.. John Chapter11.

Jesus had some special friends in Bethany they were Lazarus and his two sisters Martha and Mary, One day while Jesus was preaching and teaching quite a long way from Bethany, He received a message from the women to tell Him their brother Lazarus was ill. When Jesus received this news, He didn’t immediately go to them. There’s no reason given in Scripture why Jesus didn’t go straight away but, I wonder if The Holy Spirit might have spoken to Him, because in v4, He came out with these words “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory, so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” And He stayed there for another two days, and in fact went back to Judea. On the way it seems, He told His disciples Lazarus was asleep and He was going to Bethany. to wake him up. I have to tell you here, the Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead, but the Sadducees did not. Neither did they believe in hell, Heaven, angels and a few other things, this is what really separated them, So when the Pharisees spoke of death, they often used the word sleep for death, because, they believed if you were asleep you could be woken up. The Sadducees however believed death was the end of ones existence, they did not believe in any after-life. I think it is important to know this, to understand that Lazarus was really dead. It’s interesting that there’s no record in the Bible of anyone telling Jesus that His friend had died, but when His disciples pressed Him further (v14-15) He Himself said “Lazarus is dead and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe”...Believe what? Believe who He “Jesus” really was when they saw the up-coming miracle. And the disciples went with Him to Bethany. (v17) On arriving, Jesus found that Lazarus had been in the tomb four days and many friends had come to support Martha and Mary. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming into the town she went out to meet Him, but Mary stayed home, she may have been a bit upset with Jesus for not coming when He was first told about her brother’s illness. Sometimes we too get a bit upset with God when He doesn’t answer our requests immediately, but as we will see, He always has a good reason for whatever He does and very often His Will for a situation is quite different from ours. (v21) Martha said to Jesus “If You had been here my brother would not have died. But I know, even now, God will give You whatever You ask.” This speaks of her Faith in God, but Jesus wanted her to to go a step further, to believe in Him as The Word of God and in fact that He was God, and so He said to Martha “Your brother will rise again” to which she replied “Yes I know he’ll rise again in the resurrection on the last day. (she still hadn’t got it) So Jesus spelled it out for her,” I AM the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; (Jesus is talking here about the death of the body) and whoever lives by believing in me will never die..(And here about the Soul) Do you believe this.” It was/is really important for Martha and for us too, not only to believe but understand exactly what Jesus is saying here. In the very words “I Am” He’s lining Himself up with God (Only God can raise someone from death to life) and guess what? I Am that I AM. Do you believe that Martha. And Martha replied “Yes Lord I believe You are the Messiah, The Son of God, who is to come into the world.” That was and is the answer God wants from each of us. With that answer Martha was saying I now truly understand, accept and believe all the Scriptures concerning the coming of the Messiah and Your entry into the world. (v28) After Martha said this she went and called her sister Mary and they both went to accompany Jesus into the town and others from the town followed them. When Mary saw Jesus she fell at His feet weeping, she said “Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died.” A word here about repentance, sometimes God gives us a negative answer, she was expecting one from Jesus now, and was prepared to accept it, that’s why she was weeping. At the end o verse 28 we read Jesus was asking for Mary, even if we are not happy with The Lord about something, He still is looking for us to come back to Him and repent for having turned away, He’s ready to forgive and renew our relationship with Him. When Jesus saw her and her friends weeping Scripture tells us, He was deeply moved and troubled in spirit and said “Where have you laid him?” “Come and see” they said and Jesus wept. Some of the Jews were saying “See how He loved Him” but others were saying (v37) Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying.” You may be having those same thoughts, or, if He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead why did He weep? Scripture doesn’t tell us, but some Scholars say, because in spite of the miracle which He was about to perform there were those who would not believe in Him, (v38) Jesus once more deeply moved came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. He said “Take away the stone.” But Martha said “By this time there will be a bad odour, He has been in there four days” You see we all want God to work miracles in our lives, but we don’t want to ‘remove “the stone” that is hindering God’s hand from working the miracle for us;. What we don’t understand is,.. when the stone is removed the bad smell and darkness comes out and the fresh breath of the Spirit along with the light of the World can get in. So, do you want God to work a miracle in your life?...A husband or wife to come to The Lord,.. A Child to return to God,.. A serious illness, injury or deformity to be healed. Ask yourself, Do I have a stone in my life? What is it? , that may be hindering God’s miracle from happening for me?. Perhaps some unconfessed sin, Or an elicit relationship,.. Have you injured someone’s character by lying about them or spreading malicious gossip... Had, or assisted in an abortion, or Euthanasia anything that nobody else knows about you, (the Stone) that could be holding you back from deepening your relationship with God and being abundently blessed by Him. Take Your Sin to Jesus, sit at His feet and confess, He is ready, willing and able to forgive, take you back and start working miracles in your life. In v40 Jesus replied to Martha “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the Glory of God” So they took away the stone, THEN Jesus looked up and prayed “Father I thank you that You Have heard me, I know that You always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, so they may believe that You sent Me” Notice the word THEN, Jesus didn’t even pray until the stone had been removed, Jesus’ prayer to the Father included the words, “I Know you always hear me.” So if we want Jesus to pray to the Father for us, we need to remove anything that may be blocking the way of His prayer. As Christians, we need to examine our hearts, and motives, asking God to show us anythi8ng that might be hindering or blocking our relationship with Him. We need to humbly ask His forgiveness and clean up any mess that may be lurking there this I believe shows our intent and recognition before a Holy God, that we want to be a pure vessel before Him, especially when we ask Him to work miracles for us and our loved ones. I think, the depth and sincerity of our relationship with God is judged by the purity of the vessel. (Remove the Stone) I believe coming to God for ourselves or for someone else expecting a miracle requires us to pray first for a clean heart and clear conscience “Create in me a Clean heart Oh Lord, and renew a right Spirit within me” was David’s prayer, He prayed that prayer, to remove any barrier that might hinder his relationship with God. I truly believe God wants to answer our prayers, but sometimes there is sin (a stone) in the way and that can’t be removed unless we take it to the cross. Only then is God able to enter into that situation. Often (as in the case of Lazarus,) we are asking God to change a natural situation by Supernatural means, after all that is what a miracle is and only God is capable of doing that. So we who are approaching God for a miracle need to have a pure heart before Him. What happens when we pray and believe? The stone (sin) is removed and “The glory of God can be seen, as Jesus said in v40. A word of caution here, Always end your prayer with “Thy Will Be Done.” My first hand experience is ...Doesn’t matter how desperate the situation may be, or how pure ones heart is. don’t resort to..”Naming, Claiming or demanding.” Always give God the last word, He knows best for all concerned. He can see what we can’t. He is God. When they had taken away the stone, Jesus prayed “Father, I thank you that You have heard me, I know that You always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that You sent me.” Once again Jesus was claiming to be God’s Son by calling Him Father, and proving it by the miracle He was about to perform. But still in the very next chapter the Jews were making plans to kill Him. After Jesus prayed, He called in a loud voice”Lazarus come out” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said “Take off the grave cloths and let him go.” I believe Jesus never waisted words, So Why did He need to say those words?.. I would say,...To prove this wasn’t a ghost or some sort of ”dead man walking,” No, This was a dead man being brought back to life after four days in the grave, a miracle which only God Himself can perform, for those of us who will remove the stone and have the faith to trust God and believe. Thank you for reading my take on The Raising of Lazarus from the dead. I pray as we search His Word together and learn His Truth as revealed to us by the power of The Holy Spirit we get to believe and trust Him more each day Through Jesus Christ Our Lord, Phaline.

26 GOD SOWS SEEDS. LUKE 8. 4-15

In the above parable Jesus will explain what happens when God sends seeds of Faith for His children the first thing to notice is, there is no shortage of Faith-seeds He throws it on the Path, on the Rocky Ground, some where the thorn bushes are and even manages to get some on the field for the crop. So the problem is not with the amount of seed, there’s plenty of that, it can be taken up by anyone. So why isn’t it taken up and spread abroad more than it is? I am attempting to answer that question today. We are not born with Faith, Like all good things in this world, we have to learn to achieve them, in this case we have to hear about it, seek it out, understand it and evaluate it. As Paul tells us “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word of God,” Once God gives us the gift of Faith and we know that God is the source of all truth We begin to understand Faith. We all have two ears and most of us have pretty good hearing, so we know we have to listen carefully as we hear Scripture being read and explained to us, therefore, the reason Faith is not exercised is, either we are not listening, or we are not being taught, or, we just don’t want it, or perhaps a bit of all three, in the case of the first two, I suggest we could read it aloud to ourselves so that we can hear it. And allow the Holy Spirit to teach us. When we hear something it goes through our ears to our brain, and is stored there for future reference like a computor. God made us, He knows our capabilities, our senses, everything about us. He knows what we can say to whom. So why don’t we speak-up​? Embarrassed?... It was pretty embarrassing hanging naked on a cross for sins He didn’t commit... Don’t want to make a fool of yourself?,... The Son of God made a fool of Himself for us.... People might scoff and laugh at us?…. “The people scoffed at Jesus saying, “He saved others, let him save himself” So He’s not asking us to do anything for Him, which He hasn’t already done for us. In the case of people in the third category, “those who just don’t want to know about God, or only want an argument I believe we have to leave them to God, but never stop living a Christian life and giving examples of our own faith. I believe this Parable is one of the most basic teachings Jesus gave us, so nobody can say they don’t understand, Jesus chose something as small as a seed to show us how little Faith we need to trust Him, and how few words we need to use. If we take up His offer and give a seed to each person we meet, I wonder Just how large a field we would cover. Yes, some will be waisted, and Satin will come and have his way with some of the seed, but there’s plenty more where that came from. In Luke 8.v4 Jesus tells us the parable about the farmer who sowed some seed in his field. He gave us four examples of what happens when seed is sown. It’s interesting to note that even the disciples who had been with Jesus for several months didn’t understand this parable and He had to explain it to them and give them the reason why He was speaking in parables There were people there just as there are people in the world today who can’t and don’t understand about The Kingdom of God, but we can, So, like Jesus, we have to speak to them in the language they do understand fields and birds, rocky ground and the heat of the sun etc” In other words, Jesus is telling us Don’t talk to new Comers with churchy words or Theological phrases they have no idea what we are talking about. Just tell them about Jesus, How much He loves them and why ,and what He has done for them. I believe, By following His methods we may get better results. Jesus explained to the disciples the parable (Luke 8.v11) The seed is the Word of God. Although we can’t change or minimise it we can simplify it. Inevitably as the farmer goes to the perimeter of the field some will go on to the pathway, and be waisted and birds will come and eat it, in other words, people will hear it and say “What a nice story” instead of taking a few minutes to really listen they ignore the Word of God, while others will reject it out of hand, because Satin jumps in and tells them they’ve done okay in life so far without all that God stuff, so they don’t need it now. But, God keeps giving us more opportunities to pick up on those seeds and come to Him before trouble hits and we live to regret not having taken op such opportunities. It’s good to remember God never withdraws His offer or runs out of the good seed of Salvation, it’s always waiting to be picked up. The second example Jesus gave was the seed that falls on Rocky ground, have you ever noticed, where there are rocky surfaces, there are also little puddles of water keeping tufts of grass green for a short time, and also making the rocks slippery then as the water dries up so does the grass, it’s a process, and so it is with Faith, while it’s fresh, nice, green and moist all is well, but when the water dries up and challenges arrive the grass dies and things get a little tough so does the faith of those who are only there for the good times without putting in much effort or commitment they slowly get bored and slip off the Rock and get washed away. There is no stability, staying power or willingness to learn about God. This is usually brought about by not looking for and finding a Christian friend who can help them in to a good Bible-believing church, or not feeling welcome when they do find one. It’s important, if you see a new face at church to welcome them, remember you were a stranger once and someone came and spoke to you. One never knows just what The Lord has lined up for you, so speak to a stranger, you may save a soul for Christ. Jesus’ third example was The seed that fell among thorns. It was choked by the worries, riches and pleasures of this world. Thorns are horrible things, and I believe Christ chose them very deliberately, they can hurt, even draw blood at times. Some people find it difficult to fully accept Christ, the reasons are varied and numerous; The price is going to be too high, others are of the opinion they have to be a really good person to be a Christian, still some think they have been so bad, God wouldn’t want anything to do with them. These are worldly attitudes and obstacles which choke many a searching heart that desperately needs Christ. These people need to be dealt with sensitively and with gentleness. Tell such people it doesn’t cost anything to come to Jesus just Come as they are, Give Jesus a chance , You have nothing to loose, and everything to gain. He can deal with liars, thieves, bad mouth, porn, abortion, prostitution anything, tell them they are not the first to come to Him in a mess, He has dealt with much worse than they are, if they really want to change and have a new start in life, Jesus is the only way, tell them He died for them to come to Him and receive eternal life. Explain to them exactly what Eternal life really means. Living forever in the happiness of Heaven with God and all the people who have gone there ahead of us. they will live in peace and harmony, no pain, no tears or fighting, disagreements arguments or heartaches, life will be perfect. Why would anyone not want that, especially when one looks at the mess the world is in today. Tell them the only reason God wants them to turn to Him is because He loves them and gave up His very life for them, surely He deserves a chance. Go the extra mile, offer to pick them up for church, or take them for coffee, invite them for a meal, give them your phone number, make yourself available, that’s what true Christianity is really about. Is God asking you to be a Soul Saver for Him today? What an opportunity.!!! The sequence of the words Jesus chose is interesting, “Worries” When one worries it shows a lack of Faith, hundreds of times we read in Scripture “Do not worry” and “Just Believe”, I know these are the most difficult for a new Christian to master, but I can tell you from personal experience when you have mastered worry, all the other virtues are a breeze. The more Faith I have, the less I worry, so pray for God to increase your Faith He really does take care of things when we allow Him to. The problems come when we don’t understand what or why he is doing certain things especially when those thing are exactly what we wouldn’t do, some get fearful and start to put their own spin on it, then things really go wrong and they blame God, However, all is not lost , Confess and try again with smaller things, watch Him work and slowly you will learn to trust Him with bigger things , You’ll be amazed. The next words He used were Riches and Pleasures. We want Riches to buy things that bring us the pleasures of this world. God has given us this world and all that is in it for our enjoyment and pleasure. But, We have to understand where and in whom our Identity lies, as Christians, we belong to Him, and our priority must be Him and His desire for us. So, if we make an Idol of anything else, money, riches and pleasures, we are putting that thing, person or place on the same footing as God who has no equal. This is a sign of misunderstanding and immaturity and will very soon lead us away from God. Jesus said, The Forth Seed fell on good soil. This didn’t let them off the hook, He said “They retain it and nurture it and by persevering produce a good crop.” note the words nurture and persevering, You see we can’t say “I’m a Christian, I know some scripture, go to church, sing the songs, give tithes etc. so I’ll be okay, No, Being a Christian is an activity, it’s an everyday 24/7 job. Now, you can make this a chore or a joyful experience. I know there are some Sects, Churches and religious organisations that require their members to go door-to-door or stand on street corners to preach, and if they are preaching Jesus I don’t have a problem. Jesus said “If they are not against me they are for me” But I would rather bring them to church, take them out for coffee, or spend a bit of time with them in either of our homes. The Command for a Christian is;--”Go and Teach all Nations Baptizing them In the name of The Father and of The Son and of The Holy Spirit” So you see there is a requirement even for those of us who had the Faith Seed fall into their lap as it were. Jesus said “To whom much has given, much is required,” in fact this is a Command for the long-term mature Christian who by persevering will produce a large crop . We all have to answer for what we have been given, and one day, Jesus will want to know what we did with the seed we were given. See the parable of the Talents. Our Christian Faith is so precious, it has to be valued, nurtured, guarded and protected, yet spread thickly all over the world. This is not an easy job and that’s why God sent us His Holy Spirit to help advise and comfort us. We need His input in every situation to keep us awake and alert as the devil roams around the earth “Seeking whom he may devour.” That’s not just you and me, but the New Christians who we must nurture and help along with the seeds which we’ve been given. These seeds are not only of Faith, but Our God also sends seeds of Hope, of Love, Integrity, Holiness, Kindness etc. It’s always a good practise before one goes into a situation to ask The Holy Spirit’s presence to provide us with an abundance of the particular seed necessary to meet the requirements of the situation. This has a two-fold effect (1) it keeps us humble and (2) it gives us confidence knowing and feeling the presence of God. I hope I’ve provided some food for thought regarding the parable of the Seeds. Prayer is our ultimate weapon, use it often. God Bless and protect us all in Jesus’ name Phaline. ------------------------

25. LESSONS I HAVE LEARNED.

“The steps of a good man are ordered by The Lord.” Prov 16.9. I have recently turned another year older and am surprised that it’s taken me this long to understand, acknowledge,and accept the simplicity of God’s word. To know that He says exactly what He means, without us putting our own spin on it. Or if situations don’t quite suit us making changes; blaming the culture, language or ignorance of Biblical times, etc. God is God and I believe He knew then and still knows what He was and is saying and doing. Also I believe, If one professes to be a Bible believing Christian, that should mean they believe the entire Bible, not just the pieces they are comfortable with. For instance:-- there are those who don’t want to believe in Hell, . Yet it says quite emphatically, in several places, (look it up, Google it) that Hell is a specific place, and warns us against heading in that direction. Angels is another point some people seem to have their own opinion about, but Scripture mentions them as real messengers sent by God, on particular errands and some even get mentioned by name. eg Gabriel and Michael. Of course these people have a “field day” in the book of Revelation, and put it all down to John’s extended years or his inability to accurately describe what he saw and thereby resorted to fantasy. The Bible has hundreds of prophecies in it, most of which have already been accurately fulfilled except those pertaining to the book of Revelation therefore there is no reason to think that this prophetic book will not also be fulfilled to the letter in God’s timing, In fact, God’s written and spoken Word is being fulfilled everyday as we live through this final generation. I find it difficult to understand why some people can’t take The Holy Bible as the Word of Almighty God and accept it as it is written. There is no place in Scripture that says it is going to be easy, convenient or comfortable, but, it is the only true path to Heaven given by the Creator of the Universe Himself, and He should know. Most of us these days have a gadget in our cars called a GPS. It is a clever little thing that shows us the best, but not always the quickest way to reach a given destination. It tells us when and where to turn. When we are exceeding the speed limit, even if we are heading for a potential accident, some I’ve heard, will tell us how far it is to the nearest Service Station. No guessing, no problems no confusion, all sorted. Recently I have come to the realization that I have my very own built in Devine GPS “The Holy Spirit.” If we allow Him, He will choose our destination, the route and the timing of our mission, by listening to Him I have learned four valuable lessons, which I’d like to share with you… . 1 Faith and Trust;--This was the most difficult and took the longest to learn. But, without it nothing else works. I had to learn to believe, trust and depend on God even in contrary circumstances. If we have prayed and asked God to show us His Will in a given situation, we must not doubt. Even if it doesn’t make sense. I had to learn to trust His Word, keep praying and believing. God honours our faith and perseverance. In this way I learned patience (which is not one of my strong points) to depend on God rather than on myself I found it extremely difficult. I assumed I knew all the twists and turns of life which made me act without consulting God. Like Samson I reckoned I had figured out just how the system worked and when Delilah sold him out and the Philistines bound him with ropes a third time, he thought he would handle things as he always had “I will do as before and shake myself free.” he said, but he didn’t realise his arrogance had caused The Lord to leave him (Judges 16.20) The most valuable lesson I learned here was, if I wanted to live a victorious life, I had to humbly, take God at His Word. In (John 15.5) “Without Me you can do nothing.” If you believe and act on that Word, you will be victorious. 2. The second lesson I learned was—I had to change my perspective. I didn’t always look where I was going, but I always ended up where I was looking. This cost me dearly. So what was the answer? As It slowly became clear, I found I had to start looking in the right place, or I would end up like David who, after paying the price for following his own lower impulses changed his perspective and prayed in Psalm 141.8 “My eyes are fixed on You Lord” I am convinced that unless our perspective is on The Lord we run the very serious risk of our choices and direction in life going completely astray. Our perspective always determines our choices and direction in any area of life. So keep looking to The Lord, listening for His leading. 3 The third Lesson I learned was –The secret of prayer, there is no substitute for Prayer, I had to learn about keeping in communication with God I used to feel lost in unfamiliar territory, uncertain of what my next move should be, but God used those times to get my attention, to call me back to Himself, to encourage me to talk to Him, I gradually learned to lean on Him, to regard Him as my unfailing source of strength and wisdom rather than trying to figure out everything myself. In Jeremiah 33.3 God tells us “Call to me and I will tell you things you don’t know and I will answer you.” So I’ve learned to take my problems to The Lord and ask Him for the solution. He hasn’t disappointed me yet. Also James tells us “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” That means always saying, doing and thinking the right thing, check your motives, remember, God knows and sees everything about you, we can’t hide anything from Him. That’s not as easy as it sounds, why? because the right thing is not the first thing that comes into our minds. You see, human nature says “Keep out of trouble, blame someone else, hide the truth, plead ignorance. The Word says “Bare one another’s burdens, take the blame to save another, show kindness while standing up for the truth, making sure no one gets hurt or damaged. No! it’s not easy, in fact sometimes it’s very hard but, True Christians are required to take the high road which leads to Glory. 4 Patience---I had to learn The power of Patience, this was not easy for me to achieve and I don’t think Ive mastered it yet. Whenever The Holy Spirit puts a goal or dream in my heart, I want to be quick on the trigger and have it happen overnight. I had to learn that timing is crucial, it is in God’s hands and under His control not mine, I also had to learn that waiting for God’s timing is not a waste of time, it is essential to develop two qualities in all of us which nobody can have too much of, and only God can give, they are Faith and Hope; Romans 8.25 tells us “If we hope for what we don’t yet have we wait for it patiently.” So while I am learning patience, God is at work arranging things on my behalf and at the same time producing Christ-like qualities in me. The psalmist said his hope was in God. So I have to constantly ask myself what or who is my hope in?.. My Family, Good Luck, the Economy, the Doctor’s Prognosis?... As long as my hope is in anything other than God’s unfailing love and goodness I will wrestle with uncertainty for the rest of my life. So what’s the answer? Mine is found in Psalm 112.7“My heart is steadfast and trusting in The Lord.” I hope you don’t take as long as I did to learn the above lessons, they have changed my life greatly and I wish I had learned them earlier, they would have saved me a great deal of time, blood, sweat and tears.!!! God bless and teach us all something new today. Phaline. --------------------------

24. TEMPTATION MATT 4. 1-11.

Although temptation is not sin, it is something that dogs every one of us everyday and let’s face it, we give in to it much more than we’d possibly like to admit. However, if it is not dealt with it will take over and what was just a temptation becomes much more than just that, it becomes SIN. We all have our own Battlegrounds in some cases they are things we surrendered to years ago that now lurk in our innermost thoughts. That’s why The Scriptures warn,”Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it springs the issues of life. ” Max Lucado writes, “I’m at a desk in my hotel room far away from home, the voices that encourage are distant, the voices that entice are near, A placard on my night- stand invites me to the Lounge “to make new friends in a relaxing atmosphere.” Another on the TV that promises late-night movies “that will make all my fantasies come true” In the phone book, several columns of escort services that offer “Love away from home” Voices, some for pleasure, some for power. The world hammers at your door, Jesus taps. The world offers fleshly pleasure, Jesus offers us a quiet dinner… with Him… “I will come and eat with him and He with me” (Revelation 3.20) Which voice will you obey? You ask How should I handle tempting situations? In two ways, first by filling your mind with Scripture so that your first response is always “it is written” second by keeping your eyes on Jesus who said “If your hand should cause you to sin cut it off and cast it away, it would be better to go to Heaven minus a hand than to go to hell with both your hands.” He said the same about one’s foot and eye. In other words, don’t look, touch or walk in the direction of where temptation is leading you. That’s how strongly Jesus felt about anything that causes sin in our lives. That’s why I have chosen to write about temptation, There is no sin without temptation and, temptation ALWAYS comes before SIN. And that’s the time and place to deal with it. So how do we handle temptation before it handles us. I thought we might see how Christ handled it and also bring out a few ideas of my own which I have picked up on my Christian walk, The best way of all is to throw Scripture at it, that is what Jesus did and it worked. I thought we could look at the temptation of Jesus in the desert. In Matthew 4.1. We read, “Jesus was led by the Spirit in to the desert to be tempted". Not led by the Devil, not by any earthly desire of His own, not even by any weakness on His part, but by the Holy Spirit Himself. Why? Because this is the perfect example of how God works with the people He has chosen to be in His Fighting force against Satan and his Minions. There has been war between Heaven and Hell ever since the fall of Adam and Eve. Once we make a choice to follow Christ we have been enlisted into God’s Army against sin, death and Hell. We can’t join any army without going in to training camp for several weeks or months. One can have all the commitment in the world to the cause, but if you don’t know how to handle yourself, you are a lost cause and no use to yourself or to the other people around you. When Young people go in to training, they are up at dawn, running for miles with a heavy pack on their backs, crawling under barbed wire barriers with bullets flying all around them and listening for orders from somebody they don’t know and don’t like. But, when they pass the test, they get to proudly wear the uniform. If we want to wear the uniform of Jesus Christ, we too have to pass the test. Jesus being God, was also fully man and as such He also had to pass the test, He shows us here how to combat temptation and also see how the enemy (Satan), works and the tactics he uses. Let’s look at these temptations and see how Jesus handled them and how they apply to us The First attack, (Mat.4 v3.” Turn these stones into bread.” The first area Satan will attack is our senses, A couple of examples are:-- Adam and Eve with a rosy red apple. David with a beautiful woman.. and Esau with a bowl of stew. It’s an interesting exercise to go through Scripture and see how greed and Lust dominated the lives of so many people. It is no different to-day, one can look at T.V. any day of the week and see the foothold the devil has on people’s lives in just these two areas. Was Jesus hungry? Of course He was, He hadn’t eaten for forty days, but He knew from his forty days training that He had to put His spiritual needs first and if He did that, God would take care of His natural needs (food) And so He was able to say in Matt 4.4 “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Only when we are convinced God will take care of our natural needs will we start putting Spiritual needs first in our lives. Until that happens we think we have to take care of ourselves. As a result, we walk in fear that our natural needs wont be met. and not in Faith. That is not how God wants us to live. Matt 6.33. “Seek FIRST the Kingdom of Heaven and ALL these things WILL be added unto you.” When we worry about the natural we are telling God we don”t trust Him. Because when we trust God we don”t have to worry. I know it’s easier said than done, but we just have to ask ourselves one question, Has He ever let me down? The Second attack The attack on the pinnacle Matt 4v5 “The devil took Him up into the Holy City and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple” If Satan hasn’t got us through our senses, he will try fear and failure, he will tell ,you “You are on the pinnacle of success now, but you can easily fall off” he will remind you of your past failures, your inadequacies and short comings and tell you “You’re just not good enough, People will not respect you any more.” How do we handle this sort of temptation? When the devil told Jesus to jump what he was saying is “You can do anything if you are the Son of God” And he’ll say to us “If you are a Christian The Bible says God will protect you.” As soon as he starts quoting Scripture, be on your guard, He knows Scripture better than you or I do and he’ll use it to his own advantage. . So all we have to say is “I will not tempt The Lord my God. Nor will I put Him to the test”. God does not have to justify Himself to anyone particularly not the devil. It has to be said here that there are two kinds of fear, Healthy and unhealthy fear. Healthy fear will keep us dependent on God, it will protect us from Pride and self-sufficiency (1Cor.10.v12.) says “Therefore let him who stands take heed lest he fall.”(That means don’t get proud stay dependent on God). The unhealthy fear will keep you in the boat when Jesus is calling you to walk with Him on the water, having Faith doesn’t mean at times you won't experience that sinking feeling that Peter did, But we have a choice, we can give into fear or trust in the God who has called us, sustained us and never failed to give us the strength to cope with whatever we’re facing, If our own intellect and talents are the bases of our confidence we have good reason to fear, but if God is the bases of our confidence we have nothing to fear. That is a good adage and worth keeping in mind, asking ourselves,Where does my confidence lie at this particular time in this particular situation. The third attack. Matt. 4.v9 “All these things I will give you.” Satan”s final temptation was over the cross-less life. He showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and that’s what He’s showing you and me And what is he saying to you and me? “You don’t have to take up your cross everyday, You can have the world, all its Bright lights, all it’s good times, and all the pleasures this world offers I will give it all to you if you will just follow me,” And He was saying to Jesus ‘You don’t have to carry that cross just bow down and worship me and you can have it all. In Scripture Jesus calls him “The Prince of this World” and so he is, but not for much longer for the time is coming when this world and all that is in it will be under the feet of Jesus Christ and Satan knows this very well and wants to take as many of us as he can with him. Don’t join him. In Matt.4.10. Jesus says “Away with you Satan you shall worship God alone and Him only shall you serve.” In Galatians 2.v20 Paul writes “I have been crucified with Christ it is no longer I that lives, but Christ who lives in me and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Has God promised to bless us? Absolutely He has, but that doesn’t mean we’ll never get hurt, or face lack or fatigue, or be betrayed and disappointed by others, we are living among other Human Beings most of whom don’t know Jesus Christ or much about Christianity, be kind and patient with such people God will Bless, help and keep you safe, He will give you the right words to say to them. This will not always be easy or comfortable and sometimes take a deal of humility, but this is what Jesus meant when He said in John 12.v24. “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies (to self) it remains alone, but if it dies (to self) it produces much.” To get to that new level of blessing, we have to die to our own Pride,Wills and Selfishness, this is a daily process and if we are willing God will lead and help us along the path that leads to Glory. It’s His Kingdom we are fighting for, all we have to do is sew a Faith seed. This can be done in several easy ways, By just talking to someone about Jesus or about what God has done for us, or By the life-style we live, or even by just refusing to do something that you’re not happy about doing. A smile and a kind word goes a long way with some people in this lonely yet busy, hostile world. Yes, we can have it all now if we are willing to put our eternal life in danger, but we all know someone who has done just that to their cost. That’s why we spend so much time in prayer for our loved ones, please God He will hear our prayer and turn them around. Thank you for reading these thoughts on temptation, I hope it has helped us all to understand this topic and how to handle it a little better. May Almighty God Bless us and open our minds and hearts to His unchanging Word. Phaline. -------------------------

23. SURRENDERING TO GOD.

Why, What, How, When Surrendering to nature is an understanding we all have. When it’s cold we cover-up, when it’s hot we peel off, this is automatic. At a very early age we learn through our own or someone else’s experience to surrender to the law of gravity. We have to surrender and cooperate with the law of economics if we want to succeed in business. If we truly want to succeed in our relationship with God, we have to surrender to Him. This too has to be learned, and it will take longer for some of us than others. I believe this is a direct result of our self reliance, we don’t think we need God’s help, but we do; One of the first things a new Christian has to learn is His/Her reliance on God, because that is the anchor of Faith. Jesus said--”Without Me you can do nothing.” Contrary to some thinking, surrendering to God is wisdom, rather than weakness. Only a fool would resist God, because it’s a fight we can’t possibly hope to win. Understand this, it’s in surrendering to Him that we are empowered to succeed in what He has called us to do. Therefore surrender is empowered by demonstrated obedience. It is saying “Yes Lord” to whatever He asks. To say “No Lord is a contradiction. In Luke 6.46. Jesus speaking says “How can you call me Lord and refuse to obey me?” Peter demonstrated true surrender when Jesus told him to try again, he didn’t say “I know what I’m doing, I’ve been a Fisherman since boyhood, I know these waters there’s no fish running today.” What he did say was “We have toiled all night and caught nothing, nevertheless at your word I will let down the nets.” We have to have that “Nevertheless at You word” attitude. So, whether Fisherman or Airline Pilots, Single Mums or Doctors when He says try again, take Him at His word. When Peter did that, “They caught a great number of fish.” There is a great deal to be said for taking Jesus at His word. After all it is the Word of God!, He is usually concise and to the point, that is why when writing I, like many other writers quote straight from Scripture, I believe Scripture says what it means and means what it says so, there can be no mistake. Surrendered people obey God, even when it doesn’t make sense. Abraham followed God without knowing where he would be taken...Hannah waited on God without knowing when....Mary expected a miracle without knowing how... Her husband Joseph trusted God’s plan without knowing why circumstances happened as they did. Each of these people and many other ordinary people just like ourselves learned to be fully surrendered to God and they came out on top. Surrendering means giving up the driver’s seat and moving over. (And not being a back seat driver.) How will we know when we are fully surrendered to God? This will only happen when we rely on God to work things out for us, instead of trying to Manipulate circumstances or other people, Forcing our own agenda, or attempting to Control situations. We don’t have to be in charge, we simply let go and let God have His way. It goes something like this, “Dear God I’d really like that lady for my wife, or that Job, House Car etc..----and leave the matter with Him (Surrender it) this has a double effect, 1. it will stop coveting and 2. the problem will belong to God, because you have surrendered it to Him first. If you do that with everything you have you will own nothing and God will own everything in your life. (Sounds silly?, it is, but it works!!) Jesus said “Cast ALL your cares on me because I care for You.” Take Him at His Word. I did and that’s how I know. When we start doing things God’s way instead of our own way, we experience great benefits. First we have peace. Job Ch 22 v21 says “Submit to God and you will have peace and things will go well with you.” Second we will have freedom...Psalm 119. v45. “I will live in freedom because I follow your orders.” Thirdly..We will have Power.. James 4. v7. “Submit to God resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Stubborn temptations and overwhelming problems are defeated by Christ the moment we surrender each area of our lives over to Him. It’s impossible to surrender everything at once, but one or two things at a time, and one day you realise, You and all you own belongs to The Lord. The freedom, peace and power that comes with that realisation is an out of this world experience. As Joshua, the General of the Israelite army approached the walls of Jericho he encountered God, he fell down and worshipped, surrendered his plans and said to Him “What does my Lord say to His servant.” Joshua Ch5.v14. Joshua’s surrender led to a spectacular victory. Here’s a paradox, victory comes through surrender. Surrender doesn’t weaken us it actually strengthens us. When we surrender to God we don’t have to fear surrendering to anyone or anything else. William Booth founder of the Salvation Army said, “The greatness of a man’s power is in the measure of his surrender. Eventually everybody surrenders to something, if not to God it will be to the opinions and expectations of others, to money, to resentment, to fear, to our own lusts or ego. We are free to choose whatever we surrender to, but we are not free from the consequences of that choice. Stanley Jones said “If you don’t surrender to Christ, you surrender to chaos.” The supreme example is Jesus Christ himself, the night before His crucifixion, surrendering to God’s plan for the Salvation of the human race saying “Your will and not mine be done.” and He is our example. Have you ever noticed how much energy it takes to keep a tight grip on something, Come on! We all know what we are holding on to, are you in turmoil because you can’t control the people or circumstances in your life. My advice is release your grip. Go ahead, surrender it to God, you’ll be amazed at how much more energy you’ll have and how much easier life will be. Once you’ve made the choice to surrender to God; your hardest days will become your easiest days. A.W. Towzer wrote “Father...my coward heart fears to give up its toys, I cannot part with them without inward bleeding and I do not try to hide from you my terror of the parting, I come trembling but I do come, please root from my heart those things which I have cherished so long and have become a very part of my living self, so that you may come and enter there without a rival.” When I first started writing this article some time ago, I had one question, Surrender what? God gave me a list, so I’ll give You what I was given, 1. YOUR POSITION As John’s wife I found my security, my identity and my commitment was all in Him. This seems very commendable, and virtuous but, This is not what God wants, He wont tolerate a rival, He has to have first place or no place. (that took a bit of working through) but now I truly understand what surrender really means. 2. YOUR PLANS We have to plan wisely but be ready for God to rearrange things and also be prepared for Him to take us along paths that may become uncomfortable. Nothing this side of heaven is permanent including relationships. Enjoy the time we have with our loved ones, in the knowledge that they first belong to God, and one day we will be separated for a little while before being reunited. Understand this and avoid the temptation to cling. 3. .OUR ANXIETIES If our emotions are wrapped around some issue, involving a possession a job a particular expectation or a relationship, we are not fully relying on God. NO we are still clinging to lesser things. STOP we have to let it go, although this is not easy or comfortable and in fact sometimes down right hard, but I can’t tell you the freedom it brings, knowing that God Almighty has everything about you and your life under His personal control, is truly worth every sacrifice you may make because now, He can trust you with all the blessings and surprises He has waiting for You. Think of Abraham, only when he was prepared to lay his most treasured possession on the line did God, not only give him back his son, but so much more and called Abraham his friend. The more we give to God, the more He will give us, why? Because He will not be outdone in generosity. Slowly I started handing my possessions over to God, then my habits and entertainments hobbies etc. He didn’t take everything off me at once, but somehow stuff didn’t hold the same attraction for me any more, and some He hasn’t removed. However, there was a certain satisfaction in knowing those things didn’t have the addictive hold over me any longer, some things were quite easy, others more difficult. And I had to remind myself that God was doing a work in me. However, when it came to my children, my friends and relationships, He showed me how much more He could do for them and me than I could do for us, and the bonds among us have grown even stronger. I now understand not only what God wants from us, but why He wants it, He wants the surrender of our hearts, our minds, our wills and eventually our whole beings, because only then can we be tools in the masters hand. When you relinquish your will to God, you live in a peaceful atmosphere, your dependence is on Him, and He takes care of everything. Yes, you will still go through the highs and lows of life but, He will be there with you and will see you through your darkest as well as your brightest times. He said “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you.” This comes through a strongly committed prayer life, the more we are committed to regular communication with God, (that’s what prayer is) the closer we are to Him and His Kingdom. Therefore, that too has to be cultivated. Prayer can’t be rushed, it is not a ritual nor can it be an add- on to our daily routine, that’s not putting Him first, No, praying is acknowledging God first, sitting in a quiet place with Him, listening and waiting in silence for Him to speak to you,.You will learn the sound of His voice, feel the closeness of His presence and experience the depth of His love. You will understand how communication with God becomes second nature to you, prayer like that, will then be something you can’t get enough of. Putting God first and spending quality time with Him each day in my opinion, is the only way we can develop a good, strong Faith relationship with Him Thank you for reading my thoughts on Surrendering our lives to God, There may be many restrictions on what we can and can’t do and where we can and can’t go these days, but, nobody can control our greatest weapon, (Prayer) so load up and fire at the installations that are aimed at us and we will see God’s hand at work as His army grows.. May God bless us all Phaline.

22 DEALING WITH YOUR GOLIATH. 1 SAM. 17.

Before reading this I suggest you read the above Scripture, keeping it handy, as we go through the story. I believe it will help. We all have had or will have a Goliath at sometime or other in our lives, some of us more than once or twice. We really don’t know how to handle these Giants , all we want is for them to go away. Your Goliaths can take the form of people, perhaps an Alcoholic or Abusive parent, partner, Teacher or Coach, A place in which we might have found ourselves where we were very frightened, or in a situation from which we were, unable escape. The story of David and Goliath has a number of lessons in it which you will find worth taking on board and bringing to mind on such occasions. The first thing to remember is;-- If you have given your life to the Lord, He will not allow you to be in a situation you can’t handle, or extricate yourself from. He says so in His Word. He will always be there to help you, equipping you with the necessary tools and His Grace. “Fear not for I am with you.” appears several times in Scripture, in both the Old and New Testament. Every time you call on Him it shows Him you believe in Him and trust Him to get you out of the mess you have found yourself in. That’s Faith. Cultivate it, it works. In this Scripture the Philistines had come to make war against the Israelites and take their land. Both armies set up camp on the hills facing each other, with a valley between them. The Philistines Champion named Goliath a Giant from Gath who was nine and a half feet tall, (about the height of your ceiling) dressed in a bronze helmet which made him look even taller, wearing bronze shining clanking scale armour, a Javelin slung on his back, and a spear in his hand with a shaft the size of a weavers rod hanging from his shoulder making him very wide, very fierce and very scary, This Giant from Gath came out of the Philistine ranks shouting his usual defiance, he had been doing this everyday for forty days and intimidating the Israelites. (Forty is a number that comes up several times in Scripture, When God destroyed the earth with the great flood, it rained for forty days and nights,Moses and the Israelites were forty years in the desert, Jesus fasted for forty days in the wilderness, there are forty days between the Resurrection and the Ascension of Jesus in to Heaven. And there are several other occasions. Where the number forty comes up. Nobody seems to have come up with a satisfactory explanation for this, but I thought I’d mention it for your future reference if and when things happen.) However, on this particular morning young David arrived with his brother’s lunch and heard all the noise and confusion. On enquiring and hearing Goliath’s threats against the people of God, he couldn’t believe such disgrace was falling on Israel and their God, I’m sure when he heard that King Saul had promised Great wealth, Tax exemption for his family and to give his daughter in marriage to the man who would rid him of this giant, (v25) that would have been an added incentive for David, who said “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the Living God.” His brothers heard him and told him to go home and back to tending his father’s sheep. So no support there,!!! David however, wasn’t going to be put off and went to King Saul himself, who also didn’t think he was up to the task and told him he was far too young, but David defended himself to the king saying “I’ve killed lions and bears with my bare hands when they came after my father’s sheep, I’d like a chance to have a go at this Blasphemer.”(v36-37) When The Lord is calling you to do a job for Him, you can be sure you will get opposition especially from your family and the Religious authorities. But when God sends you on a mission, He will guide, protect and be with you all the way. With reluctance King Saul agreed and ordered David to be dressed in the King’s own armour, but because David was only about seventeen or eighteen, the king’s armour was too big and heavy for him and he found he wasn’t able to walk in it. When you have a Goliath to fight, go to the Lord for your weapons not people, “Put on the whole armour of God” (Eph 6.10-17) This is very important, I believe every Christian should include those verses from Eph.6 each day in their morning prayers, especially these days in these troublesome times that’s what will win the battles of today. David removed the armour, picked up five stones and pulled out his Shanghai, ( Soft quiet speech will win people over much better than laying down the 10 Commandments.) This really upset Goliath, not only were the Israelites sending out a kid to fight him, but he wasn’t even dressed for the occasion nor did he have any of the regular weaponry. In fact The Giant was so insulted that he started with “the language’. Then David replied “You come against me with sward, spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of The Lord God Almighty, The God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistines army to the birds and the wild animals and the whole world will know, there is a God in Israel, all these gathered here will know that it is not by sward or spear that The Lord saves; for the Battle is The Lord’s and He will give all of you into our hands.” A word here about battling against Satan, I believe if we want and indeed need God’s help and intervention we have to call out to Him loud and clear by name (The Lord God Almighty) We are calling on His name, His power and His activity to descend on us as David did, Not because he has a hearing deficiency, but that everyone around us will know The Battle is the Lord’s and HE will fight for us and give us the victory, and HE will get the credit not us. Also we need to be specific, You see, we not only want God to be with us but we need His strength and ability to get the whole job completed. This requires Faith and confidence in God and His mighty Power. If we pray and ask God, He will give us this power and the victory. We can practise it with smaller things, as David did (Bears and Lions) God demonstrated His power with those animals in preparation for the Giant that was to come, also I believe David spent a great deal of time with God while tending his father’s sheep day after day. It was that developed relationship with God that gave David the confidence and strength he needed at that time. I believe there is no power without prayer and no prayer without power. A Casual prayer life will produce a casual powerless, weak relationship with God, whereas regular, sincere, heartfelt, prayer produces a sincere loving powerful relationship with Him.. If you have read the story from 1.Samuel 17 you will know that things happened just as David said they would. When you are on God’s side things happen, You will notice I said “When you are on God’s side, rather than when God is on your side.” Why? Because we are flawed, inhibited and have preferences. Whereas He is perfect and doesn’t have any of those characteristics. When you are on the side of God, The Spirit will lead you with Truth, Honesty and Integrity, these are God’s characteristics. But, this will only happen if you, (like Joshua) humble yourself and submit your plans to God, Then the walls will fall down and you will be triumphant but He will get the Victory not you or me. It will be a case of “see what our GOD can do. Not see what I can do.” It’s interesting to note in v 54 that David took the Giants head to Jerusalem, I would say to put it in his trophy cabinet, (Look what can be achieved when God is in control). And he put the Giant’s weapons in his own tent. Why? So he would always remember how useless they were in the presence of His God. Which reminds me of a story I heard about Muhammad Ali who once was flying interstate in America, and there was some turbulence, the captain asked all passengers to fasten their seat- belts, Ali didn’t cooperate with the request and when the hostess told him to do so he replied “Superman don’t need no seatbelt.” She instantly replied “Superman don’t need no aeroplane either.” Laughing he complied.---So we always need to keep the (Seatbelt) God’s armour fastened tightly around us, we never know when all we have left are those “Everlasting Arms.” Thank you for reading my thoughts on how to defeat the Giants that come into our lives, God will come to the aid of all who ask Him, especially those who cultivate a deep personal relationship with Him., God Bless, protect and preserve us all as w, with God’s help deal with the Goliaths that come into so many of our lives today. Remember,There’s no prayer without power and no power without prayer. There’s nothing Almighty God can not do for His children if they humbly sit at His feet and ask His help . Phaline. ------------------------

21. A BIT OF A CHALLENGE.

“How serious are we about Our Faith.” This time I am going to write about “Being in the World but not of the World.” As Christians we all like to think we are in the “Not of the World” category. But are we? Before going any further, I’d like to focus on Sodom and Gomorrah and just to refresh your memory please read Gen. Ch19.v1-11. Now, did Lot love his daughters any less than we love of our children? Did God not love them as much as He loved Lot or his visitors? Come on now, think rationally, God’s love does not discriminate, He doesn’t love men more than women or black people more than white or even parents more than their children or the other way around. So why did Lot even think about sacrificing his daughters to the men of that city? Answer, because it was the done thing. At that time, in that day and age, women were expendable and much lower in the pecking order, in fact they were absolute nonentities. Only useful for bearing children. So why didn’t he drown them at birth? Because being Abraham’s nephew, he knew, Human life was sacred and was a gift from God. But at that time, at that place, a woman’s life was worth less than sodomy. Remember he was foreigner in a foreign land and was expected to do things their way (in the world and not of the world) At sometime we all have to make that “in or of the world” decision. grow up and stand firm for what we truly believe. Lot didn’t do that. The bible tells us that Lot was a good man but like all of us he was being carried along by popular opinion and the laws of the day, of course he knew better but he was taking the line of least resistance. He thought if he fell in with what everyone else said and did then he’d be okay. Well we all know the story of how God intervened and the eventual result on Sodom and Gomorrah. I am trying to convey here that unless we get ourselves sorted, we will be in the same mess Lot found himself. Trying to please two masters. We can’t think God will always intervene as He did with Lot. Especially if we know better and choose to go the other way. We need to think very carefully about some of the decisions that are being made for us these days. We still have the right and the ability to say NO to some things that are being put before us. Use your rights while you have them, you don’t have to go along with the crowd. Think, what is this going to mean for me, my children and grandchildren? After reading this article. The main point I’d like you to remember is,--- THE MEDIA IS THE ENGINE ROOM OF LEGISLATION and therefore has to be very carefully scrutinized. It is said “The eyes are the windows of the Soul.” Have you ever thought that windows allow images both ways? Images have great power and one of the most powerful things that can be done is to create an image, but a more powerful thing is to destroy an image. Sighted people predominantly interpret the world through vision, hearing in most cases is a reinforcement of what is seen. In terms of building images, the entertainment industry is an expert, with the News Media increasingly delving into this realm. The film and media industry has taken on the role of image manufacturer with gusto. “The media is no longer informing the public but instead is now forming public opinion.” Do you agree? As for building images, many a politician has been built or destroyed by the media. Destroying images can be illustrated by the destruction of father figures, on and by television situational comedy. As I’ve said earlier the media is the engine that empowers the Liberal agenda. Our abortion reform laws, the anti smacking bill, the homosexual law reform act, euthanasia bill and homosexual marriage act, were all instigated by the Media. If that’s what the media and T.V. in particular is doing to countries, Governments and Parliaments what is it doing to you, your children and Grand children. Humour on T.V. is primarily based on ridicule, Psalm 1.1 says “You are blessed if you don’t sit in the seat of the mockers.” Conversely does a curse apply if one does sit in the seat of mockers? Every time we read, watch or see something we need to ask ourselves Who is trying to tell me what and why? Every time we turn on our T.Vs we are giving somebody access in to our lives and or the lives of our children. Even though we say things like “I just let all that violence, sex abuse and language go over my head.” Let me tell you(and I quote from two recent British and American studies which show) that E.C.G.’s of the brain when watching T.V. are most like when the person is asleep than at any other time. So nothing goes over our heads, everything goes through our eyes and ears into our brains and what goes in is stored there. Sooner or later what is said and done on T.V. will be the norm and be completely accepted by society. Watching T.V. or having it on all day as a number of people do exposes our brains to whatever the Media chooses to throws at us. Whatever is said and done is going through to our brain via our eyes and ears even if we are all but asleep while watching television. Those two senses have a direct input to our souls. What defences have we got? Those sounds and images are being wired directly in to our brains. The brain is not working, just absorbing whatever is being presented to it. We can’t excuse ourselves, what God has given us for good is being used or should I say abused for evil. The devil works in the most insidious ways, we as Christians know this, therefore we should not be putting ourselves where he can reach us. In The Lords Prayer we say “Lead us not into temptation,” so think about it this way--: Sex without love is okay Same sex relationships are okay Divorce is okay Abortion is okay Tax evasion is okay Homosexuality is okay Euthanasia is okay All these things are being presented to us everyday on our T.V. screens `and we are SLOWLY allowing ourselves to be poisoned, it’s worse than smoking, which just poisons the body. We need to take heed of the Scripture that says “Be more afraid of Him who can take both Body and Soul.” People imitate what they see and hear, like smoking, we older ones will remember the days when billboards advertising cigarettes always had a celebrity actor or actress, sports personality and even Winston Churchill with his famous cigar on the billboards, it’s no different today, the screens are doing the very same thing and why would the devil try something new when the old way still works, are we doing it all for him? He knows all he has to do is get it on screen and we’ll all follow like sheep. Then before we know it, there’s a law passed and we are stuck with it. I understand in Canada they have dispensed with Mothers and Fathers days and replacing them with Parents days, because children who are being adopted by Homosexual and Lesbian parents are getting confused and having identity problems!!! We must not kid ourselves, we are all human, like Lot, we will find excuses to justify ourselves in the areas about which I’ve written, but every time we become part of the world and its values we put ourselves in great danger. Like Lot we like to think we are good people. But unlike Lot we have the advantage of the New Testament, and all the insights of Paul and the rest of the great writers who have succeeded him. We know Our God is a Loving and Just God. Will He intervene? And are we prepared to take that risk? In Prov. 4.23. The Word of God says “Above all Guard your hearts” In closing I want to say I am not judging anyone, that’s not my job, and if I have offended anyone I’m truly sorry, However, I believe I received this message from the Lord and had to obey it. Thank you for reading God’s challenge to all of us today. I pray God’s blessing, guidance, preparation and protection on all His people in these troublesome times. Phaline.