30. WHEN GOD DOESN’T ANSWER PRAYER. Sometimes when we pray, and our expectations haven’t been met or, the situation hasn’t changed, or perhaps even worsened, we are confused, bewildered and can’t understand this God who says “Ask and you shall receive.” and “Whatever you ask in My name it will be given to you.” or “Your Heavenly Father knows what you want even before you ask for it.” All these are in Scripture for us to read, understand and use. But, taken out of context they are only giving you half the scripture, It is important that when you read or hear such Scripture, You get the whole verse, in fact I believe to get the full impact and significance of what is being said one needs to read at least a couple of verses on either side of the verse you are concerned with. I read somewhere and I quote “ A Text taken out of Context is a Pretext” so let me explain further. All the above Scriptures are true, and sometimes God does answer us immediately; but, usually He wants us to understand His principles and the way He works. they all have provisos ie. “If you do this I will do that” And God’s provisos are dependent on our Trust, love and commitment to and for Him. He is not a money-machine or a Santa Clause, He gives when it’s good for you and when it’s going to further His Kingdom. That’s why many people bargain with God, “I’ll go to church more, I’ll Tithe more, or have that, “ I’ll be good daddy” attitude.” No, God doesn’t work that way. The truth is;--The more we love, trust and are committed to Him, the more we will understand His ways. This doesn’t happen overnight, but like any healthy relationship it will take time, first there is acquaintance, then trust, which takes a bit longer, then love and last of all commitment. And each of these are dependent on knowledge .As you get to know an acquaintance, you learn how far you can trust love and commit to them. Jesus is longing for our commitment, but we are holding back at different stages, some of us on the love, some on the trust, and some on the commitment stage. We say we love God, and truly believe we do, but, when it comes to the trust and commitment bit we become a little reluctant, why? I think it is because of the invisibility of God, we don’t want to trust or commit to someone or something we can’t hear, see or touch. Yet, that is exactly what Faith is all about. (in John 20 v29) Jesus said to Thomas “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” It’s about not using our natural senses but our spiritual senses, God is teaching us to live on a higher faith level or a (sixth sense). We are not quite there yet. Why? I will explain it this way...When a friend comes to your door, you open it and say “Come on in and make yourself at home,” but that’s not what you mean. What you do mean is... You’re welcome in the lounge, Dining room, Bathroom and maybe the kitchen, but don’t go into any of my other rooms draws or cupboards, you don’t want them to see your mess. What Jesus wants is to get into all the rooms, draws and cupboards of your heart so that He can clean it up. Only when we permit Him to do that will we be in a position to commit to Him. He doesn’t want to be a guest in Your heart, He wants an intermit relationship with you and me. He wants us to understand that His love for us is higher than the sky, deeper than the deepest ocean and longer and wider than the equator which goes right round the whole earth, and certainly beyond our mess. So our mess is no problem to Him. In fact the problem is ours, because we know deep down what God wants, but, we don’t want to part with our mess, now understand this, He’s not asking you to give up your mess, he’s asking you to give it to Him and allow Him to deal with it. Because we are all different He deals with each of us differently, I know a lady who was a big-time gambler, The horses, Bingo, Lotto, Whatever. She was spending hundreds of housekeeping dollars. on her addiction and dishonesty, her husband worked hard, but there still wasn’t enough to meet the family budget, She knew she had a problem and tried hard to drop it, but to no avail, she even went to counselling for months with no success, but when she gave her problem to the Lord, she found she gradually didn’t get the urge or feel like gambling as much, and eventually left off gambling all together. Usually, He wont take all your mess away at once, but as you trust Him more and more, and that trust turns to a deep love you will see Him work in your life and one day you truly will be able to say to The Lord “Make yourself at home” and mean it, because what has happened on the inside is now apparent on the outside. Because every room, draw and cupboard in your heart will be open to Him and His Holy Spirit. Jesus wants to dwell with you 24/7 not just on Sundays at church or when He is invited. And, do you know what!! When you have that sort of relationship with Him and ask Him for something no matter what it is, your prayer will line up with His will as you say “Your Will Be Done.” Because you know in your heart of hearts that whatever is His Will is the very best answer for all concerned, even if it doesn’t line-up with what you originally prayed for. You will submit to it, not because you have received or not received your request, but because of the complete love, trust and commitment you now have in Christ. Now as your love, trust and submission becomes more evident, so will the power of God work in your life, Perhaps not in great dramatic ways but slowly, you will notice and hear God speaking to you about family and friends giving you words of insight, encouragement and understanding. You will not be so preoccupied with this world and all the theatrics going on all around you, but will be open to the Spirit of God and what He is telling you to say and do for particular people, He must be free to enter every room of your life, to Live with you, as you discuss your daily routine while living with Him paying attention to the words of wisdom He imparts to you, if you’re not sure ask again, sometimes that’s a bit hard but go with it. Having Spiritual intimacy with God is for you not just about you. God will give you as much of His power as you can handle without pride taking over, I believe that’s why God dishes it out very slowly. And only to people who can handle it. Power belongs to God, If you want His Power, He will give it to you, but only if He can come and dwell (LIVE) with you. You and I are the Temple of God. If we expect God Almighty the Creator of the Universe to come and live with us, we must keep our Temple Pure and Holy. This is not easy, convenient or comfortable. It needs not only an everyday clean up, but several times a day, starting when you wake each morning, I used to set my alarm for every hour or two, just to say a short prayer of Praise or thanksgiving to our God. To acknowledge Him and His presence, but now I don’t need to because I find myself speaking to Him all the time, His response is always clear, confident and caring. I don’t know if any of you have been to Niagara Falls. They separate North America from Canada, absolutely beautiful, Going from the American side to the Canadian border, one is able to get an apartment in the nearby high-rise motels where you can see “The Falls” way in the distance, this wets your appetite for the next day when you are going to cross the border. The next day you do cross the border where there’s a large fenced park, now you can hear the Thundering Falls in the distance and even feel the odd bit of spray sting your face, your excitement is growing, as you are admitted into another area where there’s a pool and you are given a raincoat and umbrella and taken on a launch closer to the monster Falls. There you get to experience the thunder, the roar, the pouring spray like rain and the complete soaking of “Niagara Falls.” It’s an experience and opportunity you wouldn’t want to miss. I have told you this story to try to explain the adventure you can have When committing to Christ, The journey, the anticipation and the Glorious experience of a knowing, trusting and loving commitment to Jesus. Yes, it takes time, all good relationships do, but, there’s none more rewarding than having the very presence of Almighty God so close and personal. No, it does not all come at once or happen overnight, but, like the experience of going to Niagara Falls, it comes in stages, slowly you will pass through experience after experience as you learn to recognise, listen and trust the leading of God’s Holy Spirit, and to communicate with Him in His own language of love, trust and Commitment. And the best part of all is..As you regularly renew your commitment to Christ, this wonderful Relationship and experience will never fade or come to an end. As His Grace and presence become stronger and stronger in your life. It will stay, and in fact, improve during the rest of your stay here on earth and go with you into eternity. And when you get to Heaven God wont be a stranger you are meeting for the first time, No, Your relationship is already established. Thank you for reading my thoughts on this subject. I have lived in this world a long, long time. I have no great attributes or credentials. My only boast is.. The God of all Creation Knows me by name because I am fully committed to Him and His Word. Come and join us. You will never regret it. God bless us All in Jesus Name. Phaline.

29. GOD GIVEN GOALS. John 3 v6.

We all have been given Goals in life and the appropriate giftings to achieve them, Our God is the giver of both. In the above scripture Jesus said “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. (John 3. 6.) When you have a desire that is born of the flesh, don’t expect God to fulfil it. Its okay to admire and learn from gifted, successful people, as long as you don’t try to duplicate them. It’s all right to emulate their good character and qualities even seek their input, but you need to go to God the architect of each of our lives and ask Him to show you His blueprint for your life. Even though David’s desire was to build The Temple, God told him his son Solomon, would ultimately build it. David’s job was to raise the money and materials for the project. If you’re a make-it-happen sort of person, that will go against your grain. But if you let Him, God’s Spirit will lead you as He did Paul (see Acts 16.6) when he (Paul0 attempted to go to Asia, Bithynia, and Troas. God spoke to him in a vision telling him “No, I want you to go to Macedonia Instead. God will come to your help if you keep in communication with Him. This happened for me...When My Husband John was thirty nine years old he was diagnosed with a serious Heart condition, We had a growing family of seven. John had been successfully running his own Brick laying business in Christchurch for several years. We prayed a great deal about his condition, and eventually in October 1988 the Lord led us down here to Waimate, where John could have a quieter life. After a few years of lifestyle farming, his health worsened and in 2016 The Lord took him home. That left me stuck out here, with no licence, (The result of very poor eyesight a problem which I have had since berth) and no bus or taxi service. Although friends and family were and still are very good to me, I didn’t feel much use to God or anyone else. So I prayed and asked God what He wanted me to do with the rest of my life. At the age of seventy something I started writing, sat, quietly and studied, I gained a couple of diplomas through correspondence and here I am writing for God, I will never be a great author or anything like that, but I can occupy my remaining years by passing on the knowledge and experience I have, and hopefully fill the goal God has put in front of me. I didn’t ever dream God would use me in this way, but Like Abraham I looked at what I had. I came from a Christian Home, had A Good Christian Education, I have travelled a bit, married a Christian and brought up seven children. I have always been interested in learning Scripture and writing stories. I gained two diplomas, and have written a couple of books. So it wasn’t too difficult to see where God was leading me. And so it will be with anyone who wants to see where God is leading them, see what gifts and talents you have, God gave them to you to use in the furtherance of His Kingdom. Let Him set your goals and You will be heading in the right direction. Book shops are full of volumes telling you, you can be anything you want to be, and while there’s some truth in that, it’s not the whole truth. The Truth is;-- God has gifted, talented and enabled each of us to accomplish different achievements for the benefit of His Kingdom. If you want to be a pianist or Oprah Singer but hate all the practise it entails to be one, forget it, you wont succeed, but if you are quite happy to dig up dirt all day and search for archaeological remains, take it to God and ask Him if that’s what you should be doing. God will only empower you to be what He has gifted enabled and equipped you to be. God told Jeremiah “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah replied “Alas Sovereign Lord, I do not know how to speak; I am too young.” But the Lord said to me “Do not say I am too young. You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you.” declares the Lord. Then the Lord reached out His hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth.” (Jeremiah 1;5-9). That was the Scripture I received from the Lord, when He first asked me to follow Him, I told Him I was almost blind and for that reason found learning very difficult, within a week I was given a special magnifying glass and also a large print bible. I found that God doesn’t ask us to do anything without equipping us and giving us the grace to do it, so that His will can be accomplished.. It’s hard work yes!, and can only be achieved by His Will, Grace and Input. Also He chooses the most unlikely and ill equipped people to do such work. Why? So neither Jeremiah nor I or anybody else can claim the Glory which belongs to Him alone. When God equips you with one talent, He doesn’t give you a five-talent assignment and vice versa see (Matthew 25;14-15) and here’s the good news the one talent person and the five talent person will stand before Him and hear the same commendation “Well done good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25.21.) All He wants is our cooperation, He’ll do the rest. When you recognise and embrace God’s plan for your life you will tap into the power you will need to fulfil it. Keep trusting in God, Yes, You will make mistakes, but don’t let that derail you, or gravitate you to false humility which will handicap you spiritually, mentally and emotionally. In ” (Prov.18;21)”As surely as the tongue can bring death or life” You must learn to speak God’s word over the vision He has given you. It’s a mistake to think you can play God’s role or that He will play yours. But once you understand your personal assignment and tap into His power, you can start believing for success, regardless of what obstacles may stand in your way. When you know you’re in the Will of God, doing what He told you to do, You can stand confidently on the following Scriptures. (Zechariah 4;6) (Joshua 23;10) (Psalm138;-3). And you will know you are not alone, God is with You. (Isaiah 43;4.) “I will give men for you and people for your life.” God will always send people to help you with your assignment. Personally speaking I am eternally grateful to God for all the friends He has given me over the years that have helped me, not only with my Handicap (lack of sight) but also with what I believe is my God-given assignment. Without such friends and family, many of the things I have done would not have been possible. I am forever grateful to them for answering God’s call and to my God for sending them my way. We need to ask God to send people who belong in our life. In Exodus 17, we read, as long as Moses kept his hands raised Israel’s armies prevailed in battle, but when he grew tired the battle went the other way. So Aaron and Hur stood by Moses and held up his hands until victory over the Amalekites had been achieved. You need people who will hold up your hands and strengthen you. Paul took an entire chapter of the New Testament to acknowledge and thank all those who had made it possible for him to succeed in his calling. Some of us are stubborn and self-centred; and hold the philosophy ‘it’s my way or the highway’ with that attitude you will burn through people, don’t do it! When God sends gifted people into your life, acknowledge, respect, train, motivate and reward them, by doing that, you will fulfil, your goal and create a win/win situation for everybody. Discern who belongs in your life and who doesn’t. One of the toughest parts of reaching your goal is discovering that some of the people closest to you don’t share it or want to be part of it. You can spend years trying to convince them. You may even be able to buy their short-term loyalty, but eventually they’ll leave you, often breaking your heart in the process. (In 2 Timothy1-15.) Paul writes..”All those in Asia have turned away from me” One can almost hear the heartache and disappointment in his words. When God gives you a great goal you may experience the same thing. Somebody once said “In prosperity our friends know us; In adversity we know our friends” How true!! Here are some scriptural references you may like to look up (Job 19.19) (Psalm 38.v11.) (Proverbs 25.19) The truth is people who don’t respect your goal will detract from it, and if you insist on holding on to them, they will end up hurting you. In (Matthew 10.14) Jesus tells us “If you are not welcomed in a place, shake the dust of that place off your feet.” In order to reach your God given goal, sometimes you have to do that. God told the Prophet Habakkuk “Write down the vision and make it plane...So that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and not delay” Note the word delay, God can give a vision overnight. But usually it wont be fulfilled overnight. You’ll face disappointments, discouragements and delays. Because your vision always costs more than you estimated and takes longer than you planed, it can become blurred by your circumstances and emotions. That’s why it’s so important to write it down and keep it in front of you! Why did God tell Abraham that his children would be as numerous as the stars in Heaven? Because stars are something you can physically look at and count. (Proverbs 29.18 ) tells us “Where there is no vision the people perish “ the word “perish” suggests something that’s slowly decaying. And that’s what happens when you don’t keep your God-Given vision in front of you. With a clear-cut written goal, You’ll always know where you are at, and remember what God has called you to do. Thank you for reading my thoughts on “God’s Goals For Your Life” by following the principles I’ve mentioned, and allowing God to go ahead of you, you will succeed. Pray Often, Keep Faithful, and “Fear Not”...Then He will go ahead of you, and be your Rear Guard as well. … God Bless and keep us all in the palm of His hand. Phaline. -----------------------

28 FORGIVENESS.

Forgiveness is one of the most necessary attributes a Christian has to cultivate, also one of the most difficult to achieve, because as Christians, we are required to forgive. When Peter asked Jesus How many times he should forgive his brother he was being quite magnanimous in saying “Seven times!” but Jesus said “No, seventy times seven”, that means as many times as he asks to be forgiven. There is no limit to forgiveness. That’s hard eh! but, look at it this way, if we want to be forgiven several times, (and often for the same sin) we too have to forgive others. “Forgive me my sin as I forgive others their sins” That means in the same way, so, if we hold back our forgiveness so will God hold back His forgiveness to us. In another scripture Jesus says” Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven” So yours and my forgiveness is dependent on us forgiving others. If we don’t want it to be held against us we have to loose others here on earth. So we have to think very carefully when we hold a grudge it could very easily come back to bight us. . Here is a story I heard today, I’d like to pass it on to you.--- “My name is Trevor, but people call me Trev, I am now forty four years old. When I was a child, night after night I was beaten by my father when he came home from the pub in a drunken rage. So, the first chance I got I ran away from home, I was fourteen. In time the physical scars faded, but the emotional ones still haunted me, leaving me with a hatred for my father which led me into fits of depression stuck in the pain of the past which cost me valuable relationships. Even the people who loved me, despaired and grow weary that I’d ever get better despite their efforts to help me. Then a friend told me about Jesus, she was kind enough to spend time with me, it took several months. but Jesus slowly changed my life and now I’m free.” That was Trev’s story, Do you know someone like that? or are you that someone? Do you want to move towards healing and find joy? You can. Trevor remembers when he agreed to pray for his dad and forgave him. That was when the healing started and now he is spiritually and emotionally healed, he has kept on forgiving and praying for his father and those old memories no longer hold him prisoner. Jesus said “pray for those who spitefully use you (Luke 6.28)” The word “Spiteful” means you did nothing to cause or deserve it, That your offender hurt you for reasons you may never understand. That’s why Jesus prayed on the cross,”Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”(Luke 23. 34.) That Scripture doesn’t let the offender off the hook, No, they will have to live with the guilt of what they have done, and unless they turn to God for forgiveness they’ll never have peace, but you will. When you decide to forgive someone and pray for them. You can then take back your power and reclaim your life. Sometimes, we think we have forgiven someone, but we still harbour hard feelings towards them; this is natural, but not Christian, (few things in Human nature are) here are some indications that one has some work to do in this area. We become resentful every time we think of them, We avoid them, We often rehearse the incident mentally, We take every opportunity to remind them of what they did to us. What we are doing is justifying an unforgiving attitude. (Berrying the axe and marking the spot) It is well for us to remember,… There are two things God will not share, (1) His Glory (Isaiah 42.8.) and (2) His right to settle the score. (Romans12.19-21) Paul writes Never take revenge. The Scriptures say “I will take revenge, I will pay them back”says The Lord, Instead, If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads. Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.” One of the main problems with unforgiven sin is, it causes resentment which chains you to the offender, but you’re the one who ends up as a hostage not only to sin, but to that person. Dwelling on something your parents, Spouse teacher or coach did to you, or, how someone else took credit for the work you had done or, you believe someone said something about you which may or may not be true, all these things pile up and make you, not them, become a very bitter person, who goes around miserable, while the person who hurt you doesn’t even know you are upset. Don’t give anyone that kind of control over your life, Drop it, forgive, hand it over to God, Trust Him to work it out. Then move on. Sometimes truly forgiving a person is an extremely difficult thing to do, it requires a humble spirit, a tender heart and a profound love for God. All these things will keep God on His throne while one goes through what can be a very traumatic experience, Especially when it involves family relationships. Such offences cut deep into our emotions and sometimes last for generations one may even find they need professional help. Find a good Christian professional, they can and will help not only mentally but Spiritually and emotionally as well. When it comes to God’s forgiveness, Knowing is better than feeling. The Bible says, “The greater the offence, the greater the need to forgive the offender in order to get on with your life. Here’s how God’s forgiveness works; consciousness of sin leads to conviction of sin, and conviction of sin leads to confession of sin, confession of sin leads to cleansing of sin, and cleansing of sin leads to confidence before God (see 1 John 3 21-22). You say “but I don’t feel worthy of God’s forgiveness.” You will never be worthy of it! Because His forgiveness is not based on your worthiness, but on Christ’s worthiness! Furthermore, God is not like your parents, teachers or football coach; He doesn’t insist you squirm and be missable for a few days so that you will ‘learn your lesson’ before He forgives you. That would mean playing a part in earning His forgiveness NO! It’s by God’s Grace, and His Grace alone That We are forgiven (see Ephesians 2 8-9.)! Grace means “undeserved favour”. So when God forgives you, honour Him by forgiving yourself and moving forward. Two Commandments Jesus gave, Love God and love your neighbour, If we always try to keep these two commandments in mind we will find that the most loving thing we can do for someone is to try and think the best of them, give them the benefit of the doubt, find a reason or even an excuse why they said or did something that may have upset us. We all have off days and get a bit grouchy at times due to anything from bad weather to our hormones and a million things between. Remember, don’t react, keep the door (mouth) shut and smile. God will help you if you take the first step towards peace forgiveness and reconciliation. Thank you for reading this word on Forgiveness and be grateful that while we were still sinners, Jesus came, died and forgave us our sins to justify us before Almighty God His Father, thus providing us with the only way to get to Heaven. Thank You Lord Jesus. Amen. Phaline. ----------------------------------------

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. -------------------------