Ears Open or Closed?

Ears open or closed?

Here from the book or Proverbs and the mouth of Jesus is something to think about.

“Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor 

will himself call out and not be answered.” 

                                                          Proverbs 21:13.

Jesus said,

"Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.  

For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' 

"They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' 

"He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' 

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."  Matthew 25:41-46.

Please think about.

Do Gods Work

  Do Gods work

In the book of proverbs we read,

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. 

Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." Proverbs 31:8,9.

All too often I think the church, particularly the evangelical church here in North America fail to follow what is said here in Proverbs 31:8,9. 

While there are a lot of Churches that do reach out and help the poor, and destitute. There are also way too many who do not. Churches, evangelist and pastors who are focussing so much on the ills of society that they are seen by secular society in a negative way. 

In the book of James we read,

"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?  

Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  

If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?  

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 

But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.  

You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. 

You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?" James 2:14-20.

I like what the American Evangelist Tony Campolo said,

"These issues are biblical issues: to care for the sick, to feed the hungry, to stand up for the oppressed. I contend that if the evangelical community became more biblical, everything would change." Tony Campolo.

As Christians our faith must urge us on to help the hungry, and the oppressed. In this way we will I believe win favour with God and man. And not only that see souls won for Christ.

Please think about it. 

Please Pray

  Please pray

The Psalmist writes,

“For God alone my soul waits in silence;

from him comes my salvation.

He alone is my rock and my salvation, 

my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.” 

                                                                 Psalm 62:1,2.

If you are a believer in Christ Jesus can you say what the Psalmist is saying here? 

I know for sure there are men and women around the world who are persecuted and placed in prison for their belief in Christ Jesus that believe in this. Who trust in God no matter the circumstances they are in.

These persecuted Christians should be an inspiration to those of us in the western democracies who have the luxury of freedom to worship as we wish. 

And it is for these persecuted believers in Christ Jesus we who enjoy freedom should be praying for every day. 

Are you?

Please don’t just think about it. 

Pray for all those believers in Christ Jesus who are in prison, and persecuted daily for their belief in Him.

My Trust

  My Trust

In the book of Psalms we read,

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, 

but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” 

                                                                     Psalm 20:7.

One of my favourite quotes about believing in God comes from Blaise Pascal. It reads,

“Belief is a wise wager. Granted that faith cannot be proved, what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false? If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation, that He exists.” Blaise Pascal.

Thus my question to anyone reading this is where do you place your wager.

Please think about it.

What will He say

 What will He say

The apostle Paul writes,

“For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” Ephesians 2:10.

What is your purpose in life?

The apostle Paul speaking to believers in Christ Jesus tells us “we are Gods workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works”

Jesus said,

"Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  

I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' 

"Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  

When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?  

When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' 

"The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'" Matthew 25:34-40.

Doing good works. Doing Gods work in this world is our purpose in life.

So are you doing any good works?

When you stand before God what will he say about you?

Please think about it.

To death and beyond

  To death and beyond

The apostle Paul wrote,

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, 

but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." 

                                                                                              1Corinthians 1:18.

To those outside the Christian faith the message of Christ Jesus is foolishness. After all why would an almighty God enter the world He created only to be put to death on a cross?

My immediate answer to such a question comes from the words of Jesus who said,

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:16,17.

That being said, God does not do things the way man would necessarily expect Him to do things.

God wants people to have faith in Him. Which for many people is a very hard thing. Most people do not believe what they cannot see, feel or hear. 

But God knows that true men and women of faith will follow what they believe to the point of death and beyond. Which is what he wants. 

Are you one of those people?

Please think about it.

Dedicated to God

  Dedicated to God.

In the book of Deuteronomy we read,

"Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk to them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up

You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." Deuteronomy 6:4-9.

How dedicated to God are you? 

Do you,

“...love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”?

  Is your faith so much a part of your life that even without saying anything people who see you know you are a believer in Christ Jesus?

Francis of Assisi wrote,

“Preach the Gospel at all times 

and when necessary use words.”

                                                Francis of Assisi.

Is this what you are doing?

Please think about it.

A simple question

 A simple question

The Psalmist writes,

“Praise the LORD. 

Praise God in his sanctuary;

 praise him in his mighty heavens. 

Praise him for his acts of power; 

praise him for his surpassing greatness. 

Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, 

praise him with the harp and lyre, 

praise him with tambourine and dancing,

 praise him with the strings and flute, 

praise him with the clash of cymbals,

 praise him with resounding cymbals. 

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. 

Praise the LORD.” 

                                Psalm 150

Here is a simple question if you consider yourself a Christian, a believer in Christ Jesus. How often do you take time when you are not in church to praise God?

Please think about it.

The Earth is Full

  The Earth is full

"How many are your works, O LORD! 

In wisdom you made them all;

 the earth is full of your creatures." 

                                                                Psalm 104:24.

George Washington Carver said,

"I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in." George Washington Carver.

Sadly there are many in the world that don’t “tune in”. These are men and women who refuse, no matter how good the evidence choose to ignore what the Psalmist states,

"The heavens declare the glory of God; 

the skies proclaim the work of his hands." 

                                                                  Psalm 19:1.

They don’t even believe the scientists 

Dr. Arno Penzias 1978 Nobel Prize winner in Physics stating,

"Astronomy leads us to a unique event, a universe which was created out of nothing, one with a very delicate balance needed to provide exactly the conditions required to permit life and one which has an underlying (one might say ‘supernatural') plan." Dr. Arno Penzia

William Philips, Nobel prize winner in Physics states,

“I believe in God more because of science than in spite of it"William Philips

Werner Heisenberg father of Quantum Mechanics, Nobel prize winner in Physics states,

“The first gulp from the glass of natural science will make you an atheist,

but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you” Werner Heisenberg.

Even Stephen Hawking arguably one of the brightest minds of the twentieth century said,

“The universe and the laws of physics seem to have been specifically designed for us" Stephen Hawking.

That being said believing in God is an act of faith. And for many having faith in anything particularly God is a very difficult thing.

Please think about it.

For a myriad of reasons

  For a myriad of reasons

Jesus said,

"Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;  and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

"Yes Lord" she told Him, "I believe you are the Christ the Son of God, who was to come into the world," John 11:25,26,27.

The above portion of scripture is one of my favourites as it expresses my feelings toward Jesus.

I believe in God for a myriad of reasons. I have faith there is a God and that Jesus is God incarnate, The Saviour of the world, of all who will put their trust in Him, not just because the Bible tells me there is a God, but because science seems to point to the fact there is a God who created all things.

That being said there are those who would disagree with me.

Thomas Aquinas said,

“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.” Thomas Aquinas.

Thus my question to you is; Do you believe in God and that Jesus is Gods one and Only Son, God incarnate, the saviour of all who will put their trust in Him?

Please think about it.

Who is your God?

  Who is your God?

In the book of Joshua we read,

"Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshipped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.  

But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24: 14,15.

In the above passage of scripture Joshua is telling the Israelites to make up their mind. To either follow the one true God or the gods of the Amorites. 

While we in the western democracies may not want to admit it we have many Gods. Even those who call themselves Christians quite often worship other gods. The obvious being materialism. But there are other god that we may not think are gods. The following of a political leader or party. Even an obsession with your personal rights under the law of the land.

Other gods is anything that puts The Lord God Almighty second or mixes anything in with our worship of Him.

As Christians, followers of Christ Jesus in the west we need to decide who we will follow. Our political leaders, political parties, materialism,...or The Lord God Almighty.

Who are you following?

Please think about it.

We can ignore but not evade

  We can ignore but not evade

The Psalmist wrote,

"The heavens declare the glory of God; 

the skies proclaim the work of his hands." 

                                                                     Psalm 19:1

C. S. Lewis wrote,

"We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God." C.S.Lewis.

It is said that if the Universe was expanding just a little faster life as we know it on earth would not exist. Slower and the universe would collapse thus we would not exist.

What is striking about the universe and everything in it from the largest galaxy to the smallest subatomic particle is that it is perfect order for us to exist.

This to me points to a Creator God who made the heavens and the earth and everything in it. Science done correctly will I believe one day prove there is a mathematical formula for creating the universe.

Until that time we must simply look at the world around us to see the finger prints of God.

We must have faith that God exists. Which I think for many especially intellectuals is a very hard thing.

Werner Heisenberg father of Quantum Mechanics and Nobel prize winner in physics states,

“The first gulp from the glass of natural science will make you an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you" Werner Heisenberg.

Even Stephen Hawking stated,

“The universe and the laws of physics seem to have been specifically designed for us" Stephen Hawking.

Hawking also said,

“It would be very difficult to explain why the universe should have begun in just this way, except as the act of a God who intended to create beings like us,” Stephen Hawking.

Still ultimately each person must decide for themselves if God exists. What do you think?

Please think about it.