The World we live in

At this time of year we see great changes as a new season, Autumn comes in. Have you ever considered the world we live in and this on a larger scale?

There are such lush green lands yet there are vast barren deserts.

There are peaceful countries, yet there are countries at war and conflict.

There are extremely wealthy countries, yet there are extremely poor countries.

There are people with great wealth, yet there are people with nothing. The list could go on.

We may be moved by the sight of captivating scenery, a beautiful garden or a starlit sky. On the contrary, we might feel disgust and anger at the sight of a litter-filled street, a land-scape blighted by industrial waste, or the prospect of increasing damage to our environment by global warming.

Our sense of injustice might have been aroused by the thought of the wealth enjoyed by a few in comparison to the desperate poverty suffered by millions in the world.

Occasionally we hear of the selfless love shown by people who work with the sick, the under privileged and the deprived.

Although unfortunately, we hear far more about the bad things around us, the greed, crime, violence, wars, terrorism and corruption.

Wouldn’t it be nice to live in a world of peace and equality for all, where everyone could live securely, where our bodies wouldn’t be subject to frailty and death.

I am sure you will agree that a world like that would wonderful. Well, all these good things have already been promised by Almighty God, they will one day be a reality on the earth.

In God’s Word, the Bible, we have a wonderful picture of what this world will be like when Jesus – God’s son, reigns as king, the world will become a place of beauty.

“…….. the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; It shall blossom abundantly…….. the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, And streams in the desert………The parched ground shall become a pool, And the thirsty land springs of water”. Isaiah 35 v 1-2,6-7

“Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree”. Isaiah 55 v 13.

We can live forever in this world, it has been offered to us by God. He doesn’t want us to die, He wants us to be part of that world and serve Him.

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise,…..but it long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” 2 Peter 3v9

The choice is up to us, but we need to make it before it is too late because Jesus will.

“… This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven”. Acts 1 v11

All quotations take from the New King James Bible

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Life is a Gift from God

As I write this, around 210,000 people have died worldwide as a result of the coronavirus. Many people find it difficult or impossible to believe that a loving God can exist when something like this happens. Why wouldn’t he do something about it?


As a Christian I see life as a gift from God.
Today we tend to think that life is a right, something which we are entitled to simply by virtue of being human and which nobody has the right to take away from us.
This can lead us to believe, even if only subconsciously, that God is somehow obliged to preserve our lives and keep pain and death away from us.


As I see it, he isn’t obliged to do any of those things. He gave us life as a gift, one which we do not deserve and which is given on his terms, not ours.
Nowhere in the Bible does God promise that human life will be easy or free from pain and suffering. Not even to Christians does he promise that. In fact, he warns that becoming a Christian may actually lead to life becoming more difficult than it was before.


“In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have
become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is Godbreathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:12–17)

Here Paul describes the two priorities for a Christian’s life.
First, to receive “training in righteousness” by learning from God’s message and from the example of Jesus and other Christians how we ought to live, so we can be ready for “every good work”.
Second, to accept that happiness and comfort in this life is not our goal. What is? “Salvation through faith in Christ Jesus”.


What does that mean? It means that a Christian’s hope lies in the world to come after Jesus returns from heaven, not this one.
For a Christian, this life is really a time of preparation for the day when they meet Jesus. How we respond to the pain and suffering in our lives, and in the lives of others, will shape our character and determine the person Jesus sees in
us when that day comes.


At a time in his life when it looked likely that he might die, Paul wrote:
“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.” (Philippians 1:21–24)


For a Christian, life is an opportunity to prepare oneself to meet Jesus and to help others do the same, and death is simply the last waking moment before we meet him.
Suppose you were to be given a trial or probationary period by an employer with the promise that after a certain period of time your performance would be reviewed to determine if you were to be offered a permanent position within the organisation. While this isn’t a perfect analogy (Christians don’t earn eternal life from Jesus through good performance!) it does illustrate that the life we have now is only a temporary time of testing which will (and should) inevitably come to an end.

God gives us this life as a gift, but that gift comes with certain responsibilities and instructions on how it ought to be lived. It isn’t for us to do whatever we like with and indulge ourselves. God is perfectly entitled to take it away again if we haven’t used it responsibly or if we’ve ignored his instructions.
Moreover, God isn’t being unjust or unkind to take away this life if he has an even better one to offer.


But where do our priorities lie?

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