"For ask now of the days that are past..." Deut 4.32

Typically whenever we hear a text such as this, or Jer 6.16 where the Bible tells us to ask and seek for the old paths, we are prone to think that God has done some great works in the past (and indeed he has) but that today he is through with those works. Our text does not imply that at all though; in its entirety it reads, "Ask now of the former days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as great as this is, or hath been heard like it?"We must not get caught in the trap that the devil has laid for us in thinking that God has done mighty works of old, but that today he is powerless to help us. One of the great attributes of God is that he is eternally consistent. He never changes, that includes all of his power, all of his grace, all of his love, all of his mighty acts that he has shown. Israel had seen some great things in their day, they had seen Almighty God destroy nations greater and mightier than they were, they had seen Gods hand keep their shoes from wearing out for 40 years in the wilderness. But most amazing of all, they saw God speak to man, and give him his words to have and hold, and a mountain burning with blackness and darkness, and man lived! God had been at work in the days of Israels wandering in the wilderness in ways that were never heard of. Today God desires to do a work in us that has never been heard of before. There is certainly opposition, there is definitely difficulties, but there is a work that God wants to see done today. The wilderness we are in today might just be the one God has placed in our path to the promised land to do things for us, to us, and through us that have never been heard of before.

" O give thatnks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever." Ps 136.1

Has God ever been good to you? That is a question that would be impossible to say no to; for if we are still alive, and our souls and bodies are not being burned in utter torments of the most terrible caverns of hell, God has been good to us! As we are well aware, we have no power within ourselves to retain our souls. There is no power that we have to keep our souls from the lake of fire at any given moment in time. We are terribly corrupt, and utterly powerless to help ourselves. When we recognize this fact, we can certainly cry out as the Psalmist did; O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Let us be thankful though that God does not only take care of the eternal matters, but he also takes care of the temporal, or earthly matters as well. If God was not good at all times, if his mercy slumbered for just a moment, this life would be a literal hell on earth. God has been good to each and every one of us. His mercy is measureless, and his love is limitless. He does not have mercy for a span, but as this Psalm says, it endures for ever. Has there ever been a time in your life when you have recognized the mercy of God in your life? If so, his mercy, whether you realize it or not is just as real today as it ever was. When you endured some hardship, and God was there through it all, his mercy is the same today. When you lived in days of prosperity and peace, it was Gods mercy that took you there, and no matter what position you are in today the mercy of God has not changed. Oh let us give thanks!!

"...Surely I come quickly..." Rev. 22:20

We often times ponder the coming of our Lord, and we think of it as something in the future. We never read in scripture of his coming as being at some distant time, it is always spoken of as being imminent. We realize this but we rarely practise it. The days have been fulfilled, of which the Bible speaks of as being perilous times, we have seen evil men and seducers wax worse and worse. We can certainly see that these days cannot be much different than the days of Noah, where they were eating and drinking, and marrying, and giving in marriage until the flood came and swept them all away. Men today have left the God of heaven out of every conceivable aspect of their lives. God was kicked out of home long ago, and replaced with the television, computer, radio, and other vanities such as these. God was kicked out of the schools long ago, and his fear was replaced with the fear of everything else. God was kicked out of our personal lives when we got those careers that require more time than we have, so that we cannot meditate on God alone. God was kicked out of Churches, and replaced with programs to suit each one of the unregenerate congregations personal fancies. Certainly he is coming quickly. This is our hope, that the Lord will return and fix all this mess that man has monkeyed with, and got all monkeyed up. I used to go into an abandoned house when we first got married, and on the wall there hung a picture with the clouds parting, and it simply said "Perhaps Today". What a great reminder that is; "Perhaps".

" For the LORD'S portion is his people..." Deut. 32.9

The portion that we have in this life varies from person to person, some people have a large lot, they have all the money they can stand, they have the finest of clothes the nicest of vehicles, fanciest of houses; all that one may seem to desire. On the other hand there are others, whose portion it is to be in a meager house, with clothes sufficient to cover their back, they don't eat the finest of meals, their vehicles need constant work to keep them running. These things have been true throughout history, as we read in Ecclesiastes. It seems there is little we can do to effect our portion on this life; for, " there is that spendeth, and yet increaseth, and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, yet it tendeth to penury". Whatever our lot is we should be content therewith, yet always seek more, and better ways to please God with our lives, and our means. This passage does not say anything about our portion though, WE (the children of God) are HIS portion. As we should properly be content with our lot, God Almighty certainly is with his. He delights in us as his children. When we do things to dishonor him, he still delights in us. This blessedness does not come on us from any goodness of our own, but through the imputed righteousness of our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ. What a grand thought, that we are Gods portion; what a grand responsibility, we are Gods portion. Our lives should be ever spent to the glory of God as we are his portion. When people look at us in this world, they see that we are all that God has on this earth. The whole creation has been corrupted by sin, and we, as his children are the only part of creation to this point that has been redeemed. Let us live up to our Lords pleasing, and make his, a glorious portion on this earth.

"... he himself knew what he would do." Jn 6:6

Have you ever come to a place in your life where you did not know what to do, which way to turn, or where to go? Certainly we all have. We will, from time to time come to these dilemmas in life. At such times as these faith must take over, and know that even though we don't know, he does. The disciples had come to this such place in our text, and were faced with problems too big for them to handle. The crowd was too great fro the resources they had, and they did not know if the town even had enough for them to go and buy, so they might all eat a little. It is at these times, when our Lord knows already what he is going to do; so we must flee to him, and ask him for his will, for his provision, for his guidance. These times, as frightening as they may be, are some of the most blessed times in our Christian pilgrimage. Had the disciples not been placed in this situation they never would have seen this mighty display of Gods power through his anointed, the Lord Jesus. Had they not been in this situation they would have never had their faith confirmed in such a grand manner as this. Here they stood, in the place of either showing through as true servants of the Living God, or as being counterfeits. They did not depend upon themselves in this situation, but on the Lord. The disciples were not aware of his plan, that he already had, but he was. When we find ourselves in a place as this, we can rise up on wings of faith, and believe that the God who formed the universe not only knows about tomorrow, but also knows what he will do. The Lord does not make hasty decisions, he has everything planned; so let us trust his leading knowing that "he himself (knows) what he (will) do.

"... whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he." Pro. 16:20

The source of all spirituality is based upon the single contingency of faith. We as the children of God should be well acquainted with faith, as it is the reason we enjoy the standing that we have with our creator. We through faith, are able not only to view God Almighty as our creator, as the rest of his creation does, but we are able to rise up and call him Father. Oh what a divine privilege is enjoyed by us, all because of faith. Were it not for our faith in the atoning blood of Christ, the wonderful grace of God that is explained with no better word than amazing would be of no effect to us. We who have experienced the grace of God in salvation have not done so upon a special merit of our own; but rather, it is predicated on faith in what he has done for us already. Where else but with our God do you find such profound simplicity? When we trust him we are saved, for when we trust him we are pleasing him. We find that it is an utter impossibility to please our God outside of the confines of faith. "Without faith it is impossible to please him..." Heb 11:6. The pleasure of God should be every child of his' delight as we live here below. How amazing though, that we find when we please him, he will give us more than salvation, but joy as well! Too often we think that we can find joy in the things of this world, with all of it's delights, and attractions that try to allure our souls. We must shrug off the world with all of it's passing fancies, and seek to please him who is above this world, and owns all that is contained within. We will find the word of God to be a sure foundation, and when we begin to trust him, we will find the joy we desire, to flow out of his bosom and fill us with all gladness.

"They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever." Ps. 125

What a standing we are given when we put our trust in the proper place. There is no other nation, religion, tribe, ethnicity, or any other entity that can boast of such a claim. We are not promised that we will endure for a time; but rather that we will abide for ever. Often times we think of the Christian life as pure endurance, (which for some it certainly is) when, if our faith does not waiver from our heavenly Father, our life is a constant abiding with profound peace. We are able to abide with HIM!!! No power is able to shake us from his side. (Wow I am getting excited) The devil will unleash all of his furies against us, just as nature has against mount Zion for some 6,000 +/- years; and just as nature has never shaken mount Zion from it's foundations, Satan can never shake us from ours. This place where we abide is not in the vicinity of our God, but in his awesome presence. When we abide with him we can boldly say " If GOD be for us, who can be against us", and again, "the LORD is my helper I will not fear what man may do unto me". We who have trusted Jesus as our personal Saviour have promise of eternal life, we also have promise of eternal protection. We can know for sure that whatever may come, our Heavenly Father will always be there, and will never suffer the foot of the righteous to be removed. Where we put our trust is of utmost importance; if we trust government, it will fail. If we trust man, they will die. If we trust ourselves, we will be dismayed by our own weaknesses; but if we trust the LORD, he will never fail; if we trust the LORD, we will never fail.