Is this the middle of summer?”

Midsummer’s day has arrived – hopefully a token of warmer days to come, but not too hot we hope for comfort’s sake! Although midsummer brings us the longest daylight hours, it doesn’t seem to us that this is the middle of summer! Very little of our summer appears to have arrived yet, but we do hope it will last a while.

Just as midsummer’s day is not like the middle of our summer, midday doesn’t feel like the middle of the day either, even though the sun is at its highest overhead. For most of us in this part of the world much more of our day comes after midday, even stretching to midnight sometimes, and that’s not the middle of the night either!

We know that “mid” does not always mean “middle” or centre. But halfway or “the middle” is often a significant point to reach in projects we plan, in journeys we make, in holidays we enjoy, in books we read, and so on.

In a book I love to read the middle point is very interesting. The book is the Bible. It’s a big book with 1,189 chapters and 31,102 verses. The middle verses are the first two in Psalm 103. They say, “Bless the Lord O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all His benefits.”

It’s easy to forget about God and how good He is to us. This Psalm reminds us of how He cares for us daily, providing what our bodies and minds need. It also reminds us of His love in providing eternal salvation to our souls when we put our trust in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you done that? This midsummer why not take time to read this Psalm and reflect on all that God has done for you?

Written by a Guest Blogger

All photos courtesy of Unsplash

Forgiveness - Is it possible?

Is forgiveness a mountain that is too hight to climb?

In whom we have redemption through his blood, the 

forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

The Bible - Ephesians 1:7

So what's the verdict?

Really there are a number of questions which we need to answer to answer the main question - Forgiveness - is it possible? I'll address them one by one: 

Why do I need to be forgiven?

Are guilty feelings just manufactured by how we are brought up? Are they just a legacy from more religious days? Are these just hang ups that we should be clear of now that we live in a more liberal society? 

These are good questions.  Let me start with what the Lord Jesus said. He believed that we all need forgiveness and that His Father, God, is the person that we need to go to for forgiveness. If you have ever said the Lord's prayer you will know this to be true. 

The Lord's Prayer - Matthew 6:9-13

9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

The Lord Jesus added:

14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

So the Lord Jesus believed that:

1. we need forgiveness, 
2. it can be obtained by prayer to his Father and,
3. the evidence that we really have it will be seen in whether we are prepared to forgive others!

Who have I wronged when I do wrong? 

The Bible teaches that God is our Creator, our Judge and the setter of the rules.

God summarises and concludes in the letter to the Romans chapter three that 'there is none righteous, no, not one' (v10) and 'there is none that doeth good, no, not one' (v12). You might think that this is very tough but remember the God as Creator and the Almighty is the 'setter of the rules'. God is not saying that no one ever does any good or that no one ever gets anything right but He is saying that we are not characteristically right (we are morally wrong and sinful) and we are not consistently good in what we do.

Could God not just forget sin and ignore it; after all he is a God of love isn't he?

God is a God of love but that is only one aspect of His character. He has other qualities that sit comfortably with the fact that 'God is love".

God is just and fair. In Psalm 97:2 he describes His throne (his seat and style of administration -  'righteousness and justice are the foundation of his (God's) throne'. In Genesis 18:25 we discover that from the earliest civilisations of planet earth God was described as 'the judge of all the earth' and he always does what is right i.e. He is righteous. 

Men in the Bible realised that their sin was essentially against God. It affected and indeed wronged others but it was against God as it broke His Laws. In Psalm 51 King David confessed - 'against thee, thee only, have I sinned'.

God has appointed His Son, The Lord Jesus as the judge in the final court. There will be no appeal procedure in place, John 5:22 and Acts 17:31.  He has not only been appointed to  judge the world one day but presently He is the Saviour of the world (John 4:42).  His offer today is one of forgiveness (Matthew 9:6). This is only possible because he 'died for our sins' in full and final payment to God for all wrong and evil.


In life only the person who has been sinned against is in a position to offer forgiveness. So it is with God. We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God (Roman 3:23). It is God we have wronged and He chooses to offer forgiveness through His Son, Jesus Christ.

What if I don't have the means to pay; I just can't meet God's demands on my life?

This is where the grace of God comes in. God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us, Romans 5:8. God doesn't ask us to pay, he offers forgiveness on the basis that His Son has already paid through the death of the cross. 

Your move!

God calls for a response from you. The words repent, confess, call, trust, believe, come,  and receive Christ all come to mind. You cannot acquire forgiveness on the back of a good or religious life but you can receive it by faith in Jesus Christ. 

I leave you with the words of Acts 13:38,39 - 38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

To access podcasts and videos explaining the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

This site will give you access to Bible Teaching Audio's and Video's as well.

Why does life hurt so much?

It’s our aim in this article to address some of the questions that people ask in life and to discover what the Word of God (the Bible) has to say about it. We place real confidence in the Bible because we have become convinced that the Bible is God’s communication to men and women and we wish people to benefit from what God has said.

I’m sure that most would agree that life hurts! That hurt can be caused by the normal progression from youth to old age and all the problems that come with ageing. Sickness also brings its heartaches! Natural disasters are devastating and destructive! To say nothing of the dreadful treatment that people endure at the hands of their fellow man. War and acts of terror produce unimaginable horrors. I’m sure that at times we all question why life is such a difficult and a hurtful experience.

Is there an appropriate response to this? The first thing I’d like to say is that “it's not personal”. What I mean is that we are not usually suffering as individuals because of something specific we have done. Before I go any further let me qualify that statement.  There are times in life when we do reap what we sow. There actually are consequences to our actions! But all the awful things that happen in the world are not usually the direct result of our personal actions.

My main thought when I say it’s not personal is this: ;people don’t die as a result of some sinful thing that they have done; old age doesn’t come because you did something wrong. The fact that we die, that we have sickness, that we grow old is explained to us in the Bible. The bible states that all of these conditions and circumstances exist because sin came into the world. As a result of Adam, the first man in the world, disobeying God the floodgates to all that was evil and damaging were opened. The fact that all of this is the result of the first man’s rebellion to God is explained by the biblical statement “by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin”,; Romans 5:12.

The Bible clearly teaches that God gave man a choice:

Obey Him,

Enjoy His presence,

Enjoy all that He created for him….

But, there is a but, God warned him that the day he ate of the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that he would die. And that is what happened! Adam didn’t die physically but he died as far as his relationship with God was concerned. He was dead spiritually. Sin, death, pain and suffering became the normal experience of life. He had to work by the sweat of his brow for everything. Childbirth became a painful experience for the woman and the earth was cursed. So life hurts as a result; a fact that we know only too well.

However, what is quite incredible about the biblical story of salvation is that God had already a plan in place. God’s plan to provide forgiveness and to offer salvation to men and women was devised long before time began, 1 Peter 1: 19,20.

God had always planned to send His ‘Son to be the Saviour of the world’. He made sure in the writings of the Old Testament, the first half of the Bible, that we would know Him when he visited earth. In the Old Testament, God told the prophets how to identify His Son. There were specific facts such as what family He would be born into, His distinctive and sinless lifestyle and His mode of death. Normally how people will die is an unknown fact but God was making a point in defining how Jesus would die in advance (see Psalm 22:16, Zechariah 12:10, Luke 2: 34,35 – all of these passages of scripture speak of crucifixion which at the time was unknown and of the piercing of the hands and feet of the Lord Jesus). All of this information was so that when He came we would know Him.

To me the greatest and most amazing thing about this whole thing is that God came to earth in person. He was a real but sinless man. He suffered, He hurt and He endured death to pay for our sin. God wants us to be forgiven therefore the price and the legal penalty for our sin was dealt with by the Lord Jesus Christ when He died upon the cross.

The Bible explains it like this:  “Christ died for our sins.”, 1 Corinthians 15:3, “He was despised and rejected of men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”, Isaiah 53:3.

Today God offers us not hurt but forgiveness;

Today God offers us love.

The Bible tells us, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life”, John 3:16. The greatest proof of the love of God is that, “God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”, Romans 5:8.

I want to point you to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, if you pray to God, today, confessing your sins He will forgive you.

I trust that you will do this.

May God bless you!

This blog is written by Stephen at

Feeling rejected?

What does it feel like to be rejected? Most of us have been left out of a group or event at some stage or another. It doesn't feel nice. In fact it can feel quite horrible! There are times when we might feel justified to exclude someone. Not that I am suggesting that it's a good thing to do but if someone has been mean, unkind, thoughtless or just plain annoying you might be tempted to exclude them from your circle of friends. 

The Lord Jesus Christ was literally the best friend to have. Friends are special and good friends are rare! The Bible advises that if a person wants to have friends then they must 'show themselves friendly,' Proverbs 18:24. This same proverb also states 'there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother'. Personally I think that this is an indirect reference to Jesus Christ. If it's not speaking about him personally it definitely defines his character. Family relationships should be the closest of relationships. We say 'blood is thicker than water'. So this proverb is saying there is a person who can have an even closer relationship to you than a family one. The only person that I know that this is true about is the Lord Jesus Christ. 

When living on earth, the Bible describes the Lord Jesus as being the friend of publicans and sinners, Matthew 11:19. In the days in which Jesus lived on earth the term 'publicans and sinners' described the lowest of the low in society. Isn't it amazing that the Son of God, Jesus, was described as the friend of this group of people. That is so encouraging! If his interest extended to the lowest strata of society then his love and grace can reach all of mankind. I was visiting in two areas of London today. Abbey Wood and Bexley Heath. In one area the people think that they are the best of people; in the other, well, they know life is tough and times can be hard and they haven't had it great. But do you know God and his Son, make no distinctions - they love all people equally. 

One of the most famous verses in the Bible is John 3:16. It states 'For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life,' John 3:16.

Notice God loved - the world

Notice God love for His Son - he is the only begotten (meaning unique and unmatched)

Notice that God gave - His only begotten Son, that is to the death of the cross to pay for our sins.

How will you respond?

The options are: you (the word whosoever is used because no one is excluded) can entrust your eternal destiny to Jesus Christ.  Please do not ignore him but depend on him for salvation!

The consequences - salvation or damnation. 

There are only two destinations in the next life - Heaven or Hell.

You can either confess your sin to God and receive Christ as your Lord and Saviour and end up in heaven....

OR 

You can deny it or delay it and end up in hell. 

Here is the verse again - 'For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life,' John 3:16.

I started by asking if you had ever been rejected or knew what it felt like. My reason for asking is that Jesus Christ was despised and rejected of men. They accused him falsely, executed him illegally nailing him to a tree. I thank God that he 'once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God,' 1 Peter 3:18. 

He is the friend that sticks closer than a brother!

He is the one who died for us even when we were his enemies.

Will you trust him for the salvation of your soul?

If you have further questions please get in touch via www.seekthetruth.org.uk.