The armour of God. [ Ephesians 6 v 11ff]

I just heard something that caused me to feel a bit annoyed,so what does one do?,well as I write this I prayed about it,told God how I feel,when things happen often unexpectedly,our first port of call should be prayer. The word of God tells us that the devil can take advantage of situations [2 Corinthians 2 v11],and of us,if we are not careful. If satan gets in he can cause so much trouble, so much hurt,to churches, to marriages,to friendships,he is just waiting an opportunity.We need to put on the whole armour of God if we are going to stand against the wiles of the devil[Ephesianns 6 v11ff]. Consider, it stresses the whole armour,we dare not neglect to leave any part of this armour of, for that leaves us unprotected,from his firey darts..Let us begin to consider this armour ,/v14/having your loins girt with  truth/it seems to me what we are being told here,is the importance of truth,the word of God.One old commentator writes,/we are not to be satisfied with holding the truth,we must let the truth hold us/.Just this week I heard on the radio a program where a minister let weird religious groups,become involved in his services.The world will applaud  him,the devil will rejoice, because the truth is being blurred,and people will be brought into confusion. That there is only one God, only one way to be saved,are truths that we must not compromise on, we will never go wrong /if we are encircled by the truth/,so says the same old commentator, and he is absolutely right.
A  prayer....Dear God let Your truth take hold me,let me never to forsake Your truth in Jesus name . Amen/

We leak [ Ephesians 4 v23]

I wonder are you worried about the future? I must confess that there are things that concern me as to my future,next year I will be seventy,and the question is should I retire?,and if I  do,what will I do?. Another thing that concerns me,will I be able to support Gods work financially?what am I saying?, I am the guy who has been writing all those bloggs,I am a preacher,and yet I am voicing concerns.The fact of the matter is I am just like you,D L  Moody,said about being filled with the Spirit,  that he leaked. I suppose what I am saying is,that the life of faith is ongoing,it is a continual process,each new day ,requires new faith,and so it will continue, old Jacob felt overwhelmed to the point of declaring,that everything was against him [Genesis 43 v36],Elijah the powerful man of prayer,fell into a deep depression,and wished himself dead[1 Kings 19].There are many others we could mention,you and I are no different,we will not always be filled with faith,we do leak,and the lesson we need to learn continually is a continual reliance upon God.,it is possible to fall at the last hurdle,as it is the first.So we must go forward yes in much weakness,depending upon the grace of God,boasting excluded, only confident in our Saviour the author and finisher of our faith
A  prayer....../Dear God help us each day to be renewed by Your Spirit, that will enable us to be over comers, and not to be overcome in Jesus name Amen /

A request. [ Matthew 10v8 ]

As I write this I suddenly remember my childhood,by today's standards I suppose we would have been classed as poor,mum had separated from my father,and he did not in anyway support us. I remember going to the pawn shop,it was a common practise, I remember having shoes with holes in them,of having to walk to school,I never did receive pocket money. I remember us not having any coal for the fire,at times,but we did have a free medical system,so if your were unwell you could go to the doctor,also free dental treatment.Some children received free dinners at school,I think we did for a period,and all children had free milk every day .It saddens me when I read of countries were the poor received no help whatsoever,I am not bitter about not having a lot when I was young,I do appreciate how God in His mercy brought us through,and how He has blessed me now.I prayed a prayer last night ,Lord help me to be as generous as You,and I laughed at my request,because I could never be as generous as God,but I can be to a degree,to have an open heart , and an open hand.
A  prayer...../Dear God have mercy upon those people who are struggling to care for their families,help us to help were we can in Jesus name Amen /

Will they call us? [ Proverbs 10 v7 ]

I have finished reading my book on Judson of Burma, what a noble soul he was, one of his greatest legacy's is the Bible he translated,the only one ever to be translated. He was by all accounts a brilliant scholar,he was truly fitted for the task God give him,but he experienced so many difficulties,he witnessed the death of his wives.three in all,they were also godly,and he witnessed the death of many of his children. He experienced imprisonment,and sickness,and dangers at sea,but in it all, he remained faithful,he and his dear family, were the corn of wheat that fell into the ground and died,and produced much fruit. Our Saviour said that if we cling to our lives,we will lose them,but if we give our lives for Him we will find them[Matthew 10 v39].We read that the memory of the just is blessed[ Proverbs 10 v7 ],and truly that can be said of the Judsons,what memory will we leave, what legacy will we leave,will people rise up and call us blessed?.
A prayer.....Dear God we thank You for the Judsons who served You faithfully ,their memory is truly blest,give us grace to follow in their footsteps in Jesus name Amen./

My jewels. [ Malachi 3v17]

I am reading a book about Adoniram Judson and his wife who where missionaries to Burma ,one of things that stands out is the difficulties they and others had to face. I am up to the place were they have lost two young children,they also suffered  in their travels,it was the age of sail,and that brought with it dangers.There is a Christian church in Burma,as there is in China, and as there is in most countries ,for that to happen it took men and women to obey the go in the gospel. The church in ever country started because there were those who obeyed the call of God, and there was a cost,only God knows how severe that cost was.We could go back to yesterdays reading and ask the question, why this waste?,from a human standpoint ,yes it may have appear to be a waste,often it appears they failed to win others to Christ,often they died in the journey to their supposed destination. Why did Eric Liddel decide to give up the glory of being a famous sportsman, admired by thousands,and go to China, and to die in a Japanese internment camp?. Why ? because he saw a greater glory, and he obeyed a greater calling,the salvation of that most precious commodity ,lost souls, to God they are the  most important thing He created.I like what the book of Malachi says/They shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels[3v17]/.
A  prayer... ../Dear God open our minds and our hearts to respond to the great need of mankind ,to see that they are your Jewels, for whom Christ died Amen /

                                                                                                  

We have a soul. [ Matthew 10 v28 ]

I went to see the movie Les  Miserables if you go to see it take a hankie or tissues to wipe the tears away,it is full of deep realism,showing the harshness of life, and severe injustice of the times.The main character played by Hugh Jackson ,plays the part of a convict ,serving nineteen years for stealing bread to feed his starving family,is granted parole. But as an ex prisoner he receives no help from anybody until he comes in contact with a priest,who befriends him,feeding him,and giving him a bed for the night.During the night Valjean steals silver ,and flees only to be arrested and brought back to the priest.Who declares that he gave him the things and also gives him some more stuff to take with him.The actions by the priest has a profound effect upon Valjean,who later on declares,he taught me I had a soul. Yes he had a soul and so has every person, unlike animals we have a soul ,so many, many, people live as if they are just material being,but not so, we are made in Gods image,eternity is in our hearts,and we neglect this truth to our eternal hurt.No matter how wicked people in their animal behaviour become let us never loose sight that they have an never dying soul.
A prayer .../Almighty God have mercy upon humanity,that have forgotten that they have a soul,in Jesus name ,who came to save their never dying souls Amen /

A waste. [ Matthew 25 v40]

 In Matthew 26 v6-13 we have an account of a woman who was misunderstood,and she became the target  of criticism,sound familiar.She was told she should have used her resources in a more humane way,instead of wasting it on Jesus.She had poured very precious ointment over His head as act of devotion,it was act of worship on Him who alone is worthy of worship.It appears she had more insight than the apostles,they only saw the waste,she saw His sacrificial death,and she expressed her love and devotion to Him in this lovely way. Jesus revealed to those disciples the true meaning of her action,He reminded them there is a place for helping others,but there is a place for honouring Him. Many will help the poor which is commendable,but will not  have a thought for Jesus,they are like the disciples, just focused on the creature and not a thought for the creator.Jesus said that what that lady did would always be remembered,so it is what we do for Jesus ,be it ever so little,or ever so great will be remembered, even though others may think it was a waste
A  prayer..../ Dear God help us to honour You even though others may think it a waste in Jesus name Amen ./