Be obedient. [ Acts 1 v8 ]

And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace[Ephesians 6 v15] W Barclay wrote the following,   /A soldiers sandals,these were sign of one equipped and ready to move. The sign of the Christian is that he /she are eager to be on the way to preach the gospel to,and to share the gospel with, others.He is always ready to take the news of Christ to those who have never heard it./ This is not only for those great Christians whom we admire,like Wesley.Booth,Billy Graham,we are all called to tell others about Jesus.We may not have the abilities or gifts that they had,but as I heard from a pastor many years ago,availability is the thing.Now of course when many today have no contact with the church,we don't need to go to some far of place with a strange sounding, and a strange language, and culture, we may ,if God calls,no, the heathen are all around us.The lost are everywhere,in are families,neighbourhoods,work places.Our Saviour said we should be witnesses in Jerusalem,Judea, Samaria,be a witness where you are,just be obedient,and who knows where one will be called to , I ended up in England.
A prayer...../Dear Lord Jesus,help me to be available,and obedient ;in great commission of spreading the gospel. Amen /

The shield of faith. [ Luke 17 v 5 ]

Above all, taking the shield of faith,wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked[Ephesians 6 v16 ] In Hebrews 11 we have a list of Biblical heroes,men and women,why are the mentioned?,because they were people of faith. We will not go anywhere in our walk with God unless we go by faith,  my youngest son phoned to say he had lost his job.I sought to encourage him, and I prayed with him,and as I was going to bed,thinking of my dear sons situation, I heard God saying ,trust me,and I smiled, and said I would .What did I do?, I took the shield of faith, I held it up, trusting in God to undertake for my boy.We are told about the enemy coming in like a flood[Isaiah 59 v19],yes we have an enemy, never forget this, but don't be afraid,the shield of faith can quench all the fiery darts he throws at us. Have Faith in God,and His word,the God who delivered Paul in a storm when all thought they would perish , is the God who can deliver every child of God in every situation,I love the words spoken by Paul in the midst of that storm we read about in Acts27,when he told them, that all on that ship would be saved,he declares ,for I believe God,that it shall be even as it was told me[ v25]in other words he was holding up the shield of faith, and so it came to pass.
A  prayer...../Dear God help us to walk by faith,help us when the enemy of our soul attacks us to have faith,and so overcomes his lies and deceitfulness in Jesus name Amen/

Are there any chinks in your armour?. [ Genesis 4 v 7]

And having on the breastplate of righteousness[Eph v14] The breast is the place that is the biggest target for the enemy to attack,modern police wear body armour.Barnes sees this breastplate of righteousness, as that of,integrity,holiness,purity of life,and sincerity of piety.In 1 Peter 3 v16 we are told that our good behaviour will be means of defeating those who would falsely accuse us.When the enemies of Daniel sought to accuse him,they could find nothing to charge him with[6v4]Our Saviour said that we were to let our light shine before men,that they see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven[Matthew 5 v16 ]A godly life will be a shield of righteousness,how many of us have forgotten this, David did,on a number of occasions,and brought shame upon himself,and trouble.We all have particular weaknesses, which if we do not guard against,can cause us great hurt,and pain,as had Cain who was warned,and failed to heed the warning,and it left a mark on him , for the rest of his life [Genesis 4 ] I wonder are there any chinks in your armour?if so be on your guard, if you don't the enemy will take advantage and cause you a lot of hurt.
A  prayer.../Dear God help us to not give evil a place in our lives, indeed deliver us from all evil in Jesus name Amen/

Jehovah-tsidkenu. [ Philippians 3 v9]

Just a further note on the breastplate of righteousness,it seems to me that it has a two fold application,we have dwelt with one, the other is of the utmost importance.Our standing before a holy God depends not on our righteousness,on our good works or religious activities.The righteousness we depend on is of course the righteousness of Christ [1 Corinthians1v30],it is Jeremiah who writes of a coming day in which,Judah/Israel will be saved and be safe, because of Jehovah-tsidkenu,which means ,the Lord our righteousness.So it is in Christ our Lord and His righteousness are we saved and safe,the enemy of our soul will attack us,especially when we fail or slip up, he is called the accuser of the brethren[Revelation 12 v10].Just recently in a conversation with a person who told me  of all his religious activity, and spiritual condition,he made this accusation against me,that I was not saved. This upset me,but then the spirit of God brought to mind the words of Romans 8v33-34./Who shall lay anything to the charge of Gods elect?it is God who justifieth.Who is he that condemneth,?it is Christ that died,yea rather,that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.When the devil comes to God and points to the saints shortcomings God points him to Jesus, who is our acceptance,who is our breastplate of righteousness.
A prayer...../Dear God we praise and thank You for providing a breastplate of righteousness in Jesus . Amen /

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 /