Monthly Archives: January 2022

Life Lessons

How to Do It!

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       Our sermon this week followed on from the previous week. It’s one thing to know what we should do, but the question remains, how do we go about it? In the passage of Scripture (Ephesians 6:14-18)  that this talk was based on, we are given a blow by blow account of the WHOLE armour and weapons at our disposal and how to use them. 

    Firstly, there is the belt of truth, and we see this belt is missing in so many of our leaders today….we simply can’t take any notice of what they say! Yes, they may be sincere and think they mean what they say, but it could be a different story to putting it into practice…they simply didn’t know enough about the situation of the things they were promising! We must always make sure before we make a promise that we have gone into it thoroughly first, and KNOW what we are talking about!

    The truth of any matter is the foundation that our words are built on, and without that our statements and promises are valueless!

   Next we must be wearing the boots of something solid….in this case, the Gospel of Peace. We must KNOW that what we base our statements on is solid! Boots are no good if they don’t fit properly, and our feet slide around in them….they let us down in the end and we have to take them off with having blisters and sore feet.

   Then we must pick up and use the shield of faith. This is the basis of all that we believe in…without faith we don’t have stability, and waver from side to side. We are told that we cannot please our General (God) without having this shield with us (Hebrews 11:6)….we have to know the One we believe in, and we cannot believe in Him without having faith that He exists. The shield of faith also helps us to fight off the fiery darts of unbelief and doubt that our enemy shoots at us….it gives us the confidence to face him and stand firm. We are told by James to resist the devil and he will flee from us (James 4:7)

    We are to be wearing the helmet of salvation to protect our head…..our thoughts and our mind….what a person thinks about is what they do and how they act. Not only that but we are to take up the sword of the Spirit with us to fight with. We might ask how we can do  that…. we are told that the Bible, is not only God’s Word to us, but is also the Sword of the Spirit! We need to know it thoroughly to use it effectively.

    We are fully provided for, and now it is up to us to use it all. The overall covering is that of prayer, both for ourselves and also for those we know. Just as there is full communication in a family, so there must be for us in the family of God…communication with Him as our Father and supplication for strength for each other, especially in the troubling times we find ourselves in these days.

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Morning Musings

Stand Fast!

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               Standing  Fast!

    In the sermon we were listening to this week, we were exhorted to Stand fast! It is so much easier to go with the flow, to float downstream than to paddle against the current, to stick to your convictions than to give in to popular opinion.

We have seen this in the last few weeks in our community, our church and in our family. How much do our convictions mean to us?  We have seen more than one who will not give in, lose their jobs. All they have striven for through the years, and almost their freedoms of movement have gone.

    If we had been told that this would happen in this free country of New Zealand three years ago, we would not have thought it possible. Now we find ourselves barred from certain areas, as we are  told to move on by authoritarian voices, and who knows how much worse it will get! But if we can do this in the secular world, does it follow on in our spiritual life which is far more important? We are told by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 16 :13 to “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be  strong”. And  again  in  Ephesians  6:11-13  we  are  given  the  reason  why  this  is  so necessary.

    We aren’t in this fight alone, God has provided His armour for us to use, but our part is to take it up and use it. Stand up for what is right and don’t give in!

Random Devotional Thoughts

Thoughts for the New Year.

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     As we enter this new year of 2022, many thoughts come to mind. The main one being that the only certainty for this year is the uncertainty that we finished up with last year! Plans for this year can’t be made with any certainty, as we don’t know when what freedom we have, will be clamped down on again. Our clubs and gatherings that we have worked so hard to start and keep going are now in limbo. Rules are being put in place constantly changing things that we thought we knew we might be able to do. We hear of things happening in other countries, and know with a sinking heart that it will only be a matter of time before we too, will be bound by the same things.   

      But all is not lost! The sun will still rise each morning, giving us a brilliant promise of another day! Plants in the garden will still grow and flower,  amazing us with their brilliance and beauty. God is still on His throne, and His promises still stand….He said, “I am the Lord, I change not!” His Word, the Bible, still stands true and nothing can alter that. His people can still look back on their experiences in life, and see how He has worked for them….nothing can change those memories! So let’s remember these things and look upwards instead of downwards and take heart to keep going.

    If we do not have these memories,  remember it is never too late to start our journey with the Lord on our side…all we have to do is to ask Him. He has said, “Those who seek Me will find Me!”, and He will never turn down a sincere and repentant person. Once we have done this, then all the rest of this life’s uncertainties that we face this year, will fade into insignificance, and we will be able to go forward into 2022 with confidence!!