AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE ~ Ganeida

 Unless otherwise stated all biblical quotes are from the NASB.

I want to begin studying some of the deeper things of God with you but before I do that I want to make sure we are firmly established in the faith. We will look @ our foundational doctrinal beliefs from Hebrews 6:1~2 but while what we believe is important ~ & it is important that we understand why we believe what we do~ the very first thing that is needed is our commitment to not just be believers in Jesus, but to be His disciples.

We have looked @ some aspects of discipleship before but today I want to consider why we, in the west, find discipleship so hard, what Jesus disciples understood about discipleship that we do not, & what made all the difference.

In the west we think of Jesus & His disciples as we would a teacher & his students & so we miss the point completely because that is not the relationship of a Rabbi & his disciples.  The whole idea of discipleship was to conform the student to the image & likeness of his master. They were to walk like him, talk like him & ultimately think like him. This is what the scriptures mean when they say things like: For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; Romans 8:29 When we talk about the authority of the believer, when we talk about doing the works that Jesus did & doing  the greater works [John 14:12], when we talk about being overcomers, it is all based on the assumption that we are being conformed into the image & likeness of Jesus Christ.  

Only those who are being conformed into His image can do what Jesus did, speak with His authority & know His will. And  now you know why so much of Christianity is powerless & without authority.  We have a lot of believers, baby Christians, but very few who are willing to become disciples & do the hard work required of a disciple ~ & it is hard work.  The Holy Spirit will help us but He will not do for us that which we are meant to do for ourselves. If belief was all that was needed then there would have been no need for any of the Epistles but we have the Epistles to correct errors in people's thinking & behaviour because mankind is always looking for the easy way, the shortcut, the quick fix. You will not find it in discipleship.

Jesus followed the Old Testament pattern.  Just as Elijah called Elisha [1 Kings 19:19] Jesus called Peter & James & John, Andrew, Philip, Matthew, Bartholomew, Thomas, James bar Alpheus, Simon, Jude & Judas Iscariot. And each of those 12 men understood what was required of them.  Just as Elisha left his farm & his parents so too did these men walk away from their life's work & their families to become a disciple. 

So too have you been called for " No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day."  John 6:44 Now consider: what have you given up to be a disciple of Jesus? What are you hanging on to that should have been let go of ?  See we have a very distorted view of discipleship.  We think we can have Jesus & the world. Jesus is the app that makes our lives run more smoothly.  And right there, we fall. 

James 4:4 
You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

See, the rabbi/disciple bond ran deep.  It was often deeper & tighter than  family bonds but here's the crunch: it was a relationship wherein the disciple ministered to his rabbi.  He ran his errands. He cooked his food.  He did the washing.  He cleaned his house because we are to Humble [ourselves] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt [us]. James 4:10 Before we can walk in the power & authority of Christ, before we can walk in His glory, God has to show us that He can trust us: He can trust us in the small things so that He can trust us with the big things. 

Why was this how disciples were trained?  I would suggest to you it is because ...Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies. [1 Corinthians 8:1]  Love was the defining bond between a rabbi & his disciples. This is why Peter's denial cut so deep, why Judas betrayal was considered so outrageous. The bond between a rabbi & his disciples over~rode all other relationships.  It was built & founded on mutual love. 

We have all known Christians with a lot of head knowledge & very little patience with actual people.  This is not the way of discipleship.  This is why Jesus had his disciples with him 24/7.  Some things can't be learned except through  the osmosis of relationship.  Day by day Jesus modeled the way of life lived by a lover of God.  Day by day the disciples saw what it was to walk with God, empowered by His Holy Spirit. This is why Paul says: Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1 

Today  one way Jesus disciples us is through His Holy Spirit.  This is an excellent reason for developing a close relationship with the Holy Spirit that we might say with David:

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts;

And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way. Psalm 139:23~24

Or Psalm 51:10

Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me...

It is the Holy Spirit who will search our hearts & reveal those things that displease God but even so we will struggle to make the necessary changes until we realise our very culture fights against us.  Every moment of every day we battle an onslaught of information, an onslaught of sex, an onslaught of music, an onslaught of scientific & philosophical thought that directly counters the thoughts, will & purpose of God so unless we are very intentional about guarding our hearts we will slowly become transformed, not into the image of Christ, but into the image of the world. 

So what was different in Jesus day?

Firstly the whole culture ~ & I do not just mean it was a middle~eastern culture as opposed to a western culture.  I mean it was a God~centric culture surrounded by paganism. Every adult Jewish male, including Jesus, wore phylacteries containing passages from Exodus 13:1–10, 11–16; Deuteronomy 6:4–9; 11:13–21. These were actually meant to be quite small [about the size of a penny]but some of the pharisees made theirs bigger & Jesus didn't think much of it: "But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments....Matthew 23:5 They wore tallit [the tassels] on the 4 corners of their outer garment. They prayed 3 times a day.  They sacrificed @ the temple. They kept the feasts ~ as an entire people. Even today, when Shabbat begins, everything shuts.

They were a people who knew their scriptures. They could & did, argue, debate, discuss the meaning & application of their scriptures.  How often do you see Christians informally discussing the scriptures when they gather together?  I would guess not often.  We discuss the weather, ourselves, news events, and unfortunately, & far too often, other people. We confine discussion of the bible to church & bible study but that is not how it was in Jesus day. I am going to leave aside Haverim [the close spiritual friend who will become as Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another.  Proverbs 27:17] quite simply because I do not have time to discuss it in depth.

At different times we have discussed how what we call the Lord's prayer is based on the Jewish Amidah, about renewing our minds & taking every thought captive. It is here where the Jewish believer of Jesus day differs from the Christian of today: Paul taught Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; 1 Thessalonians 5:17 & we go, Oh! That's quite impossible.  If it were impossible Paul would not have said it. Our problem is we do  not understand what Paul meant. So what did he mean?  

Have you seen the movie Fiddler on the Roof?  At one point someone asks the Rabbi, Is there a blessing for the sewing machine? & the Rabbi replies:There's a blessing for everything!

In Jesus day Jewish life was saturated in prayer ~ & it is simplier than you might think. It does involve a radical rethinking of how we approach daily life but it has the ability to transform our minds &  alter our thinking. Deuteronomy 8:10 gives a command to bless God lest the people be tempted to think  their prosperity is from their own efforts.  To bless, in Hebrew thinking, is to praise. We do this when we say Grace before a meal.  We thank God for providing our daily bread.  Grace is a brakah ~ a short prayer of praise for God's goodness to us.  Brakah were an integral part of every Jew's prayer life. The first one would be said as soon as you awoke.

Blessed are you, oh lord our God, King of the Universe for returning my soul to me for yet another day.

If you apply your thinking this short prayer could be easily followed by any number of others:

Blessed are you, oh lord our God, King of the Universe for : the rooster that woke me

                                                                                                : clothes to wear

                                                                                                : food to eat

                                                                                                 : a spouse to love...

On & on it goes because Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. James 1:17

Praying like this changes our attitude.  It makes us very aware of all the good things in our lives that we take for granted ~ like using the toilet.  Yes, there is a blessing for this, but as anyone who has a disability in this area can testify it is a true blessing to be able to use the toilet!  It stops our grumbling & focus our attention on ...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. Philippians 4:8 

Praying like this not only saturates our lives in prayer, it creates in us an attitude of gratitude & an abiding awareness of the presence of God, His closeness, His love, His care for us.  It helps us to understand that God's attitude towards us is always one of love, of desiring fellowship, of rejoicing over us.  If you want to know just how critical our attitude is, consider what happened when the Israelites began grumbling & mummered against Moses.  Gratitude opens our hearts for blessing.  There is always something to be thankful for, always someway we can see the Hand of God moving in our lives.

Is this easy?  Nope.  Cultivating this mindset means being very intentional in our thought life.  Most of us don't pay all that much attention to our stray thoughts or to our daydreaming.  Our thoughts ramble through our minds willy~nilly & all too often they veer into rehashing an old argument or stewing over how somebody wronged us, or overlooked us, or how unappreciated we are: me, me, me.  Finding things to bless God for changes our focus completely. Everything becomes God.  We become more positive about life in general & far more grateful for all the good things that are showered upon us without our deserving or even asking.

We have forgotten that the Christian life is one of discipline because we find it so hard to hold in tension all the various things Scripture has to say.  There is Grace, the unmerited favour of God towards us, but there is also I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified. 1Corinthians 9:27  There is faith & works, there is the being still & knowing  am God & there is contending for the faith but if we are to have the single eye, if we are to love God with evrything in us then we need to learn how to focus our attention on the one thing that truly matters: Jesus Christ, the author & finisher of our faith.

Noah ~Rabqa

As the years passed, people began to fill the earth. But when God saw that man’s wickedness covered

the earth, and that every imagination of his heart was only evil continually it grieved the Lord.


And the Lord said, “I will destroy mankind, which I created, from the face of the earth.” But the Lord looked on Noah with favour. Noah, a righteous man, perfect in his generations, walked with God.

Genesis 6:5-8 reveals two things that displease God: wickedness & evil imaginations & thinking.

Because those things described the condition of peoples heats during Noah’s day. God decided to destroy all mankind that is everyone except Noah & His family because Noah found grace & favour in His eyes.


Noah had the right heart otherwise, he would have been destroyed with all the other people practiced wickedness, evil imaginations & evil thinking.

One of the lessons we can learn from Noah’s story is that many people today are being destroyed for the simple reason that their hearts are not right before God. In their hearts they regard wickedness, they allow imaginations & they think bad thoughts.


We cannot imagine how many areas of our lives would be straightened out if only we would just get our hearts right with God! Our hearts may not be filled with tar that is blatant evil we read about in Noah’s time. But bad attitudes & wrong thinking certainly qualify as evil imaginations & evil thinking. We need to have right attitudes toward everything we do, because our attitudes basically determine everything else about our situations. If our hearts are full of bad attitudes & our minds are full of “stinking thinking,” we will not make much progress in life.


We need to have, tender hearts. We need to hear & heed the voice of conscience so that the moment we realize we have a bad attitude about something or someone, we can make the necessary adjustments. That is why proverbs 4:23 instructs us to Guard your heart above all else for it determines the course of your life. This verse is teaching us to Value & protect our mind, emotions & will. Practically that means that we need to examine our attitudes & our thoughts on a regular basis & make adjustment as need.

Many people are deceived into believing they cannot help what they think, but we can choose our thoughts. We need to think what we have been thinking about, when we do that, it does not take to long discover the root cause of a bad attitude.


Satan will always try to fill our minds with wrong thinking, but we do not have to have to receive anything he tries to give us. For example if some tries to gives us a spoonful of poison we would not take it. If we are smart enough not to swallow the poison, we should be smart enough not to allow satan to poison our minds, attitudes &, ultimately our lives.


So often we fail to guard our hearts as diligently as we should, & we allow too much junk & too many negative thoughts into our minds. We need to remember the familiar phrase “garbage in, garbage out.” & realize that we cannot take in garbage & produce good things. We must be attentive not only to our actions, but also to our thoughts, imaginations, motives & attitudes. God
looks at these things because He is a God of hearts. Whatever you do, make sure you have a right heart before the Lord, & you will reap abundant life instead of destruction.


We see in Hebrew 11:7 Philips. It was through faith that Noah, on receiving God’s warning of impending disaster, reverently constructed an ark to save his household. This action of faith condemned the unbelief of the rest of the world, and won for Noah the righteousness before God which follows such a faith.


Noah’s obedience in building the ark so far inland was physical evidence of His trust in God.

When we look at Noah we can’t but help see how obedient he was, God told him to build an ark & went on to tell him how do this in Gen 6 :14-16 AMP Make yourself an ark of gopher or cypress wood; make in it rooms (stalls, pens, coops, nests, cages, and compartments) and cover it inside and out with pitch (bitumen).

15 And this is the way you are to make it: the length of the ark shall be 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits [that is, 450 ft. x 75 ft. x 45 ft.]. 16 You shall make a roof or [a]window [a place for light] for the ark and finish it to a cubit [at least 18 inches] above—and the [b]door of the ark you shall put in the side of it; and you shall make it with lower, second, and third stories.

The version you probably are more familiar with is the NKJV which reads: Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. 15 And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. Every ancient culture has its memory of the worldwide flood.


God went on to tell him that He was going to course rain to come which would food the earth & destroy the earth so everything that is on the earth shall die. But He will establish His covenant with Noah to take his wife & his sons & their wives. God also told him to take two of every animal, birds, creeping things of the earth all of their own kind & that he was to keep them alive. & they would be male & female. He was to take food for them all to eat & he had to gather it altogether. Gen 6:17-22.


If the average animal was the size say of a sheep, the ark had a capacity for 125,000animals. Putting that into perspective, there are 4,000 animals from 350 different species at Taronga Park Zoo. That means you could fit 31 Taronga Zoos in Noahs ark. Now this was the first boat that was ever built. It is not like it came with an instruction manual. It was back breaking work that required blood, sweat & tears. Now this took an incredible amount of faith to build the ark. Let me ask you who in there right mind would build a boat in the desert? Who hammers away for over a thousand years on something that they might not even need. Who banks their entire future on something that has never happened before?

According to Jewish tradition Noah did not start building the ark, First he planted trees, after they were fully grown, he then cut them down, sawed them into planks & built the boat. Here is an interesting piece of information: not until the nineteenth century did a
ship of that size get constructed again. Yet that design & ratio is still considered the golden means for stability during storms at sea. Noah’s act of obedience literally changed the worlds obedience & it will change your world too. Do whatever He tells you to do.

Noah built the ark because God commanded it. It was what he was called to do. Sawing planks & hammering nails for him was an act of obedience. & when everything was said & done, it was the longest act of obedience recorded in Scripture. From the start to finish, Noah’s one act of obedience took tens & thousands of days! & with each daily act of obedience, he glorified God. No matter what tool you use in your trade whether it be a hammer, a keyboard, a mop, a football a spreadsheet, a microphoneor an espresso machine is an act of obedience as you use them.

It is the mechanism whereby you worship God. It is the way you do what you are supposed to do. In Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
Be diligent in Bible Study & practice Scripture memorization & mediation. Let the Word in you produce praise to God & edification of others. Serve Jesus’ purposes in every thought, word & deed.

Always in the New Testament, the call to wholehearted discipleship is accompanied by the call to a life of devotion. To devote is to concentrate on a particular pursuit or purpose. A life of devotion to Christ pursues His purpose that is His being reproduced in us.

Stop putting yourself down & thinking what you do is not important. Remember the old proverb, “For want of a nail? It goes like this: For want of a nail the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe the horse was lost. For want of a horse the rider was lost. For want of a rider the message was lost. For want of the message the battle was lost. & all for the want of a horseshoe nail.” In God’s eyes small acts of obedience are big things. When you joyfully do little things they are like big things, then God will do big things like they are little things. That is how His kingdom advances. Yet again do what God has told you.

What went through Noahs mind when God told him to build the ark in the middle of a dry, dry land? The Bible says in Genesis 6:22 So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him. Noah’s obedience is a patriarchal model of God working in tandem with man for establishing of His kingdom purposes on earth. Noah walked with God; walking takes place step by step. The trouble with us is that we want God to reveal the second step before we take the first step of faith. But until we take the first step He will not reveal the next step we have to be obedient to the measure of revelation He has given us, if we want more of it. That is why we spiritually get stuck; we only want to follow Christ to the point of precedence that is the place where we have been before, but no further. We are so afraid of doing what we have never done before because it is unfamiliar territory. So we leave unclaimed new gifts, new anointing & new dreams that God wants to give us. We must push past the fear of the unknown. We have to do something different.

The African impala can jump three feet high & ten metres long, yet it can be contained in a small enclosure with 1.2 metre high walls. Why? You may ask because it will not jump if it cannot see where it is going to land. We have just the same problem, don’t we? We want a money back guarantee before we take a leap of faith, but that eliminates faith from the equation we are called to walk by faith & not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJ). Again do what God has told you to do.


Genesis 6:7-8 And the LORD said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.” 8 But Noah found favour with the LORD.

One of the dirtiest, most damaging lies that the devil ever told you was when he said, “You aren’t important.” Don’t you ever believe that.

You are important! Every born-again member in the Church of Jesus Christ has a part to play in God’s plan. God has something for you to do that no one else can do just like you can. If you don’t take your place and do your part, things won’t be quite right.

I can just hear you thinking, “Oh, I’m just one person. What could I possibly do that could be so significant?”

Look in Genesis six, and you’ll see the answer to that question. There you’ll see that the people on the earth were so wicked that God had regretted that He’d made them. He was ready to wipe the whole population out–but He didn’t. Why? Because of one man as we have just seen: Noah! One obedient man saved the human race.

Think about that. What if Noah had said, “Well, this is just too much pressure for me. I can’t live upright before God in the middle of this ungodly generation. I mean, everybody around me is living the other way. Every man around me imagines only evil in his heart. I can’t make any difference in this dark world anyway. I’m just one man.”

Praise God, Noah didn’t say that. He didn’t picture himself as an insignificant man whose life didn’t matter. According to Hebrews, he saw himself as a man to whom God had spoken and by faith he obeyed God. And because of that he ended up being the only thing that stood between mankind and total destruction.

Next time you’re tempted to shrug off the instructions of God and be disobedient, next time you catch yourself thinking, “It doesn’t matter what I do”–remember Noah. Consider the fact that, whether you understand it or not, God is counting on you to carry out your part of His plan. Live like you’re someone important in the kingdom of God. And sooner or later you’ll realize you are.


In Genesis 9:11 God said Yes, I am confirming my covenant with you. Never again will floodwaters kill all living creatures; never again will a flood destroy the earth.”

Genisis 9: 13-14 He would put His rainbow in the clouds as a token of His promise. Whenever He brings rain clouds over the earth, you will see the rainbow, and I too will see it, and honour My covenant

Promise of Faith ~ Rabqa

All Scriptures are from N L T unless otherwise stated.

Last time we looked at the promises of God & I thought I was done, but NO the Holy Spirit wanted us to look at the promise of Faith, because Hebrews 11:6 tells us But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.


God has given each of us a measure of faith Romans 12:3 Because of the privilege and authority[a] God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.

Because the Bible teaches that human beings are made in God’s image. We are to respect the position of each individual under God. The text does not teach that believers should think of
themselves as worthless or insignificant beings, but rather that none should consider himself to be more worthy, more important, more deserving of salvation or more essential than anyone else.

Possession of different talents or gifts does not mean difference in worth, for all belong to the one body, to one another & all are interdependent (seen in verses 4&5) to think otherwise is to distort reality. Each of us has intrinsic value & worth, as we are all equal in God & in Christ.

Here Paul is referring to his own function in the body as an authoritative apostle through the grace given to him. The measure of faith is not saving faith but the faith to receive & to exercise the gifts God apportions to us. The measure of faith He gives corresponds to the role He assigns as Creator & Redeemer.


Just recently when I talk about faith, people respond that we are all at different stages in our walk with God & that is true but God wants us to grow & mature in Him.


When I first made Christ the Lord & saviour of my life I was as far from preaching as I could be, though I knew that was the call God had placed on my life. I had no faith whatsoever & thought that it was fine, but it took good teaching to tell me that we have all been given a measure of faith, but gradually the more I studied the Word of God the more my faith grew.


I did my training at Victory Life Bible Training College in Perth & have never looked back.

The first day I picked up a bible I read in Matthew 6:23 But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is! This verse invites us to be full of the light of life so that there is no darkness in you. Have a good eye. Develop a personal commitment to the Lord & His will.


Obeying the Father was extremely important to Jesus. Obedience is the response of faith to any instruction from God. Jesus taught true faith will always be manifested in obedience to God’s revealed will. Successful Christian living results from seeking God’s will & knowing His will & then doing it in faith.

I wasn’t sure if I had been born again, I was a single mum living at home with my son, one evening we had no food in the house except for bread & vegemite, so we were going to have toast & vegemite for tea that night, but Praise the Lord my son came home with a bag of mushrooms that his friends mum had given him.


Don’t worry if you are short on anything God will not let you go without He is your loving Father & as any parent He will provide for you. I really love Psalm 128 How joyful are those who fear the LORD—all who follow his ways!2 You will enjoy the fruit of your labour. How joyful and prosperous you will be!3 Your wife will be like a fruitful grapevine, flourishing within your home. Your children will be like vigorous young olive trees as they sit around your table.4 That is the LORD’s blessing for those who fear him.5 May the LORD continually bless you from Zion. May you see Jerusalem prosper as long as you live.6 May you live to enjoy your grandchildren. May Israel have peace!


Colossians 2:6-7.(N K J) As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it[a] with thanksgiving.

Established in faith & abounding with thanksgiving seems to be a rare combination these days.

A lot of people have been taught faith over the last several years, & a lot have been taught to abound with thanksgiving. But it is hard to set the two together. Faith folk want to confess the Word all the time, but they don’t praise God very much. & those who like to praise God just want to jump, shout & dance having a good time in the Lord. You can’t get them to get very serious about the Word.

Success comes from combining the two. So do it! Put them together in your life. When you run into a challenge don’t just stand around looking grim & white knuckled holding on to your faith. Raise your hands high & praise. Start thanking God in the midst of what is happening around you. Keep thanking Him for the answer till it comes.


Instead of just standing on the Word, let the joy of the Lord enable you to dance around on it a little. It will enable you to get where you are going a whole lot faster. & both you God will have a much better time on the way.


Colossians 2:2-3 teach us to focus on Jesus Christ building ourselves to be in unity with the rest of the church & that we have the full assurance of understanding the knowledge of God. Verse 8 tells us to be aware that human philosophy & erroneous religious tradition are contrary to Christ. Do not be deceived hold fast to Christ & honour Him to please the Father. Be wise in evaluating spiritual experiences, knowing that they are not to produce pride or elitism. Know the importance of commitment to righteous spiritual authority.


Many believers are slowed in their spiritual growth for lack of wisdom. Sometimes teaching that stunts spiritual growth is enthusiastically endorsed because believers sadly do not know the Scriptures. We should heed Paul's warning against listening to people who pander to the flesh rather than edifying the truth.


Mark 11:25 But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.[a]” A condition of prevailing prayer is a forgiving spirit.

Few people realise just how closely connected faith & forgiveness are. Jesus taught about that connection in His sermon on mountain moving faith which is recorded in Mark 11:22-26.

He said, “What things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you have received them, & you shall have them. & when you stand praying forgive.” Jesus backed those two sentences up together on purpose. He wanted us to know that releasing those who have wronged us is fundamental to receiving from God. He wanted to impress on our hearts the fact that we cannot have our prayers answered & still hold grudges in our hearts at the same time.


Unforgiveness clogs the faith channel & keeps you powerless against the mountains in your life!

If you have been praying for someone & you can’t seem to get an answer, check your heart for forgiveness. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring any grudge that is hidden there to light. Unclog the channel of faith & you will see things you have been praying for come to pass.


As believers we will never experience joy~filled, victorious lives unless we are ready to forgive people. This is something we are going to have to do frequently, & according to Matthew 18:21-22 even repeatedly. The Lord tells us plainly in the Bible that if we don’t forgive other people for the wrong things they have done against us, then God will not forgive us for the wrong things we have done against Him (Matthew 6:14-15).


What kind of condition would we be in if God refused to forgive us? We could not possibly have a proper relationship with Him. Everything in our lives would be stopped. We like to think that we can stay angry with other people & yet go to God & receive forgiveness for our sins. But the Lord tells is that this is not so.


Jesus taught us to pray, And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven ([a]left, remitted, and let go of the debts, and have [b]given up resentment against) our debtors. (Matthew 6:12 AMP). God is a God of mercy, & this issue of forgiveness is In Matthew 18:21-22, Peter asked Jesus how many times had he to forgive his brother; up to seven times? Jesus answer was not seven times, bur seventy times that many.


I do not know about you, but I am glad that God does not put a limit on how many times He will forgive us. How many of us have done the same wrong thing at least seventy times, & God has still forgiven us for it? We are willing to keep taking forgiveness from God, but it is amazing how little we want to extend forgiveness to others. We freely accept mercy, yet it is surprising how ridged, legalistic, & merciless we can be toward others, especially if they have wronged us in some way. Yet the Bible says that the debt we owe God is much greater than any debt anyone may owe us. Always remember how great God’s generosity is, especially in the area of forgiveness. Aim to forgive others as quickly, as often & as generously as God forgives you.


Sometimes forgiving someone can be very difficult, especially if that person has repeatedly hurt or offended us. Is there someone in your life that you are having a hard time forgiving? Remember the gracious gift of God’s forgiveness to you. As you receive forgiveness you are called to extend forgiveness to others to others (Matthew 18:21-35). Ask God to help you forgive as you have been forgiven.


2 Corinthians 4:18 So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.


Don’t centre your attentions on what you can see in this natural realm. Everything you see is temporal & subject to change. So put your faith in the unseen eternal realm. The things which are eternal are not subject to change.

God’s Word is eternal & contains seven thousand promises to cover circumstances toy will ever face. &, no matter what happens in this shifting, changing world you will live in, those promises will forever be the same.


No matter how bad your body feels, the Word will always say, By His stripes you were healed. (1 Peter 2:24) No matter bad your bank balance looks, the Word will always say My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19).


Don’t settle for a meagre existence the Word say you can have. Lay hold of what the Word says. Centre your attention on the eternal truths of God & look not to things which are seen. After all they are subject to change.

When I face difficult times I tell myself, “This can’t last forever, this too shall pass.”
You can probably look back at your life & see many difficult times you endured even though you thought at the time; I cannot stand this for another day. The devil probably tempted you every five minutes to believe the trial was going to last forever.


As you consider how many times you have already made it to the other side of pain, you can be confident that you will make it again through Christ , who strengthens you (Philippians 4:13). & on the other side of trials you will see how God turned those experiences into good for your life (Romans 8:28).


If you have had a problem for more than six months, you probably thought your problem has lasted for an eternity. But our years on earth are only a little drop of nothing compared to forever.

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 that the season of trials will pass. It is as tough when we are going through trials, but Paul learned to keep his eye on the prize of heaven & trusted God to prepare him so that God’s glory was revealed through his life.


When you are tempted to become discontented, remember: This too shall pass. Your afflictions are light & momentary from perspective from the perspective of eternity. No matter how bad you current situation may look, God loves you. Never let go of that God loves you, no matter what
happens in your life. You can trust that everything will work out because of His great love for you.

Matthew 17:20 “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.


When you plant a seed God changes the nature of that seed so that it becomes a plant; & the power of life surges in that tender young plant to such a great extent that even a mountain of earth cannot stop it from pushing upward.


Jesus says our faith in God is like a seed. When we put our faith into action, that is, when we release it to God, it takes on a totally new nature. It takes on the nature of a miracle in the making.

What is the mountain in your life? Loneliness, loss of a job, disease, a wound, relationship trouble in your home? Or something else? Be encouraged Jesus shows us the way to see that mountain removed!


1st God says that you have a measure of faith (Romans 12:3). It is resident within you.
2nd God says that this faith comes from alive by hearing...the Word of God (Romans 10:17).
3rd God says that you can apply your faith to see your daily needs met. How? You do something as an act of faith. You sow the mustard seed smallness of your faith into an action of love

(Matthew 17:20). Then when your faith has been planted & is growing speak to your mountain & watch God remove it.


Faith that appears small or weak to us can still accomplish the humanly impossible. This mountain was a figure for an obstacle, hindrance or humanly insurmountable problem~none of which is impossible for God to deal with through committed people who accurately understand their authority & know the power, will, purposes & provision.


Some may say the reason they live as they do is because they have special faith. But that is not true. No one has special faith because God has given everyone the same measure of faith. The only reason someone’s faith may look like it works better is because they use it!


Make the decision today to walk in faith. To put it to work on the situations around you. Commit yourself to operate in mountain faith, Know that it is impossible to please God without it (Hebrews 11:6)As you plant this faith & water it with the Word of God expect it to grow& over come mountains in your life & in the lives of those you intercede.


Thank your heavenly Father that as you do this nothing shall be impossible to me! In Jesus name.

Romans 10:17 A M P) So faith comes by hearing [what is told], and what is heard comes by the preaching [of the message that came from the lips] of Christ (the Messiah Himself).


When the Word is heard, Faith is imparted to hear it. Once we have heard the Word & believe it, we should continue believing. God invites us to live from faith to faith. As believers, one of our most important jobs is to simply believe. Jesus said, ...Did I not tell you and [a]promise you that if you would believe and rely on Me, you would see the glory of God? John 11:40 Amp).

All Things New. ~ Ganeida

For Christians Hanukkah is about celebrating God's Light in a dark world. This is not, naturally, how our Jewish friends celebrate it.  For them it is primarily about the Maccabees stand @ Modein  & the re-dedication of the Temple, the miracle of the oil, & preserving a pure Jewish culture amongst pagans but these things are only the beginning. For us it is about so much more, for everything in scripture points to Christ & this is true of Hanukkah.

Hanukkah is also known as the Feast of Dedication & the Festival of Lights. Just the name alone reminds us of James 1:17: Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. [NASB]

We have mentioned already that white light is a combination of all the other colours that can only be seen when light is refracted.  This is what happens to cause a rainbow.  Thus the hanukkiah lights break God's promises into their component parts but the reality is that God & His promises are one.  The covenant is the  outworking of a single promise: that man should be redeemed from the fall & restored to his former relationship with God.

I am combining the last 3 covenants because in a sense they belong together because they are the promises of the New & better covenant. [Hebrews 8:6]

The 6th covenant is the covenant of Redemption. 

Matthew 26:18  we read Jesus words ~“As you go into the city,” he told them, “you will see a certain man. Tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My time has come, and I will eat the Passover meal with my disciples at your house.’”

Jesus celebrated the Passover.  It must have had deep significance for Him as He prepared to become our sacrificial lamb.

Now we have celebrated the Passover & understand there is prophetic revelation in this festival also.  From the wrapping of the Afikomen to the seder cups, Passover reveals to us the Lord Jesus Christ.

Remember there is the cup of sanctification for we are sanctified through the blood of Jesus; there is the cup of salvation ~ His blood poured out for the salvation of many [Matthew 26:28]; There is the cup of redemption ~ redemption from God's wrath; & there is the cup of the Kingdom.

When we celebrate communion we celebrate the cup of redemption:

As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.”

And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many. Mark my words—I will not drink wine again until the day I drink it new with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”

At this point everything in History changes. It is the most dramatic event in history for it sets us free from the domination of sin.  It changes our whole destiny for 1 Thessalonians 5:9 says For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us. 

There are 2 facets to our redemption.  The 1st is the obvious one: we are set free from sin's power over us. John 8:36 tells us So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free. If we are set free from something we are also set free for something. Once we are truly set free we are free to love & serve God as He desires to be loved & served, not out of obligation but  because we are the new creation & he has put a new heart in us, for Ezekiel 36:26 promises us: And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. 

The Holy Spirit is so important to a believer.  Without Him we do not have the New Heart & we do not have that tender, responsive heart that enables us to put down our flesh & operate out of the new heart.  Oh, we can try.  People do all the time.  Every New Year's they make resolutions that they never keep.  Only the Spirit of God has the power to overcome our flesh & allow us to walk in the Spirit as sons of God!  This is why Jesus told Nicodemus he had to be born again.  The old wineskin will not hold the new wine.  This is why you see so many Christians struggling with the sins of the flesh.  They have not been born again. They have believed unto salvation ~ & stopped right there. That is a terrible pity. Not only do they miss out on so much God wishes to bless them with, they stunt their own growth & the growth of the Kingdom of God.  

Consider your church, for example.  How many attend services each week?  Now, how many new believers do you see each week? Each month? Each year? Francis Chan, speaking of his own church, confessed that around 1 000 believers attended services yet they only saw 100 people saved in a year.  He considered this a terrible failure.  He is right.  You would sack employees who were so terribly inefficient! We were not called out of Darkness & given the Holy Spirit so we could skulk in our church buildings week after week!  No!  The Holy Spirit was given that we might be witnesses for Christ. [Acts 1:8] And here's the thing~ You can't do that in your own strength.  You quite simply can't.  Oh, words might come out, but without the Power of the Holy Spirit there is no life, no power to convict & bring change. What's more, all sorts of things will hold you back from sharing Christ: fear of what to say. Fear of what people will think.  Fear of rejection ~ but if you truly believe John 3:16 & you are born again you will have God's own heart to reach the lost & dying of this world.

Which brings me to the 7th covenant; the covenant of Peace. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. [Isaiah 9:6] In John 14:27 He says: "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful." I have said it over & over but it is worth saying again; the peace Jesus speaks of is not an absence of conflict.  Rather it is the calm in the midst of the storm, the Jewish idea of Shalom~ wholeness of body, mind & spirit for in Christ all the promises are Yes &  Amen. [2 Corinthians 1:20]

Indeed Jesus foretold that in this world we would have thlipsis [John 16:33] ~ pressure, affliction, distress of mind, trials & distressing circumstances but we were to take courage for He had overcome the world. What's more You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. [1 John 4:4]  What's more He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us & that alone should give us great confidence & great peace. 

When it comes to witnessing Luke 12:11/12 says "When they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say;for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say." Matthew 10:20 put the same idea this way: "For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you." Luke 21:15 goes so far as to say: for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.

Now I am aware that these verses are referring specifically to a legal defence but I do believe they have a wider application if we know how to listen to the Holy Spirit & I will give you an example from our time in the Park preaching the gospel to everyone on this island.  

Those who know me in *Real Life*, know I am not the bold aggressive sort. In fact I'm quite timid, so preaching in the open where not everyone cares to hear the gospel was more than a little intimidating & I was often quite anxious beforehand. As I like preaching & am not nervous about public speaking, this was something new for me. Sometimes I used notes but not all the time & this particular day I felt led to *freelance*.  

It was a very bright, glarey day & I had dark sunglasses on when I stood to speak.  I always open with prayer so I left my sunnies on.  And I left them on when I was finished praying so I could gather my thoughts in private but I hadn't opened my eyes.  As I waited the Holy Spirit began to scroll the message down my mind ~ exactly as if I was watching a movie & @ exactly the right pace for my speaking voice.  All I had to do was speak what I could see in front of my eyes. Never before nor since have I preached an entire message with my eyes shut!  If I opened them, the message disappeared, so I kept them firmly shut & simply preached exactly as I was shown! So you see, we can have peace, even if we find witnessing difficult, because the Holy Spirit will give us exactly what to say when we need it.


Finally we have the Covenant of the Kingdom.  On earth as it is in heaven.  There will be a new kingdom, & we look forward to that. Meanwhile part of our job here on earth, as ambassadors of Christ, is to exercise kingdom authority in the here & now. As Jesus explained to the pharisees: nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or, 'There it is!' For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst." [Luke 17:21] The KJV puts it  behold, the kingdom of God is within you. 

Entos, within.  Understand, the kingdom is only within you if Christ is within you. Christ can only be within you because Jesus sent the Holy Spirit.

...for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. [Romans 14:17] There is an atmosphere of the kingdom, a kingdom reality that only the truly born again experience.  It is not something that comes & goes.  It has nothing to do with how you feel. It is not dependant upon your circumstances for it is rooted in Christ Himself.

This is what the covenant buys us. So as we light the covenant candles we remember.  From Adam to Revelation, Christ with us. Christ within.  Christ without.  Christ all about. For in Christ all things are made new. Shalom.

The Promises of God ~ Rabqa.

 All Scriptures are from NLT unless otherwise stated. 

The Promises of God ~ Rabqa.

Today we are going to be looking at the promises of God 

Isa 61:1-2 The Spirit of the Lord God is on me, because the Lord has chosen me to bring good news to poor people. He has sent me to heal those with a sad heart. He has sent me to tell those who are being held and those in prison that they can go free. He has sent me to tell about the year of the Lord’s favour, and the day our God will bring punishment. He has sent me to comfort all who are filled with sorrow. 

This is the Bible passage that Jesus read in the temple that affirmed His calling at the start of His public ministry in Luke 4:14-21. When you read the whole of Isaiah 61 chapter in the context of Luke 4, we can read that it was actually God the Father who sent His own Son into the world to proclaim the good news of the kingdom. 

Jesus came to open the prison doors & set the captives free. I believe this refers to the prison of sin, guilt & condemnation. Jesus died so that our sins could be forgiven completely removed along with any sense of guilt & condemnation.  

Jesus can heal us everywhere we hurt! He wants us to help us mentally & emotionally, as well as spiritually. I did not know this for a long time, so lack of knowledge caused me to live a dysfunctional life. I was abused emotionally which left me wounded but then I discovered Jesus wanted to heal me, give~& all of us beauty for ashes.  

When we accept Jesus as Saviour & Lord, a great exchange takes place in the spirit realm. He gives us everything He has & is we are supposed to give Him not only everything we are but even what we are not. He takes our weakness & gives us His strength. He takes our sickness & gives us His health & healing. We give Him our sin & He gives us His righteousness. He will give us beauty for ashes, but we must be willing to give up our ashes. We can live in the past & press into the future at the same time. Let go of what lies behind & start enjoying the new life that Jesus has for you. 

When I accepted Jesus my sin –filed life, miserable hopeless life was swallowed up in His goodness, mercy & grace. If you have problems, you are just the person Jesus died for. He came for the sick & needy, not for those who need nothing. It is not a shame to be needy. The greatest need that most people have is to admit they have a need. 

It is time for you to enjoy God’s favour (Isa 61:2). That means He will bless you even though you do not deserve it, if you place your faith in Him God wants you to enjoy yourself & your life. He wants to heal you everywhere you hurt! He wants to heal you spiritually, mentally, physically, financially & socially. Do not close off any part of your life to His healing touch. Invite Jesus into every area of you life & ask Him to make you whole.       The message of the kingdom is simply this... Good news for the poor. Healing for the broken hearted. Freedom for the captives. Wide open spaces to those imprisoned. Comfort for the grieving. & so much more.  This is why Jesus came two thousand years ago and it is the same reason why the Holy Spirit is with us today.   If you are hurting, just open up your heart to the Holy Spirit and let the love of God bind up your broken heart. If you are grieving, let the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort bring His everlasting comfort in your time of mourning. If you are imprisoned, let the Lion of Judah set you free from all that keeps you in chains so that you can truly live a free life. 

Psalm 5:11But let all who put their trust in You be glad. Let them sing with joy forever. You make a covering for them, that all who love Your name may be glad in You. 

In the NLT Bible version of this verse, the psalmist asks God to 'spread His protection over them'. The Amplified Bible says 'make a covering over them'. When I think of this promise, I imagine that Papa God spreads a huge canopy, a nice warm comforting blanket over us that provides warmth, protection and shelter all the days of our life.   The knowledge of a loving God that is brooding over us and protecting us will cause us to trust Him even more & fill us to overflowing with unspeakable joy. I chose this particular photo of cloud cover to remind me that just as the clouds can shield us from the heat of the sun's rays, so God's love covers us and shields us from the harshness that life can bring our way.    May each one of us snuggle under the blanket of God's protecting love today and may our hearts be filled with joy knowing that we are safe and secure today and for the rest of our lives. 

Ephesians 3:17-19 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. 

Time is very valuable commodity. Have you ever found yourself wishing there were more hours in a day? Ask God to teach you to live wisely. Pay attention to the way you spend your time & make the most of every opportunity. 

Verses 18-20 teach that is such a powerful passage that we can obey & stay ever filled with the Holy Spirit. We do this by speaking to ourselves through our thoughts or to others through our words in psalms & hymns & spiritual songs. We need to keep thoughts & words full of God’s Word by continuously offering praise & giving thanks to Him. 

 This promise is part of the amazing prayer that the Apostle Paul prays for the church at Ephesus in Ephesians 3:14-21. In this prayer, Paul makes his requests known to the Father from whom His family in heaven and earth is named after (v 14 & 15) that He might strengthen our inner man by the power of His Holy Spirit.   The whole point of this prayer is that the Holy Spirit would root us deeply in the love of God so that we would have power to be able to know (grasp, understand) the vastness of His immeasurable love that has been given to us in Jesus Christ our Lord.   The love that God has for us cannot be comprehended any other way. It is far too great for us to be able to grasp in our human understanding. We need the power of the Holy Spirit to make God's love a reality to us. In Romans 5:5, Paul says that God has poured out His love into our hearts by His Spirit.   My prayer today is that each and every one of us would have a love encounter with God through the personal working of His Holy Spirit. I pray that the Spirit of God would give us power to grasp how deep, how wide, how long and how high His love is for us and that we would be filled to the full measure of God's fullness with His everlasting, unending love! 

1John 1:7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 

Jesus is called the Light of the World. In Him is no darkness, only brilliant, glorious light. The good news of the gospel is that when we receive the free gift of God, which is the life of His own Son, we are completely cleansed from all unrighteousness and forgiven from all our sin.   We have become children of the light because we are now joined completely into the holy life of Jesus. Romans 8:1 says because of this exchange, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ (NKJ). Our adversary the devil is called the accuser of the brethren. His aim is to continually bring accusations against us that would somehow cause us to feel ashamed and hide from God. When you hear these accusing voices, declare the finished work of the blood of Jesus over your life, for it is the cleansing power of Jesus' blood that keeps us walking in the light!   We have no need to hide in shame from God. Jesus Christ has secured our place in His Father's heart and His blood has covered our past sins, our present sins and our future sins. You can rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ. When He cried it is finished! on the cross, He meant it. 

Does this mean that we can go on living a sinful life? No of course not, however, we can rest assured that if we walk in the light as Jesus is in the light, His blood cleanses us from ALL sin.  

In this verse we find that there is power in the shed blood of Jesus Christ! You & I are continually cleansed, not just once in a while but frequently & continuously.  

The Bible states that there is only one requirement on our part that is we must freely admit we have sinned & confess those sins.  

We must be quick to repent, & not to try & hide anything from God. He will never reject you, but repentance releases the power of His blood on your behalf & makes it effective in your life. Confess your sins & allow the blood of Jesus to cleanse you on a regular basis.  

Matthew 5:3 God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. 

We live in an upside down Kingdom. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 says that God has chosen the poor of this world to shame the rich, the weak to shame the strong, the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. I am thankful that God has chosen the poor, the weak and the foolish!  In today's promise, we read that the Kingdom of God actually belongs to the poor in spirit. I believe that being poor in spirit is just acknowledging that we need God to do for us what we can't do for ourselves. Being poor in spirit is to live a life of simple dependence on God's love and His life. If we were rich (spiritually, not materially) we would not think that we had any needs at all!  Being poor in spirit keeps us dependent on the one and only true life source. Jesus speaks about such things in the book of Revelation in chapter 3:14-22 to the Laodicean church. When we think we are rich and in need of nothing, we tend to live independent, isolated and separated. God doesn't want us separate, but very close to His heart.   So if you are feeling hungry today for His presence, dependent for God to be your very life source, you are in the best place that you could possibly be! For blessed are the poor in spirit, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these! 

Ephesians 6:11 Put on all of God’s armour so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.  

In Ephesians 6, Paul the Apostle exhorts the church at Ephesus to put on the full armour of God in order to be able to stand against the tricks of the enemy. It is interesting to note that the armour does not belong to us, but it belongs to God. It is His armour.   He has given us His helmet of salvation to guard our mind and give us peace. He has given us His breastplate of righteousness to protect our heart. He has given us His belt of truth so that we would know the truth and the truth would set us free. He has prepared our feet with shoes of peace so we can proclaim the good news wherever we go. He has given us His shield of faith so that when we lift it up, we quench all of the fiery arrows from the enemy.   And last but not least, He has given us an offensive weapon, the sword of the Spirit, the very Word of God so we can advance the kingdom. Our God and Father has given us everything we need to live a godly life through Jesus Christ our Lord. We stand in His armour, His power, His protection... not our own. So having done all to stand in the power of God's might, continue to stand. 

Many of us fight the battles in the realm of our emotions, but as Ephesians 6:11 -18 teaches, our battle is not just with our emotions, but with the spiritual forces that play on our emotions.  

In the King James Version of Ephesians 6:12 we are told that we do not war with flesh & blood but against principalities & powers. rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. This means we war against strong spiritual entities. 

It is so important for us to see that we cannot fight darkness with darkness. I believe the way to resist & overcome our powerful spiritual enemy is not by venting our anger & frustration in some fleshly manner. Rather, we need to put on our spiritual armour as described in Ephesians 6:13-17 & yield ourselves to the power of the Holy Spirit within us as we pray. 

We would not leave home half dressed. But many of us forget to put on our spiritual clothing. Every day forces of satan wage war against us, & it is important to protected with this spiritual protection & authority, we can learn about our spiritual armour in Ephesians 6:10-18, & as we put our clothes on each day, also put on our armour & pick up our sword! For example, walking in peace is equivalent to putting on the shoes of peace, or walking in righteousness, is equivalent to putting on the breastplate of righteousness which protects our heart in the soulish realm from all condemnation. God supplies the armour we need to defeat all the attacks of the devil, but you must put it on. 

God is always there for us when we need comfort & or encouragement  as we see in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 AMP  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of sympathy (pity and mercy) and the God [Who is the Source] of every comfort (consolation and encouragement), 

4 Who comforts (consoles and encourages) us in every trouble (calamity and affliction), so that we may also be able to comfort (console and encourage) those who are in any kind of trouble or distress, with the comfort (consolation and encouragement) with which we ourselves are comforted (consoled and encouraged) by God. 

Have you ever been disappointed, hurt or mistreated? Have you had changes in your life or are you experiencing loss of some kid? Have you failed in some way? Are you just simply tired? What is your trouble today? These verses tell us that God wants to help you by comforting you when you need it. 

The Holy Spirit is actually called the comforter (John 14:26)). His various names describe His character. They reveal what He does & what He desires to do for believers. He is willing to do a great deal for us if we are willing to receive His help. 

For many years I became angry when I could not get the comfort from family or friends when I needed it, I am sure they were trying BUT now I realise that God would not allow them to give me the comfort I should have been seeking from Him. God was longing to give me that comfort by the power of the Holy Spirit. If only I had asked!  

God will allow people to do only a certain amount for us, & no more. Even those people who are extremely close to us cannot give us everything we need all the time. When we expect others to do for us what only God can do, we have our expectations in the wrong place, & we will always be disappointed. 

No comfort is as good as God’s. People can never give us what we really need unless God Himself uses other people to reach out to us, which He often does. Whether He uses another person to comfort you or He comforts you Himself By the Holy Spirit, let me remind you that He is the Comforter. Ask & receive His comfort whenever you need it. 

These are just some of the wonder promises of god, let them renew your mind & don’t just read these wonderful promises but process them slowly, deeply, prayerfully & repeatedly, letting the truth of them change our thinking & strengthen your faith. 

We see from psalm 119:49-56 Remember your promise to me;     it is my only hope. 50 Your promise revives me;     it comforts me in all my troubles. 51 The proud hold me in utter contempt,     but I do not turn away from your instructions. 52 I meditate on your age-old regulations;     O Lord, they comfort me. 53 I become furious with the wicked,     because they reject your instructions. 54 Your decrees have been the theme of my songs     wherever I have lived. 55 I reflect at night on who you are, O Lord;     therefore, I obey your instructions. 56 This is how I spend my life:     obeying your commandments. 

Verse 56 teaches to practice obedience to God’s Word. Understand that it is the key to further understanding. 

By living your life according to the Scriptures & its instructions you will grow in godliness.