Wednesday 1st April

A good portion of the New Testament is written by Paul, who spent his later years under house arrest – and we now have a hint of what that was like for him. Through reading the Acts of the Apostles we can see that Paul had spent the previous 20 years moving from place to place sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ and as he moves on, he leaves behind groups of believers – churches. His passion was to go to places which hadn’t heard the gospel and share Jesus’ message of salvation with them. So initially when he finds his freedom curtailed he must not only have been frustrated but perhaps also questioning why God was allowing this to happen to him. Paul probably never ever realised that because of his house arrest, 2,000 years later we would be able to read all about what it means to know Jesus as Lord and Saviour through the letters he wrote while under house arrest - Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon. These letters help us to understand the unending, powerful love of God for each of us, words which perhaps would never have been written if Paul hadn’t been imprisoned. That raises a big question for each of us. How does God want you to spend your time of ‘house-arrest’?

Read Ephesians 6: 10-18 – often summarised as ‘The armour of God.’

Eugene Peterson’s ‘The Message’ paraphrases this passage in a really useful ways and tells us to ‘Take all the help you can get…

Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life.

God’s Word is an indispensable weapon.

In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare.’

In this bible passage Paul reminds us of how God’s Holy Spirit has equipped each of us with everything we need to keep our focus on God and live lives which glorify him. It also reminds us that God is greater than sin and death and so God is greater than any difficulties we may face. At the moment that battle may be against despondency and lethargy or worry and fear, or loneliness and negative thoughts – whatever we are fighting God has equipped us with the tools to overcome it.

Through reading our bibles and praying – truth, honouring God, peace, faith, and salvation will become established in our lives through God’s Holy Spirit taking the words we read and helping us to shapes and moulds us so that we more closely reflect Jesus – and so be able to “extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one.”

The words of a song we often sing at church  can help us express our thanks and trust in God, written by Jarrod Cooper © 1996:

King of kings, majesty, God of heaven living in me,

gentle Saviour, closest friend, strong deliverer,

beginning and end, all within me falls at your throne.

Your majesty, I can but bow. I lay my all before you now.

In royal robes I don't deserve I live to serve your majesty.

I will write again on Sunday – look out for a guest writer on Friday.

Page last updated: Saturday 25th April 2020 11:44 AM
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