This week has put a lot into perspective for me. Earlier in the week, on Wednesday, I was involved in a car accident. Mercifully there was no one else involved and I was uninjured, however my car has been written off after I lost control taking a corner and hit a wall. Thinking of all the worse case scenarios is just not worth it as the thoughts are just too much to bear. But I realise that it could have been far more fatal for either myself or someone else. With this in mind I am just so thankful that 'it was not my time'. I truly felt that God had protected me from a far worse fate.
These last couple of weeks have been a struggle for me spiritually. I have neglected reading my Bible as I should; and other than fleeting spiritually euphoric, and upbuilding moments, at Church on a Sunday morning my walk with God has been practically non-existent. Yet after wednesday afternoon I was reminded in a very real and graphic way of the sovereignty of almighty God. If I have felt distant from God it is because I have drifted from Him not vice versa. I am so thankful for God's gracious protection over me. I have always believed in the divine providence of God, that God has had a plan and a purpose for my life.
Ever since graduating from university my assumptions about God's will for my life have been tested and continually re-evaluated. I am now in a profession that I had no desire to enter into whilst studying at university, conversely I believed when all other doors were closed to me that this was God's provision, and that through this experience God was going to teach and grow me for His future purposes. It has been a hard road and a difficult lesson to learn; one I have not always been receptive too or enthusiastic to embrace, and exacerbated by my split with my ex-fiancee. Despite my desire to pursue the ways of God selflessly and joyfully, too many times my ego or selfish ambition has got the better of me. But I have not quit, nor given up because I still hold to the belief that this is a necessary season in my life.
I know that I didn't necessarily deserve to be saved after neglecting my creator for so long, yet the awesome love of God is such that He preserved my life. Again I am in no doubt as to God's divine providence at work again. I am still single and still in a profession I am not 100% comfortable in nevertheless I desire to meet these challenges and trials in life with joy in the knowledge that God is with me, guiding me and has my best interests at heart. What else can I do for the being who gave His only begotten Son for my sins so that I may be reconciled to Him again and have new life? It's the very least I can do to give my life for my creator and saviour. As Jesus says:
"All who wish to save their lives will lose it, but all those who lose their life for my sake and the sake of the Gospel shall save it." (Matthew 16:25)
I do not pretend to know the mind of God, nor comprehend all His ways. But comprehension is not a prerequisite of obedience and faith. I know my God is with me and for me! Maybe my life will get even harder, I cannot say (nor do I want to predict at this moment) but I do know that God is working out His purposes in my life. Rejoicing in the face of difficulty, suffering and stress is extremely hard. Yet there is a certain peace in the knowledge that there is a higher power in control of my destiny and that this higher power is made accessible through the person and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Therefore I look to the cross and the Lord Jesus as my example and say:
"not my will but yours be done." (Luke 22:42)
Jesus was perfected through suffering (Hebrews 2:10) and as a follower of Jesus I am not exempt from suffering. Indeed the early apostles and disciples counted it an honour to suffer for the name of Jesus and to share in their saviour's sufferings. This is the path of the Christian. It is through suffering that God forges in His children His character as He did in Jesus. I know this intellectually but I now need to know this in my spirit, so that I may have that inner strength, peace and serenity to persevere. I am just thankful to be alive and praise God for all that I have in life.
Friday, 27 November 2009
Sunday, 15 November 2009
Tour of the Emirates Stadium
Yesterday I went on a tour of Arsenal's Emirates Stadium in Islington, North London. The tour was tremendous value, taking you through parts of the stadium that would have been ordinarily off limits to the majority of fans. As an Arsenal fan it was a thrilling and very enjoyable experience, one I will not forget for a long time to come! Unfortunately in one respect the weather was very miserable, but I was determined not to let the strong winds and raging rain dampen my spirits, and indeed the Stadium still l00ked magnificently impressive despite the poor weather! (Note this explains why I look a little dishevelled and windswept in some of the pictures. Oh and the reason I have a moustache is because I am taking part in the man of movember charity event, raising money for prostrate cancer)
The Stadium dominat
es the landscape as you step out of Arsenal tube station. The Stadium is literally a stones throw away and immediately catches your eye as you walk out of the station. As you approach the stadium the first thing you are confronted with on the outside are the huge logos, the Arsenal badge proudly positioned in the centre with some of Arsenal's most legendary players either side of it, with the club's motto written in Latin underneath it: 'Victory through harmony'.
Carrying on around the outside of the building, before you enter in, there ar
e two cannons originally from the Woolich munitions factory where the club had its humble beginnings. One of the cannons is facing west, the other east. The directions of the cannons are very symbolic to the club. The cannon facing west represents remembering the club's past, its origins in Woolich, its time at Highbury and the ethos and spirit with which the club has always played with. The cannon facing east represents the future, and the club's continual pursuit of excellence and the hope of future successes.
The tour started in the Diamond club entrance; in the lobby there is a bronze bust of Arsene Wenger in front of a marble wall with the Arsenal badge etched into it. It is just a taster of what is to come later in the tour, as you progress around the stadium and instantly sends the message of excellence and pride the club takes in itself: its football and its successes. Indeed the entire stadium (and museum located opposite) is a celebration of the club's past, successes, and footballing philosophy.
After seeing the directors' area you are taken to the car park where the away teams would disembark and enter into the stadium before the match. At this player entrance the first thing you are confronted with is a huge red wall again with the Arsenal badge and underneath the slogan 'the deeper foundations the stronger the fortress'. The tour guide explained this has been very deliberately built there so that no away team could mistake where they have travelled to and no mistaking the calibre and pedigree of Arsenal. As I said the entire stadium is a celebration of the club.
It was then off through the tunnel onto the pitch. As I walked up with the tunnel I felt a tremendous sense of excitment, it was exhilerating to think this is where players from every premiership club, not just Arsenal, walk out onto the pitch. I was literally walking in the footsteps of these talented and very famous players. I decided to capture it on video rather than just photograph.
The Stadium dominat
es the landscape as you step out of Arsenal tube station. The Stadium is literally a stones throw away and immediately catches your eye as you walk out of the station. As you approach the stadium the first thing you are confronted with on the outside are the huge logos, the Arsenal badge proudly positioned in the centre with some of Arsenal's most legendary players either side of it, with the club's motto written in Latin underneath it: 'Victory through harmony'.The stadium is a very imposing, grand and magnificent piece of architecture as evidenced from this photo.
Carrying on around the outside of the building, before you enter in, there ar
e two cannons originally from the Woolich munitions factory where the club had its humble beginnings. One of the cannons is facing west, the other east. The directions of the cannons are very symbolic to the club. The cannon facing west represents remembering the club's past, its origins in Woolich, its time at Highbury and the ethos and spirit with which the club has always played with. The cannon facing east represents the future, and the club's continual pursuit of excellence and the hope of future successes.
The tour started in the Diamond club entrance; in the lobby there is a bronze bust of Arsene Wenger in front of a marble wall with the Arsenal badge etched into it. It is just a taster of what is to come later in the tour, as you progress around the stadium and instantly sends the message of excellence and pride the club takes in itself: its football and its successes. Indeed the entire stadium (and museum located opposite) is a celebration of the club's past, successes, and footballing philosophy.The first place they take you on the tour is the directors' lounge, a wonderfully rich and lavish room with leather seats and marble bars either end of the room. At the front of the lounge are large windows with which you get a panoramic view of the pitch. As soon as you look out the windows you are awe struck by how spectacular the ground tru
ly is (it was a real wow moment for me). Glass doors open out into the directors' box where they sit to watch the matches. The stadium has a maximum capacity of 60,000 people (roughly the size of my home town!). One of the things I was most impressed with was the layout and design of the grounds. Judging from where I was in the directors' box it looked to me that from where ever you are seated in the grounds you would get a good view of the pitch. The architects and designers of the stadium had obviously thought very thoroughly about this and it is a real credit to them. The entire building has been very intelligently designed.
ly is (it was a real wow moment for me). Glass doors open out into the directors' box where they sit to watch the matches. The stadium has a maximum capacity of 60,000 people (roughly the size of my home town!). One of the things I was most impressed with was the layout and design of the grounds. Judging from where I was in the directors' box it looked to me that from where ever you are seated in the grounds you would get a good view of the pitch. The architects and designers of the stadium had obviously thought very thoroughly about this and it is a real credit to them. The entire building has been very intelligently designed.
After seeing the directors' area you are taken to the car park where the away teams would disembark and enter into the stadium before the match. At this player entrance the first thing you are confronted with is a huge red wall again with the Arsenal badge and underneath the slogan 'the deeper foundations the stronger the fortress'. The tour guide explained this has been very deliberately built there so that no away team could mistake where they have travelled to and no mistaking the calibre and pedigree of Arsenal. As I said the entire stadium is a celebration of the club.Just in front of the entrance wall, in the floor, is a timecapsule buried with objects, former players shirts, socks etc from the old Highbury stadium/era. The clu
b take real pride in its heritage, past and origins. As you walk around the entrance wall on your way to the locker rooms there are several pictures/photographs of legendary Arsenal players. Along this 'avenue of remembrance' is a montage of the 2003/4 season when the team went undefeated in all of their 49 matches! If I remember correctly the tour guide said this was the first time a team had gone unbeaten in 115 years and therefore no other premier league team had a montage like that one. Arsenal truly are a unique football club.
b take real pride in its heritage, past and origins. As you walk around the entrance wall on your way to the locker rooms there are several pictures/photographs of legendary Arsenal players. Along this 'avenue of remembrance' is a montage of the 2003/4 season when the team went undefeated in all of their 49 matches! If I remember correctly the tour guide said this was the first time a team had gone unbeaten in 115 years and therefore no other premier league team had a montage like that one. Arsenal truly are a unique football club.The next couple of locations were perhaps the most exciting of the entire tour: the players locker room and going through the tunn
el onto pitch side where the manager, coaches and substitutes seats are. The locker room was designed by Arsene Wenger himself for optimal impact. The room is in a horseshoe shape so that Arsene can address the entire team from the front of the horseshoe. The ceiling is acoustically padded so that no sound escapes, meaning he never has to raise his voice unnecessarily. The players sit in the positions they play on the pitch: the goalkeeper sits closest to the shower room, at Wenger's right hand side, with the defenders next to him. In the centre is where the captain sits (a tradition started by Tierre Henry), and to Wenger's left the strikers. The locker room is apparently much larger than Highbury's at Wenger's insistance. It was one of the best moments of the tour when I got to sit in the captain's seat, in front of a replica Fabregas shirt.
el onto pitch side where the manager, coaches and substitutes seats are. The locker room was designed by Arsene Wenger himself for optimal impact. The room is in a horseshoe shape so that Arsene can address the entire team from the front of the horseshoe. The ceiling is acoustically padded so that no sound escapes, meaning he never has to raise his voice unnecessarily. The players sit in the positions they play on the pitch: the goalkeeper sits closest to the shower room, at Wenger's right hand side, with the defenders next to him. In the centre is where the captain sits (a tradition started by Tierre Henry), and to Wenger's left the strikers. The locker room is apparently much larger than Highbury's at Wenger's insistance. It was one of the best moments of the tour when I got to sit in the captain's seat, in front of a replica Fabregas shirt.It was then off through the tunnel onto the pitch. As I walked up with the tunnel I felt a tremendous sense of excitment, it was exhilerating to think this is where players from every premiership club, not just Arsenal, walk out onto the pitch. I was literally walking in the footsteps of these talented and very famous players. I decided to capture it on video rather than just photograph.
After walking out next to the pitch my imaginati0n and attention immediately was drawn to the manager's seat. Next to sitting at the captain's seat in the locker room this was the joint highlight of the tour for me. I indulged in a little fantasy of pretending I was the manager (as did every other Arsenal fan who took their photo sitting in the chair!). It was really fun just to think how it would feel sitting here during a match watching, observing the game and then getting up onto the side line and giving the players direction and advice. It was a very special moment in what was a very special day.
The last stop on the tour was the media conference room, where Arsene Wenger addresses the press after matches. It was interesting to see where these important post match conferences take place. The roo
m feels like a cinema or a lecture theatre with tierred rows of chairs. If I remember correctly I believe the tour guide said it had the capacity to sit 150 people in. Again I made the most of the obvious photo opportunity and had my picture taken sitting behind the desk. It was a fun way to end the tour, which had been informative and awe-inspiring.
The whole experience left me feeling extremely proud to be an Arsenal supporter, I came away having learnt new things about this most excellent and beloved team as well as a re-invigorated imagination and appreciation for the club. It was a great day out and I hope one day to actually go again to the stadium to see a match and experience the atmosphere of thousands of fellow Arsenal fans.
Friday, 6 November 2009
The beautiful things in life: Love
Arguably the thing that makes life meaningful the most is love. Conversely love means many things to different people and so therefore I want to use the Greek variations of the concept of love to make it absolutely clear what I am talking about in this blog. The forms of love I want to concentrate on in this blog is Storge & Philia. The elements of love these words define are paternal love and brotherly love: love between families and friends.
I was in a long term relationship until early this year with my ex-fiancee; we had been together four years. Now I am single again and therefore my experience of love has changed. My views on relationships hasn't changed, I still hope to find the right person for me sometime soon, however in picking up the pieces of my life I have had to re-evaluate some of my relationships with my family members and friends. It is often said that a parent's love is 'unconditional' and I am eternally grateful and thankful that I have had the love and support of my parents through what has been a very difficult, and emotional, experience.
In many ways it breaks my heart to think there are children in the world who suffer at the hands of their parents or wider family, the very people who should love and support them the most. We are all of us precious: life is precious and therefore we all deserve the love, commitment, compassion and empathy of our family. Knowing there are many people out there who are not as fortunate as myself in coming from a loving home, I will never fail to value and appreciate the love my parents have shown me. When I have felt rejected and lonely, they have been there. Truly without their love and support I don't know how I would have coped with these past several months. When sometimes you struggle to find meaning in your life, I don't have to look further than the relationship I share with my parents.
Friendships are also important too. I have been blessed throughout my life to have had true, honest, real and loyal friends; friends who have kept in contact with me and spent time with me. Again having been forced to re-evaluate some of these relationships I am determined more than ever to value and respect my friendships, and although my relationship will always be different with my friends to that certain somebody whom I will form that most special of relationships with, nevertheless life would be far more meaningless if we didn't have friends to share it and live it with.
God created us to be social (as well as sexual) beings. In Genesis it says that:
"God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone." Genesis 2:18
God made Eve to be Adam's wife and companion. Life would break down if we were incapable of forming relationships and it is something that makes us who we are as human beings, to be able to sympathise with, love and show warmth and compassion towards other people. The world would be a nightmarishly terrible place if there was not love. Love brings out the best in human beings, it is the highest virtue and the purest emotion. God Himself is love and it says elsewhere in the Bible that:
"No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us." 1 John 4:12
Now the love which is spoken of here in this verse is the very purest form of love there is, of Agape in the Greek, and a subject of a completely separate blog in its own right. I want to share my thoughts on this particular expression of love another time. Notwithstanding my point is, is that God is love and therefore love must be the highest virtue of human nature that we are capable of expressing. Therefore love, in all its expressions and nuances makes life worth living, makes life more beautiful and so much more meaningful. I thank God that He is love and that we can know love, feel love and give love.
I was in a long term relationship until early this year with my ex-fiancee; we had been together four years. Now I am single again and therefore my experience of love has changed. My views on relationships hasn't changed, I still hope to find the right person for me sometime soon, however in picking up the pieces of my life I have had to re-evaluate some of my relationships with my family members and friends. It is often said that a parent's love is 'unconditional' and I am eternally grateful and thankful that I have had the love and support of my parents through what has been a very difficult, and emotional, experience.
In many ways it breaks my heart to think there are children in the world who suffer at the hands of their parents or wider family, the very people who should love and support them the most. We are all of us precious: life is precious and therefore we all deserve the love, commitment, compassion and empathy of our family. Knowing there are many people out there who are not as fortunate as myself in coming from a loving home, I will never fail to value and appreciate the love my parents have shown me. When I have felt rejected and lonely, they have been there. Truly without their love and support I don't know how I would have coped with these past several months. When sometimes you struggle to find meaning in your life, I don't have to look further than the relationship I share with my parents.
Friendships are also important too. I have been blessed throughout my life to have had true, honest, real and loyal friends; friends who have kept in contact with me and spent time with me. Again having been forced to re-evaluate some of these relationships I am determined more than ever to value and respect my friendships, and although my relationship will always be different with my friends to that certain somebody whom I will form that most special of relationships with, nevertheless life would be far more meaningless if we didn't have friends to share it and live it with.
God created us to be social (as well as sexual) beings. In Genesis it says that:
"God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone." Genesis 2:18
God made Eve to be Adam's wife and companion. Life would break down if we were incapable of forming relationships and it is something that makes us who we are as human beings, to be able to sympathise with, love and show warmth and compassion towards other people. The world would be a nightmarishly terrible place if there was not love. Love brings out the best in human beings, it is the highest virtue and the purest emotion. God Himself is love and it says elsewhere in the Bible that:
"No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us." 1 John 4:12
Now the love which is spoken of here in this verse is the very purest form of love there is, of Agape in the Greek, and a subject of a completely separate blog in its own right. I want to share my thoughts on this particular expression of love another time. Notwithstanding my point is, is that God is love and therefore love must be the highest virtue of human nature that we are capable of expressing. Therefore love, in all its expressions and nuances makes life worth living, makes life more beautiful and so much more meaningful. I thank God that He is love and that we can know love, feel love and give love.
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Spiritual Warfare
This subject may perplex any non-Christian readers but I want to talk openly about some recent experiences. For those of you who are Christians reading this you will at least be familiar with the concept of spiritual warfare. The last few days have been difficult for me, I have struggled with temptations (of various kinds) as well as deception from the Devil. This barrage and unholy alliance between sin and Satan was jeopordising my faith. Physical and mental fatigue are widely accepted but I also believe in spiritual fatigue too. By not reading my Bible regularly as I should I was becoming spiritually fatigued and spiritual atrophy had started to kick in. I was starting to become frustrated with my life's circumstances.
Sometimes life seems to have a way of kicking you when you're down and there is always the temptation to blame God for your troubles. However I know that God is not a capricious deity who callously allows people to be tormented or suffer (whether that is perceived or real). Whenever this particular temptation arises I always remind myself of Job in the Old Testament who refused to curse God. Job refused the council of his friends and wife who thought that it would be sagacious of Job to curse God and die rather than live in prolonged suffering. Yet Job had the foresight and faith to realise that as human beings we owe God nothing and that God's ways are unfathomable.
As regards other temptation that results in sinning against God again it is not right to attribute this to God. As it says in James:
"Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God', for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no-one." James 1:13
Temptation is a result of the sinful human nature, which conflicts with God's moral and natural law. The solution? The Bible refers to temptation that is 'common to man', meaning that we do not experience any form of temptation that others have not been tempted with themselves. We are never alone in our struggles. Jesus was God incarnate: God made man. The Bible teaches that Jesus is able to strengthen us because He has also experienced similar temptations and yet overcame because He was without sin (see Hebrews 4:15). The way in which Jesus strengthens the believer, as well as His example in the Gospels of a righteous life, is through the Holy Spirit:
"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." Galations 5:16
Conversely, as I have been struggling with, if we do not continually refresh ourselves with the Word of God and keep our focus on Jesus then we will fail to walk in the Spirit, fail in our own self-righteousness to live a life pleasing to God. Regarding the Word of God I want to now turn to the issue of Satanic deception.
Through the failure to live a pure and holy life the Devil was able to sow seeds of doubt in my mind: doubt, confusion and worthlessness. I began to feel unworthy of God and consequently felt miserable. As I listened, unperceptively at first, to the lies of the Devil I became increasingly disillusioned with my status before God. But the Devil is a liar, indeed Jesus describes him as the 'father of lies' (see John 8:44). In fact it is quite literally the oldest trick in the book (see Genesis 3:1). The Devil mercilessly seeks to turn humanity against God by deceiving us that God is not who He says He is and that we are not truly saved through Jesus. As a Christian I should be more conscious of this, but so many times I fail to perceive it until it has done some damage.
As Christians we are ceaselessly at war with Satan, which as I said earlier can become tiresome. Therefore it is imperative we know and understand through the renewal of our minds by the Word of God that it is not in our own strength but God's! God is our warrior King who defeats Satan for us. Let me share with you a passage of Scripture that truly spoke to me this morning from my daily reading. It is from Ephesians 1:3-14. I will not quote the entire passage but will pick out the key points that God used to speak to me of His divine sovereignty, Love and the power of His grace:
"even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world... In love He predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ..." Ephesians 1:4&5
"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our sins, according to the richness of His grace, which He has lavished upon us..." Ephesians 1:7&8
"In Him (Jesus) we have obtained an inheritance... In Him you also... were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance..." Ephesians 1:11 &13,14
That is the truth, and how liberating it is! Praise be to almighty God, hallelujah! Elsewhere in the Bible it speaks of the extraordinary thought that God is mindful of man, despite how seemingly insignificant man is compared with the rest of the universe. Yet the truth is even more amazing than that! God not only is mindful of us but loves us, chosen us personally out of the billions who have lived presently and throughout the ages, adopted us into His family so that we have a marvelous inheritance that awaits us in eternity and has made sure of that by his grace which he does not give begrudginly, or even withholds, but lavishes on us as well as through the Holy Spirit. Am I worthless to God? No! Am I a failure in God's eyes? No. As long as I continue to trust in Jesus for my salvation I am secure in the grace of God, empowered by His Spirit.
In the analogy of spiritual armour, the Word of God is said to be our sword. The Bible is our very own excalibur and we should wield it at all times against the Devil in this spiritual war. The truth will destroy the empty lies of the Devil as well as give us the strength we continually need, through the Holy Spirit, as we put our faith, hope and trust in Jesus. I know I will face many battles in my life, but I endeavour to meet them all not in my strength but in God's as I draw strength from the truth of His Word and from His Holy Spirit.
Sometimes life seems to have a way of kicking you when you're down and there is always the temptation to blame God for your troubles. However I know that God is not a capricious deity who callously allows people to be tormented or suffer (whether that is perceived or real). Whenever this particular temptation arises I always remind myself of Job in the Old Testament who refused to curse God. Job refused the council of his friends and wife who thought that it would be sagacious of Job to curse God and die rather than live in prolonged suffering. Yet Job had the foresight and faith to realise that as human beings we owe God nothing and that God's ways are unfathomable.
As regards other temptation that results in sinning against God again it is not right to attribute this to God. As it says in James:
"Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am being tempted by God', for God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no-one." James 1:13
Temptation is a result of the sinful human nature, which conflicts with God's moral and natural law. The solution? The Bible refers to temptation that is 'common to man', meaning that we do not experience any form of temptation that others have not been tempted with themselves. We are never alone in our struggles. Jesus was God incarnate: God made man. The Bible teaches that Jesus is able to strengthen us because He has also experienced similar temptations and yet overcame because He was without sin (see Hebrews 4:15). The way in which Jesus strengthens the believer, as well as His example in the Gospels of a righteous life, is through the Holy Spirit:
"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh." Galations 5:16
Conversely, as I have been struggling with, if we do not continually refresh ourselves with the Word of God and keep our focus on Jesus then we will fail to walk in the Spirit, fail in our own self-righteousness to live a life pleasing to God. Regarding the Word of God I want to now turn to the issue of Satanic deception.
Through the failure to live a pure and holy life the Devil was able to sow seeds of doubt in my mind: doubt, confusion and worthlessness. I began to feel unworthy of God and consequently felt miserable. As I listened, unperceptively at first, to the lies of the Devil I became increasingly disillusioned with my status before God. But the Devil is a liar, indeed Jesus describes him as the 'father of lies' (see John 8:44). In fact it is quite literally the oldest trick in the book (see Genesis 3:1). The Devil mercilessly seeks to turn humanity against God by deceiving us that God is not who He says He is and that we are not truly saved through Jesus. As a Christian I should be more conscious of this, but so many times I fail to perceive it until it has done some damage.
As Christians we are ceaselessly at war with Satan, which as I said earlier can become tiresome. Therefore it is imperative we know and understand through the renewal of our minds by the Word of God that it is not in our own strength but God's! God is our warrior King who defeats Satan for us. Let me share with you a passage of Scripture that truly spoke to me this morning from my daily reading. It is from Ephesians 1:3-14. I will not quote the entire passage but will pick out the key points that God used to speak to me of His divine sovereignty, Love and the power of His grace:
"even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world... In love He predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ..." Ephesians 1:4&5
"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our sins, according to the richness of His grace, which He has lavished upon us..." Ephesians 1:7&8
"In Him (Jesus) we have obtained an inheritance... In Him you also... were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance..." Ephesians 1:11 &13,14
That is the truth, and how liberating it is! Praise be to almighty God, hallelujah! Elsewhere in the Bible it speaks of the extraordinary thought that God is mindful of man, despite how seemingly insignificant man is compared with the rest of the universe. Yet the truth is even more amazing than that! God not only is mindful of us but loves us, chosen us personally out of the billions who have lived presently and throughout the ages, adopted us into His family so that we have a marvelous inheritance that awaits us in eternity and has made sure of that by his grace which he does not give begrudginly, or even withholds, but lavishes on us as well as through the Holy Spirit. Am I worthless to God? No! Am I a failure in God's eyes? No. As long as I continue to trust in Jesus for my salvation I am secure in the grace of God, empowered by His Spirit.
In the analogy of spiritual armour, the Word of God is said to be our sword. The Bible is our very own excalibur and we should wield it at all times against the Devil in this spiritual war. The truth will destroy the empty lies of the Devil as well as give us the strength we continually need, through the Holy Spirit, as we put our faith, hope and trust in Jesus. I know I will face many battles in my life, but I endeavour to meet them all not in my strength but in God's as I draw strength from the truth of His Word and from His Holy Spirit.
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