Some say that talking to yourself is a sign of madness; others that talking to yourself is O.K., but answering back is risky! Whether we acknowledge that we talk to ourselves (not necessarily outloud) or not, the fact remains that there is an internal dialogue that goes on in our hearts and minds which deserves investigation at times to find out why we think as we do or why we behave in a certain way.

Whatever we may feel about talking to ourselves, God’s Word encourages us to speak truth to ourselves. Ps 42:5 says ‘Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.’  (see also Ps 42:11). Ps 57:8 is a command to ourselves: ‘Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.’ Ps 62:5 is another example of the power of speaking truth to ourselves: ‘Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.’ Clearly, God understands that there are times when we need to speak truth into our own hearts.

Matt Redman’s songs frequently capture this need, which is an essential element of praise (we often have to encourage ourselves to do this: if we waited until we felt like praising God, we would probably only rarely praise Him…!) I recently heard the song ‘The Awesome God You Are’, with its lovely line ‘To my heart I preach Your sovereignty and the power of Your name.’ It is easy for us to doubt God’s sovereignty and power; we frequently feel fearful and uncertain and often question God’s goodness and kindness. It’s at times like that that we need to preach to ourselves, to speak truth to our own hearts, to declare truth, even if it contradicts our feelings. Songs can be a great way of doing that, I’ve found. By the end of them, I even believe what I’ve been singing!

‘Let Your majesty speak peace to me

And chase my fears away.

To my heart I preach Your sovereignty

And the power of Your name.

I’ll stand in awe of You alone.

God, let hope arise

And faith become the fortress of my heart.

I will lift my eyes and see You

As the awesome God You are,

Believe You as the awesome God You are.

You’re the glory of our brightest days,

The comfort of our nights.

When the darkest shades are all we see,

You’re the everlasting light.

And see You on Your throne so high above,

See You watching over me in love,

I will worship You and You alone,

The awesome God You are.’ (‘The Awesome God You Are’, Matt Redman, Jason Ingram & Ed Cash)

[God’s awesomeness… see Ps 68:35, Ex 15:11, Deut 7:21, Neh 1:5, Job 37:22, Ps 89:7, Dan 9:4 if you need more truth to speak into your own heart.]

Stephen continued his series on the armour of God last night, looking at the shield of faith (‘take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.‘ Eph 6:16)

Shields come in all kinds of different sizes and shapes. The gladiator shield (pictured below) was quite small and soldiers had to rely on skill to get in place in time because of its size:

A Viking shield was also small, but was more defensive than the gladiator shield:

A Roman shield, used by the infantry, was about three-quarters of a man’s height and was therefore much bigger:

Because of its size, it gave more coverage of the body and therefore more protection. Its curved shape also gave protection from the sides, not just from the front. This kind of shield gave the Roman armies a big advantage, for when the army formed a ‘tortoise’ shape (lining up in squares), they were almost impregnable.

In Roman warfare, flaming arrows were launched in attack, but the Romans soaked their shields in water to put out these arrows. For us, however, our shield is the shield of faith, which is invisible to the natural eye (rather like the Klingons’ cloaking device in Star Trek which made their ships appear invisible to the enemy and therefore harder to engage in attack!)

The Bible has much to say about shields. Gen 15:1 reminds us that God is our ultimate shield. Ps 3:3 reminds us that God is a shield about us, protecting us and guarding us. God’s faithfulness is our shield (Ps 94:1) and our faith helps us to sing and have joy, even in the midst of battle, allowing us to put out the flaming arrows of the evil one, which seek to destroy us. Most of the armour parts mentioned in this section of Ephesians 6 are defensive, looking at our protection. It is this defensive armour which enables us to move forward in God, fully equipped in His strength. He is our refuge, our shield, our rampart and therefore we can move forward in faith, knowing that He will bring us the victory we long for.

At the Cherry Tree Court service this morning, John spoke about doors. There are many different kinds of doors:

revolving doors

wooden doors

uPVC doors

doors with security code pads

fire doors

Doors are usually designed to allow access into or out of a building and often have locks and security codes to prevent unauthorised access. Jesus described Himself as the door or gate for the sheep, allowing authorised access into the safety and security of the sheep pen (see John 10:1-16). He is the way through which we must enter if we want to be saved (see John 14:6); He is our good Shepherd who laid down His life for us. He gives us not only the assurance of a safe place in heaven, but grants us eternal life.

Doors have two sides: an inside and an outside. Rev 3:20 tells us that Jesus stands at the door and knocks, waiting for us to open the door of our hearts to allow Him entry. As the Holman Hunt painting ‘Light of the World’ shows, there is no handle on the outside of that door, for we must open that door. In the recent Germanwings tragedy, the black box revealed that the pilot had been locked out of the cockpit and could be heard hammering on the door, pleading with the co-pilot to allow him back in so that lives could be saved. Sadly, he was on the wrong side of the door and the co-pilot tragically allowed the plane to crash. Jesus is the Creator of the world and came to save all people from our sins, but in order for His death and resurrection to have any impact, He has to be on the inside, and only we can allow Him in. If we do this and open the door to allow Jesus entrance, we can know His saving presence and power in our lives.

We often talk about God’s calling, but this can be interpreted in so many different ways that it can be a subject many Christians prefer to avoid for fear of being thought fanatical or extremist. Heb 3:1 tells us ‘Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest.’ If we have not experienced a miraculous calling such as Abraham or Moses did, we may feel that we are not qualified to share in this heavenly calling; as one friend of mine brought up in a Christian household wryly commented about her testimony, ‘mine was no road to Damascus.’  The New Testament does not distinguish between the stupendous or overtly supernatural callings experienced by some people and the fact that every single person in God’s family is called by God, however. As Peter reminds us, ‘you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.’ (1 Pet 2:9) Whether we heard God’s call in a once-in-a-lifetime way or gradually came to faith through the witness of many people and over a period of time doesn’t really matter: what matters is that we have confirmed this calling by our surrender to God (see 2 Pet 1:10).

God calls us to salvation and to eternal life, ‘not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.’ (2 Tim 1:9-10) We are called to be set apart for God as this month’s prayer focus emphasises; called to live a life worthy of God’s calling (Eph 4:1). God wants us to live with hope (Eph 1:18, Eph 4:4) and Paul prays that ‘by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith.’ (2 Thess 1:11) As we focus on the fact that our salvation is by grace, that we are called and chosen not because of our virtue, intelligence, strength or wealth but because God delights in us and longs for us to choose life, our hearts sing for joy!

‘My soul cries out, “Holy, holy”.

My heart is lost in Your beauty.

All hope is found in Your mercy.

You paid the price: now I am finally free.’ (‘Finally Free’, Rend Collective)

Last night’s Bible study looked at 1 Cor 1:26-31, where Paul elaborates on his previous teaching that God’s ways are so completely different to ours that the message he brought (Christ crucified as the means of salvation) was incredible and rejected by both Jews and Greeks alike (if for different reasons!)

Paul reminds the Corinthians (and us!) of the amazing truth that Christians are called and chosen by God. This is not because of our wisdom, strength or riches, as these verses make clear, but is a sign of His immense generosity, grace and favour. Whilst we cannot fully understand the connection between God’s calling and choosing and our free will, the Bible is unashamedly frank in proclaiming that salvation is God’s idea, carried out by God’s means! God calls whom He wills (see Gen 12:1-3, Ex 3:4, 1 Sam 3:1-21) and chooses as He wishes (see Gen 25:19-34, Rom 9:6-18, John 15:16). The fact that He seems to take delight in the misfit and the person whom no one else wants simply illustrates His sovereignty and the fact that He is not willing to share His glory with another (1 Cor 1:27, Is 42:8).

It is a sad fact that few of us fully realise that all we need is found in Christ. He is our wisdom, our salvation, our righteousness, holiness and redemption (1 Cor 1:30). Wiersbe comments that “we see the three tenses of salvation here. We have been saved from the penalty of sin (righteousness); we are being saved from the power of sin (sanctification) and we shall be saved from the presence of sin (redemption.) Every believer has all of these blessings in Christ!” (Commentary, ‘Be Wise!’, P 29) The work God is doing in us far outweighs the material blessings of fame, riches or strength which the world so prizes. As Jeremiah reminded the people (Jer 9:23-24), our boasting should be all about the relationship we have with God, rather than in the temporal things of the world which will only fade away. Only as our eyes are opened to God’s ways and means are we able to embrace all He has for us and understand the power of the message of the gospel.

There are times when we face battles and struggles which threaten to overwhelm us or when life is so horrendously busy that we feel we spend all our time just ‘chasing our tails.’ Ps 46:10 reminds us that we need to ‘be still and know that I am God.’  Jeremy Camp’s song ‘Be Still’ is achingly simple, but the truths it contains help to calm our hearts and refocus our perspective. You can listen by clicking on the title after the lyrics.

‘Lord, help me now to face this battle.
My strength has failed and my eyes can’t see
Through the waves of doubt that take me under.
In the chaos I hear You speak.

Be still and know that You are my God.
Be still and know that You are enough.
Though my heart is racing, still You’re in control.
Be still and know that You are my God.

You brought me rest in times of struggle.
I lay my head down at Your feet.
The storm in me that I can’t wrestle
Is calmed when I hear you speak.

You are faithful
And Your love endures forever
Yes, Your love endures forever.
You are able
In You I’ll stand forever
Yes, in You I’ll stand forever.’ (‘Be Still’, Jeremy Camp)