The Armour of Light

"I've given up on Jane,"  - Gav said sourly. Tossing his head to get all the hair out of his eyes - "Or rather she's given up on me."

This was important news for Phil - "What happened?"

Gav's handsome face twisted in a grimace of disappointment and resentment. "She has jilted me, that's what."

Aww, so sad when someone says goodbye, and you probably won't see them again. I guess in many ways, we have all been in very similar circumstances.

So where do we go from here? That's a pretty good question - we have all heard of really sad circumstances when this sort of thing happens, and unfortunately break ups can have very dire consequences.

Sometimes, there is absolutely nothing we can do when our partner decides to leave us. We can try to speak to them and really encourage them to stay, but often it can lead nowhere. I guess we have all seen it happen.

It can be so sad to be on your own - especially if your ex-partner has taken off and taken the family with them.

You can be so, so scared of the future, especially when you may be on your own and more so if you have been so horribly deserted by your family and/or friends.

Being lonely is horrible and can have a big effect on each of our lives - coming to Christ, on the other hand, can be like an anchor in the rough sea of life - He is there with us no matter what we are going through. He can surround us with an armour of light - an armour designed by Him to give us courage and a huge ability to cope with whatever comes along, regardless of what the world may say.

Hebrews 13 verse 5 says He will NEVER leave or forsake us, which is a remarkable promise and one that I personally have fallen back on many, many times in all the years.

So many people ridicule what they call a COMING TO JESUS moment  - so many times I have heard that said in a joking and ridiculing way. WHY? I always ask myself because that was a huge moment in my life. A moment of huge realisation and huge change in my life personally

To me personally, my coming to Jesus moment meant one huge change to me - it was a decision of mine that changed my life completely around.

Jesus had a secret meeting with Nicodemus, a High Priest who CAME TO JESUS at night because, even though it's not really stated, I reckon Nicodemus didn't want anyone seeing him coming to Jesus.

Anyway, along he came with a heap of questions for Jesus - Jesus answered and said I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again - Nicodemus was horrified -how can a person be born again when they are already born (or along those lines anyway).

Jesus answered him by saying no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and of the Spirit. (a bit confusing for old Nicodemus).

Born again literally means born from above - coming to God and asking Him to take over your life. In Ephesians 2 and verse 8, "for it is by grace that you have been saved, and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift from God."

When you first become a Christian, you start on a journey that often has so many twists and turns that it makes your head spin.

One day, you are praising God and really basking in the goodness that he has given us. the next day, you may be overcome with doubts and anxiety that give you the wobbles, which throws off your reaction of becoming a born-again Christian.

BUT...The great news is that even if we find ourselves going in reverse, He still loves us and His Holy Spirit will keep reminding us of that very fact - He will always have you back no matter what sin you have committed. Believe me, I am the worst of sinners in lots of ways, and yet Jesus died for me, and He has taken all my sinful ways and killed them for me on that cruel cross all those years ago.

Does that make me a wonderful free-of-sin person -NO WAY!! Unfortunately, we keep on sinning probably every day, BUT the remarkable and truly amazing thing about salvation is that we can keep coming back to Jesus and asking for His forgiveness, which is freely given.

To me, that is probably the most amazing gift God has given us - the very fact that Jesus died to take away our sins, and all we have to do is ask Him to come into our lives and lead us to where He wants us to go.

So how do we cope with the traumatic and, unfortunately, everyday problems? 

The only way to really cope is to keep our eyes on Christ and keep looking to Him, no matter what we may be going through.

Way back in Genesis, Cain horribly killed his brother Abel (Genesis chapter 4 starting at verse 3), so we can see that even then, sin was beginning to become rampant, and from then on, family conflict became quite a problem and has been ever since.

Jesus's own family became highly embarrassed by His miracles and preaching, and they told him so, and didn't pull any punches, and they let Him have it -  so you can see that family break-ups and hostilities became the 'norm' which is still the norm even today.

Some members of our family accept Jesus fully and He becomes their Lord and Saviour, while others in the family look upon the whole thing as something ridiculous and tell the person so, and so it goes on. It can often break family unity, which is really sad.

Jesus actually said this could happen and says so in Matthew chapter 10, verses 34 to 36 - it's an amazing read and one which clarifies a lot of problems we personally may be experiencing.

Of course, there are many families faced with the situation where some members love the Lord with all their hearts, while maybe brothers and sisters deny Christ entirely, yet nothing seems to come between the love brothers and sisters have for each other, which is truly lovely and beautiful.

And yet, unfortunately, we seem to have to face a lot of trouble in a lot of families regarding the following of Jesus, just like He said would happen.

Please don't take it personally - Jesus died for you and all you have to do is come and ask Him into your life - He will love to come and motivate you in so many ways. 

Your family is still your family, and regardless of how they feel about your coming to Christ, that should not and will not deter you from asking Him into your life to take over all of your life, not just parts of it.

Just remember that a healthy family can provide a safe and secure place, regardless of the individual feelings that they may have towards other members.

God bless you this week - keep your eyes and hearts on God.