We all come to a point in our lives when we have to chose the path we wish to travel to fullfil our dreams, work ambitions and relationship goals.

How we achieve these things are dependent on several things;  character, level of commitment, ability to focus and perceptions

Yesterday morning I was walking to college, the birds were singing and the sky was blue – after the events of the Mission I really felt that this was God's morning. Despite this, I felt that after the battle we'd fought that Satan wasn't ready to give up on Glossop. The fight was/is still come.

One of the things that we are apt to forget, mainly because we live in such a materialistic and rationalistic society is that there is a spiritual world, bear with me. The Bible often talks about Jesus healing demon possessed people and banishing demons. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. [Mark 1:34] Does this just not happen today?

I don't think so. In fact after all I've seen in the past few days I just think that the devil is better hidden. From building up feelings of tiredness and anger to outright tempting people he is out to get us – he is out to take us away from God and cheapen our relationship with Him. But the thing is: the devil has already lost.

Jesus died so that we could be saved. There is absolutely nothing the devil can do to get rid of that. Nothing.

Despite this the devil is still out to get us, Paul tells us of a thorn in his side, I could tell you tales of electrical equipment that has failed before really awesome services and how I'm most stressed before God does something amazing. Nicky Cruz in his book "One Holy Flame" tells of many times that Satan attacks events and people. But we have God – and God has armed us against the enemy.

Ephesians 6:13 tells us to take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. God has given us not only His Mercy, His Spirit and His Son, but His spiritual armour as well. As we look through this passage we'll see that God doesn't just want to withstand the attacks of the devil – he wants to take part in active spiritual warfare for Him!

Stand your ground, then, 'with truth for your belt,' The belt of truth??? What? God has armed us with a belt? Yes. Without your belt – everything falls apart. Your armour just wouldn't stay on, it would fall off. Truth forms this belt because it provides the basis of everything that we believe and therefore, without it we couldn't fight the devil! To start with we wouldn't know why we were trying to do so!

and 'with righteousness for your breast-plate,' What does a breastplate do? It protects your heart. Righteousness therefore is the way to keep your heart out of the way of the devil – and keeping it true to God. Righteousness is absolutely vital if we are to fight for God – without it we'll not survive long! Thankfully God gives us His righteousness to add to our own – certainly mine wouldn't serve me all that well. In the words of Be Thou My Vision, Be Thou my breastplate.

And with the readiness to serve the Good News of Peace as shoes for your feet. In battle you need to be able to move fast – both to defend yourself but also attack! You need to have good, strong, but light shoes to allow you to do this. But you also have to open and ready for God to tell you to move, it's crucial. Just look at Phillip's talk with the Ethiopian eunuch Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” [Acts 8:26-40] Philip definitely had his feet fitted with the readiness of God, just look at what happens later when Philip suddenly finds himself somewhere completely different.

At every onslaught take up faith for your shield; for with it you will be able to extinguish all the flaming darts of the Evil One. Faith is our shield – without faith we are nothing! Remember that faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains – imagine how much that can defend us against the devil. When I started this blog I really wanted to look at the flaming darts of the Evil One. The devil is there to tempt you, and to try and turn you from God – always remember that. He knows your faults and weaknesses and he will always know how to tempt you – he's not just firing normal arrows at you, he's firing flaming arrows. As a Christian you are on the front line of this spiritual battle and the devil is trying to take you out! But you have faith, use it! Pray! Every time you are tempted pray that God will give you the faith and strength to stand up against it!

And receive 'the helmet of Salvation What do helmets do? They protect your head and everything you know. Salvation is your key to knowing God, as such it is what protects your head from the attacks of the devil. Always remember that Jesus died and rose again to save you! Even when the devil is messing with your head remember that Christ makes it possible for you to be saved – against that the devil cannot win.

and 'the sword of the Spirit'- -which is the Message of God The sword of the Spirit. God gives us His Holy Spirit so that we can go out and actively combat the evil forces in this world. The sword is the final item in our armoury, but reminds of God's aim for Christians in the world, to spread the Good News and fight the devil in all his many forms. Check out the Great Commission for Jesus' instructions to His disciples.

Pray in spirit at all times. This is absolutely vital! We must keep talking to God, our spiritual commander for help and also for instructions on where to fight Satan next! Many important battles have been lost when communication breaks down – the Charge of the Light Brigade for example.

Just to finish off, God has armed us for our fight against evil – just don't forget that you're fighting. For ours is no struggle against enemies of flesh and blood, but against all the various Powers of Evil that hold sway in the Darkness around us, against the Spirits of Wickedness on high. As a Christian God has placed you on His front line – you have been chosen to fight for your king – answer that call and clothe yourself for battle daily!

Love In Christ,
Andrew

When God created us, he expected us to co-operate together in order for us to make the world a more complete and happy place to live.  He never expected ignorant and selfish people to ruin the glories he made.
Although, not only the people were the destructor's alone. Poverty stricken countries are constantly faced with natural disasters that destroy their homes and leave thousands of innocent victims injured and in more serious cases, dead.
However, when we are faced with difficult situations, like natural disasters and epidemics of infections and diseases, we are often forced to get along, and even the ignorant and selfish co-operate together to ease the dilemma.

Earlier this year on the 12th of May, over 69 thousand people were stated dead when the Sichuan earthquake had struck China, covering a total of 1,056 miles across the country. 374,176 were badly injured and over 18,000 people are still to this day listed as missing. Parents of children who attended eight schools in the particular area of China were devastated to find that from just one of those schools, 2323 children died in the earthquake. Members of the community joined together to ease the pain of the loss of their loved ones, even those who weren't so fond of each other.

A few weeks back, I was on a plane on my way to yet another of the Lords glories, and came across some of the most interesting of characters. All of which were different shapes and sizes; tall and short; fat and thin. There were young couples, older couples, lonely business men and families with creaming children. There was one particular lady with a child who was walking along the plane. She was fairly average in size with short blonde hair bounding below her ears. Back at home, she may have been the most selfish, ignorant and cruellest woman to have lived, but as we were both in a situation neither of us were fond of, she made the effort to stop and talk,
Whether it was the turbulence, last nights football results or even where she was planning to eat when we landed in Palma, she still made the effort to talk to a fellow passenger. I gazed out of the window which was frosted with pretty glistening frost and realised how terrific the world really is… No matter how bad the situation – man made or natural, God created us to overcome these obstacles to make us better people.
Next time you go out, whether you're strolling in the park, or on you're way to begin a hard, stressful day at work, give a smile to just anyone and you will find it will have made their day!

A man in a hot air balloon realized he was lost.He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted, Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend that I would meet him an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am.” the woman below replied,“You are in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You are between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude.” “You must be an engineer,” said the balloonist“I am” replied the woman how did you know?” Well,” answered the balloonist, “Everything you told me is technology correct, but I have no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I am still lost. Frankly, you’ve been not much help so far.” The woman below responded, “You must be a manager.” “I am,” replied the balloonist, “But how did you know?” “Well” said the woman, “You don’t know where you are or where you are going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise witch you have no idea how to keep and you expect me to solve your problem. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow,
it’s my fault.”

The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn't already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being. She said, 'Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I'm eighty-seven years old. Can I give you me a hug?' I laughed and enthusiastically responded, 'Of course you may!'and she gave me a giant squeeze. 'Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?' I asked. She jokingly replied,' I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids…''No seriously,' I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age. 'I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one!' she told me. After class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate mikshake. We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and talk non stop. I was always ways mesmerized listening to this 'time machine' as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.  Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she revelled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up.   At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I'll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards on the floor. Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, 'I'm sorry I'm so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whisky is killing me! I'll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know.' As we laughed she cleared her throat and began, '! We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humour every day. You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don't even know it! There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent orability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change.Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.' She concluded her speech by courageously singing 'The Rose.' She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives. At the year's end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never too late to be all you can possibly be.

These words have been passed along in loving memory of ROSE. REMEMBER, GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL.
We make a Living by what we get, We make a Life by what we give.
'Good friends are like stars………You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.'

Lord, when I am down
And lowly in heart
What do you think of me?

When I am so tired
Any my mind is fatigued
What do you think of me?

You know what I think,
And you know how I feel.
"Come on Lord", tell me what you think.

Know me as your Heavenly Father,
Pray in the Spirit
And tell me your burdens.

Jesus said …

Come to me all you who
Are weary and burdened
And I will give you rest.

So come on Child
You know what I think
And you know I love you.

Friends will always be friends
Right from the very beginning
Through to the very end of time

In all that they live through
To the peak of enjoyment
Down to the depths of despair

Closer to you than a mother or father
Much closer than a sister or brother
Sharing and never self-seeking

Friendship given freely grows wide and deep
Endures and never fades for wanting
Does not lack courage, strength or weakness

There is no season, or time of day or night
When friendship deserted a call for help
Or shrunk back from giving honest counsel when needed

Understanding of all it's needs
Respectful from the beginning for all time

Friends…

From a beautiful seed inside did grow,
A beautiful boy I’m getting to know.
This little boy I’m learning about,
Has taught me a lot about fear and doubt.
It’s futile to fight what I feel so deep.
The pain of the past is not there to keep.
It hinders my growth as a loving being,
And it’s not what my child who I love should be seeing.
This little boy with his rich chocolate eyes,
Whose tears are mine when he hurts and he cries.
 
For most of the day he’s happy to play,
With his friends and his trucks in his own gentle way.
Then he’ll come in the kitchen when I’m cooking his meal,
And throw up his arms for some love that is real.
He’ll say “MONKEY LOVE, GIVE ME A CUDDLE”,
I’ll hold him so tight and get all in a muddle,
with the pots and the pans and the plates and the dishes,
But I’ll never say no to my little boys wishes.
For cuddles and kisses are the warmest of ways
To show him my love on the darkest of days.
 
I’m proud of my son in a way like no other,
For he is my son and I am his mother.
He’s gentle and kind and thinks of others,
A precious gift amongst playground brothers.
He’s a beautiful boy, a gift from God, given to me at a difficult time.
My son he is strong and he’s doing just fine.
 
Sometimes I watch him when he’s fast asleep.
The strength of my love for him makes me weep.
There’s been tears of pain from a difficult start,
But God has stayed with me and held onto my heart.
So when I watch this boy in his slumber,
Through tears of joy I no longer wonder.
Why I was blessed with a beautiful son,
For God chose me to be his beautiful mum.
 
It’s a funny old thing this Monkey Love.
It clings to you in a way like no other,
This tight, tight love, Gods plentiful ‘sugar’
This Monkey love from a son to his mother.
 
It’s simple you see, that we love each other,
For he is my son and I am his mother.