Can be sporadically sleep-inducing. Nevertheless, with an 8 day stay in for 6 fractured bones and 2 dislocations, plus an operation to boot, and now with metal rods sticking out of the inside of my left foot, hospital stays can actually be quite a relief.

Especially when in the process of staying there you realise that there's no one around you whom you know till visiting hours arrive, and other than eating, reading newspapers, sleeping, and hopping out on crutches to watch TV in the common lounge that you really realise there's nothing much one can do when hospitalised.

Though indeed there was a great conversation with God, and 8 days in hospital eally does a number on your spiritual life. A more positive number than 3 weeks at home though. Because at home one is familiar with the surroundings and hence will tend to forget God, in hospital one is in a foreign environment and so tends to rely on God more.

Definitely, though, God is always there. the psalmist in Psalms 73:23-26 says, "Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

"Yet I am always with you, you hold me by my right hand." How important that is to one in crisis,  or to one who is unsure, even to the one who needs something to lean upon in the time of need and weariness, when the human faculties all refuse to function anymore. To the ones lying in hospital, lifes about to be terminated through cancer or serious injuries; to the ones bedridden at home; to the ones who feel life has no meaning. There is a God. And He bothers. He cares!

Jesus said, "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they (Matthew 6:26)?" and ""And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these (Matthew 6:28-29)." If God can even bother about the sparrows and the lilies, then what are we? Aren't we so much more important than they? God did not make sparrows and lilies in His own image, but He made man in His own image (Genesis 1:26). So are we, therefore, mroe significant in God's sight than anything else? The answer is a resounding YES.

That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9). Indeed eternal salvation is more important than anything else in this world because it is the only thing that matters to God when we die and we go to heaven. God will not look back at our past failures or our past successes, He will just ask, "Did you believe that I sent my Son down to die for your sins once and for all?" And that's all that matters to Him.

Joel.

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

(Galatians 5:13-26)

How many times have we been caught up in backstabbing or simply just being envious of what our peers possess when we ourselves apparently just do not have that "glamorous" ability or talent? In school, there always seems to be that brilliant student who gets all the As while just happening to play away all day; at work, the one who seems to go for coffee breaks all day yet is able to get all the work done without ever being caught; in church, the one who can lead worship well, or play the drums well, or be outstanding in a certain area. We are jealous because we want to have that but we don't. Instead of thanking God for whatever He has blessed us with we tend to look at the supposed imperfections in our life and complain why God seems so unfair.

Yet in Galatians 5:16 it is said "live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature". Life in the Spirit is all about walking with the Holy Spirit, and living according to the ways that God desires for you to live. A habitual liar? God wants that changed. Spendin too much time on, say, long telephone conversations which you should actually be spending it with God? Change. God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit, to change our character more like His Son, "the firstborn among many brothers" (Romans 8:29). For Paul warns us that whoever does live according to the sinful nature will be judged and "will not inherit the kingdom of God" (Galatians 5:21).

Again it all boils down to obedience. Whether we will actually bother to listen to the prompting of the Spirit, or go our own sinful way. It's our choice.

Joel.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. (Ephesians 6:10-18)

Brothers and sisters, we are told to put on the full armour of God in order to "take your stand against the devil's schemes". The devil thrives on lies and deception to achieve his main aim, which is to bring down the kingdom of God. He is already a defeated enemy. For he will meet a fiery end when God returns to judge the earth, and ultimately thrown into the lake of burning sulphur to be tormented forever (Revelation 20:10). However, he comes as a thief to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10) what he can of the kingdom and the works of God, for he hates God when God threw him out of heaven for his pride and wanting to be God.

For if indeed we do believe his lies and act according to it, we will never be happy. There are a wide variety of ways that he will do this. It can be an innocent idea like reacting strongly to something that your mum scolded you for which you felt you were innocent; or even simply peeking through magazines that are labelled "unsuitable for the young". Next he'll accuse you of being sinful, and "how can God love you because you sinned against Him?" Temptation, accusation and deception, that is how he works. If we can expose the lie for what it is, friends, we have nothing to fear. We have the blood of Christ on our sides, and through Him, the way, the truth and the life, the truth will set us free!

Deception can be so subtle. It gnaws away at your self-worth. With deception comes doubts, where you start to question if what you believe in is really true. When you start to doubt your beliefs, and indeed abandon your God-established beliefs for a set of self-established beliefes something really is wrong. God is by far and by large the standard which we should emulate.

So we have to put on the full armour of God. Deception comes swiftly, like a kidnapper throwing a hood over his intended victim. Before you know what's happening you're deceived into something that isn't from God but is of this world. That's what New Age religions, cults and spiritists are all about! It's deception! A few thousand years ago mediums were working the land and doing "spirit summonings"; a few thousand years later it is trumpeted as "communicating with the dead". It's the same content, just different labellings. Deception is subtle!

Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

 Joel.