Bobby Leonard Podcast

Parents and Children

Parents and Children |  Ephesians 6:1-4

While parenting is considered to be teamwork, in this passage, the emphasis is laid largely upon the father, for he is responsible for what the children will become.

Fathers are the role model for their children largely. Mothers may enforce policy, but it is the father's task to set it and to see that his children are raised properly. 

If we as believers have the attitude adopted from the world like many fathers who say, It is my job to make the living, her job is to raise the children.

We are dishonoring the word of God.

In the Bible, the ultimate responsibility for what a home becomes is the father.

Fathers must deliberately avoid the things that make a child rebel. It is anger those results in a rebellion. Fathers, do not provoke your children to the place where they completely lose control and break out against authority.

There are two things that cause rebellion in children. One is an indulgence and the other is harshness.

Lack of discipline will make a child insecure, miserable, and self-centered. That is what we call a spoiled child one who grows up to expect to have her way in everything.

This is created by a spirit of indulgence on the part of parents who allow their children to make decisions thinking that they can make even at an incredibly young age.

One of the terribly tragic things about life today is the degree to which many parents let children make decisions they are incapable of making.

This starts from buying whatever they ask. It is the child who makes the decision and not the parent.

Let us not be prideful about it, rather understand that we are unknowingly spoiling them. These are the children who become bullies in their later stages.

We as parents must understand children do not have the tools at an early age to make the decisions themselves.

Parents must learn that they need to make decisions for their children for quite a while in their life and gradually help them to learn to make those decisions as they are able to do so. 

In the early years of childhood, parents must make almost all the decisions. 

The other extreme that provokes a child is harshness. Rigorous, demanding discipline that is never accompanied with love or understanding. Rigid, military discipline that says, do this or else kind of attitude. 

 

Even though it might be for good, it does not provide you with the 

 

Paul puts two things—training and instruction in the Lord.

As the child grows older, physical discipline is to be replaced by encouragement, by understanding, helping a child to see what lies behind the restrictions and always showing concern and love.

It does not mean a total relaxing of limits, but it means a different way of enforcing them.

 

Ask yourself:

Are we, as parents, able to see what we are doing today?

Do you see the common behaviors that cause rebellion in our children?

What training and instruction does the bible teach us?

Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, help us to follow the training and instruction according to the word that we might be able to guide our children in the way that you desire them to grow. Help us as fathers and mothers not to be harsh or angry, rather be considerate and provide encouragement to help them grow the right way. In Jesus Name. Amen.

 

Serving Earthly Masters

Serving Earthly Masters

Ephesians 6:5–8

Serving under the authority of others is not always an easy task.

Due to human sin, even individuals in the best situations must deal with difficult co-workers and supervisors who fail at times to notice or acknowledge a job well done.

Things were actually worse in the ancient world with the master-slave relationship. Demanding slave owners made it hard even for Christian slaves to sustain the will to serve their overseers faithfully, tempting slaves not to work to the best of their ability.

The fundamentals Paul unfolds in Ephesians 6:5–8 is that we serve our earthly supervisors with an eye to the Lord.

We are servants of Christ, and key to serving Jesus well is doing the will of those in authority over us.

 Doing so does not violate God’s law.

Our Creator rules His creation through delegated authorities (Rom. 13:1–7); consequently, to obey the directives of authorities is to obey God Himself.

Simply put, we cannot claim to be Christ’s servants if we do not heed those whom God has put over us. Such obedience must be rendered with respect, not to be resentful.

Christian leaders may warn those in their charge of the potential consequences of their actions, but leaders should also show grace to those laborers under them, encouraging their volunteers, staff members.

They have the same Lord as the Christians whom they supervise; consequently, they must lead by example, setting high but not impossible standards, and they must endeavour to make it easy for others to serve them gladly.

Let us pray:

Heavenly father, help us to understand that work and authority has been ordained according to your plan. Help us to work in the same attitude as to how we serve you. In Jesus Name. Amen. 

Blessings & Prayers 

Pastor. Bobby Leonard 

The Struggle

The Struggle

Eph 6:10-12

life is basically a struggle. Life is not always the rosy ideas of our dreams or the romantic songs that we hear.

There are struggles that lie deeper than we ordinarily think. Paul says the battle is not against flesh and blood; it lies deeper.

This is a battle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan and that people themselves are the battlefield.

The battle is visible not only in the wars, revolutions, blood, and crimes.

It is seen in the inner tensions and fears of individual lives, in the mental, emotional, financial oppression that afflicts us today, in family fights and church struggles.

It becomes visible when all of life competes in a ruthless, deadly struggle to survive.

The whole race has fallen under the control of satanic forces, which Paul calls, the world rulers of this present darkness6:12).

Regardless of how clever or educated or cultured they may be, are the helpless victims of satanic control.

Under the control of satanic forces human beings are uncomfortable and unhappy but also completely unable to escape by any wisdom or power of their own.

The good news is that we have been set free through the coming of that stronger one, Jesus Himself, who came, as John tells us, to destroy the devil's work (1 John 3:8)

Through Him, deliverance is obtained. Through the cross, resurrection, Jesus has broken the power and bondage of Satan over human lives.

Thus. We are called individually receive and acknowledge this is set free to live in the freedom and liberty of the children of God.

We are not set free to live for ourselves. We are set free to battle.

We are not set free to enjoy ourselves. We are set free to do battle, to engage in the fight, to overcome in our own lives, and to become the channels by which others are set free.

You might be wondering how do you do this? Put on the whole Armor of God. 

Full provision has been made that you might win in this battle. God has made full provision for us to fight these forces that hold the world in their grip.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I understand the reality. I acknowledge that your death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Help me to willingly wear the full armor of God, be a warrior in the battle. In Jesus Name. Amen. 

Blessings & Prayers Blessings & Prayers 

Pastor. Bobby Leonard 

The Belt of Truth

The Belt of Truth

Ephesians 6:14

Why is life a struggle?

Apostle Paul says that it is not what we usually imagine to be the problem.

It is not flesh and blood, it is not other people. We are so inclined to blame someone else.

But Paul says it is not against flesh and blood, rather, we are struggling against the principalities and powers, the world rulers of this present darkness, the wicked spirits which are in heavenly or high places.

Whenever we find ourselves, victims of a state of confusion, and uncertainty, or discouragement and defeat, or an indifferent, insensitive attitude toward life or others, we must know that we have already succumbed to the plots of the devil.

So, what do we do when we are discouraged?

Are you confused, uncertain, not knowing what is the truth, what is right, what is the answer?

Jesus said the devil is a liar and a murderer whose aim is to destroy, to ruin, to distort and pervert human life. John 10:10

In Romans 13:14, Paul clearly declares - Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.

To Timothy Paul says, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 2:1). That is where our Armor lies. Christ is our defense.

The reason many of us fail is that we do not exercise the sword of the Spirit in our life. It is because they have never first girded up the loins with truth.

Whenever you feel discouraged, defeated, uncertain, confused, downcast, depressed, or indifferent, this is the place to start: Arm up your loins with truth. That must be the first thing to do.

Ancient Roman soldiers wore a leather apron to protect their thighs from the attacks of their foes, and this piece of Armor is the counterpart to the belt of truth.

Without God’s truth, we have no true support — we remain completely vulnerable and are left with no legs to stand on.

We must never lose sight of the truth of the gospel.

Eph 1:13 says And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.

According to Isaiah 11:5, the Messiah wears a belt of righteousness and faithfulness.

Knowing the truth of the gospel, we see that God has been faithful to His promise to declare us righteous in Christ.

He is the truth, he is real, he is the key to life. In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:3)

Prayer:

Dear Lord, help us that we may know the truth and not be swayed away by the struggles of life that inflict us. Rather, strengthen us that we may hold on to the truth and battle it out. In Jesus Name. Amen. 

Blessings & Prayers 

Pastor. Bobby Leonard 

The Breastplate of Righteousness

 Ephesians 6:14

The Breastplate of Righteousness

Christ is the ground of your righteous standing before God, your acceptance before Him.

If you are wearing that breastplate, you can rest secure that your heart, your emotions, are securely guarded and adequately protected against attack.

This is perhaps the most frequent ground of attack against the Christian faith.

Christians often feel they lack assurance. They feel unworthy of God.

They feel they are a failure in the Christian life and that God is certain to reject them, that He is no longer interested in them.

They are so aware of their failures and shortcomings.

Growth has been so slow.

The first joy of faith has faded, and they feel God is angry with them or that He is far away.

There is a constant sense of guilt.

Their conscience is always stabbing them, making them unhappy.

They feel God blames them.

This is simply a satanic attack.    

 

Remember that you have put on the breastplate of righteousness.

In other words, you do not stand on your own merits.

You never had anything worthwhile in yourself to offer to God.

You gave all that up when you came to Christ.

You quit trying to be good enough to please God.

You came on His merits.

You began your Christian life like that, and there is no change now.

You are still standing before God on that basis of the merits of Christ Jesus, who is the only righteous one. And God sees us through the righteousness of Christ.

 

Paul could have gotten discouraged many times since he was largely not accepted in the early days of ministry among the believers due to his background.

Paul says, By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not without effect (1 Corinthians 15: l0).

 

I don't defend what I am. What I am is what Christ has made me.

I'm not standing on my righteousness.

I'm standing on His.

I am accepted by grace and my personal situation does not make any difference at all.

So his heart was kept from discouragement.

 

Ask Yourself:

Are we still trying to be good in order to please God?

Are you thinking deeply of your shortcomings and resulting guilt?

How can we constantly prevent this from happening?

 

Prayer

Lord, help us to stand firm knowing that we rely on your righteousness as we fight on God’s (your) side. Help us to repent of sin and submit all our shortcomings to you. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Blessings & Prayers 

Pastor. Bobby Leonard 

Serving Earthly Masters

Serving Earthly Masters

Ephesians 6:5–8

Serving under the authority of others is not always an easy task.

Due to human sin, even individuals in the best situations must deal with difficult co-workers and supervisors who fail at times to notice or acknowledge a job well done.

Things were actually worse in the ancient world with the master-slave relationship. Demanding slave owners made it hard even for Christian slaves to sustain the will to serve their overseers faithfully, tempting slaves not to work to the best of their ability.

The fundamentals Paul unfolds in Ephesians 6:5–8 is that we serve our earthly supervisors with an eye to the Lord.

We are servants of Christ, and key to serving Jesus well is doing the will of those in authority over us.

 Doing so does not violate God’s law.

Our Creator rules His creation through delegated authorities (Rom. 13:1–7); consequently, to obey the directives of authorities is to obey God Himself.

Simply put, we cannot claim to be Christ’s servants if we do not heed those whom God has put over us. Such obedience must be rendered with respect, not to be resentful.

Christian leaders may warn those in their charge of the potential consequences of their actions, but leaders should also show grace to those laborers under them, encouraging their volunteers, staff members.

They have the same Lord as the Christians whom they supervise; consequently, they must lead by example, setting high but not impossible standards, and they must endeavour to make it easy for others to serve them gladly.

Let us pray:

Heavenly father, help us to understand that work and authority has been ordained according to your plan. Help us to work in the same attitude as to how we serve you. In Jesus Name. Amen. 

Blessings & Prayers 

Pastor. Bobby Leonard 

Gospel of Peace

Gospel of Peace: Eph 6: 15

Shoes protect your feet and enable you to walk on rocky terrain. This part of the armor of God is speaking of both preparation and readiness to share the Gospel.

Paul refers to the Roman soldier’s feet in this passage. He sees the caliga or half-boots with nails in them to grip the ground in combat. Without the studs at the bottom of the soles, the Roman soldier would be slipping on the ground when in battle.

We cannot stand our ground before our spiritual enemies if we don't have peace with God, and the peace of God.

Jesus comes as a mediator between God and man.

Paul writes that there is only one mediator between God and man and that person is Jesus the Christ (1 Timothy 2:5).

We cannot stand our ground before the enemy without having the peace of God reigning in our hearts.

When a man is born again of the Spirit of God (John 3:3), there comes a deep settled peace within God, where the person knows in the depths of his heart that his soul is at rest before God.

Paul the apostle said, therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1).

Not only does a believer have peace with God, but he is given the peace of God: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you” (John 14:27).

Eric Barker was a missionary from Great Britain who had spent over fifty years in Portugal preaching the gospel, often under adverse conditions.

During World War II, the situation became so critical that he took the advice to send his wife and eight children to England for safety.

His sister and her three children were evacuated on the same ship. Barker remained behind to for mission matters. 

The Sunday after Barker's loved ones had left, he stood before the congregation and said, I've just received word that all my family has arrived safely home.

He was handed a telegram just before the meeting, informing him that a submarine had torpedoed the ship, and everyone on board had drowned.

Barker knew that all on board were believers, and the knowledge that his family was enjoying the bliss of heaven enabled him to live above his circumstances in spite of his overwhelming grief.

When a believer is faced with life-threatening danger, he has a deep settled peace that passes all understanding.

God might call you to walk some difficult areas on your way to fulfilling your destiny" and the enemy may also try to injure your legs and stop you from your walk of faith in God.

But by putting on the sandals of peace, you have the peace of God to continue the good fight of faith no matter the difficulties of the road.

Prayer:
Dear lord, help us to have the eternal peace beyond our understanding that even when we walk the difficult path, the peace remains. Help us to be carriers of your peace to those who are thirsty for peace. In Jesus Name. Amen.

Blessings & Prayers 
Pastor. Bobby Leonard 

The Mirror of Marriage

Ephesians 5:31–33 | The Mirror of Marriage |

Today, the general public wants to make marriage flexible enough to incorporate nearly any kind of relationship.

Believers, however, must maintain firmly that marriage has a divinely determined purpose. 

It is called holy matrimony for a reason: the Lord has set apart the one-man-one-woman marital bond as a one-flesh relationship to communicate spiritual realities.

These realities include God’s deep love for His people, the exclusivity of the Christchurch bond as the ordinary arena of salvation, and the faithful devotion that the covenant community owes its covenant Lord (Gen. 2:24; Hos. 2:14–23; Eph. 5:31–32). 

Marriage is the means by which the created order depicts the relationship between Jesus and His church.

Unlawful divorce, adultery, spousal abuse, and neglect are so evil.

Each of these violations, in their own way, convey untruths about God’s relation to His people, especially when they occur in Christian marriages.

Adultery or abuse on the part of a husband who is a professing believer conveys that Christ is unfaithful to His own and has so little regard for His bride that He is willing to injure her.

Wives who profess faith in Jesus and commit adultery, disrespect their husbands, or abuse them tell creation that Christ can be spat upon with impunity.

Unlawful divorces between those who claim the name of the Savior depict the Christ-church relationship as playful and unimportant.

God forbid that any of us should tell such lies to the world through any of these actions.

God’s call for husbands to love their wives and for wives to respect their husbands. This must be put into practise.

It is a call for two people to set aside their own preferences in the interest of living before the face of God in such a way that shows the world why the Christ-church bond is the most beautiful relationship in all creation.

Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to understand the reason that you have established order in everything. Help us not to overlook but to comply and work according to the order that you have provided.

In Jesus Name. Amen.

 

Blessings & Prayers 

Pastor. Bobby Leonard 

Love one Self

Ephesians 5:28–30

 

Elkanah was so much in love with his wife Hannah and would always give her a double portion of whatever he has earned. 

He knew the Lord has closed her womb and in those days being childless was a terrible shame for women but he loved her deeply.

He consoles her whenever she wept, he would say to her: "Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don't you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?" (1 Samuel 1:9) 

This is parallel to what Paul explains here, that husbands should love his wife with sacrificial love and he is not to love her only if it is convenient to him or only if she is perfect. 

The husband and wife are to compliment each other and God designed the institution of marriage so that one is suited to the other.

The husband is to love his wife in the same way that Christ loves the church. As the church is Christ’s body, so the wife is the husband’s body. 

To the extent a husband loves his own body, he is to love his wife. As we take care of our bodies, they are to prudently care for their wives.

Since his wife is part of him and intimately united with him, how he treats his wife affects him.

For his wife, being thus loved and cared for will be strengthened for performing her duty; and her mind is improved, her conversation will give him the greater pleasure. 

 Having high esteem for her husband, she will submit to the hardships of her inferior station with cheerfulness.

While we adore and rejoice in the condescending love of Christ, let husbands and wives learn hence their duties to each other. 

Thus the worst evils would be prevented, and many painful effects would be avoided. 

Ask yourself:

1.How strong is the bond of love between you and your spouse?

2.Are you taking your spouse for granted?

3.Has your marriage made you grow spiritually?

 

Let us Pray:

Lord Jesus, we ask for Your direction and wisdom as we seek to portray that bond in our marriage. Please help us as we endeavor to exhibit respect, submission, and Christlike love to each other in a manner that reflects You. 

May we daily serve each other with humility, encourage each other with sincerity and spur each other’s faith on with enthusiasm. Amen.

Shield of Faith

Shield of faith

Ephesians 6:16

once during a battle in the medieval period, when the English forces lined up against the Scottish forces, the Scots shot flaming arrows at the English, who are unaware that the field has been covered with oil.

As the flaming arrows set the field on fire, a whole segment of the English army is taken out of the battle at once.

Although the Scots were outnumbered, their strategy worked in favor of them.

In our spiritual battle against the forces of evil, the enemy uses flaming arrows against us.

Arrows on fire are effective because they cause a distraction from the main battle.

You cannot fight both fire and the enemy at once.

 In HIS wisdom, God gave us a tool to protect us from the flaming arrows of the evil one.

He has given us the shield of faith.

As the evangelist Reinhard Bonnke puts it, Faith is the passport and visa into the kingdom of God and all its resources.

Faith is the conduit that connects us with the great powers of God and his Word. Through the gift of faith God’s light, salvation, strength, and healing come, because God is faithful to us.

As flaming arrows fly over us, God, like a great bird, a mighty shield, will cover us with his feathers, and under his wings, you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. (Psalm 91:4).

With God protecting us, the enemy will have to get past God before he can get to us.

That is the comfort that we have in Christ. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. He is our shield of faith. Proverbs 30:5 says that he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

John Calvin said that by faith we repel all the attacks of the devil, and by the word of God the enemy himself is slain.

If the word of God shall have its effect upon us through faith, we shall be more than sufficiently armed both for opposing the enemy and for putting him to flight.

 As we study and proclaim the Word of God to our friends and neighbors, the kingdom of Satan falls.

Prayer

Dear Lord, Thank you for your shield of protection. You, O Lord, are a shield around me. Thank you for your protection from the fiery arrows of the evil one. In you, I put my trust. Amen.

Blessings & Prayers 

Pastor. Bobby Leonard