Heavenly joy

Rejoice that your names are written in heaven (Luke 10:20). There are many things that make us feel very happy. There are some things that make us feel very sad. When good things are happening to us, we feel happy. When bad things are happening to us, we feel sad. Our feelings can take us …

The joy of the Lord becomes our joy.

He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy (Zephaniah 1:17). We speak about the joy of our salvation. What about the joy that the Lord feels when he sees people, confessing their faith in Jesus, God's Son? What about the joy that the Lord feels when he sees us, continuing to follow Jesus, our …

A Very Important Question

Matthew 25:1-13 Will we be ready, when the Lord returns? This is the question the Lord is putting to us here. It’s the most important question. It’s the question that we cannot evade. It’s the question that won’t go away. It’s the question of our life. What is our life all about? What is most …

Growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ

Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18). We need grace, and we need knowledge. We begin with grace. This is where knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, comes from. It comes from grace. Without grace, we can have no real knowledge of our Saviour, …

Between D-Day and V-Day

Tuesday 6th June 1944 : D-Day, the Allied invasion of Europe - it was a decisive invasion of enemy territory.It was D-Day, but it was not V-Day. The day of final victory, V-Day, was still to come. V-Day did not come until 1945. * D-Day and V-Day - What does this teach us concerning the …

Praising God and finding strength in Him

The way of blessing is the way of praising God and finding strength in Him (Psalm 84:4-5). We worship the Lord - "Your Name is the Lord. You alone are the Most High God of the whole earth" (Psalm 83:18). As we worship Him, our strength is restored. He answers our prayer - “Restore us, O …

Where does our life of faith begin?

Where does our life of faith begin? Does it begin with our decision? or Does it begin with God's grace? "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved" (Ephesians 2:4-5). We were dead. The …

The Redeemed of the Lord

Isaiah 60:1-62:12; Ephesians 4:1-16; Proverbs 23:19-28 The grace of God is very great and very precious. Through His grace, we are “called the Holy People, the Redeemed of the Lord” (Isaiah 62:12). We are “urged ... to live a life worthy of this high calling” (Ephesians 4:1). Following “the right path” is always a matter of the …

Learning From The Book Of Nehemiah

The book of Nehemiah begins with distressing news - “The wall of Jerusalem has been broken down, and its gates have been destroyed by fire” (Nehemiah 1:3). Nehemiah takes this situation to the Lord in prayer (Nehemiah 1:4-11). With the help of God, the work of rebuilding begins. This work was pleasing to the Lord …

Help us, Lord, not to keep Your Good News to ourselves.

Proverbs 11:12-31Lord, You’re calling us to win others for You. You’re calling us to share Your love with them. You’re calling us to bring Jesus to them. Help us, Lord, not to keep Your Good News to ourselves. Help us to pray, “Here I am, wholly available – as for me, I will serve the …

Awesome Holiness and Wonderful Love

In Ezekiel 24, we learn about God’s holiness and His love. If we are to appreciate the wonderful love God has for sinners, we need to become more deeply aware of the awesome holiness of God’s hatred of sin. We look at our sin. We look at God’s holiness. We learn about ourselves. We see …

What a difference the Lord makes!

2 Kings 16:1-17:41; Acts 26:24-27:12; Psalm 81:8-16 “They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless” (2 Kings 17:15). There is no god who can compare with the Lord (Psalm 81:9-10). He alone is worthy of praise. He alone gives value to our lives by bringing fulfilment to them: “Open wide your mouth and I will …

Disasters and Forgiveness; Faithfulness, Relevance and Compassion

“Maybe the nation of Judah will hear about all the disasters that I plan to bring on them, and they will turn from their wicked ways. Then I will forgive their wickedness and their sins” (Jeremiah 36:3). Even in all life’s disasters, we must never lose sight of God’s love. He sends disasters. This is …

God’s love, God’s call, God’s glory

2 Thessalonians 2:13-3:5 God's love, God's call, God's glory (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14) "the traditions" (2 Thessalonians 2:15): Who is behind the tradition? If it's the Lord, we have something that's more than a tradition. Who does the message come from?  - It comes from the Lord. That's why we must "stand firm." Eternal encouragement for …

In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

1 Samuel 17:38-18:30; John 16:5-17:5; Psalm 68:1-6 At the heart of David’s triumph over Goliath, there is this great testimony: “it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands” (1 Samuel 17:47). When we face ‘Goliaths’ in our own …

I can’t cope!

I can't cope! These are desperate words. They're words that say, "There's  no hope." How can hope break  into our desperate situation? Hope comes to us when we learn to say something more than "I can't cope!" - when we learn to say, "I can't cope - without you, Lord." When a cry of despair becomes …

“Your Word is truth” (John 17:17).

When Jesus was praying to His Father for His first disciples, He spoke these words, "Sanctify them by the truth; Your Word is truth" (John 17:17). If, in our generation, we are to be the people of God - filled with His power, His love and holiness, we, no less than Jesus' first disciples, need …

Love God and love your neighbour.

Genesis 33:1-20 From Jacob’s meeting with God, we come to his meeting with Esau. Before we start thinking of this as a big ‘come down’, we should note Jacob’s word to Esau: ‘truly to see your face is like seeing the face of God’(10). Jacob is describing his meeting with Esau in terms of his …

Large Harvest, Few Workers

"He told them, 'The harvest is large, but the workers are few. So ask the Lord who gives this harvest to send workers to harvest his crops.'" (Luke 10:2).  A large harvest, few workers: what do we do? - "Ask the Lord ... " "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1).

Righteousness – the blessing that comes to us through faith in Jesus

Genesis 15:1-6 These verses point us beyond the time of Abram. They point us to Jesus. Abram believed what God said to him. The blessing - "righteousness" - was given to him. This is the blessing that comes to us through faith in Jesus.