Fear God and keep His commandments.

“Fear God and keep His commandments” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Lord, we read these words, and we wonder, “How can we even begin to fear You and keep Your commandments when our hearts are full of sin?” We ask, “How can our hearts be cleansed from sin?” We cannot do this for ourselves. Only You can do …

What, Lord, is most important to us – the person who leads us in worship, the place where we worship, or the God whom we worship?

Praying through God's Word: 1 Kings 8:14-53 What, Lord, is most important to us – the person who leads us in worship, the place where we worship, or the God whom we worship? We know what our answer should be – but, often, our lives tell a very different story. Help us, when we worship, …

A human explanation, but that’s not the whole story!

“Come, let’s kill him” (Matthew 21:38). From Jesus’ parable, we look to His death. The crucifixion of Jesus has a human explanation: “wicked men put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross” – but that’s not the whole story! In the death of Jesus, we see God’s “plan” of salvation – His eternal …

The power of the Holy Spirit

"At that time the Holy Spirit will teach you what you must say" (Luke 12:12). The power of the Holy Spirit - This is something we must never forget. We meet someone who needs to hear the Good News of Christ's love. God is giving us this opportunity to speak a word for Him. What …

Lord, You show us the way of blessing. It is the way of obedience.

Praying Through God's Word: Psalm 119 Psalm 119:1-24 Lord, You show us the way of blessing. It is the way of obedience (Psalm 119:1,9,11,17). Many will choose the way of disobedience - ‘influential people sit together and slander me.’ Help us to choose the way of obedience - ‘Your servant will meditate on Your teachings’ …

Travelling towards the Kingdom of Heaven

"Jesus said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old” (Matthew 13:52). We are travelling towards "the kingdom of heaven." As we journey towards God's Kingdom, …

Worship The Lord – And Witness For Him.

“Give to the Lord glory and power” (Psalm 29:1) - God is calling us to worship Him. “O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever” (Psalm 30:12) - We respond to His call. “Thank the Lord!... Love the Lord, all you godly ones!... Be strong, all who wait with hope for the …

John – the prophet; Jesus -the Saviour

"And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will …

The Lord calls us back from our backsliding.

Jeremiah 2:31-4:9; Philippians 2:12-30; Psalm 115:12-18 The Lord calls us back from our backsliding: “Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding” (Jeremiah 3:22). The returning people say, “Yes, we will come to You, for You are the Lord our God… surely in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel” (Jeremiah 3:22-23). As …

When the tempter comes

When the tempter comes, we must stand on God’s Word: ‘every Word that comes from... God’ (Matthew 4: 4).

From Eternal Love To Eternal Glory

We wonder, "Where have we come from? Where are we going to?" Jesus says, "I know where I came from, and where I'm going" (John 8:14). Show us, Lord Jesus, Your eternal love - the love that calls out to us from the beginning, the love that calls us on to the end, the love …

What does God say to people who keep on refusing to return to Him?

"And still you didn't return to Me, declares the Lord" (Amos 4:8-11). What does God say to people who keep on refusing to return to Him? This is what He says: "Prepare to meet your God" (Amos 4:12).

True faith is always faith in Christ, and never ‘faith’ in anything we can ever offer to God.

Genesis 4:1-5 The name of Abel appears among 'the heroes of the faith' (Hebrews 11:14). The story of Abel is a story of grace, faith and obedience. Abel's sacrifice was a blood sacrifice while Cain's was a fruit sacrifice (3-4). The blood sacrifice points forward - via the Old Testament sacrificial system - to the …

For your encouragement in the Lord

Christ has risen from the dead. https://youtu.be/CtxSWcfH9hk We will rise, with Christ, to eternal life. https://youtu.be/BTB--OqkF_s

Let us call on the name of the Lord.

Genesis 4:17-6:4 Already - we see a conflict between God and the devil. People are calling on the name of the Lord (4:26) and walking with the Lord (5:24) - but the majority of people are not calling on the name of the Lord: "And the Lord said - 'My Spirit will not remain with …

Beyond The ‘Pain’ Of ‘Discipline’, There Is ‘The Peaceful Fruit Of Righteousness.’

2 Samuel 7:1-29 David was king. God was looking ahead to the next king, Solomon. Knowing the kind of man Solomon would become, God speaks of chastening: ‘When he does wrong, I will chasten him’. This chastening is an expression of God’s ‘steadfast love’: ‘Those whom I love, I rebuke and chasten’. How do we …

Wisdom from God, Glory to God

"“We both had dreams,” they (the butler and the baker) answered, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”" (Genesis 40:8).  The interpretation of their dreams didn't come from Joseph. It was given to Joseph by God. There's an important …

The work of the Holy Spirit

Matthew 11:20-30 In John 16:8-11, Jesus speaks of the work of the Holy Spirit, convicting the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. Before there can be conversion, there needs to be conviction of sin. None of us can come to the Saviour of sinners without first seeing ourselves as sinners who need the Saviour. God …

Where, Lord, will we find peace – when our emotions are tearing us apart?

Where, Lord, will we find peace – when our emotions are tearing us apart? We feel like we’re being pulled this way and that way. Sometimes, we feel like we’re all over the place. We don’t know whether we’re coming or going. Lord, give us Your peace. Give us Your Son, Jesus. He is our …

When I was your age

It's easy to look back and remember what we want to remember - and forget what we want to forget. Making comparisons between what we were - decades ago - and what the younger generation is right now - this can be very dangerous! There can be a lot of pride in it. We can …

God’s Word Of Love – For The Preacher And The People

"The Lord spoke the Word to Micah" (Micah 1:1).  The Word is given to the prophet. This is where true prophecy begins. It begins with God. It does not come from the mind of the prophet. It is given to him by the Lord. In this revelation, given by God to the prophet, there is …

The Glory Within

The Lord is "the glory within" Jerusalem (Zechariah 2:5). He is "the glory within" His Church. We dare not attach so much importance to the externals of religion that we forget about the presence of the Lord. To make secondary things more important than they really are is to miss the most important thing - …

Stop rebelling against God and start returning to Him.

Samaria and Jerusalem behaved like prostitutes. In graphic language, the sin of turning from the Lord is compared to sexual immorality. Why does God expose their sin with such plainness of speech? He wants to show them the full extent of their rebellion, so that they may see the folly of continuing in sin and …

The promised land was near.

Deuteronomy 3:1-2 The promised land was near. For Moses, it was ‘so near and yet so far’. He was excluded. Together with the sadness of Moses’ exclusion, there was the joy of the people’s entrance (Deuteronomy 3:27-28). When we consider Moses’ sadness and the people’s joy, we must remember this: Nobody deserved to go into …

The true and living God

Jeremiah 1:1-2:30; Philippians 1:27-2:11; Psalm 115:1-11 The true and living God must not be reduced to the level of man-made gods. The challenge goes out from God’s Word: “Where then are the gods you made for yourselves?” (Jeremiah 2:28). There is no comparison between God and the gods – “Our God is in heaven… But …

Wisdom is better than weapons of war.

“Wisdom is better than weapons of war” (Ecclesiastes 9:18). We ask, Lord, about wisdom – “Where does wisdom come from? How will wisdom change our way of thinking and living?” You tell us that real “wisdom comes from heaven.” You show us that true wisdom will make us more “peace-loving” (James 3:18).

We must never take God’s blessing for granted.

There is, in Malachi 3:1, a prophecy which has two parts - John the Baptist, Jesus the Saviour. When Jesus comes to us, He makes us new (Malachi 3:2-3). This purpose of God - to make us holy - is in fulfilment of His plan, which has been spoken of in "the past, as in …

Lord, we thank You that Your Son, Jesus, went to the Cross for us.

Lord, we thank You that Your Son, Jesus, went to the Cross for us. It was our sin that sent Him to the Cross. He took our sin upon Himself. He took our place. We were the ones who should have died – but He was the One who died for us. We look at …