Christ In All The Scriptures

Luke 24:13-53 ‘In all the Scriptures’, Jesus teaches ‘the things concerning Himself’(27). Do ‘our hearts burn within us... while He opens to us the Scriptures?’(32). He calls us to be His ‘witnesses’, to preach His message of salvation ‘to all nations’(47-48). Before we can preach, we must listen to Him. Before we can proclaim His …

Our Sin And God’s Salvation

"Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:23-24). Here, we read about our sin and God's salvation. Once we have received God's salvation, we must not forget about our sin. We have been …

Lord, we don’t go out looking for problems.

Lord, we don't go out looking for problems - but, sometimes, we can't avoid them. Help us, Lord, to turn obstacles into opportunities. When we're on the verge of collapse, may Your grace lead us on to spiritual growth.

Lord, You have blessed us so much.

Lord, You have blessed us so much. Help us never to forget this. We look at the world You have made for us - and we say, "Thank You, Lord." We look at the Saviour You have sent to us - and we say, "Thank You, Lord." Why must we keep on remembering You? - …

Lord, Your greatness is not only the greatness of Your power. It is also the greatness of Your love.

‘The Lord is high above all nations... Who is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high?... Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, who turns the hard rock into springs of water’(Psalm 113:4-5; Psalm 114:7-8). Lord, You are greater than we could ever imagine. There is no greatness like Your …

God Is Faithful. Let’s Be Faithful To Him.

Deuteronomy 31:1-32:52 Moses’ time of leadership was coming to an end. Joshua would replace him as the leader of God’s people. With God’s command – “Be strong and courageous” – and promise – “you will bring the Israelites into the land that I swore to give them, and I will be with you” (Deuteronomy 31:23), …

When Doubts Fill Your Mind

Job 32:1–33:18 When doubts fill your mind - remember this: "God does speak ... though man may not perceive it"! ‘The Bible is the Word of God’ - What do we mean when we say this? Two statements from Elihu may help us to think about this question. (a) ‘Understanding’ comes from ‘the breath of …

Lord, if we are to become holy, it must be Your doing – not our own achievement.

Lord, if we are to become holy, it must be Your doing - not our own achievement. We come to our Saviour with our sin. We receive from Him Your forgiveness - and the Spirit of holiness. Our past is put behind us. Our sins are forgiven - and forgotten. You call us on into …

From the land of bondage – to the land of salvation

Deuteronomy 16:1-17:20 “Honour the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 16:1) – We are to worship the Lord. Our worship is to be filled with thanksgiving, praising the Lord for His redemption – “The Lord your God brought you out of Egypt.” Moving from the land of bondage, we move, by faith, into the land of salvation: …

Lord, we thank You that You bring us out of our darkness and into Your light.

Lord, we thank You that You bring us out of our darkness and into Your light: "One thing I know. I was blind, now I see" (John 9:25). We only catch a glimpse of Your light. There is still so much darkness. It's not only the darkness around us. It's the darkness in us. Lord, …

Lord, we want blessing – but we’re not so keen on obedience.

Lord, we want blessing - but we're not so keen on obedience. Help us to learn from Jesus. For Him, obedience was everything. He was fully obedient. For Him, it meant the Cross (Philippians 2:8). Lord, help us not to be thinking, "What are we going to get out of this?" Help us to be …

The Lord builds up Jerusalem.

‘The Lord builds up Jerusalem. He gathers the exiles of Israel. he heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds’ (Psalm 147:2-3). Help us, Lord, to look beyond the building of the city of Jerusalem with bricks and mortar. May we see clearly that this is You blessing Your people as they gather together to …

Where, Lord, will we find wisdom?

“Wisdom is better than gold” (Proverbs 16:16). Where, Lord, will we find wisdom? Your Word tells us that Jesus Christ is “our Wisdom” (1 Corinthians 1:30). When we find Him, we find wisdom. Jesus says to us, “Seek, and you will find” (Matthew 7:7). Set us free from the idea that we already know what …

Take your problem to the Lord.

"O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake ... " (Daniel 9:19). "O Lord" - This is prayer. We do not take our problem to everyone else but the Lord. We take our problem to the Lord. "Hear" and "listen" - There can be a …

Touch our hearts, Lord, with Your love.

Touch our hearts, Lord, with Your love. So often, our hearts are hard. How can this hardness be broken down? You must do it. We can't do this for ourselves. We can't do this by ourselves. It's Your love that changes us. It's Your love that makes us new. Open our hearts to Your love. …

God’s Love Is The Best Love.

"Within Your temple, O God, we meditate on Your unfailing love" (Psalm 48:9). What do we do when human love fails? We look beyond human love. We look to divine love.  God's love never fails. It's an "unfailing love." We should think, often, of the love of God. We should think of Jesus - "God so …

Crucified by men, raised by God (Luke 23:1-25)

Luke 23:1-25 In Jesus’ trial, we see unity in evil (12). Politically, Pilate and Herod were at odds with each other. Spiritually, they were united in their opposition to Christ. Jesus was found guilty by neither Pilate nor Herod (13-16). They were Very Important People. Jesus was a threat to them. They held positions of …

Live The New Life That God Has Given To You.

Colossians 3:1-17 "Put to death... " (Colossians 3:5); "Put on the new man" (Colossians 3:9-10); "renewed in knowledge ... " (Colossians 3:10). This is not something that we can do in our own strength - "Christ is all and in all" (Colossians 3:11). "Put on... " (Colossians 3:12) - Note that the Lord's forgiveness comes …

Peace, Power, Purpose

Acts 3:1-4:4 Contrast the Peter we see at the time of Christ's death and the Peter we see here. There was failure, frustration and fear. Now, there is peace, power and purpose. (a) Failure - Peter denied his Lord. (b) Frustration - Things could have been so different, if only I had confessed my Lord. …

Lord, we have wandered far from You.

Genesis 3:6-9 Lord, we have wandered far from You. There seems to be no way back. We feel like we’re ready to give up in despair. Is this all that there is - wandering around in the wilderness of life, always travelling but never arriving at our destination? We’re groping around in the darkness - then …

"I will pour out My Spirit on the nation of Israel" (Ezekiel 39:29).

True blessing comes when God pours out His Spirit. This is something for which we must always - the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In Ezekiel 40-43, we have a description of the temple. We can measure the physical dimensions of the temple, but there is something that we cannot measure: "I saw the glory …

The Sermon On The Mount (Matthew 5-7)

Jesus' words, known as "the Sermon on the Mount" (Matthew 5-7), need to be taken as a whole. We're not to pick out the bits that we like, and ignore the bits that we don't like so much. We're not to come, looking for "comfort" (Matthew 5:4), if we're not also seeking for "righteousness" (Matthew …

Angels, Shepherds, Wise Men, A Star And Our Saviour

* Looking beyond the angels (messengers), we see Jesus - the Message (Word). * Looking beyond the shepherds, we see Jesus - the Shepherd. * Looking beyond the wise men, we see Jesus - the Wise Man. * Looking beyond the star, we see Jesus - the Light of the world. Jesus:  the Message, the …

God is doing a new thing (Search The Scriptures: Acts).

ACTS "The Holy Spirit" (Acts 1:2,5,8,16) - This was the time for the fulfilment of promises made by Jesus during His earthly ministry (John 14:16,25; John 16:12). "The Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:4,17-18,33,38) - God is doing a new thing. This far surpasses all that happened in the Old Testament. What had been promised is now …

Link to “The Building and Dedication of the Temple (1 Kings 5-8)”

The Building and Dedication of the Temple (1 Kings 5-8)

Praying Through God’s Word: Job 1-10

Job 1:1-2:13 Lord, Your power is greater than the power of Satan. Help us never to forget this. Satan is “roaming through the earth”, “prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking for someone to devour” (Job 1:7; 1 Peter 5:8) – but he can only do what You allow him to do (Job 1:12; Job …