Good News for all the world – a call to receive the forgiveness of sins, a call to become followers of Jesus

We thank You, Lord, for Jesus Christ – ” a Banner for the nations”, “the Saviour of the world” (Isaiah 11:12′ John 4:42). We thank You that He has “died for the sins of the whole world.” This is “Good News” for “all the world.” It’s a call to receive the “forgiveness of sins.” It’s …

How the mighty have fallen! How true! – but it’s not the whole story!

“How the mighty have fallen!” (2 Samuel 1:19,25,27). How true! – but it’s not the whole story! Life in this world is a combination of tragedy and triumph. In the life of Saul, the first king of Saul, there was a lot of tragedy, and not much triumph. In the life of his successor, King …

God is calling us to love Jesus (The Life Of Peter).

God is calling us to love Jesus. In His Word, He tells us about people who learned to love Jesus. Little by little, they learned to live the Jesus life - less living for self and more living for Jesus. We can learn so much from the life of Peter. At the heart of his …

How can we be strong and courageous?

"Be strong and courageous" (Joshua 1:6). What are we to do when we don't feel strong, when we don't feel courageous? Are we to search, within ourselves, to see if we can, somehow, find, within ourselves, strength and courage? This is the time for another word from the Lord - "Be still and know that …

John 13:21-14:14

Difficult times lay ahead for Jesus. He would be betrayed by Judas Iscariot (21-30). He would be denied by Peter (36-38). For Jesus, there was His departure (31-33). It would be a difficult time for His followers. He tells them to 'love one another': 'By this all men shall know that they are His disciples' …

In our own homes – Let us sing our praises to the Lord.

‘Daniel resolved not to defile himself’ (Daniel 1:8). We thank You, Lord, that Daniel was devoted to You. It was not easy to live as Your faithful servant. His dedication to You was put to the test – ‘Test your servants’ (Daniel 1:12). Our faith is put to the test. We ‘suffer many trials’. Why, …

Heaven came down and glory filled my soul.

"Building a tower and making a name for ourselves" (Genesis 11:4) There is no salvation in ourselves. Salvation is in Christ alone (Acts 4:12). The Lord is our "strong tower" (Proverbs 18:10). Salvation doesn't begin with ourselves. It comes to us from Christ: "Who came down from heaven to earth? - Jesus Christ, our Saviour." …

What A Great Gospel! What A Great Saviour! What A Great Salvation! What A Great Future!

The Humbled and Exalted Christ  Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a …

Lord, we thank You that Your way is the best way.

Praying Through God's Word: Psalms 1-10   Psalm 1:1-6Lord, we thank You that Your way is the best way. It’s ‘make up your mind’ time. Every day, we must make up our mind – Will it be the way of the world? Will it be the way of the Word? It cannot be both. It …

The Lord calls us to return to Him.

Special Days – Presentation of the Lord: Malachi 3:1-4; Psalm 24; Hebrews 2:14-18; Luke 2:22-40 The Lord calls us to return to Him. God calls us to be His faithful people. He says, ‘Return to Me.’ He promises to bless those who return to Him: ‘I will return to you’. God calls us to honour …

Help us, Lord, never to think that we have nothing to offer to You.

Help us, Lord, never to think that we have nothing to offer to You. We can never save ourselves. That is something that You must do for us. We have been saved by Your grace. Now, we must serve You in Your strength. You gave Your Son for us. Help us to give ourselves to …

Low points – and high points

In the history of Israel, there were low points - “all Israel abandoned the Lord’s teaching” (2 Chronicles 12:1) - as well as high points - “Asa did what the Lord his God considered right and good” (2 Chronicles 14:2). Even Asa was not consistently faithful to the Lord. Despite the statement, “Asa remained committed …

God’s Word is not to go in one ear and out the other ear.

Privilege and responsibility (Amos 3:2). "The Almighty Lord has spoken. Who can keep from prophesying?" (Amos 3:8). God's Word is not to go in one ear and out the other ear. It's to change us. It's to equip us for living as His people and being His witnesses.

Give Careful Attention To God’s Word.

“The people of Berea were more open-minded than the people of Thessalonica. They were very willing to receive God’s message, and every day they carefully examined the Scriptures to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11). Give careful attention to God’s Word. This is what we learn from the Bereans. May God help …

The wise men and Herod

The wise men did want to worship Jesus (Matthew 2:2). Herod said that he wanted to worship Jesus (Matthew 2:8). What a difference there is between saying that we want to worship Jesus and really wanting to worship Him. This highlights the conflict between false religion and true worship.

Jesus speaks to us – words of peace.

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid" (John 14:27). Jesus speaks to us - words of peace. We cannot speak these words to ourselves. They must be spoken to us - by …

What A Great Saviour Jesus Is!

'If I preach the Gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting' (1 Corinthians 9:16). Paul preached the Gospel. His whole desire was to bring men and women to the Saviour (1 Corinthians 9:22). He did not want to draw attention to himself. He didn’t preach so that his hearers would say, ‘What a good …

Hallelujah! – Teach us to worship You, Lord, in everything we do.

Prayers based on Ezekiel 39-42 Ezekiel 38:1-23 We read, Lord, of Your judgment upon ‘Gog from the land of Magog’: ‘When Gog attacks the land of Israel, My hot anger will be aroused... I will execute judgment upon him...’ (Ezekiel 38:1,18,22). The names ‘Gog and Magog’ are also found in Revelation 20:7-10. There, we read …

The Name Of Jesus – The Name Of Our Salvation

Thank You, Lord, for giving us our own name. It makes us feel special - "I'm me. I'm not somebody else." We thank You, even more, giving us the Name of Jesus. His Name is the Name of our salvation. Among all the many names of people, from all over the world, there's one Name …

God is love. God is holy. He wants to reproduce His love and holiness – in us.

For more notes on God's Word, visit From Genesis to Revelation in a Year. Exodus 23-25 23:1-33  -  God is love: He loves ‘the stranger’ (9). God is holy: He ‘will not acquit the wicked’ (7). He wants to reproduce His love and holiness - in us. Not holiness without love: that is self-righteous legalism. Not …

Numbers 10-11

Numbers 10:1-36  -  God’s Word - ‘the testimony’ (11) - reveals God’s purpose (29) and provides God’s guidance (33). The ‘cloud’ is like the presence of God’s Spirit hovering over us. Great things are about to happen. The Spirit of God is moving over the face of the people of God gathered for worship (11; …

Lord, when it feels like You’ve forgotten us

Lord, when it feels like You’ve forgotten us, help us to see the truth as it really is. We have forgotten You. We’ve taken our eyes off You – and now everything’s out of focus. There’s a blurring of our vision. Lord, take us to the Cross of Jesus. Show us that we’re not forgotten. …

Social concern and spiritual worship

“Blessed is the one who has concern for helpless people … Thank the Lord God of Israel through all eternity” (Psalm 41:1,3). Social concern and spiritual worship – Both are important. There’s an earthly situation which we cannot turn our back on. There’s an eternal dimension we dare not lose sight of.

Christ is our full salvation

1 Corinthians 1-4 1:1-2:5 - Paul preached the Gospel, ‘not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power’ (17; 2:4). He preached ‘Christ crucified’ with a determination ‘to know nothing except Jesus Christ crucified’(23; 2:2). This is the message of our salvation - ‘Christ crucified… Christ the power of …

Rejoice In The Lord.

Psalms 11:1-13:6 - ''The Lord is in His holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven': We 'take refuge' in Him (11:4,1). We are to seek His face, confident that 'when He appears...we shall see Him as He is' (11:7; 27:8; 1 John 3:2). Seeking God's face, we learn to rest in His promises, we …