These words come to us from a long time ago. They are still words that come to us from the Lord. In love, God looks upon us. In love, he says to us, "I will bless you." We look at the things that are happening to us, and we wonder if this is true. These …
Month: May 2022
Links to Rev James Philip’s notes on Psalms
Psalms 1-50 Psalms 51-100 Psalms 101-150
Temptation, forgiveness, faith and service
Luke 17:1-37 In verses 1-10, Jesus speaks about temptation, forgiveness, faith and service. (a) Temptation - ‘watch yourselves’, always remembering that we can only win victory through the strength of the Lord (3; 1 Corinthians 10:13). (b) Forgiveness - This is practical teaching. We not only receive forgiveness for ourselves. We are to forgive others …
Link to Rev James Philip’s notes on Philippians
Philippians
Job 25-28
Job 25:1-27:6 - Job’s ‘comforters’ are no friends to him. They fail to discern the presence and purpose of God in Job’s life. Job responds to them with biting sarcasm - ‘How you have helped him who has no power! How you have saved the arm that has no strength!’ (26:2). They’re hopeless - no …
From top to bottom …
"The curtain of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom" (Matthew 27:51). From top to bottom: We could never raise ourselves from the bottom to the top - but God has come from the top to the bottom, and he raises us from the bottom to the top! This is salvation. It …
Less like the Pharisees – and more like Jesus
"One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick" (Luke 5:17). What a difference there was between Jesus and the "Pharisees and teachers …
Continue reading Less like the Pharisees – and more like Jesus
Job 21-24
Job 21:1-34 - Job has listened to his ‘comforters’, and he is not impressed: ‘How then will you comfort me with empty nothings? There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood’ (34). Job can’t make sense of all that is happening to him. He doesn’t understand what it all means. In all his confusion, …
God is in control – not men.
John 8:21-58 In the face of evil unbelief and persistent opposition, Jesus spoke with tremendous assurance: 'You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world...you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am He' (23-24). 'As He spoke thus, many believed in …
Link to Rev James Philip’s notes on Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy
Job 8-12
Job 8:1-9:19 - Bildad speaks as a ‘know-it-all’. He sees what has happened to Job, and he thinks, ‘Job must have forgotten God’. If Bildad had not been blinded by his own ideas of how things must be, he would have noticed that Job had not forgotten God and he would have realized that bad …
Links to Rev James Philip’s notes on 1 and 2 Thessalonians
1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians
Links to Rev James Philip’s notes on 1 and 2 Samuel
1 Samuel 2 Samuel
Links to Rev James Philip’s notes on 1 and 2 Peter
1 Peter 2 Peter
Links to Rev James Philip’s notes on 1 and 2 Kings
1 Kings 2 Kings
Links to Rev James Philip’s notes on 1, 2 and 3 John
1 John 2 John 3 John
Links to Rev James Philip’s notes on 1 and 2 Corinthians
1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians
There is Good News.
Surely the righteous will never be shaken; they will be remembereved forever. They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord (Psalm 112:6-7). "They will have no fear of bad news." Often, in today's world, we find ourselves asking if there will ever be any good news. Is there any good …
Where is God? Who is God?
When we're suffering, we ask, "Where is God?" There's another question, we should ask - "Who is God?" "Workman of God! O lose not heart, but learn what God is like, and, in the darkest battle-field, thou shalt know where to strike." In our darkest times, God is with us, teaching us that he cares …
Job 18-20
Job 18:1-19:7 - Job listens to Bildad’s harsh words. He answers with a question: ‘How long will you torment me, and break me in pieces with words?’ (19:2). Job couldn’t make much sense of what was going on in his life. He was sure of one thing. His ‘friends’ were missing the point of it …
I waited patiently for the Lord…
I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will …
My Tribute (To God be the glory) / Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord, my soul, all my inmost being, praise his holy name (Psalm 103:1). Let's think together of all the great things the Lord has done for us, and let us lift up our hearts and voices to him in worship. In love, the Lord is reaching out to us. He's speaking to our …
Continue reading My Tribute (To God be the glory) / Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Our obedience to God
Exodus 21:1-23:33 Our obedience to God is to take shape within the varied circumstances of everyday life. At the heart of our obedience, there is to be compassion, an expression of God's compassion (Exodus 22:21,28; Exodus 23:9). At the heart of our obedience, there is to be worship (Exodus 23:14). taking compassion and worship together, …
“The Lord is my light and my salvation” (Psalm 27:1).
Whenever we confess our faith in the Lord, we must never forget what we were without the Lord. We were in darkness. We were lost. He has brought us out of our darkness and into His light. He has found us. He has saved us. The Lord is our light, and he is our salvation. …
Continue reading “The Lord is my light and my salvation” (Psalm 27:1).
Forgiveness comes first.
When Isaiah was called to be a prophet of God, something else needed to happen first. He needed to have his own sins forgiven (Isaiah 6:7). First, there was the forgiveness of Isaiah's sins, and then, immediately after that, there was his call to the prophetic ministry (Isaiah 6:8).
Lord, speak to me that I may speak in living echoes of Thy tone.
You are my God, and I will praise you; you are my God, and I will exalt you. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever (Psalm 118:28-29). The Psalmist offers his own worship to the Lord, and he calls upon others to worship the Lord. If we are learning to worship the …
Continue reading Lord, speak to me that I may speak in living echoes of Thy tone.
Who is on the Lord’s side? / Stand up, stand up for for Jesus / Soldiers of Christ, arise.
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to …
Job 13-17
Job 13:1-14:22 - When you don’t really know what you’re talking about, it’s a case of the less said the better. That’s how Job feels about his ‘friends’ - ‘Oh that would you keep silent, and it would be your wisdom!’ (13:5). They are no help to him. What does he do next? He takes …
Seven Words On Seven Chapters (John 1-7)
We look at the first seven chapters of John's Gospel. Our seven words are (1) Who; (2) What; (3) Wind; (4) Worship; (5) Wholeness; (6) Word; (7) Witness. (1) Who is Jesus? Chapter 1: (a) the Word (v. 1); (b ) God (v. 1); (c) the life (v. 4); (d) the light of men (v. …
I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Come unto Me and rest.”
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God (Psalm 42:1-2). On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers …
Continue reading I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Come unto Me and rest.”
I hear the sound of rustling in the leaves of the trees.
May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer (Psalm 19:14). We speak the Word of the Lord, and we think about what it means for us. We pray that the Lord will bless our words and our thoughts. We need the Lord's …
Continue reading I hear the sound of rustling in the leaves of the trees.
Job 4:12-7:21
Job 4:12-6:7 - Eliphaz sounds so ‘spiritual’. He speaks of ‘a word’ being ‘brought’ to him. He speaks of ‘visions in the night’ (4:12-13). Sadly, there is, in Eliphaz, a lot of pride and not much love. There’s no suggestion, from Eliphaz, that Satan might be behind Job’s suffering. ‘It’s all your own fault’ - …
Learning From God's Word 