Preaching the Word of the Lord – Psalm 78:12-25

"He worked wonders" (Psalm 78:12), "He gave them drink as abundant as the depths" (Psalm 78:15), "He brought streams out of the stone and made water flow down like rivers" (Psalm 78:16), "They spoke against God - Is God able to provide food in the wilderness?" (Psalm 78:19), "waters gushed out, torrents overflowed" (Psalm 78:20), …

God’s love for us, our love for him and our love for one another

"We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19) .  Before there is our love for God, there is his love for us. Before there is our love for another, there is God's love for each one of us. God's love, always, comes first. This is something we should never forget. When we become …

Jesus knows what he’s talking about.

"We speak of what we know" (John 3:11). Jesus spoke of "heavenly things" (John 3:12). He spoke of "eternal life" (John 3:15). He spoke of God's love (John 3:16). Jesus spoke with great conviction: "We speak of what we know." Where did this knowledge come from? What does Jesus say to us about this? This …

Worship – This must always lie at the heart of the life of God’s people …

Following the return of the Jews to Jerusalem, after their captivity in Babylon and prior to the beginning of the rebuilding of the Temple, there was the resumption of worship at the Temple site (Ezra 3:1-6). Worship - This must always lie at the heart of the life of God’s people. Once the foundation had …

A better way than the way of drunkenness: being filled with the Holy Spirit

PROVERBS 20:1-30  –  ‘Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler; whoever is led astray by it is not wise’ (1). We need to learn the truth of these words – before it’s too late! There is a better way than the way of drunkenness. It is the way of being filled with the Holy …

The Lord will bring to completion the good work he has begun in us.

Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long (Psalm 25:4-5). Here, we read about God's ways, his paths and his truth. We are reminded that he is our Saviour, and we are …

When bad things are happening to us, let us never forget this – God loves us.

"Be gracious to me, Lord"(Psalm 31:9). We pray that God will be gracious to us. How does the Lord answer this prayer? Does he change our circumstances? Often, we pray - and our circumstances remain the same. Does this mean that God isn't listening to us? Does this mean that he isn't answering our prayer? Is …

God is working for us, in us and through us.

For us: "God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). In us: "The Spirit of God lives in you" (Romans 8:9). Through us: "According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts... " (Romans 12:6-8). Thank you, Lord, for all that …

May we know more and more of the love of Christ, controlling our way of thinking and our way of living.

You, Lord, keep my lamp burning: my God turns my darkness into light (Psalm 18:28). How are we to keep walking in the light with God? Here, our attention is directed away from what we do. Here, our attention is focused on what the Lord does for us. It is the Lord who keeps our lamp …

May God help us to keep on believing in Jesus and building our lives on him.

Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge (Psalm 16:1). "Keep me safe": what does this mean? Here, we may turn our attention to the first chapter of 1 Peter. There, we will read about what being kept safe does not mean, and we will read about what it does mean. First, we …

You, Lord, are calling us to leave the pathway of disobedience and disaster and to walk in the way of obedience and blessing.

‘The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern’. Lord, there are so many people who have a ‘couldn’t care less’ attitude. They have stopped listening to Your Word and they have lost interest in living Your way – ‘Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint’. For those …

Deep anguish and unfailing love

My soul is in deep anguish. How long, Lord, how long? Turn, Lord, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love (Psalm 6:3-4). Here, the Psalmist speaks to us about his own deep anguish and God's unfailing love. What are we to do when deep anguish doesn't seem to go away? Let us "take it …