Let us praise the Lord.

Numbers 2:10-3:51; Luke 1:39-56; Psalm 34:1-10 The detailed instructions given in the early chapters of Numbers arise out of Moses’ communion with God – “the Lord talked with Moses on Mount Sinai” (Numbers 3:1). God speaks to us, and we – in response to His Word – speak to Him. ‘Mary’s song’, in Luke 1:46-55, …

Lord, we find it so easy to forget, and so hard to remember.

Isaiah 17:4-18:7   ‘You have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge’ (Isaiah 17:10). Lord, we find it so easy to forget – and so hard to remember. You have loved us so much. We should remember to say, ‘Thank You, Lord’. Very often, we forget. When Jesus healed ten …

The Kingdom of the Lord endures forever.

In Ezekiel 29, we read about God's judgment upon Egypt, that proud nation, which caused so much distress to His people, Israel. Egypt's time of power had come to an end. Their position of power had been taken by Babylon. The Lord is looking beyond the day of Babylon's power. He is doing a work …

Real gold – not counterfeit ‘gold’

We read of “gold” in both Ezra and Revelation (Ezra 1:4,6,9-11; Revelation 8:3; Revelation 9:7). In Ezra 1:6, “gold” is set alongside “valuable gifts” and “all the freewill offerings.” “Gold” is a valuable thing. The “gold” of our lives is truly valuable when it is given freely, as a “freewill offering.” In Revelation 8:3, “gold” is associated with “the prayers …

God has a message for His Church. It is the message of the Spirit.

God is at work in the life of both the Church and the nation. He has a message for His Church. It is the message of the Spirit: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 2:29; Revelation 3:6). This message of the Lord concerns His Church. …

God’s salvation is greater than our sin.

What a contrast there is between God’s salvation and man’s sin. God brought His people out of Egypt and into the promised land. They rebelled against Him and refused to listen to Him (Ezekiel 20:6-8). God had not given up on His people. He would draw them to Himself. He would make them His instrument …

Singing our song to the Lord

"Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;    the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song,    and he has become my salvation;this is my God, and I will praise him,    my father's God, and I will exalt him" (Exodus 15:1-2). …

Never so far away

We are never so far away that God's love cannot reach us. In Luke 15, we read about the prodigal son - and the loving Father. What does Jesus tell us about the prodigal son? He tells us about his sin - and he tells us about his salvation. All the time, the son was …

Hearing The Word of God And Doing The Will Of God

"The Lord also called to the man of God. He said, “This is what the Lord says: You rebelled against the words from the Lord’s mouth and didn’t obey the command that the Lord your God gave you ... A lion found him as he traveled on the road and killed him" (1 Kings 13:21, …

Looking forward to being with Christ, forever

"Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27). From "Christ for you", we move on to "Christ in you." Christ was crucified for us. Beyond his crucifixion, there is his resurrection. And, beyond his resurrection, there's his return "in great power and glory."* We do not only remember a past event: He died for …

Listen to God before you claim to speak for Him.

In Job 4-5, we have the first speech of Eliphaz. On the pretext of bringing comfort to Job, Eliphaz brings a message of accusation. However much Eliphaz claims to be bringing God’s Word to Job, we can be sure that he is not God’s messenger. Why? It’s because his message conflicts with God’s understanding of …

The Gospel for our generation

Amos 6:1-7:17; Romans 4:16-5:11; Psalm 86:11-17 Amos was commissioned by the Lord - “Go, prophesy to My people Israel” (Amos 7:15). The purpose of such prophecy, in our generation, is to declare the Gospel: “God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). If …

The Lord alone is worthy of our trust. He will not fail us.

2 Kings 18:1-19:13; Acts 27:13-44; Psalm 82:1-8 “Do not let the god you depend on deceive you” (2 Kings 19:10). The Lord alone is worthy of our trust. He alone will prove trustworthy. There is no god like the Lord - “God presides in the great assembly: He gives judgment among the gods” (Psalm 82:1). …

Be strong.

Haggai 1:1-2:23; 2 John 1-13; Proverbs 29:19-27 God calls His people – “Be strong” (Haggai 2:4). This call comes to the “governor”, “the high priest” and “all you people of the land” (Haggai 2:2). We need spiritual strength in government, in the Church and throughout the land. This strength is needed if we are to build upon …

Happy Times And Hard Times

"The joy of the Lord is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10). Sometimes, we have  happy times - and sometimes we have hard times. What are we to do when the going gets tough? We've heard the saying, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." It sounds good, doesn't it - but what if we …

We come to You, Lord. We come in our weakness. We ask for Your strength.

2 Chronicles 8:1-9:31 Lord, we look at Solomon – and we see ourselves. There is strength (2 Chronicles 8:16) – and there is weakness (2 Chronicles 8:11; 2 Chronicles 9:12). We want to love You more, but the world keeps on pulling us back – away from you and into sin. We come to You, …

“Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).

Do we stop believing this just because it comes to us from a long time ago? No! We keep on saying, “Praise the Lord! It’s true!” We keep on singing the song of our Saviour.

How are our lives to be changed?

Jeremiah 23:9-25:14; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-18; Proverbs 24:23-34 How are our lives to be changed? They can be changed by God - “I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord” (Jeremiah 24:7). Knowing God makes a difference. Those who do know not Him live “in passionate lust” (1 Thessalonians 4:5). …

Two very different attitudes to life – trusting the Lord and taking things into our own hands

The story of David and Saul is a story of two very different men. David recognized that the Lord was in control. Saul, on the other hand, was trying to keep himself in control. There are two very different attitudes to life - trusting the Lord and taking things into our own hands. We see …

Through the precious blood of Christ, we come to know the wonderful love of God.

"Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness" (Psalm 86:11). When we ask God to teach us his way, what will he teach us? He will teach us that he is faithful. He will teach us that we can rely on him. His love will not fail us. His love is unchanged, …

What Is The Lord Saying?

1 Kings 11:14-12:24 Life can be a very slippery slope. You can go downhill very quickly - if you’re not careful! Solomon let things slide - and he was never the same again. He fell - and he never got back up again. After he died, there was ‘rebellion’- and it lasted for a long …

Purify my heart.

"Purify my heart, cleanse me from within and make me holy" (Songs of Fellowship, 475). When we pray this kind of prayer, what are we expecting to happen to us? Are we looking for sinless perfection? If we're expecting sinless perfection, we're in for a big shock? "Purify my heart ... " - this is …

Knowing Jesus and preaching him: it’s all about loving him.

"I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2). "We preach Christ crucified" (1 Corinthians 1:23). Here, Paul speaks to us about knowing Christ crucified and preaching Christ crucified, Before we can preach him, we must know him. God speaks to us before we speak for him. What …

The Lord brought about a great victory.

1 Chronicles 11:1-12:22; Romans 14:19-15:13; Psalm 89:46-52 1 Chronicles 11 speaks of “David’s mighty men” (1 Chronicles 11:11). The focus is not, however, on either David or the “mighty men.” It is on the Lord – “The Lord brought about a great victory” (1 Chronicles 11:14). In their warfare, “the Spirit” brings this message – …

Like John the Baptist, we are to point people to Jesus, God’s beloved Son.

Luke 3:1-38 John's message came from 'God' (2). He did not begin with love. He preached about sin and divine judgment, warning his hearers to 'flee from the wrath to come' (7). He called for 'repentance' (3,8). This was not what people wanted to hear. Before we can rejoice in the Good News concerning salvation, …

When it seems like there’s nothing but bad news, God speaks His Word of hope.

1 Kings 14:1-15:8  -  It makes depressing reading - a lot of bad news from the north (16), a lot of bad news from the south (22). Many people wondered, ‘Will there be peace in my lifetime?’ Sadly, the hostilities continued for a very long time (15:6). Were there no glimmers of hope? Was there …

It’s no good unless it’s new?

"It's no good unless it's new." This is the way a lot of people think. They're not interested in yesterday's news. They're all for modern technology. Everything else is out of date. It's past its sell by date. Is this wisdom? or, Are we missing something, something which comes to us from the past, something …

Real change – people being changed by the Lord

What are we to say about the beginning of a new ministry? We hear it said, “It’s a time of change.” What do we mean when we say this? We speak about the way we do things – “He did it his way. You do it your way.” Changing the way things are done doesn’t …

Turn To The Lord.

Turn to the Lord, believe in him, listen to him, grow in him - these are the things he wants us to do.

When the storms of life are raging …

"Lord God, I take refuge in you" (Psalm 7:1). The storms of life are raging. The Lord is our shelter from the storm. He doesn't stop hard times coming our way - but he is there for us when they come. We need not be overwhelmed by our hard times - but we can trust …

Love – from our Saviour, Glory – to our Saviour

"To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood... to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen" (Revelation 1:5-6). Love comes to us from our Saviour. May glory be given to him by us.

My One Year Bible

Day 1 Genesis 1:1-2:17; Matthew 1:1-25; Psalm 1:1-6 Genesis speaks of the beginning. Matthew speaks of a new beginning. The God who created us is the God who has provided for our salvation. If we are to enjoy God's salvation, we must learn to follow the wisdom of Psalm 1:1-2 - "Blessed is the one …

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 …

Thy hand, O God, has guided Thy flock from age to age.

Future generations will be told about the Lord (Psalm 22:30). We look back to the Old Testament. We look back to the New Testament. We wonder, "Is this just ancient history?" We ask, "Does all of this have anything to do with us in today's world?" Here, God's Word gives us God's answer to our …

Living As The Prophetic People Of God

'Living as the prophetic people of God': How should we approach this subject? We could embark on a lengthy discussion, centred on the question, "What is prophecy?" Here, I will suggest a general definition of prophecy, and then proceed to consider the principal connections between prophecy and the Christian life. We may begin with two …

How much has the world really changed, since Jesus’ time? (Sermons on John’s Gospel – from the series of sermons on “A Statement of Christian Faith”)

These sermons were first preached as part of a series on "A Statement Of Christian Faith". -- John 1:1-13 We focus our attention on verses 11-13, where we learn how to become a child of God and what it means to be a child of God. It’s often pointed out that our world is very …

The Uniqueness of Christ

People did not know what to make of Jesus. They tried to understand Him by comparing Him with famous figures from the recent and more distant past - ' John the Baptist ... Elijah ... Jeremiah or one of the prophets'. Into this situation of confusion came something new, something different - 'You are the …

When you are deeply aware of your sinfulness, remember – God loves you.

1 John  3:19-4:21 - ‘God is greater than our hearts’. When you are deeply aware of your sinfulness, remember - God loves you. God’s Word is brutally honest - about us: ‘The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?’ God’s Word is wonderfully encouraging - about His love for …

When people turn away from following the Lord

Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons. These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), James son …