Lord, bless me and make me a blessing,

Acts 19:23-20:16 Read verse 28: 'Great is Artemis of the Ephesians'. Remember Exodus 20:3 - 'You shall have no other gods before Me'. Remove all pretenders from God's throne. Rededicate yourself to the Lord - 'King of my life, I crown Thee now, Thine shall the glory be' (Redemption Hymnal, 165). People could not get …

Through God’s one and only Son, we become God’s children.

"Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the …

Some Thoughts On Mission And Evangelism

Teaching Evangelism In the preface to his book, The Evangelism of the Early Church, Michael Green states a personal reason for writing the book: “Most evangelists are not very interested in theology: most theologians are not very interested in evangelism. I am deeply committed to both. So the study of this subject was particularly congenial …

2 Chronicles 14-18

2 CHRONICLES 14:1-16:14 - Keep on going! Don’t give up! Asa began so well - ‘Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God’ (14:2). He led the people to the Lord. Under his leadership, the people ‘entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their …

The Lord will return. Make sure that you’re ready for Him.

In Mark 13:1-2, Jesus speaks about the destruction of the Temple. In Mark 13:7, He speaks about "the end." There are events which point us to the end. These events make us think about the end. There's another "end" that we must think about - "the person who endures to the end will be saved" …

Judas’ tragedy, Peter’s restoration

We already know about Judas - what He was planning to do. Of the other eleven disciples, Peter wasn't the only one who failed the Lord - "All the other disciples said the same thing as Peter" (Mark 14:31), and, like Peter, they let the Lord down. They kept well out of the way, making …

How does God answer our most important question – the question of salvation?

Psalm 49:1-20 How can I be saved? How does God answer our most important question, the question of salvation? He speaks to us about (a) our need of salvation; (b) His provision of salvation; (c) receiving salvation. (a) Our need of salvation: We cannot save ourselves. ‘No man can ransom himself, or give to God …

Learning to Follow Jesus

"Jesus was going to Jerusalem"  - to be "betrayed", "condemned to death" and to "come back to life" (Mark 10:32-34). Hallelujah! What a Saviour! "Teacher, we want you to do us a favour" (Mark 10:35) - This sounds so self-centred. What does Jesus say about this? - "Whoever wants to be great among you will …

Physical Blindness – And Spiritual Blindness

“Many warned him to be quiet, but he cried out all the more … ” (Mark 10:48). There were many people who tried to silence blind Bartimaeus. Here was the voice of prayer – and they were saying, “Shut up’! Thank God – he didn’t shut up. He shouted out. They more they said, “Shut …

If You Don’t Have Salvation, You Have Nothing!

2 Kings 17:1-41 ‘The people of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt’(7). What happens when people reject the God of salvation? - They become ‘empty’ and ‘worthless’ because they have chosen to ‘pursue emptiness’ by ‘following worthless idols’(15). If you don’t have …

How does Jesus change our life, here-and-now?

We begin with Mark's Gospel, where we read about Jesus' immediate future. From there, we move on to John's Gospel and our eternal future. Continuing with John's Gospel, we ask the question, "How does Jesus change our life, here-and-now?" (1) Jesus' immediate future "They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the …

We hear the Word of the Lord so that we might become strong in the Lord.

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Let your hands be strong, you who have been hearing in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, who spoke … ‘” (Zechariah 8:9). We hear the Word of the Lord so that we might become strong in the Lord. God’s Word is not to go in one ear and …

We need the encouragement of God’s Word.

Psalms 60:1-61:8 - There is so much to hold us back from worshipping and serving the Lord. We could so easily become discouraged. We need the encouragement of God’s Word. This is what we have here: ‘With God we shall gain the victory, and He will trample down our enemies’(12). At times, it may seem …

Love for the Lord and love for our neighbour – we need both, not just one or the other.

"'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?' Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.'" (Matthew 22:36-39). In today's world, there are plenty of people …

Do you want to enter God’s Kingdom? Make sure you are clothed in Christ’s righteousness.

Matthew 22:1-14 Jesus speaks in parables. Some hear, understand and believe. Others miss the point altogether. One man was 'not wearing wedding clothes' (11). He was dressed in the 'filthy rags' of his own 'righteous acts' (Isaiah 64:6). He was not clothed in the righteousness of Christ (Revelation 21:1-2, 7:9-14). Without Christ's righteousness we are …

In ourselves, we are weak. In the Lord, we are strong.

Genesis 32:22-32 At the place called Peniel, Jacob 'saw God face to face' (30). We see 'the glory of God in the face of Christ' (2 Corinthians 4:6). Jacob wrestled with God and became an overcomer (28). Christ wrestled with the powers of evil, and has won a mighty victory for us. When He cried …

A trap that failed!

Matthew 22:15-22  Paying Taxes to Caesar Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone's opinion, for you …

We look to Christ, alone, for salvation.

Matthew 19:3-30 Even though 'large crowds followed Him' still 'the Pharisees' opposed Jesus (2-3). Jesus' teaching regarding marriage has perfect balance. Marriage is God's purpose for 'male and female' (4-5). 'Others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven' (12). There is no compulsion in these matters. Each one must seek God's will. Celibacy …

Let us confess our sin, and glory in our Saviour, who forgives sin.

Matthew 16:5-23 What a contrast there is between Jesus Christ and the religious leaders of His day. Three times, we are told to 'guard against...the Pharisees and Sadducees' (6,11-12). These men had religion without salvation. They claimed to have faith in God, yet they despised Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Saviour of sinners. …

The Shepherd Of Love

"The Son of Man came to save the lost" (Matthew 18:11). In Matthew 18:12-14, Jesus speaks about sheep. He's really speaking about us. He is the Shepherd. We are His sheep. Sheep wander away from the shepherd. We wander away from the Lord. The shepherd looks for the lost sheep. Jesus has come to seek …

Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead.

Matthew 15: 21-16:4 Above all Jesus' miracles, we celebrate His mighty resurrection from the dead (Matthew 28:5-7). This miracle is referred to in Matthew 16:4, 'the sign of Jonah': Jonah was raised from 'the belly of a huge fish', Jesus has been raised from 'the heart of the earth' (Matthew 12:40). We are to 'remember …

Pressing on to a greater enjoyment of God’s blessing

Numbers 30:1-31:20  -  Vows (30:1-16): Be careful what you say - You may live to regret it (Ecclesiastes 5:2, 4-6; Matthew 12:36-37; James 3:6-11). Learn from Balaam. Full of good intentions about speaking God’s Word (22:18; 23:12), he hoped to ‘die the death of the righteous’ (23:10). He did not live up to his good …

Help us, Lord, to bring Christ to the nations. Help us to serve You in the power of the Spirit.

‘Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, my Chosen One in whom I delight; I will put My Spirit on Him, and He will bring justice to the nations’ (Isaiah 42:1). Lord, these words turn our thoughts towards Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. At His baptism, we hear Your voice – ‘This is My Son, whom …

The love of the Lord is the greatest love of all.

"For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies" (Psalm 57:10). There is no love like the love of the Lord. It's the greatest love of all. God's love is faithful love. It's not a love that comes and goes. It's the only love that we can depend on. …

How Long, O Lord?

Psalm 13 The ‘how long’ questions are questions asked by a man who feels that God is far away. These questions must, however, be reversed, if we are to move beyond these feelings into the reality of knowing God. God says, ‘How long?’ The Lord is saying to us, “It doesn’t matter how long. Now …

Jesus loves me.

"Then Jesus prayed this prayer: O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding the truth from those who think themselves so wise and clever, and for revealing it to the childlike" (Matthew 11:25). "So wise and clever" - Is that what we think we are? Do we think that we 'know it …

God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

"At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do" (Matthew 11:25-26). "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, …

The work of the Holy Spirit

Matthew 11:20-30 In John 16:8-11, Jesus speaks of the work of the Holy Spirit, convicting the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. Before there can be conversion, there needs to be conviction of sin. None of us can come to the Saviour of sinners without first seeing ourselves as sinners who need the Saviour. God …

God Leads Us In His Truth. We Walk In His Truth.

Psalm 25:1-22 ‘Lead me in Thy truth, and teach me, for Thou art the God of my salvation’(5). We can pray this prayer with confidence. God has given His promise: ‘He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble His way’(9). Our confidence is in the Lord. We ‘put no confidence in …

Jesus is taken up into heaven. The Holy Spirit is given to us.

Ascension of the Lord: Acts 1:1-11; Psalm 47 or 93 or Daniel 7:9-14; Psalm 24:7-10; Ephesians 1:15-23; Luke 24:44-53 Jesus is taken up into heaven. The Holy Spirit is given to us. We read, in John 7:39, that ‘the Spirit’ would not be ‘given’ until Jesus was ‘glorified.’ Now, as Jesus was about to be ‘taken …