There is, in Malachi 3:1, a prophecy which has two parts - John the Baptist, Jesus the Saviour. When Jesus comes to us, He makes us new (Malachi 3:2-3). This purpose of God - to make us holy - is in fulfilment of His plan, which has been spoken of in "the past, as in …
Continue reading We must never take God’s blessing for granted.
“Wisdom is better than weapons of war” (Ecclesiastes 9:18). We ask, Lord, about wisdom – “Where does wisdom come from? How will wisdom change our way of thinking and living?” You tell us that real “wisdom comes from heaven.” You show us that true wisdom will make us more “peace-loving” (James 3:18).
Deuteronomy 3:1-2 The promised land was near. For Moses, it was ‘so near and yet so far’. He was excluded. Together with the sadness of Moses’ exclusion, there was the joy of the people’s entrance (Deuteronomy 3:27-28). When we consider Moses’ sadness and the people’s joy, we must remember this: Nobody deserved to go into …
Samaria and Jerusalem behaved like prostitutes. In graphic language, the sin of turning from the Lord is compared to sexual immorality. Why does God expose their sin with such plainness of speech? He wants to show them the full extent of their rebellion, so that they may see the folly of continuing in sin and …
Continue reading Stop rebelling against God and start returning to Him.
The Lord is "the glory within" Jerusalem (Zechariah 2:5). He is "the glory within" His Church. We dare not attach so much importance to the externals of religion that we forget about the presence of the Lord. To make secondary things more important than they really are is to miss the most important thing - …
Where, Lord, will we find peace – when our emotions are tearing us apart? We feel like we’re being pulled this way and that way. Sometimes, we feel like we’re all over the place. We don’t know whether we’re coming or going. Lord, give us Your peace. Give us Your Son, Jesus. He is our …
Continue reading Where, Lord, will we find peace – when our emotions are tearing us apart?
"“We both had dreams,” they (the butler and the baker) answered, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”" (Genesis 40:8). The interpretation of their dreams didn't come from Joseph. It was given to Joseph by God. There's an important …
2 Samuel 7:1-29 David was king. God was looking ahead to the next king, Solomon. Knowing the kind of man Solomon would become, God speaks of chastening: ‘When he does wrong, I will chasten him’. This chastening is an expression of God’s ‘steadfast love’: ‘Those whom I love, I rebuke and chasten’. How do we …
Continue reading Beyond The ‘Pain’ Of ‘Discipline’, There Is ‘The Peaceful Fruit Of Righteousness.’
“A faithful messenger … refreshes the soul” (Proverbs 25:13). God is calling us to be faithful and fruitful. Let us bring His Word to others. Let us bring his blessing to them.
We thank You, Lord, that You have saved us by Your grace. Where would we be without Your grace? - We would be wandering far from You. Our thoughts would be far from You. Where are we now? Are we beginning to love You, as You have loved us? Whatever may be said about our …
Continue reading We thank You, Lord, that You have saved us by Your grace.
"Now there was a famine in the land, besides the previous famine in Abraham’s time, and Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar. The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. Stay in this land for a …
“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul” (Psalm 19:7). God’s Word does not return to Him empty. It accomplishes the purpose for which He sent it (Isaiah 55:11). Often, we feel like God’s Word returns to us empty. It never returns to Him empty. Wherever God’s Word is preached in the power …
Continue reading The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.
"Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food,though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour" (Habakkuk 3:17-18). Life is more than happy times. …
In Ezekiel 26, we find an awesome Word of judgment, spoken against the city of Tyre. The Word, spoken by God through His prophet, is uncompromising - “Tyre, you famous city, you have been destroyed” (Ezekiel 26:17). The effect of Tyre’s fall is described: “Your defeat will make the people, who live by the coast, …
Before we come to “the Ten Commandments”, we have these great words, “ I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery” (Exodus 20:2). Grace comes first. Holiness follows on from grace. We see the same pattern in the New Testament – in the teaching of Jesus, in …
John 4:43-5:29 In Jesus’ healings, we see the love of God. He ‘went about doing good.’ In His healings, we see the Source of His spiritual strength: ‘God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power’ (Acts 10:38). We look beyond Jesus to God the Father: ‘mighty works and wonders and signs which God …
Continue reading Let’s Honour The Son Of God By Listening To His Voice.
So often, Lord, we’re too easily satisfied. You want to give us so much more – but we get stuck in a rut. We do not hunger for more of You, for more of Your blessing. Help us, Lord, to appreciate Your love for us, to grow in our love for You, to share Your …
Continue reading So often, Lord, we’re too easily satisfied.
“I will fill this temple with glory” (Haggai 2:7). We read about the glory of the temple at Jerusalem. There is, however, a greater glory – the glory of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2) – “I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” …
Malachi 4:5 speaks of “that great and dreadful Day of the Lord.” The Day of the Lord will be a Day of Judgment. This is not, however, the full story. It will also be the great Day of salvation. This comes through clearly in Revelation 7 – “a great multitude that no-one could count, from …
Divine grace - “But He is compassionate. He forgave their sin. He did not destroy them. He restrained His anger many times. He did not display all of His fury” (Psalm 78:38) - and human sin - “How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness! How often they caused Him grief in the desert! …
The singers will come “from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9). Not just some nations! All nations! Not just this generation! Not just the “now” generation! Every generation will be there. They will come from the past. They will come from the future. This is bigger than the Eurovision Song Contest! …
Continue reading Singers From Every Nation And Every Generation
Psalm 8:1-9 The Lord is ‘majestic’ (1, 9). He does not remain remote. He does not keep His distance. He shows us His greatness, the greatness of His love. We feel forgotten. He remembers us. We feel unloved. He cares for us (4). We are tempted. He will ‘still the enemy’ (2). We look beyond …
Continue reading Let The Lord’s Name Be Glorfied In All The Earth.
"In the wilderness (or the wild country)" (Numbers 1:1). "Stage by stage" (Numbers 33:2) - Moses kept a record of Israel's journey. "In the wilderness", "stage by stage" - When we read these two phrases, and think about our own journey through life, we are invited to think about where we've been, where we are, …
We're nearly at the end of the old year. Our thoughts are turning to the New Year. Is it time for thinking about something else - new life? "Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who …
Continue reading New Year: a time for thinking about something else – new life
Psalm 33:1-22 ‘Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous’(1). We have plenty of good reasons for rejoicing in the Lord. He opens His heart to us, making known ‘the thoughts of His heart to all generations’(11). In His heart, there is love for us - ‘the earth is full of the steadfast love of the …
Continue reading We Have Plenty Of Reasons For Rejoicing In The Lord.
"Repent and believe in the Gospel" (Mark 1:15). We hear the Gospel and we are changed by it. That's where repentance and faith come from. They come from the Gospel. They are what the Gospel does to us. The Gospel brings us out of unbelief and into faith. The Gospel makes us new men and …
"The Lord spoke the Word to Micah" (Micah 1:1). The Word is given to the prophet. This is where true prophecy begins. It begins with God. It does not come from the mind of the prophet. It is given to him by the Lord. In this revelation, given by God to the prophet, there is …
Continue reading God’s Word Of Love – For The Preacher And The People
It's easy to look back and remember what we want to remember - and forget what we want to forget. Making comparisons between what we were - decades ago - and what the younger generation is right now - this can be very dangerous! There can be a lot of pride in it. We can …
Mark 12:29-31 Love God. Love your neighbour. Love for God comes first, but it never stands alone. It's never just "Love God", and leave it at that. It's always "Love God" and "Love your neighbour."
Lord, show us our pride, and teach us to humble ourselves before You. Show us Your power and teach us to trust You to do great things in and through us.
‘The Lord reigns’(Psalm 96:10; Psalm 97:1). ‘The Lord is King!’. He is not only ‘the King all-glorious above’. He is ‘the King of love’. He is ‘our Maker, Defender, Redeemer and Friend!’. He is not only ‘the King of heaven’. He is ‘the God of grace’. He is ‘the King of mercy’(Church Hymnary, 35,36,388,360,86). His …
"I once was blind, but now I see" (John 9:25). Everywhere we look, there is bad news - nothing but bad news, bad news ... Everywhere we look? Really? Aren't we forgetting something? Are we forgetting Jesus? Are we forgetting that we have a Saviour? Are we forgetting that He makes everything look very different. …
Genesis 16:1-16 From salvation and the assurance of salvation, we turn to Satan and the activity of Satan. Sarai came with temptation (1). Abraham yielded to temptation (2). Temptation becomes sin when we yield to it. In Abraham, we see the conflict between ‘the old man’ that he was and ‘the new man’ God was …
Continue reading ‘Sin Shall Not Have Dominion. Grace Is Victorious.’
John 14:15-15:17 Those who love the Lord are called to a life of obedience, keeping His ‘commandments’, keeping His ‘Word’ (21,23). We cannot live this life in our own strength. Christ must make His home in us (23). Once He has come to live in us, we are to abide in Him (4). Jesus says …
Genesis 35:1-14 "Go to Bethel" (1) - the place of blessing. On their way to Bethel - Jacob and his family were protected by the Lord (5). At Bethel - Jacob was blessed by the Lord (9). Jacob's name was changed to Israel (10). The name - "Jacob" - pointed to the past: what Jacob …
We go back to Genesis 3:1, back to "the serpent", and on, from there, to Revelation 12:9, "that ancient serpent, called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray." Satan begins by questioning God's Word: "Did God really say?" - but he does not stop there. He goes on from questioning God's Word …
"You are... built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone" (Ephesians 2:19-20). We give thanks to God for the prophets and the apostles. In their own day, they were faithful servants of the Lord. In our day, their words continue to speak to us with power and love. We must …
Continue reading Learning from the prophets and apostles, saved by Jesus Christ, our Saviour
Genesis 35:16-36:43 Here - there are many names. We focus attention on the difference between the two brothers - Jacob and Esau. "Esau went to a land far away from his brother Jacob" (6). The explanation for Esau's move away from Canaan is given in verse 7 - "For their possessions were too many for …
Continue reading There is a great difference between the people of God and worldly people!
“What the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 2:7,11,17,29; 3:6,13,22). What does the Spirit say to the churches? He speaks the words of Christ, the risen Lord. * We need the Spirit: “Be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18). * We need the Scriptures: “Let the word of Christ dwell among you richly” (Colossians 3:16). To His enemies, …
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But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31
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Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." John 4:10
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In The Beginning Man Tried Ascending To Heaven via The Tower Of Babel. Now He Tries To Elevate His Existence To A Heavenly State of Consciousness Thru The Use Of Hallucinogenic Drugs. And, Since The 20th Century, He Continually Voyages Into Outer Space Using Spacecrafts. Prayer Thru Christ Is The Only Way To Reach Heaven.
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Luke 9:23-24 23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.
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