By the grace of God – things can be turned around.

On March 15, 2023February 26, 2023 By charlieIn Genesis, Preaching the Word of the Lord1 Comment

Genesis 6:5-8 Everything had gone wrong. Could things be turned around? Yes! - but only by the grace of God. It was grace that found Noah - and equipped him for service. By God's grace - let us move forward with God: trusting him and serving him.

Thank God for Jesus, and thank Him for His gift of eternal life.

On March 15, 2023November 13, 2022 By charlieIn 1 John, Daniel, One Year Bible1 Comment

Daniel 11:36-12:13; 1 John 5:1-21; Psalm 139:1-10 Scripture speaks of “the time of wrath” (Daniel 11:36), “a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then” (Daniel 12:1). For some, this will bring “shame and everlasting contempt.” Through the grace of God, others will receive “everlasting life” (Daniel 12:20). …

Continue reading Thank God for Jesus, and thank Him for His gift of eternal life.

Sing Hallelujah to the Lord.

On March 15, 2023March 14, 2023 By charlieIn Psalms1 Comment

The Lord “turns a rock into a pool, filled with water, and turns flint into a spring flowing with water” (Psalm 114:8). The “Hallelujah” arises from the hearts of God’s people (Psalm 115:18; Psalm 116:19; Psalm 117:2), “The Lord is responsible for this, and it is amazing for us to see” (Psalm 118:23).

How can we be strong and courageous?

On March 15, 2023March 15, 2023 By charlieIn Joshua1 Comment

"Be strong and courageous ... for the Lord your God will be with you" (Joshua 1:9). How can we be strong and courageous? Do strength and courage come from within ourselves? We may like to think that we're strong and courageous - but we're not. Again and again, we're reminded of how weak we really …

Continue reading How can we be strong and courageous?

Lord, You’re calling us to worship You with the dedication of our lives and not only the words of our lips.

On March 15, 2023March 10, 2023 By charlieIn Jeremiah, prayer3 Comments

Jeremiah 19:1-20:6 ‘Listen! I am going to bring on this city and the villages around it every disaster I pronounced against them, because they were stubborn and would not listen to My Word’ (Jeremiah 19:15). Lord, You're warning Your people. You're calling us back from the way of sin and disobedience. You're calling us to …

Continue reading Lord, You’re calling us to worship You with the dedication of our lives and not only the words of our lips.

I can’t cope!

On March 15, 2023March 14, 2023 By charlieIn Philippians1 Comment

I can't cope! These are desperate words. They're words that say, "There's no hope." How can hope break into our desperate situation? Hope comes to us when we learn to say something more than "I can't cope!" - when we learn to say, "I can't cope - without you, Lord." When a cry of despair becomes …

Continue reading I can’t cope!

What’s the point of having plenty of friends, if we fall out with You, Lord?

Praying Though God’s Word 1 Chronicles 3:1-4:23 “Jabez called upon the God of Israel, ‘Oh that You would bless me …’ And God granted his request” (1 Chronicles 4:10). Help us, Lord, when we ask for Your blessing, to pray for your mercy – “Have mercy on me, O God, a sinner” (Luke 18:13). Help […]

We’re not only praying for God’s glory in the place of worship. We’re praying for His glory in our lives.

Ezekiel 43:1-27 – This is not only about the glory of the Temple. It’s about ‘the glory of the God of Israel’. This is the greater glory – ‘the glory of the Lord filled the Temple’ (1,5). God is not only concerned about the creation of a beautiful place of worship. He wants our lives […]

Jesus Christ – the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world

Ezekiel 46:1-24 – We read here about the ‘offering’ of ‘a lamb without defect’. This was to happen ‘morning by morning’ (13). From these offerings , we look on to another Offering, ‘a single Offfering’, the ‘once for all’ Offering of Jesus Christ as ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the […]

God wants to bless us. He wants us to seek His blessing.

Psalm 81:1-87:7 Psalm 81:1-16 – God calls us to worship Him with joy – ‘Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob!’(Psalm 81:1). He has blessed us with His salvation – ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt’. He will continue […]

Praying Through God’s Word: Mark’s Gospel

Mark 1:1-20 Lord, we thank You that Your Son, Jesus, has triumphed over Your enemy, Satan. To us, Satan can seem so strong. Help us to remember that Jesus is stronger than Satan. With Jesus as our Saviour, we shall triumph over Satan, our enemy. Mark 1:21-2:12 Lord, help us never to think that prayer […]

Keep on believing that God hears and answers prayer.

2 Samuel 21:1-22:7 – There’s no two ways about it. God’s people were getting it rough. There seemed to be so many problems. Were they to give up hope? – Not a bit of it! Read verse 14 – ‘After that God heeded supplications for the land’. What happened when God heard and answered the […]

Show us, Lord, what we really are – without You.

Deuteronomy 23:1-25 Show us, Lord, what we really are – without You. Make us, more truly and more fully, what You want us to become – by Your saving grace. Fill us with Your holiness – and fill us with Your love. You’ve lifted us out of our sin and into Your salvation. This is […]

Praying Through God’s Word: Matthew’s Gospel

Matthew 1:1-17 Lord, we’ve only just begun – to experience Your love and enjoy Your blessing. We’ve started out on the journey of faith – but we haven’t reached our destination. We’re still travelling. We dare not stand still. We must keep on going forward – with You and for You. Sometimes, we can forget […]

Lord, we come to You in our weakness. You give to us Your strength.

John 14:15-15:17 Lord, we come to You in our weakness. You give to us Your strength. Without Jesus, we can do nothing (John 15:5). With Jesus as our Saviour, His Word abiding in us (John 15:7) and the Holy Spirit teaching us all things (John 15:26), we are led into a life of fruitfulness (John […]

To You, Lord, be all the glory.

Genesis 18:16-33 To You, Lord, be all the glory. You have done so many great things for us. So many blessings – and they all come from You, Lord. Our sins have been forgiven. You’ve come to live in us. Such great blessing – but this is just the beginning! You’re leading us on to […]

Daily Devotional Readings: Year Three – May

1st May: Jeremiah 1:1-19 To understand Jeremiah’s story, we must look ‘behind the scenes’: ‘The Word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations”‘ (4-5). To understand our own […]

For the Christian, the King’s Highway is the Way of Holiness: “This is the way, walk in it.”

Numbers 21:1-35 In verses 5-9, there is an illustration of God’s salvation (John 3:14-15). There is sin and death (Romans 5-6; 3:23, 6:23). Christ prays for our forgiveness (7; Luke 23:34). Lifted up on the Cross, He dies that we might have eternal life. In love, He appeals to us, ‘Look to me and be […]

Bible Reading Notes: Year One – April

1st April: Genesis 25:19-34 Esau was a fool. He chose his own way rather than the Lord’s way. Jacob was a ‘heel’! ‘Born with his hand holding on to Esau’s heel…, he was named Jacob (Heel)’ (26). A crafty twister, a manipulating cheat, there was nothing about him that merited God’s blessing. He was not […]

Daily Devotional Readings: Year Three – April

1st April: Isaiah 52:1-12 ‘Good News’ – Let us ‘shout for joy’. ‘Good News’ – Let us sing ‘songs of joy’. There is the Good News of God’s reign – ‘Your God reigns’. There is the Good News of our redemption – ‘The Lord has redeemed’ us. We are not to keep the Good News […]

Daily Devotional Readings: Year Two – April

1st April: 1 Samuel 17:1-58 David defeats Goliath. This is not only a story about David and Goliath. It is about the Israelites and the Philistines. It is about ‘God’ and the ‘gods’ (43,46). Victory comes from the Lord. It is given by grace. It is received by faith (47). Notice the contrast between the […]

Daily Devotional Readings: Year Two – March

1st March: Ruth 1:1-2:23 Ruth meets Boaz. It seemed like a ‘chance’ meeting – ‘she happened to come…'(2:3). It was more than that. God was at work. Ruth had committed herself to the Lord (1:16-17). She was being guided by the Lord (Psalm 37:3-5; Proverbs 3:5-6). Ruth was unassuming and grateful, hardworking and responsible (2:10,13,7,18). […]

Daily Devotional Readings: Year Three – January

1st January: Psalm 77:1-20 Sometimes, we have more questions than answers (7-9). The questions keep flooding into our minds. We wonder where the answers are going to come from. What are we to do when this happens? We must remember what the Lord has done for us (11-12). Look back over the ‘years’ – and […]

Daily Devotional Readings : Year One – January

1st January: Psalm 119:105-112 We begin the year with the words of verse 105: ‘Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path’. This a great text with which to begin the year. It is a great starting-point for these studies in God’s Word. As we journey through life with […]

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 […]

Daily Devotional Readings: Year One – December

1st December: John 10:1-42 The Christian life is not easy. The devil ‘comes only to steal and kill and destroy’ (10). Satan was working through the religious leaders. They were trying ‘to stone’ Jesus (31). ‘Again’, they failed (39). They could not take Jesus’ life. ‘His hour had not yet come’ (18; 7:30; 8:20). When […]