Sometimes, Lord, people are happy to listen to ‘prophets’ …

‘A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and My people love it this way’ (Jeremiah 5:31)! Sometimes, Lord, people are happy to listen to ‘prophets’ – so long as their preaching isn’t too challenging. They’re happy to attend the services conducted by ‘priests’ – so …

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Lord – give us your joy.

“Zion hears about this and rejoices” (Psalm 97:8).God’s Word brings joy. True joy is not something that we can give to ourselves. It must be given to us by the Lord. This joy – the joy of the Lord – gets stronger and stronger, as we listen to the Word  of the Lord and receive …

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Fron every tribe and nation and people and language

"With your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation" (Revelation 5:9). To Abraham, the Word of God was spoken: "All peoples on earth will be blessed through you" (Genesis 12:3). In the one hundredth Psalm, we have a call to worship: "Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth" (verse …

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Create in us, Lord, a deeper longing to become more like Jesus, our Saviour.

“Job… was blameless and upright, one who feared God, and turned away from evil” (Job 1:1). Again and again, Lord, we fall far short of this ideal (Romans 3:23). How can our sins be forgiven? How can our guilt be removed? We thank You that “the blood of Jesus, Your Son, cleanses us from all …

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I believe in Jesus. I believe in God the Father. I believe in the Holy Spirit.

"When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased”" ( Luke 3:21-22). Heaven was opened. How can …

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Words of love, words of hope, words that keep on calling us to keep on believing in the Lord

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour" (Isaiah 43:2-3). …

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The Holy Spirit brings God’s Word to us, leading us in the way of worship, service and victory.

"It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only’" (Luke 4:8). Here, Jesus is quoting the words of Deuteronomy 6:13. These words were spoken to the people of Israel. For the people of Israel, they were God's Word: a call to worship the Lord, a call to serve the Lord. These words …

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Keep looking up …

"Hear my prayer, Lord; let my cry for help come to you" (Psalm 102:1). To whom do we look for help? Here, the Psalmist looks to the Lord. May we join, with him, in saying, "My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth" (Psalm 121:1).

God is calling us to be faithful in the ministry of His Word.

Jeremiah 49:7-50:10; 2 Timothy 2:1-26; Proverbs 25:21-26:2 Jeremiah speaks of a time of judgment upon Babylon (Jeremiah 50:1-3) and a time of blessing upon the people of Israel (Jeremiah 50:4-5). If the blessing, and not the judgment, is to come in our own day, we must be faithful in the ministry of God’s Word (2 …

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Looking beyond physical love to spiritual truth

Song of Solomon 1:1-4:16; 1 Corinthians 12:1-26; Psalm 99:1-9 God uses the physical as an analogy of the spiritual. In 1 Corinthians 12, “the body” symbolizes the Church. In Song of Songs, the theme is physical love. By the Spirit of God, the physical language points beyond itself by using imagery which is suggestive of …

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Heavenly Birth, Life In The Spirit, Glorious Destination

Psalm 87:1-7 ‘Glorious things are said of you, O city of God… The Lord will write in the register of the peoples: “This one was born in Zion”. As they make music they will sing, “All my fountains are in You”’(Psalm 87:3,6-7). We thank You, Lord, that the ‘city of God’ is our glorious destination …

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Jesus Christ – the sinless Son of God

Joshua 15:1-16:10; John 1:1-28; Psalm 53:1-6 Each tribe had its limited allotment of land. Jesus Christ, “the Word” who “was God”, “became flesh” (John 1:1,14). He accepted the limitations of being human. He was human, yet without sin. “There is no one who does good, not even one” (Psalm 53:1,3).  This is true of every human …

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Worshipping the Lord, and calling on others to worship him

"I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth... Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together" (Psalm 34:1,3). This is what I am going to do: "I will bless the Lord at all times... ." This is what I'm inviting you to do: "Magnify the Lord with me... ." When we …

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Disasters and Forgiveness; Faithfulness, Relevance and Compassion

“Maybe the nation of Judah will hear about all the disasters that I plan to bring on them, and they will turn from their wicked ways. Then I will forgive their wickedness and their sins” (Jeremiah 36:3). Even in all life’s disasters, we must never lose sight of God’s love. He sends disasters. This is …

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The presence of the Lord is more important than the externals of religion.

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 - …

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Lord, What a great God You are! You are the God of our salvation.

Isaiah 37:21-38:8  “Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here… By the way that he came he will return… I will defend this city to save it” (Isaiah 37:33-35). This, Lord, was Your answer to Hezekiah’s prayer for salvation. What a great God You are! You are the God of our salvation. …

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We receive love from the Lord, and we share his love with one another.

"Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people" (Philemon, verse 7). Love is not for keeping to ourselves. It's for sharing. When we show love to others, we bring them "great joy," We encourage them. We refresh their hearts. Receive love from the Lord. Receive …

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Touched by love, we learn to love.

Song of Solomon 5:1-8:14; 1 Corinthians 12:27-13:13; Psalm 100:1-5 There is physical love (Song of Songs). There is the love spoken of in 1 Corinthians 13. There is the love of God – “For the Lord is good and His love endures for ever” (Psalm 100:5). The more we consider what the Scriptures say about …

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What an exodus it was!

Exodus What an exodus it was!Was it really a deliverance?Was it more than a departure?Departure? – Yes. it was.It involved the peoples’ choice.They had to follow God’s direction.Deliverance? – That’s what it was.It required the power of God.The people made their choice.The power came from God.God said, “I will do this.”God said, “Will you follow?”It …

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Moses didn’t realize his face was shining, but the people saw that his face was shining!

"When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord ... when he (Moses) came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was …

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Love, reaching out to us; love, changing us; love reaching out through us

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17). "All Scripture is God-breathed" (New International Version), What, exactly, does this mean? Who are we to say that we understand, exactly, what it means? The King James …

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When the Lord says to us, “Return”, what will we say to him?

"Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate,slow to anger and abounding in love" (Joel 2:13). The Lord is speaking through his faithful prophet. He was speaking to the people - a long, long time ago. He's speaking to the people - in today's world. He'll keep on speaking to the people - …

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Love is calling out to us, love is calling us to come.

"Come, let us return to the Lord" (Hosea 6:1). Something for the world, something for the church; The prophet says, "Come", the Lord says, "Come." It is love that is calling out to us. It is love that calls us to "come." There is no place from which we cannot come. There is no place from …

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Called back from the way of sin … Called into the way of the Lord

"He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy" (Proverbs 29:1). Sometimes, we need to hear words that we don't want to hear. We need a good telling-off. We need to be shown where we've gone wrong. Why? Does God want to humiliate us? No! He wants to lead us out of …

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How did Jesus come to his baptism? Did he come as a sinner in need of salvation? No. He came as the Saviour who brings salvation to sinners.

"Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ Jesus replied, ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.’ Then John consented" (Matthew 3:13-15). "Therefore, …

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Believe In Jesus And Confess Him As Your Saviour.

John 12:37-13:20 The Pharisees continue to exert their evil influence. ‘For fear of the Pharisees’, many remained silent, ‘loving the praise of men more than the praise of God’ (42-43). Whatever the opposition, Jesus calls us to believe in Him and confess Him (Romans 10:9). He calls us out of darkness into light (46). If …

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Let Us ‘Magnify’ The Lord – ‘O Lord Our God, How Majestic Is Thy Name’.

Psalms 92:1-93:5 ‘You, O Lord, are exalted for ever... The Lord reigns, He is robed in majesty...’(8; 93:1-2). The Lord is ‘exalted’. We are to exalt Him in our worship. He is not exalted because we exalt Him. We exalt Him because He is exalted. He is ‘exalted far above all gods’. That is why …

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God is calling us to do his work, and he gives us the power that we need to do his work.

"After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them, to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I …

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"His dominion shall be… to the ends of the earth" (Zechariah 9:10).

God's purpose was moving on. He had begun with Israel. Their deliverance from bondage in Egypt was a mighty demonstration of His saving power. This was only the beginning. God was moving on to Jesus - "the Saviour of the world" (John 4:42). In Jesus Christ, crucified for us, God was reaching out, in love, …

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Lord, You are the King.

Lord, You are the King. There is no king like You. No human king can even begin to compare with You - the divine King, the "King of kings" (Revelation 19:16). We lift to You our song of praise: "O worship the King, all glorious above. O gratefully sing, His power and His love."