Aldous Leonard Huxley(1894-1963)

On May 3, 2022May 3, 2022 By charlieIn Aldous Huxley1 Comment

In his best known book - the early novel, Brave New World (1932) - he warned against the danger of a possible future society, in the name of science and technology, depriving individuals of their freedom. He returned to this theme in Brave New World Revisited (1958), a set of essays on real-life problems, in …

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Lord, You’re calling us to leave behind the unfruitful life – and to choose the life of fruitful service.

1 Kings 7:13-8:13 Lord, You’re calling us to choose the life of fruitful service – “gold, silver, precious stones”. You’re calling us to leave behind the unfruitful life – “wood, hay, straw” (1 Corinthians 3:12-15). Help us to hear and answer Your call: “Rise up, O Church of God. Have done with lesser things. Give […]

What a perfect atonement! What a perfect Saviour!

Leviticus 16:1-34 – God is ‘holy‘. We cannot ‘draw near’ and ‘come’ to Him without a ‘sin offering’ (1-3). We cannot bring ‘a sin offering’ to Him. We can only bring our sin: Our righteousness is ‘like filthy rags’ (Isaiah 64:6). There is a ‘way’ for sinners to ‘draw near’ to God: Christ is the […]

Lord, what You have done for us – we could never have done for ourselves!

Genesis 21:1-21 Lord, what You have done for us – we could never have done for ourselves! It’s so amazing what You have done for us. We were making plans for ourselves – but our plans didn’t include You! You came to us. You said to us, “I have a wonderful plan for your life.” […]

Life is full of ups and downs.

1 Kings 18:17-19:21 Life is full of ups and downs. There are high-points – “The fire of the Lord fell” and “all the people said, ‘The Lord, He is God’” ( 1 Kings 18:37-39), and there are low-points – ”O Lord, take away my life” (1 Kings 19:4). Lord, we are so changeable. Sometimes, we’re […]

Without Christ, the living Word, we remain in darkness.

Numbers 8:1-26 – The Levites were ‘set apart’ for God (14). They were ‘a gift to Aaron… to do the service for the people of Israel at the tent of meeting…’ (19). We are to work together as a team. ‘Yield yourselves to God…’ (Romans 6:13): Help each other to be better servants of Christ. […]

The Spirit is not a reward we earn by being good people.

Galatians 3:23-5:6 – ‘God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts’ (4:6). The Spirit is not a reward we earn by being good people. The Spirit is God’s gift (Titus 3:5). Paul connects the gift of the Spirit with Christ’s death for us and our faith in Christ (3:13-14). We do not […]

More than the words of the preacher – the Word of the Lord

MICAH 1:1-2:13 We thank You, Lord, that Micah was a fearless preacher of Your Word. His message was not popular: ‘Let the Lord God be a witness against you.’ He was a forthright preacher of Your Word. He knew that the people wouldn’t want to hear what he had to say to them. He demanded […]

Sometimes, Lord, it seems like you are far away from us…

2 Kings 9:1-37 Sometimes, Lord, it seems like You are far away from us. Why do we feel like this? It’s because we have wandered away from You. We’ve allowed something else to come between ourselves and You. Call us back to Yourself, back from the brink, back to a new beginning, back to the […]

Teach us, Lord, to count our blessings.

Genesis 24:50-67 Teach us, Lord, to count our blessings. We try to think of all the good things You have done for us, all the great gifts You have given to us. We cannot keep up with You, Lord. There is so much to count, so much for which we can only say, ‘Thank You, […]

Help us, Lord, to look, listen and learn.

Numbers 22:1-41 Help us, Lord, to look, listen and learn. We look into Your Word. We listen to what Your Word is saying to us.We look and we listen – so that we might learn to love You more. Love for You – This, Lord, is what our looking and listening are all about. What, […]

One Year Bible: Days 121-151

Day 121 Joshua 19:1-21:19; John 2:1-25; Psalm 54:1-7 What God did for His people, Israel, was very great. There is a striking contrast between their slavery in Egypt and their abundance in the promised land. God had multiplied His blessing upon them, just as Jesus did when He turned water into wine (John 2:1-11). If the […]

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 […]

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 […]

One Year Bible: Days 91-120

Day 91 Numbers 31:25-32:42; Luke 8:40-9:9; Psalm 40:1-8 In Moses’ time, the people of God were to “arm themselves before the Lord for battle” (Numbers 32:20). In Jesus’ time, His disciples were given “power and authority to drive out all demons …” (Luke 9:1). In every generation, the Lord’s people are to sing “a new […]

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 […]

Wonderful grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin! (Daily Devotional Readings: Year One – April).

One Year Bible: Days 60-90

Day 60 Leviticus 5:14-7:10; Mark 10:32-52; Proverbs 6:12-19 “The sin offering is to be slaughtered before the Lord … it is most holy” (Leviticus 6:25). Concerning the death of Jesus, the human story is this: “the chief priests and the teachers of the law will condemn Him to death” (Mark 10:33-34). There is, however, also the divine […]

Daily Devotional Readings: Year One – March

1st March: Genesis 15:1-21 God is greater than our circumstances. God had given great promises to Abraham, yet there appeared no sign that His promises were being fulfilled. The circumstances seemed bleak, and Abraham felt despondent. Abraham was full of questions. In verse 2, he asks, ‘What can you give me…?’. This is the question […]

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, hard working and responsible […]