2020-06-29
Isaiah 57:18 NLT
Ever felt broken? Or felt like you’d made too many mistakes and now could never be the person who God made you to be? In the Bible we read about God raising up broken people in amazing ways. For example, He used Moses, a murderer, to deliver the Hebrew slaves. And He used Jacob, a liar, to fulfil His promise to Abraham. If God redeemed them, He can redeem us too. Sometimes we can think that brokenness is a bad place to be. We don’t like how it feels, and we think we’ve failed. But when we’re broken, we’re in a great place. Brokenness creates humility in us because it’s at the point we reach rock bottom that we truly realise how much we need God. Jesus said, ‘apart from me you can do nothing’ (John 15:5 NLT). Brokenness can help us fully grasp what Jesus was saying in this verse. And when we learn to rely on God for everything we need, we’re in a powerful position. This surrender allows God’s will to be brought about in our lives. It allows God access to our hearts so He can heal and restore them. But if we constantly focus on the mistakes and hurts of our past, then we’re not allowing God to do new things in us. We need to look ahead to our future rather than be stuck looking at our past. When we turn to God He’ll forgive us, restore us, and use us for His purposes. He said, ‘I have seen what they do, but I will heal them anyway! I will lead them. I will comfort those who mourn, bringing words of praise to their lips’ (Isaiah 57:18-19 NLT). God doesn’t give up on us, so let’s not give up on ourselves.
Jer 7-9; Luke 3:11-20; Ps 64; Prov 14:25-28
2020-06-28
Hebrews 12:8 MSG
When we walk through a tough time, our automatic reaction can often be to ask God to take us out of it. And when He doesn’t, we assume He doesn’t care or that we’ve been abandoned. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. God cares about everything we go through, and always knows what’s happening in our lives. In fact, He walks alongside us through everything. The psalmist wrote: ‘Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me’ (Psalm 23:4 NIV). He is with us, even in the toughest of times. So why doesn’t God take us out of the situation? We don’t know all the reasons why, but one of them could be because He wants us to learn something. Hebrews 12:8 in The Message says: ‘This trouble you’re in isn’t punishment; it’s training.’ God’s training us to be stronger and more like Him. In every situation we go through, there are things we can learn. But we’ll only learn them if we open our hearts. If we’re too busy begging God to take the situation away, we won’t be open to the opportunity of growing. All tests and valleys we experience are temporary. They’ll end. But it’s up to us whether we’ll just about make it through or if we’ll come out looking more like Jesus. In the Bible we’re encouraged to go as far as rejoicing in the troubles that we face. ‘In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials’ (1 Peter 1:6 NIV). This might seem impossible, but when we think about the training God’s doing, we can be joyful while we’re walking through the valley.
Heb 11:23-28; Exo 3:1-22; Exo 33:7-23; Exo 34:29-35
2020-06-27
2 Timothy 3:17 NLT
Studying the Bible each day equips us for our God-given assignment in life. Paul writes: ‘All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realise what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right’ (v.16 NLTUK). Sometimes we can wonder why certain parts of the Bible have been included. We might even choose to skip over parts we don’t think apply to us. But according to Paul, all Scripture is useful. So what’s it useful for? 1) For teaching. It will structure our thinking. What we believe ultimately determines how we behave. If we’re not thinking correctly, we’re not living correctly. The Bible says: ‘Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think’ (Romans 12:2 NLTUK). Our thinking is transformed by reading and believing God’s truth found in the Bible. 2) For correction. The Bible tells us how we should live, and shows us where we’re falling short. It shows us what we should avoid doing and helps us become more godly. Psalm 119 says: ‘Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path’ (v.105 NLT). The Bible guides us and shows us the way we should walk. 3) For training in righteousness. The Bible equips us to fulfil our God-given purposes. James writes: ‘God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.’ By reading the Bible, we can become more like Jesus, and gain the wisdom we need to do what we’ve been called to do.
Jer 4-6; Luke 3:1-10; Ps 59:9-17; Prov 14:23-24
2020-06-26
James 1:22 NLT
When we study the Bible, we can’t just stop at reading it. We need to then put what we’ve read into practice. To grow and become more mature, we need to obey what God says. ‘Don’t just listen to God’s Word…do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves…if you do what it says…God will bless you for doing it” (James 1:22-25 NLT). Acquiring knowledge and wisdom from the Bible is important, but it doesn’t mean much if we don’t then put it into practice and make changes to our lives. Sometimes the Holy Spirit can show us things about ourselves while we’re reading and studying the Bible. We’re told that: ‘The word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires’ (Hebrews 4:12 NLT). When we become aware that we’re not living how we should, we have two options. We can either ignore what we’ve read and keep living how we’ve always lived, or we can ask God to help us change. Putting what we’ve read into action isn’t always easy. Sometimes it requires us to make big lifestyle changes, and to do things which are outside of our comfort zone. Sometimes it will require us to live more sacrificially, and become more humble, which doesn’t always come naturally to us. But we don’t have to make all these changes on our own. God can help us. And He promises to bless us when we obey Him too. The Bible says, ‘blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice’ (Luke 11:28 NLT). So let’s make sure we’re not just reading the Bible, but that we’re living it out too.
Jer 1-3; Luke 2:41-52; Ps 59:1-8; Prov 14:21-22
2020-06-25
1 Peter 2:2 NIV
Studying the Bible every day is essential to our spiritual growth, but we can often prioritise other things and reduce our time studying the Bible to a few minutes each day. The Bible should be like food to us. We need to consume it so that we can grow stronger and more mature in our faith. The Bible says, ‘man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD’ (Deuteronomy 8:3 NIV). Peter uses the analogy of babies and milk, saying, ‘crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.’ Babies desire and demand milk on a regular basis. In the same way, we should be desiring God’s Word. But so often we can find ourselves not reading the Bible. Maybe it’s because we don’t understand it, because we have other things we’d rather do, or we’re just too busy. But we need to be determined to feed on God’s Word each day. If we’re struggling, we can start with the basics. Paul said to the Corinthians: ‘I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready’ (1 Corinthians 3:2 NIV). If we’re not ready to get stuck into deep theological Bible studies, let’s start small. We can aim to read the Bible for ten minutes a day, choosing a passage we’re familiar with, and then researching it. We can look online for commentaries, listen to teaching on the topic, and ask the Holy Spirit to show us what it means. Then we can grow in our faith and become more like Jesus.
Hosea 11-14; Luke 2:34-40; Ps 21; Prov 14:17-20
2020-06-24
Luke 19:8 NIV
To have integrity means we do the right thing, even if nobody sees us or knows about it. It’s about who we are when no one is watching. And, as Christians, it’s about living wholly for God. The Bible says, ‘The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity’ (Proverbs 11:3 NIV). Sometimes we make mistakes, and we don’t demonstrate integrity. Zacchaeus is a great example of someone who lost and then regained his integrity. He became rich by taking more taxes from people than his Roman masters demanded, and keeping the extra for himself. But after he met Jesus, he said, ‘If I have cheated people…I will give them back four times as much!’ (NLT). Jesus said, ‘Salvation has come to this home today’ (Luke 19:9 NLT). Rebuilding our integrity means acknowledging that we’ve done something wrong, such as having ungodly thoughts or hurting someone. Then we need to repent of the mistakes we made. This goes further than just owning up to what we’ve done. It means we also make changes to our lifestyles to help us avoid making that mistake again. Zacchaeus made amends by repaying the people he had stolen from, and choosing to live differently from then on. Sometimes we can think that if the things we’re doing aren’t affecting anyone else, then it doesn’t really matter. But God always sees what we’re doing. Job said: ‘Does he not see my ways and count my every step?’ (Job 31:4 NIV). When He sees us, does He see someone with integrity? If not, let’s acknowledge what we’re doing wrong and make some changes to our lifestyles.
Hosea 6-10; Luke 2:21-33; Ps 17; Prov 14:13-16
