2020-04-13
1 Thessalonians 2:18 NIV
Paul writes, ‘We wanted to come to you…but Satan blocked our way.’ When we have an assignment from God, Satan will repeatedly attack us and try to stop us from fulfilling it. Here are three things about Satan’s attacks: 1) His attacks reveal that he believes we’re capable of accomplishing our goal. If he didn’t think we’d achieve things for God, he wouldn’t try and stop us. It shows that we’re strong and full of faith. If we fall down, he wants to keep us down because he knows if we rise again, we’ll be stronger and more effective than ever. 2) He always attacks the start of something significant in our lives. The enemy tried to stop Jesus just before He started His ministry. He tempted Him in the wilderness (you can read about it in Matthew 4). We might feel more of an attack when we’re just about to get started on something we’re passionate about, or just before God gives us the next thing He wants us to do. 3) He uses those closest to us to reach our hearts. He can work through others to cause us to doubt ourselves and our calling. Other people can make us feel insecure about who we are, and what we can achieve. We should never forget that our attitude is more important than the attacks we’re experiencing. Attacks pass, but our attitude, if bitter or demoralised, can cause bitterness to be rooted in our lives (have a read of Hebrews 12:15). Our influence in God’s kingdom determines the level of attack the enemy launches against us. So if we’re facing a big attack, let’s not be discouraged but instead be encouraged that we’re making a big difference in the kingdom.
Lev 11:1-13:37; Matt 28:11-20; Ps 50:1-15; Prov 10:3
2020-04-12
Galatians 2:20 NKJV
The cross is a vital part of our everyday lives. When we became Christians, we became a new person. The Bible says: ‘Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!’ (2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT). Each day we face three enemies: sin, Satan, and ourselves. Our old self still wants us to do certain things that we know are wrong. We’re still tempted. The enemy attacks us and tries to lead us down the wrong paths. But we can overcome these things by living the crucified life. Paul wrote: ‘I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.’ What does it mean to live the crucified life? It means we let Jesus take over the running of our lives. We surrender our desires and goals, and let Him gives us better ones. Jesus said: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me’ (Matthew 16:24 NIV). We walk in His ways rather than our own. Living Jesus’ way isn’t easy. We have to keep surrendering, sometimes moment by moment. But living His way is definitely worth it. This Easter, let’s celebrate that Jesus is alive. He’s living in us, and we’re being transformed into His likeness. We have His power in us and He can work through us. Even if we’re struggling in our walk with Him, we can be grateful that His death on the cross means that we’re acceptable to God and welcomed into His presence. When we mess up, He forgives us. When we walk away, He welcomes us back. However challenging it seems, let’s pick up our cross and surrender to God again today.
1 Cor 15; Matt 28:1-10; Job 19:25-26; John 11:25-26; 1 Pet 1:3; Isa 25:8
2020-04-11
1 Corinthians 1:23 NIV
We’re all called to share our faith with others. Some of us might do that by working in Christian ministry, others might talk to people where they live, others might go on a mission trip, and others might reach those closest to them. But however we evangelise, and whoever we’re talking to, we need to remember to share the whole gospel. It can be tempting to focus on the ‘nice’ parts of Christianity. We like to tell people that God loves them and that they’re His children. This is definitely true. The Bible says: ‘See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!’ (1 John 3:1 NIV). But we can’t stop there. We need to ‘preach Christ crucified’. Explaining Jesus’ death and resurrection can be challenging; we may not even fully understand it ourselves, let alone explain it in an accessible way to those who don’t yet know God. But the Holy Spirit can help us have the words to say. Jesus said: ‘The Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say’ (Luke 12:12 NIV). If we don’t tell people about what Jesus has done for them, they won’t understand the grace and mercy of God. They won’t know that they’re saved, forgiven, and redeemed, without having to do anything other than believe. They won’t be grateful to God for the sacrifice that was made. People may not believe what we’re telling them, and they may reject us for what we’re saying. But God wants us to tell people the truth about who He is, who they are, and what has been done for them. So let’s go and tell them today.
Num 21:4-9; Matt 27:57-66; Ps 69:7-21; Deut 21:22-23
2020-04-10
John 16:33 NIV
Good Friday is a day when we tend to focus on the suffering Jesus endured. And it’s an opportunity to remember the importance of the cross in our times of struggle. When we go through traumatic events, are hurt by others, or walk through dark valleys, we can feel like we’re walking alone. But the cross reminds us that we have a God who understands. Jesus walked through suffering too. He was betrayed by a friend, had to walk a path that He didn’t want to, was mocked by crowds of people, and faced death on the cross. The Bible tells us that Jesus even felt abandoned by God: ‘Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” This means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”‘ (Matthew 27:46 NCV). Whatever we’re facing, we can know that Jesus understands. We’re not left to struggle on our own. We have a God who walks every step with us. 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) and in Deuteronomy it says, ‘the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you’ (31:6 NIV). It’s also important to remember that the cross we’re focusing on is empty. Jesus’ death wasn’t the end. God raised Him back to life again. And now we can have hope for the future, even if we have to walk through suffering right now. Whatever we’re going through, we can know that Jesus has already overcome. He said: ‘In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.’ So let’s ‘take heart’ and remember that the cross is empty. We have hope because He has overcome.
Gen 22:1-18; Matt 27:45-56; Ps 22; Isa 53
2020-04-09
Matthew 27:51 NIV
Another reason that the cross is important is that it reconnected us to God. Before Jesus’ death on the cross, the only people who could be in God’s presence were the priests who were allowed into the innermost parts of the Temple. The Bible says: ‘Only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance’ (Hebrews 9:7 NIV). But at the moment that Jesus died, ‘the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.’ The barrier between us and God was removed. That means we can now experience His presence and draw close to Him without fear. ‘Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need’ (Hebrews 4:16 NIV). It also means we can approach Him with all our worship and requests without having to purify ourselves first. While we can never be perfect, God sees us through Jesus, who is righteous. We’re now seen as righteous before God because Jesus took all our sin and shame away from us when He died on the cross. We’re told: ‘God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God’ (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV). Jesus’ death on the cross was all part of God’s redemption plan. After sin and suffering entered the world (take a look at Genesis 3), God needed a way to bring us back to Him again. Out of His amazing love for us, He sacrificed His only Son so that we could be reconnected to Him, and live with Him forever.
Lev 8-10; Matt 27:33-44; Ps 49; Prov 10:1-2
2020-04-08
Galatians 6:14 NIV
In the Bible, Jesus doesn’t ask us to remember His birth or His resurrection, although we should remember these things, but He does tell us to remember His death. When He shared the Last Supper with the disciples, He said, ‘do this in remembrance of me’ (Luke 22:19 NIV). We can’t remember Jesus’ death without focusing on the cross. Paul said, ‘May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ The cross can seem like a strange thing to remember and boast about. Jesus’ suffering on the cross isn’t something we might want to spend time thinking about. So why is it important? Firstly, it reminds us of our salvation. When Jesus said, ‘It is finished,’ (John 19:30), all our sins were paid for. Because of His death, we can be forgiven and can look forward to eternal life. Sometimes we can be tempted to think that our salvation depends on the things that we’ve done. But the cross reminds us that we can’t earn our salvation. We will never be good enough, but Jesus has paid the price so that we can be acceptable to God. Our salvation is a gift, rather than something we have to earn. The Bible says: ‘You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God’ (Ephesians 2:8 NCV). God sent His Son to die for each one of us because of how much He loves us. Even if you were the only person on earth, He would still have done it. We should never boast to others about our good works or how much God must be pleased with us, we should always point people to the cross and the incredible sacrifice that was made for us all.
Exo 12:1-14; 1 Cor 11:20-34; Ps 25:16-22
