2020-04-01
1 Peter 4:12 NCV
When we’re facing challenging circumstances, we can sometimes be surprised that these things are happening to us. We ask ‘why me?’. But the Bible tells us: ‘Do not be surprised at the terrible trouble which now comes to test you. Do not think that something strange is happening to you. But be happy that you are sharing in Christ’s sufferings so that you will be happy and full of joy when Christ comes again in glory’ (vv.12-13 NCV). Times of testing can feel strange and uncomfortable, but they are normal and necessary. They are how we grow in grace. They are how God equips and prepares us to do great things in His kingdom. In The Message, Eugene Peterson paraphrases Peter’s words: ‘Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner.’ We can actually rejoice in our times of suffering, rather than complaining about them. But how can we be glad that we’re being tested? We can rejoice in the fact that we’re experiencing what Jesus experienced, and we can be grateful that God’s using the tests to make us more like Him. His tests strengthen our faith, purify us, and cause us to grow spiritually. The Bible says: ‘We have small troubles for a while now, but they are helping us gain an eternal glory that is much greater than the troubles’ (2 Corinthians 4:17 NCV). If we could see the blessing that’s waiting for us on the other side of the trial, we’d stop feeling sorry for ourselves and start praising God for what He’s doing in us.
Job 40-42; Matt 26:47-56; Ps 72:1-11; Prov 9:1-6
2020-03-31
Matthew 13:28 NIV
Jesus told the people this parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat…When the wheat sprouted…the weeds also appeared. The owner’s servants came to him and said, “Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?” “An enemy did this”‘ (vv. 24-28 NIV). When things go wrong in our lives, it can sometimes be because of the enemy. We shouldn’t blame everything on the enemy, but we have to acknowledge that the enemy does attack us. He can come and plant weeds in our lives, even when we’ve done all the right things. So how can we protect ourselves? Paul writes: ‘Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but…against the powers of this dark world and…spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground’ (Ephesians 6:11-13 NIVUK). Sometimes we can find ourselves just accepting the work of the enemy in our lives. But we can protect ourselves by wearing the armour God’s provided for us, and use the weapon of His Word to stand up to him. When the enemy was tempting Jesus, He used God’s Word to fight back (take a look at Matthew 4:1-11). And that’s what we can do too. The Bible says: ‘Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you’ (James 4:7 NIV). We need to recognise when the enemy’s at work and stand up to him.
Job 38-39; Matt 26:36-46; Ps 31; Prov 8:34-36
2020-03-30
2 Corinthians 1:3 NLT
When we lose someone we love, we go through a grieving process. And God will comfort us and walk us through it. Jesus said, ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted’ (Matthew 5:4 NIV). Grieving is the healthy way to process our emotions, to express our pain and move beyond it. Recovery doesn’t happen overnight; it takes time for us to work through our thoughts and emotions. Grief and loss can’t be taken away, but they’re experiences we don’t have to go through alone. It can help to remember that God’s close to us. He’s holding us and healing the wounds we have. The Bible tells us that God is the ‘Father of compassion and the God of all comfort.’ Knowing that He’s close brings us comfort when we’re experiencing situations we never thought we’d have to experience, and dealing with emotions which seem overwhelming. The Bible says: ‘Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me’ (Psalm 23:4 NIV). He’s always with us, no matter what we’re walking through. He’s giving us the strength we need when we feel weak and exhausted. In Isaiah 40, we’re told: ‘He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak’ (v.29 NIV). And He promises that joy will come back into our lives. In Psalm 30, it says: ‘Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning’ (Psalm 30:5 NIV). It might take a long time before we feel that joy again, but no matter how long it takes we can be comforted by that fact that God’s with us in the weeping and the rejoicing.
Job 35-37; Matt 26:26-35; Ps 6; Prov 8:32-33
2020-03-29
Proverbs 3:6 NIV
In the Bible, Daniel was forced to decide if he was going to be a conformer or a transformer. Conformers are controlled by pressure. Other people can pressure us to do things that we know we shouldn’t do. But we want to fit in with them, or be liked by them, so we end up doing the things we know are wrong. Sometimes we don’t want to stand out from the crowd, so we decide to do what everybody else is doing. Transformers stick to their principles. It can be very challenging to do what’s right when we’re living in a world that’s going the opposite way. But God doesn’t want us to go down the wrong path, because He loves us and wants to protect us. God knows better than we do how to avoid pain, frustration, and destruction in our lives. When we follow His commands we can avoid heartache and the loss of our reputation. By refusing to eat the king’s meat, Daniel was showing his dedication to God. He was standing up for what he knew was the right thing, even though it could have made him unpopular. Sometimes people talk about following our conscience. But while our conscience can give us an idea of what’s right and wrong, we need to go to God and ask Him to show us the right thing to do. He loves it when we’re obedient to Him, so He doesn’t try and hide the right path from us. The Bible says: ‘Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.’ He’ll give us the strength we need to stand out from the crowd and do the right thing.
Matt 5:6; Isa 55:1-7; Ps 63:1-5; John 4:1-34
2020-03-28
Daniel 1:8 NCV
The Bible says, ‘Daniel decided not to eat the king’s food or drink his wine because that would make him unclean.’ This particular food and wine was offered to pagan gods as an act of worship, and for Daniel that was unacceptable. He was being asked to compromise his character, and he wouldn’t do it. There were many reasons why Daniel could have said yes to eating the king’s food and drinking his wine. He was far from home and could do what he wanted. He had been taken to Babylon to serve King Nebuchadnezzar after Jerusalem had been taken and the Israelites were in exile. Nobody back home would ever know he had done it. Plus, if he didn’t eat it, he would be insulting the king, which probably wouldn’t be a good idea for his career. Daniel knew God’s Word was clear when it came to idol worship, and God blessed him for it. He ended up being protected, preserved, promoted, and prospered in incredible ways. He had established his principles and convictions before he got to Babylon. He already knew what he would and wouldn’t do, before the situations arose. Have we taken the time to decide what our core convictions are? Have we spent the good times determining what we will and won’t do during the hard times? If not, we need to. It doesn’t matter what other people will think of us, it matters that we do the right thing in God’s eyes. Even if no one else would notice us do something, God sees everything we do. Our thoughts and ideas must always be open to change and improvement, but our core convictions must be non-negotiable. We need to stick to our principles, even when we’re tempted.
Job 32-34; Matt 26:14-25; Ps 69:19-36; Prov 8:30-31
2020-03-27
Philippians 3:14 NLT
One of the reasons Paul was so successful was because he was focused. ‘I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize.’ He was determined to live fully for Jesus and persevere until he reached heaven. Are we this focused on living for God? In today’s world, there are so many things which compete for our attention. We can feel like we’re trying to juggle too many things, and we can’t concentrate on any particular one in case we drop the others. Maybe we’re juggling work or study, family life, friendships, relationships, serving at church, our relationship with God, and our hobbies. Whereas Paul was so focused on his relationship with God, we can end up sacrificing time with Him in order to keep up with everything else. But the Bible says: ‘Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need’ (Matthew 6:33 NLT). It might seem impossible to focus on God first, above everything else we need to think about. But God reminds us that when we focus on Him, everything else falls into place. We need to get to a place where He is the first One we think about when we wake up, and the last One we think about when we go to bed. We need to be focused on what He wants us to do each day, rather than what we want to do. We need to be flexible enough to change our plans, if God has something different for us. When we focus on Him, the things we worry about fade away. We’re reminded that He’s bigger than any problems we have, and that He’s powerful enough to change any situation. So let’s live our lives focused on Him.
Job 29-31; Matt 26:1-13; Ps 69:1-18; Prov 8:27-29
