2020-03-02
Psalm 27:8 NIV
What does it mean to seek God’s face? Firstly, the word for ‘face’ can also be translated as ‘presence’. So when we’re seeking God’s face, we’re seeking His presence. Spending time with God should be our desire. The psalmist wrote: ‘As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?’ (Psalm 42:1-2 NIV). The psalmist was desperate to spend time in God’s presence. But so often we can find ourselves preferring to do other things. We pass up time to read the Bible or pray, and decide to spend more time watching TV or chatting with friends. We wake up in the morning and head straight onto social media, rather than starting our day seeking His presence. Secondly, seeking His face can mean trying to understand more about Him and His character. However long we’ve been seeking God, there will always be more of Him to discover. We’ll never fully know Him until we’re in heaven where we can see Him face-to-face. Paul said: ‘Now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known’ (1 Corinthians 13:12 NIV). We should never stop pursuing God. We should always be seeking Him. The Bible says: ‘Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always’ (1 Chronicles 16:11 NIV). When we seek Him wholeheartedly, we won’t be disappointed. God says: ‘You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart’ (Jeremiah 29:13 NIV). Our seeking is never in vain. He promises that we’ll find Him.
Gen 20-23; Matt 19:15-30; Ps 66:13-20; Prov 6:23-25
2020-03-01
Psalm 32:5 NIV
When we’ve done something wrong, or we’re struggling with a particular issue, it can be a great idea to talk to other people about it. But we need to discern the right people to share our struggles with. The wrong people will delight in our failings, gossip about it with others, and even spread rumours about us. In fact, by telling everyone our story, we can end up being labelled forever. It’s definitely important to share our story and our struggles with other people. When Jesus cast out demons from a man, He said: ‘Return home and tell how much God has done for you’ (Luke 8:39 NIV). But the man was told to share his story in his hometown. He wasn’t called to travel and share it with everyone he came across. We need to think carefully about our audience and our timing. It might be best to open up to trusted people in our church, rather than posting about it on social media. It might be best to open up to those closest to us, rather than sharing with everyone we meet. We also need to remember that we should be confessing our sins and struggles to God. The psalmist wrote, ‘I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.’ It might feel daunting to take all our imperfections to a perfect God, but He tells us that we can approach Him with confidence (take a look at Hebrews 4:16). He promises to forgive our sins. Psalm 103 says: ‘He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west’ (v.12 NLT). We can turn to Him with confidence that He won’t label us or hold our sins against us.
Acts 2:1-21; Joel 2:23-32
2020-02-29
Ecclesiastes 4:10 NIV
God never meant for us to do life on our own. We all need help and encouragement from time to time. The Bible says: ‘Pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.’ But we need to be careful who we turn to. We shouldn’t go to someone who can’t handle our problem. It might make us feel better to share our problem with them, but if they’re not mature enough to handle what we’ve told them, we might find it actually causes more problems in the long run. They might decide to share it with someone else. The Bible says: ‘A troublemaker plants seeds of strife; gossip separates the best of friends’ (Proverbs 16:28 NLT). They might even make our problem worse by giving us immature and unhelpful advice. If we know we can trust someone and that they’re spiritually mature, it’s a good idea to talk things through with them. That person could become our mentor. This is usually an older, more spiritually mature Christian who will walk alongside us. And they could be our accountability partner if we’re struggling with a particular issue. That means they can ask us how things are going, and we can honestly tell them the answer. Someone who truly loves us will pray for us, and walk with us until we have the victory. It’s really important to let trusted, mature people into our lives, however we mustn’t forget that we should turn to God first. It can be easy to take our problems to other people rather than taking them to God. He has the wisdom we need. And when we admit that we’ve gone the wrong way, He’s willing to forgive us.
Gen 17-19; Matt 19:1-14; Ps 66:1-12; Prov 6:20-22
2020-02-28
2 Peter 3:9 NIV
When our family members and friends are not yet Christians, we feel a desire to pray for them and tell them about Jesus. But when we’ve been praying for years, and they still seem uninterested, it can be tempting to give up. But God ‘is patient…not wanting anyone to perish.’ We need to persistently pray for our loved ones, even when we don’t seem to be making any progress. We need to be willing to have conversations about our faith. We need to pray that God would bring people into their lives who will show them what God has done for them. However, we shouldn’t try to force people to become Christians. It’s a personal choice, so we can’t pressure people into believing. Instead, we can pray that God would open their hearts to hearing about Him. This happened when Paul visited the home of Lydia. Paul says: ‘We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshipper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message’ (Acts 16:13-14 NIVUK). Even if the people we’re praying for are really far away from God, there is still hope. His grace and mercy can reach them. Paul said: ‘My heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved’ (Romans 10:1 NIV). Is it our heart’s desire to see our loved ones come to know Jesus? Or have we given up and become disheartened? Let’s reignite our desire to pray for our friends and family who are not yet Christians.
Gen 13-16; Matt 18:21-35; Ps 61; Prov 6:16-19
2020-02-27
Psalm 119:130 NCV
We all know that we should be reading our Bibles, but so often they’re left on the side gathering dust. We need to be opening our Bibles and spending regular time reading God’s Word. But why should we read it? Firstly, reading the Bible fills our minds with the truth about who we are, and who God is. The enemy and the world try and tell us things about ourselves which aren’t true. The only way we’ll be able to recognise and resist the lies is by knowing the truth found in the Bible. Secondly, the Bible contains the guidance and wisdom that we need to live our lives. When we read the Bible, we can find the answers to the questions we have. We might think it’s an outdated book, but in Hebrews we’re told that it ‘is alive and active’ (4:12 NIV). God speaks to us through it today. Thirdly, reading the Bible helps us to become more like Jesus. When we read about His life, we know how we should be living. God can use what we read to transform us. But it’s vital that we go beyond just reading the Bible. The psalmist wrote: ‘Learning your words gives wisdom and understanding.’ By memorising verses, we can fight back with Scripture when the enemy comes against us. We need to research what we’re reading, maybe by reading commentaries or finding books on the topic. We need to make sure we’re reading things in context, and not ignoring the verses or chapters that are more challenging to read and understand. The Bible says that all Scripture is useful (have a read of 2 Timothy 3:16-17). Then we need to put what we’ve read into action. We need to let God change us through what we’ve read.
Gen 10-12; Matt 18:10-20; Ps 58; Prov 6:12-15
2020-02-26
1 Samuel 30:6 NIV
We can feel like we’ll never break free from some issues in our lives, but with God there’s freedom. The Bible says: ‘Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom’ (2 Corinthians 3:17 NIV). When the Amalekite armies destroyed David’s home and took his family captive, there were two things he did. 1) He turned to God for strength to deal with his problem. ‘David found strength in the LORD his God.’ God doesn’t want us to be trying to solve the problem ourselves. There are some things we just can’t fix. There are some issues which we can’t break free from without help. It’s okay to go to God and ask for His strength. God says: ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness’ (2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV). 2) God gave David a plan to deal with his problem. God told him: ‘Pursue them…You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue’ (1 Samuel 30: 8 NIV). Armed with God’s strength and His plan, David went after the enemy and kept attacking until he recovered everything that had been stolen from him. And God wants to do that for us too. He not only wants to help us find freedom, but He also wants to restore to us the things that the enemy has stolen. He promised, ‘I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten’ (Joel 2:25 NIV). No matter how much has been taken from us, how long we’ve been trapped by an issue, or how far we’ve wandered from God’s path, He can restore us. When we turn to God, He can give us more joy and success in the years ahead than in all the years behind us.
Gen 7-9; Matt 18:1-9; Ps 53; Prov 6:9-11
