2020-01-31
1 John 1:9 NIV
At some point we’ll all make mistakes because we’re human. The Bible tells us that ‘all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ (Romans 3:23 NIV). None of us are perfect, but we don’t need to despair. When we tell God about our mistakes, and when we’re truly sorry for them, He loves to forgive us. In 1 John, we’re told: ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness’ (1:9 NIV). When God forgives us, we might not feel forgiven. The enemy wants us to feel guilt and shame so that we think we’re still separated from God. If we don’t believe that we’ve truly been forgiven, we might think we’ve got to earn God’s love and acceptance again. We might think we’ve blown our opportunity to do anything for God, and just give up on the plans He has for us. So we have to believe the truth that we’re forgiven, even when it doesn’t feel like it. We might not feel worthy of God’s forgiveness, but God’s forgiveness isn’t based on our worthiness, but on Christ’s. We don’t need to earn His forgiveness. It’s by grace. Grace means ‘undeserved favour.’ So even though we don’t deserve it, He loves to give us the gift of forgiveness. When God forgives us, let’s honour Him by forgiving ourselves and moving on. Jesus said: ‘If you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you’ (Matthew 6:14 NIV). We can’t accept God’s forgiveness for ourselves, but neglect to show grace and mercy to those around us. So let’s believe we’re forgiven, and let’s show grace to those who have hurt us.
Isa 26-29; Matt 11:10-19; Ps 107:17-22; Prov 3:21-24
2020-01-30
Psalm 95:6-7 NLT
When we speak words of praise and affirmation to those around us, we build our relationship with them. And the same is true about our relationship with God. Praise draws us closer to Him, and creates a sense of intimacy between God and us. When we adore God and thank Him for all that He has done for us, we focus our minds on Who He is and cultivate a grateful heart. Worship isn’t just singing songs in church. It’s also about how we live our lives. It’s about making decisions that honour Him and glorify Him. The Bible says: ‘Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him. Worship the LORD in the splendour of his holiness’ (1 Chronicles 16:29 NIVUK). Sometimes our worship can become mundane. It can feel like we’re just going through the motions, saying all the right things, singing the right songs, but not really connecting with God or meaning what we’re saying. Not every style of worship is going to suit every person. But at the end of the day, we should be able to praise and glorify God no matter what we’re doing. If we can only connect with God when the music is loud and the song is one we know, then we may actually be enjoying the music rather than using it to connect with God. When we’re close to God, it won’t matter if it’s silent or there’s a full band, we’ll know we’re lifting our praise to Him alone. The Bible says: ‘Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the LORD our maker, for he is our God.’ Our worship should be done in humility, recognising how great our God is.
Isa 22-25; Matt 11:1-9; Ps 107:10-16; Prov 3:19-20
2020-01-29
1 Timothy 4:15 NIV
How much of our heart have we handed over to God? Are we wholeheartedly seeking Him, or has He lost His place as priority in our lives? God wants us to be devoted to Him. That means God should be more to us than any other person or thing. It means we surrender to Him and His plans for our lives. It means we let Him lead us rather than trying to do life our own way. David was someone who was devoted to God. He still made mistakes, like we all do, but his heart was in the right place. In fact when talking about David, the Bible says: ‘The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart’ (1 Samuel 13:14 NIV). David was a man after God’s heart. He wanted to seek God and be close to Him. He wanted to be devoted to serving Him. David actually prayed: ‘Teach me your way, LORD, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name’ (Psalm 86:11 NIV). Is our heart undivided? There are many things which can try and steal parts of our heart away. We might focus on things like our relationships, work, family, and hobbies. They can all try to distract us from God. It’s not bad to have these things in our lives, but God still needs to be our priority. We should love God above everything else. In the New Testament, we’re told: ‘Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful’ (Colossians 4:2 NIV). We should be desiring to spend time with God in prayer. It’s a great way to deepen our relationship with Him. We shouldn’t be praying only when we need something, but because we long to spend time talking and listening to Him.
Isa 17-21; Matt 10:32-42; Ps 107:1-9; Prov 3:13-18
2020-01-28
Proverbs 1:5 NIV
When we think about the mistakes that we’ve made, we can realise that often it was our thinking at the time that caused them. We need to learn to keep challenging our thinking. The Bible says: Let the wise listen and add to their learning.’ So how do we do that? We need to learn to appreciate how others think and continually expose ourselves to people who think differently from us. We’ll tend to think like the people we spend the most time with. When we spend time with people who think outside the box, we’re more likely to be open to new ideas. Any time we find a way of thinking that works, our greatest temptation is to rely on it repeatedly – even if it doesn’t work in new situations. Holding on to a good tradition is a good thing, but we need to remember that not every tradition is a good idea for the future. When we cling to what’s already in place, we resist change. That’s why it’s important for us to challenge our own thinking. If we’re too attached to how things are done now, nothing will change for the better. We also need to saturate our mind with God’s truth, by spending time reading our Bible’s. The more we understand God’s Word, the easier it’ll be to change our thoughts to line up with it. The Bible says: ‘Take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ’ (2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV). We need to become aware of our wrong-thinking, and change it to be in line with God’s Word. Changing our thoughts isn’t easy, especially if we’ve thought that way for a long time, but if we want to change how we live, we need to start replacing our thoughts with godly ones.
Isa 12-16; Matt 10:21-31; Ps 104:24-35; Prov 3:11-12
2020-01-27
Genesis 16:9 NIV
The Bible says: ‘Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her. The angel of the Lord found Hagar…in the desert…And he said, “Hagar…where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered. Then the angel…told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel added, “I will increase your descendants so much that they will be too numerous to count”‘ (vv.6-10 NIV). Hagar obeyed, and when her son Ishmael was born, God said, ‘I have heard you: I will surely bless him…make him fruitful and…greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation’ (Genesis 17:20 NIV). Most of us don’t like the idea of surrendering and obeying, and God didn’t send Hagar back to an easy place. But when she obeyed, He blessed her. Not all the places God wants us to go or the things He wants us to do will be easy. Sometimes they’ll be really hard. But we have to make a choice. Are we only going to surrender when we like the plan? Or are we going to surrender to God’s will, whatever that looks like? God, who knows the end from the beginning and who brings good things out of bad, has our best interests at heart. Even though it’s hard to do, if we’ll obey Him, He’ll bless us. He’ll give us grace and strength to help us when it’s a struggle. Sometimes, like Hagar, we can want to run away because it feels too hard. But by trying to escape our present situation, we may be running from the lesson God wants to teach us and the rewards that lie beyond it.
Isa 8-11; Matt 10:11-20; Ps 104:1-23; Prov 3:9-10
2020-01-26
Philippians 1:23 NIV
When death takes someone we love. We’ll all have to deal with grief at some point in our lives. It’s not a quick and easy process. There are many stages to grieving, and we might go through these stages more than once. We need to give ourselves permission and time to grieve. However we’re feeling, we need to stand on verses such as: ‘Brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died’ (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 NLT); ‘Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength’ (1 Corinthians 15:42-43 NLT); ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled…My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am’ (John 14:1-3 NIV). Paul writes, ‘To depart and…be with Christ…is better by far.’ When we’re grieving, we sometimes might struggle to find comfort in these words. We want the person we love to still be here with us. But when we truly know that it’s better for them to be with God, we can begin to accept what has happened.
Luke 10:25-37; Eph 4:31-32; Gen 50:15-21
