2021-05-18
Philippians 1:6 NCV
Each one of us is a work-in-progress, and our stories are not finished yet. Maybe you’ve experienced a tragedy that has left you feeling indifferent about the future, or a heartbreak that’s still as painful as the day it happened. You might have tried to rationalise it by telling yourself, ‘As long as I don’t care, it won’t hurt.’
Whatever the cause of our pain, the fear of being hurt again is very real. God understands this, and He doesn’t want us to live the rest of our lives in fear. He wants to help us start again, to trust Him, and to allow Him to walk with us into something better.
Job lost his health, his wealth, and his children in a single day. But he got through his pain by choosing to praise God. He said, ‘You gave me life and showed me your unfailing love. My life was preserved by your care’ (Job 10:12 NLT). Job’s story ends with these words: ‘The Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before’ (Job 42:10 KJV).
And God can do the same for each one of us. He’s still at work within us, and He’ll restore what we’ve lost and lead us to a better future: ‘If you devote your heart to him and stretch out your hands to him, if you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, then, free of fault, you will lift up your face; you will stand firm and without fear. You will surely forget your trouble, recalling it only as waters gone by’ (Job 11:13-16 NIV).
Heb 9:1-11:16; Mark 9:38-50; Ps 75; Prov 11:23
2021-05-17
Ephesians 3:20 NCV
Next time you see a big tree, remind yourself that it began as a tiny seed. What you have to offer today may seem small, but when God blesses it, it can grow.
Jesus had been preaching to a massive crowd of people, and as it was late in the day, the disciples wanted to send them away so they could get something to eat. There were at least 5,000 people there that day (it’s possible that the actual number was far higher), so there was no way the disciples could afford to buy food for the whole crowd. All they could find were five loaves of bread and two fish belonging to a boy (see John 6:9) – it would hardly feed Jesus and the disciples, let alone the rest of the people there. But when Jesus took the small amount of food the boy offered and blessed it, there was enough for everyone to have as much as they wanted, and still have plenty left over.
We might feel that our gifts, our time, our talents, and our efforts are too small to make a difference. But when we give them completely to God and ask Him to bless them, we’ll discover that He’s a great multiplier. He can take our words, our efforts, and our resources, and multiply them beyond anything we could imagine. ‘With God’s power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine. We mustn’t be ashamed of what we have to offer God, because He sees its potential to grow and bless others in His kingdom.
Lev 23:15-22; Acts 2:1-18
2021-05-16
1 John 4:18 NKJV
So many people struggle every day with unexpressed fears. Even people who we think have everything they need, and who seem to have it all together, have fears that we don’t know about. The Bible says, ‘God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind’ (2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV). Our fears don’t come from God. So where do they come from?
There are lots of different sources of fear, such as: 1) Things we picked up from our families as we were growing up. 2) Things that are happening in the world. 3) Negative experiences that we’ve been through. 4) Satan. Recognising the true source of our fears is the first step to overcoming them. And God has given us a powerful weapon to defeat them with: ‘Perfect love casts out fear.’
We might think, ‘Maybe if I loved God more perfectly, I wouldn’t be so afraid.’ But if we think that, we’ve missed the point. We’re imperfect people, so we could never love God perfectly, no matter how hard we tried. There’s only one ‘perfect love’, which is God’s love for us. It’s unconditional, bought and paid for by Jesus Christ when He died for each one of us on the cross.
When we realise the undeserved, unearned love, grace, and favour of God towards us, we’re enabled to rise up and begin to ‘cast out’ fear, anxiety, doubt, guilt, condemnation, and worry. God’s love for us isn’t based on our performance, but on Christ’s. When we trust in Christ’s performance instead of our own, we can rest assured that we also have the power to lean on God and let His love ‘cast out’ our fears.
Exo 17:1-7; John 4:1-42
2021-05-15
Ephesians 1:5 NLT
In the Bible God commands us to love one another. Interestingly, He doesn’t command us to like one another. And that’s a good thing because you can love someone and not like certain things about them. Paul wrote, ‘We are his workmanship’ (Ephesians 2:10 KJV). The word ‘workmanship’ comes from the Greek word poiéma, which is also where the word ‘poetry’ comes from. And poetry is a diverse and creative thing; it comes in many forms.
That’s why the Bible says God works through different people in different ways (take a look at 1 Corinthians 12:6). He uses all kinds of people, including the ones we may not like or want to work with. ‘A spiritual gift is given to each of us’ (1 Corinthians 12:7 NLT), and it’s up to us to discover and develop it.
‘Christ gave those gifts to prepare God’s holy people for the work of serving’ (Ephesians 4:12 NCV). The word ‘prepare’ is also interesting. It comes from a medical term in the original Greek, and doctors used it to describe the process of setting a broken bone. When we’re broken and hurting, our own God-given gifts are one of the things God uses in our process of healing and recovery. And we can use our gifts to help others around us who are also feeling broken and unloved. Doctors don’t think about whether they like someone before they treat them – their focus is to heal the injury or cure the illness. And we should try to have the same attitude – whether we like someone or not, we should show God’s love to them by helping them find healing and recovery through Him.
Heb 5-8; Mark 9:30-37; Ps 18:30-50; Prov 11:22
2021-05-14
Genesis 28:16 NIV
Jacob lived life in the fast lane, doing business deals and making lots of money; unlike David, who was in the slow lane tending a flock of sheep in his pasture. But here’s what each of them said about God. ‘When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”‘ On the other hand, David said: ‘I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure’ (Psalm 16:7-9 NIV).
Notice the difference? Jacob was so busy that he failed to recognise God’s voice or cultivate an awareness of His presence. But David said, ‘I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.’ Those words are the simplest and best definition of spiritual life.
The Bible says, ‘We have the mind of Christ’ (1 Corinthians 2:16 KJV). For us, that means Christ can think His thoughts through us. Whenever we have a feeling of reassurance, or a sense of guidance, or we feel the conviction of sin, it means God is present with us. We often hear people talking about ‘walking with God’, which simply means being aware of His presence and paying attention to Him. So let’s resolve to slow down, pay attention, and honour His presence by responding to Him.
Heb 1-4; Mark 9:14-29; Ps 18:1-29; Prov 11:19-21
2021-05-13
Luke 5:3 NLT
When we allow God to use what we have to do what He wants, amazing things can happen. Peter did that. He had a fishing boat, and one day he invited Jesus on board so He could use it to preach to the crowd on the shore. And it paid off! Afterwards Jesus worked a miracle that caused Peter’s boat to be so full of fish it almost sank. When we let Jesus ‘on board’ and trust Him, He’ll help us in ways we couldn’t have imagined. ‘Jesus…is the One who loves us, who made us free from our sins with the blood of his death. He made us to be a kingdom of priests who serve God his Father’ (Revelation 1:5-6 NCV).
Henry Giles, a nineteenth-century preacher, said, ‘There is no task so low that we may not elevate it; so dull that we may not enliven it if we understand that what we are doing is service to our Lord Jesus Christ.’ Even if we think we don’t have much, or the resources we have aren’t worthy enough, God can and will show us how to use it for His kingdom.
Isaiah 48:17 says: ‘I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to do what is good, who leads you in the way you should go’ (NCV). And in Judges 3:31, we read about Shamgar, who ‘killed six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad’ (NIV). Armed with only a stick used for controlling cattle, Shamgar defeated hundreds of trained enemy warriors and saved Israel.
Whatever we possess, whether that’s skills, objects, money, or time, when we offer it to God to use for His kingdom and follow His direction, He’ll help us do more and have a bigger impact that we could possibly imagine.
Titus 1-3; Mark 9:1-13; Ps 150; Prov 11:16-18
