2021-03-26
Matthew 26:31 NCV
On the night before His death, Jesus made this announcement: ‘Tonight you will all stumble in your faith on account of me, because it is written in the Scriptures: “I will kill the shepherd, and the sheep will scatter.” But after I rise form the dead, I will go ahead of you into Galilee’ (Matthew 26:31-32 NCV). If the disciples who had spent three-and-a-half years walking and talking with Jesus, hearing His messages and seeing His miracles could stumble, then any of us can. ‘You will all stumble.’
But the promise was lost on Peter. ‘Everyone else may stumble in their faith because of you, but I will not’ (v.33 NCV). It wasn’t one of Peter’s best moments. ‘Everyone else may…’ – that was arrogant. ‘…I will not’ – that was relying on self. Peter’s trust was in Peter’s strength. But Peter’s strength would fail him.
Jesus knew it: ‘Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to test all of you as a farmer sifts his wheat. I have prayed that you will not lose your faith! Help your brothers be stronger when you come back to me’ (Luke 22:31-32 NCV).
Satan would attack and test Peter, but he would never claim him. Not because Peter was strong, but because Jesus was. He prayed for Peter, and He prays for us too: ‘Father, you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name…I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me’ (John 17:11, 20 NLT). Let’s acknowledge that we can’t do everything in our own strength, and rely on God’s instead.
Job 40-42; Matt 25:31-40; Ps 69:1-18; Prov 8:27-29
2021-03-25
John 10:28 NCV
Our salvation isn’t secured by our achievements, but by Christ’s achievement at the cross. We all have moments we’re proud of and moments we’re ashamed of, but as long as we put our trust in Christ, we’re saved, and we’ll go to heaven.
Jesus said: ‘I give them eternal life, and they will never die, and no one can steal them out of my hand.’ And what’s more, God claims us as His. ‘By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge – a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete’ (2 Corinthians1:22 MSG).
We’ve all done something similar – ever engraved your name on a pencil or ruler when you were in school, or written it on a favourite toy? Even when we get older, one of the first things we do when we get a new phone is to choose an image for the lock screen and select a ringtone we like – we seem to be compelled to personalise things and make it clear they belong to us. And through His Spirit, God puts His Name on us and declares His ownership.
Satan is driven back by the declaration: This redeemed child is Mine! Where there’s no assurance of salvation, there’s no peace. No peace means no joy. And no joy results in fear-based lives. But God’s grace creates a confident soul who declares, ‘I know Jesus, the One in whom I have believed. And I am sure he is able to protect what he has trusted me with’ (2 Timothy 1:12 NCV).
Our salvation and our place in heaven is secure: ‘I write this letter to you who believe in the Son of God so you will know you have eternal life’ (1 John 5:13 NCV). It’s not about our hold on God. It’s about His hold on us.
Job 38-39; Matt 25:22-30; Ps 38:13-22; Prov 8:24-26
2021-03-24
Deuteronomy 33:27 NLT
Do you ever go through times when you feel God’s deserted you? Today, let’s take a few minutes to reassure ourselves that God never leaves us.
Margaret Fishback Powers wrote the following poem: ‘One night I dreamed…I was walking along the beach with my Lord. Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to me and one to my Lord. When the last scene of my life shot before me, I looked back at the footprints in the sand. There was only one set…I realised that this was at the lowest…times of my life. This always bothered me, and I questioned the Lord about my dilemma. “Lord, You told me when I decided to follow You, You would walk…with me all the way. But I’m aware that during the most troublesome times of my life there is only one set of footprints. I just don’t understand why, when I need You most, You leave me.” He whispered, “My precious child, I love you and will never leave you, never, ever, during your trials and testings. When you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”‘
Here are some Scriptures to hold on to: ‘The LORD himself will go before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forget you. Don’t be afraid and don’t worry’ (Deuteronomy 31:8 NCV). ‘God has said, “I will never leave you; I will never abandon you.” So we can be sure when we say, “I will not be afraid, because the Lord is my helper. People can’t do anything to me”‘ (Hebrews 13:5-6 NCV).
Job 35-37; Matt 25:14-21; Ps 38:1-12; Prov 8:22-23
2021-03-23
Ecclesiastes 2:21 NLT
Ecclesiastes 2 isn’t the most cheerful Bible passage. It reflects the heart and mind of someone who feels like they can’t get any joy or meaning out of the world. A large part of their despair has to do with feeling as if they’d worked hard, only to have to give all of their riches away.
Read these verses: ‘I hated everything I had worked for on earth, because I must leave them to someone who will live after me…and I don’t know if he will be wise or foolish…So I became sad about all the hard work I had done here on earth. People can work hard using all their wisdom, knowledge, and skill, but they will die, and other people will get the things for which they worked…This is also unfair’ (Ecclesiastes 2:18-21 NCV).
We all know that it’s difficult to have perspective once you’re stuck in a rut of negative thinking, but we can take two positives here. Firstly, we work for God, not for gain. This is a reminder to correct our outlook. We’re not here to hoard riches, but to do good work for God. Secondly, we have a great opportunity to invest in others. Leaving everything to someone ‘who hasn’t worked for it’ is our chance to invest in future generations.
Overall, if we find our attitude towards work and money becoming negative, Ecclesiastes 2 is a reminder that that can make us bitter and miserable, and that it’s time to shift our focus. Be prepared to work hard for God, then let it all go.
Job 32-34; Matt 25:1-13; Ps 55:12-23; Prov 8:19-21
2021-03-22
John 15:12 NLT
Jesus said, ‘I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!’ (v.11 NLT). The ‘things’ that we must do to have His joy in our lives are outlined by Jesus in the next verse: ‘This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.’
That can feel like a pretty challenging commandment. We’ll have to do a lot of growing and maturing in order to keep it. But to enjoy the life Jesus wants us to have, we must commit ourselves to doing it.
God created all kinds of people with different temperaments and personalities, so He clearly loves variety. When God made the first person He said, ‘It was good.’ Not only are there varieties of people, but there’s ‘good’ in everybody and that’s what we need to be looking for.
A lot of our unhappiness in life is caused by people not being what we want them to be, or doing what we don’t want them to do. We often have unrealistic expectations of others, and sometimes we don’t even communicate those expectations with them. We think people will know how to love us.
So how can we enjoy each day if we’re going to have to deal with people we don’t get along with? We need to make up our minds to love them. In 1 John 4, it says: ‘Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love’ (1 John 4:7-8 NIV). We don’t have to like their ways, but we still have to try and see them through God’s eyes, and love them.
Job 29-31; Matt 24:36-51; Ps 55:1-11; Prov 8:17-18
2021-03-21
2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV
Death. The thought of dying is something that can make many of us fearful. If we’re being honest, it isn’t something we really want to think about, so we push it to the deepest corner of our minds. But with all of our fears, it help to bring them into the open and tell God how we’re feeling. And God doesn’t want us to be fearful of death, because when we believe and trust Him, death doesn’t mean the end for us.
When Jesus’ good friend Lazarus was sick, his sisters Martha and Mary sent a message to Jesus to let Him know. By the time Jesus got to their house, several days had passed. Lazarus had died and had been lying in a tomb for four days. But Jesus told Martha ‘the one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die’ (John 11:25-26 NIV). He asked her if she believed this, and she replied ‘I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God’ (v.27 NIV). Later, Jesus went to the tomb and called to Lazarus, who came out wrapped up in his grave clothes, but fully alive.
Just like His own death and resurrection later, Jesus showed that He has power over death for those who believe in Him. So we don’t need to fear death, because just like Lazarus emerging from the tomb, it’s a new beginning, and we’ll be reunited with God. ‘God has not given us a spirit of fear’ (2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV), so whatever fears we feel, let’s take them confidently to God, and trust Him to replace them with His peace.
2 Kings 4:42-44; Mark 6:30-44
