2021-02-06
Luke 19:8 NIV
If we’ve cheated someone, God expects us to make amends for it. We shouldn’t try to hide or ignore it, even if we’re worried about looking bad. We need to be honest and do what we can to put things right.
In Luke’s Gospel, we read about Zacchaeus, who worked for the Romans collecting taxes. In those times, Jews considered tax collectors to be traitors, as they worked for their Roman enemies and often cheated people. The Bible tells us that Zacchaeus ‘had become very rich’ (Luke 19:2 NLT), and the people who knew him called him ‘a notorious sinner’ (v.7 NLT). But after meeting with Jesus, he was radically changed: ‘Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.’ Jesus taught that we should ‘do the things that show you really have changed your hearts and lives’ (Matthew 3:8 NCV).
But what if it isn’t possible for us to make amends? What if we can no longer get in touch with the person we’ve cheated, or by revealing our guilt, we’d end up in danger or badly hurting others? In those times, we need to pray and receive God’s forgiveness (see1 John 1:7-9). And if we still feel troubled about it, we should talk to our pastor or a trusted Christian friend or mentor. James wrote, ‘Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed’ (James 5:16 NIV).
We must be willing to make amends when it’s possible, and willing to pay the cost to make things right. God will be pleased with our honesty and effort.
Rom 1:1-3:20; Matt 13:1-9; Ps 67; Prov 4:1-2
2021-02-05
Matthew 18:33 NLT
Jesus told this story: ‘The Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold – along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned – to pay the debt. But the man fell down before his master and begged him, “Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.” Then his master was filled with pity for him, and…forgave his debt. But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. His fellow servant…begged for a little more time. “Be patient with me, and I will pay it,” he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full…the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, “You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?” Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart’ (Matthew 18:23-35 NLT).
Are you holding on to resentment or struggling to forgive someone? Today, with God’s help, make the choice to begin the process of forgiveness.
Isa 63-66; Matt 12:38-50; Ps 120; Prov 3:33-35
2021-02-04
2 Corinthians 9:8 NCV
God doesn’t just love us – He lavishes us with love (take a look at 1 John 3:1 NIV). He doesn’t give out a little bit of wisdom – He ‘gives generously to all without finding fault’ (James1:5 NIV). God loves to be generous and give us more than we expect or deserve. The Prodigal Son got the fattest calf. The guests at the wedding in Cana got the best wine. Peter caught so many fish that his boat started to sink.
Paul tells us that God ‘supplies seed to the sower’ (2 Corinthians 9:10 NKJV). The Greek word for ‘supplies’ is epichoregeo, which comes from a root that can mean ‘dance’ or ‘leader of a chorus’. It paints a picture of God being so full of joy to be giving things to us that He sings and dances as He does it. He really does delight in giving and being generous! One day Peter said to Jesus, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you. So what will we have?’ (Matthew19:27 NCV). Basically, Peter was saying, ‘What’s in it for me?’ We might expect Jesus to have disciplined Peter for his attitude. But He didn’t. Instead, He assured Peter that ‘all those who have left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or farms to follow me will get much more than they left, and they will have life forever’ (v.29 NCV).
God doesn’t gives out His goodness one tiny drop at a time – His goodness overflows so we can’t contain it. And because we receive abundantly, we can be generous in whatever we give to others: ‘Freely you have received; freely give’ (Matthew 10:8 NIV). So let’s allow our generosity to bubble over, spill out and bless others abundantly too.
Isa 58-62; Matt 12:22-37; Ps 108; Prov 3:31-32
2021-02-03
2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV
There are two kinds of grace. The first is saving grace, which means that the moment we place our trust in Christ, God wipes the entire record of our sins clean. The second is sustaining grace. Sustaining grace doesn’t promise us an easy, trouble-free life, but instead promises that God’s strengthening presence will be with us through the difficult times and struggles.
Paul wrote: ‘I was given a thorn in my flesh…Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”‘ (vv. 7-9 NIV). It’s a very vivid image – a thorn piercing the soft skin and lodging beneath the surface, bringing a reminder of our weaknesses with every move we make. But along with that comes the reminder that God’s with us in our weakness, holding us, letting us lean on Him for strength, and saying to us, ‘My grace is sufficient for you.
John Newton, the Anglican clergyman who wrote the hymn ‘Amazing Grace’, found that God’s grace was sufficient. On the day his beloved wife, Mary, died, he found the strength to preach a Sunday sermon. The next day he visited church members, and later on, he conducted her funeral. Looking back he wrote: ‘The Bank of England is too poor to compensate for such a loss as mine. But the Lord, all-sufficient God, speaks, and it is done. Let those who know Him, and trust Him, be of good courage. He can give them strength according to their day. He can increase their strength as their trials increase…And what He can do, He has promised He will do.’
Isa 53-57; Matt 12:15-21; Ps 111; Prov 3:29-30
2021-02-02
Acts 19:18 NCV
Speaking about the church at Ephesus, Paul wrote: ‘Many of the believers began to confess openly and tell all the evil things they had done…So in a powerful way the word of the Lord kept spreading and growing’ (v.18-20 NCV).
Spiritual healing happens in churches like this one. So if we find ourselves trapped in a pattern of repeated sin and failure, we need to seek out mature, committed Christians who won’t be shocked or start to judge us, who won’t break our confidence, and who’ll know how to pray for us.
Jesus gave His followers the authority to hear confessions and proclaim grace. ‘If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven (John 20:23 NIV). A spiritual cleansing takes place within us when someone looks at us and says, ‘God forgives you, I forgive you, now forgive yourself and walk in God’s forgiveness!’
Forgiveness can be a powerful force to help make us whole again. James wrote: ‘Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective’ (James 5:14-16 NIV).
So whenever we have something weighing on our minds that we need to confess, let’s take that first step to forgiveness and wholeness by talking to someone we can trust.
Isa 49-52; Matt 12:1-14; Ps 107:33-43; Prov 3:27-28
2021-02-01
Romans 8:31 NKJV
Challenges are an unavoidable part of life. Whether we’re talking big world-changing events, or a day gone slightly wrong, our lives with God don’t often go exactly how we think they might. Being a Christian doesn’t mean that everything is suddenly smooth sailing.
Our world, and each one of us, is still imperfect because of millions of choices that have shifted us away from the ideal that God created back in Genesis. But the great news is that we get to invite God into all of our challenges. Jesus promised to be ‘with you always, to the very end of the age’ (Matthew 28:20 NIV), and that includes the most difficult moments.
When we invite God into our lives, He’s there for it all – every moment of joy, every challenge, and even every mundane Monday morning. When Paul wrote, ‘If God is for us, who can be against us?’ (Romans 8:31 NIV), he probably didn’t mean that no-one would ever disagree with God’s people or cause problems for them. He’d experienced his fair share of challenges, so he knew that wasn’t true. It seems more likely that Paul knew that whoever tried to stand up against Him, God had made a way for him to persevere regardless.
Even when difficult circumstances arise, God is there with us, and working for us. He will make sure that no-one can derail His plan. Life can be difficult, but we can count on the fact that successfully living out God’s plan doesn’t depend on us or our circumstances, but on God. And He is always for us.
Isa 45-48; Matt 11:20-30; Ps 107:23-32; Prov 3:25-26
