2022-06-12
2 Timothy 2:13 NIV
God’s faithfulness to us doesn’t depend on our faithfulness to Him. The Bible says, ‘If we are faithless, he remains faithful.’ Our mistakes might take us out of God’s will, but they’ll never take us to a place where we’re beyond His reach.
Author Catherine Marshall told the story of a personal struggle she experienced while writing a novel called Gloria. She started the book in 1969, but then she had to abandon the project two-and-a-half years later. She described the shelved manuscript as feeling ‘like a death in the family’. Her confidence shattered, she decided to spend some time at a retreat house in an effort to understand and reconcile her conflicting thoughts and feelings. While there, she reread the Bible story from Numbers about a time when poisonous snakes filled the Israelite camp. The people recognised the snakes as punishment for their sin, and cried out in repentance. God told Moses, ‘Make a [bronze] snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live’ (Numbers 21:8 NIV). Catherine realised that just as the Israelites took what had hurt them, lifted it up to God, and were healed, we can take our mistakes and sins, lift them up to God in prayer, and trust Him to heal us.
She wrote, ‘When any one of us has made a wrong (or even doubtful) turning in our lives through arrogance, lack of trust, impatience, or fear – God will show us a way out.’ Even when we stray from God, He loves us so much that He’ll draw us back again. ‘If we are faithless, he remains faithful.’
Ezek 37:1-14; Matt 27:50-53; 1 Thes 4:13-18; Eph 1:19-20
2022-06-11
Acts 2:8 NIV
The Bible tells us: ‘[The disciples] were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak different languages by the power the Holy Spirit was giving them. There were some religious Jews staying in Jerusalem… each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were completely amazed at this. They said, “Look! Aren’t all these people that we hear speaking from Galilee? Then how is it possible that we each hear them in our own languages?”‘ (v.4-8 NCV). What they were witnessing was fulfilment of an Old Testament prophesy: ‘I will pour out my Spirit on all kinds of people’ (Joel 2:28 NCV).
So what can we learn from this? When we’re filled with God’s Spirit, He’ll equip each of us to reach a specific kind of person or group of people in a way they’ll understand. Psalm 33:15 says: ‘He fashions [our] hearts individually’ (NKJV). God doesn’t ask each of us to reach every type of person. Instead, He’s created us to have a heart for certain groups more than others. And that’s okay, because that’s how He designed us.
So, how do you find out who He wants you to reach out to? Start off by asking yourself these questions: 1) Who do you find it easy to talk to? Maybe you feel uncomfortable talking to adults, but you get on great with children. 2) Who do you feel the most compassion for? It might be homeless people, asylum seekers, victims of violence. Chances are that your answers to these two questions are where your heart and calling lies, and that could be where God’s leading you to reach out to people.
Rev 15-18; Matt 16:13-28; Ps 132:1-10; Pro 13:4-6
2022-06-10
Daniel 3:29 NKJV
The story in Daniel 3 of the three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace teaches us these four lessons: 1) Doing God’s will can attract opposition. We mustn’t expect everyone to appreciate what we’re doing. Look at Jesus: ‘In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it’ (John 1:4-5 NKJV).
2) God will be with us in times of trouble. When Nebuchadnezzar looked into the fire, he said, ‘I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God’ (Daniel 3:25 NKJV). Instead of destroying them, the fire destroyed the ropes that bound them, setting them free. It may look like circumstances have got us locked in, but God will defend us and bring us out of it victoriously.
3) It’s our test that produces our testimony. People will be watching us. The things they’re trusting in don’t work, and they might be wondering if what we’re trusting in does. Our faithfulness to God and His intervention on our behalf will touch their lives in ways that preaching and theological arguments never will. Everyone in Babylon knew what the Hebrew children believed. But they wanted to know, ‘Does it work when you’re in the fire?’ It does!
4) Great trouble can lead to great blessing. ‘Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in the province of Babylon’ (v.30 NKJV). When we prove that we’re faithful in times of trouble, God will bless us in so many ways.
Rev 10-14; Matt 16:1-12; Ps 48; Pro 13:2-3
2022-06-09
2 Corinthians 9:7 NKJV
The film Schindler’s List tells the story of one man’s efforts to rescue who he could out of a desperate situation. Oskar Schindler was the director of a munitions factory in Poland during the Holocaust, and he decided to use his position to save Jewish lives. By employing them in his factory, Schindler rescued many condemned Jews from the gas chambers. But it was expensive to keep them employed, and little by little he sold his personal property to keep his factory going.
At the end of the story, the Nazis are defeated, and the full impact of Schindler’s efforts is revealed as the dead are counted and the living make it back to freedom. In one scene of the film, as Schindler is kneeling by the railway tracks that had carried thousands to their deaths, he had a startling realisation. He could have saved a few more! If only he hadn’t kept hold of the few things he still owned. If only he had known when the war would end, he would have done more. Oskar Schindler is credited with saving more Jews during World War II than any other single person. He was a hero. But all he could think about was what he didn’t do. He wished he had done more.
A powerful lesson in Schindler’s story is this: even generous and joyful givers will look back on their lives and wish they had done more. There are also others who gave less than they could have given, or who never gave at all. We all have different levels of what we can afford to give, whether that’s time, money, or some other resource, but let’s not waste an opportunity to give when God prompts us, and give with joy. ‘God loves a cheerful giver.’
Rev 5-9; Matt 15:29-39; Ps 16; Pro 13:1
2022-06-08
Hebrews 4:16 NLT
Boldness. Boldness isn’t arrogance, presumption, or a sense of entitlement. It’s a type of confidence that’s based on who you are in Christ. Paul wrote, ‘Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find his grace to help us when we need it most’ (v.16 NLT). As God’s redeemed children, we have a right to approach Him at any time. And understanding that enables us to overcome Satan’s attempts to make us feel unworthy. It removes our natural inclination to say, ‘I know God can do it, but it’s hard to believe He’ll do it for me.’ That’s how we think when we feel unworthy.
But the amazing truth is… Jesus has made us worthy! (See Colossians 1:12.) ‘We will find grace to help us when we need it most,’ and grace is simply undeserved favour. In other words, God will give us what we don’t deserve when we’re confident enough to ask Him. Plus, we’re asking in Jesus’ name, not our own. We’re presenting to the Father all that Jesus is, not all that we are.
Another important truth is that when we have hidden sin in our hearts, we can’t pray with confidence. Unconfessed sin locks us in and shuts God out (see Psalm 66:18). But the good news is, when we ask God to reveal our sins, He will. And when He does, we need to deal with it straight away. God will help. If He reminds us of a situation when we didn’t do the right thing, we shouldn’t try to ignore or hide it. Instead, we should acknowledge it, receive His forgiveness, and then pray with renewed confidence.
Rev 1-4; Matt 15:15-28; Ps 129; Pro 12:27-28
2022-06-07
James 4:3 CEV
Right motives. The reason we pray is much more important than the words we say. The motive is the why behind the what. And having a pure heart that loves God and loves people is always acceptable to Him. On the other hand, selfishness is unacceptable, revenge is unacceptable, manipulation and control are unacceptable, jealousy is unacceptable, pride is unacceptable, and praying to win the lottery is unacceptable. In fact, anything that’s selfishly based is an unacceptable motive. Somebody once asked a little boy if he said his prayers every night. He thought about it for a second and replied, ‘No, some nights I don’t need anything.’ Does that sound familiar at all?
The first and most important reason for prayer is to develop an intimate relationship with God. Think about it: how much would a friendship grow if you only spoke to your friend when you needed something? Probably not very much. And the same principle applies to prayer. Jesus said, ‘If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you’ (John 15:7 NKJV). When we focus on ‘abiding’ in Christ, we’ll get a response to our ‘asking’. James wrote, ‘Your prayers are not answered, because you pray just for selfish reasons.’
The truth is, we’re all naturally self-centred. That’s why we need to purify our hearts on a regular basis – and means having a check-up of our motives for praying. It might be difficult, or even painful at first, but it’s so worthwhile in growing our prayer life and relationship with God.
1 Kings 21-22; Matt 15:1-14; Ps 124; Pro 12:26
