Category: Devotions

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Daily Devotion July 8th

WEDNESDAY 8th

John 3:36

(NIV) ‘Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.’

(ESV) ‘Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.’

As we continue from yesterday, this verse shows to us the importance of believing in the Son. As I said yesterday our decision is the difference between spending eternity in Heaven in the presence of God or spending eternity in hell, eternally cut off from God. Now, I am aware that I am writing these devotions for us as a Church family and we know the things that I am sharing, but we need to regularly go over what we believe and why we believe so that we don’t just fall into a place of complacency and take what we have and who we are ‘In Christ’ for granted.

It has cost to bring us salvation and to grant us eternal life, and as a result we should have hearts that are constantly and continually grateful for all that God has done in Christ Jesus, and for the incredible sacrifice he made on our behalf.

Today we will consider what has been made available to us – life! Our text calls it ‘eternal life’ We see it again throughout the gospel of John, in John 3:16, ‘eternal life’, in John 20:31 the text we started with on Sunday it is called ‘life in his name’, In John 10:28 it is called ‘abundant life’.

Ephesians 2:1 tells us that outside of Christ we were dead – that is spiritually dead – cut off from God because of our sin and transgression, but in Christ we have been made alive, because by grace which is through faith we have been saved, made alive – spiritually alive, and the life that is given to us at salvation is eternal, abundant life. If you are saved, you are more alive today than you were on the day in which you were born, because on that day, although you were physically alive, you were spiritually dead. But now in Christ Jesus you are spiritually alive as well.  

In John’s gospel we have some important verses concerning this ‘life’ which is available through Jesus. It is only available through him, John 14:6 ‘I am the way, the truth and the life’, that is he himself is life, which comes out in his analogy in John 6 when he calls himself the ‘bread of life’. (vv35,48) In verses 51 and 54 of John 6, Jesus says that mankind must partake of him as the ‘bread of life’ to be able to receive eternal life. Therefore, the teaching of Scripture is crystal clear that there is no other source with which we can go to, to receive eternal life. Echoed though the preaching of Peter in Acts 4:12 ‘And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’

Reminding of ourselves of where we started on Sunday with John 20:30-31 ‘Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.’  I will conclude this three day introduction by bringing us to a place where we give thanks from grateful hearts, for the Son of God, who loved us and gave himself for us, and who by the wooing of the Holy Spirit has drawn us to himself, bringing us to that place of believing faith and the receiving of life which should be causing us to be rejoicing with joy unspeakable and full of glory for the half as never yet been told! (italic from the hymn, ‘I have found his grace is all complete’)

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Daily Devotion July 7th

TUESDAY 7th

John 3:16

NIV – ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.’

ESV – ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.’

I have chosen to go to this verse from John’s gospel today to link it with the verses we had yesterday in John 20:30-31. ‘‘Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.’ Both references are linked to our need to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, which as we discovered yesterday was John’s reason for writing the gospel.

Believe(s) and believing are key words throughout this gospel. You may remember that when I came to Emmanuel Pentecostal Church to speak for the first weekend in September 2019, the theme that I shared was based upon the statement, ‘What we believe about the Lord Jesus Christ is important.’ This is the whole emphasis of John’s gospel, because what we believe, and how we act upon what we believe depends upon whether we receive the life that is offered. It is not just a case of believing in Jesus, it is believing that he is the Son of God, which will lead to life. Tomorrow we will consider the word ‘life’ in this gospel. For today we will consider the words believe and believing.

We have all been brought up in world in which we have been told a mixture of stories, some are factual, others are fiction or fable, known as fairy stories. It is amazing how the world of fiction, fantasy and fable has captured the worlds imagination, leading to multi-billion-pound enterprise especially in the world of film and theme parks. The world is fantasy mad and happy to live in cloud cuckoo land. What the world needs is a good dose of reality and truth, because the world of fantasy leads to a dead end, it may give temporal pleasure but offers nothing for eternity. Reality and truth as found in the gospel of John (as also in the entire word of God) leads to eternal life. And to receive the eternal life that is on offer we need to believe that what John has written is truth, for the one he has written about is truth himself. (John 14:6 ‘Jesus said, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. . .’)

There are at least four things we need regarding believing.

  1. We need to believe we are sinners – sadly the world is so utterly depraved that we are living in unprecedented times when wrong is now considered right, which is a massive stumbling block toward mankind recognising what sin is and that he is a sinner.
  2. We must believe that we need saving / salvation
  3. We must believe that Jesus is the only Saviour
  4. We must believe on Jesus, that is to put our faith and trust in him to be saved

Believing is so important, for not to believe leads to hell, eternal destruction, but to believe leads to eternal life. How we respond is the most important decision we will ever make.

The word believe appears in John’s gospel 48 times, believes 14 times and believing two times. If anyone wants to go through the various references, I will place them at the end of this devotion1, but this amount of usage in one Bible book alone is sufficient for us to understand the importance of believing in Jesus. Our text for today tells us that that is why Jesus was sent into the world, 1) because God loves us 2) he wants us to believe in his Son 3) and as a result we will not perish but will have eternal life. Later in his gospel John records the words of Jesus himself ‘My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.’ (John 10:27-28)

You tell me of any other book that reveals such wonderful and powerful news, there isn’t, for it is in this book alone (the Word of God) and in particular linked with our devotion from the book of John that we can discover the wonder of the truth of a God who loved us enough to come and to live in this world and to give his life as a propitiation for our sin. John wrote later in one of his letters ‘In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation2 for our sins.’ (1 John 4:10)

Dwell on this thought today, that God loved you so much that he sent his Son to die for you.

1 References for believe(s) believing – Jn 1:17,50 – Jn 3:12,15,16,18,36 – Jn 4:21,42,48 – Jn 5:24,38,44,46,47 – Jn 6:29,30,35,36,40,47,64 – Jn 7:38 Jn 8:24,45,46 – Jn 9:18,35,36,38 – Jn 10:25,26,37,38 – Jn 11:15,25,26,27,42,48 – Jn 12:11,36,37,39,44,46 – Jn 13:19 – Jn 14:1,10,11,12,29 – Jn 16:9,30,31 – Jn 17:20,21, –  Jn 19:35 – Jn 20:25,27,31

2The word propitiation carries the idea of appeasement or satisfaction, specifically toward God. Propitiation is a two-part act that involves appeasing the wrath of an offended person and being reconciled to him. This Christ has done through the means of his sacrificial death at Calvary. See also Romans 3:25, Hebrews 2:17 and 1 John 2:2 (ESV, NKJV, KJV) (The NIV uses the words atoning / atonement)

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Daily Devotion July 6th

MONDAY 6th

John 20:30-31

NIV  – ‘Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.’

ESV – ‘Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.’

At the end of his Gospel, John lets the reader know why he has written it, ‘that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah), the Son of God’ and as a result of believing the reader will have life in his name.

I cannot think of any better or more necessary reason to write a book than to point people to the Lord Jesus Christ and to bring them to a place of believing in him. I love books, the one thing I am missing most because of our possessions being in storage for such a long time is my books! I cannot wait to get into our house and amongst other things to be able to unpack my books and have access to them again. But of them all whatever the genre of them, the Word of God is the most precious. The world is full of books, there are libraries around the world that contain thousands upon thousands, publishers are publishing them continually on just about any and every subject matter; reference, factual, fiction, instructional, helps, guides etc. Today we can have them in printed or digital form. But of all the books there is one that stands head and shoulders above every other and it is the Word of God, because as we read in Hebrews 4:12 ‘. . . the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.’

The Bible is a collection of 66 individual books, and John’s gospel falls within the New Testament and classified as what we would call a gospel account. I personally think that John’s gospel is one of the most significant books contained within the most significant book! And why, because as John himself says it is written so that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ and in knowing we may have life in his name. The most important thing for any person today is to come to know Jesus and to have life in his name, and what better way to get to know him than by reading the gospel of John.

As we go through the devotions, if anyone is reading them and as yet you do not have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, can I encourage you to read through this gospel and allow the Holy Spirit to enlighten you concerning Jesus and your need to know him as Saviour, and for those of us who do know him, may we get to know him better, more intimately, more deeper and in a way that we will be able to talk about him more freely to those who need to know him.

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Daily Devotion July 5th

John 1:1-18

As we embark into a new week, I am going to change slightly the format of the devotions, from tomorrow, I will include the text Scripture in two versions, the New International Version and the English Standard Version which is the one that I most commonly use. If I quote verses within the devotion, they will continue to be from the ESV unless otherwise stated. I will no longer be adding a song at the end, but occasionally I will put some further notes at the end of a devotion.We will commence this week to look at the first chapter of the  Gospel of John, although to begin with we will look at some later chapters as an introduction

Introduction

The Gospel of John was written by the apostle John, who was one of the disciples of Jesus. He was the son of Zebedee, and was a fisherman, along with his brother James. (Matthew 4:18-22 ‘While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.  And he said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.) He also wrote the three epistles under his name 1, 2 & 3 John and the book of Revelation. (Revelation 1:1-2 ‘The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.’)

Although John is a main character during the three years of Jesus’ public ministry, he seems to be the member of an inner circle that had special privileges such as being on the mountain at the time of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17)  but when we look at the book of Acts, John seems to take a less prominent role compared to Peter and Paul. We do read of him, when he along with Peter went up to the temple in Acts 3 which records the healing of the lame man, this narrative continues through into chapter 4. We read of John with Peter again in Acts 8, and the next and final time he is referred to is on the occasion when his brother James was killed by Herod. (Acts 12:2) The other ‘Johns’ referred to in Acts are John the Baptist and John Mark.

The gospel of John is different to the other three gospels, in that they (Matthew, Mark and Luke) are called ‘synoptic’ gospels. This means they give an account of the life and ministry of Jesus with a similar view. John differs in that unlike them he does not concentrate on the miracles, parables, and teachings of Jesus in the same way, but instead concentrates on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is said that in his gospel John covers 90% of unique material.

But thank God that he did concentrate on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, for it is from this gospel that we glean so much about the Lord Jesus , who came as God’s Son, to bring about the whole work of redemption. My prayer is that as we go through this gospel, we may be blessed all over again with the wonder of who Jesus is and in the wonder of our salvation.

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Daily Devotion July 4th

SATURDAY 4th

Psalm 105

This is now the 105th devotion, my computer that I am using to type out the devotions says that up to the end of this devotion I will have used 108,784 words, this includes the songs I have included at the end of each one and it is 308 A4 pages. If I remove the songs it comes to 94,208 words. That is an average of 897 words per devotion.

The devotions have been sent out via email or text message to 47 contacts, which are reaching an even larger number of individuals, printed and posted to three more and has been posted every day on WordPress which has had 457 views over the period of time and a devotion has been read at least once in 2 countries, more than once in seven and over 390 times in the UK. The countries reached have been UK, Philippines, USA, Hungary, India, Russia, Pakistan, South Africa, UAE, Australia and Romania

At the same time, the weekly videos which we eventually got up and running have been reaching additional listeners. So the Church may have been in lockdown, in that we have not been able to gather together, but we have still had a voice in the world around us, and along with every other effort that has been made by Churches around the world, the gospel has continued to be shared, the Word of God has continued to be preached and taught and many needs have been met. To God be the glory.

In the Psalm which I have obviously chosen because it is the only chapter 105 in Scripture, it starts by saying ‘Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!’ I trust that when we do return to gather together that we will rejoice when we hear of the deeds the Lord has been doing among his people during what has been a lengthy and difficult time, for in it all God has been faithful, he cannot be anything else, because it is one of his characteristics.

V2 continues ‘Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!’ at the moment it would seem that the ongoing restrictions will prevent public singing, but in our hearts we can sing and rejoice.

The whole subject of this Psalm is of how the Lord has worked out his plan and purpose for the nation of Israel through slavery, exodus, and arrival into the land promised, it is a song that declares the goodness of God, his covenant keeping promises and his fulfilling what he intended to do, through whatever the circumstances may have been in which the Children of Israel found themselves in.  

We need to constantly remind ourselves that God is in control, he wasn’t caught unaware when the Covid-19 pandemic struck, and through the months in which we have gone down a road that we have never been before, God has been with us, individually, collectively as families, locally as a Church family and universally as the Church which is the body of Christ. He has been continually working out his purpose, as Job says in Job 42:2 ‘I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.’ God is in control.

Way back as it now seems to be on Sunday March 22nd, the Scripture that I used to commence these devotions was Psalm 147 ‘Great is our LORD, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.’ We may not fully understand the way that we have had to go during these last few months, but God knows, we trust him, and as we slowly come out of the lockdown, and as the restrictions will be eventually lifted, we will move forward as a local Church, strengthened and renewed in our determination to be the local Church that he wants us to be as we seek to reach the community around us.

Thank you for your prayerful and encouraging support during this time toward one another as a Church family. As we start a new week, from tomorrow I will be taking a slighter different route with the devotions and will concentrate on bringing some devotional thoughts from the gospel of John.

Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father,

There is no shadow of turning with thee;

Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not

As thou hast been thou forever wilt be.

Great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see;

All I have needed thy hand hath provided

Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,

Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,

Join with all nature in manifold witness

To thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,

Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;

Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,

Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

CCLI788682

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Daily Devotion July 3rd

FRIDAY 3rd

Psalm 1

There is a sense in which this short psalm follows on with the same thought that yesterday’s devotion was all about, being different as believers, and it does except for the fact that chronologically it comes long before Paul wrote his Roman letter.

This has always been one of my favourite psalms, I have probably only ever preached from it a handful of times, but what it has to say has often come up in my preaching. My grandfather was a lay preacher, and a retired elder in the local Church which I also attended where I was the leading elder, and he always had words of encouragement to give me and supported me in every way. I asked him if he would like to speak in our mid-week Bible Study and he did, he was around 90 or 91 at the time, and had suffered a couple of small strokes and I remember him getting up and he preached note free from this short psalm. But what I can say about my grandfather is this, he lived or practised what he preached!

This psalm is a challenge to all of us who claim to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, are we living out what we claim to be? Are we practising what we preach?

It is linked with yesterday’s devotion because it is all about our being different to unbelievers in the kind of lifestyle that we have. It is connected to those who we choose to walk with, stand with, or sit with, or rather those who we choose not to walk with, stand with and sit with!  Psalm 1:1 ‘Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers . . .’

The word ‘blessed’ is linked to verses 3-4 and 6, for what we decide in regard to verse 1 and 2  leads to whether or not we are like a tree planted by streams of water, fruitful, prospering, and in the righteous ways of the Lord.

Now, it is important when looking at this psalm to notice that it does not say that we should have nothing to do with the unrighteous, that is we should not spend time with them, etc. It’s language infers that it means that we do not participate in what they do that would be unwholesome or unhealthy toward our Christian lifestyle and testimony.

See, if we do not mix with unbelievers, then we have no opportunity to let them see that we are different! We will have no opportunity to share with them what they most need which is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We will not be able to be the light in the immediate darkness around us or the salt in the world around us that needs salting with the gospel. It is a sad fact, that many Christians have become so insular that they have no friends that are unbelievers!

Now of course, I say all this with caution, because I do believe that there are some places we should never attend or go to as believers, there are activities that we should never be involved in as believers, but what I am sharing is that we are not called to isolate ourselves away like monks or nuns in case we get tainted, rather we should be looking for ways in which we can influence and infiltrate with the good news of the gospel. We need to be cautious, as Jesus says, wise as serpents and gentle as doves, (Matthew 10:16) at all times seeking in any way and with every opportunity to share the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, either by witness or testimony, by sharing the gospel with words or showing the gospel by our lives. One of the most astounding things we read about Jesus was that he spent time with the publicans and sinners! (For example, Luke 15:1-2 ‘Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’’

So far, I have missed out the most important part of this chapter, it is found in verse 2 ‘but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.’ I believe that if we follow this practise of meditating upon the law (or the Word) of the LORD, and this requires us to be reading it to be able to meditate upon it, it will determine our motives in everything else that we will do. Our meditation of the Word will impact our lives and our living and as a result will help us to make the right lifestyle choices, it will have an effect upon our desires and the decisions we will make as to whether we can sit in certain places, stand in certain places or even walk with certain people. (See Psalm 119:1-9)

If the ‘Word’ delights us, we will be careful with the company that we keep, and with our walk and with our talk. Because if we want to practise what we preach, then what we preach should only be a reflection of what we practise, and what we practise and preach should be a reflection of who Jesus is and what he means to us. Therefore, the more Christlike we become, the more effective our walk and testimony will be.

The following hymn came to my mind a few days ago and I include just the first two verses.

I want my life to be all filled with praise to thee,

My precious Lord divine who died for me,

Let all my will be thine, controlled by thy love divine,

Live out in me thy life, O mighty Saviour.

Thy blessed will divine, with joy I make it mine,

My heart shall be thy throne, and thine alone,

Choose thou the path I tread and whither I am led,

Help me to follow on, O Mighty Saviour.

CCLI788682

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Daily Devotion July 2nd

THURSDAY 2nd

Romans 6

WANTED – Dead and Alive!

No, the title is not a mistake, I know the old Western posters used to say, ‘Wanted dead or alive’ but for our devotion it is ‘Wanted Dead and Alive’!

Why? Because it is the perfect description as to how we should be as Christians. Dead to sin and Alive to Christ.

Roman 6 is a well-known chapter, often used at a water baptismal service, in the ESV that I use the heading says at the commencement of the chapter ‘Dead to sin, Alive to God,’ and that is what baptism is all about, it is signifying that we have died to sin, the old flesh, nature  and have been raised to new life in Christ Jesus. It is a symbolic act of what 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, ‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.’

Here in Romans 6 verse 4 we have, ‘We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.’

These verses along with many other Scriptures clearly show that if we have been born again by the Spirit of God a definite change should have happened in our lives as believers. We should be transformed, we should be living differently, we should be to use an old-fashioned word ‘holy’ or at least holier than what we were and striving to become even more holy, Christlike. In other words, my lifestyle should be different to what I was and to the lifestyle of an unbeliever.

In Romans 6 Paul shows us how different we should be, our old self should be crucified, dead, and as a result the body of sin should be brought to nothing and we should no longer be enslaved to sin, we should have been set free from it. This then leads to us being united to Christ, alive in Christ and sharing in his resurrection.

I mentioned that the word ‘holy’ has almost become an old fashioned word, in that often today there seems to be a ‘light Christianity’ being preached, it’s almost like just lift your hand up or sign a card and you are saved. Rather than a presentation of the full gospel which requires the unbeliever to be moved by conviction, which in turn leads to genuine repentance and then on to a genuine transformation, where the old truly is gone and the new has come, repentance and salvation that really does mean that an individual is dead to sin and alive to Christ.

God does require us to be both dead and alive, God does expect us to live differently as his children who are walking in his Kingdom than what we did when we walked in the kingdom of darkness. Paul puts it in another way in his letter to the church at Galatia, (Galatians 5) he talks to them about either walking in the flesh or walking in the Spirit. We cannot walk in both ways, we cannot try to pick and mix, we must walk in the one way or the other.

We are living in difficult days, and days where there is so much peer pressure especially within the younger generation. There is so much to distract the believer today, we are living in a pleasure and leisure filled and seeking age, and there is nothing wrong with either unless there are activities or things within them that would distract us in our Christian walk, or would be a means towards diverting us in our Christian walk.

The teaching of Scripture is that we should be seeking to walk and to live in a way that is pleasing to God, and this should be more important to us than our seeking after pleasure, especially pleasure that is questionable.

May God help us to respond to the heading I started with, by being willing to be found, not wanting, but dead to sin and alive to Christ.

Dying with Jesus, by death reckoned mine;

Living with Jesus, a new life divine;

Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine,

Moment by moment, O Lord, I am thine.

Moment by moment I’m kept in his love;

Moment by moment I’ve life from above;

Looking to Jesus till glory doth shine;

Moment by moment, O Lord, I am thine.

Never a trial that he is not there,

Never a burden that he doth not bear,

Never a sorrow that he doth not share,

Moment by moment, I’m under his care.

Never a heartache, and never a groan,

Never a teardrop, and never a moan;

Never a danger but there on the throne,

Moment by moment he thinks of his own.

Never a weakness that he doth not feel,

Never a sickness that he cannot heal;

Moment by moment, in woe or in weal,

Jesus my Saviour abides with me still.

D Whittle CCLI788682

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Daily Devotion July 1st

WEDNESDAY July 1st

Revelation 5 – CROWNS – Part 2

We continue from yesterday:

Paul often uses language that speaks of us running a race, reaching the finishing line and winning the prize, (see Galatians 2:2, Philippians 2:16, 2 Timothy 2:5, 4:7) the Hebrew writer encourages us in the same way in Hebrews 12:1-2 ‘Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.’

I have written a lot over the last two devotions to get to this point which is a question? What is going to happen to our crowns?

I cannot recall that I have ever competed in anything to have won and been presented with a crown, trophy, laurel or wreath, but if I had I would have made sure it was somewhere up on display! I have won some competitions, won a few prizes but never had a memento to display, other than perhaps a certificate.

What is my answer to the question, what is going to happen with the crowns? because one thing is for sure we will not have a cabinet to display them in in heaven? I think that the answer (and it is my own personal view) lies in Revelation chapter 4.

In verse 4 we read ‘Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads.’

Notice, they had their crowns on their heads, but they then did something with them,  we see this in verse 10-11 ‘the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.’

They cast their crowns at the feet of the Lord Jesus! In other words, in heaven it will all be about what it should all be about here on earth – all about Jesus! All the praise, honour, glory, worship, adoration goes to him because without him we would still be lost, still in our sin, it is only because of his redeeming grace that we can be who we are and what we are. And it will only be because of his redeeming grace that we will be found around the throne! Everything we receive, including our crowns, will be cast at his feet so that all the glory goes to him.

1 Corinthians 1:26-31 ‘For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;  God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’

Revelation 5:12-14 ‘Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing! And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honour and glory and might forever and ever! And the four living creatures said, Amen! and the elders fell down and worshiped.’

Now, if we are going to cast our crowns at the feet of Jesus, we could be sceptical and say then why bother to get them? Well, this one thing is sure, when I get into the presence of Jesus, I do not want to appear empty handed, that would be a sign of spiritual laziness, I need to do something here on earth to be able to cast something before him in heaven!

Charles Wesley sums it up for us in the last verses of this hymn, ‘till we cast our crowns before thee.’

Love divine, all loves excelling,

Joy of Heav’n to earth come down,

Fix in us thy humble dwelling,

All thy faithful mercies crown!

Jesus, thou art all compassion,

Pure unbounded love thou art,

Visit us with thy salvation,

Enter every trembling heart.

Breathe, O breathe thy loving Spirit,

Into every troubled breast!

Let us all in thee inherit,

Let us find that second rest.

Take away our bent to sinning,

Alpha and Omega be,

End of faith, as its beginning,

Set our hearts at liberty.

Come, Almighty to deliver,

Let us all thy life receive,

Suddenly return and never,

Never more thy temples leave.

Thee we would be always blessing,

Serve thee as thy hosts above,

Pray and praise thee without ceasing,

Glory in thy perfect love.

Finish, then, thy new creation,

Pure and spotless let us be.

Let us see thy great salvation

Perfectly restored in thee,

Changed from glory into glory,

Till in Heav’n we take our place,

Till we cast our crowns before thee,

Lost in wonder, love, and praise.

Charles Wesley CCLI788682

Categories
Devotions

Daily Devotion June 30th

TUESDAY 30th

James 1:1-16 – CROWNS – Part One

In one of our devotions last week (Friday) I mentioned verse 12 of James 1 ‘Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.’

James mentions the ‘crown of life’. In this devotion I want to look at the verses in Scripture that mention crowns in relation to the Christian life.

We have the crown of life

James 1:12 ‘Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.’

Revelation 2:10 ‘Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.’

We have the crown of righteousness

2 Timothy 4:8 ‘Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.’

We have the crown of glory

1 Peter 5:4 ‘And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.’

We have the incorruptible crown (in the ESV it is an imperishable wreath)

1 Corinthians 9:25 ‘Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.’

1 Corinthians 9:25 (NIV) ‘Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.’

There is a warning to hold fast so as not to lose the crown

Revelation 3:11 ‘I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.’

And Paul considered those who were under his pastoral care to be his crown, a crown of rejoicing

Philippians 4:1 ‘Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.’

1 Thessalonians 2:19 ‘For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?’

When we read of these crowns, they are not crowns as we see a king or queen wearing signifying authority, but rather as the ESV translates the word in 1 Corinthians 9:25 as wreaths or laurels that would have been given to competitors who have completed and won a race, or like a trophy presented to someone who has achieved something.

In Malachi we are told about a book of remembrance, Malachi 3:16 ‘Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed his name.’ later in Scripture we are told that a day of judgement is coming for all men (and women) and on that day the books will be opened, Revelation 20:12 ‘And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.’ And in 2 Corinthians 5:10 ‘For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.’

Is one of the books that will be opened the book of remembrance?  I wonder what will be recorded down about each one of us, thankfully some of what has been written about us will be blotted out, everything that happened pre-conversion will be blotted out because it will have been forgiven as we saw in the devotion June 18th (Acts 3:19) but what about post-conversion, well, the Scripture also tells us that if we confess our sin he is faithful and just to forgive us of that sin, (1 John 1:9) so every confessed sin will be blotted out, but what about the things we should have done and didn’t do, or the things we have done that we should not have done?  The Scripture says that ‘we will receive what is due according to what we have done . . .’ Let us be clear that if we have kept the faith and run the race we will not lose or forfeit salvation, but we can lose out on our eternal reward! What is written in the book of life determines our eternal destination, (Revelation 20:15) and what is written in the books that will be opened will determine our eternal reward, that is, what crown, crowns or laurels, winners wreaths, reward we will receive. That is why what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 is so important. ‘Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.’

Jesus also taught of reward in his parable of the talents, being rewarded according to what we have done with anything that he has entrusted to us in our Christian ministry (Matthew 25)

We will continue this theme tomorrow:

Living for Jesus a life that is true,

Striving to please him in all that I do;

Yielding allegiance, glad-hearted and free,

This is the pathway of blessing for me.

O Jesus, Lord and Saviour, I give myself to thee,

For thou, in thine atonement, didst give thyself for me;

I own no other Master, my heart shall be thy throne,

My life I give, henceforth to live, O Christ, for thee alone.

Living for Jesus who died in my place,

Bearing on Calv’ry my sin and disgrace;

Such love constrains me to answer his call,

Follow his leading and give him my all.

Living for Jesus wherever I am,

Doing each duty in His holy name,

Willing to suffer affliction and loss,

Deeming each trial a part of my cross.

Living for Jesus through earth’s little while,

My dearest treasure, the light of his smile,

Seeking the lost ones he died to redeem,

Bringing the weary to find rest in him.

T O Chisholm CCLI788682

Categories
Devotions

Daily Devotion June 29th

MONDAY 29th

Psalm 100

I have chosen Psalm 100 as our reading today because it is the only chapter 100 in Scripture. Secondly to tie in with the number 100, for today’s devotion is number 100!

It feels like we have been in a cricket match and it is one hundred, not out!

Who would have thought that when I sent out the first devotion on Sunday March 22nd that I would still be doing it 100 days later? I certainly did not expect it, I thought maybe for three weeks, four at the most.

But God has been faithful, and during this period of lockdown we can still ‘Make a joyful noise to the Lord . . . for the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.’

Thank you to all for your encouragement during this period.

Over the period of the devotions I have made many references to sheep and this short psalm reminds us that ‘we are his people and the sheep of his pasture’.

Over the period of lockdown we have been like scattered sheep, unable to come into the Church as a gathered flock, isolated in our homes and yet we have been able to remain in contact through all the various means available. We pray that very soon we will be able to flock together again for corporate worship, prayer, ministry and in the breaking of bread.

One of the greatest assets that a shepherd has is that of his faithful friend, the sheepdog. Often when the sheep are scattered especially in areas of moorland where it is difficult for the shepherd to traverse, the sheepdog becomes an essential companion, he can go to the parts the shepherd can’t reach and help in rounding the sheep up together so that the shepherd can deal with anything that needs doing.

As we have been like scattered sheep, it has not been possible to visit, but I pray that these devotions along with the phone calls, messages, videos etc. that we have all been involved in will have been like the sheep dog, drawing us together and keeping us together in the spiritual bond of unity through this difficult time.

But most of all we give thanks to The Shepherd, who has been watching over us, the one who has helped us to keep it together when at times things may have felt tough and difficult.

It will pass, we will eventually (hopefully soon) be able to gather again, and when that moment comes may we ‘enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise’.

Thank you again for your prayers and support toward me as pastor, but also toward each other, may we come out of this crisis with a renewed confidence and trust in the Lord, ready for him to do new and great things amongst us.

 Faithful God, faithful God,

All-sufficient one, I worship you.

Shalom my peace,

My strong deliverer,

I lift you up,

Faithful God.

Chris Bowater CCLI788682

Lord, I come before your throne of grace,

I find rest in your presence

And fulness of joy.

In worship and wonder

I behold your face,

Singing what a faithful God have I.

What a faithful God have I,

What a faithful God.

What a faithful God have I,

Faithful in every way.

Lord of mercy, you have heard my cry;

Through the storm you’re the beacon,

My song in the night.

In the shelter of your wings,

Hear my heart’s reply,

Singing what a faithful God have I.

Lord all sovereign, granting peace from heaven,

Let me comfort those who suffer

With the comfort you have given.

I will tell of Your great love for as long as I live,

Singing what a faithful God have I.

CCLI788682