Category: Devotions

TUESDAY September 24^th

 

Psalm 104:34

‘My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.’ (KJV)

 

A few weeks back, Elaine and I took a friend out to have a bite to eat and a drink. I had a coffee, Elaine and the friend had tea. Now we don’t take sugar in our drinks, and I just assumed the friend didn’t either and we sat down. He quickly told me he needed sweetener, so I went and got one which I gave to him. He gave me a look and I thought I had got the wrong one, then he said to me, ‘Only one, I need at least three of these’, so I quickly returned and got a few more. I cannot drink sweet tea or coffee (although if the coffee is very strong, I may add a little sugar) but some like the friend, prefer it sweetened up.

 

Well, there is one thing for sure, we all need to have our lives sweetened up, and what better way to do it than to allow Jesus to come into our lives, and not only to sweeten us up but to clean us up as well. And there is no doubt that Jesus is the one who everyone needs, yet just as I don’t want my tea or coffee sweetened up, so many don’t want their lives sweetened up, they have decided they can manage without Jesus—or at least they think they can manage without Jesus. It is our responsibility to make sure that we live our lives in such a way that others will see that Jesus has made such a difference that they too will want to come to know him.

 

Going back to the tea and coffee, once added, the sugar or sweetener needs stirring up, perhaps we need to allow Jesus to be stirred up in our lives, to sweeten us up more so that the world will see him.

 

Yes, Jesus, the very thought of thee, with sweetness fills my breast, and I long, I want, I desire, that others too will know the sweetness of Jesus in their lives and that they will see his sweetness reflected through me. Going back to the tea and the friend, ‘I need at least three of these’, well, when it comes to Jesus, I need more of him, not in spoonful quantities but barrel full quantities in my life, not only to sweeten me up, but that I may enjoy the sweetness of who he really is.

In the words of another song

 

‘Every day with Jesus, is sweeter than the day before’. We don’t need to fill up our lives with the rubbish of this world, we need to fill them up with Jesus.

 

MONDAY September 23^rd

 

Psalm 104:34

‘My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.’ (KJV)

 

At the time when I was considering the next series of devotions, a hymn had been running through my mind over a few days which I couldn’t seem to get away from. Time and time again I found myself either humming or whistling the tune or singing the words. It is a well-known hymn, or at least it used to be, maybe not so well-known now that so many of the older hymns that are rich in content are being abandoned. It is a hymn that most definitely impacted me as I was much younger and into my teenage years and impacted the way my life was shaped into becoming who I am today, because it helped me to deepen my love for the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

In the Redemption Hymnal, which was the hymn book we used back then it was number 89, in Making Melody, 79.

 

Here are the words of the first verse, it is a prayer of Bernard of Clairvaux

 

Jesus, the very thought of thee

With sweetness fills my breast;

But sweeter far thy face to see,

And in thy presence rest.

 

As I have said, these words kept coming back to my mind, and so as I move into another series of devotions, I am going to use the hymn as my inspiration and give this series the title ‘Jesus, the very thought of thee,’ and spend some time taking us through some devotions concerning our wonderful Saviour and Lord.

 

There are many things that we can spend our time thinking about, in fact Paul tells us in Philippians 4:8 what to think about, this is what he says, ‘Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.’

 

Well as we think about Jesus, he is true, he is honourable, he is just, he is pure, he is lovely, he is commendable, he is excellence, he is worthy of praise, therefore as we think of Jesus, he is the sweetest one we can think about, he is the sweetest one we can fill our lives with, and as we think about him, it should fill our hearts with sweetness. So, this is where we are heading over the next however long it may take us.

FRIDAY September 20^th

 

Proverbs 1:8-9

‘Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.’

 

It is always important to take scripture and to understand it in its context and of course who or what is it referring to. And when it comes to the instruction here that is given to a son (or a daughter) from a father and the teaching from a mother, the first thing we would need to ask is about the father and the mother and then that which they are instructing or teaching.

 

These proverbs are the words of Solomon, the son of David, and in the verse before our text he has said ‘The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction’. and so, the answer we draw from this is that the reference to a mother and father is to parents who themselves ‘fear the LORD’, they are godly, God-fearing parents, thus the instruction they offer, the teaching they give is godly instruction, and godly teaching. Back in the book of Deuteronomy the instruction was given to the children of Israel that they were to take the words that God had instructed them with, and they were to teach them diligently to their children. In 2 Timothy 1:5 Paul says to Timothy ‘I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now I am sure dwells in you as well.’

 

It would be fair to say that these verses cannot apply to every instruction or teaching, from any and every parent, because for example, there are those of other religions or of no faith at all who would seek to instruct or teach their children that which is opposed to the truth of the word of God.

 

I am so glad that I had godly parents and grandparents, who played an important part in instructing me and in teaching me godly values because they had learned what it was to fear the LORD.

 

May God help each one of us that has children or grandchildren, not to neglect our Christian responsibility of giving godly instruction and teaching to them, to instruct them in the ways of the Lord.

 

We also thank God for every one of the children who attend our fellowship, and I encourage us once again to ensure that we pray for them, that they in turn as they begin to understand something of the gospel will come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and we pray for those who may have been brought up in a Christian home but have fallen away, that the Holy Spirit will bring them to a place of ‘coming to their senses’ and that they will come back to faith and a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Pray for every family that attends, that the parents especially will have the wisdom that comes from above to help them navigate nurturing a family in the faith in these days in which we find ourselves.

 

Next week we will start a new series of devotions.

FRIDAY September 20^th

 

Proverbs 1:8-9

‘Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.’

 

It is always important to take scripture and to understand it in its context and of course who or what is it referring to. And when it comes to the instruction here that is given to a son (or a daughter) from a father and the teaching from a mother, the first thing we would need to ask is about the father and the mother and then that which they are instructing or teaching.

 

These proverbs are the words of Solomon, the son of David, and in the verse before our text he has said ‘The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction’. and so, the answer we draw from this is that the reference to a mother and father is to parents who themselves ‘fear the LORD’, they are godly, God-fearing parents, thus the instruction they offer, the teaching they give is godly instruction, and godly teaching. Back in the book of Deuteronomy the instruction was given to the children of Israel that they were to take the words that God had instructed them with, and they were to teach them diligently to their children. In 2 Timothy 1:5 Paul says to Timothy ‘I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now I am sure dwells in you as well.’

 

It would be fair to say that these verses cannot apply to every instruction or teaching, from any and every parent, because for example, there are those of other religions or of no faith at all who would seek to instruct or teach their children that which is opposed to the truth of the word of God.

 

I am so glad that I had godly parents and grandparents, who played an important part in instructing me and in teaching me godly values because they had learned what it was to fear the LORD.

 

May God help each one of us that has children or grandchildren, not to neglect our Christian responsibility of giving godly instruction and teaching to them, to instruct them in the ways of the Lord.

 

We also thank God for every one of the children who attend our fellowship, and I encourage us once again to ensure that we pray for them, that they in turn as they begin to understand something of the gospel will come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and we pray for those who may have been brought up in a Christian home but have fallen away, that the Holy Spirit will bring them to a place of ‘coming to their senses’ and that they will come back to faith and a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Pray for every family that attends, that the parents especially will have the wisdom that comes from above to help them navigate nurturing a family in the faith in these days in which we find ourselves.

 

Next week we will start a new series of devotions.

THURSDAY September 19^th

 

Proverbs 3:5-6

‘Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.’

 

I ended the previous devotion with these verses which we are all very familiar with. Three things we are required to do and in doing so, the Lord will make our paths straight!

 

We are all on a journey of faith which we commenced on the day that we committed our lives to the Lord Jesus Christ, and the road that I have travelled on and will continue to travel on will be different to yours and vice versa, but what is essential that we make the journey with Jesus.

 

In the order of which the instructions appear in these verses, we first need to trust in the Lord. We can consider this firstly as being when we first put our faith in him, and what a day that was, even if we may not have fully understood everything at the time, but as we have grown and matured spiritually, we will have realised it was a defining moment in our life. But secondly, we also learn to trust the Lord daily and wholeheartedly. For every new morning is a new and a fresh day as we walk with him. We entrust each day to him, knowing that he knows best.

 

Then we are to ensure that we do not lean on our own understanding. As we walk, we don’t try to work things out according to our own will or desire, we seek to know and to understand what his will is for us, if we don’t, we will so easily go astray.

 

Then we are to acknowledge him in all our ways, this to me points to making Jesus the centre of who we are, what we are and all that we do, it is his way and not my way, his path and my path, it is seeking not only the mind of God but the will of God over every aspect of my life, being it personal, family, work etc.

 

Then the Lord will direct our paths, making sure they are straight for us.

 

Are you feeling a little lost spiritually, sometimes if I am going to a new place which I don’t know too well, I will try to navigate my way through, and at times I get lost, when all along especially in the car or while walking with my phone a map is readily and easily available! But no, my independence wants to try to work it out!

 

Perhaps someone is reading this today and you have sought to live independently from the good, perfect and acceptable will of God for your life, if you are not already lost you soon will be, consult the map, the instruction that God has given, to enable you to reach the destination that he is wanting you to reach.

WEDNESDAY September 18^th

 

‘Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.’

 

I have written this devotion at least six weeks before it will have been sent out and you in receiving it today because I had spent some days preparing to be well ahead with the devotions before Elaine and I went on holiday. The evening before I wrote this devotion, I had watched about 1 hour of a funeral or it was called the homecoming service of the family who had lost their lives in a tragic air accident, the Nelon Family. The next day as I was preparing devotions, I had playing in the background the rest of the service which led me to write this devotion.

 

Of course, I never knew nor had never met any of the Nelon family, but having heard of the tragedy, I realised, I had listened many times to some of their music, one in particular, ‘Glory to the Lamb, whose throne forever reigns’, yet even not knowing them personally, it was difficult not to feel emotional as the service progressed, and to feel moved with compassion toward the one daughter who had lost her parents and sister in a moment of time. Seven were killed in the accident, as they were making their way by plane to eventually join a cruise that was to be a Gaither gathering.

 

Why have I mentioned this, well, because as I listened and watched, I was reminded of the fact that even though we will all walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we do not need to fear any evil, for the Lord our Shepherd is with us, but secondly, a song was sung that we know very well, but more importantly need to learn to take on board, ‘Because he lives, I can face tomorrow’.

 

Not one of us knows what tomorrow will hold for us, so it is important that we get to personally know the one who knows all about our tomorrows, however many of them there may be.

 

Psalm 139:16 says, ‘Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.’

 

Psalm 90:12 ‘So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.’

 

As you read this, as I have said a few weeks after I have prepared it, be encouraged in whatever your circumstances are, that God knows and as your heavenly Father he is watching over you. Proverbs 3:5-6 ‘Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.’

TUESDAY September 17^th

 

Revelation 22:14

‘Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.’

 

‘Blessed are those who wash there robes’. The only ones who will have the right to enter the city will be those who have washed their robes. This is symbolic of those who have come by faith to the Lord Jesus Christ and known what it is to be washed, cleansed by his precious blood.

 

Way back in the opening chapters of the Bible, in the book of Genesis we see how the entrance of sin, caused Adam and Eve to be banished from the garden of Eden, the place where the tree of life stood. And ever since men and women have been banished. But God sent his Son into the world so that he might die at Calvary, and in dying, shed his precious blood which was to be the only blood that could make a sinner clean again. And here in the last chapter, in the final book of the Bible we see that access is now available to the tree of life.

 

In John 1:12 we read ‘But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God’. And as the children of God, we have the right to the tree of life, and we can, we will enter the city by the gates.

 

Imagine the shame, the feeling of despondency, the feeling even of guilt and sorrow that must have overwhelmed Adam and Eve as they were firstly banished from the garden, and then as they walked further away, maybe with a backward glance, thinking to themselves, maybe even saying to themselves, ‘What have we done’.

 

Well, Jesus has made it possible for us to enter the city and the right to the tree of life, surely in comparison to how Adam and Eve must have felt, we should have an overwhelming sense of joy in our lives. The sin washed away, our guilt taken away, the curse undone, the gate opened and seated on the throne is the Lamb who had been slain waiting to welcome us in.

 

What an incredible revelation this is that John had received of the Lord Jesus Christ! I can only say thank you God for sending Jesus, thank you Jesus that you came, thank you that I am blessed now, and I will be eternally blessed as I and as each one of us keep close to you.

MONDAY September 16^th

 

Revelation 22:14

‘Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.’

 

We have arrived at the seventh and final ‘blessed’ statement in the book of Revelation. Before I turn to it, (which will be the next devotion) I was thinking to myself about this chapter, and some of the incredible statements that are in it.

 

Verses 1-5 speak about the river of the water of life, it also speaks about the throne of God and of the Lamb and the very presence of God which means that there will no longer be the need for any light of lamp or the sun. Imagine that! No more being moaned at for leaving a light on and wasting electricity, and no more moaning as to where is the sun, we won’t need it, we will be in the presence of the one who is the true light. Heaven will be far better than net-zero, even the pollution of sin will be gone.

 

Verses 6-7, we touched on seven yesterday, but I deliberately missed these words out, ‘behold, I am coming soon’. Yes, Jesus is coming again, and what a wonderful day that is going to be for all of us who have washed our robes and had them made clean by the precious blood of Jesus, who is the Lamb that was slain and yet lives forever!

 

And verse 12 re-echoes the truth ‘Behold, I am coming soon’, this time with a warning to all who have failed to believe, ‘bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done’. Although this brings sadness to my heart, to realise that many of whom I have cared about and do care about, family, friends etc. who have failed to accept Jesus will get what is coming for all who like them have failed to believe, it also helps me when I think of those who have done no good, but have caused a lot of great harm through their evil deeds, that it is not my responsibility to bring them the punishment they deserve, it is God who recompenses, and the more so if they fail to repent and believe.

 

Then there is verse 13 ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end’. The Triune God bookends everything!  He has always been, that is eternally in the past and he always will be, that is eternally in the future—and the sphere of time which is fitted in between is but a span in which God created all things well and will end all things well. But the wonder is that in the sphere of time he came down to beckon us, welcome us to come into his eternal presence.

 

And then jumping to the final verses and verse 20 ‘” Surely I am coming soon.” Amen, Come Lord Jesus’. The words of a song come to mind:

 

He’s coming soon,

He’s coming soon,

With joy, I welcome his returning,

It may be morn, it may be night or noon,

I know he’s coming soon.

 

Amen, Come Lord Jesus.

FRIDAY September 13^th

 

Revelation 22:7 “And behold, I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

 

Well, we have come to the sixth of the ‘blessed’ statements in Revelation, and this one and the seventh are found in the final chapter of the holy, inspired word of God. The revelation of Jesus Christ which John had received while exiled on the Isle of Patmos has almost come to its completion, and with it the completion of the canon of scripture, 66 books, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. Together they comprise the most sacred, holy, special, and beautiful book that a man or woman can ever hold in their hands and to open and read. God’s revelation of himself to mankind, God’s instructions for mankind, and the details of God’s perfect plan of redemption.

 

The ’blessed’ statement today is dependent upon those who on reading the words of prophecy of this book in keeping them, that is to be obedient to them.

 

I think that directly, the reference to ‘the words of the prophecy of this book’ are to this particular book, Revelation, as it is a book of revelation or prophecy, so although it may be one of the least read or least understood, it is a book that we should desire to read, to learn from and to keep, after all, reminding ourselves that it is all a part of God’s bigger plan concerning salvation. Yes, he sent his Son to save us, yes, he sent his Son to redeem us, yes, he is preparing heaven for us, which if you look at what it says in Revelation 21 is going to be an incredible place, as I often say it is going to be out of this world, but at the same time, God’s redemptive plan and purpose also has to deal with evil and all who refuse to come to a knowledge of the truth, and so we see something of how this will be realised or brought about in this book.

 

But indirectly, I think that we can and should apply the phrase ‘Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.’  to the whole of the word of God. For to remind us of some other verses of scripture related to the word of God, we see:

 

‘All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.’

 

‘For 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. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.’

 

‘Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.’

 

(2 Timothy 3:16–17, Hebrews 4:12-13, 2 Timothy 2:15)

 

I don’t know about you, but I feel that I need to pray for God to help me to not only keep the truth, but to keep hold of the truth, allowing it to be my daily light to help me navigate through this dark world in which we are living in. For as we keep his word, we will be blessed.

THURSDAY September 12^th

 

Revelation 20:6

‘Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.’

 

What a joy for me to be able to come to one of my favourite doctrinal truths again today, that of the resurrection! Here the statement is ‘Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection!’

 

In 1 Corinthians 15 we read ‘For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ’ (verses 22-23).

 

Those who have been found to be ‘in Christ’ will share in his resurrection, and in our verse today it is called the first resurrection, to define it from the second. And it is only those who are involved in the first resurrection who will be blessed and holy.

 

The word ‘first’ before the word resurrection infers that there will be another resurrection and the sad news is for those involved in this other resurrection is that they will not be blessed nor holy, but rather unholy and doomed for eternity.

 

For just as those who have died with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will be raised, so also will be those who have died without having placed their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and sadly, they will be raised to face the judgement of the Great White Throne which we read of in the same chapter of Revelation, 20:11-15, with the final verdict or action being that they will be thrown into the lake of fire, along with the devil, the beast and the false prophet as we also see in Revelation 20 and verses 7-10.

 

The consequences of rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ and the hope that is available to all and preached through the good news of the gospel, is devastating. In Romans 6:23 we read, ‘For the wages of sin is death’, there is no way of getting around this outside of Christ, the verdict of death has been pronounced on all mankind, but God put an incredible plan into operation by sending his Son into this world, so that if we come to believe in him we will have everlasting life, and so the verse in Romans continues, ‘But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord’.

 

So, reader or listener to this devotion, where do you stand as far as a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ is concerned. Have you come to accept him by faith or are you still rejecting him and the incredible hope that he offers to you for both this life and for eternity.

 

And to anyone who may stumble across this devotion online, if you are of another ‘faith’ or ‘religion’, I need you to know, I want you to know that there is NO HOPE, NO SALVATION through any other prophet, god, etc. It can only be obtained through the One who God sent into this world to make the way or the entrance into heaven open and to make heaven available to all and his name is Jesus. I cannot and never will apologise for saying this. This is what the holy and inspired word of God, the Holy Bible says.

 

John 14:6 ‘Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

 

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.’

 

And seeing as the subject has been about the first resurrection, John 11:25-27 ‘Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”’

 

Going back to what I have said about the resurrections, those raised in the first resurrection will be raised to eternal life, never to die again, but those who have failed to believe and who will be raised in the other resurrection, will be raised to die again, spiritually, eternally cut off from the eternal presence of God, it is called in Revelation 20:14 the second death.