Category: Devotions

TUESDAY July 2^nd

 

Philippians 1:9-11

‘And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.’

 

The ‘agape’ love that we considered previously, must abound more and more with knowledge and discernment, that is an understanding of how to love as we should love, and I think also to know or to discern God’s will for our lives which leads to the second point ‘so that you may approve what is excellent’.

 

There is that expression of love as we have seen toward one another, but our love is also expressed towards the things that we care about, what is it that we love most in our lives, for that is what will take up our time or what we will give our lives over to and ultimately, we should love God and his will and purpose above anything else.

 

Remember the rich young ruler who came to Jesus, when he discovered the cost of what it would mean for him to follow Jesus, he went away sad! His wealth meant more to him than entry into the kingdom of God. He had the opportunity to approve what was excellent, but he rejected it.

 

I wonder how much of our time is spent trying to approve so many other things, it may be wealth like the ruler, it may be personal ambition and gain, it can be several of many other things, rather than approving those things that truly are excellent, those things that lead to the praise and the glory of God.

 

I mentioned a hymn last week (If I but knew thee as thou art) and one of the other verses in it says this:

 

But, I am dull and blind , O Lord,

Unapt of thee to learn;

Thee I but dimly in thy word,

As in a glass, discern.

 

Perhaps too often we have allowed ourselves to have been dulled toward those things which are excellent, we pursue anything and everything but that which will count for eternity. I know for myself my prayer must be the final verse in the same hymn:

 

But, ah, my lonely spirit tires

Of knowing thee in part.

O Jesus, how my soul desires

To see thee as thou art.

 

Regarding our approving that which is excellent, I quote the words of Paul from Romans 12:1-2 ‘I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.’

MONDAY July 1^st

 

Philippians 1:9-11

‘And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.’

 

The first point (look back at devotion June 28^th) is:

 

That their love may abound more and more, with knowledge and discernment

 

Obviously, we are considering what Paul desired for the Philippian church as he wrote to them, but we need to apply it to the church today, therefore you and me, that OUR love may abound more and more, with knowledge and discernment.

 

Paul makes a similar prayer to the church at Thessalonica in 1 Thessalonians 3:12–13 ‘. . . and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints’, and then in 2 Thessalonians1:3 he gives thanks because what he has prayed is evidently being answered for he says ‘We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.’

 

We need to realise that when Paul says, ‘your love’, he isn’t thinking of love as we see it in this world around us, but he is thinking about the love that comes from or flows out of our relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ, he is talking about what we often hear being called ‘agape’ love. In Romans 5:5 we read ‘. . . and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.’ The KJV says ‘because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.’

 

God’s love has been poured into our hearts, into our lives and it is such that it should overflow to those who are around us, particularly those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ. Our lives should be conduits through which God’s love can flow and reach out to others. When it rains, my water butts in the garden have water pouring into them and once they are filled, it flows over and spreads around the surrounding area. Oh, that God’s love may fill us up so much, that it spills out to those around us.

FRIDAY June 28^th

 

Continuing from our previous devotion, we come to the verses in Philippians Chapter 1 which tells us what it was that Paul prayed for them, it is in verses 9-11.

 

‘And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.’

 

1. That their love may abound more and more, with knowledge and discernment
2. That they may approve what is excellent.
3. That they may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ
4. That they may be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ.
5. And ultimately, that it may all be to the glory and praise of God.

 

We will consider each of these thoughts over the next week of devotions, one for each day.

 

Yesterday I used three words that are easily seen in these verses, firstly that Paul prayed for them, secondly, he pastored them and thirdly he appreciated the partnership that he had with them.

 

In the later verses of this letter Paul has this to say, ‘Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved’, (4:1).

 

His relationship towards them was such that he cared deeply for them, he loved them, and he longed for them—I am going to suggest that he may have meant that he longed to see them again, or that he could have meant that he longed for them to reach the finishing line which he had been talking about in the previous verses in chapter 3. In my own words, ‘I love you and long for you all to get to the end of the race, to be those who will know the completion of the good work which God began in you the moment you came to faith.’

 

Paul is an example to what we should be like towards one another in the body, wanting to pray for one another, wanting to be in partnership with one another, but also wanting to spur each other on, that together we may run the race, but even more so, what those who are in leadership should be like towards those whom they have under their care as the flock of God.

 

THURSDAY June 27^th

 

Because we have been looking over the last few weeks at the two prayers that Paul has made for the Ephesian believers, over the next two devotions I will take us to another of his references to prayer which he made in Philippians 1:3-6.

 

‘I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.’

 

We know that Paul was a man who prayed, but, he was also a man who praised, and we see here that he was also a man who believed in partnership with others for the sake of the gospel. As he pioneered churches, he also put a presbytery in place to shepherd the churches, but in doing so, he didn’t walk away from them, and forget about them, he remained in partnership with them.

 

That is one of the reasons why we have so many New Testament books that have been written by Paul. He cared for the churches he planted, so much so that he kept in touch with them, either through visits or by the means of letters, which although addressed to a particular church, may also have been read to others as well.

 

In the verses today he writes to remind them that he prays for them, and that he appreciates the partnership that they have in the gospel. In the verses that follow you will see how he also says that he holds them in his heart and that he yearns for them all with the affection of Jesus Christ.

 

This is how the body of Christ should be, mutual care and affection in Christ for one another, and not by having a close group we readily and easily and perhaps always relate with, at the expense of others, but for everyone who makes up our local church family, for we are joined together by the Spirit, and we are partakers together of the same grace (verse7).

 

Now, we are all familiar with verse 6, ‘And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ’, and as I pastor at Emmanuel, be it through my leadership or preaching in the services or through the means of these devotions, as I challenge or encourage it is because my prayer also is that ‘he who has begun a good work in each of us, will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. What I desire for myself, is what I also desire for each one of us, that we will ‘run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith’, ‘For you (we) have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.’ (Hebrews 12:1-2, Hebrews 10:36-39)

WEDNESDAY June 26^th

 

Ephesians 3:20-21

‘Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.’

 

‘Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen.’ (The Amplified Bible)

 

We have a super abundant God who can bless us superabundantly! Now, although Paul wants us to realise that God can do superabundantly more than we ask or think, he leads us to a place of where we realise that it is all for him and to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. He then ends with a resounding Amen!

 

I think that Paul wants us to remember or to realise that although God can do superabundant things for us, we must never lose sight that it is not about you nor me, but it is all about him! He does far more abundantly for us, so that we will praise him and give him the glory more.

 

He invites us to the throne of grace, he invites us to petition him, he invites us to ask, seek and to knock, and we do so by faith and in accordance with what his will is for us, but the aim is or should be that all the glory goes to him. If we ever ask out of selfish desire or selfish ambition, we are denying God the glory that he is due.

 

In Romans 11:36 we read ‘For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.’

 

Another song! Unto him be glory in the church, both now and evermore, unto him be glory in the church, his praise a boundless store, unto him, unto him, unto him, unto him, for his praise and glory shall not fail, both now and evermore.

 

As we have sung so many times just recently—All the praise goes to Jesus, all the praise to him alone, all the glory and honour forever more, all the praise to him alone.

TUESDAY June 25^th

 

Ephesians 3:18-19

‘. . . may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.’

 

We are back to the same verses again, in which we find the reason why Paul wanted to pray all that he had prayed for the believers, and it was that ‘you may be filled with the fulness of God’.

 

I stopped as I was writing this and thought about the various things that I allow to fill my life. I could write a long list, but what should be the priority is that I should desire to be filled with the fulness of God. As we contemplate just as Paul has done, something of the wonder of the love of God, its vastness, its immensity, its immeasurableness it should cause us in our hearts to want to just fall on our knees and to worship him! The more we wonder about our wonderful, amazing God and his wonderful, amazing love, and on top of that all the spiritual blessings that are ours as we find ourselves in Christ it should cause us to evaluate who we are and what we are doing to become determined to live for the glory of God.

 

Now, I know I fall short, and so I personally need to have a fresh revelation of who God is and of all he has done, I need to grasp more deeply the splendour of his majesty, I need to desire as the apostle Paul cried out in Philippians ‘that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead’ 3:10-11.

 

While I have prepared the last few devotions, I have felt like I should break out in songs of joy as I have contemplated how much God has loved me and how much his Son loves me, but then I have had to examine my heart to see how much do I genuinely love both God the Father and Jesus the Son back, do I really love the triune God as deeply as I ought? What about you? I think that if we examined how we spend our time, we would soon discover how deep our love really is.

 

The fulness of God wants to dwell in me! That is amazing, then it is important that I and the same for each one of us do a regular spring clean of our lives, so that we are temples that are fit for the presence of God.

 

The words of another hymn spring to mind:

 

‘If I but knew thee as thou art. O Loveliness unknown, with what desire, O Lord, my heart would claim thee for its own . . . But, ah, my lonely spirit tires of knowing thee in part. O Jesus, how my soul desires to see thee as thou art.’

MONDAY June 24^th

 

Ephesians 3:18-19

‘. . . may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.’

 

The hymn that I mentioned in our previous devotion continues with:

 

Could we with ink the ocean fill,

And were the skies of parchment made;

Were every stalk on earth a quill,

And every man a scribe by trade;

To write the love of God above

Would drain the ocean dry;

Nor could the scroll contain the whole,

Though stretched from sky to sky.

 

Oh, love of God, how rich and pure! How measureless and strong! It shall forever more endure—the saints and angels’ song.

 

Isn’t the love of Jesus something wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, isn’t the love of Jesus something wonderful, wonderful it is to me. I could burst into so many songs concerning his love!

 

Is his love wonderful to you as you read this devotion? There is no love like the love of Jesus—never to fade or fall, till into the fold of the peace of God he has gathered us all. Jesus’ love, precious love, boundless and pure and free; Oh, turn to that love weary wandering soul: Jesus pleadeth with thee!

 

Most of you are aware of my friend Ray, it was my joy when I led him to the Lord to read to him a few passages of Scripture, and one portion in particular which I read again with him in the home and am going to be reading at his funeral is from Romans 8:37-39, verses I always think of when I arrive at the text verses we have had today, Gods love is such that we can say as we have come to accept Jesus as our Saviour and Lord:

 

‘No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.’

FRIDAY June 21^st

 

Ephesians 3:18-19

‘. . . may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.’

 

I guess we are familiar with the children’s song, ‘The love of Jesus is so wonderful . . . so high, you can’t get over it, so wide you can’t get round it. So deep you can’t get under it, oh wonderful love’, (since I prepared this devotion, we sang it last Sunday morning). Well, Paul is not just wanting us to have spiritual strength to understand something of the vastness of God’s love, but also everything else that pertains to it. I casually asked a question a few weeks ago, on a Sunday evening in our service as to when we think of every benefit that is ours as believers, which would we put at the top of the list. His mercy, his grace, his forgiveness, his faithfulness toward us etc. I suggested and still suggest that top of the list would be his love for us for it is because of his love for mankind that we have come to know all these other blessings.

 

And I readily admit. His love is so immense, so great, that I cannot fully grasp everything about it, but I am grateful for it, the fact that he loved ME and gave his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ to be the propitiation for MY sin! Yes, I have made it personal to myself, but you do the same, God loved you so much, he loved me so much, his love which we cannot fully comprehend is such that it has brought us into a living powerful relationship with him.

 

His love is so high, so wide, so deep that we cannot get away from it, and if you are reading this devotion today and you do not yet know Jesus as your Saviour, understand this, God loves you, he has shown it by sending his Son into this world, Jesus loves you, and he has proven it by dying for you at Calvary, taking all the wrath and punishment that you deserve for your sin so that if you are willing by faith to come and to believe in him and to accept him you can be completely pardoned, forgiven, saved from the wrath that is to come, and you can know what it is to be on the road that leads to heaven, to spend eternity with him.

 

In the words of another well-known song,

 

The love of God is greater far,

Than tongue or pen can ever tell;

It goes beyond the highest star,

And reaches to the lowest hell . . .

 

Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!

How measureless and strong!

It shall for evermore endure—

The saints, and angels’ song.

 

THURSDAY June 20^th

 

Ephesians 3:17

‘. . . so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love. . .’

 

The latter part of this verse, ‘that you, being rooted and grounded in love’. Is it possible that Paul was using a play on words here, using two words that help us to see how established we need to be regarding our Christian faith. The first word ‘rooted’ points us to being well rooted like a plant or a tree and grounded being firmly placed on a solid foundation like a building.

 

Rooted in love, grounded in love. I have had difficulty this year in finding a decent compost for the garden, most of it just seems to be too bitty, and difficult to get anything to grow let alone to become well rooted in it. That was until someone I know recommended to me a different compost and told me where I could get it from, (in fact they got me the first three bags) and it made the difference to my planting and growing. We can try to root our lives in so many things, but they will never ever cause us to grow as we should grow as believers, we need to ensure that we are rooted in love, but not any kind of love, rooted in the love of God.

 

Now, I have also laid some patio this year, it is still a work in progress, to make it easier, I have relied heavily on a sand and gravel foundation, but to ensure that it is firmly established, I am going to have to use some cement to ensure that it is grounded well. Remember what Jesus said about the wise man and the foolish man during his sermon on the mount, and if we want to be wise as Christians, we need to make sure that our lives are grounded firmly on the solid rock of God’s love, for his love will never fail nor crumble.

 

Being rooted well in the love of God will ensure that we become like well-established trees as we see in Psalm 1, it will promote our personal growth to become those whose leaf will not wither and will produce fruit in season. Rooted well in the love of God we will become firmly established; it will give us stability when the storms of life blow against us.

 

But as Paul continues, he says in verses 18-19 that as we are well rooted and firmly grounded, we will have strength that will help us to comprehend more fully the wonder of the love of Christ and to be filled with the fulness of God.

WEDNESDAY June 19^th

 

Ephesians 3:17

‘. . . so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love. . .’

 

Now, I have already mentioned some of the reasons why we need to be strengthened with power through his Spirit, but here Paul says,

 ‘so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith’.

 

The heart is the central part of our being, and we use this phrase about being born again, ‘I asked Jesus into my heart’. It means that we have asked Jesus to come and to take up residence in our lives, to be at the centre of who we are and in all that we seek to do. It is as if the heart is the throne in which we allow Jesus to reign as Lord.

 

The heart is often mentioned in Scripture, and we will turn to some of the references.

 

We are encouraged ‘to love the LORD your God with ALL your heart, and with ALL your soul and with ALL your might’, Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30.

 

We are also encouraged to ‘trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding’, Proverbs 3:5, both Iain and I spoke from these verses on the same Sunday recently, Iain referring to the word heart appearing 3 times in the first 6 verses of Proverbs 3.

 

An important one is found in Matthew 6:21 when Jesus was talking about the importance of where we lay up our treasure, he says ‘For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’ This means that what we set our hearts upon will become our primary focus. And surely, if we follow the first of the references mentioned, our hearts should be set upon the things of God, set upon the things that matter for eternity and not upon the things that are temporal. It doesn’t mean that the temporal doesn’t matter, Jesus balances it all out for us by reminding us that if we ‘seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all these (the other) things will be added to you’, Matthew 6:33.

 

I am going to mention one more, well it is going to lead to an extra one afterwards!  if you have time, look up some other heart references yourself, but this final one is so apt for the troublesome days in which we are finding ourselves, Jesus said ‘Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me’, John 14:1. Jesus can bring peace into our troubled hearts as we learn to lean on him and to trust in him fully. Paul puts it this way ‘. . . The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus’, Philippians 4:5-7.

 

The One who we have invited into our hearts, is not only the Saviour, the Lord and the King, he is also the Prince of Peace – imagine it, that he is the one who sits on the throne of your heart.