Category: Devotions

TUESDAY January 30^th

Romans 11:25

‘Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.’

Before we move into this devotion I will bring another verse which I feel is important toward our understanding of the context of our text, it is from John 1:11 ‘He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.’

To me, at first, it is a mystery in itself that having been given all the Old Testament promises and prophecies concerning the Messiah who would come, even with all the details of how he would come and where he would be born etc. that the Jews still rejected Jesus!

But Paul reminds us that this was all a part of God’s plan and purpose to unveil the mystery at work through the Church, for it was because of the rejection of Jesus by the Jews, his own people that he ended up going to Calvary, for when given to them, they chose instead to cry out ‘away with him, crucify him’, thus bringing about redemptions story.

When Peter addresses the crowd on the day of Pentecost, he says this ‘Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men’, Acts 2:22-23.

The Jews rejection of Jesus was a part of God’s plan to incorporate Gentiles into this one new man which was to become the church. And thus since the time of Christ’s death and resurrection and through what we now call the day of God’s grace, although Israel are God’s chosen nation, (and God still has a purpose and plan for Israel) as individuals they also need to come by faith and to accept Jesus as Saviour, the same way as it is for we who are the Gentiles, so that together we will make up the Church which is the body of Christ.

And ever since the time of Christ’s first coming into the world, there has been a partial hardening of the hearts of Israel and it will continue until the day of the Gentiles has been fulfilled, that is the moment of Christ’s coming again.

Paul addresses it again in 2 Corinthians 3:14 ‘But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away.’ Thank God that there are those who have had the veil lifted as Christ has made himself known to them, and we thank God for every Jew who has come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, recognising him as their Lord and their Saviour.

But despite the partial hardening—we need to still pray for Israel, we need to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and we need to pray that as Christ makes himself known, that the veil will be lifted and many more from among the Jews will come to accept Jesus for who he really is, the Son of God who came into this world to save sinners.

MONDAY January 29^th

Ephesians 1:7-10

‘In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.’

Our mystery tour continues . . . although I have gone back a couple of chapters to Ephesians 1, for it is here that Paul begins to speak about the mystery of God’s will which he continues to say was to be fulfilled through the Lord Jesus Christ.

This ‘mystery of his will’ involved the incarnation of Jesus, the provision of redemption through the shed blood of Jesus and the preaching of the gospel to the end that men and women would not only be redeemed, but would make up the one new body, the church, made up of both Jew and Gentile to bring eternal glory to His name. In Ephesians 3:6 Paul writes ‘This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel’.

Paul had been given a great responsibility in revealing this which had been the mystery of the will of God! He says in Ephesians 3:5 that this mystery had not been revealed to other generations, (see also Colossians 1:26-27), and yet out of his amazing grace, rich mercy and great love, God would call Saul on the road to Damascus and would powerfully save him and transform him so that as Paul he would then write in this same third chapter ‘To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him’, (8–12).

Quoting again from the hymn I’ve mentioned previously, ‘Tis mystery all’ and yet as a result you and I have been saved and incorporated into this wonderful mystery that God has revealed through the gospel and is outworking in time which will be to the praise and glory of his name throughout eternity.

In fact Paul calls the gospel a mystery as he ends his letter to the Ephesians, here is what he says ‘and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak’, Ephesians 6:19–20, see also Colossians 4:3.

The mystery of the gospel had so gripped his heart and his life that he was willing to defend it at all cost, and to boldly declare it whatever the cost. What an incredible example he was to all who knew him, what an example for each one of us to follow, to be willing to boldly proclaim the mystery of the gospel, the unsearchable riches of the grace of God.

Our mystery tour continues tomorrow.

FRIDAY January 26^th

Ephesians 5:32

‘This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.’

As we continue to consider this mystery concerning the church, Paul describes it as ‘profound’. That is it is deep, its meaning and its expression as revealed here as relating to Christ and the church it is something we need to grasp hold of, and we need to seek to understand. Paul uses the analogy of the intimate and profound relationship of a man and a woman as they have become man and wife. The two become one, and this is what the mystery of the church is all about, as we come to know Christ through redemption we become united to him, we become as one with Christ, he himself being the head and we the church being the body.

You and I are members together of the church, which is the body of Christ. Paul speaks more of this mystery in 1 Corinthians  12 through to chapter 14, we belong together, we need to be with each other, we need to be there for each other, we need to do all we can to encourage one another and to build one another up, for we are not only connected to each other through reason of the new-birth, we are connected together to Christ the head, from whom we derive our spiritual health and strength.

Paul says that we should have the same care for one another, if one suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together.

Can we see how wonderful this mystery of the church really is: God takes men and women from all types of backgrounds, and he brings us together into one body, united to Christ as the head.

Peter describes this mystery in this way, that Christ who is the cornerstone takes us and through new birth makes us into living stones, that are built up together as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

We are individually a part of the body of Christ, each an individual stone, but we have been joined together by the Spirit, to collectively be the body of Christ, a spiritual house.

May we learn to appreciate each other and to not be selective in who we choose to associate with or even to spend our time in conversation with, but to have the same care and the same appreciation and concern for each one, everyone that makes up the body of the local church as we gather at Emmanuel. There is always a danger in a local church setting of forming cliches and of always spending the time talking to the same few people every time we attend and never bothering to consider talking to others that we should also be making the effort to talk to. Can I challenge each one of us to mix well, to learn to appreciate one another in the body of Christ.

THURSDAY January 25^th

 Ephesians 5:32

‘This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.’

We continue today on our ‘mystery’ tour and to Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus.

The word ‘mystery’ here is used to describe a divine truth once hidden but now revealed in or through the gospel. That is, that the whole concept or idea of the church was completely hidden in the Old Testament, but has now been revealed to the apostles, and is a fulfilment of the declaration that Jesus made himself, that he would build HIS church!

One writer^* describes the church as ‘The Divine Masterpiece’ for in Ephesians 3:21 we read ‘. . . to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.’

So the church was the unveiling or the revelation of a mystery, of how God would redeem to himself a people who would be called the church or the body of Christ upon the earth, made up from individuals from ‘every tribe and language and people and nation’ (Revelation 5:11) who one day would be in the eternal presence of God for ever and ever, and would eternally be for the glory to God.

Now this mystery includes how a man or woman would be incorporated into this church, and it is revealed for us in Revelation 5 (the same chapter and verse I have just quoted from) ‘. . .and by your blood you ransomed people for God’. The church consists only of those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So the mystery of godliness which we considered in our previous devotion includes this, that wrapped up in the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ was the whole work of redemption, in particular the atoning work at Calvary which would make it possible for you and I to be redeemed and included in the church. As Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 1:18-21 ‘. . . knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.’

The whole idea of the Church was God’s idea and it was a good idea that he had even before the foundation of the world, but it was a mystery, kept hidden until it was realised in and through Christ Jesus our Lord, Ephesians 3:8-11 ‘To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord . . .’

^{* Pastor Thomas Rees}

WEDNESDAY January 24^th

So far as I have been preparing the devotions looking at the life and the ministry of the apostle Paul, it may seem that I have been here, there, and everywhere, as I have moved from one devotion to the next. This is what I wrote in the first of them back on November 13^th, ‘Even as I am preparing this first one, I don’t know what direction it will take’. Well, I still do not know, but will continue as I have been, and the best way to describe it is like being on a mystery tour!

I don’t know if it still happens, but I recall the local bus and coach tour operator, Wye Valley Motors back in Hereford as I was growing up, they used to advertise among their regular trips a ‘mystery tour’, you booked your ticket, turned up on time, jumped on the coach and went to a mystery destination.

Well, one of the words that turns up in Paul’s letters is the word ‘mystery’, or on occasions ‘mysteries’. In the ESV these two words appear 33 times, seven times in Daniel, four times in Revelation, all the other occasions are in Paul’s letters.

One of them we quoted in the run up to Christmas, from 1 Timothy 3:16 ‘Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.’

And it is a glorious mystery, the wonder of the Word becoming flesh, and the whole realm of everything he underwent in his suffering, his atoning death, his triumphant resurrection and his glorious ascension, we believe it all by faith even though with our finite minds we cannot fully understand or comprehend it, the hymn writer penned these words, I will end the devotion with this song in the audio version;

‘Tis mystery all! The Immortal dies!

Who can explore His strange design?

In vain the first born seraph tries

To sound the depth of love divine!

‘Tis mercy all! Earth adore,

Let angel-minds enquire no more.

 

Yes, ‘tis mystery all’, yet we can truly declare as we have come to believe and accept it

My chains fell off, my heart was free,

I rose went forth and followed thee.

No condemnation now I dread,

Jesus, and all in him is mine;

Alive in him, my living head,

And clothed in righteousness divine,

Bold I approach the eternal throne,

And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Charles Wesley RH324 MM 343

TUESDAY January 23^rd

Philippians 4:13

‘I can do all things through him who strengthens me.’

In our last devotion, we recalled how the Lord had responded to Paul when he had called out for help, telling him that his grace was sufficient for him and that through Paul’s weakness the power of God would be made perfect. It reminds me of the verse that I have shared with us for 2024, that it is not by (our) might, nor by (our) power but by my Spirit says the Lord. God’s power was going to be made available to Paul, evident by the special provision of grace that was going to be made available to him.

In our verse today, Paul recognises the provision of supernatural power or strength that God gives to him. He is acknowledging that of himself he could do very little, but through the strength that God gives to him he can do all things.

Now, I think that the ‘all things’ that Paul is referring to here is specifically regarding to that which God has called him to do in his divine purpose.  Remember when he was converted the mission that he was given was to ‘be a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name’, Acts 9:15-16.

To fulfil this mission was going to require supernatural strength and energy, looking backward from this point in Philippians 4, Paul could see that he could never have and never would have been able to do all that he had so far done in his own strength, and he would not and could not continue in his own strength, he had needed and would continue to need supernatural strength, he would need the power of God, the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit to strengthen him.

As a local Church in Gateshead (or wherever you may be as one who reads these devotions) may we learn, or grasp the reality of our own present situation, that we cannot move forward in God’s purposes with our own strength, nor of our own power, but only by his Spirit and by the strength that comes through the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit.

I need the strengthening of the Holy Spirit in, upon and through my life and my ministry, and so do we all. May we seek a fresh empowering, a fresh anointing, a fresh renewal of supernatural power to strengthen us in our ministries and mission for the Lord Jesus Christ so that through him, as he strengthens us we can do all that he wants and needs us to do.

Let us make sure that we do not become self-sufficient, but grace-dependent, for it is through our weakness that God’s power is made perfect.

MONDAY January 22^nd

2 Corinthians 12:9

‘But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.’

It reaches me! It reaches me!

Wondrous grace! It reaches me!

Pure, exhaustless, ever flowing,

Wondrous grace! It reaches me!

Mary D. James RH 339 MM 323

 

We commence with both the Scripture and the chorus that I concluded the previous devotion with, because I want to emphasize or remind us that the same grace that was sufficient for Paul is also sufficient for each one of us as we have come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And additionally I want us to understand that it matters not where we are, nor even how low we may feel we have gone, his grace can reach us.

 

The hymn writer was writing her own personal testimony, Paul was writing his own personal testimony and it has become the testimony of each one of us, firstly, in that it didn’t matter how low we had stooped in sin, his grace reached down to save us and in the present  his grace is still reaching out to each one of us.

 

I don’t know what your personal circumstances are today, but the One who is full of grace and truth does, and he is willing to pour out from his abundant supply of grace into your life today.

 

I partly quoted a few days ago from Hebrews 4:16, here it is in full, ‘Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.’ How did Paul know that God’s grace was sufficient for him, he went to the throne of grace, for he says that three times he pleaded with the Lord! It was then that the One who was his and who is also our great high priest said to him ‘My grace is sufficient for you’.

 

Here is another verse to encourage ‘When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.’ Isaiah 43:2

FRIDAY January 19^th

Romans 1:7b

‘Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.’

I have come back to the same verse again today, simply because I want to consider the word grace again.

From Paul’s letter to the Ephesians we see grace as being a gift from God linked with faith, whereby the benefits of what Christ has done for us in his death and resurrection are granted to us, forgiveness, cleansing, reconciliation etc. All of these we did not deserve, but God has granted to us because of his incredible grace. (See Ephesians 2) We call it the unmerited favour of God.

In the greetings that Paul brings in each of his letters, he is seeking for God’s continuing favour to be upon his people. In other words just as we required God’s grace to be saved, we need his grace to enable us to continue. That is why I like the way that Peter puts it in his two letters, ‘Grace and peace be multiplied to you’, that speaks to me of an abundant supply of grace and an abundant supply of peace.

John reminds us in the opening chapter of his gospel, that the Word (that is Jesus, who is also God) became flesh and dwelt among us, he then continues to say that Jesus is full of grace and truth. And this to me is the wonder, as he has poured out his grace through the ages to all who have come to him for salvation, the supply of grace is not depleted, he is still full of grace and he is still pouring his grace out on the whosoever who is willing to come to him by faith, and at the same time he is still pouring his grace out as divine favour upon those who are already a part of his wonderful family.

It was Paul who had it said to him by the Lord Jesus, as he was going through some kind of difficulty or trial, ‘My grace is sufficient for you’. And this is a reminder for each one of us, his grace is in plentiful supply, we will turn to this in the Scripture in the next devotion.

It reaches me! It reaches me!

Wondrous grace! It reaches me!

Pure, exhaustless, ever flowing,

Wondrous grace! It reaches me!

Mary D. James RH 339 MM 323

THURSDAY January 18^th

Romans 1:7b

‘Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.’

After writing about the peace of God in the previous devotion, I turned to look at Paul’s introductory remarks to the church at Rome, recalling that when he wrote his letters he wished or sought to bestow something of both the grace and the peace of God upon the believers. I wonder how often, if at all, have we greeted someone in the same way, ‘Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ’.

Paul had come to understand something of the value of the grace and peace of God and its power as it worked in his own life that he saw the benefit of speaking it over their lives.

Notice the other occasions:

To Corinth in 1 Corinthians 1:3 ‘Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.’

To Corinth in 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatia in Galatians 1:3, Ephesus in Ephesians 1:2, Philippi in Philippians 1:2, Thessalonica in 2 Thessalonians 1:2 and in Philemon 1:3 ‘Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.’

To Colossae in Colossians 1:2 ‘Grace to you and peace from God our Father.’

To Thessalonica in 1 Thessalonians 1:1 ‘Grace to you and peace.’

To Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:2 and 2 Timothy 1:2 ‘Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.’

To Titus, 1:4 ‘Grace and peace from God the father and Christ Jesus our Saviour.’

It looks like Timothy needed a little bit of mercy as well! Well thank God that mercy there was great and grace was free!

You may remember that Peter also wished grace and peace upon his readers, in both instances using the phrase ‘May grace and peace be multiplied to you.’

Looking back to the previous devotion, we probably readily accept that we need the peace of God, which you will recall transcends all understanding, but we also need the grace of God and as was the case with Timothy the mercy of God.

We still live in a fallen world, temptation and trials all around us, a world that is full of hopelessness and despair, a world that if we are not too careful can begin to consume us and to overwhelm us, but we need to be of good cheer, reminding ourselves that Jesus has overcome, he has triumphed, he is victorious and he offers his grace, his peace and his mercy to each one of us, we need to come daily to the throne of grace to accept it and to receive it. For in coming to the throne and in receiving our daily provision of grace, peace and mercy we will be able to stand firm when those all around us are seemingly falling apart.

And who knows those falling apart around us as they become overwhelmed with the perplexities of life will see the difference in us, and we will be able to share with them the glorious hope of the wonderful good news of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

WEDNESDAY January 17^th

Philippians 4:7

‘And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.’

In today’s devotion we continue with one of the verses from yesterday, which Paul writes to the Philippian believers to remind them of the peace of God.

Prior to going to the Cross, Jesus told the disciples that he would give them peace, and it wasn’t any old peace, it was going to be a particular peace that could not and still cannot be found anywhere else, it was going to be the peace that Paul speaks of here, ‘the peace of God’. This is what Jesus had said ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.’ (John 14:27) You will remember that this chapter starts off with Jesus saying ‘Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me’, our believing in Jesus is the means by which we receive the peace of God, and as Paul says, it transcends all understanding, we cannot understand it, in fact we could also say we do not deserve it, but we know we have received it.

Firstly, through reason of the new birth, we have peace with God—our sin which had separated us from God has been dealt with, blotted out and therefore we are reconciled into a position of harmony, peace with God—and as a result we also come to know what it is to have peace from God.

Going back to the dialogue that Jesus had with his disciples, he also said to them ‘In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world’, this is good news for us, especially in the troubling times in which we find ourselves living, but what makes this even better news is that Jesus immediately prior to making this statement also said ‘I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.’ (John 16:33)

Now we know that the disciples faced tribulation through the various trials and the intense suffering many of them had to undergo for the sake of the gospel, and they persevered and one of the reasons they persevered would have been as a result of the peace that they had found in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We may not undergo such severe trails and tribulation as the disciples did, but with whatever we do go through, the peace of God which transcends all understanding is available to each one of us, to enable our hearts and our minds to be guarded, to be kept safe in and through Christ Jesus.