Category: Devotions

MONDAY 3^rd

Psalm 108

NIV (v13) ‘With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.’

ESV (v13) ‘With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.’ 

We return today to the Psalms. David commences this psalm by reaffirming again that his heart is steadfast and that he will give thanks to the LORD among the people for God’s steadfast love is great above the heavens and his faithfulness reaches to the clouds, he then declares ‘Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth.’ He then continues that as a result of his exalting God, ‘That your beloved ones may be delivered, give salvation by your right hand and answer me!’

If you look at the next few verses, David knew that God had promised victory, but he had felt that the LORD had rejected him and his people and that God had not even been with his armies as they went out to fight, is it possible that David and the nation had not allowed God to be high over all, and he had come to the place where he realised that they as a nation and himself as an individual needed to acknowledge God once again and needed to give to him his rightful place, and it would only be out of this that they would gain the victory that had been promised? He then prays ‘Oh grant us help against the foe, for vain is the salvation of men.’ He then makes a bold statement, he knew that in placing God at the centre and above all things, that ‘With God we will do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.’I wonder how often we try to do things in our own strength, and we seem to be getting nowhere, making little or no progress and even feeling that we are in a place of defeat, we have sought to do without first acknowledging God and giving him his rightful place in our lives, it is as we see from this psalm only when we exalt the Lord God, and allow him to be in control of our lives, allowing Jesus to be both Saviour and Lord that we will confidently be able to say as David did, ‘With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our enemies.’ It is true not only for us personally but also as a fellowship, collectively together, that is why we should continually, regularly be coming before the Lord, realising our own weaknesses and imperfections, and seeking his face as we exalt him, giving him his rightful place among us, allowing his power to be at work in us and through us so that as we seek to do spiritual battle in our community we will do valiantly, and God will tread down our enemies.

SATURDAY January 1st

A very Happy New Year to all our readers. As we have stepped from 2021 into 2022, we do so, knowing that God is for us, and that God is with us.

Psalm 133

ESV (v1,3) ‘Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity . . . for there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.’

Where did 2021 go, it seems to have gone so fast, it seems only like a month or two ago we were stepping into 2021, wondering what on earth it would bring, and now we stand at the commencement of 2022 wondering what this year will bring. I guess we all thought by the end of 2021 the pandemic would be a story from the past, surely it couldn’t last much longer and yet it is still a reality of what we face today, can it last much longer? Who knows? Well, there is one who does know, and he is the one who controls all things, he knows not only what lies ahead of us this new month, this new year but every day that he gives us to live while we are here on earth. And it behoves us to spend every one of those days wisely, redeeming the time, for we do not know how many days we have allotted to us.

Yes, the days are difficult, yes, the day are spiritually dark, but we hope not in what the world has to offer or would seek to try to offer us, we trust in God, we trust him, and we step into this new year knowing that as we place our hand into his hands, we are placing them into safe hands. He will walk with us through 2022 and as we walk with him, he will continue to lead us and to direct us, both in a personal way and in a collective way as we continue to fellowship together as Emmanuel Pentecostal Church.

So, at this the beginning of a new year, renew your trust in the one who kept you through 2021, to all who share in our devotions, through text, email or online my prayer is that we will continue to know God as our strength and shield, and know his enabling grace to keep hold of the faith and to keep pursuing the paths of righteousness. May it be a year of blessing and for us as a Church, a year of favour upon us, leading us into a season of growth as we continue to call upon him, for his will to be done among us.

FRIDAY 31^st

Lamentation 3:22-26

NIV ‘Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.’

ESV ‘The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.’

I ended the devotion yesterday with the final verse in Psalm 107, ‘Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the LORD.’ As we have come to the end of yet another year, may we consider the steadfast love of the Lord and of his faithfulness toward us yet again.

Lamentations reminds us that it is only because of God’s great love that we are not consumed, it is intended to place a picture before us of a holy God, contrasted to that of sinful humanity in his state of utter depravity, we don’t deserve God’s grace and mercy, we deserve to be consumed, obliterated, and yet because of his great love toward us he reaches out to us, he saves us, he forgives us, he restores us, he allows us to come before him, with hearts that have been washed and cleansed, and daily he allows us to receive of his benefits, to receive from his hand of blessing, therefore we should cry out, great is thy faithfulness, O Lord to me’.

As we look back over 2021 each one of us will look back in different ways as we will recall God’s goodness and faithfulness. We will recall how he has delivered, how he has healed, how he has provided, how he has protected, how he has restored, how he has been with us as we have gone through a storm, or through a bereavement, or through a difficult situation, he has been there, he has been with us and he has brought us through—great is thy faithfulness O Lord, we lift our hearts, we lift our hands, we lift our voices, we thank you, we honour you and we bow the knee before you.

THURSDAY 30^th

Psalm 107

Scriptures in devotion

It wasn’t my intention to visit this psalm so many times! But here we are again, and I continue from where I left off yesterday:

In verse 19 they cried and verse 20 says, ‘He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.’ Wow, this is what salvation is all about, God sent his Word, in our text it is speaking of God speaking his word, for us today God has spoken by sending the Word, who is none other than Jesus himself, God spoke to three of the disciples at the time of the transfiguration and said, ‘This is my beloved Son, listen to him’. John the gospel writer reminds us that ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God’ he continues to say, ‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.’ God has sent his Word to heal us! To heal us from the sin sickness of the soul, to cause us to be made alive again, to grant us new life, life that is abundant and eternal. We thank God for his written word for this is like medicine to our souls, but we also thank him for the Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ who not only came to set us free but to make us whole once again.

In verse 28 they cried and verses 29-28 continues ‘He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.’

We know from the gospel writers that Jesus had the power to still the storm, as the wind blew and the waves tossed the boat, he stood up and cried ‘Peace be still’ and the storm ceased, calm returned. Jesus is the Prince of peace, and as we yield our lives over to him, he will come and speak his peace into our troubled hearts, into our troubled souls and even into our troubled consciences. He is the Prince of peace, he comes to give peace which is unobtainable anywhere else. No religion, no ism, no guru, no religious leader, or any other thing can offer and give the peace that comes through knowing and having a personal and living relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. If your life feels like it is being buffeted from the storms of life, allow Jesus to step into your life and to speak his peace, know what it is like as the verses say to be steered into a haven that is safe, because he is with you.

Finally, from this psalm, the conclusion is the same in all the scenarios, they were to thank the LORD for his steadfast love and for his wondrous works to the children of man! So, I conclude again with the final verse, ‘Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the LORD.’

TUESDAY 28^th

Psalm 107

Scriptures in devotion

I have returned to Psalm 107 again today, and just want to highlight what this psalm has to say about the places from which the LORD had redeemed, I will highlight some of the verses.

Verses 4-5 – ‘Some wandered in desert wastes finding no way to a city to dwell in, hungry and thirsty, their souls fainted within them.’

Verses 10-11 – ‘Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons, for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High.’

Verses 17-18 – ‘Some were fools through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities suffered affliction; they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death.’

Verses 23-24, 27 – ‘Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters; they saw the deeds of the LORD, his wondrous works in the deep . . . they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits’ end.’

The psalm then ends with these words, ‘Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the LORD.’ (v43)

As I read these verses, I see something that portrays what men and women outside of God are like today, wandering in desert places, sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, fettered by addictions that have gripped them, foolish though their determination to continue in sinful ways, and many reeling and staggering around in a drunken stupor or a drug induced stupor. It seems that all hope is lost, all sensibility is gone, unrighteousness is the order of the day, many have fallen into a snare that has been placed before them by those who seek through their own stupidity and sinfulness to be wanting to ensnare others to follow into the way that they have gone.

As I write this devotion the news that has been making some of the headlines is about the County Lines drug pandemic, when we lived in North Wales, you could go into the town centre of one of the local towns and see plainly how this evil had trapped so many, you would literally see those who were in a stupor, dazed, out of it, because of the evil of the drug world, and this particular town is probably no different to many.

What can be done? Firstly, we know that God has done something, as we learned in yesterday’s devotion, he has sent his Son to be the Redeemer, the One who can set the captive free, the One who can take away the sin, the addictions, the drunkenness and turn lives around, transforming them by his amazing grace. We may see lives and think impossible, but God’s grace can reach down to the deepest hell, a song is playing at this very moment that I am typing these words, ‘Ah LORD God . . . nothing is impossible with thee’. We can say NO ONE is impossible to you.

Secondly, we can play our part, we can pray, we can seek to show the love of God, and even if we do not feel that we can go to where those who are deeply affected by these things are found, we can support those who do so, organizations like ‘Teen Challenge’ who have done so much the world over to reach out to those addicted in so many ways.

Thirdly, we must share the good news of the gospel!

This psalm, time and time again is testimony to how God met the need of those who cried out to him, we pray that many more in this day will see where they are as sinners and will cry out to God and know what it is to be redeemed by his grace. I will return to this psalm again tomorrow.

MONDAY 27^th

Psalm 107

NIV (vv2-3) ‘Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story—those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.’

ESV (vv2-3) ‘Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.’

We return over the next few days to the Psalms, our psalm today, 107 is a psalm that is an exhortation first to the redeemed of the Lord to give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. The verse that I have chosen today says, ‘whom he has redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.’  Whatever application this psalm had when it was composed, it seems to also have a prophetic application, looking forward to the harvest of souls that will be the redeemed of the Lord as a result of Christ’s coming into this world to save sinners.

We have just gone through another advent season, where we have been reminded that Christ came into the world, and his purpose in coming was to save sinners, this would happen through his giving of himself at Calvary, so that his shed blood would ransom men and women, redeem us, and bring us to a position of reconciliation with God the Father. As a result of his atoning death, he has redeemed from all the four corners of the world, as the text says, redeemed from trouble, and gathered in from all the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. What an incredible harvest of souls, sinners that have been saved through faith by his amazing grace, and we see in John’s revelation a wonderful preview of all those who have been ransomed, redeemed by his blood, standing around the throne: ‘After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”’ (Revelation 7:9-10) ‘And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”’ (Revelation 5:9–10)

I must ask today as you read this devotion, do you know in your heart if you are going to be in that number gathered around the throne of God, it will only be possible if you have put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to be your Saviour and Lord, you can do this by admitting you are a sinner who needs saving, and believing in your heart that Christ died an atoning death on your behalf when he went to Calvary, and by allowing him to come and to live in your life, and in return you living for the glory of his name.

You can say this simple prayer ‘Dear Lord Jesus I recognise that I am a sinner and in need of salvation, I accept that you went to Calvary and suffered the punishment for my sin on my behalf and I ask you to come into my life, to cleanse me by your precious blood and to make me into a new person. I ask that you help me by the power of the Holy Spirit to live differently, to live in a way that is pleasing to God, help me to connect with others who have made the same decision so that I can grow in my knowledge of you and be strengthened in my faith. Amen.’

If you have said this prayer and meant it, and want to know more or want to be connected to a Church, (which is important) please email me at pastorepcgateshead@gmail.com and I will seek to find a church for you in the community where you are living. If you have read this and live in the North-East of England, you will find us at Emmanuel Pentecostal Church, Caris Street, Gateshead, NE8 3XD www.emmanuelpentecostalchurch.uk

SUNDAY 26^th

Matthew 2:1-12

NIV (v11) ‘On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.’

ESV (v11) ‘And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him.

Yes, I know it is Sunday, but again for this Christmas weekend I want to bring a short Sunday devotion. The carol I have chosen today is another well-known one and favourite of many, O come all ye faithful.

O come, all ye faithful,

Joyful and triumphant!

O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;

Come and behold him

Born the King of Angels:

O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

Christ the Lord.

God of God,

Light of Light,

Lo, he abhors not the Virgin’s womb;

Very God,

Begotten, not created:

Sing, choirs of angels,

Sing in exultation,

Sing, all ye citizens of Heaven above!

Glory to God

In the highest:

Yea, Lord, we greet thee,

Born this happy morning;

Jesus, to thee be glory given!

Word of the Father,

Now in flesh appearing!

The message today is simple and clear, it is still the ’Lord’s Day’, and even though it is the holiday season, some may still be able to get to a place of worship, others may not owing to holiday arrangements or commitments, but it is still our responsibility to take the instruction from the chorus, ‘O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.’

The shepherds went to find him and worship, the wise men went to find him and worship him, no doubt others who soon heard the news as to who this baby was probably went to worship him, and we who have come to know him, not just as a baby in the manger, the man who went about doing good, and as the one who took our place on the Cross, we know him as the resurrected Christ, we know him as the one who has been given a name which is above every other name, we know him as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, we know him as our friend, we know him as our Saviour, and with desire in our hearts we ‘come and join the faithful, to worship the Lord’ ‘O come, let us adore him, for he is worthy, Christ the Lord.’

Even if you are not going to a place of worship, this morning, make some time, take some time out to ‘worship Christ the Lord’ for he alone is worthy.

SATURDAY 25^th

Isaiah 7:14

NIV (v14) ‘Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.’

ESV (v14) ‘Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.’

Yes, I know it’s a Saturday, but it’s not just any Saturday, its Christmas morning, and although I don’t usually send a devotion out on a Saturday or a Sunday, I will be doing so this weekend. Firstly, to wish all our readers both from Emmanuel Pentecostal Church and those who read either through text, email, or the internet a very Happy Christmas. May you truly know God’s peace and joy today as we celebrate the birth of our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ.

Some of us will meet, as we join at the Church for our Christmas morning service, others may not be able to do so, but wherever we are and during all that we will be doing on this festive day it is important that we spend some time giving thanks from grateful hearts to God for sending Jesus, and to Jesus himself, to thank him for coming.

Imagine knowing as a baby that the purpose for your coming into this world was to die, and not just an ordinary kind of death through natural causes but by the means of an awful, cruel, excruciating way, that of crucifixion, and yet this is exactly what was happening to the One whose birth we are remembering today.

In Philippians 2 we are reminded that although He was equal with God, he made himself of no reputation, humbling himself, by taking on the form of a servant and by becoming obedient unto death, even death on a cross, the Hebrew writer says that for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and what was the joy set before him? It was seeing you and me, those who are the redeemed of the Lord gathered with him around the throne, seeing us as men and women who had been steeped in sin, yet washed by his precious blood.

May we never forget that it cost enormously for the first Christmas morning to happen, it cost enormously for the sins of the world to be atoned for, so let us make sure that today of all days we have hearts that are full of gratitude, for when Jesus came, he had you and he had me on his mind, for he came into this world to save sinners. The song for today is a simple one, but so true:

Emmanuel, Emmanuel, His name is called Emmanuel,

God with us, revealed in us, His name is called Emmanuel.

FRIDAY 24^th

Micah 5:2

NIV (v2) ‘But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.’

ESV (v) ‘But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.’

Today I have chosen ‘O little town of Bethlehem’

O little town of Bethlehem

How still we see Thee lie

Above Thy deep and dreamless sleep

The silent stars go by

Yet in thy dark streets shineth

The everlasting light

The hopes and fears of all the years

Are met in Thee tonight

For Christ is born of Mary

And, gathered all above

While mortals sleep, the angels keep

Their watch of wondering love

O morning stars, together

Proclaim the Holy birth

And praises sing to God the King

And peace to men on earth

How silently, how silently

The wondrous gift is given

So God imparts to human hearts

The blessings of His heaven

No ear may hear His coming

But in this world of sin

Where meek souls will receive Him

Still the dear Christ enters in

O Holy Child of Bethlehem

Descend to us, we pray

Cast out our sin and enter in

Be born in us today

We hear the Christmas angels

The great glad tidings tell

O come to us, abide with us

Our Lord Emmanuel

I like how verse three of this carol says, ‘How silently, how silently, the wondrous gift is given’, it would seem that in all of the rush and the hustle and bustle that would have been going on in Bethlehem that night, as couples and families came to register in the census, perhaps having parties and catching up as they may not have met together for a while, God was at work, not out in the public square, not on some stage set up for all to see, but in the space that was provided for the donkeys or the sheep, a stable, maybe set back from everyone and everything else, and in that setting, the humblest setting of all, the eternal Son of God arrived and was placed in a manger. But it wasn’t quite so silent a few miles outside the city, for to some humble shepherds sat out in the fields watching their flocks, a tremendous sight appeared in the heavens as the angel of the Lord appeared and broadcast the news to them concerning what had happened that night in the city of David. I wonder how long it took the locals to discover perhaps by word of mouth concerning what had happened? Was it kept under wraps (or at least in swaddling clothes!) until after the shepherds had been? Whatever, there is one thing for sure that after the shepherds had been it says that they went away and made known what was told them concerning this child.

May we also be willing to make known concerning the Christ child born in Bethlehem, he came silently, the Scripture says he went to the cross silently as well, but when he comes back again it will not be silent, for there is going to be the blast of a trumpet and the shout of the voice of the arch-angel, the sounds signalling the end of the day of grace, as he calls his people to be with himself. While it is still the day of grace, a time of opportunity, let’s share the good news that Christ the Saviour has come.

Ironically the manger where they laid him, would have been where the food would be placed for the animals to eat, but on this occasion, it was the One who would later call himself the Living Bread being placed in the manger, the One from whom we would be fed, and he had come to satisfy the hunger and the thirsting of our souls.

Where are you today regarding a relationship with the true and living God and with his Son the Lord Jesus Christ. This carol says in verse 4 ‘descend to us today, cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today’, you can know what it is for the Lord Jesus Christ to enter into your life, as silently as he came to Bethlehem, today he can come and make his home in your life, as you repent as the Scripture says of your sin, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and allow him to become your Saviour and Lord.