Category: Devotions

TUESDAY 5th

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

NIV (vv23-24) – ‘May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.’

ESV (vv23-24) – ‘Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.’

Today brings us to an end at our look at 1 Thessalonians, we will continue tomorrow by going straight into 2 Thessalonians.

The call to holiness has been given in this epistle, and of our own strength we would struggle and often fail, and so Paul brings a final word of salutation, a closing statement in which he seeks to ask that God will help us in this matter, ‘May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. . .’ The work of sanctification is an ongoing work, as we seek God to help us, he will and he will also enable us to abstain from every form of evil, and enable us to become more holy, more Christlike until that day of the Lord’s appearing takes place when we the Church will be presented to Christ as a bride without spot and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:27) Paul also asks that the whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless, that is that the whole being, everything about us will be kept so that we will be ready for that wonderful day, the coming of our Lord Jesus. Paul then concludes, ‘He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it’.

God is faithful, he has saved us, he has and continues to bless us, he has provided so much for us in this life and that which is yet to come, and as we continue in him, he keeps us, therefore this must demand from us that we remain faithful to him as well. We play our part and walk in obedience, we walk as we sing in the hymn, trusting as the days go by.

Although this has been all about 1 Thessalonians, I close by quoting from Jude, ‘Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.’

MONDAY 4th

1 Thessalonians 5:16-22

NIV (vv16-22) – ‘Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt, but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.’

ESV (vv16-22) – ‘Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.’

We will continue from Friday’s devotion with the remaining four instructions in these few verses.

Do not quench the Spirit – there is another verse in Ephesians 4:30 that says ‘And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.’ It is important that we allow the Holy Spirit to do what he wants to do in our lives as individuals, also in our gathering together as a fellowship of believers, we need to always be open to the leading and the promptings of the Holy Spirit, allowing him to minister among us.

Do not despise prophecies, but test everything – this instruction is so important, and it is essential that it is not split into two, so that we follow the first part, ‘do not despise prophecies’ and ignore the second ‘but test everything’. Prophecy must never be a free for all, carried out in an ad-hoc way, but prophecy should always be given in a context where it can be tested by others, prophecy is a gift of the Holy Spirit and like the other gifts of the Spirit must never be left open to abuse, they are gifts to be treasured and used in a way that brings both encouragement to the body of Christ and glory to God

Hold fast what is good – If we have anything good in life, we want to hold on to it and treasure it, and when it comes to the good things of God, we need to hold on to them, there is another sense in that holding fast can mean that we ensure that we are anchored firmly to all that is good, that is to all that is linked to our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and to God as our heavenly Father. Keep hold, don’t let go, do not allow anything or anyone to come and steal from you or to take you away from all that is yours in Christ Jesus. To help us in this way we are then told to:

Abstain from every form of evil – that is keep our lives pure, don’t play with fire, don’t get entangled with the affairs and the sinful pleasures of the world, keep ourselves wholly for the Lord Jesus, to be his and his alone.

FRIDAY October 1st

1 Thessalonians 5:16-22

NIV (vv16-22) – ‘ Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt, but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.’

ESV (vv16-22) – ‘Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.’

There is so much contained in these few verses, they are like short instructions to the believers, and we will just quickly look at each and add a corresponding thought over the next two devotions.

Rejoice always – we all go through circumstances in which we would find it difficult to rejoice, those difficult and challenging moments, those times of loss and heartbreak and the list could be added to, but there is something unique about being a Christian and it is that even in the darkest moments we can know what it is to rejoice, for it is in those dark moments that we feel the presence of God in such powerful ways to cheer us and encourage us. Yes, probably we all  have to gear ourselves up to rejoice in difficult circumstances , but when we do, we do begin to experience the presence of God in powerful ways. In Philippians 4:4 we read ‘Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.’ In fact, as you continue it says in verse 5 ‘The Lord is at hand, do not be anxious about anything . . .’ which is a help for us to understand that in the middle of our trying circumstances the Lord is there with us, in the Old Testament we read ‘The joy of the Lord is your strength’ (Nehemiah 8:10) may we learn to experience what it truly means to ‘rejoice always’ and as a result know the strength of the Lord.

Pray without ceasing – this is a reminder that we should constantly be a prayerful people. It doesn’t mean we have to be on our knees 24/7, it simply means that we go about our daily routine and business in a prayerful manner, we can be in constant communion and connection with God 24/7. Prayer is the souls sincere desire, uttered or unexpressed, the motion of a hidden fire, that trembles in the breast. Prayer is the burden of a sigh, the falling of a tear, the upward glancing of the eye, when none but God is near.

Give thanks in all circumstances – Why? Because this is the will of God for us.

Does this mean it is God’s will for us to give thanks in all circumstances, or does it mean we give thanks for all our circumstances because we accept our circumstances are all a part of God’s will? It means both. If we have handed our lives over to the Lord Jesus Christ then we believe that as we follow him, he is directing not only our paths, but all our circumstances. He has a will for each one of us and as we will have surrendered our lives over to that will, therefore whether what we go through seems good to us or bad, we trust Him, and continually give thanks, knowing that ‘for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.’ (Romans 8:28)

May we be encouraged just as we are concerning the fact that Jesus is coming again, (yesterday’s devotion) that until he comes, everything else is also in his hands, he is in control, he is working everything out and nothing, absolutely nothing will ever separate from the love of God those who have fully surrendered their lives to him.

THURSDAY 30th

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 – 5:1-11

NIV (4v18, 5:11) – ‘Therefore encourage one another with these words.’

‘Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.’

ESV (4v18, 5:11) – ‘Therefore encourage one another with these words.’

‘Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.’

Originally the verses we have today would have been one whole section before chapter and verses were added at some point to aid our navigation around the Word of God, and this whole section is about the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and twice Paul says, ‘encourage one another’. The subject or doctrine of the second coming is something that should continually encourage us as believers, the wonderful truth that Jesus, the one who is our Saviour and Lord is coming again, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly awaiting him.

It is a subject of hope, for it reminds us that death or the grave is not the end, those who have died as believers, have died knowing that the day will come when they will be raised again, and as Paul says, for those of us who have believed and will still be alive on that resurrection day, we will be caught up so that together (that is the dead in Christ and those living and waiting for Christ) we will meet the Lord in the air – and so will we always be with the Lord, he will never leave us again! We will continually, constantly, and eternally be found in his presence, wherever Jesus will be, there also we will be. The gospel itself is good news, and this aspect of the gospel is also good and exciting news, Jesus is coming again, as we see things happening around us that would cause us to be alarmed and dismayed, we can be encouraged that it is a sure sign that it cannot be long before the One whom our soul longs for will come to the clouds and take us up to be with himself. The challenge today is this, will we be ready? Will you dear reader be ready, for Jesus is only coming to take to himself those who already belong to him, those who have come to the Cross in repentance and have been washed in his soul cleansing blood, anyone else will be left behind and will face the wrath of God as it is poured out through the period of great tribulation which is to come upon the earth. I’ve mentioned it before that the late David Wilkerson, founder of the Teen Challenge organisation used to say that the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ will be a glad sad day, a glad day for the believer, a sad day for the unbeliever. Make sure you are ready, as I encourage us today that Jesus Christ is coming again, may I also challenge those of you who are reading this and are not yet ready, give your life over to the Lord Jesus Christ, allow him to become your Saviour and Lord so that you too can be encouraged with this wonderful truth, that Jesus is coming again, and be ready, what a day, glorious day that will be.

TUESDAY 28th

1 Thessalonians 3:6-13

NIV (vv11-13) – ‘Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.’

ESV (vv11-13) – ‘Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you, 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.’

In 1 Corinthians 13:13 we read ‘So now faith, hope and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.’ In the very next chapter and the first verse, Paul continues ‘Pursue love . . .’ The quality, virtue  or attribute of love is essential in the body of Christ, among men and women who have been born again by the Spirit of God, it is out of God’s great love for fallen humanity that he put into action his great plan of redemption, it is out of his great love for us that Jesus was willing to lay down his life for us, ‘The Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me’ (Galatians 2:20) and this level or quality of love should be reflected in the Church, Paul again says, ‘. . . and walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.’ (Ephesians 5:1)

In our text today Paul is encouraging the Church at Thessalonica to allow the love that they already have, to increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, this infers that the love they had for each other within the context of the Church setting needed to increase and to also overflow to those who were outside, that is everyone else. How well is our love overflowing, firstly to those who we are in fellowship with together, but secondly towards those outside, those who need to be reached with the love of God himself. He can reach them through us!

Hello All, here we are back with my daily devotionals after my two week break God Bless

MONDAY 27th

Ecclesiastes 3:1

NIV – ‘There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens . . .’

ESV – ‘For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven . . .’

Lamentations 3:22-23

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.’

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.’

It will be a little over two weeks since our last devotion, we are nearing the end of another month and Autumn is upon us, I am not too keen on the fact that it is now going to start getting colder, as I do not like the cold,  but I do love to see the changing colours in nature as the leaves turn to the glorious autumnal colours before finally dropping to the ground providing nutrition for the soil and to make way for next year’s growth. It is also the time to begin deciding what bulbs to plant and where to plant them to prepare for another hopefully beautiful display of colour in the springtime. Of course, before they will appear and display their beautiful colours again, we will have to go through another winter, even colder!

But these cycles of the seasons are essential to allow for what is necessary for nature and its life to continue, and the words of the hymn that we know well so well remind us that in it and through it all is displayed the faithfulness of God,

Summer and winter,

Spring-time and harvest,

Sun, moon and stars

In their courses above,

Join with all nature in manifold witness

To thy great faithfulness,

Mercy and love.

Great is thy faithfulness,

Great is thy faithfulness,

Morning by morning

New mercies I see,

All I have needed

Thy hand hath provided –

Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me!

May we constantly remind ourselves of the faithfulness of God, he blesses us in the natural and the physical realm, for which we are grateful, but he also perhaps more importantly continually blesses us in the spiritual realm, he daily provides for our souls, he feeds us, he cares for us, he leads us and guides us, he gives us the strength to face the battles or struggles we may face each day, great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me. Maybe you feel like you are going through an autumn period in your life at this moment, it may even feel like a cold hard winter experience, but remember God is with you and as you continue to trust in him, spring is around the corner, you will feel rejuvenated again as he ministers to your inner being. Cling on to his faithfulness, in the words of another song, O no, you never let go, Lord, you never let go of me.’

Tomorrow we will return to continue the devotions from 1 Thessalonians.

THURSDAY 9^th

1 Thessalonians 2:17-20

NIV (vv17-20) – ‘But, brothers and sisters, when we were orphaned by being separated from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan blocked our way. For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy.’

ESV (vv17-20) – ‘But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavoured the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?  For you are our glory and joy.’

I love the emphasis in these verses today that show to us the love, care, and the concern that Paul had for the believers in Thessalonica. He had been torn away from them, in Acts 17 it records that a riot had broken out because of Jason and others believing and verse 10 tells us ‘The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea . . .’ and Paul and Silas eagerly wanted to visit them again, ‘but Satan hindered us’

This speaks to me of their longing to have fellowship again with those who had believed, there was a bond of unity formed among them, that had been broken physically but not spiritually—I wonder if there is something that has happened in the Churches over the last eighteen months that is similar to this, the pandemic has hindered physical fellowship, we have remained in some way connected spiritually through the devotions and the video, or for churches that have used zoom and other means, but for some, since restrictions were lifted we have been connected together again in physical fellowship, but for others that connection still needs to be made, this is a general overview, for in conversation I have discovered that some Churches are still to meet again, some still have many restrictions in place, and many believers are yet to reconnect with the Church family to which they belong. Something is hindering them!

Notice Paul says in our text ‘we endeavoured more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face’, forgive me for using this devotion to express the same desire, but for us as a fellowship, how much desire to we really have, to be in the place of fellowship together, and as Paul put it, to see face to face? We have moved out of restrictions, we are able to meet together and we are slowly returning to a Church programme, as the pastor, shepherd, on behalf of the leadership team can I encourage you all to consider again the importance of regular fellowship, of being together, face to face, and I pray that the eagerness to be in the house of the Lord will become strong in each one of us and as we move forward.  If you have not yet returned to fellowship since the pandemic restrictions took hold, consider the next step which is an important step of ‘not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging  one another, and all the more as you see the day approaching.’  Hebrews 10:25

In the verses following Paul our text today put this ‘For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labour would be in vain.’ Let us all ensure that we do not allow the tempter to tempt us and keep us away from God’s house.’

This will be my last devotion for two weeks, I am having some holiday time and will pick up again from Monday September 27^th, by then we will have resumed our full Church programme again, let me remind you of the details as from Sunday September 19th

Sunday at 10:30 am Worship, Communion and Ministry

Sunday at 6:00 pm (note the earlier time) Worship and Gospel

Wednesday at 7:00 pm Prayer meeting as we have been meeting over the last few months

Friday at 7:00 pm (note the earlier time) Bible Ministry

Come and join with us, if reconnection needs to be made then let us make it so that we will be encouraged together.

WEDNESDAY 8^th

1 Thessalonians 2:13-16

NIV (v13) – ‘And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.’

ESV (v13) – ‘And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.’

This is such an important verse regarding the preaching of the Word of God, and the first importance is that we recognise and accept it as the Word of God, secondly is the importance that we keep it as the Word of God and not seek to reinterpret it in such a way that it becomes the Word of man. The third point we notice is that the Word of God was at work in the hearts of those who believed it.

It is an opportunity to remind ourselves once again that the Bible we hold in our hands (or read on our electronic devices) is the very words of God to mankind, living and powerful words that can show us the way of salvation and the way in which we should live our lives as God’s children. We are reminded in 2 Timothy 3:16 that the Word of God is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, the result being that the man or the woman of God might be complete and equipped for every good work.

This was the Word that Paul had preached and the Thessalonians had received, this was the Word that had given them life, this was the Word that was changing them, this was the Word that was encouraging them. Now we know that when Paul preached to them they didn’t have the actual physical copy of the New Testament Scripture that we have today, but what he was proclaiming was that which we know have as contained in the Scripture, for he was proclaiming the truth concerning Jesus, the truth concerning the things of God, and as he continued his ministry he wrote the letters we have to read which became the Word of God for us to have and hold, to read and absorb, to pay attention to and live according to. The spoken word became The Word and as a result we must respect it as that and always maintain its honour in our preaching of it.

TUESDAY 7^th

1 Thessalonians 2:9-12

NIV (v12) – ‘For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.’

ESV (v12) – ‘For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.’

The apostle and his companions had an amazing level of concern for those who had become the members of the various Churches they had planted around the region, they wanted to impart into their lives as much as they possibly could concerning the outliving or outworking of the gospel, it wasn’t a case of get saved and work it all out for yourself, no, it was a case of we will encourage, comfort, you and urge you to continue in the way so that you will lives worthy of God, that is until you really become the people God wants all to become who have responded by faith to the gospel. He says that they had dealt with the new believers as a father dealt with his own children.

In Acts 17 they had initially spent three sabbaths reasoning with the people in Thessalonica concerning the gospel, in the previous verses here in 1 Thessalonians we read that during that time, Paul and those with him ‘worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed the gospel to you’ such was their desire to preach, teach and reach the Thessalonians, such was their love for the lost, for the souls of men and women.

The phrase ‘to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel’ is an important one, and as a father (and a mother) in the natural would seek to inspire, encourage and urge a baby born into their home to grow and mature and develop in ways which would bring credit to them, ways that the child would learn and follow and thus be good examples and a good reflection of a balanced stable family unit, Paul wanted to urge the believers to walk in a manner that is a good reflection of what it really means to be an individual who has been called into the family of God, and this should be the earnest desire of each one of us today who also have been called into the Kingdom of God or the family of God, to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel. May I urge, encourage each one of us who is reading this devotion, to see how we walk as believers, that we do not walk as unbelievers walk, enjoying the fleeting pleasure of this world, but walk in ways that are worthy of the gospel, ways that give a good reflection to the world of what it really means to us to belong to the family of God, the household of faith. Paul urges the same to the Ephesian believers in Ephesians ‘I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.’ (4:1-6)

MONDAY 6th

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

NIV (v4) – ‘On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts.’

ESV (v4) – ‘. . . but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.’

It was difficult to decide which verse to highlight today within these verses, for as much as they were applicable to Paul all that many years ago, they are so applicable for the day in which we are living in. We live in an age of celebrity, and it has crept rather quickly into the Church where individuals have built up a following for themselves by pandering either to the culture of the age we are living in, or by softening the message they proclaim, or as we read in Scripture because we have reached a definite point in the history of the Church where the time has come ‘when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.’ (2 Timothy 4:3) Thank God for those who still do stand-up as did Paul and those working alongside him for the purity of the gospel message and the sound preaching of the undiluted Word of God.

There are four words found in the ESV in verses 4-8 and I will put them in this order, greed, glory, gospel and gentle

In verse 5 Paul says ‘We never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness’, they preached the gospel for the gospel’s sake, out of compassion for the lost souls, they preached it without flattery and without a pretext for greed, in other words the gospel to Paul was not like it has become for so many today a money-making machine! We all know about these ministries, where if you sow a seed into a particular ministry, you are promised to get so much more back, or maybe they will pray for you, depending on how much time they have, people give and give out of their little, while all the time they themselves (the ministries) are getting richer and richer. We need to avoid these ministries like the plague, we need to be wise in our decision making regarding the ministries we choose to support, and first and foremost the local Church should be the starting point, the place where the tithe is given or sent.

In verse 6 he says, ‘Nor did we seek glory from the people, whether from you or others . . .’ Paul was not a glory seeker, he was not interested in becoming a Christian celebrity, his desire was for the gospel to be shared, souls to be saved. In fact, if we go to 1 Corinthians 3 and verses 1-9 Paul refutes celebrity status and he calls it childish behaviour, and he calls it the way of the flesh, what the Church should be doing and most certainly what the preacher should be doing is point to God the Father and to his Son the Lord Jesus Christ and give them all the glory. (‘So neither he who plants nor he who reaps is anything, but only God gives the growth’ 1 Corinthians 3 v7)

The third word is gospel, Paul states that they had been approved by God and entrusted with the gospel, (4) therefore they were determined not to please man, but to please God – this is such an important point for todays culture within the Church, we who have been entrusted with the gospel, must not soften it or leave out those things that are considered politically or culturally incorrect today, or unpalatable, we must not water it down, we must not try to redefine it, we must present it using the fourth word in a gentle(v7) and yet persuasive way, being gentle doesn’t mean leaving the difficult bits out, it means delivering it with honesty and integrity, knowing we are presenting truth and the only hope for mankind with a sincere love for the lost, and with a determined desire to allow the Holy Spirit to work in the hearts of the hearers and to bring them under the conviction of sin.

May we follow the example of Paul, be faithful to what God has entrusted to us and seek that it is He gets all the glory.