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Devotion January 25th

TUESDAY 25th

Psalm 119:16

ESV (v16) – ‘I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.’

Today’s devotion is a very simple plea, in the previous devotion I mentioned the importance of ‘hiding the Word’ in our hearts. It will only happen if we heed what the verse I have chosen today says. ‘I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.’

I have a certain number of tablets that I need to take every morning and evening owing to Crohn’s disease and guess what, I regularly forget about them, it is only because Elaine reminds me that I do take them every day! 

I wonder how often we ‘forget’ or ‘neglect’ to read the Word of God every day? We get so busy with everything else that God’s Word isn’t considered to be as important as everything else that we fill up our day with. Yes, we can catch up on the social media, that is a must, we can catch up on the news, the TV gossip and soaps, we can ensure that everything else is followed to the jot and tittle and yet ‘forget’ or ‘neglect’ God’ Word. 

The psalmist delighted so much in the Word of God that he ensured that he didn’t forget it, in the previous devotion I talked about forgetting it regarding our trying to remember it, today it is all about our forgetting it due to our neglect of reading it.

May we always hold the Word of God as not only valuable in our lives but also as essential, as essential as the air we breathe, for in it are found the words of life, may my devotion today be like Elaine’s reminder to me, ‘Don’t forget your tablets.’ I say, ‘Don’t forget your daily medicine, a daily dose of the written Word of God.’

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Devotions

Devotion January 24th

MONDAY 24th

Psalm 119:9-16 (ESV) – Section Two – Hebrew – BETH

‘How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes! With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth. In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.

I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.’

I mentioned a few devotions earlier about the young girl who had sought to memorize Psalm119, I wonder how many times we have sought to memorize portions of Scripture? I remember having to learn the section in Luke 10 on the parable of the Good Samaritan, (vv25-37) I did manage it, but would fail miserably if I tried to recite it now, I have made other attempts, I recall a time when I was reading through the Ephesian epistle multiple times with the hope of memorising it, but I failed. But even though I may not be able to recall word for word, something happened in that the Word of God has become hidden or as this psalm says, ‘stored up in my heart’ and time and time again, I have found that while preparing ministry, or devotions, or in conversation, the Word that has been stored in my heart comes to memory and can be used and quoted.

From our verses today we discover that the Word that has been read, meditated upon, or maybe memorised, becomes like a guard in our hearts and lives and helps to govern the way that we live, it helps to stop us from sinning against God, it governs our conscience and triggers spiritual awareness.

This is one of the reasons why our regular reading of the Word of God is important and essential to our Christian growth and maturity, for God speaks to us through it, he reveals his will to us through it and he shows us exactly how he wants us to be as his Children as we live in obedience to him.

Through these devotions around this psalm my prayer is that we will have a greater love for the Word of God, so that as we turn to it, perhaps more frequently to what we have been doing so, that we may find it being stored in our hearts.

Some animals, creatures spend the summer and autumn months storing food so that they can return to it in the winter months to have as a food source, to replenish and give energy, to keep them going till springtime appears again.

I have witnessed time and time again, with older Christians, those who have stored up the Word of God in their hearts, and when the winter of their life has come, perhaps they can no longer read etc. and what has been stored comes back to them, and they can quote it because they have lived by it. The stored Word gives them spiritual energy. May none of us be lacking in our later years because we have failed to store up in our earlier years the life and energy that is to be found in God’s Word.

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Devotion January 20th

THURSDAY 20th

 

Psalm 119:1-8

 

While going through this Psalm, I will only use the ESV as I quote verses.

 

ESV (vv1-8) – Section One – Hebrew – ALEPH

 

‘Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD! Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong, but walk in his ways!

 

You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.

 

I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous rules. I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me!’

 

This Psalm commences with the same word as the first Psalm, ‘Blessed’ (1:1) Both Psalms remind us that there is a blessedness linked to the Word of God and our obedience toward it.

 

In the first psalm it is concerning our love and devotion toward the Word rather than a love or devotion toward the things of the world, instead of walking, standing or sitting with those who scorn the things of God, we choose instead to delight in the ways of God and in his Word, we choose to meditate daily upon it and know that as a result we will be blessed, we will be like trees that are planted by streams of water, rooted and well fed.

 

In this the 119th psalm, it has a similar tone in that the ‘blessed’ person is the one who chooses to walk in the law of the LORD, allowing the Word to enable us to walk blamelessly in this world in which we are passing through as strangers and pilgrims on our way to the heavenly city. We choose to keep his testimonies and we choose to seek the LORD God with our whole heart.

 

The author says that God has commanded that his precepts be kept diligently, we cannot to choose to obey one day and then ignore the next, we need to have a consistency in our walk with God and in our love and obedience for his Word.

 

We have discovered that the Word of God is referenced with many different words or phrases which we looked at yesterday, but for today, for each one of us reading this devotion how about we renew our love toward the Word of God and our commitment to its place and priority in our lives as his children. This is one sure way toward being blessed, for this is the promise in the opening verses, ‘Blessed are those who keep his testimonies.’

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Devotion January 19th

WEDNESDAY 19th

Psalm 119 (Verses in devotion)

A quick glance through this Psalm, soon uncovers several different words or phrases used to describe the Word of God. Initially to those who would have read this psalm, it would have been looking back to the commandments that God had given to his people the Children of Israel which we see within the first five books, Genesis through to Deuteronomy.  Today the phrase the Word of God covers both the Old Testament and the New Testament as found in our Scriptures today. And just as the first five books would have been instructive and important to the Children of Israel so the whole Scripture is or should be to us today.

Today we will look at some of the various descriptions used for the Word of God.

In the ESV I use daily I have gone through the psalm and underlined every word that is used with reference to the Word of God, and they total up as follows: (with an example)

Commands or commandments – 23 (119:10 ‘With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!’)

Word(s) – 29 (119:57 ‘The LORD is my portion; I promise to keep your words.’)

Statutes – 22 (119:33 ‘Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end.’)

Precepts – 21 (119:56 ‘This blessing has fallen to me, that I have kept your precepts.’)

Law – 24 (119:34 ‘Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart.’)

Rules – 17 (119:102 ‘I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me.’)

Testimonies – 24 (119:125 ‘I am your servant; give me understanding, that I may know your testimonies!’)

If I also include:

Judgments – 2 (119:120 ‘My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments.’)

Promise(s) – 9 (119:38 ‘Confirm to your servant your promise, that you may be feared.’)

Ways – 2 (119:37 ‘Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.’)

That is 173 references in 176 verses! This surely emphasises how important the Word of God should be to us his people!

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Devotion December 29th

WEDNESDAY 29th

Psalm 107

Scriptures in devotion.

I want to continue in this psalm again today because yesterday I highlighted the plight of the sinner, today I want to highlight what God did for them after they cried out to him.

In verse 6 they cried, and it continues in v7 ‘He led them by a straight way till they reached a city to dwell in.’ and verse 9 ‘For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.’ This is the good news of the gospel, as we cry out to the Lord in desperation of soul, he comes, and he puts our feet on a straight path, yes, it may be a narrow path, but it leads to life everlasting, it leads to a heavenly city where we will eternally dwell, and while walking this path God satisfies the longing soul. It was Jesus who said to those listening to him on the mountain side, ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied’. Men and women will never know what true satisfaction is until they come and fully surrender their lives to the Lord Jesus Christ, maybe you are reading this today and you are seeking to get satisfaction in life, and you are trying anything and everything except Jesus, turn to him today, allow him to come and give you purpose and release the potential that God has planted within you.

In verse 13 they cried and verse 14 continues to say, ‘He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and burst their bonds apart’ and verse 16 ‘For he shatters the doors of bronze and cuts in two the bars of iron.’ Again, it was Jesus who said while reading from the prophet Isaiah in the synagogue, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”’ God is able to deliver and set the captives free, Jesus blood can make the foulest clean, he is able to break the chains of addiction, he is able to release the oppressed and possessed, for there is power at work in his redeeming grace, the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who refuse to believe but when an individual responds by faith it releases the power of God not only to save but also to set free. It was Charles Wesley who wrote the words of the wonderful song, Jesus, the Name high over all, the second verse reads:

He breaks the power of cancelled sin,

And sets the prisoner free;

His blood can make the foulest clean,

His blood avails for me.

His blood avails, it is still as powerful as it was when he shed it at Calvary, it still breaks the bonds and sets the captives free. Free from guilt, free from addiction, free from bondage.

Jesus, the prisoner’s fetter breaks,

And bruises Satan’s head,

Power into strengthless souls he speaks,

And life unto the dead.

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Devotions

Daily Devotion July 19th

SUNDAY 19th

John 1:41

NIV – ‘The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, We have found the Messiah (that is, the Christ).’

ESV – ‘He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, We have found the Messiah (which means Christ).’

We have the same verse again today, but in this devotion, I want to look at the words ‘We have found the Messiah’. The nation of Israel had been waiting for a long time for the promised Messiah, you may remember that in John 4 when Jesus was talking with the woman at the well near Sychar in Samaria, that after he had told her about the living water,(vv10-15) they had the conversation about her many husbands, (vv16-8) she then  perceived that Jesus was a prophet (v19) they then talked about true worship (vv21-24) after which the woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.’ Jesus then replied, ‘I who speak to you am he.’ In verse 26 she goes back to the town and tells the people ‘Come, see man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?’

The woman was still looking,  Andrew had found him! But thankfully, the woman also came to the realization of who Jesus really was. Thank God today that we too have found him as we have entered into a personal relationship by faith and have been born again of the Spirit.

By the time we get to Jesus being identified as the Messiah here in John 1, he has already been described in several different ways. I have already mentioned some in an earlier devotion, (Wednesday 15th July – The ‘Word’ in verse 1, is creator in verse 2, life and light in verse 4, becomes flesh (v14), full of grace and truth (v14) Jesus Christ (v17) and the Lamb of God in verse 29.) We add to the list the Lord (v23), Son of God (v34), Rabbi / Teacher (v38), Jesus of Nazareth (v45), King of Israel (v49), Son of Man (v51) and Messiah (The Christ) in verse 41.

The Messiah  – The Greek ‘Christ’ is the equivalent to the Hebrew and Aramaic ‘Messiah’ and means ‘one who is anointed’ or ‘anointed one’. The chapter we are considering commences with ‘In the beginning was the Word . . . and the Word was God.’ V14 ‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us’ In Isaiah 9:6 we have the prophetic declaration that a child is born, a son is given, the Word who became flesh was the Child born, and the Son given, the little baby lying in the crib was the arrival of the anointed one, the Messiah, the Christ.

Again in Isaiah chapter 61 we have the following words ‘The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn.’ (vv1-2) And in Luke 4:18-19 we find that the Word who became flesh, the child born, the Son given used the very same words from Isaiah to describe who he was and what his mission was, thus declaring that he was the Messiah, the Christ.

In Matthews gospel when Jesus asked the disciples who did they say he was, Peter replied ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ The Messiah has come, and the good news is that he has accomplished all that the Father had anointed him or sent him to do. And as a result, as we believe by faith, we have life in his name. Remember where we started two weeks ago with John 20:30-31 ‘Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.’

We have only briefly gone through John chapter 1 over the last two weeks, but my prayer is that we will have either discovered or rediscovered something of the wonder of the redemption story, the wonder of who Jesus really is, the Christ, the Son of God, so that we will have life in his name.

As we conclude this look at chapter one, I bring a challenge to all who have read it in whatever format, do you know him? Have you responded by faith and accepted the one who was sent to be the Saviour, can you honestly say that you are born again by the Spirit of God? If not, then open up your life to him, allow him to come and to clean up the old and to recreate you into a new person, for ‘if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, behold the old has gone and the new has come.’ (2 Corinthians 5:17)

For those of us who do know him, may we allow him to be all that he is meant to be in our lives, both Lord and Christ. The one who has saved us and the one who is sovereign in our lives.

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Daily Devotion July 5th

John 1:1-18

As we embark into a new week, I am going to change slightly the format of the devotions, from tomorrow, I will include the text Scripture in two versions, the New International Version and the English Standard Version which is the one that I most commonly use. If I quote verses within the devotion, they will continue to be from the ESV unless otherwise stated. I will no longer be adding a song at the end, but occasionally I will put some further notes at the end of a devotion.We will commence this week to look at the first chapter of the  Gospel of John, although to begin with we will look at some later chapters as an introduction

Introduction

The Gospel of John was written by the apostle John, who was one of the disciples of Jesus. He was the son of Zebedee, and was a fisherman, along with his brother James. (Matthew 4:18-22 ‘While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.  And he said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.) He also wrote the three epistles under his name 1, 2 & 3 John and the book of Revelation. (Revelation 1:1-2 ‘The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.’)

Although John is a main character during the three years of Jesus’ public ministry, he seems to be the member of an inner circle that had special privileges such as being on the mountain at the time of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17)  but when we look at the book of Acts, John seems to take a less prominent role compared to Peter and Paul. We do read of him, when he along with Peter went up to the temple in Acts 3 which records the healing of the lame man, this narrative continues through into chapter 4. We read of John with Peter again in Acts 8, and the next and final time he is referred to is on the occasion when his brother James was killed by Herod. (Acts 12:2) The other ‘Johns’ referred to in Acts are John the Baptist and John Mark.

The gospel of John is different to the other three gospels, in that they (Matthew, Mark and Luke) are called ‘synoptic’ gospels. This means they give an account of the life and ministry of Jesus with a similar view. John differs in that unlike them he does not concentrate on the miracles, parables, and teachings of Jesus in the same way, but instead concentrates on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is said that in his gospel John covers 90% of unique material.

But thank God that he did concentrate on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, for it is from this gospel that we glean so much about the Lord Jesus , who came as God’s Son, to bring about the whole work of redemption. My prayer is that as we go through this gospel, we may be blessed all over again with the wonder of who Jesus is and in the wonder of our salvation.

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Daily Devotion June 30th

TUESDAY 30th

James 1:1-16 – CROWNS – Part One

In one of our devotions last week (Friday) I mentioned verse 12 of James 1 ‘Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.’

James mentions the ‘crown of life’. In this devotion I want to look at the verses in Scripture that mention crowns in relation to the Christian life.

We have the crown of life

James 1:12 ‘Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.’

Revelation 2:10 ‘Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.’

We have the crown of righteousness

2 Timothy 4:8 ‘Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.’

We have the crown of glory

1 Peter 5:4 ‘And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.’

We have the incorruptible crown (in the ESV it is an imperishable wreath)

1 Corinthians 9:25 ‘Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.’

1 Corinthians 9:25 (NIV) ‘Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.’

There is a warning to hold fast so as not to lose the crown

Revelation 3:11 ‘I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.’

And Paul considered those who were under his pastoral care to be his crown, a crown of rejoicing

Philippians 4:1 ‘Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.’

1 Thessalonians 2:19 ‘For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?’

When we read of these crowns, they are not crowns as we see a king or queen wearing signifying authority, but rather as the ESV translates the word in 1 Corinthians 9:25 as wreaths or laurels that would have been given to competitors who have completed and won a race, or like a trophy presented to someone who has achieved something.

In Malachi we are told about a book of remembrance, Malachi 3:16 ‘Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed his name.’ later in Scripture we are told that a day of judgement is coming for all men (and women) and on that day the books will be opened, Revelation 20:12 ‘And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.’ And in 2 Corinthians 5:10 ‘For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.’

Is one of the books that will be opened the book of remembrance?  I wonder what will be recorded down about each one of us, thankfully some of what has been written about us will be blotted out, everything that happened pre-conversion will be blotted out because it will have been forgiven as we saw in the devotion June 18th (Acts 3:19) but what about post-conversion, well, the Scripture also tells us that if we confess our sin he is faithful and just to forgive us of that sin, (1 John 1:9) so every confessed sin will be blotted out, but what about the things we should have done and didn’t do, or the things we have done that we should not have done?  The Scripture says that ‘we will receive what is due according to what we have done . . .’ Let us be clear that if we have kept the faith and run the race we will not lose or forfeit salvation, but we can lose out on our eternal reward! What is written in the book of life determines our eternal destination, (Revelation 20:15) and what is written in the books that will be opened will determine our eternal reward, that is, what crown, crowns or laurels, winners wreaths, reward we will receive. That is why what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 is so important. ‘Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.’

Jesus also taught of reward in his parable of the talents, being rewarded according to what we have done with anything that he has entrusted to us in our Christian ministry (Matthew 25)

We will continue this theme tomorrow:

Living for Jesus a life that is true,

Striving to please him in all that I do;

Yielding allegiance, glad-hearted and free,

This is the pathway of blessing for me.

O Jesus, Lord and Saviour, I give myself to thee,

For thou, in thine atonement, didst give thyself for me;

I own no other Master, my heart shall be thy throne,

My life I give, henceforth to live, O Christ, for thee alone.

Living for Jesus who died in my place,

Bearing on Calv’ry my sin and disgrace;

Such love constrains me to answer his call,

Follow his leading and give him my all.

Living for Jesus wherever I am,

Doing each duty in His holy name,

Willing to suffer affliction and loss,

Deeming each trial a part of my cross.

Living for Jesus through earth’s little while,

My dearest treasure, the light of his smile,

Seeking the lost ones he died to redeem,

Bringing the weary to find rest in him.

T O Chisholm CCLI788682

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Daily Devotion May 31st

SUNDAY 31st

Acts 2

Today if we had been able to be gathered as Church, we would have been considering Pentecost as it is Pentecost Sunday, so instead it will be the theme for today’s devotion. We touched on this subject of Pentecost toward the end of April so there will be some overlap here in the thoughts I will be sharing.

What happened on the Day of Pentecost was a pivotal moment in the experience of the disciples because it was:

1) A fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy (Joel 2)

2) A fulfilment of the promise of Jesus (John 7: 37-39, ‘On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.’  John 14:16-17 ‘And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.’)

3) It was the day that the building of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ commenced.

4) It was also the day in which the disciples were empowered for the task in hand, which was to fulfil the commission given them by the Lord Jesus Christ prior to his ascension which was to go into all the world and preach the gospel. (Mark 16:15) Or as it says in Act 1:8 to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.

As we read through this chapter and through the book of Acts, we discover that on being filled with the Holy Spirit the disciples and those working with them did amazing exploits for God. Souls were saved, bodies were healed, the tormented and possessed were delivered and in the words of the city officials in Thessalonica, they had turned the world upside down! (Acts 17:6) Some translations say that they had been causing trouble!

It would be wonderful if all over the UK once this Pandemic is over that the local newspapers were to report that those who call themselves followers of Jesus have turned their towns and cities upside down! For it to be a possibility, we who are believers need to be found in a place where we seek God to come afresh and to empower us again with Pentecostal power and anointing so that like the early disciples we can demonstrate the power in the setting where he has placed us with our preaching, witness and testimony.

Back in 1904/05, God poured out his Spirit afresh in various places around Wales, bringing about what we now call the Welsh Revival, I found this quote on the internet ‘The effects of the 1904 Welsh Revival’. Souls were saved, individual lives were changed and Society itself was changed. Countless numbers of souls were saved. No records were kept of the actual number converted, but 150,000 is a very conservative estimate during the first six months. Wales again became a God-fearing nation.’

In reality although the suggested number of converts is at 150,000, this would be small in comparison to the long term effects of the revival, for as a result of that revival, even if it came to an end in Wales, some of the main stream Pentecostal denominations were born and with them being established there was a new and fresh desire for world mission, evangelization. And from out of these newly formed Churches, many went to serve God, sharing the gospel on the continents of the world with the result being that countless thousands have since responded to Jesus.

As the Church in the UK eventually comes out of lockdown, we need to be crying out for the Lord to do it again, as he poured out his Spirit on the waiting Church in Jerusalem, as he has poured out his Spirit in times of revival, we need God to do it again. Do it Lord, in Gateshead, do it in Emmanuel Pentecostal Church, do it in my heart, make me burn with the flame of Pentecostal power so that our nation will be shaken again by a powerful outpouring of the Spirit again.

We have the words again of the well-known hymn, ‘send the fire’

O God of burning cleansing flame:

Send the fire!

Your blood-bought gift today we claim:

Send the fire today!

Look down and see this waiting host,

And send the promised Holy Ghost;

We need another Pentecost!

Send the fire today!

Send the fire today!

God of Elijah, hear our cry:

Send the fire!

And make us fit to live or die:

Send the fire today!

To burn up every trace of sin,

To bring the light and glory in,

The revolution now begin!

Send the fire today!

Send the fire today!

It’s fire we want, for fire we plead:

Send the fire!

The fire will meet our every need:

Send the fire today!

For strength to always do what’s right,

For grace to conquer in the fight,

For power to walk the world in white:

Send the fire today!

Send the fire today!

To make our weak hearts strong and brave:

Send the fire!

To live, a dying world to save:

Send the fire today!

Oh, see us on Your altar lay,

We give our lives to you today,

So crown the offering now we pray:

Send the fire today!

Send the fire today!

Send the fire today!

William Booth CCLI788682

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Daily Devotion May 18th

MONDAY 18th – Ephesians 2:11-22

We continue from yesterday and will go to the second ‘but’ in this chapter, in verse 13 ‘But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.’ A similar portion of Scripture is found in Paul’s letter to the Colossians, ‘For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him’

In Ephesians 2 Paul makes a statement about the Gentile, that is the non–Jewish people, that they (which also includes us) were separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth (or family) of Israel, not included in the covenants of God and we were without hope and without God in the world. It is a sweeping statement that sums up that until that time, everything that God seemed to do and be doing was for and involving Israel. They were his special people, they had been given the law, they had been given the covenants or promises. It was an ‘us and ‘you’ kind of programme of events, but thank God again for the ‘but’ found here in verse 13, it all changed at Calvary, for Paul says ‘BUT NOW in Christ you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.’ The cross now meant that God was working not just with the Jew in mind, but also for the Gentile. When Christ died on the cross he was dying for the whosoever, when he became a substitute, dying as the Passover Lamb, he was atoning for the sins of the world and as a result we all, that is Jew and Gentile as we come to believe have access in one Spirit to the Father.

The but in verse 13 leads to a complete change in the situation. There is reconciliation in two ways, first between the Jew and Gentile, the division between both is taken away, so there is no longer an ‘us’ and ‘them’ but through the cross we enjoy the same benefits, the same means of salvation, the same results of salvation and the same blessings that spring from salvation. Instead of the Jew and the Gentile, the cross led to the creation of one new man, that is one new united group or body which is the Church. The second reconciliation is found in verse 16, ‘reconciled us both (Jew and Gentile) to God’. This is good news for in contrast to verses 11-12, verse 19 says that we (the Gentiles) are no longer strangers and aliens but are fellow citizens with or as the saints and members of the household of God.

Yesterday we looked at Gods abundant mercy, great love, and amazing grace. The whole of Ephesians chapter 2 also reminds us of Gods incredible plan. Yes, as Paul puts it in the chapter, it seemed as if everything God was doing up until that point was all toward and for Israel the Jew, but in reality, he had a plan that was purposed even before the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1:9 says ‘making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ’ This purpose he put into effect immediately after the fall when he pronounced to the serpent, ‘I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.’ (Genesis 3:15) And time rolled on, various events and characters in the Old Testament pointed toward a coming Saviour, who finally arrived at the God appointed moment (Galatians 4:4 ) and that which had been foreordained happened as he, the one born to be the Saviour, surrendered his life as a substitute at Calvary so that we who were dead in our trespasses and sins might be made alive. Ephesians 1:4 says ‘even as he (God) chose us in him (Jesus) before the foundation of the world,’ our inclusion into the family of God, our becoming members of the family of God, our being fellow citizens in the household of God, our being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit wasn’t an after-thought God had thousands of years after he had been dealing with the Jew, it was decided, purposed and planned even before the foundation of the world.

We will let the apostle Peter have the final word today: 1 Peter 2:9-10 ‘But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.’

Wonderful grace

That gives what I don’t deserve

Pays me what Christ has earned

And lets me go free

Wonderful grace

That gives me the time to change

Washes away the stain

That once covered me

And all that I have

I lay at the feet

Of the Wonderful Saviour who loves me

Wonderful love

That held in the face of death

Breathed, in it’s final breath

Forgiveness for me

Wonderful love

Who’s power can break every chain

Giving us life again

Setting us free

John Pantry ©Harper Collins CCLI788682