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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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Daily Devotion Sept 20th

SUNDAY 20th

Exodus 18:1-12

NIV (vv8-9) – ‘Moses told his father-in-law about everything the LORD had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for Israel’s sake and about all the hardships they had met along the way and how the LORD had saved them. Jethro was delighted to hear about all the good things the LORD had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians.’

ESV (vv8-9) – ‘Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the LORD had delivered them. And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the LORD had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians.’

Whenever I recall the verses in this chapter of Exodus and the account of Moses and his father-in-law Jethro, I immediately think of the verses 17-18 which we will consider tomorrow and the sound advice that Jethro gives to Moses. As I turned to them to prepare the devotion for today, I couldn’t help noticing  two groups of three words: ‘Then Moses told’ (v8) and ‘And Jethro rejoiced’ (v9).

Moses had an amazing story to recount and retell – ‘. . . all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship . . . and how the LORD had delivered them.’ Imagine for a few moments as if you had been an Israelite at that time, the awful conditions as a slave to the cruel Egyptians (remember back in Exodus chapter one, the instruction was given to inflict them with heavy burdens, and that they had been dealt with ruthlessly and their lives made bitter with hard service 1:11-14) then suddenly a man appears claiming to be a deliver and after a period of plagues and a blood sacrifice, you are led out of the bondage on a journey to freedom. By the time we get to chapter 18 so much will have happened, you will have crossed the Red sea, seen the Egyptians drowned, okay you will have mumbled and murmured about the lack of water and food, but overall you will have seen and been through both some awful experiences in Egypt but also some amazing experiences so far on the journey. It is no wonder that Moses wants to recount it all to tell Jethro. And after hearing it Jethro rejoiced as he heard of all the good that the LORD had done.

Although I said imagine for a few moments that you had been an Israelite, instead, recall for a few moments, your own experience and all that God has done for you! We all have been in our own Egypt, oppressed by the oppressor, bound in the bondage of sin and shame, some may have been bound by addictions and as the Bible says we were all dead in trespasses and sin, we were all under the control of the evil one and on the wide road that led to destruction, but while in our misery a Saviour came our way, and he made a blood sacrifice that brought us freedom, and we have come out of the awful experience of being bound in the chains of sin and we are now enjoying the amazing experience of being set free and on a journey that is taking us along the narrow way that leads to life everlasting.  

Moses had a story to tell, but so have you and I, Jethro listened and rejoiced, may we retell so that others will also listen and rejoice with us of all that the Lord has done. Obviously we need to be telling those who are still lost of all that the Lord has done for us, but in the context of this Scripture, Moses is telling his father-in-law, a family member, and we too need to be encouraging one another within our family, our Church family at EPC of all that the Lord is doing for us so that we can be encouraged and blessed. Psalm 66:16 ‘Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul.’ Has the Lord done something for you over the last few months, then tell your Church family, so we may hear what the Lord has done for you. ‘then ***** told’, . . . ‘and Emmanuel rejoiced’

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Daily Devotion August 28th

FRIDAY 28th

Hebrews 4:12

NIV Hebrews 4:12 – ‘For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.’

ESV Hebrews 4:12 – ‘For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.’

In Wednesdays devotion I mentioned that the garage was another story, it is also full of various things, furniture, boxes yet to be opened and also my various tool boxes, which I will also enjoy being able to sort out and rummage through when space becomes available. Tools are handy, fortunately I had sufficient tools already at hand to be able to do some of the work that’s needed to be done in the house as we have been settling in, but the reason I mention them is because there is a link between my tools and my books! The tools have helped me build things, hangs things, repair things, etc. And there is the sense in which when it comes to my ministry the books I have are also tools, they are a means to help me to do things, more importantly to help me in my ministry preparation, in my ability to build sermons, hang thoughts from and to help repair lives spiritually, but of course the most important tool is the Word of God. And it is with the help of some of the other tools, commentaries, studies etc. that I will develop these devotions around the main tool, the Word of God. As we go through these devotions, I will mention any other books I use, which will be from a variety of sources.

One of the books I have is a two part set ‘The Open Your Bible’ OT & NT Page by Page*, I have just turned to this today to see what it says for Hebrews 4:12, it falls in the section covering verses 1-13 of that chapter so only has a brief mention, but this is it: the previous verses ‘lead to the reflection that God’s Word is not to be taken lightly. It is conceived dynamically. It is not static waiting for us to handle it as we will. It is ‘living and active’ and stands in judgment on us. It is sharper than a sword, for it penetrates to the innermost recesses of our human personality. Nothing is hidden from God. It is impossible to bluff our way through. The Word is always adequate, always revealing. We stand before God as we are, stripped of all pretensions and shams. This is a solemn warning.’

May we always allow the Word of God to do the work in our lives that God desires for it to do, whether to correct or reprove, to build or to tear down, to instruct and to reform, that when we do stand before him on that day, we will not be ashamed. May his Word be our daily and constant companion, a light that directs our path.

* Published by Creative 4 International ISBN 978 1 909680 03 6

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Daily Devotion August 21st

FRIDAY 21st

John 16

NIV (v13) ‘But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.’

ESV (v13) ‘When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.’

In the opening verses of this chapter, Jesus continues to tell the disciples more of the ministry and work of the Holy Spirit, the one who would be sent as a helper, (v7) would also be the one who would convict men and women of their sin. (We see how this happened immediately on the day of Pentecost, when after Peter with the eleven had preached, it says that the hearers were ‘cut to the heart’, this was a result of the Holy Spirit bringing conviction into their lives. Acts 2:37)

He was also going to guide the disciples into all truth. (v13) The disciples had been very privileged during the three years that they followed Jesus in that they not only saw the amazing signs he did to show that he was the Son of God, but they also had heard his teaching, which we are reminded in different Scriptures was teaching that carried authority, teaching that confounded and caused the religious leaders to be envious and teaching that causes those in authority to want to be rid of him. However the disciples were only human and of them selves they could easily forget all that they had heard, but the Holy Spirit was going to bring it to their remembrance (John 14:26) and also lead into deeper revelation, deeper truth (John 16:13) which thankfully was recorded for us by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit so we too can learn, develop and continue in our walk and relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thank God the same help is also still available to us, and as we walk and learn and develop in our Christian lives, we can hear, read and absorb so much through the various means of Christian ministry, but if you are like me, too often you forget so much of it, but it is amazing how many times in situations that have arisen that the Holy Spirit has brought back to my mind and I have been able to recall things that I had even forgotten I had ever known and been able to speak the Word of God into lives or into situations.

How many of us have brought something that requires instructions to follow to assemble or to operate, and we think to ourselves, ‘I don’t need these, I’ll work it out . . .!’ A few hours later it is, ‘What happened to those instructions?’ And we must restart where we should have started at the beginning – with the instructions! The Holy Spirit has been given to us to help us, to instruct us, to guide us, and to remind us, but how often do we try to do with our own ability and eventually discover we can’t, we need his help! May we always be mindful, of the one who was sent alongside to help us, let us take the help available and achieve more for God. Who knows we may even be more fruitful! (Yesterday’s devotion)

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Daily Devotion August 20th

THURSDAY 20th

John 15:1-8

NIV (v1) – ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.’

ESV (v1) – ‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.’

We come today to the last ‘I am’ statement that Jesus made, ‘I am the true vine’.

Within these verses Jesus portrays a picture of a vineyard, where he himself is the vine, his Father is the vinedresser, or gardener and those who have come to faith and become his disciples are the branches. It illustrates for us that the ‘born-again’ experience not only cleanses us from sin and redeems us, but that it also brings us into union or into a connection to the Lord Jesus Christ. Just as a branch is connected to the trunk of a tree, so we as believers are connected to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is through this connection that we derive our life, which is abundant and eternal, it is through this connection that we derive our spiritual strength and sustenance and it is also through this connection that we bear fruit as his disciples.

Fruit bearing is essential for a fruit bearing tree! I grew up on a farm with an orchard, we had in my childhood opinion too many fruit trees, because the fruit all needed harvesting, and as kids we all knew how we were going to be spending the October half-term, harvesting the remaining fruit! But it also had its advantages, we had access to as many apples, plums, or pears that we wanted. There was a particular Victoria plum tree that I enjoyed and a Worcester apple tree, and if the crop on either of these trees was poor one year I would be very disappointed, but what would cause more disappointment was if a tree ceased to bear any fruit, it would be time to prune or even cut down! In fact, looking back I can see that there was not sufficient pruning done in the orchard and eventually a lot of the trees just became useless except for firewood.

Jesus in this portion of Scripture makes it clear that he expects his disciples to be fruitful, and if we bear fruit the vinedresser will prune us so that we can bear more fruit, if we do not bear fruit he will cut away. Pruning is essential to boost fruitfulness, I was helping some gardening to be done on one occasion, and suggested that the apple tree need to be pruned right back as it was getting out of hand, it caused a lot of consternation as those around thought it would ruin the tree and no longer be of any use, but I insisted that it be cut back, pruned and that eventually they would see the benefit of doing it, we as the disciples of Jesus need to be fruitful, but we also need to be willing to allow the vinedresser to prune us so that we can become more fruitful. But as essential as pruning is, it is more essential first to be connected to the Vine, for without that connection, pruning will achieve nothing. V4 says, that ‘the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.’ If we feel that we are not being fruitful or fruit bearing in our Christian walk, then we need to check our connection to the true Vine, we need to ensure that we are in connection with him through our regular practise of prayer, Bible reading and fellowship, it is only this way that we can draw the spiritual sap we need to be fruitful in our discipleship and Christian walk.

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Daily Devotion August 18th

TUESDAY 18th

John 14:1-7

NIV (vv2-3) – ‘My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.’

ESV (vv2-3) – ‘In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.’

We remain in the first few verses of this chapter again today, to look again at the wonderful promise that Jesus made in verse 3, ‘I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.’ As I am preparing this it is a wet and miserable looking morning, it is raining, and the mist has come down over the town so that I cannot see very far. This would perhaps be a good way of describing how it felt for the disciples in the upper room with Jesus, not so much wet but a miserable day, the mist of gloom had descended upon them and they couldn’t see much further than beyond the next hour or two. But Jesus detected the gloom in their hearts and not only did he encourage the disciples that as they trusted in God, so they could also trust in him, (as we saw on 16th) but he makes them an incredible promise, ‘Yes, I am going, but I will come again and fetch you so that you can be with me in the place I am going to prepare for you, don’t be troubled, trust me in the same way as you trust God’. (my paraphrase)

We may look around us at this time and feel that the outlook looks gloomy and hopeless, but we as the family of God have this wonderful promise to cling onto, ‘Jesus is coming again’, we realise that what we see all around us is only temporal and will one day pass away, but what we are and who we are ‘in Christ’ is eternal, and we wait with eager anticipation to receive our eternal inheritance. ‘In this world’, Jesus said, ‘you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.’ When you see the gloom, remind yourself, there is a place being prepared for you, and one day Jesus is coming to fetch you and he will lift you from out of the gloom and into his glorious presence so that you will forever be with him.

It was January the 3rd when we reserved our house, here in Stanley, and all the delays made it seem like it was never going to happen, but finally we have moved in. Jesus made the promise two thousand years ago about a home he is preparing and it may sometimes seem like it is never going to happen, but it will, one day and it will be suddenly and at an unexpected moment we will move in, and what an incredible moving in experience it will be as the dead in Christ will rise first and we who are alive and remain will be caught up with them to meet the Lord in the air. Therefore, during this gloomy time in the world in which we find ourselves at this moment, be of good cheer, and keep looking up, for your redemption is drawing near.

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Daily Devotion August 17th

MONDAY 17th

John 14:1-7

NIV (v6) – ‘Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’

ESV (v6) – ‘Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’

We come to the last but one of the ‘I am’ statements of Jesus in these first few verses in this fourteenth chapter. Jesus says four things about himself:

I am the way

I am the truth

I am the life

No one can come to the Father except through me

You may remember in a previous devotion I talked about the uniqueness of the Lord Jesus Christ and of the gospel message which we proclaim. The uniqueness of Jesus and the gospel message is not something the Christian faith has mustered up to try to proclaim and propagate its message, it is something which has come from the mouth of the Lord Jesus himself. He himself made the declaration that he is the only way to the Father, therefore the only way to heaven. When Peter and the disciples declared in Acts 4:12 that there is no other name given under heaven by which we can be saved, they were not making up some new idea, or some fanciful plan or scheme they were declaring the truth of the message which Jesus himself declared.

Earlier in John’s gospel we are reminded of the uniqueness of Jesus in that we are reminded that 1) God loved the world 2) That he sent his Son into the world 3) So that WHOEVER believes IN HIM will not perish but will have eternal life (3:16)

This ‘I am’ statement in John 14:6, sums up everything about what this gospel is all about. It is about pointing men and women to the one who is the only source of eternal life, the only means of eternal life and the only giver of eternal life. All other ‘faiths’, ‘religions’, ‘isms’, are dead ends, there is only one door, only one Saviour, only one way and it is through the Lord Jesus Christ, the only one who has loved us and given himself for us. (1 John 4:10)

This statement in v6 came out of the inquisitiveness of Thomas who wanted to know where Jesus was going and how we can know the way to where he is going (v5)

The world has always been searching for answers, for the meaning of life, about the afterlife etc. The answers to all the questions can be found in the Lord Jesus Christ, for in knowing him we find real purpose and we have real hope.

May we continually rejoice in the hope that we have as we have come to know the one who is the way, and the truth and the life, and may we continue to pray that many more will come to find him and know him, and may we individually be used in some way to point others to the one who is the way, the truth and the life.

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Daily Devotion August 14th

FRIDAY 14th

John 13:1-20

NIV (15) – ‘I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.’

ESV (v15) – ‘For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.’

This is linked to where we were with our devotion on Wednesday, a command for us to follow the example of the Lord Jesus Christ which was an example of humility.

In Philippians 2:1-11 we read ‘So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,  who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’

May we always make every effort to ensure that Jesus is the example that we want to follow. We live in an era where following someone is very popular, for example with social media, your activity is measured by how many people you follow or how many are following you, many follow a particular football team, or other sporting team / individual, etc. some of those we follow are good examples in their particular sphere, we may follow someone socially because of who they are but there may be aspects of their personal life that we would not be willing to endorse, but when it comes to following Jesus, he is perfect in every way, in who he is, in what he has done and in what he continues to do. Pilate when looking at Jesus made this statement, ‘I find no fault in him’ and Pilate would have been strict in his scrutiny of Jesus. How well do we follow him, how closely do we follow him, how determined are we in ensuring that whatever our lot, we will follow Jesus, any day, every day, we will follow on? For those of us who do use social media, let us make sure that following and liking and keeping up with Tom, Dick and Harry doesn’t get in the way of hindering our following, liking and keeping up with Jesus.