Tag: haydn greenow

Categories
Devotions

Daily Devotion July 30th

THURSDAY 30th

John 6:16-21

NIV (v20) – ‘But he said to them, It is I; don’t be afraid.’

ESV (v20) – ‘But he said to them, It is I; do not be afraid.’

This is a short story, but it is another evidence of the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, this time demonstrated with his power over a storm.

There is another account of Jesus stilling a storm when he was in the boat with the disciples found in Luke 8:22-25 . On this occasion in John 6 the disciples are alone, Jesus had remained behind. The storm brewed up and as they were battling to sail through it, they look up and see Jesus walking on the sea, coming toward the boat and they were frightened.

Who wouldn’t be frightened in the midst of a storm out in a boat in the middle of the sea, we are told that because of the placement of the sea of Galilee, storms can come in an instant and can be pretty ferocious. 

I was once caught in the middle of a ferocious storm, but it was not out at sea, it was in the centre of the city of Manchester, it was one of the most frightening experiences I have ever had, it was near impossible to walk unless you were holding onto something, roofs were blowing off buildings, shop fronts were being destroyed, the glass from the bus shelters were being blown out and the scariest of all was watching the tall cranes the builders use rocking like crazy. But at least I could get into a building to shelter from it. Out in the middle of the sea, there was nowhere to go, battling to row, battling to keep the water out while at the same time trying to conquer their fear and remain hopeful the storm would subside and that you would eventually land safely at the other side.

But Jesus comes, and he speaks out to them ‘It is I do not be afraid’ and they were glad to take him on the boat and immediately the boat arrived to where they were going.

We will have all heard sermons built around this story, we all face storms, we all go through trying times, we all go through periods where our circumstances cause us to be afraid, cause fear to arise in our hearts. But unlike this story Jesus is never somewhere else, he never remains behind when he asks us or sends us somewhere, he comes with us. One song writer has put it this way, ‘Standing somewhere in the shadows you’ll find Jesus’ We know what the song writer is intending to say, but in reality Jesus isn’t in the shadow, unless we have chosen to put him there! He is with us, he is alongside us, even more wonderful the Scripture says he is in us! (‘Christ in you the hope of glory’ Colossians 1:27) This should give us reassurance that whatever storms we face, whatever battles we have to fight through, whatever circumstances we encounter that cause us to fear, he is with us, he is alongside us and he is able to pick us up and to carry us through.

If you are going through a storm at this moment, if you feel that you are being tossed about on the tempestuous waves or battered by the hurricane force winds, look out for Jesus, allow him to step into you ‘boat’ and allow him to dispel the fear and to bring calm and peace.

Categories
Devotions

Daily Devotion July 29th

WEDNESDAY 29th

John 6:1-15

NIV (v12) – ‘When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.’

ESV (v12) – ‘And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.’

Our portion of Scripture today covers the account of what we call the feeding of the 5000, now we know that the number only covered the men so the complete number of all who had been fed including the women and children would have been much more.

In John 2 we saw how Jesus had been able to change water into the best wine, here in John 6 he was able to take a couple of fish and five small barley loaves (what we would call bread rolls today) and after giving thanks, break it into pieces and feed this large crowd, the end result was that they ended up with the fragments at the end amounting to more than what they started with! Twelve baskets full! It makes me think that they must have been messy eaters!

It reminds us that ‘little is much’ when placed in God’s hands, I touched on this earlier in July. Back in 2000, when we moved to Sudbury in Suffolk to pastor a Church there, it had been pioneered about 40 years previously by David and Anita Perry alongside another couple, Jim, and Martha Hayes. The church had known times of great growth over several years, but prior to our arriving there, it had dwindled down to a few families and was just about ticking over. We were asked to go there and to see if it could become a viable Church again. It was not long before we realised that we had a deficiency in help, and in particular worship was difficult with the means of music coming from a small midi file player.

The first sermon I preached at this Church was from John 6 and the headline ‘Little is much if God is in it.’ To be honest I did not realise at the time how little we had to work with, but we soon began to see that God was in it and he proved himself faithful to us. One particular area was in worship, a lady returned to the Church who had not been attending for many years and she eventually told me she had a son who could play the piano, he had made a commitment to the Lord but needed a Church to attend and some fellowship, he arrived one Sunday and eventually he played the piano for us, I say played, without being  disrespectful, it was a good effort but needed a lot of practise. But God was in it and before long we had a Filipino man start attending and together he and the lad on the piano began to do the worship together and before long, the piano was being played like a professional, well, nearly! God had provided and out of the little we had we soon had sufficient to be able to put aside the small midi file player.

We may feel that we have little to offer, we may feel that we are not confident or competent enough, but when God is involved in something he can take what we see as little, lacking or incompetent and he can bless it and use it to bring glory to his name. 

Imagine the young lad, leaving home with his lunch box, yet returning home later that day having seen the glory of God revealed because he was willing to give what little he had. Imagine Andrew, taking the lad to Jesus and thinking to himself, ‘What am I doing, common sense tells me this is peanuts in comparison to what is needed to feed this lot’ but he took the lad, and together they would have stood back with their eyes wide open like golf balls, jaws dropped to the floor,  as they saw what Jesus did with the little they handed over.

Incidentally, the lad who came to play the piano, a timid shy lad at the time in his late teens or early twenties, is now the leader of the Church. As he stepped out in obedience offering what little he thought he had, God has blessed him beyond measure.

Begin to learn to step out in faith, one day you may be picking up the baskets full of fragments (which I will call God’s abundance) as you see God blessing the effort that you are willing to put into serving our wonderful Saviour.

Categories
Devotions

Daily Devotion July 28th

TUESDAY 28th

NIV (42) – ‘They said to the woman, We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Saviour of the world.’

ESV (42) – ‘They said to the woman, It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world.’

We continue with the same verses today as yesterday.

After the woman from Samaria had returned to the town and told the folk about meeting the Christ, it says in verse 30, ‘They went out of the town and were coming to him.’ The account breaks there as Jesus and the disciples have a conversation, (vv31-38) then verse 39 says that many of the Samaritans believed on him because of the woman’s testimony. All of us who are born again, saved, whatever phrase we want to use have a testimony, perhaps some of us who have been brought up in a Christian environment too often think about other individuals who have been saved from an awful life of crime, or addiction etc. and then compare what we were to them and think wow, what a testimony they have. But we too have a testimony, we all have a testimony that is worth sharing. For regardless of our upbringing, whether in a Christian environment or a non-Christian environment we were all sinners, all utterly depraved and heading to a lost eternity, But Jesus met with us, for me it wasn’t at the side of a well, it was on a wooden pew with sticky varnish in a tin Church building, but at that moment I knew I was a sinner, condemned, who needed saving, and I gave my life to Jesus. But that is only a part of my testimony, that happened 51 years ago, and my testimony has continued in that as I was saved by grace I have also been kept by his grace. And what God in Christ has done for each one of us is worth sharing, worth talking about.

There is an older hymn, which we used to sing a lot when I was growing up,

‘I love to tell the story,

of unseen things above,

of Jesus and his glory,

of Jesus and his love;

I love to tell the story,

because I now it’s true,

it satisfies my longings,

as nothing else would do.’

Do we love to tell the story, yes, perhaps to each other who are already born again and already know the story, but what about those who need to hear, just like the people of the town from where the woman in John 4 came from, so the people of the towns where we live, they also need to hear. May God help us to be more willing to share the good news, to gossip the gospel.

By the way, recall yesterday I mentioned the free coffee, I have had my free coffee, but guess what? It was not long afterwards that I wanted another coffee or tea, the ‘Costa’ only satisfied for a short while, but, thank God, the ‘Living Water’ I received 51 years ago is still satisfying and will do for the next however many years I’m spared and throughout eternity.

Finally, the verse for today says, that the towns folk also believed, not just because of the woman’s testimony, but because they had discovered for themselves. We pray that many will yet believe because we will have shared our story, but also many more will yet believe because they will have discovered Jesus for themselves.

Categories
Devotions

Daily Devotion July 27th

MONDAY 27th

John 4

NIV (42) – ‘They said to the woman, We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Saviour of the world.’

ESV (42) – ‘They said to the woman, It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world.’

This is a very well-known portion of Scripture, and I could so easily have spent a few days looking at it, but I have chosen to take this one verse.

The story of what we call the ‘woman from Samaria’ is a typical example of someone who had met with Jesus and as a result believed on him and therefore would have received eternal life. But it doesn’t just end at that, for she has become so excited and intrigued about what she has just experienced that she hurries of home to her town to tell the people ‘Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?’

I don’t know about you but I can hear the excitement in her voice, she was a woman of shame, the man she had met had exposed that shame, and yet she wanted to tell everybody else about him. Why, well one reason is that not only did  Jesus expose her shame, but he offered her an alternative. Either continue in your sinful lifestyle and be spiritually dry or take what I am offering, which is living water which will satisfy you not only for your present life but also for eternity. ‘. . . Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’ (John 4:13-14) On going to the well for her daily water supply, she got far more than she bargained for, she got an eternal spiritual supply as well. Is not that something worth talking about, something worth sharing.

There have been some offers available after lockdown, which are not life transforming but, offers that are worth claiming. For example if you have the ‘Costa’ app on your phone, (other coffee brands are available!) or carry a ‘Costa’ loyalty card in your purse or wallet, then ‘Costa’ announced that they were going to add 300 points on to encourage a return to their outlets, enabling everyone with the card or app to get a free coffee! Now, this is not mega news, it is not life transforming news, but I can assure you I soon told others about it, and there have been other offers as well which have been shared.

We like the woman of Samaria have even better and more important news to share, we have found the source of eternal life, we have as she said ‘found the Christ’ how freely are we willing to tell others of the incredible offer he brings of forgiveness of sin and of eternal hope.

Categories
Devotions

Daily Devotion July 26th

SUNDAY 26th

Acts 4:4:5-12

NIV (v12) – ‘Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.’

ESV (v12) – ‘And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’

We continue from yesterday and our brief look at John 3:16 ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.’

c) The Uniqueness of the message of the gospel – whoever believes in HIM

John 3:16 is crystal clear that God loved and therefore he sent, and it is also crystal clear as to who he sent, his only Son, and God has only one Son and his name is Jesus. And it was Jesus who he sent into the world to be the Saviour of the world, and it is only by believing on his Son that we can have life that is abundant and eternal, therefore the message of the gospel is a unique message, it is the only message that brings hope to this dying world.

For God did not send **** (insert every other prophet or religious leader, or god of this world here) to save the world, he sent Jesus. So, when we claim that Jesus is the only way to God as Jesus himself declared in John 14:6, ‘No one comes to the Father except through me’ we are not bigots or blinkered individuals, we are declaring the whole truth and nothing but the truth! And we know it to be so because God himself has said it. We need to be vocal in this multi-faith world in which we live by declaring the words of Peter in our text above, ‘And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’

d) The Ultimate aim of the gospel – to have eternal life – this takes us back to the whole reason why John said he had written the gospel ‘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.’ Our problem is that we are dead in our trespasses and sin, spiritually dead, cut off from God and we need to be made alive again. And Jesus was the one who God sent into the world to make it possible. Galatians 2:20-21 ‘I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.’ Ephesians 2:4-5 ‘But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved . . .’

e) The Unequivocal consequences of not believing the gospel – perish – When the Bible speaks of perish as here in John 3:16, it is speaking about being eternally cut off from God’s presence, in a place which is described as a lake of fire, when we think of something perishing, we perhaps think of something like a piece of fruit which as it perishes, goes into a state of decay until eventually it is no longer existing, nothing left in any shape or form, but when the Bible speaks of perish here it is not to eventually no longer exist in any shape or form but to remain in an eternal state of being spiritually dead, but the extremely sad thing is that although spiritually dead, not without consciousness and feeling.* It will be eternity spent with regret for not believing, eternity spent without any reprieve, eternity spent without any comfort or any further hope of redemption, eternity spent in the very presence of the devil himself, for that is also where he will be, eternally alienated from God.

Heaven is real – but so is Hell. If you are reading this devotion today and you have never come to accept the offer of salvation which God has made available to the whosover, then as Scripture says, ‘Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart . . .’ Hebrews 3:7, ‘Behold, now is the favourable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.’ 2 Corinthians 6:2, ‘How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard . . .’ Hebrews 2:3.

*  Jesus himself spoke of the reality of what Hell will be like in Luke 16:19-31 and the reality of future judgement is in Revelation 20:11-15

Categories
Devotions

Daily Devotion July 25th

SATURDAY 25th

John 3:16-21

NIV (v16) ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.’

ESV (v16) ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.’

I have already used this verse in the devotion on July 7th but want to include it again. It is one of the most well-known and well used verses of Scripture that clearly reminds us of God’s love for humanity, God’s sacrifice for humanity and God’s offer of life for humanity, his one and only plan of redemption which comes through his one and only Son, or for those who prefer the KJV, ‘. . . his only begotten Son.’

What we see from this verse regarding redemption is:

ai)  The Underlying force for the gospel – the love of God

       aii) The underlying need for the gospel – man’s sin

bi)   The Universal reach of the gospel – the world

        bii)  The Universal reach of sin – all have sinned

c) The Uniqueness of the message of the gospel – whoever believes IN HIM

d) The Ultimate aim of the gospel – to have eternal life

e) The Unequivocal consequences of not believing the gospel – perish

We will consider the thoughts briefly over the next couple of days.

ai)  The Underlying force for the gospel – the love of God – 1 John 4:10 ‘In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.’

       aii) The underlying need for the gospel – man’s sin – Isaiah 64:6 ‘We have all

       become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a

       polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind,

       take us away.’

bi)   The Universal reach of the gospel – the world – Romans 8:32 ‘He who did not

spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?’

        bii)  The Universal reach of sin – all have sinned – Romans 3:23 ‘for all  

       have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’ Romans 5:12 ‘Therefore, just

       as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so 

       death spread to all men because all sinned . . .’

The first four words of John 3:16 is a declaration that humanity does not deserve to hear because of its rebellion against God, ‘For God so loved’. The underlying need for the gospel is the depravity of humanity, his sinfulness, transgression and rebellion against God, and yet despite it all God still loves mankind, and his love for man whom he had created is such that it drives God to do something, to put a plan into action to deal with the sin, to save the sinner and reconcile him back into full relationship with himself again. Sometimes when you try to write something down in regard to these things it is difficult to put into words what you want to say, and even now as I consider the love of God toward the sinner, toward me, who deserves anything but his love, it is hard to comprehend, the lines of a couple of songs come to mind, ‘How deep the father’s love for us, how vast beyond all measure, that he should give his only Son, to make a wretch his treasure’ and ‘Here is love vast as the ocean, loving kindness as the flood.’ The first mentioned song goes on to say, ‘It was my sin that held him there’, my sin, his love, thank God that love won. And as a result, the sin that had separated us from God is gone!

Spend a few moments contemplating God’s love toward you, an ‘ex-wretch who he has made into a precious treasure.’ – 1 Peter 2:9 ‘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.’

Categories
Devotions

Daily Devotion July 24th

FRIDAY 24th

We return today to the same verses as yesterday John 3:3.

NIV (v3) – ‘Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.’’

ESV (v3) – ‘Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’’

In verse 7 of the same chapter Jesus says, ‘Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’’ After hearing it the first time, Nicodemus was a little confused, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’ You can only wonder what Nicodemus was imagining! But it was a good question, ‘Hang on, if I want to see the Kingdom of God, I have to be born again?’ ‘Yes, but it is not how you are imagining it to be, just as you have been born of the flesh, so also you need to be born of the Spirit.’

The term or phrase ‘born again’ is still just as much misunderstood today as it was when Nicodemus misunderstood it, often you will hear the term being used in a derogatory way, as a form of mocking, ‘Oh, they belong to the ‘born again’ people’ or as I have often had it asked to me ‘Are you one of those who talks about being born again?’ And yes, I do belong to them, and yes, I do talk about it, not because there is anything weird about me, not because we are a group of weird people, but because I have really known what it is to be born again by the Spirit of God. It is not weird, it is wonderful – in the words of an older hymn, ‘It is a thing most wonderful, almost too wonderful to know, that God’s own Son should come from heaven and die to save a child like me to know.’

What seemed ridiculous to Nicodemus and still sounds ridiculous to many today is the most important thing that we can all do and need to do, the ‘born again’ experience, because without it, as Jesus told Nicodemus we will not see or enter the Kingdom of God. And the alternative is not pleasant!

Being born again, is being made anew, it happens as we come to Calvary’s fountain and are washed in the blood of the Lamb, at that moment we are made anew by the Spirit of God, we have a fresh start, we become new creations, we are ‘born again’. I know I am talking about things we already know, but today, let me encourage us all that being ‘born again’ is nothing to be embarrassed about, or ashamed about when our unsaved family, friends or peers may try to mock us or laugh at us, and use the phrase in a derogatory way, for just as our natural birth was essential to bring us into this natural world, so a spiritual new birth is essential to bring us into the kingdom of God.

Weird? we are the most favoured in the world, because by being ‘born again’ we enter the family of God, the household of faith, whereby we know him as Father and he knows us as his sons and daughters.

In the words of the chorus, ‘I am a new creation, no more in condemnation, here in the grace of God I stand.’  I am happy to be known as weird by the unbelieving world, if at the same time it means that I know that I am a child of God, no longer under condemnation.

2 Corinthians 5:17 ‘Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.’

Categories
Devotions

Daily Devotion July 23rd

THURSDAY 23rd

John 3:1-21

NIV (v3) – ‘Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.’’

ESV (v3) – ‘Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’’

In this verse Jesus mentions three concepts, 1) the concept of ‘being born again’ 2) the concept of ‘the Kingdom of God’ 3) the concept that to be able to enter or see the Kingdom of God one needs to be born again.

This phrase ‘Kingdom of God’ only appears in John’s gospel twice, here in verse 3 and again in the same chapter in verse 5. But Jesus talks of his Kingdom not being of this world later in John 18:36. Despite its lack of usage in this gospel, the concept of entering the Kingdom is what the gospel is all about, because to be born again, means to have the new life, the eternal and abundant life that John talks about throughout. In Matthew, the Kingdom is mentioned 35 times, Mark 14 times, Luke 31 times. The phrase ‘the Kingdom of heaven’ is also used and is best understood as to be referring to the same thing, in Matthew 19:23-24, Jesus uses the two phrases interchangeably ‘And Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.’’

In this devotion we will briefly answer the question as to what is the Kingdom of God? It is Matthew who records for us that John the Baptist, began to declare to the people, ‘Repent for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand’ (Matthew 3:1) as he prepared the way for the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore this must mean that the Kingdom a) must have something to do with Jesus, b) must be linked to his ministry, c) must be linked to repentance d) therefore linked to the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, Christ came into the world to save sinners, he came to bring us out of the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of God. It was sin that held us in the kingdom of darkness, but it is grace that has brought us into the kingdom of God.

There are four aspects to this Kingdom. There is the eternal aspect, that is Gods kingdom has been and always will be, the present aspect in regard to salvation which is that at this moment it is a spiritual Kingdom, in that at new birth, Christ comes to reign in our hearts, thus bringing the Kingdom rule of God into our lives. There is a future aspect in that the day is coming when Christ will bring about a literal Kingdom on this earth, and he will reign for a period of 1000 years, then there is an even more future aspect in that the day will come when God is going to wrap up time and everything that is at present already here and will create a new Heaven and  new earth wherein the redeemed of the Lord will be forever in the eternal presence of the triune God and he will reign for ever and ever.

The Kingdom of God is a Kingdom where God rules and reigns as Sovereign, not as a tyrant, not as a despot, not as a dictator but as a caring, loving, and merciful God who exercises righteous judgement in all things. We can say that there is the external Kingdom, where God sits on his throne in the heavens and the internal kingdom, where God reigns in the hearts and lives of us who are believers.

We learn from Scripture that God’s Kingdom is:

Eternal – Psalm 45:6 ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The sceptre of your kingdom is a sceptre of uprightness . . .’

The kingdom of God was not something new when the Baptist began to announce it, it was the bringing of the Kingdom into the lives of all who would believe and accept Jesus.

Established – Psalm 9:7 ‘But the LORD sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice . . .’

The wonder is that through new birth the Kingdom will be established in our lives.

External – Isaiah 66:1 ‘Thus says the LORD: ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? . . .’’

That which was already external will become an internal reality for all who believe as he rules in the throne of our hearts.

Expected – Isaiah 9:6-7 ‘For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.’

Entered – John 3:3 ‘Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.’’

This to me is the wonder of the good news of the gospel, that we can enter the Kingdom of God and that the Kingdom of God enters our lives as Jesus comes to rule and to reign.

2 Peter 1:11 ‘For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.’

Joy is the flag that flies from the castle of my heart, for the King is in residence there!

Categories
Devotions

Daily Devotion July 22nd

WEDNESDAY 22nd

John 2:18-25

NIV (v19) –  ‘Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.’’

ESV (v19) – ‘Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’’

Yesterday we saw how Jesus cleansed the temple, after which those who heard him and witnessed what he had done demanded ‘What sign do you show us for doing these things?’ What they were saying was, ‘by what authority, or what authority do you have to do what you have done?’ Firstly, if they had listened to Jesus properly, they would have heard him say ‘Take these things away, DO NOT MAKE MY FATHER’S HOUSE a house of trade.’ So, simply put, his authority or his right to say what he did came from the fact that he was the Father’s Son, we could say he was the ‘house owners’ Son! Therefore, he had every right to do and to say.

At the end of the wedding at Cana, you will remember it says, ‘this the first of his signs, Jesus did . . . and manifested his glory.’ Now they were demanding more signs or further evidence regarding Jesus’ credentials. I do not know about you, but I would have been well impressed with the sign of changing the water into not just wine, but the best wine (even as a teetotaller). I guess like me you have watched TV and someone has come on who is what we call a magician, they do magic tricks and we respond with a wow, even though we know it is a trick, sleight of hand or something else. When Jesus turned the water into wine, this was no magic trick, there was no sleight of hand, this was the real deal. And he could do it because he was God in the flesh. But they weren’t satisfied with this they wanted more, further evidence that would back up his claim as to being the Son of God, and Jesus responds with an answer that confused them even more, and they wouldn’t fully realise what the sign meant until after what Jesus spoke about happened. He said, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.’ We now know of course that Jesus was talking about the temple of his body, his future death and resurrection. But I wonder how many even believed after this the greatest of the signs took place a few years later. Incidentally, Jesus being who he was, if the Jews had demolished the physical building of the temple, he could have rebuilt it in three days! In fact, because of who he was he could have built it in a jiffy, after all he created the heavens and the earth and everything that inhabits the earth whether animal, vegetable, or mineral in six days.

I wonder how often we hanker after God to give us a sign, we want confirmation concerning this or that, we want to be impressed before we will commit, we want to be like Gideon and put a fleece out and when God answers we say ‘Ah, but give me one more sign!’ God does not mind, but it would be far better if we could learn to love God and trust him enough to learn to take him at his word! After all he gave the sign and he also fulfilled it, his death and his resurrection is the only proof we really need to know that Jesus is the Son of God, and in that believing we will have life in his name. In 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 Paul encourages the believer to keep believing the gospel they had heard him preach, and what did it consist of? ‘Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve . . .’

I am trusting thee Lord Jesus, trusting only thee . . . I am trusting thee to guide me, thou alone shalt lead, every day and hour supplying, all my need.

‘Enough this covers all my want; and so I rest! For what I cannot, he can see, and in his care I saved shall be, for ever blest.

Categories
Devotions

Daily Devotion July 21st

TUESDAY 21st

John 2:13-17

NIV (v16) – ‘To those who sold doves he said, ‘Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!’’

ESV (v16) – ‘And he told those who sold the pigeons, ‘Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.’’

There are two occasions which we read in Scripture of Jesus getting angry with what he saw going on in the temple. Here at the commencement of his ministry and then again in the week he entered Jerusalem before going to Calvary. (Luke 19:45-46 ‘. . . saying to them, ‘It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers.’’)

The traders certainly had not learned the lesson the first time! But let us be honest here, how often do we need to learn a lesson the hard way, more than once!

The account at the beginning of his ministry, indicates that Jesus was not happy that the Jewish traders were making what was the temple, the House of God into a market place, I don’t think that Jesus’ reaction and his comments mean that we should never allow buying and selling in the ‘Church’ as we would call our building today, rather than a ‘Temple’, but what I do think he is saying is that buying and selling should not become the primary purpose of the building, it should not be the focus and most certainly should not be what the church relies on to be successful. The local church should survive on the giving of the people in the tithes and offerings. That should be its benchmark for survival, my personal view is that if a local church for example sells coffee, it should be sold at a much cheaper cost than say a market place coffee shop, because they are extortionate in their prices, they are profit, profit, profit! whereas in a Church it should be to cover costs, or for raising funds for a godly purpose.  I know that my personal view here may be considered extreme by some, but if a Church needs commercial enterprise to survive, then it is operating beyond what it has been called to be. What we discover about the traders in the temple, is that they were actually ripping the people off, they were overcharging, they were taking advantage of the poor who needed to buy a dove or pigeon for their sacrifice and were being extortionately over charged and if they could not afford the prices  were being marginalised or left out.

In the example before Jesus went to Calvary, he was indignant that they had made the ‘house of God’ into a den of robbers when it should have been a ‘house of prayer’.  Their priorities for the house of God were all wrong! We always need to remember that if a building has been dedicated to the glory of God and for corporate worship, then that must be its priority and emphasis.

Back in the Old Testament, when the temple was built and dedicated to the glory of God, we read that as soon as Solomon had finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. It continues that the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house! The people responded by bowing with their faces to the ground and worshiped giving thanks to the Lord. (2 Chronicles 71-3) I wonder how Jesus would react if he physically entered many Churches today? Again, knowing that many wouldn’t agree with me on this point in the modern Church today, but I will say it, we don’t need our churches to be fitted out with black curtains or black painted walls, we don’t need flashing lights, we don’t need smoke machines, what we desperately need is Churches and congregations who are seeking God in such a way that as we worship, the glory of the Lord fills the house. My prayer is that Jesus will be pleased with who we are and with what we do in Emmanuel Pentecostal Church, so that when we regather, we will know his presence among us in a powerful way.