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Devotion January 18th

WEDNESDAY 18th

 

2 Peter 3:8-13

 

V10, 13 ‘But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed . . . But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.’

 

The  verses we have arrived at today are the verses that mark for us the events in the future that will decide the moment when time as we know it will eventually come to an end. The first part, ‘but the day of the Lord will come like a thief’, marks the return of the Lord to the earth and the events that will follow, that is his reign on the earth and then the final judgement, but the events of the next phrase ‘and then the heavens will pass away with a roar . . .’ will happen at least 1000 years after Christ has returned. For after Christ’s millennial reign upon the earth and after the final judgement has taken place everything as we see it today will be completely renewed, there will be a purging of everything that is evil in the world and of all the consequences of evil upon and within the world.

 

There will be the recreating of the heavens and the earth, in Revelation 21:1-4

we read these wonderful verses that speak of what things will be like after this purging, all things will be made new in readiness for that which will be eternally pure, to recreate the environment in which God will dwell among his people, that is those of us who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. The former things will have passed away and we will then be eternally secure in all that God has prepared and planned for those who love him. This is what these verses say, ‘Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”’ If you have the time and want to discover more about all of this continue to read Revelation chapter 21 and verses 9-27.

 

To all who read or listen to the devotion, if you want to be there, in this wonderfully prepared place, eternally in the presence of God, you need to make sure that you have committed your life to the Lord Jesus Christ, for the only ones who will be found there are those whose names have been written down in the Lamb’s book of life, in fact this is the warning of Scripture, ‘If anyone’s name was NOT FOUND IN THE BOOK OF LIFE, he was thrown into the lake of fire.’ (Emphasis mine) Revelation 20:15

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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.’

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Daily Devotion June 19th

FRIDAY 19th

Hebrews 9:11-28

Continued from yesterday. Yesterday we looked at we have been saved, today we continue with We are being saved.

Once we have come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we are still living in the hostile sinful world, the enemy of our souls would love to drag us back, pull us back into his kingdom of darkness. We are reminded by Peter that the devil is going around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour – (1 Peter 5:8) Peter is writing to believer’s; therefore, he is warning believers. Let us remind ourselves today the devil would love to distract and divert us in our walk of faith, he would love us to deviate and eventually to get us back onto the road that leads to destruction. Peter continues that the believers needed to ‘resist him’. As we have been saved, so we will continue to be being saved as we continue to resist the devil and walk faithfully in our new-found lives as believers or followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank God that the Scripture reminds us that as we walk in this hostile world, as we become determined in our hearts to persevere in the struggles of life and in our ongoing relationship with Jesus that he is able to keep us, to prevent us from falling away. Jude 1:24-25 ‘Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.’ In verse 21 Jude has told the believers ‘keep yourselves in the love of God’

I appreciate that on this matter there are two camps, those who believe once saved always saved and those who believe in the possibility of backsliding or falling away. Whatever our position, let us remind ourselves that the Scripture has many references to our need to be watchful, of the need to persevere, and of the need to keep our focus upon Jesus and the finishing line.

We will be saved. Hebrews 9:28 ‘. . . so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.’

One day the race will be over, whether it be through natural death or as a result of the Lords return, and at that moment we who have been saved and who have been kept will be saved throughout eternity, safe as we often say ‘in the arms of Jesus’ or ‘in the presence of Jesus’. Reminding ourselves again of what Jude said, ‘presented blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy’ (Jude 1:24) What a day that is going to be, the day when we finally stand in the presence of Almighty God, the day when we at last will see with our own eyes the Lamb that had been slain, our wonderful and beautiful Saviour, the day when we will gather around the throne with all the redeemed of the Lord and sing out ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb’, when we will lift our voices together and sing with those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb from every tribe and language and people and nations, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing’.

What a day, glorious day that will be.

Will you be there?

The same Scripture that reveal to us God’s wonderful plan of redemption also warn us of the dreadful fate of those who have refused to believe, who do not know the wonder of this great redemption story, of those who have rejected it and spurned the incredible and amazing love of God. It says that as we who have believed will be rejoicing in our full and complete salvation, those who have rejected God’s mercy and grace, whose names will not be found in the Lambs book of life will be judged and thrown into the lake of fire. Heaven is real, but sadly so also is Hell. Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart but come by faith and believe and accept God’s offer of grace and mercy as he has shown it though the sacrificial death of his Son at Calvary. God loves you, God has died for you, was raised for you and he waits with his arms open wide to welcome you.

One final Scripture, it precedes the verse I commenced this little section with in Hebrews 9:27 ‘And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment . . .’

There is coming a day,

When no heart aches shall come,

No more clouds in the sky,

No more tears to dim the eye,

All is peace forever more,

On that happy golden shore,

What a day, glorious day that will be.

What a day that will be,

When my Jesus I shall see,

And I look upon His face,

The One who saved me by His grace;

When He takes me by the hand,

And leads me through the Promised Land,

What a day, glorious day that will be.

There’ll be no sorrow there,

No more burdens to bear,

No more sickness, no pain,

No more parting over there;

And forever I will be,

With the One who died for me,

What a day, glorious day that will be.

What a day that will be,

When my Jesus I shall see,

And I look upon His face,

The One who saved me by His grace;

When He takes me by the hand,

And leads me through the Promised Land,

What a day, glorious day that will be.

Jim Hill CCLI788682

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Daily Devotion June 18th

THURSDAY 18th

John 3:1-16

We continue to look at our word study on ‘saved’.

To have been saved means that we must have been saved from something and today we will consider three aspects of our being saved and of what we have been saved from and saved to.

We will look at it in this way, we have been saved, we are being saved and we will be saved.

We have been saved. In John chapter three, we have the account of Nicodemus coming by night to have a chat with Jesus, it was an important conversation, for it came out from Nicodemus’ declaration that he believed that Jesus had come from God (v2) This means that Nicodemus must have understood something about the reality of the true and the living God and of there being a place where God existed for he accepted that Jesus had come from where God was. Jesus immediately responds by saying that no one can get to where God is unless they are born again.

Today we use the words ‘born again’ to describe our experience of being saved, the moment when we are ‘born again’ or ‘saved’ is also the moment when we have become a ‘new creation’ or ‘Christian’, a ‘follower of the Lord Jesus Christ’.

In Acts 16 the jailor asked Paul and Silas, ‘What must I do to be saved’ and they replied with ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved . . .’ (Acts 16:31) Earlier in Acts on the Day of Pentecost, the crowds asked ‘What shall we do?’ and Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptised . . .’ (Acts 2:38)

When we are ‘saved’, as a result of the confession of our sin and our acceptance of our need of a Saviour and of our belief in Jesus as being the Saviour, we are forgiven – that is every sin that we have committed up to that point is forgiven, Scripture says it is blotted out. Acts 3:19 ‘Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.’  God removes it from us as far away as the east is from the west. Psalm 103:12 ‘. . .as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.’ This can only happen because Jesus when he went to the cross took upon himself our sins and bore the punishment for them on our behalf and faced the wrath of God toward that sin for us and as a result we have a new clean start, we have become new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). We have been saved from our past sin, the punishment for that sin and the wrath of God toward that sin (Romans 5:9) and we have been saved to become the children of God, part of the blood washed community who make up the Church, the family or the household of God.(Ephesians 2:19) We will have been brought from out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, the kingdom of the Son of God.

Scripture says that at the moment of new birth, we have become justified (Romans 5:1) that is declared righteous before a holy God and the work of sanctification commences which makes us to become more like Christ as we proceed on our journey of faith. As we continue with the other letters in the word ‘Saviour’ we will learn more of the results of our being saved.

We will continue tomorrow.

There is power in the name of Jesus

We believe in His name

We have called on the name of Jesus

We are saved! We are saved!

At His name the demons flee

At His name captives are freed

For there is no other name that is higher

Than Jesus!

There is power in the name of Jesus

Like a sword in our hands

We declare in the name of Jesus

We shall stand! We shall stand!

At His name God’s enemies

Shall be crushed beneath our feet

For there is no other name that is higher

Than Jesus!

© 1989 Kingsway Thankyou Music CCLI788682

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Daily Devotion June 17th

WEDNESDAY 17th

Ephesians 2:1-9

Ephesians 2:8 ‘For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God . . .’

Today and tomorrow we are taking the S from the word Saviour and looking at our being saved.

I wonder what the word saved conjures up in your mind thinking outside of the realm of spiritual salvation. I am sure we have all heard stories or accounts of individuals or groups that have been in some kind of dilemma and as a result of effort by others they have been saved from out of the dilemma they were in. Thinking back to 2010, when the story became known world-wide of the 33 miners trapped in the mine in Chile and the huge effort that went into planning a rescue mission to get to them and to save them. What about an individual who may have fallen into the sea and the great work that the RNLI do whatever the weather conditions to go out to rescue and save?

Spiritually we all needed saving, we were all lost, we were all trapped in the pit of sin, we were drowning in our sinfulness, hopeless and helpless, we were heading to Hell and separated from God for eternity. We need to remind ourselves hell is a real place, the lake of fire is a real place, eternal separation from God in that awful place is a future reality for all who reject the Lord Jesus Christ. (Revelation 20:11-15) But thank God that he is in the business of saving, of rescuing the lost and hopeless sinner. And he put a plan into place, a rescue mission, which involved sending a Saviour into the hostile environment of this world to put the plan into action and to bring it through to completion.

As a result of this rescue mission those of us who have accepted Jesus as Saviour can say that we are saved. Repeat these words ‘I am saved’ what a wonderful declaration to be able to make. Imagine the euphoria, excitement, joy, and appreciation that the Chilean miners had as each one was finally rescued. Such should be the experience of each one of us who have been saved by Gods wonderful grace, not just for time but for eternity.

Here are some Scriptures that refer to us as being saved and we will continue the theme tomorrow.

John 10:9 (Jesus said) ‘I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.’

Acts 2:21 ‘And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

Acts 4:12 ‘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.’

Acts 16:30-31 ‘Then he brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?  And they said, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’

Romans 5:10 ‘For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.’

Romans 10:9-13 ‘. . . because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

1 Corinthians 1:18 ‘For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.’

1 Corinthians 1:21 ‘For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.’

Jesus, my Lord will love me forever,

From Him no pow’r of evil can sever,

He gave His life to ransom my soul;

Now I belong to Him;

Now I belong to Jesus,

Jesus belongs to me,

Not for the years of time alone,

But for eternity.

Once I was lost in sin’s degradation,

Jesus came down to bring me salvation,

Lifted me up from sorrow and shame,

Now I belong to Him;

Joy floods my soul for Jesus has saved me,

Freed me from sin that long had enslaved me

His precious blood, He came to redeem,

Now I belong to Him;

Norman Clayton CCLI788682

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Daily Devotion June 16th

TUESDAY 16th

In the few months before we left North Wales, I had taken the Church in Rhyl through some studies using a white board and illustrations by taking the letters that make up the word SAVIOUR to discover truth about our wonderful redemption. I am going to adapt these into the devotions for the next few days. The words are listed below and in brackets the order we will look at them

Saved  (1)

Accepted  (3)

Victorious  (7)

Included  (4)

Ordered  (6)

Unique  (5)

Reconciled  (2)

I wonder how many of us remember this song ‘I have such a wonderful Saviour . . . everybody should know, everybody should know, I have such a wonderful Saviour that everybody should know.’

Pause again for a moment . . . those of us who know him, this wonderful Saviour, give thanks with a grateful heart that you are receiving the many blessings and benefits of salvation. At the same time there may be someone reading this devotion on-line or in some other way and at this moment in time you cannot specifically say that you know Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour, you cannot look back to a moment in time when you realised you were a sinner who needed saving and that Jesus was the one who came to be the Saviour that you needed. Today, come before him in repentance, acknowledge your sin, confess it before him and ask the Lord Jesus Christ to come into your life, to save you, forgive you and to transform you into a new person, born again and washed clean through his precious blood. The Scripture says that we need to accept Jesus and to confess Jesus with our mouths,* if you have come to the place of salvation today, tell someone about it, let them know that you have put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

* Romans 10:9-13 ‘Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.  For the Scripture says, everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.  For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

This is a short devotion, but I want to leave it here, for those of us who already have chosen to accept Jesus, maybe today can be a day for a re-commitment, not because we have backslidden, but a day in which we will draw closer to God, with a greater appreciation of what he has done for us in Christ Jesus.

We end with the words of the song already mentioned.

I have such a wonderful Saviour,

Who helps me wherever I go,

That I must be telling His goodness

That everybody should know.

Everybody should know,

Everybody should know;

I have such a wonderful Saviour,

That everybody should know.

His mercy and love is unbounded,

His rivers of grace overflow;

Yes, He is ‘the Chief of ten-thousand’

That everybody should know.

He helps me when trials surround me,

His love and His goodness to show;

How can I but love and adore Him

That everybody should know.

My life and my love I will give Him,

And faithfully serve Him below,

Who brought me His wondrous salvation,

That everybody should know.

Mrs Frank A Beck CCLI788682