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Luke 5: 20 “When He saw their faith; He said to Him, ‘Man, your sins are forgiven you.’”  Acts 16: 30 “………..’Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’”

Dear God,

Jesus on earth had power to forgive sins; some found this blasphemous, and so did not take it seriously, and for others to be healed of their physical ailments was to them more desired, than to be forgiven of their sins.

Please God, truly strengthen me, so that I can humble all of me before You in repentance and supplication. To be forgiven and then covered by Christ’s robe of righteousness, is in its self a miraculous thing, for now God does not see me as the sinner I am, but as one sinless, because Jesus the One who covers me is sinless.   Hallelujah, again today, for You love and acceptance of me as sinless, through Jesus Christ.  Please keep this thought and belief deep in my mind and heart for all time.

Your loyal ambassadors, Paul, Silas and Timothy, were filled with much joy and could not keep from telling others about the good news, of the crucified risen Christ; now returned to heaven to intercede for mankind.  Full of consecration and the Holy Spirit, they risked their lives to tell others, so they also could learn to love Jesus and be saved.  The disciples were often not well received, and frequently risked their lives, telling the gospel story so others could choose Jesus and be saved from the consequences of their sins.  On the occasion written about in Acts 16, Paul and Silas had been beaten and put into prison, after witnessing about Jesus their Saviour.

From this passage, I derive so many lessons, and questions to ask myself.  Such as whether I am faithfully telling others about Jesus, as I should be? If I am not in the perfect, joyful trust, of these men in and out of jail; why am I not?  Acts 16: 25 “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.”   A mighty earth quake occurred, and all the doors were opened; even those of the inner security section.  The keeper of the jail presumed that all the inmates would have escaped, and was going to kill himself, until Paul called out, telling him not to do that, because all the prisoners were still inside the jail.  The keeper, trembling with shock and emotion, asked how he also could be saved by Jesus, V31 “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”  They believed and were immediately baptized, V34 “………..and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his house hold.”

What a beautiful thing it is, when a person is told about Jesus by someone who loves You too much to keep from telling others about Your great love and their hope for the future. And so it was as I read about the apostles and new believers, who are recorded in the scriptures telling as many people as they could, that they also, with them could be saved from their sins and have eternal life.  They did not forget to tell these new Christians that they also can have the infilling of the Holy Spirit and experience His gifts of joy, hope and peace on earth.

I am thankful that I know about Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, and now have hope in Him; because someone cared enough to share, and like the jailer I have accepted Jesus.

Amen

Mark 10: 45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Dear God,

Thank You for Your everlasting love and care of all Your creation.  I am especially thankful, that I was helped with adjusting recipes for sharing with others.  Forgive me for the times I rush ahead, and Your gift to us of beautiful fruits and vegetables, is not glorified in my food combinations.  Please be my wisdom and guide to present tasty and healthful recipes, to others.

Jesus came and lived a perfect, selfless, sinless life amongst those within walking distance around His place of birth, representing on earth, You His Father in heaven.  It is wonderful to comprehend, that You both have always been One, in purpose and nature, and are now together in heaven again; after the successful rescue mission, for we the lost and dying/died, from sin on earth.

Because of Your promises, I am assured that I will be led and equipped to be Your true child and representative to all that I meet.  Praises to You God in heaven, for hearing every prayer and I find that You are what I need, every moment of each day.

David a Psalmist and Your chosen king of Israel, was a faithful follower of You, all his life and has written beautifully upon all aspects of knowing You and how precious You are to all who know You, Psalm 1: 1 – 3 “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly……V2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord……..V 3 He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season……….”  Because David was faithful, You also gave him words of prophecy about Your Son and His mission to come, for the direction and assurance for all people that followed in his ‘wake’.  Psalm 2: 7, 8 “I will declare the decree; the Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.  Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession.’”

You are a God of truth and honour, and all the messages given by You to David and the other prophets have occurred.   Jesus is yet to come back to earth again!   I/we can be sure, because Jesus came to earth as predicted by the prophets the first time, that He will come again, as predicted for His own loved people, the second time.

Amen

Job 42: 1, 2 “Then Job answered the Lord and said, ‘I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.’”

Dear God,

I give thanks for every provision and each and every gift that come my way from You; The Almighty, and all powerful God.

Too many times we are inclined like Job, to question Your wisdom and doings, forgetting that You are not a finite person that makes errors or does wrong.  Also we can be slow to recognize or admit that many of our adverse happenings are the end result of our own previous words/ actions that in Your wisdom have been allowed to play out to their end, for our own learning and growth.  Forgive me please if I have any such sins, unrecognized or confessed by me, so I can make the changes necessary.

Job later recognized after God had spoken to him.  It is fair to say, how dare he (or we) question Your wisdom, when he/we are without knowledge of how and why the entire universe was constructed.  Anything we think may have happened is only supposed, because none of us were there at the time.

Job in his ignorant talk about things related to You was basically ‘spouting off’ because he did not like the nasty things happening to his body, and how badly his friends were treating him.  He did not know Satan had said, ‘no one would stay true to God, if life went bad for them.’  It is so wonderful however, that Job never did abandon or give up loving his God, as You knew would be the case.

Instead of speaking out of ignorance about Your motives or actions, I will follow Job, because I now realize as Job learnt, that we do not really need to fully understand things in and of the world that are too wonderful to grasp to be able to love and follow You with all our mind and heart.  Now days we have more facts than Job to pin our belief about Your creative works; as science finds out how some of Your creation actually functions; instead of following a belief based on supposition and theory.   The scientists still never have made a cell or element of it, and so have not put any man made cells together, so that it could be said any person on earth has created life. They have of course cleverly used cells already made by our Creator.

As with many of the songs of the Psalms, I must praise for Your love and care of the life of creation, of which I am a part.  Despite only being able to understand what has been revealed, there is fully enough for me to believe in and trust You in all things.

I also wish to serve You truly and with my whole heart all my days, with increasing reverence and understanding.

Amen

 

2 Kings 5: 2, 3 “And the Syrians had gone out on raids and had brought back a young girl from the land of Israel.  She waited on Naaman’s wife.  Then she said to her mistress.  ‘If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria!   For he would heal him of his leprosy.’”

Dear God,

I wish to give thanks for my life and this new day; and with the birds, greet this new day with happiness, and sing thanks to You; even though the sun does not shine.

It would seem in the Syrian household of Naaman, the Israelite young girl was like a light in this household.  She had not harboured hard or dark thoughts toward her captives, and had stayed true to her beliefs, in this pagan country, (Naaman mentions the god Rimmon, 2 Kings 5: 18).  She also sounded helpful in her place of residence, and concerned for the welfare of her captor.  As “Naaman the commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honourable man in the eyes of his master”….”but a leper.”

Please be my light and strength, so that Your love shines out of me in all situations, whether pleasant or adverse for me.

It would seem that both the Israelite maid and Naaman were honourable people that were believed when they communicated knowledge or a request to their respective masters.

Firstly Naaman believed the maid, to such a degree, in V4 “And Naaman went in and told his master, saying, ‘Thus and thus said the girl who is from the land of Israel.”  As he had hoped, his master did not delay in helping him. V5 “Then the king of Syria said, ‘go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel’………”

The bible account tells me that the king of Israel thought it was a trick by Syria to start a quarrel with his country, for he certainly had no power to heal anyone, and he was not on close terms with the God of Israel anyway.  Just as well Elisha heard of the visitor from Syria and the king’s dilemma, and V8……”he sent to the king, saying, ‘Why have you torn your clothes?  Please let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.’”

It must have been off putting for this man of status, who no doubt was accustomed to respect and deference in all interactions.  Firstly he was bundled off from the palace, and arrives at the humble dwelling of Elisha, who did not even come out and greet this ‘great and honourable man’, but instead a messenger was sent to him, saying, V10 “…’go and wash in the Jordon seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you and you shall be clean.’”  It would seem God that You were testing this prideful man of power, for he needed to put aside his pride, and an in humility go and wash in the dirty Jordan, as instructed.  He almost did not, but his men persuaded him, it was worth trying something so easy, V14 “So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.”

Elisha did not accept any payment.  Healing comes from You, is never dependent on our actions or payment, and is always a free gift from God.  And this is how easy it is for us to be washed clean of our leprosy of sin no matter what sins they are.  All we need to do is seek You out; then with true hearts, humble ourselves, and with belief, ask Jesus for forgiveness for our sins, and accept that they are cleansed.  Then we like Naaman need to turn our backs on worshipping any other god, only the true, living God in heaven.

Please keep me true to You, God, so that no one or anything becomes more important above You.  Thank You for cleansing my sins.

Amen

Acts 13: 22, 23 “…….He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’  From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Saviour–Jesus.”

Dear God,

In the synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia, Paul was invited to speak, and of course, as with all true believers of Jesus, he spoke on His favourite topic, which was You, God the Father.  He spoke about Your past care, guidance and miraculous leading of the Israelite people down to the recent death and resurrection of Jesus.  Fearlessly Paul proclaimed the risen Lord Jesus, as had Peter and the other apostles, and what this meant for mankind.  Stephen a newly ordained deacon of the acts church fellowship had done so, before being stoned to death, whilst Paul (then named Saul) encouraged the Jewish crowd to stone Stephen to death.  And now through Your grace Paul was telling his story and presenting salvation through the risen Jesus, just as fearlessly as Stephen.

Because You are God who is all knowing and all powerful, You knew the potential of Paul, and so in Your love and mercy, gave Paul a vision of Jesus in heaven.  Paul was converted from a none believer in Jesus as God, to a full conversion, giving his whole heart and zeal to representing Jesus the risen Lord, to as many as he could.

In the introductory texts, Paul is representing You, as the God who knows all things, even knowing what was in the heart of Saul and David: two of the Israelite kings, the nation had demanded instead of You to be their god, so they could be like the other nations around about.  They had been meant to be an example nation showing what it meant to love and worship the God of heaven; their leader/King.  They demanded a human king, who was subject to all the same human passions and frailties that they were, spurning You the divine King, ruling from heaven.

Their first human king, Saul, was good looking and regal in bearing, but sadly was subject to pride and went on to not truly represent You to the people, and because of his disobedience and unfaithfulness.  You no longer allowed him to continue as king; because he now represented himself and not his heavenly King and God.  The next anointed king, was David, who was only a teenager when chosen, but You knew that he loved with his whole heart and would do Your will, the best he could.

Through David’s line of descendant’s, You raised up a Saviour – Jesus, not only to save the Jews, but we Gentiles also.  After Christ the early church was growing every day, because the new converts and followers, also served You obediently with their whole hearts.

As we come down to the last days of earth, I pray for a renewal in the hearts and mind of many people so that we also will give You all our heart, obedience and service, as did the members of the newly converted Christians of Acts.

Amen

 

Job 28: 20 “From where then does wisdom come?  And where is the place of understanding? V 23 God understands its way, and He knows its place.”

Dear God,

I give praise because it is uplifting to reflect upon Your might and power that can do all things, about which we mortals really know very little and we certainly do not know how many things were made or are maintained in the purpose, for which You created them.  We can know for certainty however, because of what is revealed in Your holy word, that You created all things in love, and that You love all that You create.

Job, expounded to his accusers, upon the different functioning aspects of the universe, to an amazing degree.  Which revealed the human wisdom of those times, but no matter the mighty things accomplished by mankind then or now, they do not match the true wisdom and understanding of all things by the Creator. Job who thought he knew God and His ways was given a rebuke that he did not, by God, recorded in Job Chapters 38 – 41.  Job did however know and love his God with all of his true heart, and we find in, Job 28: 28 “And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom.  And to depart from evil is understanding.”

It is good to know, You are in everyplace and doing of my life, and when I in prayer I ask, You surely do fill me with thoughts toward You and expand my inadequate understanding and wisdom.  You have given wonderful promises in scripture, that You are also my defense against Satan, who lies about Your character to each of us.

Please be my strength and wisdom in overcoming conceit and wrong attitudes; for it is not good works alone that please You. I am reminded of the truth in, Jeremiah 9: 24 “’But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.  For in these I delight,’ says the Lord.’”

I glory in Your glory today, and delight and praise You for it; as well as the delight You have in ‘exercising’ loving actions to me.

Amen

Jeremiah 31:3 “The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: ‘Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving kindness I have drawn you.’

Dear God,

You have provided me with life, substance and a purpose for living.  Your everlastings love over arches me whilst I dwell upon earth.

I am so glad You want for me to be saved from the consequences of my sins = eternal death.  It is amazing that You pour out Your love, upon all creation; and have not left out, the one planet that is full of sinners.  Your love is so all comprehensive, that no matter who we are, You want a relationship with us.

Psalm 103:11 “For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him. V 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. V 13 As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him.”  I give thanks again, for the privilege of being asked to call You, Father.  1 John 3”1 “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God.”

You have heard my contrite prayer, for the many times I have not valued You and Your care, as I should, especially the relationship You wish to have with me.   Also for the times of not giving thanks and praise, from a deeply loyal and grateful heart; instead of the all too frequent, superficial thinking about You, that I offer up as worship.

I rejoice that I have a growing appreciation for the gift, of Your only begotten Son, Jesus to the world, and “that whosoever believes in Him should never perish, but have everlasting life.”  I am sobered to think, it took the atoning death of Jesus for me, to be saved from my sin.  Such a momentous gift and action!  Due only to Your character of absolute love which allowed Jesus, also filled with absolute love, to come upon His rescue mission to Satan’s hostile dwelling place; amidst many people given over to the control of this ultimate deceiver.

By Your wisdom and power I again ask You into my life, to will and work in my heart unto salvation.

Amen.

Jeremiah 9: 23, 24 “Thus says the Lord: ‘Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising loving kindness, judgement and righteousness in the earth.  For in these I delight,’ says the Lord.”

Dear God,

With thanks and gratitude, I give You praise and worship this morning.  In my need I have requested the presence of the Holy Spirit to bring my thoughts closer to You, and I have come to a better knowledge of You in a life changing way that promises improved vibrancy and joy.  From Scripture I learn when we seek You humbly in whole hearted prayer and worship; we are on a pathway that leads to heaven.  John 17: 3 “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

The many stories relating to the life of Jesus when living upon this earth are a great bonus for we who live afterwards, in our pursuit of a close relationship with You.  Before that in Old Testament times, You reached and drew to Yourself, all the people who would pay attention to the Holy Spirit, and whole heartedly read Your word.  We have the same privilege as well as the example of Jesus when on earth; for which I give praise.

In Acts 10 is given the example of a certain Cornelius, from the Italian Regiment who knew You as His God, V 10 “A devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always.”  You knew his heart and heard his prayers.  Peter, a converted disciple, had his unchallenged prejudices, and needed to be prepared by You, to go teach the Gospel story to the Gentiles.  While both men individually had taken the opportunity in the middle of the day to seek You in prayer, an angel was sent to each with a message for each.  Both men heeded Your words, leading to much rejoicing, amongst the group of family and close friends of Cornelius who had gathered to hear Peter.

This teaches me amongst other things, that there is great profit in seeking You at any time of the day, as well as heeding Your messages.  All through the scriptures, there are many wonderful illustrations of answered prayer, which assures me that the same is a possible reality for us all.

I am so glad that Your solace comes to us today as for Job who looked beyond the present ‘hell’.  Job 19:25 “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth.

I acknowledge, that the key that unlocks Your invention, lies in desiring to know You and asking for help.  I do so again today.

Amen

 

Job 13: 7 “Will you speak wickedly for God, and talk deceitfully for Him?”

I am thankful for the words of Job, for they direct my thoughts to Your wisdom, might and power, and overall justice in the universe.  With Job, it is amazing that the love, allegiance and mental acceptance of your power, never wavered, and in fact under girded his belief in You in his adversity.  This is also the case for many people in adversity today, when we look up and worship You the God of creation, power and might, the One who knows all things, we can then only acknowledge You are always there.

Obviously You know all about me and will allow only what is best for me.  Even when I do not like it!  It is then that these beautiful, oft quoted words are appreciated, Job 13: 15 “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.  Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him.”  To me today, I think that these thoughts, ‘though he slay me, yet will I trust Him’ could only be framed into words, by someone who loved and trusted You absolutely.   Job also seems to have a confidence in his relationship with You, conveyed by the words, ‘Even so I will defend my own ways before Him.’  His confidence continues on into V 16 “He also shall be my salvation, for a hypocrite could not come before Him.”

For me today, it is Your close relationship with a human person that is a beautiful thing to behold in someone else of my acquaintance.  Especially if at the time, my relationship, faith and trust in You is lacking and would not withstand testing.  I believe by experience that You do come close and guide us when we ask; even though the process maybe so very much longer than we think we can stand.  Scripture and history shows, we can stick by until the end, in the strength provided by You.

Thank You.  Please keep me focused upon You.

Amen

Dear God,

V 7 Job rebukes his non-comforters for how they speak about You.   It is amazing, that they never really listened to what Job was saying; because of their set minds.  They also appeared not to pick up the consistency in the love of Job for You; (later You must sort the friends out, as well Job a little).

Job had continued to believe that You alone knew him, and would ‘in time’ give testament of his love for You.  Job 16: 19 “Surely even now my witness is in heaven, and my evidence is on high.”  At this time of his defence and complaint, Job probably feels sick enough to die, and anyway everyone he knows, reviles or mocks him.  Yet he still clings onto the belief that as God, You are his advocate (which is proved true).  Job 17: 3 “Now put down a pledge for me with Yourself.  Who is he who will shake hands with me?”

Again I thank You for preserving these events, because for many of us life is hard, or has had its time of overwhelming challenges in one way or another.  When so minded to do so, we can (do) gain much comfort and encouragement, knowing that no matter our challenges, business or situations, I believe every one of us is offered a very close relationship with You that will endure throughout all times of our life.  If we so choose?

I give You all my praise today.

Amen

 

Acts 8: 36, 38 “Now as they went down the road, they came to some water.  And the Eunuch said, ‘See, here is water.  What hinders me from being baptized?’”  “So he commanded the chariot to stand still.  And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and he baptized him.”

Dear God,

I find blessings in Your precious Bible, full of words that educate and lead me, in such a way that very often addresses my questions and needs of the moment.  Praise Your Holy and Awesome name again today!

Thank You for the Acts account about the activities of the disciples, after Jesus had returned to heaven.  It is evident that the Holy Spirit had descended with power and great authority upon the disciples and believers of the early Christian church.

Peter and Philip were returning from Samaria, where they had been giving the gospel message to the people there, and to their joy, many had accepted their risen, Lord and Saviour and given their hearts to Him.  On the way back to Jerusalem, the two continued to testify of Jesus and preach to words of Scripture in a way that brought light to the village people, upon the route.

Father, for we of Your congregation of believers in this century, wake some of us up from any self-focus, and by Your Spirit, give us humble hearts, that will allow You to use us to give an account about our experiences with Jesus and our ‘beyond price’ news.

I have taken ‘on board’ the example of Philip, who listened to and obeyed the instruction of the Holy Spirit, to go down the road to Gaza.  Which was why he found the Ethiopian man stopped, and in the act of reading about the prophesy regarding Jesus in Isaiah.  Again under the influence of the Holy Spirit, Philip ran near the Ethiopian, and was invited into the chariot to help outline the significance of the Isaiah prophesy, in relation to what the Ethiopian knew had happened recently to Jesus in Jerusalem.  Philip began with the prophecy, and continued on to tell all about the ministry of Jesus; His death and resurrection, and what this meant for everyone individually.  The Ethiopian accepted Jesus, on the spot, and lost no time in wanting to take his commitment to Jesus all the way, and said the words of V36 “…….’see here is water, what hinders me from being baptized?’”  It is a wonderful to see his whole hearted acceptance of Jesus Christ, even to the extent of pointing out the roadside pool in which it could take place.  Philip made sure of the heart commitment of this man, V 37 “Then Philip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you may.’  And he answered and said, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’”

I am so glad that today, it is just as simple to be used by the Holy Spirit, as it was for Philip, and just as easy for people to accept Jesus, as forthe Ethiopian.

Amen