Month: January 2016

Matthew 21:3 “And if anyone says anything you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them’, and immediately he will send them.”

Dear God,

I am glad for another special day of rest and spiritual refreshing, on Your Sabbath day. Also I am especially thankful for this time alone with You and the ability to enjoy some of the surrounding birds, as they sing and emphasise Your creation with triumph.

Firstly today, I have read of how Your priests were to dress in the earthly wilderness sanctuary. Occupied with their activities around the temple they were only to wear the special vestments, which had been made faithfully to the pattern and instructions given to Moses by You. The priests had a different type than the High Priest, for his had different layers and adornments of great significance and meaning. To venture into the Holy Place without being attired in these special garments, would have meant death for Aaron the High Priest; for it would have shown that he did not reverence You or accept that Your presence was in the Most Holy place.

I thank You God that You are a particular God, and have given us guidelines for many things in Your word. I today again I have decided and ask that in the wisdom and enabling of the Holy Spirt, I will be faithful in following Your word.

I have determined that when I enter any place of worship that has been dedicated to You, that I will also dress and behave in a manner, that shows reverence for and to You; and not my vanity. I pray that I will have a humble and accepting spirit that invites Your presence during worship time.

I have also read how Jesus had given His disciples some special instructions for obtaining what He needed; for now Jesus was about to start His triumphal ride on a donkey into Jerusalem, and thereby fulfill prophecy and coming in the manner accustomed for Israelite kings. The people rejoiced and sang to ‘The Son of David.’

He arrives at the temple, and enters to find it a place of extortion and desecration. Right in the temple precincts, animals were sold for the sacrifices at inflated prices, amidst noisy commercial interactions. There was no sense that this was a place of prayer, worship, confession and restitution. Jesus ordered all of them out of His Father’s House, and the priests fled before Jesus – they could not resist His authority; which came from heaven.

Now in the quiet court yard with Jesus and His disciples, the poor, blind and lame had confidence to come to Jesus; and He healed them all, and they also sang acknowledging who Jesus was, ‘Blessed be the Messiah, the Son of David.’

When the priests returned, instead of the priests rejoicing that these people had been helped and healed, they did not because they thought only of their reputations and positions, and were indignant!

Dear Jesus thank You that when we truly follow You we willed be filled with Your love, which causes us to care about the poor and needy; without making extra money and obtaining a commercial advantage.

I ask that by the power of the Holy Spirit, that any self-serving, cold attitudes that can still rise within me, be exchanged for the true love I can have for others, by Your grace, as I daily seek You and desire to humbly follow Your lead.

Amen

Luke 11:13 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.”

Dear God,

I am so grateful for Your great and everlasting love of me and all mankind. You delight for us to get to know You and seek to do as You ask. You have not left us without instruction, and have told us how to live out our lives and what You will do in response; which is encouraging. In the light of Your encouragement and assurance that we will be heard, it is a wonder we do not more readily do as You ask. Luke 11:9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you, seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” V 10, “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” Thank You that You love me and care about me as outlined in these texts, and for the many times I have felt accepted by You.

I understand these words encourage us to come for a spiritual infilling and not for the building up of my selfish desires for material goods. I take encouragement from the many examples in the Holy Scriptures of how Your faithful people have been loved and cared for. I have found by experience this continues in this day, also.

Today I have read of Jacob, and how You revealed to him, that it was time to go home. In answer to Jacobs need and prayers, You caused his flocks to increase so he would not leave this country destitute. Now with large flocks of sheep and goats, two wives and many children and servants, he left secretly, but it was You who prepared the way for him to go home, without any retribution from Laban, his pursuing father-in-law. To not drive a hard bargain had not been in character for this man, over the past 20 years, Jacob had served his Uncle, father-in-law­.

In the end there was not any retribution from Esau his wronged brother, either. Jacob had his eyes opened by You, and saw the angels sent to protect him, and his traveling group.

When he stayed behind and was alone at Bethel (and that is a whole new aspect for reflection); Jacob did not just hope for a blessing, he wrestled for it and prevailed.

I am very glad I always have my guardian angel with me, and that You will send more angels to go with (me) us, when they are needed to keep us safe.

Today, fill my heart with Your Spirit, and bless me anew, please. By my invitation in answer to Your promise, I invite You to walk with me today and all days.

Thank You for answering my prayers.

Amen

Matthew 20:1 “The kingdom of heaven is like a land owner who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard.”

Dear God,

I thank You for all the bird song and noises, as they happily use their gifts to greet this new day. Even the raucous pet cockatoo from several houses away, is making his unmusical sounds with fervour, announcing his presence.

I am so grateful to You Jesus, for You created all things, and as the Son of God and Commander of the angels, You were beloved in heaven and yet You still gave Your all on behalf of mankind when You lived on earth in the bodily form of a man; and now You are ministering in the heavenly temple.

It is love so amazing and love that is absolutely divine; a priceless gift beyond compare and it has been and is still, offered free to everyone, including me. Hallelujah! We are bathed in Your love, as we are rescued by Your love and service for the inhabitants of earth.

When here among people, You spent much time revealing Your Father, for You and He are one in all things and ways. With patient love and persistence, You teach us all things needful for our salvation and what heaven, Your heavenly home is like.

Because all of heaven loves everyone from earth so much, they want as many as possible to accept salvation, and come live with them for evermore. In our sinful state here on earth, we could not be in heaven  not transformed, because we would be killed instantly by the glory of both You Father, and You Jesus.

We have the Bible record of Your wonderful ministry, which continues to draw us as it did people then. Your recorded words of teaching continue still to teach, on subjects such as, how to be Your true child, that it is possible to be redeemed from sin and transformed into a sinless person who can behold God in His glory. This is evidenced by Moses to whom was given a glimpse of Your glory, Father God, when with him on Mount Sinai.  After Moses died, the scriptures tell us he was raised, given a transformed body and taken to heaven to be with You.

Not only has Moses gone before, showing how we are taken to heaven, the parable about the wealthy landowner, that paid all those he had hired the same amount, no matter if they had worked 8 or 1 hour, tells me, that no matter if someone has loved You all their life, or just before they died, the reward is the same. I am glad to read in other parables that Jesus taught about the heavenly kingdom, that it does not matter in which time frame we have lived, or when and how we came to be His child; when He comes back to earth to redeem His own, all who are claimed by Him to be His, hear His voice and receive His reward.

Come Lord Jesus!

Amen

 

Matthew 19:23, 24 “Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.’”

Dear God,

Thank You for sending/allowing Jesus to come into this world. In the strength and power of the Holy Spirit and in communication with You, He lived a sinless life, and conducted a 3 year public ministry of caring, healing and teaching; mainly he was accepted by the poorer people and the spurned of society. From the learned and wealthier, not very often was He given recognition and honour for who He was and for His miraculous and caring ministry. Instead His path led to the cross on which He died in our stead. Because of His beautiful life lived publicly, we have His words recorded so we may have spiritual guidance, leading to life eternal.

A still relevant example for me (us) is the story of the rich young ruler. When the rich young ruler came to see Jesus, he had been a good boy at home and in the community, and like most today that have been raised in Christian homes and keep up their church attendance, he obeyed the commandments of God, and the requirements of the church. With the life of Jesus lived before Him, this young man felt some emptiness. Of course Jesus would have thoroughly supported his faithfulness in keeping the commandments, as well as for respecting his parents, and caring for his neighbours.   However Jesus read his heart, and knew that his personal riches were too important to him. Most likely these earthly riches were absorbing the time needed to spend sufficient time in prayer to God; therefore Jesus advised the giving away of his riches to the poor, and to come and follow Him. This advice was to show the rich young ruler, where his heart really was.

He was so attached to the riches, that he did not answer Jesus, and turned and walked away. It was then that Jesus stated that the rich can find it harder than the poor, in learning to depend on God. He took his comments further by saying that it was actually easier for a fully loaded camel, to get down on its knees and maneuver through the tiny needle gate at Jerusalem, than for a rich man to go to heaven. Of course there are people who thank God for their wealth, share it others and make sure they set time aside and in humility seek You.

Not only money, but possessions and cares can load us down, taking our time, and prevent us from humbly putting You first and seeing the needs of others and making time to help them. I am sad that on too many occasions I have been preoccupied with the issues of life, to give You and others the time I should.

Please continue to open my eyes and heart in this area.

Amen

Genesis 46:3, 4 “So He said, ‘I am God, the God of your father; do not fear not to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there. I will go down with you into Egypt; and I will also surely bring you up again…..’”

Dear God,

I give thanks because You always love and care for me with divine mercy. I am totally unworthy of Your love and care, (as each sinner is); yet receive it no matter the degree of sinfulness expressed in my life each day. I desire to learn to trust You completely, and I am willing for You to change me. I see in the scriptures, that this will be possible, when I put my self-interest aside, along with other character traits that prevent me from hearing Your voice in my life.

I regret my often casual approach to You, as well as my attitude toward my sinfulness. In the strength of the Holy Spirit, I believe both of these blocks to me fully coming close to You will be changed.

It is only in my personal worship, meditation and prayer time, that Your truths begin to sink in and bring change. In between I seem to go into a non-deep thinking, auto state. Knowing that You invite my prayers, I humbly seek You, even though in myself there is nothing to recommend me. Amazingly You seek me and bring me to repentance through Your Spirit, so that we can have a relationship?

Joseph was Your child, and never abandoned his faith in You, despite being sent off, by his brothers, before manhood, to Egypt to become a slave there. He is a mighty example of being faithful to You, despite his circumstances. He knew because he was close to You that his coming to Egypt was actually part of Your bigger plan for the nation of Israel. Surely it was because of Your love in him that caused him not to hold grudges and instead enabled him to forgive his brothers for their betrayal.

And so it was, due his faith, that he was used by you in his work there, and later, as the second in-charge to the king; the stock pile of grain he had organized, during the seven good years of harvest, was used to keep people alive during the seven years of famine. In response to the king’s strange dream, You revealed to Joseph the meaning, and he advised the king what to do to preserve Egypt from starving. The king then gave him the responsibility of undertaking all he had suggested.

His father Jacob, sent sons to obtain grain, and after a series of events, Joseph and the Egyptian king asked that his father and the whole family immigrate, because Joseph knew there were more years of famine. It is then, that You again spoke to Jacob, confirming that the move to Egypt was part of Your plan to save and grow the Israelite nation, as previously promised.

You never change as God, or in the loving care and direction of those who have put their trust in You in all situations.

Just as surely as You worked mightily in the life of Joseph, so it can be for us, if we with a strong faith in You. This certainly can be the case for all of us who are planning a helping program in the community. Because prayer has attended every step of conceiving and planning to help others, with this tried and true program, I believe that You will send the right number of participants. When we actually deliver this program, we commit ourselves to assist people the best way we can, and humbly request that we be filled with Your wisdom and to be used mightily by You. Fill all in the team with Your love, to share with all who attend, and toward each other as well.

Amen

Matthew 18:3 “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, You will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Dear God,

Thank You for every blessing, along with my life and this new day. Also for the forgiveness of my every sin, and for the Holy Spirit, Who goes with me, as I repent of my sins, and have them forgiven by Jesus, because of my confession. I am so grateful, that the Holy Spirit will then fill me with His gifts of love, wisdom, power and every other gift He knows I need. I give thanks also, for increasing discernment and concentration of spiritual matters, that will improve my ability to love, find and serve You.

God You are my ALL in ALL unto salvation for this minute and into eternity.

By nature I am not innocent, humble or childlike in my faith, but I am reassured in Your word, that through the Holy Spirit, I will manifest these fruits that are part of being a follower of Jesus. For Jesus said, in Matthew 18:4 “Therefore whoever humbles himself as this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” I understand, that most things advocated by those with worldly values, will not be what forms me for heaven. Better still, when I have innocence combined with humility given as Gods gifts, they will shine out of me like jewels that are my attractive adorning from God, giving me the natural grace of His converted and sanctified child. Because God gives these precious gifts to His earnest, seeking child, I will put all else aside, and each day seek Him.

We as adults, have a commission from God; in whatever role we interact with children, to nurture and support all children, so they grow to love, know and receive Christ into their hearts and lives.

I pray that because You live within me, that nothing I do, would ever lead them away from loving You, for they are Your treasures, to grow up as mature Christians.

Forgive me Lord if I have in anyway crushed the spirit of a child. Especially bless, rescue and protect the already injured children that I know and interact with on a regular basis.

Amen

Matthew 16: 19 “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Dear God,

Again on this new summer day, I am thankful for the day and that You love me and hear my prayers and answer them beyond my expectation. I sincerely desire a deeper understanding of Your word and to be better able to clarify what goes into my mind from the scriptures. I wish to be Your faithful ambassador, and also ask that I be able to give an introduction of Your grace to other people. I find the gospel story good news to be shared, as Jesus has commissioned His disciples to do. For too long I have been rather reticent to share how my life has been changed and enriched by my belief in You.

Truly the inspired words, that You have given us in the scriptures, are words of life! When any one of us follow the pathway for living in the Holy Bible, all in heaven know and approve, and of course all is known in heaven, when we do not follow You and Your word.

It is no secret that the only way to heaven is to accept Jesus and follow Him, Matthew 16: 24, 25 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life for My sake will find it.’”

Thank You for accepting me again today, as I have chosen to follow Your pathway; and tell others the good news.

Amen

Exodus 14:13 “And Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today …..’”

Dear God,

How powerful You are Almighty God, for You have created all things, and Your creative power is evidenced every day, in all the universe; taking in all life forms and inanimate objects, from the smallest particle of life, to the largest combination of atoms.

By Your supernatural power, You delivered the Israelites from the Egyptians, through the red sea, unscathed, and then by a moving of the waters and wind, so that the Egyptians drowned. These days Your power is in no way diminished toward mankind, though of course Your power is not used at our ‘beck and call’.   Very frequently we see Your mighty power used for your own divine purposes, though not discussed often, people have been saved by Your divine power, or rain has fallen all around the people who filled an open air venue, but not on the place in which the electronics were whilst the evangelist was preaching Your saving gospel; are just a few examples.

Jesus, when on earth healed many sicknesses of the people, by divine power. Divine power meant Jesus arose from the tomb, following His death upon the cross at 3pm with a sudden background of darkened skies; the temple curtain was rent down the middle, by no human hand; and some graves burst open; with the people who had been resurrected to life, going around the town testifying about what had happened. All these events had many witnesses, who in turn witnessed about what they had seen to others.

Isaiah wrote many hundreds of years before the time of Jesus in Isaiah 53: 4 “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.” Another passage of Isaiah is quoted in Matthew 8:17 “..….He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses…” I find this prophesies accurately predicting the events around Jesus, another evidence of Your divine power in action.

Thank You Jesus that You in divine power, lift me up, strengthen me and bring me healing in different ways.

Amen

Matthew 15: 25 “Then she came and worshiped Him; saying ‘Lord, help me.’”

Dear God,

I praise You, because You are ever loving and merciful, and the Creator, as well as being God of all. I was formed by You and given life, with all the abilities that I need, to function and enjoy Your gifts; and I am truly grateful.

Jesus our Saviour, when on earth, was our example, because He treated all with love and compassion. The incident given about the woman from Canaan referred to in Matthew 15:21-28, and was to show the Israelite’s and others in later times, that their pride about themselves and nation, which led to contempt for all ‘gentiles’, was not as God would have people to behave.

How easy it for us of a certain group or church fellowship, to become proud, exclusive and feel superior, and not be as loving and as accepting of others, as Christ would have us to be, in the light of His teachings.

Every one of us have been created by You, God, and are equally loved by You, no matter who we are or how we are living, or have lived our life. It is good for all of us to remember, that every one of us stand before You our Creator, equally needing a Saviour.

Forgive me Lord for my non Christlike beliefs and behaviors, and bring me to the foot of Your cross again this morning.

The disciples wanted to send the bothersome, noisy foreign woman away, as she cried, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David. My daughter is severely demon-possessed.” Her need and persistence were pressing. How off putting it would have been for most, when Jesus did not at first answer her. This was combined with the disciples being all for, sending her away; followed by Jesus saying, ‘I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ Amazingly her answer was to come closer and worship Him.   Her need of His intervention and belief in Him, were so great that she did not give up, and she saw the love of Jesus (that He could not hide), despite the indifferent words, and she continued to press her case. When Jesus believed He had made His point to the disciples and other Israelite’s that all mankind are loved and cared for equally by Himself and His Father; then He with love, acknowledged her faith, and healed her daughter.

I also have learned the lesson that it is good to press close to You, Jesus, and with persistence, continue to present my needs to You. Be my strength today, please.

Amen

Revelation 14:12 “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”

Dear God,

Praise Your blessed and holy name, that You will someday have the redeemed from earth, in heaven with You. I appreciated my reading today, that expounded on the facts in the above passage.

All those that Jesus will redeem, will have made preparation, through the Holy Spirit to be changed. I am so relieved that through the Holy Spirit, I can be changed to be able to manifest patience, and I will be more aware about any prideful attitude because of any personal or material attainment, You, have blessed me with.

Joseph even though he had been sold into slavery by his brothers, achieved a leading role in Egypt, and had material wealth (before being put into jail) as well as being personally attractive. However because of his love and connection with his You, he knew from where his power to interpret Pharaoh’s dream came from, Genesis 41:16 “….It is not me; God will give Pharaoh an answer in peace.” He could have taken the credit, reasoning Pharaoh would have been none the wiser. He like Moses and Daniel was also a patient and humble man.   All three of these faithful men, had learned to be meek and long suffering, in good and adverse situations. These qualities meant that they could be used mightily by You, God, because personal pride or self-absorption would not get in the way.

Teach me Lord to be truly humble, and to be focused on You and not on myself or anything I do.

The three were obedient to your requests, and with delight kept Your commandments with true and loving hearts; not for show, as did many religious leaders, as illustrated in Matthew 15: 1-9 (especially verses 8 and 9). It is promised in Revelation 14: 12, their reward awaits them, as it does for anyone who is faithful; even me.

Obedience and self-control comes more easily in the presence of love, and I do ask this will be possible within me, by the infilling and teaching of the Holy Spirit.

Because Jesus is our shepherd and our example, unto heaven, He enables me, through the Spirit (if I so choose) to overcome any doubt, and not stray from my belief in You. As this happens, Jesus promised that I would learn to trust You more and more, in good times and in times of trial.

Hallelujah!

Amen.

Matthew 14:31 “And Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt.’”

Dear God,

It is so good that You love me, and watch my way each day, and that I can place all things in Your care. At present as You know, I am subject to some very unproductive thoughts, with mind and body in turmoil from fatigue, and the useless question ‘why me, it is not fair?’ and so on. Please forgive me for my ungrateful, unfaithful heart. Your Son, Jesus whilst living here on earth, placed You first always, and is in all areas my beautiful example.

In Matthew 14, I find that He lovingly helped people in need, healed the sick, provided food for the multitude. All after having planned for some solitude, after He had heard of the death of His cousin, John the Baptist. However His loving heart could not refuse the eagerly seeking throng, and so He put aside the time of solitude.

Unlike me so often, He was gracious and loving, even when His own needs had been thwarted.

Forgive me Lord for when I become petulant, because time planned for quiet solitude or a plan to do something, has been invaded by others. Instead of focusing on what I cannot do, I plan instead to see their needs, and willingly and lovingly offer my ear or whatever is needed to help.

Jesus took steps to make sure that in the end, He obtained His needed time in order to be alone with You, His Father in heaven. When He had answered the needs of the crowd, He with authority, that no one questioned, sent the crowds away, along with His disciples.

Jesus knew that to be in prayer with You, His Father was as necessary as air and food for Him. As it is for me; if only I would seek You more, I would have a more victorious life as a Christian, and would not so often be led into wrong places by Satan and his angels.

Please Lord, be my strength so that I will not only pray to You in the morning and evening, but all through the day, as You can bring things to my mind; and I will not always have radeo speaking in my ears, as I have loved to do in the past.

Restored physically, emotionally and spiritually, Jesus walked on the water to the boat, in which the disciples were battling the waves. Bless Peter that he recognized the power of Jesus, and knew that Jesus could and would keep him up on top of the water; and so it was, until Peter took his eyes off Jesus and thought of self.

Forgive me Lord for the times, I show lack of faith, and take my eyes off Jesus, and focus on self and as must be the case, begin to sink. As with Peter however, Jesus is right there to put out His hand and lift me to safety.

Amen