Month: June 2016

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

 

Job 9: 4 “God is wise in heart and mighty in strength.  Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered?”

Dear God,

As so often is the case, I draw comfort from the knowledge that You are wise in all things; as well having the ability to do all things.  I then am humbled by the knowledge that despite this, you love and care for me, who is just a recurring sinner.   I also acknowledge that the smallest plant, flower or insect, has been fashioned by You and subsequently cared for as tenderly, as the most majestic part of the universe.

It is only the outworking of Satan’s sin on this earth that causes harm and continues to endanger Your creative works and makes death inevitable for all living things.  Thank You for the words of Your Prophets, who write encouragingly, that the earth will be made new, and all death will eternally be destroyed.  1 Corinthians 15: 26 “The last enemy that will be destroyed is death.”

You knew Job very well, and he was certainly well acquainted with You.  Even during the most severe affliction, he continued to believe and acknowledge You with insight that could have only come from having an intimate walk with You.

In Job 8, Bildad the Shuhite one of Job’s not-comforters states that Job must have been very wicked considering that so many bad things were happening to him.  Despite Jobs protests that he was not wicked, all of the ‘not-comforters’ continued in there assertions, and built their case, from the belief, if we love You and do good works, then nothing bad will happen to such a person.  They kept saying that if he would come back to You, and be blameless, that he would not be cast away, and instead be laughing.  They had no idea, that You had allowed Job to be tested by Satan.

Job continued to protest his innocence and complained about his hard lot.  But in his many words, came gems of faithful witness about You, his God.  Such as ‘God is wise’, ‘look at His creation and power’, and that he himself could never contend with God, or come up with a correct answer, because You are All-knowing and powerful.  He observes that we could never stop You from doing anything, no matter how righteous we might be.  He says often that he did not like his present life or being tested by You as though he was unrighteous.  All the while He sees You as Almighty God to be worshiped, as the One who does powerful works.  Job did not see You as the way to material possessions, in the present or for later prosperity.

Lord there is so much for me, when I read Job, and certainly I can see why You said to Satan, that Job was true and upright, and thus counter his argument that it is impossible to please You or come up to Your standard.

I give You thanks that there are better days coming, than what the devil puts us through.   You will not leave us alone when we trust and seek You in prayer; even though humanly we can feel abandoned.  Job certainly did!  In the end, Job was victorious, and blessed by You abundantly; when the torment was all over.

I am so glad, that You do the same for us.

Amen

Acts 7: 60 “Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not charge them with this sin.’  And when he had said this, he fell asleep.”

Dear God,

Thank You for every blessing and for the most precious gift, Jesus Christ, who came to this world, and lived a sinless live, filled with the Spirit.  As Scripture has recorded, He was put to death and arose again.  He has paid the sin price for all of us.  This is a gift which cannot be priced, and it is undeserved.  When my (our) hope is pinned upon Jesus, we are blessed now and in expectation.  I can say these words, but without Your Spirit giving me full understanding and acceptance, they may not achieve Your full intention in my mind and life.  I pray for the Holy Spirit to make up for the lack in understanding of what is offered, as well as in my belief and acceptance of Scripture.

Jeremiah 31: 31 – 34, talks of how the Israelites broke the covenant that had made with them.  But because of mercy from You, God, they were not abandoned, V33 “………I will put My law in their minds and write it on their hearts and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

It really shows how much they/we are prized, and how important it is to follow You, and we will taught what we should do.  We receive graciousness, V34 “……… I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more.”

I have continued to read about Stephen in Act 7, who was full of Your Spirit in the temple, and recounted their history as Israelites, including how they ill-treated the past prophets, who under inspiration, foretold the coming of the Messiah.  After the Messiah came and mingled with the Israelite people, He was not recognised by most or treated well, either.  Toward Stephen they reacted as they had toward Jesus our Saviour; their promised One.  Stephen at the end of his discourse was given a vision from You and saw into heaven, with You and Jesus at Your right hand, pictured.  Even when facing his violent death, Stephen did not falter in his love and faithfulness, and instead prayed his famous prayer, asking that their sin toward him be not charged to them.

Such faith is a gift from heaven, and is available, from Your Spirit when we ask and believe. It was faith bestowed through the Holy Spirit upon Jesus, and then Stephen, that enabled both of them to endure inhuman treatment and violence until their life was taken by fiends clothed in human flesh; imbued with the spirit of Satan.

There are still inhumane and violent actions upon this earth, toward those of different faiths.  Fill me with Your love toward them and all people; and keep our thoughts focused upon Jesus on His crude cross.  I thank You for the example of the many people who have gone before us doing so, even when it cost them their lives.

Amen

Job 1: 20 – 22 “Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped.  And he said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there.  The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away;  blessed be the name of the Lord.’  In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.”

Dear God,

Praise Your glorious name, for it is a joy to live in the light of Your love.

As I read Job, I understand that when I die, I will know nothing until I am raised and Jesus will be the first glorious face I see.  Life upon this sin wracked territory of Satan, is not always easy, and nasty bad things happen to people who love You; as was the case for Job.

It can be a surprise, and hard to take in, that because we love You the All Powerful One, does not necessarily shield us from bad events.  I have found, as did Job, that the joy of loving and serving You, never departs in the ‘bad times’; even though naturally we do not enjoy the experience. Though many times I have forgotten my past experiences of Your support and have been overwhelmed in self-pity in my ‘bad times.  When I have remembered and sought You in a specific prayer of trust in in the situation, I have been comforted by Your love and concern, and the knowing that Your presence was nearby.

Your reply when confronted by Satan and his accusations, V8 “…..Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil.”

As I read Your word, I can see that Satan has always maintained that Your requirements are unjust and too difficult to abide by.  On this occasion he said that Job only lived a righteous life, because You gave him many children, luxury, wealth and prestige, and that You had placed a hedge about him, and if these were stopped and he was left with nothing, Job would curse His God.

As an example and because You knew the heart of Job, You allowed Satan to harass Job, and so in quick succession Job lost all of his many possessions.  Still as predicted, Job continued to love You and did not curse You.  The life long way of loving and obeying You, did not go from Job in adversity; though he complained bitterly.

Also by prayerful trust in Jesus I can rejoice in every circumstances knowing that this life and all goods are only transitory, for as Job said, death takes them all, (Job 3: 13 – 19).

Thank You my life and the pleasant place in which I live, and for family and friends, and the ability given by You to be thankful to my Mighty Creator and Keeper of all, in the good and bad times.

Amen

 

Colossians 1: 13 “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.”

Dear God,

Praise Your name for the promise of eternal life for all who accept You and do as asked of You.  To assist us to do as asked, You teach us the ways of obedience and fill us with the Holy Spirit, who gives the gifts of discernment, wisdom, love, strength and power to walk Your way.  Most righteous God keep us ever mindful that You have warned us that we are in the land of Satan, who has an agenda to give us misery and bring us down.  All as if it came from You!

Paul always upheld the believers he knew, and his words reveal that he was able to stay on Your pathway even though to do so was not easy and often led to ridicule and persecution.  He encouraged all believers to follow his way and so reap the Your promise of hope and the adverse times with rejoicing.   He also wrote that results and any rewards as a Christian do not come without commitment on our part.  Also that as believers in You, we should uphold, help and pray for others in the fellowship of faith of God.  Paul and his associates gave all of us an example of nurturing and upholding others by giving thanks for the Colossians believers, as well as consistently praying for their spiritual victory.

Today I pray their prayer (Colossians 1: 9 – 14) for me and all my family and church members; that we all may be filled with the knowledge of Your will, in ‘all wisdom and spiritual understanding’.  I pray also that my daily walk will be worthy to You and fruitful in ‘every good work and increasing in every good work.’  Strengthened by Your glorious power and might, so I (they) will have ‘all patience and long suffering with joy’, and in every circumstance giving thanks to our heavenly Father, who allows us to become ‘partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light’.

It is so wonderful, that we have been delivered from the power of Satan, who would have us eternally destroyed.  V13 “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.”  It is Christ who has redeemed us through His blood.

Today, I choose You Jesus, as my Lord and Saviour and pray this for my family, friends and many other people, which include all who read these lines.

Amen

Acts 5: 29 ”But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: ‘We ought to obey God rather than men.”

Dear God,

Thank You for the rising glow heralding the sun and another new day; for me to recommit myself to You and be delighted in Your love and wisdom, which over the years has gradually drawn me closer to You.

Though Jesus was not now with them, the apostles had not stopped telling others about Him, and what they knew of Him when on earth, and what it meant in the lives of each individual on earth, now that He had risen from the grave and returned to His Father in heaven.  Acts 5: 31 “Him God exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Saviour, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.”  The disciples of Jesus knew about the things of which they spoke, intimately, and that their lives had been impacted in a life changing way.  V32”And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.”

Today I have again asked, believing that I will be filled by Your Holy Spirit, so that I can walk as Your child in love and truth.

Proverbs 4: 18 “But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines brighter unto perfect day.”

As I reflect upon Proverbs 4: 18 “I wonder at the word ‘just’ in this context, please give me a fuller understanding of this text.  Just and good go together.

When invited, Jesus dwells in our heart through the Holy Spirit, bringing our prayers into a language, we are told is heavenly language, for receiving by God.  For even when I believe I am truly seeking You, my attitudes and thoughts are framed by inherent sinfulness, impeding my resolve to be good as You assess goodness.  From my understanding of scripture, if I was to fully reflect Jesus every day, my actions toward others would not be based upon my own selfish desires.

Romans 3: 23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  It is by Your grace, I can be justified, or as has been said, made, just-as-if-I-had never sinned.  Romans 3: 24 “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is Christ Jesus.” Now, I can be called ‘just’ as I walk on the pathway of Jesus, which is bright with His light and glory.  As each day passes thus committed to Jesus, His light shines within me and will grow brighter every day, as I reflect His Light with less of my input shading His brightness.

I am so glad that I can ask to You to fill me with light each day, for myself and for others to see.  I also ask, that through You, I will shade the light less and less.

Amen

Acts 5: 11 “So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.”

Dear God,

I thank You for this fresh new day, a day of promise, as I prepare for the next few days.

I am finding the stories in Acts food for reflection, relative to my own spiritual experience.  The different examples of how the Holy Spirit worked in the early Acts church are arresting, because of the great power that caused the early church to grow and expand in a way not seen before.  Jesus told us that the Holy Spirit would be a special part of His church after He went back to heaven; I believe as we have come down more than 2000 years nearer to Jesus coming back He will manifest His power through people who set aside their self-focus, and build an active faith in You.  Put numbers of such people together and I cannot imagine what You could achieve through such a group. This type of movement is predicted by You in the end times; ushering in the time of the end, as are false revivals, which are not based on much prayer, soul searching and study of Your scriptures.

Come amongst us soon Holy Spirit in Your mighty power and usher down Jesus our Triumphant King.

A heart that is untrue to You cannot be hidden under the light of the Holy Spirit.  The Acts 5 characters, Ananias and Sapphira found this when they promised all the proceeds of their sale, but had kept some back a portion for themselves, when the sale had netted more than they expected.  You had not asked for any of their proceeds, but because they had publicly promised the amount, and then to make themselves look good, stated they were giving the full amount from their sale, when they were not; as an example to the early church members, You did not let their deceit and lack of truthfulness go without immediate judgement.

Reveal to me (us) if and when I have practiced this principle of promising such and such, but actually secretly keeping some back for me.  I think this could be applied to not just money, but promises I (we) make of giving time to You, but robbing You of some of our promised time or service.  I desire to serve You with a true and undivided heart, remembering, that my money, time etc. is mine as Your provision, until I make a promise or pledge to You of a certain amount, and then it becomes Yours totally.

The apostles were full of faith and worked selflessly to reveal Jesus, in the power of the Spirit.  They had become mighty instruments for teaching and healing; always giving You glory, as they presented word pictures of the crucified, resurrected Saviour of the world.  They were not deterred by their external circumstances!  Neither had they been left without input and protection by You.  Some were imprisoned and set free by an angel.  In obedience to the words of that angel, they went back and taught in the same temple from which they had been arrested.

I am conscious of what could happen in some places and situations, when we also go and present word pictures of the crucified, resurrected Saviour to the world.  You have promised Your power and mighty works to every person, and promised that we have no need to fear because You are always near to those who pray sincerely.

I love You Lord and only in Your wisdom can I present a crucified, resurrected Saviour!  Thank You for hearing these prayers.

Amen