Sunday 26 April 2020

Lord, You speak to us Your Word of warning - and Your promise of blessing.

Deuteronomy 27:11-28:24
Lord, You speak to us Your Word of warning - and Your promise of blessing. You call us back from the way of disobedience - and on to the pathway of obedience and blessing. Where does the blessing come from? Does it come from our obedience? No! It comes from Your love. It comes from Your promise. Your love reaches us in our sin. Your blessing increases in us as we learn to turn from our sin and give You first place in our lives.

Help us, Lord, to be caring people.

Deuteronomy 22:1-30
Help us, Lord, to be caring people. Where does this love for one another come from? It comes from Your love for us. Where there is a growing appreciation of Your love for us, there will be an increasing commitment to sharing Your love with others. Help us to love people without loving the ways of those who "live as enemies of the Cross of Christ" (Philippians 3:18). May our love for them be a true expression of Your love for them. May it call them to return to You, to be forgiven by You, to make a new beginning with You.

We thank You, Lord, for Your amazing love ...

Deuteronomy 20:10-21:23
We thank You, Lord, for Your amazing love - "while we were Your enemies we were reconciled to You by the death of Your Son" (Romans 5:10);  "Once we were no people but now we are Your people; once we had not received mercy but now we have received mercy" (1 Peter 2:10).

Lord, we celebrate Your love.

Deuteronomy 16:1-17:13
Lord, we celebrate Your love. We rejoice in Your salvation. Your love is a dying love. We see Your love in the death of Jesus, our Saviour. It's also an undying love. It's the only love that never dies. It never comes to an end. It's eternal love, shown to us in the sacrificial death of "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).


Lord, You call us to belong to You.

Deuteronomy 14:22-15:23
Lord, You call us to belong to You. This is wonderful. It makes our hearts glad. You also call us to serve You. We're not to remain what we were before we became Your redeemed people. We're to be renewed - "beholding the glory of the Lord, we are being changed into His likeness from one degree of glory to another" (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Lord, You give us Your promises and Your warnings.

Deuteronomy 11:1-32
Lord, You give us Your promises and Your warnings. You show us the better way - and You say to us, "Make sure that You don't go back to the old way of living, back to the world's way of living, back to the way of life that will never satisfy."

We thank You, Lord, that "we have peace with You through our Lord Jesus Christ"

Leviticus 3:1-4:35
We thank You, Lord, that "we have peace with You through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1). We thank You that "Jesus is our peace" (Ephesians 2:14). This peace is not something that comes from within ourselves. It comes to us from outside of ourselves. It comes from above. It comes to us from You. It's given to us. It's Your gift. We cannot give this gift to ourselves. We can only receive it by faith - faith in Jesus, our Saviour.

“Whoever calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved.”

There is to be prayer from “every one who lives in the land” (Joel 1:14). It is to be personal prayer - “O Lord, I cry to You for help!” (Joel 1:19). These two belong together - prayer for the nation and personal prayer. This is expressed so well in the words: “O Holy Ghost, revival comes from Thee. Send a revival. Start the work in me.”
We hear the words, “Return to the Lord, your God” (Joel 2:13). They are followed by some wonderful words about the character of God - “He is merciful and compassionate, patient and always ready to forgive and to change His plans about disaster” (Joel 2:13). How do we know that God is like this? We look at what He has done for us - “Be glad and rejoice. The Lord has done great things!” (Joel 2:21). Looking at all that the Lord has done for us, we trust His promise: “Whoever calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved” (Joel 2:32). This salvation is more than forgiveness for past sins. It’s more than the future glory of being in God’s everlasting Kingdom - “Mount Zion” (Joel 2:32). It’s also the power of the Spirit, here and now: “I will pour out My Spirit on everyone” (Joel 2:28).
“The Lord will be a Refuge for His people. He will be a Stronghold for the people of Israel. You will know that I am the Lord, your God” (Joel 3:16-17). The Lord is reaching out to us. He’s speaking to us His Word of salvation. As we learn to trust the Lord, we will find that God shows Himself to be the faithful God. May the Lord keep us close to Himself.

God Doesn't Give Up On Us!

Jonah tried to run away from the Lord. The Lord protected Jonah (Jonah 1:17). The Lord hadn’t given up on Jonah. God had a purpose for Jonah. What a great purpose it was! The call of God (Jonah 1:1-2) wasn’t obeyed by Jonah – but the call of God remained. God was still planning to use Jonah to bring great blessing to the people of Nineveh. Jonah’s attempt to go to Tarshish (Jonah 1:3) was a detour – but God had not forgotten His plan for Jonah. The “big fish” was the beginning of God’s way of getting Jonah to the place where He wanted him to be. The “three days and three nights” were God’s way of getting Jonah ready for being His faithful and fruitful servant. In this time of preparation for service, there is prayer (Jonah 2:1-10). Jonah’s prayer was preparing the way for revival in Nineveh.
“From inside the fish…” – Not a great place to be; Jonah prayed to the Lord our God” – Can prayer change things? – Yes! “I called to the Lord in my distress, and He answered me” (Jonah 2:1-2). Humanly speaking, Jonah’s situation was hopeless: “The deep sea covered me completely… I sank to the bottom, where bars held me forever…” Humanly speaking – Is this all that there is? – No! There is more than this. There is God: “But You brought me back from the pit, O Lord my God” (Jonah 2:5-6).
"Then the Lord spoke His Word to Jonah a second time" (Jonah 3:1). "A second time" - This is so wonderful. This is the grace of God. He doesn't give up on us. He comes to us "a second time." Jonah was to give to the people of Nineveh the message that had been given to him by the Lord (Jonah 3:2). We don't make up the message as we're going along. We speak the message that has been given to us by the Lord.
"Jonah was very upset about this, and He became angry" (Jonah 4:1). After the high points of prayer (Jonah 2 and revival (Jonah 3), we come to this! This is pathetic. It's more than being upset and angry. Jonah became suicidal (Jonah 4:8-9). Why? - There's no good reason for him to feel like this. There are good reasons for him to rejoice in the Lord and give thanks to the Lord. What are we to say about this? "The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. Who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). There's something else we must never forget - God knows the heart, and He can change it!

Who chooses what is important to us?

Deuteronomy 12:1-32
Who chooses what is important to us? Is it You, Lord? or Are we the ones who are in control?  Help us, Lord, not to pay lip-service to You - without really opening our hearts to You and giving You first place in our lives.

We thank You, Lord, that we do not stand against Satan in our own strength.

Numbers 1:1-54
Living for You, Lord, is not easy. We face determined opposition from Satan. He keeps coming back at us, again and again. We thank You, Lord, that we do not stand against him in our own strength. We stand in Your strength, in the victory of our risen Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Lord, we are called to fear You - and to love You.

Deuteronomy 6:1-25
Lord, we are called to fear You - and to love You. We tend to think that fear and love are opposites. You teach us something else, something very different. Fear and love belong together. You are the holy God, the God who cannot look upon our sin (Habakkuk 1:13). We fear You. You show us our sin so that we might be brought to Jesus, our Saviour. We come to Jesus. We learn how much You love us - and we begin to love You.

We thank You, Lord, for the Scriptures.

Deuteronomy 4:44-5:33
We thank You, Lord, for the Scriptures. They lead us to our Saviour - Jesus. The Scriptures speak to us of His suffering and our salvation. When we think of all that Jesus has done for us, may we receive, from You, the spirit of thanksgiving - joyful thanksgiving, heartfelt thanksgiving.

Thursday 23 April 2020

Lord, help us to have faith in You.

Lord, help us to have faith in You - faith that is humble, and faith that is confident. Lord, give us a humble faith. Give us the humility that comes from knowing that You are God - and we're not God! Lord, give us the confidence which is confidence in You - and not self-confidence!

Teach us, Lord, that "every virtue we possess ... every victory won ... every thought of holiness are Yours alone."

Leviticus 21:1-22:16
Teach us, Lord, that "every virtue we possess ... every victory won ... every thought of holiness are Yours alone." Virtue, victory, holiness - Where do these things come from? They come from You, Lord. "In ourselves, there is no good thing" (Romans 7:18) - Our lives have been spoiled by our sin. We thank You, Lord, that You haven't given up on us. You haven't dismissed us as a lost cause. You keep on working in us, changing us, making us more like Jesus.

Lord, You are the God of perfect holiness. You are the God of perfect love.

Leviticus 18:24-19:37
Lord, You are the God of perfect holiness. You are the God of perfect love. You call us to a life of holiness. You call us to a life of love. How are to live this life of holiness and love? We need the Holy Spirit - the Spirit of love. Without Him, we cannot even begin to live this new life - the life of holiness and love. We thank You, Lord, that You have not left us to live this life in our own strength - "the Holy Spirit ... lives in us" (2 Timothy 1:14).

Lord, what are we to do about our sin?

Leviticus 14:33-15:33
Lord, what are we to do about our sin? What can we do about it? It keeps on spreading. We can't do anything about this. It just gets worse and worse. What can be done about this? We can do nothing - but Jesus can do something about it. He's our Saviour. He comes to us in love. He comes to us in power. He forgives our sin. He gives us a new beginning. The past is put behind us. Jesus leads us on to Your eternal glory. Hallelujah! - "This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes" (Psalm 118:23).

We thank You, Lord, that Your Son, Jesus, is "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

Leviticus 1:1-2:16
We thank You, Lord, that Your Son, Jesus, is "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). In His death for us, we see Your love for us. Help us to come to the Cross of Christ. Help us to worship You in the beauty of holiness. Help us to celebrate Your love in the spirit of thanksgiving.

Lord, we thank You that Your call to holiness begins with Your call to salvation.

Leviticus 11:1-47
Lord, we thank You that Your call to holiness begins with Your call to salvation. We're not left to go it alone. You come to us. You come as our Saviour. You take us as we are - but You don't leave us the way You found us. You start changing us. You have great plans for us. You're making us more like Your Son, Jesus. We trust Jesus. We receive His salvation. Help us to follow Him, to be changed by Him, to become more like Him.

Lord, You love us. You call us to love You.

Leviticus 8:1-36
Lord, You love us. You call us to love You. Help us, Lord, to grow in our love for You - to obey Your Word, to do Your will, to walk in Your way.

Lord, we sing of Jesus, Your Son.

Leviticus 16:1-34
Lord, we sing of Jesus, Your Son. He is "the man of sorrows" (Isaiah 53:3) - but this does not make us sad. We look beyond His suffering. We see our salvation. We sing of Your salvation. With joy, we sing to You - "Hallelujah! What a Saviour!" We look at Jesus - and we ask the question, "Full atonement - can it be?" We rejoice in Your answer - "Full atonement - Yes it is!" What a a perfect Saviour we have! What a great salvation He has given to us! Help us, Lord, to say, in our hearts, "God forbid that I should ever boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Galatians 6:14).

We thank You, Lord, that "the vilest offender , who truly believes, that moment, from Jesus, a pardon receives."

Leviticus 13:47-14:32
We thank You, Lord, that "the vilest offender , who truly believes, that moment, from Jesus, a pardon receives." By faith, we receive Your forgiveness - but we never earn Your forgiveness. Forgiveness is always Your gift. It's never a reward. By faith, we look away from ourselves. We look to Jesus, our Saviour. We do not say, "How great is my faith." We say, "How great is my Saviour."

When, Lord, we think of Jesus ...

Leviticus 7:1-38
When, Lord, we think of Jesus, crucified for us, may our hearts be filled with joyful praise and heartfelt thanksgiving.

Teach us, Lord, that it's not all about us.

Exodus 36:8-38
Teach us, Lord, that it's not all about us. It's not about getting ourselves noticed. It's all about You. It's about giving all the glory to You.

Lord, we thank You for Jesus, our Saviour.

Lord, we thank You for Jesus, our Saviour. In Him, You have given us "every spiritual blessing" (Ephesians 1:3). What blessings You have given to us - the forgiveness of sins, the Holy Spirit living in us, eternal life with You (Ephesians 1:7,13-14). Help us to praise You today. Help us to praise You every day.

Often, Lord, we fail You - and we wonder why You bother with us.

Exodus 4:1-31
Often, Lord, we fail You - and we wonder why You bother with us. We thank You, Lord,that You never fail us. When we let You down, You lift us up. Help us, Lord, not to be shaped by our failure. Help us to be transformed by Your love and power. Help us to respond to Your call to "attempt great things for You and expect great things from You" (William Carey).

Lord, when hard times come our way ...

Lord, when hard times come our way, help us to remember that "Your steadfast love never ceases" (Lamentations 3:22). When bad things are happening to us, help us to keep on remembering that You are still the good God. Who are we to say that You are no longer with us – just because we’re going through a hard time? You’re with us in our bad days as well as our good days. You’ve promised to be with us every step of the way. Who are we to suggest that You’ve gone away and left us to go it alone? Help us to trust Your promises – and not to get dragged away from You by our feelings which can go up and down like a yoyo. Sometimes, we’re up. Sometimes, we’re down. With You, there are no ups and down – You’re always the faithful God. You’re always near to us – even when we feel that You’re far away from us. We’ve wandered far away from You – but You’re always near to us. Thank You, Lord, that You are always with us.

Lord, what are we to do when we face determined opposition ...?

Exodus 5:1-6:13
Lord, what are we to do when we face determined opposition from people who refuse to listen to what Your Word is saying to them? Lord, teach us to pray. Teach us to take our problems to You - and help us to leave them with You. When troubles come our way, help us to "wait upon You and renew our strength" (Isaiah 40:31).

Lord, what are we to do when we're going through a hard time?

Exodus 1:1-2:10
Lord, what are we to do when we're going through a hard time? Hard times can be the breaking of us - or the making of us. We can blame You - or we can trust You. Help us to trust You - to know that You are near, even when it feels like You are far away.

We rejoice in Your love. Help us, Lord, not to forget Your holiness.

Exodus 23:1-33
We rejoice in Your love. Help us, Lord, not to forget Your holiness. You fill us with Your love. You call us to be holy. Lead us, O Lord, in Your way of love. Lead us in Your way of holiness. It won't be easy - walking with You on Your pathway of holiness. When the going gets tough, help us to remember that we're not on our own. You are with us every day. You are with us - all the way.

Lord, we're on a journey.

Exodus 21:33-22:31
Lord, we're on a journey. We're travelling from grace. We're travelling to glory. Everything comes to us from Your grace. Everything is leading us to Your glory. You have given us all that we need - all that we need to bring us into Your salvation, all that we need to take us on into Your glory. This is not our journey. It's Your journey. You're our Travel Guide. You're with us every step of the way. Thank You, Lord.

Tuesday 21 April 2020

A Spiritual Autobiography (Psalm 3)

Here, we have David's spiritual autobiography. God is saying to us, "What about you? Do you have a spiritual autobiography?" Here, we learn about David's distress and David's deliverance. God is saying to us, "Come to Me in your distress. Come to Me and receive your deliverance." This Psalm can be subdivided into four two-verse sections. vs. 1-2 : his complaint vs. 3-4 : his confidence vs. 5-6 : his security vs. 7-8 : his prayer and his rejoicing. The Psalm begins with David'd distress. Every one of us knows what this is like. We have been where David was. As we look at this Psalm, let's note how David handled his experience of distress. He took it out of his own hands. He placed it in the hands of God. vs. 1-2 : David's Complaint David's complaint was not addressed to man. He brought his complaint to God. It was not a bitter complaint, spoken against God. It was a humble and honest plea for understandimg and help. In the context of worship, he offered his prayer to God. Forsaken by men, he clung all the more firmly to God. This Psalm became very meaningful to me at a time of complaint. I was wondering whether it was really worth continung as a Christian. Unless I heard the voice of God, reassuring me, there and then, I felt that I was on the verge of turning back. My complaint was addressed to God. I spoke to God about my feelings. He spoke to me about His faithfulness. I read the first two Psalms. It seemed to me, at that time, that they had nothing to say to me. I read Psalm 3. I was given the grace to keep on going in the way of faith. * What is God teaching us? - Let's be humble before God and honest with Him. - Let's not take our complaints about God to men. Rather, let's take our complaints about men to God. - Let's not speak against God. Let's speak to Him. - Let's not allow our complaints to drive us away from worship. Let's keep on worshipping the Lord. Let's bring our complaint to the Lord. Let's bring it to Him as a plea for understanding and help. vs. 3-4 : David's Confidence David's confidence can be summed-up in one three-letter word: GOD. - God is his shield. God is protecting him from danger. - God is his glory. God gives him true honour. David is convinced that the Lord will "lift his head." He didn't just turn to God because he was in dire straits. His whole life was rich in prayer and faith. - He had trusted God in the past. - He trusted God in the present. - He would trust God in the future. In my own time of testing, when I first came across this Psalm, I needed to be directed to God. I knew all about my own weakness. I didn't need to be reminded of that. I needed to be pointed away from myself to the Lord - my shield, my glory and the lifter of my head. That was what kept me going. He kept me going. "'Twas grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace shall lead me home." * What is God teaching us? - Let's be constant, in faith and prayer. We're not to turn to God only when we face times of great difficulty. - Let's recognize our weakness. Let's turn to God and find our true strength in Him. vs. 5-6 : David's Security David's security lay in the assurance that that God is greater that all his enemies. Remember the words of Scripture - "Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4). "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31). With such a faith, David was able to exchange his own weakness for God's strength. He was able to exchange his own fear fior God's courage. The words of Psalm 3 lifted me, Just when I needed the most, these words were given to me by God. My response was to offer my praise and thanksgiving to God. * What is God teaching us? - God is greater than all our enemies. - God is greater than all our circumstances. vs. 7-8 : David's Prayer and Rejoicing It's so important to note David's response to life'e trials. He prayed. "What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer." Note the character of David's prayer. He prays for deliverance. He prays for salvation. His prayer is a personal prayer - "Help me, O my God." He prayed with assurance - "Deliverance belongs to the Lord." His prays for others - "Thy blessing be upon Thy people!" In my own time of testing, it was my reading of Scripture that sent me to my knees to pray with joy. * What is God teaching us? Pray for salvation. Make it a personal prayer. Pray with assurance. Pray for others.

The Twenty-Third Psalm

Psalm 23
“The Lord is my Shepherd … “
The words are so familiar. When we start to think that we understand all that this great Psalm is saying to us, the Lord comes to with something new, something fresh, something that speaks to our hearts, something that brings blessing into our lives. What are to say about this? ~ From God to us, comes blessing, much blessing. How much blessing? Who can say? All we can say is this – It’s His blessing, and His blessing “overflows” (v. 5).
  * Speaking about God – The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness      for His name’s sake.
  * Speaking to God - Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalm 23:1
* The Lord is my Shepherd;
* The Lord is my Shepherd;
* The Lord is my Shepherd;
* The Lord is my Shepherd.
  * “The Lord is my Shepherd” (Psalm 23:1).
In Luke 15:3-7, Jesus tells the story of the lost sheep and the loving Shepherd.
We read about a lost sheep. We know that we are lost sinners. We are lost because we are sinners. Lost sheep need a loving shepherd. Lost sinners need a loving Saviour. That’s what Jesus is. He’s our Saviour. His Name means “Saviour” –  “You are to give Him the Name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
Why did Jesus come to this world?
–  “The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10).
–  “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17).
Jesus came to find the lost. He came to save sinners.
God speaks to us in love. He says, ‘I Myself will be the Shepherd of My sheep… ’ (Ezekiel 34:15). We rejoice in His love. We say, ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’ (Psalm 23:1). Jesus is our Shepherd. He is ‘the good Shepherd’. He laid down His life for us that we might receive the forgiveness of our sins. ‘Christ died for our sins’. He – ‘the Righteous’ – died for us – ‘the unrighteous’ – ‘to bring us to God’ (John 10:11; 1 Corinthians 15:3; 1 Peter 3:18). He is ‘the great Shepherd’. He was ‘raised’ from the dead’. Through His resurrection, we receive eternal life. He says to us, ‘Because I live you will live also’ (Hebrews 13:20-21; 1 Corinthians 15:4; John 14:19). He is ‘the chief Shepherd’. He will come again with ‘the unfading crown of glory’ for His ‘good and faithful servants’ (1 Peter 5:4; Matthew 25:21).
“He leads me in paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3b).
We enter the Kingdom of God through the new birth. Jesus Christ is “the Door” to God’s Kingdom (John 10:9). To those who have come, in faith, to Him, the Lord Jesus says, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).
* Where does the Good Shepherd lead those who follow Him?  – He leads us “in the paths of righteousness.”
* Why does the Good Shepherd lead His people in the paths of righteousness?  – It is “for His Name’s sake.”
The real goal of Christ-like living is not our pleasure. It is God’s glory. we find our true pleasure as we give glory to the Lord.
Are you following the Lord Jesus? He will lead you in the paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake.
In ‘the Shepherd Psalm’ (Psalm 23), we read, in verse 5,: ‘You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows’. We are to feast on God’s Word. We are to be filled with God’s Spirit. The ‘table’ is the place of feasting. ‘Oil’ is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. As we feast on God’s Word, we will have good cause to say, again and again, ‘God is good’: ‘His goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life’ (6). The Lord never fails us. He always comes with His life-giving Word, the Word of life, through which our life on earth becomes the beginning of life eternal, the pathway to a life in which the fullness of God’s love will be revealed in a way that we can hardly begin to imagine: ‘I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever’(6). This is what Christ is preparing for us (John 14:2)!
We sing our song of praise and thanksgiving. Our enemies are never far away!
(Psalm 23:5).
 * “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” The presence of our enemies – this is never removed. It’s always there. There is, however, another Presence – the Presence of the Lord.
“Be still for the presence of the Lord, the Holy One is here” – This is what we must remember when the presence of our enemies threatens to overwhelm us.

Another "3:16" to set alongside John 3:16!

In John 3:16, we read these wonderful words concerning God's love: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
Here's another "3:16" - "So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth" (Revelation 3:16).
This "3:16" leads on to some other words about God's love: "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent" (Revelation 3:19).
Called to repentance by the God of love, we hear the great promise given to us by our Saviour: "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20).

The Holy Spirit Comes From God - And Changes Us.

(i) The Holy Spirit comes from God.

- The new birth (John 3:3, 7).

- “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Luke 3:16).

(ii) The Holy Spirit changes us.
– “Through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-4).
– “When the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you shall be My witnesses” (Acts 1:8).

The Suffering and Glory of Christ (Psalm 22)

 * The suffering of Christ - "My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Psalm 22:1).
These words lie at the heart of Christ's suffering. He suffered for us. He died for our salvation. He is our Substitute and our Saviour: "He died that we might go to heaven, saved by His precious blood." He went in obedience to the Cross so that we might be called to obedience from the Cross. He was forsaken by God so that we might be forgiven by God.
 * The glory of Christ - "I will declare Your name to My brothers; in the congregation I will praise You" (Psalm 21:22).
Christ's prayer was answered. God raised Him from the dead. Apparent defeat was turned into glorious victory. The cloud of darkness was removed. The glorious light shone through. death is a defeated enemy. Resurrection to eternal life - this is our glorious hope.
As we look at the death and resurrection of Christ, let us give all the glory to God for all that He has done for us.

Worship The Lord ... (Psalm 18)

Psalm 18:1-24
The first three verses set the tone: Worship. What a great start to this Psalm. Our attention is directed away from ourselves to the Lord: ‘my strength...my rock, my fortress and my deliverer...my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold’ (1-2). The great testimony of verse 3 - ‘I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies’ - did not come easily (4-5). The enemies of the Lord will be brought to judgment (13-14). ‘The cord of death encompassed me...He delivered me from my strong enemy...’ (4-5,17-19) - Rejoice in the risen Christ through whom we have the ‘victory’ over ‘the last enemy...death’ (1 Corinthians 15:20,26,54). God is leading us into ‘a broad place’ (19). Step into the future with Him. Don’t hold back! ‘Let go and let God have His wonderful way’.

Psalm 18:25-50
‘This God’ is ‘our God’. He is ‘the Rock’. He is ‘my Rock’. No one can compare with the Lord our God. He is the living God, the God of our salvation (30-31,46). In the Lord, we have salvation: ‘You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty’. In our God, we have victory: ‘You armed me with strength for battle; you made my adversaries bow at my feet’ (27,39). Do you want to enjoy God’s blessing - His salvation and His victory? God says, ‘Clothe yourselves with humility’. Together with His command, we have God’s warning - ‘God opposes the proud’ - and God’s promise - He ‘gives grace to the humble’ (1 Peter 5:5). There is a question which each of us must answer: ‘Who is on the Lord’s side? There is an answer which of us must give: ‘We are on the Lord’s side’ (Church Hymnary, 479).

The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God' (Psalm 14:1).

There are some people who say, “There is no God.” Do we become wise the moment we say, “There is a God?” Let’s think about what we mean when we say, “There is a God.” We need to learn to move beyond the foolishness which says, “There is a God” without really listening to what God has to say to us. We need to learn to listen to God if we are to be led out of the way of foolishness and into the way of wisdom.
There are many people who do not dismiss the idea of God, but they rarely turn to the Word of God to learn more about Him. They like to draw some comfort from the words, “He’s got the whole world in His hands”, but they feel very uncomfortable when they’re reminded that “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). When they’re asked if they believe in God, they tell us that “there must be something, somewhere.” When they’re asked what they believe about God, they have nothing else to tell us about Him. Their ‘god’ is not the God of salvation. Their ‘god’ is “an unknown god” (Acts 17:23).
There are also some people who have much to say about “God.” When, however, we look closely at what they say about God, we find that their ‘god’ is very different from the God of the Bible. They use the word “God”, but they do not listen to what God’s Word has to say to them.
Some people hold on to the idea that “there is a God” but they refuse to let God get too close to them. They like the idea of God. It makes sense of their life. There is, however, something about God that they don’t like. They don’t like the idea that God might have something to say to them about the way they live their life. They don’t say , “There is no God”, but there is very little about their way of life which suggests that they really believe that “there is a God.”
Concerning such people, God’s Word says this: “God is not in all their thoughts” (Psalm 10:4). We could express this in another way: “God is in very few of their thoughts.” When thoughts of “God” do come into their minds, they are rarely thoughts which bring glory to God. When our minds are not being fed with the truth of God’s Word, we are wide open to thoughts of God which do not bring glory to Him. Such thoughts do not come from God’s holy Word. They come from “the god of this world” who “blinds the minds of the unbelieving” so “that they might not see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4).
What are we to say about those who say that “there is a God”, yet refuse to take seriously what He says to them through His Word? They may not actually say, “There is no God”, but their whole way of living is self-centred rather than God-centred. At the heart of their life, there is “a God-shaped blank.”
The real God is more than just an idea which makes sense of our life. He is not only the God who loves us. He is also the God who changes us. Many people like the idea that God is love, but they don’t like the idea that God calls for a change in their way of living.
We read the words, “The fool has said in his heart to say, ‘There is no God.’” Let’s not be too quick to say, “We are wise. We believe in God.” True wisdom doesn’t stop with saying, “There is a God.” True wisdom knows that “faith without works is dead” (James 2:17).
If we are to be really different from those who say that “there is no God”, we must commit ourselves to both listening to the Word of God and doing the Word of God (James 1:22).
When the Psalmist speaks of unbelief – “There is no God”, he speaks also of sin – “All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Psalm 14:3). We say, “There is no God” when we do not “seek God” (Psalm 14:2). We do not seek God when we do not take time to listen to what He is saying to us through His Word.
We must note what God is saying to us in the first three verses of this Psalm 14 – “all have turned aside … there is no one who does good, not even one.” We are all sinners – every single one of us! None of us can look down on others and say, “We’re not like them” – “you are without excuse, every man of you, who passed judgment, for in that you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things” (Romans 2:1). To every single one of us, the Word of God says, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one … all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:10-12, 23).
 * Is there any hope for any of us? There is no way of salvation that begins with “I” – “no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by observing the law” (Romans 3:20). From the human point of view, our situation is hopeless.
 * Is there a way of salvation which comes to us from God? The final words of this Psalm are words of hope: “Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!” (Psalm 14:7). These words teach us that salvation comes from God – “When the Lord restores … ” They teach us that His salvation comes to those who come to Him with a deep longing to be saved by Him – “Oh, that salvation … would come … “ The human situation can be changed. Jesus Christ changes everything. He changes people.
Don’t be like the fool who tries to run away from God.
 - This can be done by saying, “There is no God.”
 - It can also be done by trying to keep God at a distance, “If there is a God, I’m not going to let Him tell me how I should live my life.”
Stop running away from God, and start running to the Lord Jesus Christ. Run to Him before it’s too late. Make sure that you can say, “I know whom I have believed” (2 Timothy 1:12). Jesus Christ is the True and Living Way to God the Father (John 14:6).
When you come to God the Father through His Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ,you will move beyond an empty faith which doesn’t make much real difference to your life. You will move into a living knowledge of Christ, who makes you “a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Your faith will be more than, “There is a God.” It will be “Christ lives in me. For me, to live is Christ” (Galatians 2:20; Philippians 1:21).

Monday 20 April 2020

Lord, You give us joy – true joy, lasting joy.

Psalms 64:1-65:13
“Let the righteous rejoice in the Lord” (Psalm 64:10). Lord, You give us joy – true joy, lasting joy. This is Your joy. It’s not just a passing emotion. It’s more than a feeling that doesn’t last very long. Your joy changes us. It gives us the strength to live as “a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

When, Lord, we’re feeling defeated, Your Word gives us great encouragement.

Psalms 60:1-61:8
“With God we shall gain the victory, and He will trample down our enemies” (Psalm 60:12). When, Lord, we’re feeling defeated, Your Word gives us great encouragement. The battle isn’t ours. It’s Yours. The victory isn’t ours. It’s Yours. In the heat of the battle, You are our “strong tower against the enemy” (Psalm 61:3). When we’re feeling the ferocity of Satan’s hostility towards the truth of Your Word and the Gospel of Your grace, help us to remember that You, Lord, are “enthroned for ever” (Psalm 61:7).

Sometimes, Lord, we face opposition ...

Psalms 54:1-55:23 
Sometimes, Lord, we face opposition from people who are outside of Your Church: “Strangers are attacking me; ruthless men seek my life – men with no regard for God” (Psalm 54:3). Sometimes, the opposition comes from people we know very well: “my close friend, with whom I enjoyed sweet fellowship, as we worshipped together at the House of God” (Psalm 55:13-14). What are we to do? Are we to run away from it all – “I would flee far away … far from the tempest and storm” (Psalm 55:6-8)? Would it not be better to remember this: “God is my Helper” (Psalm 54:4). Help us, Lord, to remember Your promise: “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you.” Help us to say, “I will call upon God, and the Lord will save me” (Psalm 55:16,22).

Jesus Christ - Our Crucified Saviour, Our Risen Lord

Psalm 31:1-24
“Into Thy hand, I commit my spirit” (Psalm 31:5). As we read these words, Lord, our thoughts turn to Jesus Christ, crucified for us. In death, He gave Himself for our sins (Luke 23:46). Beyond His “affliction and the anguish of His soul”, there was the “spacious place” of His resurrection – and there was, for us, “eternal salvation” (Psalm 31:7-8; Hebrews 5:7-9). Lord, we look to Jesus, our crucified Saviour, and we say, “Praise be to the Lord, for He showed His wonderful love to us” (Psalm 31:21). We thank You for Jesus, our risen Lord. In Him, we are  “strong and our hearts take courage” (Psalm 31:24).

Lord, You are not exalted because we exalt You. We exalt You because You are exalted.

Psalm 30:1-12
“I will exalt You, O Lord” (Psalm 30;1). Lord, You are not exalted because we exalt You. We exalt You because You are exalted. How do we come to the point where we exalt You? We realize our need of You – “when You hid Your face, I was dismayed” (Psalm 30:7). We look to You for mercy – “To You, O Lord, I called; to the Lord, I cried for mercy” (Psalm 30:8). You hear and answer our prayer – “You turned my wailing into dancing. You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy” (Psalm 30:11). You call us to worship You – “Sing praises to the Lord, O you His saints, and give thanks to His holy Name” (Psalm 30:4). Help us, Lord, to worship You: “O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever”  (Psalm 30:12).

Lord, help us to move beyond the shallow waters ...

Lord, help us to move beyond the shallow waters – to move, with You, into the deeper waters of Your love and Your blessing. We think of deep water – and we think of danger. Yes! There is danger – but there is also something else. You are with us – and You assure us that, though the dangers are great, You are greater than they are! Lord, lead us into the deeper waters – not with fear of the dangers, but with expectation of Your blessing! We ask the question – “Why are you downcast, O my soul?” You give us Your answer: “Put your hope in God” (Psalm 42:5,11; Psalm 43:5). Often, Lord, our minds are so full of our questions that we fail to hear Your answers. Help us to stop talking and start listening – “Speak, for Your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:8-10). It’s Your Word that brings us out of our darkness, and into Your light. – “Send forth Your light and Your truth, let them guide me … ” (Psalm 43:5).

Some live to a ripe old age. Others die young.

Psalm 39:1-13
Some live to a ripe old age. Others die young. What are we to make of this? What, Lord, are You saying to us about this? We read what the Psalmist says, “My life span is nothing compared with Yours” (Psalm 39:5). Help us, Lord, to think about the quality of our living – “How am I living?” as well as the quantity of our years. “How long have I lived?” Teach us that life is not only about survival – living for a long time. It’s also about revival – living in the light of eternity. Help us to put “our hope in You” (Psalm 39:7), and to live as “citizens of heaven,” who are looking forward to the return of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20).

What, Lord, are we to do when things seem to be going from bad to worse?

Psalm 38:1-22
“My guilt  has overwhelmed me. Like a heavy load, it is more than I can bear” (Psalm 38:4). What, Lord, are we to do when things seem to be going from bad to worse? What are we to do when everything seems to be falling apart? When, Lord, we are “completely devastated” and our “heart is in turmoil” (Psalm 38:8), help us to join with the Psalmist in saying, “I wait with hope for You, O Lord” (Psalm 38:15).

Lord, You’re calling us on to a heavenly country - better than anything we’ve ever known here on earth.

Psalm 37:1-40
Lord, You tell us that “those who trust in You … will dwell in the land”, and those who turn from  You will “perish” (Psalm 37:3,20). You’re calling us on to “a heavenly country” (Hebrews 1:16). It will be better than anything we’ve ever known here on earth. You’ve shown us the way to this heavenly country. Jesus is the Way. He opens the door for us – and He will welcome us. Help us, Lord, to trust in Jesus, our Saviour, now – and to look forward to being welcomed by Him into Your eternal Kingdom.

Salvation, security, singing and sharing

Psalm 40:1-17
Lord, we thank You for Your gifts – salvation, security, singing and sharing. You have saved us – “He drew me up from the desolate pit … ” (Psalm 40:1). You give us security – You “set my feet on a rock, making my feet secure” (Psalm 40:1). You give to us “a new song … a song of praise to our God” (Psalm 40:3). You give us something wonderful to share with other people – “I have not hidden Thy saving help within my heart, I have spoken of Thy faithfulness and Thy salvation … ” (Psalm 40:10). Thank You, Lord.

Lord, You are the strength of Your people.

Psalms 28:1-29:11
Lord, You are “the strength of Your people.” May each of us say, “You are my strength” (Psalm 28:7-8). Your strength comes to us through fellowship. We receive strength from others, and we give strength to them. Your strength is more than human strength – the strength that comes to us through fellowship. It is the strength which comes to us through faith – faith in You, our Lord and our God.

Lord, it’s Your love for us that inspires our loyalty to You.

Psalm 26:1-27:12
“Your love is ever before me, and I will walk continually in Your truth” (Psalm 26:3). Lord, it’s Your love for us that inspires our loyalty to You. You love us. This is what makes us want to walk with You. In Your love, You lead us in the way of Your salvation. We don’t begin with walking with You. We begin with worshipping You. We celebrate Your love for us, and we receive Your strength – strength for living the new life, the life that brings glory to You.

Lord, we worship You in the place of worship ...

Psalm 48:1-14
Lord, we worship You in the place of worship – “Within Your Temple, we meditate on Your unfailing love.” Help us to go out from there, and play our part in seeing that Your praise “reaches to the ends of the earth” (Psalm 48:: 9-11). How will other people know of Your love, if we don’t tell them? How will they find their way to Your House, if we don’t invite them? When we share Your Word with others, help us to remember Your promise: “My Word … will not return to Me empty, but will … achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11).

Lord, Your Word brings peace to our hearts - but Your blessing is not to be kept to ourselves.

Psalms 46:1-47:9
You call us, Lord, to “be still and know that You are God” (Psalm 46:10). You call us to “shout to You with songs of joy” (Psalm 47:2). Your Word brings peace to our hearts – “In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength” (Isaiah 30:15). Your blessing is not to be kept to ourselves – “Sing to the Lord … Let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory to the Lord, and declare His praise in the coastlands” (Isaiah 42:10-12). Help us, Lord, to rejoice in Your love for us, and to share Your love with others.

Victory comes from You, Lord.

Psalm 44:1-26
Victory comes from You, Lord. In ourselves, we are defeated. In You, there is victory. It’s so easy to forget this. We take our eyes off You, and we get despondent – “You have rejected and humbled us …You have made us retreat before the enemy … You gave us up to be devoured like sheep … My disgrace is before me all day long … ” (Psalm 44:9-16). What are we to do when such negative thoughts fill our minds? Lord, help us to pray, “Awake, O Lord! … Rise up and help us; redeem us because of Your unfailing love” (Psalm 44:23,26).


Praying for preachers

Lord, we pray for those who have been called to bring Your Word to Your people. May their words help us to be “in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day” (Revelation 1:10). May their words be a living echo of the words of Jesus our Saviour: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach the gospel” (Luke 4:18). May their words help us to “hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches” (Revelation 2:7). May their words help us to “worship You in Spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). May their words help us to “pray in the Spirit” (Ephesians 6:18). May their words help us to say, “The Lord has blessed us. Praise His holy Name.”

Couldn't care less! Can't be bothered! ...

Couldn’t care less! Can’t be bothered!
Many people have this attitude toward Jesus Christ and His Church.
Perhaps, it’s your attitude right now as you begin to read this invitation.
God’s attitude to you is exactly the opposite.
He cares for you! He is bothered with you!
God’s care! God’s “being bothered”!
Doesn’t that make you think, “What right have I to say to God, “Couldn’t care less! Can’t be bothered!
Take time to read this invitation carefully.
It may change your life.
 * Perhaps, you’re thinking, 'Why should God care about me?'
There is no answer to this question apart from the love of God.
Look at yourself honestly. God should really have given up on all of us a long time ago – but He hasn’t!
God sent His Son – Jesus Christ – to seek and to save the lost. God patiently waits for those who have lost their way in life (that’s all of us!) to come back to Him through trusting Jesus Christ as Saviour.
 * Perhaps, you’re wondering, 'How do I know that God cares about me?'
There is no answer to this question apart from the death of Christ.
Look at Jesus Christ honestly. He is so unlike us. He did everything God wanted Him to do. He didn’t deserve to die a criminal’s death – but He did: death on a cross.
Why did He die in this way? – “Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3).
It should have been me! It should have been you!
Jesus Christ suffered “capital punishment” for us!
The cross of Christ turns our questions around – “How can we doubt that God cares for us?”
 * Perhaps, you’re asking, 'Can I – a ‘couldn’t care less, can’t be bothered’ type of person – be changed?'
There is no answer to this question apart from the power of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s be honest. The story of your life and mine is a story of failure. Don’t let failure hold you back from coming in faith to Jesus Christ.
Do you think that God will turn you away? – He sent His Son to save failures.
Do you think that Christ will look down His nose at you? – He died on the cross for failures.
Why do you say, “I can’t become a Christian. I’d be a failure”? 
A Christian is simply a failure who has received from God – through faith in Christ – forgiveness for the past, strength for the present and hope for the future.
Why don’t you receive this great gift – a new beginning with God – by receiving Jesus Christ as your Saviour?
Don’t wait till tomorrow! Don’t wait till Sunday! Trust Christ right now!
We look forward to meeting you at Church this Sunday, as we thank God for Jesus!

An Invitation

Hello! This is a personal letter addressed to YOU!
You’ve never been a Church person? You’ve never been to Church since your wedding day? You forgot the way to Church years ago? You only go to Church on Christmas Eve?
This is YOUR invitation!
This is YOUR welcome!
We invite you to come to Church because Christ invites you to come to HIM.
When you come to Church, come to CHRIST.
When you return to Church, return to GOD.
We welcome you because CHRIST welcomes those who come to Him.
Jesus says, “The person who comes to Me, I will, under NO circumstances, cast out” (John 6:37).
We welcome you because GOD welcomes those who return to Him.
God’s Word says, “Return to the Lord … He will have mercy … He will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7).
 * Perhaps, you’re saying, “I’ve no time for the Church.”
GOD HAS TIME FOR YOU!
God has so much time for you that He sent His Son – Jesus Christ – to die on the cross so that you might receive eternal life by receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour (1 John 5:11-13).
 * Perhaps, you’re thinking, “I’m not good enough to come to Church.”
“Jesus Christ died to save sinners (people who are not good enough)” (1 Timothy 1:15).
Perhaps, you’re saying, “I’ve no friends in the Church.”
Come to Church, and meet new friends.
It may be the first step towards finding the greatest Friend of all – Jesus.
 * Perhaps, you’re protesting, “I can be a Christian without going to Church.”
You CAN become  a Christian right now by trusting Christ as YOUR Saviour.
Don’t be like the person who says, “I can be a  good footballer without playing for a team”!
Come to Christ NOW!
Come to Church THIS Sunday!

Opening Up God’s Word: Genesis 1 & 2

“In the beginning, God”  – The first four words of the Bible take us back to the point where we can go no further, back to the eternity of God.
What do we find when we are taken back – into the heart of the eternal God?
We find love. We discover that “God is love.”
Creation is love because God is love. Before God made us, He loved us.
The love which we find in the opening chapters of Genesis is the love that is proclaimed throughout God’s Word – from Genesis to Revelation.
It’s the great love of God for us. It’s the love that never ends. It’s the love that goes on and on.
* How do we get to know God the Creator? How do we come to know that His heart is full of love for us?
In Genesis 1, three words are repeated over and over again: “And God said”.
These words emphasize the creative power of the Word of God.
God created through His Word. He proclaims His love to us through Jesus Christ, the living Word of God. He declares His love for us in the Scriptures, the written Word of God. We come to a true knowledge of god as our loving Creator when we come, in faith, to Jesus Christ, our Saviour.  As the Scriptures proclaim the Saviour to us, we learn that we need to be re-created in Christ, if we are to discover the  purpose of God’s love when He created us in His own image (Genesis 1:26-27). In Jesus Christ, we learn that “God so loved the world” (John 3:16). Through Christ, we read Genesis with new eyes, the renewed eyes of “a new creation in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Through this new creation in Christ, we come to a real understanding of what it means to say, “Lord God, You created me. You are my Creator.”
* When we see creation from the standpoint of Jesus Christ, it is no longer merely a matter of ‘long, long ago.’ When we see God, our Creator, through the eyes of Jesus, our Saviour, we no longer have the feeling of something ‘far, far away’, something which is so distant and remote from our lives that it does not really concern us very much at all. In Jesus Christ, God, our Creator, has come to us. In Jesus Christ, God, our Creator, has declared his love to us.  When you read the story of the Garden of Eden, let your thoughts move beyond that garden to another garden, the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed to His Father, “Not My will, but Yours be done (Luke 22:42). As you come, in faith, to the Christ of Calvary, you will see creation from the vantage-point of the cross. You will read what God’s Word says about creation with the eyes of one who has become a new creation in Christ. You will read of God, breathing the breath of life into man (Genesis 2:7), and you will rejoice in the gift of God – the Holy Spirit: God’s gift to every believer in the lord Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:14). When you read of God’s command to man to do His will, you will, by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, make it your delight to do the will of God. This is what it means to be re-created in the image of God. It is a life of learning to pray, with Jesus, “Not my will but yours be done.” To believe in God as our Creator is to obey Him as our Lord. Faith in God, the creator, is a living faith, when we know that Jesus is “God with us” and acknowledge Him as Lord.
We make our confession of faith  – “Jesus is Lord”, and we give thanks that “creation’s voice proclaims” that He is Lord.

Praise God for His Deliverance (Psalm 9).

 * The Psalmist worships the Lord (Psalm 9:1-2).
 * He does not speak proud words. He sees all things in the light of the holy God (Psalm 9:3-8).
 * At the heart of this Psalm, there is a declaration of the character of God (Psalm 9:7-8).
 * The majesty, righteousness and judgment of God - Have we lost these important aspects of God's character? Have we turned God into a sentimentalized 'god' of our own making? Let's not take God for granted. Let God be God. This is very different from insisting that God must be what we think He should be.
 * We read about God's trustworthiness (Psalm 9:9-10).
 * We praise God. We make it known that He is to be praised (Psalm 9:11-12).
 * In our worship, we speak of God's judgment as well as His salvation. (Psalm 9:12).
 * In our worship, we look to the Lord for mercy and, with joy, we praise Him for His salvation (Psalm 9:13-14).
 * As well as emphasizing that God is trustworthy, we must also emphasize that He is not to be taken for granted by proud unbelief (Psalm 9:15-16).
 * We must take seriously the radical contrast between the "wicked" and the "needy" (Psalm 9:17-18). Who are the "needy"? - Here, God's Word is speaking to us of the godly who recognize their spiritual need of the Lord's saving grace. By contrasting the "wicked" and the "needy", God is calling us to come to Him, in our need, and receive, from Him, his salvation.
 * There are two prayers which we must pray. - We must ask that God will make it known that He is Lord (Psalm 9:19).  We must ask that we will recognize that we are "but men" (Psalm 9:20).  When we recognize that God is God and we are but men, we are ready to be led to the Cross where we learn of both God's hatred of sin and God's love for the sinner. Thus, we come to the point where we are able to share, with the Psalmist, in worshipping the Lord (Psalm 9:1-2). We worship God as those who have come to trust in Him as the God of our salvation (Psalm 9:9-10).
 * Trusting in the Lord, the God of our salvation, our worship is heartfelt worship (Psalm 9:1). Trusting in the Lord, the God of our salvation, our worship is joyful worship (Psalm 9:2).

How are we to approach the Lord's Table (Part One)? - "Lord... who may live on your holy hill?... " (Psalm 15:1-2).

"Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless" (Psalm 15:1-2).
These are words which could - and should - leave us utterly despondent. There's no way we can live a blameless life. There's no hope for us.
--
There is, however, the hope which comes to us when  we look away from ourselves to our Saviour, Jesus Christ. We are invited to the Lord's Table. He welcomes us to His Table.
 - This is not about what we do for Christ. It's about what He has done for us.
 - This is not about being rewarded for our righteousness. It's about receiving Christ's salvation.
 * We approach the Lord's Supper on the basis of the love of Christ for sinners.
 * We approach the Lord's Supper with faith in Christ, the Saviour of sinners.
Our faith is always a reponse to His love. It is His love that creates our faith. We hear the Word of the Lord. It is the Good News of God's love. We come to the Lord's Table. We eat bread. We drink wine. The Spirit of the Lord is among the people of God. He is working in our hearts. He is leading us to the Saviour. We are drawn to the Saviour. We are drawn by His love for us. His love is greater than all our sin. His love reaches us. We receive His forgiveness. His love changes us. In Him, we become a new creation.

How are we to approach the Lord's Table (Part Two)? - "Lord, you have assigned me ... my cup ... I will praise the Lord, who counsels me ... " (Psalm 16:5,7).

Our Lord Jesus Christ drank from the cup of our condemnation. We drink from the cup of His salvation. We drink His wine. We eat His bread. We hear His Word. As well as eating and drinking, there is to be listening. Jesus is the centre of our attention. We feed on Him by faith. We receive His Word with faith. God's Word is spoken to us. The bread is given to us. The wine is given to us. We use words to speak of Jesus. The bread and the wine are visual aids. They help us to understand what Jesus has done for us. The Word points to Him. The bread and the wine point to Him. We look beyond our preaching of the Word. We look beyond our celebration of the Lord's Supper. We see Jesus. We look to Him. He is our Saviour. He is God's greatest gift. He is far greater than our preaching about Him. Our time at the Lord's Table can give us only a glimpse of His greatness. How great is our Saviour - "I thank God for His gift that words cannot describe" (2 Corinthians 9:15)!
 * Hearing the Word of the Lord, we give thanks to Him - "You have made known to me the path of life."
 * Receiving the salvation of the Lord, we rejoice in Him - "You will fill me with joy in Your presence."
 * Looking forward to the glory of the Lord, we put our hope in Him - You will give me "eternal pleasures at Your right hand" (Psalm 16:11).

It's either one or the other - turning towards God or turning away from Him (Psalm 10).

"Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?" (1). This question can be turned around. God puts the question to us, “Why, in your times of trouble, do you stand far off?” In this Psalm, God is inviting us to think about the kind of people we are becoming. Are we turning away from God? Or Are we turning towards Him? It’s either one or the other – turning towards God or turning away from Him. * We read about “the wicked man” who “hunts down the weak” (v. 2). He thinks only of himself – “He boasts of the cravings of his heart.” There is no place for the Lord in his life – “he reviles the Lord. In his pride the wicked does not seek Him: in all his thoughts there is no room for God”(vs. 3-4). Things are going well for him – “His ways are always prosperous.” He doesn’t give thanks to God – “he is haughty and Your laws are far from him.” He thinks that everything will keep on going his way – “He says to himself, ‘Nothing will shake me; I’ll always be happy and never have trouble.’” (vs. 5-6). The wicked man shows contempt towards other people – “he sneers at all his enemies” (v. 5) – “His mouth is full of curses and lies and threats; trouble and evil are under his tongue. He lies in wait near the villages; from ambush he murders the innocent, watching in secret for his victims. He lies in wait like a lion in cover; he lies in wait to catch the helpless; he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net. His victims are crushed, they collapse; they fall under his strength” (vs. 7-10). The wicked man thinks that he can do what he likes – “He says to himself, ‘God has forgotten; he covers his face and never sees.’” (v. 11). Are we becoming like the wicked man? God is calling us to turn back to Him. * “Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God. Do not forget the helpless” (v.12). God is calling us to return to Him. He’s calling us to turn away from the way of the wicked. He’s calling us to walk with Him. When we pray, “Do not forget the helpless”, we begin by praying, “Lord, remember me, I need Your help.” We read about “the wicked” (vs. 13, 15). We read about “the victim” (v. 14). What is God saying to us? He’s saying to us, “Don’t be like the wicked man who reviles God. Don’t be like the wicked man who says to himself, “He won’t call me to account” (v. 13). He’s saying to us, “Be like the victim – ‘The victim commits himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless’ (v. 14).” He’s saying to us, “There will be judgment – ‘the wicked and evil man will be called to account for his wickedness’ (v. 15).” He’s calling us back from the way that leads to judgment. He’s calling us to acknowledge that He “is King for ever and ever” (v. 16). He’s calling us to come to Him with “the desire of the afflicted” (v. 17). He’s speaking to us His Word of encouragement, assuring that we need not live in fear of man (vs. 17-18). Saved by the Lord, let us walk with Him in the pathway of victory.

Sunday 19 April 2020

How Long, O Lord? (Psalm 13)

The ‘how long’ questions are questions asked by a man who feels that God is far away. These questions must, however, be reversed, if we are to move beyond these feelings into the reality of knowing God. God says, ‘How long?’ The Lord is saying to us, “It doesn’t matter how long. Now is the time for a new beginning.” v.1a: “How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?” – Now is the time for forgetting the Lord no longer: “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead” (2 Timothy 2:8). v. 1b: ” How long will You hide Your face from me?” – Now is the time for hiding from the Lord no longer: “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). These blessings are hidden from those who, in proud arrogance, refuse to come to the Lord – “You have hidden these things from the wise and learned” (Matthew 11:25). They are “revealed” to those who “come” to the Lord with the sincerity and humility of ‘little children” (Matthew 11:25, 28). v. 2a: “How long must I wrestle with my thoughts … ? ” – Now is the time for wrestling with the Lord no longer: “Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be … ‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ’since I am a virgin?’ … ‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May it be to me as you have said.’” (Luke 1:29, 34, 38). v. 2b: “How long must I … every day have sorrow in my heart?“- Now is the time for sorrowing no longer: “I am the Resurrection and the Life” (John 10:25-27). Christ points us to the future. v. 2c: “How long will my enemy triumph over me?” – Now is the time for being defeated no longer: “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death … Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:14-15, 18). Now is the time for believing God’s promises. Now is the time for receiving His blessings. Now is the time for coming to the Saviour. vs. 3-4: “Look on me and answer, O Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall.” Without God, we are overcome. vs. 5-6: “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.” With God, there is trusting, rejoicing and singing – trusting in His unfailing love, rejoicing in His salvation, singing of His goodness. From verse 1 to verse 6, the Psalmist’s mood has changed dramatically. He wishes to lead us on this movement from life without God to life with God. God has come near to us in Christ. He is Emmanuel – God with us. God invites us to come near to Him. We come to Him through Christ. Through Him, we have this great testimony: “It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20).

Chapter 3, Verse 16: The Saviour, The Scriptures, The Spirit

John 3:16 – The Saviour
2 Timothy 3:16 – The Scriptures
Colossians 3:16 – The Spirit

Let us come to the Saviour. Let us read the Scriptures. Let us worship God in Spirit and in truth.

Times of blessing ...

We have read about two times of blessing in Jacob’s life (Genesis 28:10-22; Genesis 32:22-32). Here’s a third time when the Lord blessed him (Genesis 35:9-12). The Lord’s blessing doesn’t come only once. He blesses His people again and again. He leads us on to a closer walk with Himself. The blessing of God doesn’t pass automatically from one generation to another. Isaac had been blessed by God. Esau turned away from God. He missed out on God’s blessing. The blessing of God is not to be taken for granted. 
One Year Bible - Day 17: Genesis 34:1-35:29; Matthew 12:46-13:17; Psalm 10:1-11

Lord, You love us so much. Help us never to forget this.

Exodus 15:22-16:36
Lord, You love us so much. Help us never to forget this. Help us to remember Jesus - to remember that His body was broken for us, and His blood was shed for us. Help us to feed on Jesus, and to be strong in Him. Lord, when the going gets tough, help us to remember that Your love keeps going and going and going  ...It is a love that never comes to an end. It's everlasting love - the only everlasting love.

Male And Female

Genesis 2:20
“a helper suitable for him”
Man was sharing God’s creation with the animals. Now, God was about to do something very special, something that would make the world a very different place.
Genesis 2:21
“a deep sleep”
Man contributes nothing to this mighty work of God. This is a great lesson we must never forget. We dare not make too much of ourselves. Anything good in us comes from the Lord.
Genesis 2:22
“a woman”
This was a new creation. There was nothing else like her. She was the first woman. There was also continuity between the man and the woman. They belonged together. In man and woman, there is both difference and similarity. The woman is different from the man, yet she is more like him than any of the other creatures.
Genesis 2:23
“This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh”
There is a sense of fulfilment here. Until this point, there was something missing. Now,the creation is complete. There is Man and there is Woman.
Genesis 2:24
“they will be one flesh”
This is more than a physical sharing. It’a a sharing in every part of life. It’s the special sharing which we call “love”.
Genesis 2:25
“naked and unashamed”
This is the original creation. This is before sin came in and spoiled everything.

At the heart of worship, there is to be the Word of God.

Deuteronomy 11:1-13:18
God had blessed His people greatly. They were to live in obedience to Him. This is the way of further blessing (chapter 11). At the heart of our obedience to God, there is worship, true worship, worship which glorifies the Lord (chapter 12). At the heart of worship, there is to be the Word of God. Without the Word of God, we will be easily led astray (Deuteronomy 13:1-2). The central message to us here is summed up in Deuteronomy 13:4 – “Worship the Lord your God, fear Him, obey His commands, listen to what He says, serve Him and be loyal to Him.”

Delivered!

In Psalm 18, the Psalmist praises God, who delivered him from his enemies. It begins and ends with the thought of God as the Rock upon which our faith is built. He is the rock of our salvation: “I love you, O Lord, my Strength. The Lord is my Rock and my Fortress and my Saviour, my God in whom I take refuge, my Shield and the Strength of my Salvation, my Stronghold” (Psalm 18:1-2). “The Lord lives! Thanks be to my Rock! May God, my Saviour, be honoured!” (Psalm 18:46).

Give Me Wisdom ...

2 Chronicles
“Give me wisdom and knowledge so that I may lead these people ... This great people of Yours” (2 Chronicles 1:10). Wisdom is not given to us for our own benefit, It is given to us for the benefit of others - so that we might lead them to the Lord. We are to follow in the footsteps of our Lord. He “came not to be served but to serve” (Mark 10:45).
“I want to build the Temple for the Lord my God. I want to dedicate it to Him” (2 Chronicles 2:4). Everything that we do is to be done for God. Everything that we do is to be dedicated to Him. This is the lesson that we learn from Solomon and the building of the Temple. We are to do all things for the glory of God. He alone is worthy of our praise. We are not only to worship Him in the place of worship and at the time set aside for worship. We are to worship Him all of the time, wherever we are. We are to praise Him in His House. We are to continue to praise Him, as we go out from His House to the world.
The building of the Temple - It was “the Lord’s Temple” (2 Chronicles 3:1). It was being built “for the Lord’s Name” (2 Chronicles 2:1). The glory of the Lord - This must never be forgotten. There is nothing more important than this. God is to be glorified. This was the reason for the building of the Temple.This must be the driving force in our lives - in everything we do. Let God be glorified in all things. Blessing will only come to us when we give the glory to God. We must not seek glory for ourselves.
“The Lord’s glory filled the Lord’s Temple” (2 Chronicles 5:14), The emphasis is not on Solomon. It is the Lord who must be the focus of our attention. It is the Lord who is to receive glory. Solomon emphasizes this: “I’ve built the Temple for the Name of the Lord God of Israel” (2 Chronicles 6:11). In his prayer (2 Chronicles 6:14-42), Solomon prays for “salvation” (2 Chronicles 6:41). He does not only pray for himself. He prays for others. He prays that they will come to God, praying for “salvation”. He asks God to hear and answer these prayers.
The continuation of God’s blessing is conditional on the continuation of Israel’s obedience. The Temple does not guarantee the continuation of God’s blessing: “If you and your descendants turn away from Me ... I will reject this Temple that I declared holy for My Name. I will make it an example and an object of ridicule for all the people of the world” (2 Chronicles 7:19-20). These are God’s words of warning. He also gives His promise of blessing to those who turn to Him - “If My people ...” (2 Chronicles 7:14-16).
The grandeur of Solomon was most impressive. After reading about all of his glory, we come to the point where he dies. This is a reminder that we cannot take our riches with us. It’s a reminder of Jesus’ words: “Do not lay up treasures on earth.Lay up treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:19-20), We must never lose sight of the eternal dimension of our life.
In the history of Israel, there were low points - “all Israel abandoned the Lord’s teaching” (2 Chronicles 12:1) - as well as high points - “Asa did what the Lord his God considered right and good” (2 Chronicles 14:2). Even Asa was not consistently faithful to the Lord. Despite the statement, “Asa remained committed to the Lord his entire life” (2 Chronicles 15:17), there are signs that, at the end of his life, his faith was not as strong as it should have been. God is calling us to move forward in faith and obedience. He is calling us to walk in His ways all the days of our life.
The reign of Jehoshaphat was a good reign. He was the “king of Judah” (2 Chronicles 20:31). He was very different from “King Ahab of Israel” (2 Chronicles 18:3). Good kings, bad kings - Each has his influence on the people: a good influence, a bad influence. Reading about these things makes us think about ourselves and the influence we have on other people. Is it good or bad? What about our own commitment to the Lord? Is it real? Is it changing us - and others?

Two types of people ...

In Psalms 36 and 37, we see the conflict between the righteous and the wicked, the godly and the ungodly. By drawing this radical contrast between these two types of people, God’s Word calls us to make our choice. What kind of people will we be? How will we live? There is no more important than the question of character. Will our lives be shaped by the character of God? or Will they be shaped by a very different character - Satan, the evil one?

To Understand History, We Need Revelation.

Warning against "the danger of going outside the sphere of faith into the area of observation", G. C. Berkouwer disputes the legitimacy of interpreting the ways of Providence on the basis of facts" (The Providence of God, pp. 164-165). He aims to guard against the possibility that "everyone according to his own prejudice and subjective whim (can) canonize a certain event or national rise as a special act of God in which He reveals and demonstrates His favour" (p. 164). Acutely aware that "the interpretation of an historical event as a special revelation of Providence too easily becomes a piously disguised form of self-justification" (p. 166), Berkouwer insists that "no event speaks so clearly that we may conclude from it a certain disposition of God - as long as God Himself does not reveal that His disposition comes to expression in the given event" (p. 170). Concerning events in the history of Israel, which are recorded in Scripture, Berkouwer writes, "The Divine disposition is, indeed, revealed in these events. But  it is the word of revelation which  explains them" (p. 171). Concerning the interpretation of contemporary events, he warns, "we have not been given a norm for explaining the facts of history... in the absence of a norm only an untrustworthy plausibility remains" (p. 171).  Using insightful exegesis of Scripture, Berkouwer warns against a misguided interpretation of contemporary events. Commenting on the words, "Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians from Kir?" (Amos 9:7), he writes, "the fact of the exodus may not be used as basis, isolated from revelation and seen by itself  from which to draw selfish conclusions about God's dispositions... As a mere historical facrt, the exodus puts Israel on the same level with other nations. But accompanied by a proper faith in God, it constitutes a challenge and, given the proper response, further blessings" (p. 176).

Paul And James On Faith And Works

James' attack on "dead faith" (G. C. Berkouwer, Faith and Justification, 137) and his protest for faith as "a truly experienced reality" (136), which dominates the whole of life, does not conflict with Paul who speaks against the works of the law but not against the works of faith.

Search The Scriptures: Ecclesiastes

Life “under the sun” is depressing (Ecclesiastes 1:3,9,14). When life is seen in an earthbound way, with nothing above and beyond it, there is no hope, no glimmer of light. The preacher is not saying that this is the only way we can look at life. He is saying that this way of thinking about life is a dead-end street. He is inviting us to see the meaninglessness of a life that is no more than life “under the sun.” He shows us the hopelessness of life “under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 2:17,20,22). We can never be satisfied by life “under the sun.” There is always a sense of something more. This dissatisfaction, this longing for something more, comes from God: “He has put a sense of eternity in people’s minds” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Life “under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 4:1,3) offers nothing to those who are searching for a real sense of meaning, purpose and direction.There is an emptiness at the heart of life “under the sun.” Attempting to find something more, through our own efforts, is a never-ending task, a fruitless exercise - “trying to catch the wind” (Ecclesiastes 4:6,8). We need more than life “under the sun.”. We need life in the Son. We need the One who came from above - Jesus Christ, our Saviour. He alone can bring something different into our life. He brings something lasting - eternal life (1 John 5:11-12). As we read Ecclesiastes in the context of the whole of Scripture, our thoughts turn towards another life, a better life - life in the Son. This is a life that is filled with glorious, heavenly, eternal hope. Without God, life is hopeless.With Him, life becomes hopeful. By placing before us these two very different ways of life - life without God and life with God, Ecclesiastes invites us to choose. We are to choose life - the life that comes from above, the abundant life, which is the gift of God’s grace to all who put their faith in Jesus Christ (John 10:10). When we receive life in the Son, our life is transformed. It is transformed by the life of Christ - new life, eternal life.

The book of Ecclesiastes is one of the books of Wisdom. Much of it reads like the wisdom of the writer, as he reflects on his life. There is, however, another dimension in this book. There is God. We are encouraged to see our life in the light of God: “God is in heaven and you are on earth” (Ecclesiastes 5:2). The call to “fear God” (Ecclesiastes 5:7) lies at the heart of this book. This is more than human wisdom. This is the wisdom that comes from above. It’s the wisdom of God. This wisdom comes to us from divine revelation. True wisdom always recognizes that God is at the centre of life. There are times when this book seems to be the writer’s own practical philosophy of life. Sometimes, it seems like God isn’t in his thoughts. In chapter 6, God is only mentioned in verse 2. We should not, however, ignore the fact that he recognizes the reality of God. It is one thing to mention God only occasionally. It is something else when we ignore Him altogether.  The fact that Ecclesiastes (the Preacher) does not have ready-made answers for every question does not mean that he is not listening for the word of the Lord. It does mean that he recognizes that the answers lie with the Lord - not with ourselves. This is what he means when he says, “God is in heaven and you are on earth” (Ecclesiastes 5:2).     Our wisdom is limited. Sometimes, we are wise - but we are not always wise. True wisdom comes from God. As we seek Him, we find that He gives His wisdom to us. It comes to us in and through Christ, who is “the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:30). As we look at our life, we are to “consider what God has done” (Ecclesiastes 7:13). When we look at the good things in our lives, we must not forget to say,”this is the gift of God” (Ecclesiastes 5:19). True wisdom is given to us when we recognize that God is the living God, the God who has done great things for us, the God of our salvation. Recognizing that He is the living God, the God of revelation, doesn’t mean that we’ll understand everything. Throughout our life on earth, there will be matters which are beyond our understanding. We must be content to put our trust in the Lord, with this simple confession of faith: “As for God - His way is perfect.” This is the point the Preacher makes in Ecclesiastes 8:16-17. This is a call for humility. It’s based on the fact that only God understands all things. We must learn to content ourselves with trusting in His wisdom, even we don’t understand all that He’s doing.
 * As we learn to trust Him, He teaches us that the quality of our life - learning to live according to His purpose for us - is more important that the quantity of our years - living for a long time without really understanding what our life is all about, without coming to know the true joy that He alone can give to us (Ecclesiastes 5:3-6).
 * As we learn to trust the Lord, He teaches us that “patience is better than pride” (Ecclesiastes 7:8). We learn to stop acting like we know it all. He teaches us to say, “God loves me. He knows what’s best for me. He will not fail me - even when I fail Him. He gives me His peace and His joy - even when I don’t really understand much of what’s going on in my life.”
 * When we are learning to walk with God, He teaches us that it’s better to seek God-centred holiness - “God made mankind upright” - rather than self-centred happiness - “men have gone in search of many schemes” (Ecclesiastes 7:19).
 * As we seek to put the Lord first in our lives, He teaches us that His way, for us, is not the way of seeking “power” for ourselves (Ecclesiastes 8:4,8). We’re not to assert ourselves - ‘I did it my way.’ We’re to submit to Him - “Not my will, but Yours be done.”
The Lord is leading us beyond our own human “power” to achieve our human ambitions. He’s showing us His way. As we walk in His way, we learn that there’s a greater power  - the power of the Holy Spirit. His power is at work in us - to give us a real sense of meaning, purpose and direction: less of ourselves and more of the Lord.

We are to “pay more attention to calm words from wise people” (Ecclesiastes 9:17). This combination of calmness and wisdom is highlighted also in James - “the wisdom that comes from above is first of all pure. Then it is peaceful, gentle, obedient, filled with mercy and good deeds, impartial and sincere.” This description of wisdom is followed by these words of comment: “A harvest that has God’s approval comes from the peace planted by peacemakers” (James 3:17-18). In Ecclesiastes 10:2, the wise person and the fool are contrasted - “A wise person’s heart leads the right way. The heart of a fool leads the wrong way.” At the heart of the call to wisdom, there is the call to remember our Creator (Ecclesiastes 12:1-6). How are we to remember our Creator? - “Fear God and keep His commandments” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). 
 

Bible Notes by G. Philip

For forty years, Rev George Philip (11th November 1925 - 16th February 2019) taught the Word of God, faithfully and fruitfully, at Sandyfor...