MONDAY 9TH AUGUST
Jeremiah 23:23-29
God’s Powerful Word
God’s word to us today from His prophet Jeremiah is very powerful and one we all need to take note of. He begins by saying, although God fills the whole universe and is very big, that He also is near every one of us. If we go to a secret place and try to escape from God He is there and He will find us there. We cannot escape from God. When He finds us and speaks to us His word is so powerful, like fire and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces.
Joseph Kobo, a Bishop from South Africa had this very experience of God. In 1963, as a young priest, he got disillusioned with the church. He saw too many hypocritical Christians giving full support to apartheid. He lost his faith, gave up the church and became a Communist guerrilla fighter for the ANC. He was trying in his own strength to bring justice to his own, down-trodden people.
Twenty years went by and he found himself in a prison, put there by the South African Government for his guerrilla activities. The prison was in the Drakensberg Range, high above the snow line. He was in there for years and was very lonely, very isolated and no one spoke to him.
Then one day he heard a voice speaking to him, not in the language of the guards. The voice said “Joseph why are you here? Joseph, I called you to do a special thing”. This message was repeated several times. Soon he realised it was God speaking. Indeed this powerful voice of God was like fire and a hammer. It completely shattered his whole life. Soon this very tough guerrilla soldier was in tears - completely broken and repentant. As he answered God, “Lord if you want me to serve you again, OK”, all the shattered bits were put back together and he was rebuilt into a soldier for God. Now he has such a powerful ministry proclaiming God’s word with so much power, bringing thousands to faith in God, raising the dead and healing the sick.
PRAYER: Father, thank you for your powerful word and voice right here with me now. Speak to me, set me on fire, break me, melt me, mould me, fill me. Make me a powerful solider wielding the sword of your word, through Jesus your Living Word. Amen.
TUESDAY 10TH AUGUST
Psalm 82
God is in charge
Sometimes we worry about all sorts of things or get all worked up and think of ways in which we can change the world. We forget one very important thing. God is very much in charge of everything!
If God is in charge then everything will work out. However, God does not force His control on everyone. Those who do refuse to let Jesus be Lord of their lives have a terrible fate, but “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
Because we know God is in charge it pays for us to listen to what He says and then put it into practice as the Bible says, “do not merely listen to the word and deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
God’s word to us in this Psalm is, “defend the cause of the weak and the fatherless, maintain the rights of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy, deliver them from the hand of the greedy. In our society this has been done very well by successive, socially minded governments. In our welfare state the needs of the poor, etc are well catered for. Beyond our borders this is not the case. Let’s look for ways we can help many appeals which are launched by mission and welfare agencies in the churches. Let’s find out about a few of these and set out to give them more resources. Let’s really listen to God and do what He says.
PRAYER: Father, we thank you that we have no need to fear anything for you are in control. We know that you have called us by name and all things will work out well for us, so show us ways we can help the poor and oppressed in this world, through Jesus our Saviour. Amen.
WEDNESDAY 11TH AUGUST
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
Jesus the author and perfecter of faith
Hebrews Chapter 11 lists a whole host of Old Testament Saints who displayed an enormous amount of faith. Yet none of these received what had been promised. This did not come until Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead. Then they received the full gift of eternal life.
Since we live after Jesus paid the price for us, we can have what is promised straight away. The moment we believe Jesus died on the cross to take our sins away and the moment we surrender our lives to Jesus as Saviour and Lord, He gives us eternal life. For us, faith can come so much easier. We have a personal relationship with Jesus. He dwells in us and we dwell in Him. Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, lives in us. Isn’t that absolutely fantastic!!
His living presence gives us all the faith we need to believe our sins and all our imperfections have been washed away and that we are on our way to heaven.
So often we don’t realise how close He is. We can all help each other. We can be the “great crowd of witnesses” for each other. As we come together to worship God every Sunday we can really encourage each other and help each other to realise that Jesus is present with us in a very real way. As we come into his presence we can really keep our eyes fixed on Him. Remember, when Peter kept his eyes on Jesus he was walking on water. When he fell back on himself, he sank. With eyes on our Saviour and faith in His amazing grace and saving power we will never sink.
PRAYER: Jesus, Author and Perfecter of our faith, help us always to keep our eyes fixed on you, trusting that you are raising us up to be with you forever in Heaven. Amen.
THURSDAY 12TH AUGUST
Hebrews 13:1-9
Good advice for Holy Living
To keep our relationship with God very strong and to help us live by faith we need to live very holy lives. “Holiness” and “Love” are synonymous. The more we love each other the holier we will become. As well as loving each other, our love should go out to everyone else who may cross our paths; we should be hospitable and look after them. This pleases God very much.
We should always remember all people we know who are suffering in any way, do all we can for them and never stop praying for them.
We should be very faithful to our marriage vows, if we are wed, then very chaste, and pure if we are single. If we fall down in this area we will be judged by God.
Finally we should seek to receive our total satisfaction in life from our relationship with Jesus. This means stopping ourselves from loving money and possessions and making them our gods - and we should be content with everything we have.
Of course we can’t live these holy lives by ourselves or by relying on our own strength. In verses 5 and 6 we are reminded that our friend Jesus will never leave us or forsake us so we can say with confidence, “the Lord is my helper I will never be afraid, what can man do to me.”
The Lord Jesus fills our hearts with His spirit and His love and enables us to live holy lives and remain friends of His forever.
PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, it’s so wonderful that you love me so much that you will never leave me or forsake me. You will always be my helper always keeping me holy, always enabling me to remain your very close friend. Amen.
FRIDAY 13TH AUGUST
Luke 13:1-9
A Second Chance
We saw yesterday the importance of leading very holy lives to keep ourselves in a good relationship with Jesus and to keep our faith in Him very strong.
What, if under the influence of the Holy Spirit, God shines into our lives and shows us the truth of how very unholy our lives have been.
In the parable in today’s reading Jesus told the story of the fig tree that should have been destroyed because it was bearing no fruit. The farmer begged for one more year in which he would give it extra special care, watering it and fertilizing it to make sure that it bore fruit. So Jesus says if we go on not bearing the fruits of holiness we will be destroyed! When my chooks stop laying I wave the axe around the chook pen to remind them their fate if they don’t start laying again!!!
Jesus said unless we repent we will perish! Once we have repented and are right with the Lord we should devote plenty of time praying for all our friends and all those around us who have not yet turned to the Lord, that they may repent too and save themselves from suffering the fires of hell.
PRAYER: Dear Lord, help us all to repent and come to you and be empowered to live holy lives that we may be spared the punishment promised to the unrepentant, through Jesus our loving Saviour. Amen.
SATURDAY 14TH AUGUST
Luke 12:49-59
Discerning your position with God
Psalm 139:23 says, “Search me O God and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting”.
It’s so important for each one of us to have regular spiritual check- ups. It’s a good idea to set aside time every Saturday night before church or Sunday to do this. The Holy Spirit will show us the areas of our lives not pleasing to Him and faith in the power of Jesus will enable us to be put right.
The Jesus who came the first time to be our Saviour will come again to be our judge. There will be a great division. Those who love the Lord and have trusted in His power for their salvation will be divided from those who reject God. Families will be divided. The holy and the unholy cannot be mixed. The unholy will be burnt up in the fire God sends.
Christian singles, be sure you do not marry those who do not love Jesus, don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers.
PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, send your Holy Spirit to search me and see if there is any offence in me. As I repent and confess it, wash me in your precious blood so when you come to be my judge I may have the assurance that I will not be divided away from you. Amen.
SUNDAY 1 5TH AUGUST
THIS WEEK’S MESSAGE
Today’s message, at first, gives us a real shock. It seems to hit us so hard! Speaking through the Prophet Jeremiah God says to us, “Is not my Word like fire and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces.” When we come to read the Gospel Jesus gives us a bigger shock. He says, “I have come to bring fire on earth how I wish it were already kindled.” Then He goes on to say, “Do you think I have come to bring peace on earth? No I tell you but division.” What is God saying to us in these hard words? He is saying that God cannot tolerate those who worship other gods and those whose lives are filled with sin. Unless they turn back to God and get rid of their sins they will be divided from Him. They will be separated from Him forever.
To get His people back on side God has to break them and then reshape them and He has to burn out all their sins. God loved us so much that He couldn’t stand the thought of us being cut off from Him forever. He didn’t want to lose us! As St John reminds us, “God so loved the world that He gave us His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life”(John 3:16)
Although Jesus was God’s Son He was fully human. His task on earth was to act on our behalf. He allowed Himself to be broken for us and to take the penalty our sins deserved which was like being burnt up in a fire. The Baptism he had to go through, which He speaks about in today’s gospel, is all His suffering and crucifixion. Mel Gibson’s film, the Passion of Christ, reminded us of how awfully He was broken and all the fiery suffering that He had to go through.. Because Jesus was broken we do not have to be broken. Because He went through the fire we are spared that suffering. Because of this gracious act all are sins have been burnt up and taken away. The barrier between us and God has been broken.
All we have to do to remain in unity with God is for us to believe. If we have faith to believe, that through Jesus’ death on the cross and suffering, we have been made pure and holy enough to be one with God, then we can be absolutely sure that Jesus dwells n us and we dwell in Him. As we keep our eyes on Jesus our faith grows stronger and stronger every day and our hearts are filled with joy unspeakable!!!!!!!
PRAYER : Dear Lord Jesus thank you for suffering so much to free us from eternal suffering. Inspire us all to repent of all that separates us from you and trust in the power you released when you died on the cross so that we will be with you forever. Amen
MONDAY 9TH AUGUST
Jeremiah 23:23-29
God’s Powerful Word
God’s word to us today from His prophet Jeremiah is very powerful and one we all need to take note of. He begins by saying, although God fills the whole universe and is very big, that He also is near every one of us. If we go to a secret place and try to escape from God He is there and He will find us there. We cannot escape from God. When He finds us and speaks to us His word is so powerful, like fire and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces.
Joseph Kobo, a Bishop from South Africa had this very experience of God. In 1963, as a young priest, he got disillusioned with the church. He saw too many hypocritical Christians giving full support to apartheid. He lost his faith, gave up the church and became a Communist guerrilla fighter for the ANC. He was trying in his own strength to bring justice to his own, down-trodden people.
Twenty years went by and he found himself in a prison, put there by the South African Government for his guerrilla activities. The prison was in the Drakensberg Range, high above the snow line. He was in there for years and was very lonely, very isolated and no one spoke to him.
Then one day he heard a voice speaking to him, not in the language of the guards. The voice said “Joseph why are you here? Joseph, I called you to do a special thing”. This message was repeated several times. Soon he realised it was God speaking. Indeed this powerful voice of God was like fire and a hammer. It completely shattered his whole life. Soon this very tough guerrilla soldier was in tears - completely broken and repentant. As he answered God, “Lord if you want me to serve you again, OK”, all the shattered bits were put back together and he was rebuilt into a soldier for God. Now he has such a powerful ministry proclaiming God’s word with so much power, bringing thousands to faith in God, raising the dead and healing the sick.
PRAYER: Father, thank you for your powerful word and voice right here with me now. Speak to me, set me on fire, break me, melt me, mould me, fill me. Make me a powerful solider wielding the sword of your word, through Jesus your Living Word. Amen.
TUESDAY 10TH AUGUST
Psalm 82
God is in charge
Sometimes we worry about all sorts of things or get all worked up and think of ways in which we can change the world. We forget one very important thing. God is very much in charge of everything!
If God is in charge then everything will work out. However, God does not force His control on everyone. Those who do refuse to let Jesus be Lord of their lives have a terrible fate, but “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
Because we know God is in charge it pays for us to listen to what He says and then put it into practice as the Bible says, “do not merely listen to the word and deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
God’s word to us in this Psalm is, “defend the cause of the weak and the fatherless, maintain the rights of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy, deliver them from the hand of the greedy. In our society this has been done very well by successive, socially minded governments. In our welfare state the needs of the poor, etc are well catered for. Beyond our borders this is not the case. Let’s look for ways we can help many appeals which are launched by mission and welfare agencies in the churches. Let’s find out about a few of these and set out to give them more resources. Let’s really listen to God and do what He says.
PRAYER: Father, we thank you that we have no need to fear anything for you are in control. We know that you have called us by name and all things will work out well for us, so show us ways we can help the poor and oppressed in this world, through Jesus our Saviour. Amen.
WEDNESDAY 11TH AUGUST
Hebrews 11:29-12:2
Jesus the author and perfecter of faith
Hebrews Chapter 11 lists a whole host of Old Testament Saints who displayed an enormous amount of faith. Yet none of these received what had been promised. This did not come until Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead. Then they received the full gift of eternal life.
Since we live after Jesus paid the price for us, we can have what is promised straight away. The moment we believe Jesus died on the cross to take our sins away and the moment we surrender our lives to Jesus as Saviour and Lord, He gives us eternal life. For us, faith can come so much easier. We have a personal relationship with Jesus. He dwells in us and we dwell in Him. Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, lives in us. Isn’t that absolutely fantastic!!
His living presence gives us all the faith we need to believe our sins and all our imperfections have been washed away and that we are on our way to heaven.
So often we don’t realise how close He is. We can all help each other. We can be the “great crowd of witnesses” for each other. As we come together to worship God every Sunday we can really encourage each other and help each other to realise that Jesus is present with us in a very real way. As we come into his presence we can really keep our eyes fixed on Him. Remember, when Peter kept his eyes on Jesus he was walking on water. When he fell back on himself, he sank. With eyes on our Saviour and faith in His amazing grace and saving power we will never sink.
PRAYER: Jesus, Author and Perfecter of our faith, help us always to keep our eyes fixed on you, trusting that you are raising us up to be with you forever in Heaven. Amen.
THURSDAY 12TH AUGUST
Hebrews 13:1-9
Good advice for Holy Living
To keep our relationship with God very strong and to help us live by faith we need to live very holy lives. “Holiness” and “Love” are synonymous. The more we love each other the holier we will become. As well as loving each other, our love should go out to everyone else who may cross our paths; we should be hospitable and look after them. This pleases God very much.
We should always remember all people we know who are suffering in any way, do all we can for them and never stop praying for them.
We should be very faithful to our marriage vows, if we are wed, then very chaste, and pure if we are single. If we fall down in this area we will be judged by God.
Finally we should seek to receive our total satisfaction in life from our relationship with Jesus. This means stopping ourselves from loving money and possessions and making them our gods - and we should be content with everything we have.
Of course we can’t live these holy lives by ourselves or by relying on our own strength. In verses 5 and 6 we are reminded that our friend Jesus will never leave us or forsake us so we can say with confidence, “the Lord is my helper I will never be afraid, what can man do to me.”
The Lord Jesus fills our hearts with His spirit and His love and enables us to live holy lives and remain friends of His forever.
PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, it’s so wonderful that you love me so much that you will never leave me or forsake me. You will always be my helper always keeping me holy, always enabling me to remain your very close friend. Amen.
FRIDAY 13TH AUGUST
Luke 13:1-9
A Second Chance
We saw yesterday the importance of leading very holy lives to keep ourselves in a good relationship with Jesus and to keep our faith in Him very strong.
What, if under the influence of the Holy Spirit, God shines into our lives and shows us the truth of how very unholy our lives have been.
In the parable in today’s reading Jesus told the story of the fig tree that should have been destroyed because it was bearing no fruit. The farmer begged for one more year in which he would give it extra special care, watering it and fertilizing it to make sure that it bore fruit. So Jesus says if we go on not bearing the fruits of holiness we will be destroyed! When my chooks stop laying I wave the axe around the chook pen to remind them their fate if they don’t start laying again!!!
Jesus said unless we repent we will perish! Once we have repented and are right with the Lord we should devote plenty of time praying for all our friends and all those around us who have not yet turned to the Lord, that they may repent too and save themselves from suffering the fires of hell.
PRAYER: Dear Lord, help us all to repent and come to you and be empowered to live holy lives that we may be spared the punishment promised to the unrepentant, through Jesus our loving Saviour. Amen.
SATURDAY 14TH AUGUST
Luke 12:49-59
Discerning your position with God
Psalm 139:23 says, “Search me O God and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting”.
It’s so important for each one of us to have regular spiritual check- ups. It’s a good idea to set aside time every Saturday night before church or Sunday to do this. The Holy Spirit will show us the areas of our lives not pleasing to Him and faith in the power of Jesus will enable us to be put right.
The Jesus who came the first time to be our Saviour will come again to be our judge. There will be a great division. Those who love the Lord and have trusted in His power for their salvation will be divided from those who reject God. Families will be divided. The holy and the unholy cannot be mixed. The unholy will be burnt up in the fire God sends.
Christian singles, be sure you do not marry those who do not love Jesus, don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers.
PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, send your Holy Spirit to search me and see if there is any offence in me. As I repent and confess it, wash me in your precious blood so when you come to be my judge I may have the assurance that I will not be divided away from you. Amen.
SUNDAY 1 5TH AUGUST
THIS WEEK’S MESSAGE
Today’s message, at first, gives us a real shock. It seems to hit us so hard! Speaking through the Prophet Jeremiah God says to us, “Is not my Word like fire and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces.” When we come to read the Gospel Jesus gives us a bigger shock. He says, “I have come to bring fire on earth how I wish it were already kindled.” Then He goes on to say, “Do you think I have come to bring peace on earth? No I tell you but division.” What is God saying to us in these hard words? He is saying that God cannot tolerate those who worship other gods and those whose lives are filled with sin. Unless they turn back to God and get rid of their sins they will be divided from Him. They will be separated from Him forever.
To get His people back on side God has to break them and then reshape them and He has to burn out all their sins. God loved us so much that He couldn’t stand the thought of us being cut off from Him forever. He didn’t want to lose us! As St John reminds us, “God so loved the world that He gave us His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life”(John 3:16)
Although Jesus was God’s Son He was fully human. His task on earth was to act on our behalf. He allowed Himself to be broken for us and to take the penalty our sins deserved which was like being burnt up in a fire. The Baptism he had to go through, which He speaks about in today’s gospel, is all His suffering and crucifixion. Mel Gibson’s film, the Passion of Christ, reminded us of how awfully He was broken and all the fiery suffering that He had to go through.. Because Jesus was broken we do not have to be broken. Because He went through the fire we are spared that suffering. Because of this gracious act all are sins have been burnt up and taken away. The barrier between us and God has been broken.
All we have to do to remain in unity with God is for us to believe. If we have faith to believe, that through Jesus’ death on the cross and suffering, we have been made pure and holy enough to be one with God, then we can be absolutely sure that Jesus dwells n us and we dwell in Him. As we keep our eyes on Jesus our faith grows stronger and stronger every day and our hearts are filled with joy unspeakable!!!!!!!
PRAYER : Dear Lord Jesus thank you for suffering so much to free us from eternal suffering. Inspire us all to repent of all that separates us from you and trust in the power you released when you died on the cross so that we will be with you forever. Amen