MONDAY 19th. APRIL
Acts 9.36-43
Tabitha raised from the dead
Jesus had promised the disciples that if they prayed in His name they would be able to do the same things that He did and even greater things. As we read through the Acts of the Apostles we see what Jesus said coming true.
Today we read about Peter praying for a devout Christian, who had died. While everyone was admiring the lovely clothes Tabitha had made, and feeling so sad because she was gone, Peter got down on his knees and prayed. He would have prayed in the name of Jesus and with faith in Jesus to raise the dead woman and bring her back to life. Soon she was back in the land of the living, opening her eyes and sitting up and talking to everyone.
No doubt Peter was amazed when this great miracle took place. So were the people all around. As a result the word spread and many came to believe in Jesus and the church grew.
Jesus is the same yesterday, today and for ever. I have seen one person raised from the dead and heard of several others. In the church we still have the power to do all the things that Jesus did, but, of course, it’s not us who does them but Jesus living in us.
PRAYER: Dear wonderful, powerful Lord Jesus, we thank you that you are the same yesterday, today and for ever. Give us all the faith to believe that even we can be used by you to do mighty miracles as you work through us, through Jesus our Miracle Worker. Amen.
TUESDAY 20TH APRIL
Psalm 23
Jesus is my Shepherd
When the leaders of the Old Testament proved to be very bad shepherds of their flocks, God spoke through the prophet Ezekiel and promised that He, Himself, would come and be a shepherd to His people (see Ezekiel 34). This was fulfilled when Jesus came. Now Jesus is our Good Shepherd.
Psalm 23 summarises for us all that Jesus does for us: His fantastic, caring way. He is a wonderful provider for all who choose to have Him as their Shepherd. He looks after us so well that we lack absolutely nothing! He saves us from having stress and burn-out by making us take time to rest and time to look after ourselves with healthy foods. He beckons us to come alone with Him in prayer. As we listen to Him and as we open up His word, He keeps our spiritual lives healthy as well as our bodies. His very presence nourishes our innermost beings!
He is especially there when things go wrong. When we are in danger of death He is always close by to protect us. We can never be destroyed as long as His staff and His crook protect us. He helps us and empowers us to forgive our enemies and all who hurt us. We can easily sit down and have a meal with them. To equip us for a victorious life, He anoints us with the Holy Spirit. This causes love to flow from us like a river. We experience such a good life. It’s so good, death cannot destroy it.
PRAYER: Jesus, our Good Shepherd, we trust you to provide for us. Feed our bodies and our souls. Protect us from all evil and enable us to forgive. We trust in you to keep on filling us with your Holy Spirit that your love may keep on flowing, giving us such a good life that has no end. Amen.
WEDNESDAY 21st. APRIL
Revelation 7.9-17
The Lamb will be their Shepherd
Total satisfaction in Jesus
To really experience the full impact of having Jesus as our Good Shepherd, we all have to go through the experience of salvation. In other words, we have to make an entry into His flock. When a farmer adds to his flock, he brands his sheep. When we join Jesus’ flock, He does far more than that; He thoroughly cleanses us.
As we accept Jesus as the Shepherd of our lives, we accept Him as our Saviour. We repent of all sin and selfishness and trust in the power Jesus released when He shed His blood on the cross for us to cleanse us from all sin and selfishness. These are replaced by the Holy Spirit and the mighty love of Jesus. He gives us, then, a very strong desire to serve Him continually.
The most wonderful thing then happens to us. We have the very real experience of being 100% satisfied. Jesus had said if we believe in Him we would never feel hungry or thirsty (John 6.35). This becomes for us a present reality. It’s so wonderful, it’s absolutely fantastic.
In His care we are more than conquerors, nothing can harm us. Nothing can take away the eternal life He gives us.
PRAYER: Jesus, lead us all to the point where we are completely saved by you. As we repent of sin and selfishness, wash us in your precious blood and bring us into your flock. Give us 100% satisfaction and absolute protection. Amen.
THURSDAY 22nd. APRIL
Psalm 113
The name of the Lord is to be praised
This week we are seeing what a fantastic shepherd we have in Jesus and how well He continually looks after us.
There is nothing our Jesus and His Father God love more than to be praised, worshipped and adored by His people all over the world. If you want to get a glimpse of what heaven is like, engage in a time of praise and worship. The more we extol God and praise Him and exalt Him, the more we experience His living presence. Heaven is nothing more than being in the very living presence of God. This is a thing most wonderful; the most wonderful of all human experiences.
God is a great leveller. As people from all over the world learn how to praise, extol and worship our loving God, He makes us all into a loving brotherhood. He makes us all one. He raises the poorest of the poor to be absolutely one with the richest of the rich. Those who are without enjoy the life of the rich, even barren mothers find they can have children. The Lord, our Good Shepherd, is so fantastic. Let’s praise and worship Him.
PRAYER: “Praise the Lord, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord, both now and ever more. From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets the name of the Lord is praised.” Amen.
FRIDAY 23rd. APRIL
Acts 10.1-28
God does not show favouritism
Jesus our Good Shepherd is a Shepherd for everyone. The most beautiful story of the inclusion of Cornelius into God’s sheep fold is most significant. From the very beginning, God wanted to be the shepherd of all people. He had to begin somewhere so He began with Abraham and revealed Himself to the Israelites. They were His first sheep. His aim was for them to be a light to the rest of the world (Isaiah 42.6).
However, the Israelites clung on to the privilege of being God’s chosen sheep. They became very exclusive and didn’t want to let anyone else into the fold.
All Jesus’ disciples were Jews and at first they only shared the Good News with Jews. Then God caused a great breakthrough. He used visions to show Peter that He wanted the Good News taken to the Gentiles (non Jews) as well. He was going against what everyone else in the church thought was right, but then God made it so clear that this was His only option.
As Peter was sharing the Good News with these Gentiles, the Holy Spirit fell on them as He did on the Apostles on the day of Pentecost. This proved beyond all doubt that Jesus wanted everyone in His flock. Now it’s up to us to share the wonderful Good News of Jesus with as many people as we can and encourage them to come into His flock.
PRAYER: Father, thank you that you love all the people you have made and you want them all in your kingdom. Pour your Holy Spirit on us as you did in Cornelius’ house that we may powerfully share the Good News and help you bring more sheep in. Amen.
SATURDAY 24TH APRIL
John 10.22-30
My sheep have eternal life
When Jesus made us (through Him God made all things - John 1.3), He made us to be with Him as His sheep for ever. We were all predestined for eternal life.
When Adam sinned we all sinned and we lost the eternal life God had planned for us. Jesus, our very, very Good Shepherd, came to Earth, died and rose again and went back to the sheepfold in Heaven so that we could regain the eternal life that we had lost.
The Good News is that He has won it back. He did this on the cross. If we listen to His voice and follow Him, by putting all our faith and trust in Him, if we let Him clean out every sin and wash away all selfishness, then the eternal life we had lost is given back to us.
Once Jesus gives us this eternal life, we are assured by Him that we will never lose it! We will never perish. No-one will be able to steal it. No-one can pull us away from Jesus; our ties to Him are too strong. We are in Jesus’ hands. No-one can snatch us out of them. Wow, isn’t Jesus so wonderful!
The Father has given us to Jesus. That’s why no-one can snatch us out of His hand. We are so secure!
PRAYER: Good Shepherd Jesus, thank you for speaking to us. We’ve heard your voice and are following you. We have accepted you as our saving Shepherd. Thank you so much that you love us so much that you will never let us go. Help us to love you so much that we will never let you go so that we’ll be with you for ever in Heaven. Amen.
SUNDAY 25TH.APRIL
Good Shepherd Sunday
ANZAC DAY
THIS WEEK’S MESSAGE
AS we think of Jesus being our Good Shepherd we must remember that the shepherds in Jesus’ day were different from the sheep farmers and graziers we know in Australia today. They didn’t fence the sheep in paddocks or drive them with horses and dogs.
They stayed with their sheep all the time. They developed a relationship with their sheep in the same way we have relationships with our pets. They knew them all by name and the sheep knew them and responded to their names. As they called their names the sheep followed them and were led out to the pasturelands. At the end of the day they called them again and led them home to a safe enclosure where the shepherds slept alongside their sheep.
When Jesus says that He is the Good Shepherd it tells us a lot about our relationship with Him. He knows us all by name and takes a personal interest in each one of us. We are all so very special to Him. He does not force us to follow Him. He lovingly calls our names and beckons us to come after Him.
Once we choose to heed his call and follow Him He looks after us very well and promises to never let us go.
The most wonderful thing about our Good Shepherd is that He laid down His ;life for His Sheep. His death on the cross purified us and qualified us to become members of His Flock. The way Jesus looks after us is to use each one of us to look after each other. When we receive Jesus into our lives as Lord and Saviour He gives us a shepherd’s heart. That means He makes us very loving towards each other. He pours love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit He has given us (Romans 5.5) He wants us to be willing to lay down our lives for each other. In plain English that means to love each other more than we love ourselves!
Let’s all fully accept Jesus as our Shepherd and follow In His footsteps!
Today on Anzac day we remember all those who were willing to lay down their lives for their country in all the wars of recent times. We thank God for the sacrifices that they made to enable us to love in freedom
MONDAY 19th. APRIL
Acts 9.36-43
Tabitha raised from the dead
Jesus had promised the disciples that if they prayed in His name they would be able to do the same things that He did and even greater things. As we read through the Acts of the Apostles we see what Jesus said coming true.
Today we read about Peter praying for a devout Christian, who had died. While everyone was admiring the lovely clothes Tabitha had made, and feeling so sad because she was gone, Peter got down on his knees and prayed. He would have prayed in the name of Jesus and with faith in Jesus to raise the dead woman and bring her back to life. Soon she was back in the land of the living, opening her eyes and sitting up and talking to everyone.
No doubt Peter was amazed when this great miracle took place. So were the people all around. As a result the word spread and many came to believe in Jesus and the church grew.
Jesus is the same yesterday, today and for ever. I have seen one person raised from the dead and heard of several others. In the church we still have the power to do all the things that Jesus did, but, of course, it’s not us who does them but Jesus living in us.
PRAYER: Dear wonderful, powerful Lord Jesus, we thank you that you are the same yesterday, today and for ever. Give us all the faith to believe that even we can be used by you to do mighty miracles as you work through us, through Jesus our Miracle Worker. Amen.
TUESDAY 20TH APRIL
Psalm 23
Jesus is my Shepherd
When the leaders of the Old Testament proved to be very bad shepherds of their flocks, God spoke through the prophet Ezekiel and promised that He, Himself, would come and be a shepherd to His people (see Ezekiel 34). This was fulfilled when Jesus came. Now Jesus is our Good Shepherd.
Psalm 23 summarises for us all that Jesus does for us: His fantastic, caring way. He is a wonderful provider for all who choose to have Him as their Shepherd. He looks after us so well that we lack absolutely nothing! He saves us from having stress and burn-out by making us take time to rest and time to look after ourselves with healthy foods. He beckons us to come alone with Him in prayer. As we listen to Him and as we open up His word, He keeps our spiritual lives healthy as well as our bodies. His very presence nourishes our innermost beings!
He is especially there when things go wrong. When we are in danger of death He is always close by to protect us. We can never be destroyed as long as His staff and His crook protect us. He helps us and empowers us to forgive our enemies and all who hurt us. We can easily sit down and have a meal with them. To equip us for a victorious life, He anoints us with the Holy Spirit. This causes love to flow from us like a river. We experience such a good life. It’s so good, death cannot destroy it.
PRAYER: Jesus, our Good Shepherd, we trust you to provide for us. Feed our bodies and our souls. Protect us from all evil and enable us to forgive. We trust in you to keep on filling us with your Holy Spirit that your love may keep on flowing, giving us such a good life that has no end. Amen.
WEDNESDAY 21st. APRIL
Revelation 7.9-17
The Lamb will be their Shepherd
Total satisfaction in Jesus
To really experience the full impact of having Jesus as our Good Shepherd, we all have to go through the experience of salvation. In other words, we have to make an entry into His flock. When a farmer adds to his flock, he brands his sheep. When we join Jesus’ flock, He does far more than that; He thoroughly cleanses us.
As we accept Jesus as the Shepherd of our lives, we accept Him as our Saviour. We repent of all sin and selfishness and trust in the power Jesus released when He shed His blood on the cross for us to cleanse us from all sin and selfishness. These are replaced by the Holy Spirit and the mighty love of Jesus. He gives us, then, a very strong desire to serve Him continually.
The most wonderful thing then happens to us. We have the very real experience of being 100% satisfied. Jesus had said if we believe in Him we would never feel hungry or thirsty (John 6.35). This becomes for us a present reality. It’s so wonderful, it’s absolutely fantastic.
In His care we are more than conquerors, nothing can harm us. Nothing can take away the eternal life He gives us.
PRAYER: Jesus, lead us all to the point where we are completely saved by you. As we repent of sin and selfishness, wash us in your precious blood and bring us into your flock. Give us 100% satisfaction and absolute protection. Amen.
THURSDAY 22nd. APRIL
Psalm 113
The name of the Lord is to be praised
This week we are seeing what a fantastic shepherd we have in Jesus and how well He continually looks after us.
There is nothing our Jesus and His Father God love more than to be praised, worshipped and adored by His people all over the world. If you want to get a glimpse of what heaven is like, engage in a time of praise and worship. The more we extol God and praise Him and exalt Him, the more we experience His living presence. Heaven is nothing more than being in the very living presence of God. This is a thing most wonderful; the most wonderful of all human experiences.
God is a great leveller. As people from all over the world learn how to praise, extol and worship our loving God, He makes us all into a loving brotherhood. He makes us all one. He raises the poorest of the poor to be absolutely one with the richest of the rich. Those who are without enjoy the life of the rich, even barren mothers find they can have children. The Lord, our Good Shepherd, is so fantastic. Let’s praise and worship Him.
PRAYER: “Praise the Lord, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord, both now and ever more. From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets the name of the Lord is praised.” Amen.
FRIDAY 23rd. APRIL
Acts 10.1-28
God does not show favouritism
Jesus our Good Shepherd is a Shepherd for everyone. The most beautiful story of the inclusion of Cornelius into God’s sheep fold is most significant. From the very beginning, God wanted to be the shepherd of all people. He had to begin somewhere so He began with Abraham and revealed Himself to the Israelites. They were His first sheep. His aim was for them to be a light to the rest of the world (Isaiah 42.6).
However, the Israelites clung on to the privilege of being God’s chosen sheep. They became very exclusive and didn’t want to let anyone else into the fold.
All Jesus’ disciples were Jews and at first they only shared the Good News with Jews. Then God caused a great breakthrough. He used visions to show Peter that He wanted the Good News taken to the Gentiles (non Jews) as well. He was going against what everyone else in the church thought was right, but then God made it so clear that this was His only option.
As Peter was sharing the Good News with these Gentiles, the Holy Spirit fell on them as He did on the Apostles on the day of Pentecost. This proved beyond all doubt that Jesus wanted everyone in His flock. Now it’s up to us to share the wonderful Good News of Jesus with as many people as we can and encourage them to come into His flock.
PRAYER: Father, thank you that you love all the people you have made and you want them all in your kingdom. Pour your Holy Spirit on us as you did in Cornelius’ house that we may powerfully share the Good News and help you bring more sheep in. Amen.
SATURDAY 24TH APRIL
John 10.22-30
My sheep have eternal life
When Jesus made us (through Him God made all things - John 1.3), He made us to be with Him as His sheep for ever. We were all predestined for eternal life.
When Adam sinned we all sinned and we lost the eternal life God had planned for us. Jesus, our very, very Good Shepherd, came to Earth, died and rose again and went back to the sheepfold in Heaven so that we could regain the eternal life that we had lost.
The Good News is that He has won it back. He did this on the cross. If we listen to His voice and follow Him, by putting all our faith and trust in Him, if we let Him clean out every sin and wash away all selfishness, then the eternal life we had lost is given back to us.
Once Jesus gives us this eternal life, we are assured by Him that we will never lose it! We will never perish. No-one will be able to steal it. No-one can pull us away from Jesus; our ties to Him are too strong. We are in Jesus’ hands. No-one can snatch us out of them. Wow, isn’t Jesus so wonderful!
The Father has given us to Jesus. That’s why no-one can snatch us out of His hand. We are so secure!
PRAYER: Good Shepherd Jesus, thank you for speaking to us. We’ve heard your voice and are following you. We have accepted you as our saving Shepherd. Thank you so much that you love us so much that you will never let us go. Help us to love you so much that we will never let you go so that we’ll be with you for ever in Heaven. Amen.
SUNDAY 25TH.APRIL
Good Shepherd Sunday
ANZAC DAY
THIS WEEK’S MESSAGE
AS we think of Jesus being our Good Shepherd we must remember that the shepherds in Jesus’ day were different from the sheep farmers and graziers we know in Australia today. They didn’t fence the sheep in paddocks or drive them with horses and dogs.
They stayed with their sheep all the time. They developed a relationship with their sheep in the same way we have relationships with our pets. They knew them all by name and the sheep knew them and responded to their names. As they called their names the sheep followed them and were led out to the pasturelands. At the end of the day they called them again and led them home to a safe enclosure where the shepherds slept alongside their sheep.
When Jesus says that He is the Good Shepherd it tells us a lot about our relationship with Him. He knows us all by name and takes a personal interest in each one of us. We are all so very special to Him. He does not force us to follow Him. He lovingly calls our names and beckons us to come after Him.
Once we choose to heed his call and follow Him He looks after us very well and promises to never let us go.
The most wonderful thing about our Good Shepherd is that He laid down His ;life for His Sheep. His death on the cross purified us and qualified us to become members of His Flock. The way Jesus looks after us is to use each one of us to look after each other. When we receive Jesus into our lives as Lord and Saviour He gives us a shepherd’s heart. That means He makes us very loving towards each other. He pours love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit He has given us (Romans 5.5) He wants us to be willing to lay down our lives for each other. In plain English that means to love each other more than we love ourselves!
Let’s all fully accept Jesus as our Shepherd and follow In His footsteps!
Today on Anzac day we remember all those who were willing to lay down their lives for their country in all the wars of recent times. We thank God for the sacrifices that they made to enable us to love in freedom