MONDAY 13TH JUNE
Exodus 34.1-8
Moses bowed down and worshipped
Christianity is unique amongst all the other religions of the world. In all other religions man has tried to search for and reach up to gods and to do things to try to placate them; often out of fear. We Christians believe in God because He has revealed Himself to us. We know so much about Him because He has made Himself known to us. Oh what a wonderful, fantastic revelation that has been (and still is because God continues to make Himself known to us).
Moses was one of the key figures of the Old Testament. God revealed Himself to Moses in many magnificent ways. After spending a long time alone with God in prayer, on top of a mountain, God revealed to Moses many of His fantastic qualities. Let’s look at some of them.
His huge heart is full of concern for His people. When He sees them suffering He feels for them and wants to relieve their suffering.
In order to help us He makes His power available to us to forgive, heal and save. God is slow to get angry. He loves us so much, even when we hurt Him.
- God is abounding in love.
Because God is love, He is always giving and forgiving. Love just keeps pouring out of Him.
He loves us all so very, very much. He always keeps His promises to us.
- God is always ready to forgive.
He is always longing for sinners to turn away from their sins (repent) and receive His forgiveness.
He can’t let sin go unpunished where there is no sorrow, no repentance and no desire to stop sinning. Jesus took all the punishment our sins deserve when He died for us on the cross. As long as we repent we know our sins are taken away. When we see how fantastic, how wonderful, how absolutely great our God is, we can’t help but join with Moses and bow down to worship Him and adore Him with all of our hearts.
PRAYER: Father, we love you, we worship and adore you and glorify your name in all the earth. We lay our lives before you. How we love you. Amen.
TUESDAY 14TH JUNE
Daniel 3.19-30
The Son of God
While the Jews were in captivity in Babylon they refused to worship a gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar ordered them to. Three of them, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, were thrown into a fiery furnace for refusing to worship the statue. Miraculously, the flames did not consume them. They started walking around in the flames and prayed to God. They were full of sorrow for the sins of their people. They begged God to humbly accept them. They were full of faith as they prayed. (No one who trusts in God will be disappointed). As faith welled up in them they promised to obey God, and to worship Him with all of their hearts as they asked God to rescue them. The Son of God (Jesus) came into the furnace with them. When the King saw them walking around in the flames with the Son of God, he ordered them to be rescued. Before they came out of the furnace they sang a beautiful song of praise and worship to God. Here are the first few verses of the song. Let us join with them, praising and worshipping God, saying:
PRAYER: We praise, O Lord, the God of our ancestors. May your glorious, holy name be held in honour and reverence forever. May hymns be sung to your glory forever and may your holy presence be praised in that temple. When you sit on your heavenly throne above the winged creatures and look down to the world of the dead, may you be praised and honoured forever. May you be praised as you sit on your royal throne. May hymns be sung to your glory forever. May you be praised in the dome of the heavens. May hymns be sung to your glory forever. (See Song of the Three Children in the Book of the Apocrypha.)
WEDNESDAY 15TH JUNE
2 Corinthians 13.11-14
Living with the Trinity
We believe God is three and God is one; we believe in the Tri-unity because this is the way God has revealed Himself to us. We will never understand how the Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God, yet there is not three gods but one God. This is a mystery beyond our comprehension. There are many things we believe in, even when we cannot understand how they work. I will never understand how computers work or how my digital watch always gives me the right time, but I still trust them and use them!
Paul ends his second letter to the people of Corinth with this beautiful Trinitarian blessing. It’s so familiar to us. We say, ‘The Grace’ often. We can all have a wonderful relationship with God. We can relate to the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit because they are one. When we relate to one of them we relate to all three! Only one thing makes it possible for us to relate to God – the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Grace is the powerful love that Jesus released when He died on the cross for us. His grace purifies our lives and makes them holy. Jesus’ grace makes us worthy to have a relationship with God. It is amazing grace! God is love. Everything in the unique personality of God is motivated by the enormous love of our Father for all of His children and His whole creation! The Holy Spirit keeps us in fellowship with the Father and the Son. He makes them real to us. He gives us power to be what God wants us to be and He forms God’s character in our hearts. He keeps us holy!
PRAYER: May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all for evermore. Amen.
THURSDAY 16TH JUNE
Genesis 1.1-26
Let us make man in our image
God always existed as the Trinity. It’s interesting that just before God created humans He said, “Let us make man in our own image” (v 20). From the beginning there was a plurality about the nature of God. John 1.1-4 says that Jesus was with God from the beginning and through Him, He created all things. Psalm 104 says, “When you send your Spirit they are created.” Yes, the whole Trinity was involved with the creation of the universe from the very beginning! The focal point of all creation was the creation of man. There was uniqueness about the creation of our species. He made us male and female. When He made us in His image He gave us the ability to have a personal relationship with God. He made you and me and all of us to be His personal friends. God gave us control of the whole environment. He created it for our use and for our pleasure because He loved us all so much. Man was not made for the environment; the environment was made for man! The very best way to live is to use everything God has created for us to help us to love God more and love each other more. God wants us to be generous and share our resources with each other. In this way we will be kept in a strong relationship with the One in whose image we are made.
PRAYER: Father, we thank you that through Jesus and the Holy Spirit you created us in your image to be your personal friends. Help us to use everything you have created for us to build strong relationships with each other and with you, through Jesus the Light of the world. Amen.
FRIDAY 17TH.. JUNE
Ephesians 4.1-6, 17 -32
Living as children of light
Yesterday we saw how we were created in the image of God. God’s enormous love for us draws us into a most wonderful unity with Himself. The grace of our Lord Jesus and the mighty power of the Holy Spirit enable us to live in this glorious unity. God’s word shows us today how we can remain in that unity using the grace and power God gives us. We can remain ever one with God. We are to live a life worthy of our calling to be God’s sons and daughters. We do this by always being completely humble, gentle and patient. We are to bear with one another in love, always remaining in unity with each other. The Holy Spirit enables us to keep in a good relationship with each other and He binds us together in bonds of love and peace! There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. He calls us into unity with Himself and enables us to be one body, held together by one spirit. We have one hope. As Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one, so we are drawn into that glorious unity. Being one with the Trinity, we reflect God’s light into the world. We must live as children of light, living in such a way that His light will always shine through us. Read verses 17-32 to be reminded of the character of the children of light.
PRAYER: Father, thank you so much for drawing us all into a glorious unity with you and the whole Trinity by the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus and the power of your Holy Spirit. May we be ever kept one with you, living as children of light, enabling your light to shine in all the world. Amen.
SATURDAY 18TH JUNE
Matthew 28.16-20
Baptize in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
All God’s people are drawn into the unity of God when they are baptized in the name of the Trinity. All God’s authority is in Jesus and He gives His authority to the church and gives it the task to make everyone (who wants to be) God’s disciples! He promises that our unity with Him will be permanent. He will always be with us. He will never leave us or forsake us! Our unity with God is best described in John’s Gospel (John 1.12). When we receive Jesus, we are given the power and authority to become God’s own children. By the power of God’s Spirit we are recreated into brand new people; born of God, born again as His sons and daughters. God’s enormous love for us all made this possible! He loved us so much that He gave us His Son, Jesus, so all who receive Him as Lord and Saviour of their lives and place all their faith and trust in Him have the absolute certainty that they will be one with God for ever. He gives us the free gift of eternal life. We need no longer feel unworthy or condemned because Jesus was sent to save us, not condemn us. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned. Isn’t that absolutely wonderful and fantastic! Doesn’t that make us the happiest people in all the world (see John 3.16-18).
PRAYER: Father, we thank you that when we received Jesus into our hearts, accepted Him as Lord and Saviour and trusted in your power to forgive, we became your sons and daughters. We know that when we were baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we became one with you forever. Help us to always remember that; not condemned but saved, through Jesus our glorious Saviour. Amen.
SUNDAY 19th. JUNE
THIS WEEK’S MESSAGE
GOD THE HOLY TRINITY. THREE IN ONE AND ONE IN THREE
No one could have possibly invented the doctrine (teaching) of the Trinity. Its absolutely impossible to understand. We believe in it because that is the way God has revealed it to us.
He first revealed Himself to the saints of the Old Testament of the Bible. He made Himself known to men like Abraham and Moses. He showed them that He was the only God and that He was the creator of the Universe.
When Jesus lived 2000 years ago He made it very clear that He was God As Charles Colson puts it "The essence of Christianity is summed up in one mind-boggling sentence: Jesus Christ is God (John 10:30) Not just part of God…….or sent by God…….or related to God. HE IS GOD.” (Page 1 Dangerous Grace)
Before He died Jesus promised to send us the Holy Spirit. He said “When the Counsellor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, He will testify about me” (John 15:26) When the Holy Spirit came down to the Early Church, as they gathered on the Day Of Pentecost, they were convinced that God was with them in a new way.
God has poured out His Spirit on all people. (Acts 2:17)
Christians soon realised that as The Father was God, the Son was God and the Holy Spirit was God, yet they knew without doubt there were not three Gods but one God.
There was one God revealed to us in Three Persons. We had a Tri-Unity or TRINITY. God is Three in One and One In Three!
The Holy Spirit has come into the hearts of all true believers. He has shown us how real Jesus is and how strong is the Father’s love for us all. We know God personally. He has made Himself known to us.
PRAYER: O Blessed Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Thank You for revealing yourself to us and drawing us all into your wonderful unity. By your love, saving grace and power keep us to be one with each other and with You for ever. AMEN
MONDAY 13TH JUNE
Exodus 34.1-8
Moses bowed down and worshipped
Christianity is unique amongst all the other religions of the world. In all other religions man has tried to search for and reach up to gods and to do things to try to placate them; often out of fear. We Christians believe in God because He has revealed Himself to us. We know so much about Him because He has made Himself known to us. Oh what a wonderful, fantastic revelation that has been (and still is because God continues to make Himself known to us).
Moses was one of the key figures of the Old Testament. God revealed Himself to Moses in many magnificent ways. After spending a long time alone with God in prayer, on top of a mountain, God revealed to Moses many of His fantastic qualities. Let’s look at some of them.
His huge heart is full of concern for His people. When He sees them suffering He feels for them and wants to relieve their suffering.
In order to help us He makes His power available to us to forgive, heal and save. God is slow to get angry. He loves us so much, even when we hurt Him.
- God is abounding in love.
Because God is love, He is always giving and forgiving. Love just keeps pouring out of Him.
He loves us all so very, very much. He always keeps His promises to us.
- God is always ready to forgive.
He is always longing for sinners to turn away from their sins (repent) and receive His forgiveness.
He can’t let sin go unpunished where there is no sorrow, no repentance and no desire to stop sinning. Jesus took all the punishment our sins deserve when He died for us on the cross. As long as we repent we know our sins are taken away. When we see how fantastic, how wonderful, how absolutely great our God is, we can’t help but join with Moses and bow down to worship Him and adore Him with all of our hearts.
PRAYER: Father, we love you, we worship and adore you and glorify your name in all the earth. We lay our lives before you. How we love you. Amen.
TUESDAY 14TH JUNE
Daniel 3.19-30
The Son of God
While the Jews were in captivity in Babylon they refused to worship a gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar ordered them to. Three of them, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, were thrown into a fiery furnace for refusing to worship the statue. Miraculously, the flames did not consume them. They started walking around in the flames and prayed to God. They were full of sorrow for the sins of their people. They begged God to humbly accept them. They were full of faith as they prayed. (No one who trusts in God will be disappointed). As faith welled up in them they promised to obey God, and to worship Him with all of their hearts as they asked God to rescue them. The Son of God (Jesus) came into the furnace with them. When the King saw them walking around in the flames with the Son of God, he ordered them to be rescued. Before they came out of the furnace they sang a beautiful song of praise and worship to God. Here are the first few verses of the song. Let us join with them, praising and worshipping God, saying:
PRAYER: We praise, O Lord, the God of our ancestors. May your glorious, holy name be held in honour and reverence forever. May hymns be sung to your glory forever and may your holy presence be praised in that temple. When you sit on your heavenly throne above the winged creatures and look down to the world of the dead, may you be praised and honoured forever. May you be praised as you sit on your royal throne. May hymns be sung to your glory forever. May you be praised in the dome of the heavens. May hymns be sung to your glory forever. (See Song of the Three Children in the Book of the Apocrypha.)
WEDNESDAY 15TH JUNE
2 Corinthians 13.11-14
Living with the Trinity
We believe God is three and God is one; we believe in the Tri-unity because this is the way God has revealed Himself to us. We will never understand how the Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God, yet there is not three gods but one God. This is a mystery beyond our comprehension. There are many things we believe in, even when we cannot understand how they work. I will never understand how computers work or how my digital watch always gives me the right time, but I still trust them and use them!
Paul ends his second letter to the people of Corinth with this beautiful Trinitarian blessing. It’s so familiar to us. We say, ‘The Grace’ often. We can all have a wonderful relationship with God. We can relate to the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit because they are one. When we relate to one of them we relate to all three! Only one thing makes it possible for us to relate to God – the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Grace is the powerful love that Jesus released when He died on the cross for us. His grace purifies our lives and makes them holy. Jesus’ grace makes us worthy to have a relationship with God. It is amazing grace! God is love. Everything in the unique personality of God is motivated by the enormous love of our Father for all of His children and His whole creation! The Holy Spirit keeps us in fellowship with the Father and the Son. He makes them real to us. He gives us power to be what God wants us to be and He forms God’s character in our hearts. He keeps us holy!
PRAYER: May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all for evermore. Amen.
THURSDAY 16TH JUNE
Genesis 1.1-26
Let us make man in our image
God always existed as the Trinity. It’s interesting that just before God created humans He said, “Let us make man in our own image” (v 20). From the beginning there was a plurality about the nature of God. John 1.1-4 says that Jesus was with God from the beginning and through Him, He created all things. Psalm 104 says, “When you send your Spirit they are created.” Yes, the whole Trinity was involved with the creation of the universe from the very beginning! The focal point of all creation was the creation of man. There was uniqueness about the creation of our species. He made us male and female. When He made us in His image He gave us the ability to have a personal relationship with God. He made you and me and all of us to be His personal friends. God gave us control of the whole environment. He created it for our use and for our pleasure because He loved us all so much. Man was not made for the environment; the environment was made for man! The very best way to live is to use everything God has created for us to help us to love God more and love each other more. God wants us to be generous and share our resources with each other. In this way we will be kept in a strong relationship with the One in whose image we are made.
PRAYER: Father, we thank you that through Jesus and the Holy Spirit you created us in your image to be your personal friends. Help us to use everything you have created for us to build strong relationships with each other and with you, through Jesus the Light of the world. Amen.
FRIDAY 17TH.. JUNE
Ephesians 4.1-6, 17 -32
Living as children of light
Yesterday we saw how we were created in the image of God. God’s enormous love for us draws us into a most wonderful unity with Himself. The grace of our Lord Jesus and the mighty power of the Holy Spirit enable us to live in this glorious unity. God’s word shows us today how we can remain in that unity using the grace and power God gives us. We can remain ever one with God. We are to live a life worthy of our calling to be God’s sons and daughters. We do this by always being completely humble, gentle and patient. We are to bear with one another in love, always remaining in unity with each other. The Holy Spirit enables us to keep in a good relationship with each other and He binds us together in bonds of love and peace! There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. He calls us into unity with Himself and enables us to be one body, held together by one spirit. We have one hope. As Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one, so we are drawn into that glorious unity. Being one with the Trinity, we reflect God’s light into the world. We must live as children of light, living in such a way that His light will always shine through us. Read verses 17-32 to be reminded of the character of the children of light.
PRAYER: Father, thank you so much for drawing us all into a glorious unity with you and the whole Trinity by the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus and the power of your Holy Spirit. May we be ever kept one with you, living as children of light, enabling your light to shine in all the world. Amen.
SATURDAY 18TH JUNE
Matthew 28.16-20
Baptize in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit
All God’s people are drawn into the unity of God when they are baptized in the name of the Trinity. All God’s authority is in Jesus and He gives His authority to the church and gives it the task to make everyone (who wants to be) God’s disciples! He promises that our unity with Him will be permanent. He will always be with us. He will never leave us or forsake us! Our unity with God is best described in John’s Gospel (John 1.12). When we receive Jesus, we are given the power and authority to become God’s own children. By the power of God’s Spirit we are recreated into brand new people; born of God, born again as His sons and daughters. God’s enormous love for us all made this possible! He loved us so much that He gave us His Son, Jesus, so all who receive Him as Lord and Saviour of their lives and place all their faith and trust in Him have the absolute certainty that they will be one with God for ever. He gives us the free gift of eternal life. We need no longer feel unworthy or condemned because Jesus was sent to save us, not condemn us. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned. Isn’t that absolutely wonderful and fantastic! Doesn’t that make us the happiest people in all the world (see John 3.16-18).
PRAYER: Father, we thank you that when we received Jesus into our hearts, accepted Him as Lord and Saviour and trusted in your power to forgive, we became your sons and daughters. We know that when we were baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, we became one with you forever. Help us to always remember that; not condemned but saved, through Jesus our glorious Saviour. Amen.
SUNDAY 19th. JUNE
THIS WEEK’S MESSAGE
GOD THE HOLY TRINITY. THREE IN ONE AND ONE IN THREE
No one could have possibly invented the doctrine (teaching) of the Trinity. Its absolutely impossible to understand. We believe in it because that is the way God has revealed it to us.
He first revealed Himself to the saints of the Old Testament of the Bible. He made Himself known to men like Abraham and Moses. He showed them that He was the only God and that He was the creator of the Universe.
When Jesus lived 2000 years ago He made it very clear that He was God As Charles Colson puts it "The essence of Christianity is summed up in one mind-boggling sentence: Jesus Christ is God (John 10:30) Not just part of God…….or sent by God…….or related to God. HE IS GOD.” (Page 1 Dangerous Grace)
Before He died Jesus promised to send us the Holy Spirit. He said “When the Counsellor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, He will testify about me” (John 15:26) When the Holy Spirit came down to the Early Church, as they gathered on the Day Of Pentecost, they were convinced that God was with them in a new way.
God has poured out His Spirit on all people. (Acts 2:17)
Christians soon realised that as The Father was God, the Son was God and the Holy Spirit was God, yet they knew without doubt there were not three Gods but one God.
There was one God revealed to us in Three Persons. We had a Tri-Unity or TRINITY. God is Three in One and One In Three!
The Holy Spirit has come into the hearts of all true believers. He has shown us how real Jesus is and how strong is the Father’s love for us all. We know God personally. He has made Himself known to us.
PRAYER: O Blessed Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Thank You for revealing yourself to us and drawing us all into your wonderful unity. By your love, saving grace and power keep us to be one with each other and with You for ever. AMEN