[Friday's Devotional] - The death of Self

One thing I have come to appreciate in writing this week, is that "it's not all about me".  When we are tired or depressed or grumpy or run down we tend to focus in on ourselves.  What is wrong with me, God? Why can't I be better?  Actually, it isn't enough that Christ died for me (and you), I also need to make sure that my own "Self" is crucified – or I will never be born again. There isn't room for both the old man (Adam) and the new man (Jesus) in my life.

Many a struggle results from giving control of our lives to the wrong person.  Who is in the driving seat of your life?:

-       Is it you driving?

-       Is it your partner, parent or child?

-       Is it someone else who is commanding your spirit?

-       Or is it Jesus?

Here is a saying that I think describes something fundamental we (I anyway) have overlooked:

"Among the plastic saints of our times Jesus has to do all the dying and all we want is to hear another sermon about His dying.  We want to be saved but we insist that Christ do all the dying.  No cross for us, no dethronement, no dying.  We remain king within the little kingdom of Mansoul and wear our tinsel crown with all the pride of a Caesar; but we doom ourselves to shadows and weakness and spiritual sterility."  AW Tozer

Do you need to pick up your cross today?  Or will you just look at Jesus carrying his cross from afar?

The seed which is going to become a plant has to first die (as a seed) – it isn't possible for the seed to remain a seed and also become a plant.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  Galatians 2:20 [NIV]

Lord, help me to pick up my cross and follow you – thank you for dying for me and help me to crucify my "self" in order for you to rule in my life.  Amen.

Dave MacLellan

[Thursday's Devotional] - Self examination

Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don't drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular check-ups. You need first-hand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it. I hope the test won't show that we have failed. But if it comes to that, we'd rather the test showed our failure than yours. We're rooting for the truth to win out in you. We couldn't possibly do otherwise. 2 Corinthians 13:5-9 [The Message]

Perhaps you can find time today for a maturity test?  Paul was concerned about his brothers and sisters in Corinth – worried that people were drifting along, and urging them to be sure that they had Jesus Christ in them.  We must have the same concern – we want to grow (and to be!) mature disciples – bearing the fruits of the Spirit.

Think about the following fruits, and spend a while deciding whether there is evidence of each fruit this week in you:

Love?

Joy?

Peace?

Patience?

Kindness?

Goodness?

Faithfulness?

Gentleness?

Self-control?

Oops!  I realise that my score is pretty low – how about you?

Lord, help me to spend time with you and in your Word – fill me with your Spirit till my fruits overflow.  Thank you for making me who I am, and help me to become who you want me to be, in Jesus name.  Amen.

Dave MacLellan

[Wednesday's Devotional] - Self promotion

A burst usually follows a bubble, and most things that seem "too good to be true" usually are.  The current global financial crisis might be seen as largely caused by an over-optimistic view of the housing market and a number of bets which could only be collected while the market continued to rise.  Undoubtedly, greed and self-interest drove the markets with the desire to provide large profits and big bonuses. Sadly now the poor are paying a higher price for the ignorance, recklessness and greed of the rich.

Where people are rewarded for hitting targets, they will try to ensure that the targets are met, sometimes to the detriment of the core values they are supposed to adhere to.  I guess that this happens in many areas of life – a recent example being the damage done at Stafford Hospital where a few individuals decided to put statistics above patient care and frequently recommended doing the wrong things to make the results look good.

The unwillingness of banks to take risks with lending (shutting the door after the horse has bolted), coupled with the tightening of the family belt has fuelled the rise of "pay day loans".  Such companies will lend at rates above 4000% APR (hard for many to understand), preying on those least able to calculate the maths and the consequences of being late or not paying back in full and on time.

All of the above are examples of unfair treatment of the poorest and weakest people in society.  The bible makes it very clear that God hates to see the poor and the weak taken advantage of.

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.  Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy. Proverbs 31:8-9 [NIV]

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed." Luke 4:18-19 [NIV] – (Jesus quoting from Isaiah 61)

Lord, help us to be guided by what is right in your eyes, and to discern the right path when the world tells us otherwise.  Help us to look after the poor, the weak, the vulnerable and those without influence, as Jesus taught us. Amen

Dave MacLellan

[Tuesday's Devotional] - Self-esteem

Low self-esteem is a major problem in the UK today.  Starting with children who feel they can't match up to the standards of the TV, internet and magazines (where celebrities and models are usually airbrushed or heavily made up to make themselves look presentable).  Our diet of comparative beauty leads many to despair, depression and other symptoms of low self-esteem.  On the other hand, some people have the opposite problem – of too high self-esteem, thinking that they are better or more important than others.

We should remember that we are all made in the image of God, not that we have to conform to some man-made ideal of perfection or beauty or importance.

Then God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:26-27 [NIV]

Dear Lord, thank you that you made us in your image, even though we are unique creations we all share in the likeness of you.  Help us not to conform to the standards of this world.  Help us to fight the lies that the world would have us believe.  In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Dave MacLellan

[Monday's Devotional] - The lonely self!

A recent survey showed that in the past 40 years there has been a dramatic rise in those living alone, and in the age group 25-44 the percentage of people living alone has gone up fivefold (from 2% to 10%) since 1971.  Relationship breakdown is a major factor in this shift – in 1971 92% of families with children were headed by a married or cohabiting couple – in 2011 this had decreased to 78%.  Relationships are under greater strain than ever before.

The passage below from 1 Corinthians 13 is most commonly heard as a reading in the wedding service.  However, it is applicable to all relationships and is a model for the way we should treat those in our families:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 [NIV]

Unfortunately work stress, financial hardship, alcoholism, gambling addiction and many other issues put a strain on relationships and the ideals of love are hard to maintain.

Pray for those who are in starting out in marriage, for those in difficult times, for those who are separated or divorced, for those living alone through choice or circumstance.

Heavenly Father, help those who are living alone for whatever reason.  Bless those who are suffering the pain of separation and divorce, and protect those who are living in relationship with each other.  We pray for an outpouring of your love, in Jesus name. Amen.

Dave MacLellan

[Friday's Devotional] - Forgiven!

John gives us some good news for our last devotional:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1: 9 [NIV]

Forgiveness is difficult.  Everybody thinks it is a good idea until they have to forgive someone themselves.  Jerry Hall, speaking about her relationship with Mick Jagger, wrote:

I forgave and forgave and forgave and forgave to the point where it wasn't very healthy at all. 

The good news as far as we are concerned is that God will forgive and forgive... if only we will come and confess our sins to him.

God forgives because he is faithful and just. 

He is faithful to his own nature – he is not capricious or inconsistent.  We can rely on his promises.  And he is just – he cannot merely say that sin doesn't matter and tell us to forget all about it.  Sin is rebellion against a loving and holy God.  It is a serious matter, with awful consequences.  The penalty for sin is death – separation from God. 

But the amazing news is that Jesus has already paid that penalty for us, standing in our place and dying for us on the cross.  Those are the grounds for our forgiveness – and our sure hope when we are judged.  Hallelujah!

Dear Lord, thank you so much that you forgive every sin and make us completely pure when we put our trust in Jesus.

David Long

[Thursday's Devotional] - You are a Sinner

Archbishop Sheen addressed the National Prayer Breakfast in 1979.  Turning to Jimmy Carter, he began:  "Mr President, you are a sinner."  Instantly he had everyone's undivided attention.  Then pointing to himself, he said, "I am a sinner.  We are all sinners," he said as he looked around the huge ballroom at the sophisticated and influential audience, "and we all need to turn to God."

Yet there were some in John's day, and there are some today, who either deny that they have sinned or think that sin is really no big deal.  Here is what John says in 1 John 1: 8 and 10

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us...  If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

But the truth is, of course, that sin is everywhere; that sin separates us from the love of God; and that only the death of Jesus, the Son of God can deal with it.

Meanwhile, we trivialise it ('one of my little weaknesses'), we relativise it ('other people do much worse things') and we deny it ('there's nothing wrong in that').

Jesus came to deal with sin.  If we soft pedal on sin, we belittle the very thing he came to save us from.  Shockingly, we call God a liar.

The puritan John Owen wrote: He who has slight thoughts of sin never had great thoughts of God. 

Dear Lord, help me to take sin seriously so that I might serve you better.

David Long

[Wednesday's Devotional] - Walking in the LIght

In yesterday's reading, John said that it is impossible to live in darkness while claiming to have fellowship with God.  In today's reading – verse 7 – he focuses on what should be true for all Christians:

If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.  1 John 1: 7 [NIV]

You will notice that, like yesterday, John talks about walking as being what the Christian life is all about.  To be a Christian is not static: it involves change – listening to the voice of the Lord, serving him and growing.  To walk in the light does not mean that we are sinless, rather that we are holding nothing back from God.  We are living in his presence without deceit and dishonesty and without trying to conceal anything.

Two things follow if we walk in the light.

Firstly, we have fellowship with one another (between Christians).  We might have expected John to say that we have fellowship with God.  This would also be true, and I think John is making the point that to be in a right relationship with each other we must first be in a right relationship with God.

And secondly, the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.  Coming to God in repentance and faith opens the door to forgiveness.  The blood of Jesus (a person) his Son (God) is able to do this.  John says that the death of Jesus purifies us – it takes away the stain of sin.  And he uses the present continuous tense, so he is saying Jesus' blood continues to purify us from every sin.

We can never come too often to God when we come in humble penitence and active faith.  [David Jackman]

Dear Lord, help me to step right out into the light of your presence and to receive forgiveness.

David Long

[Tuesday's Devotional] - Walking in the Darkness

John continues:

If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.  1 John 1: 6 [NIV]

In my quiet times, I sometimes use the general confession from the Communion Service in the Prayer Book which contains the words:

We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which we, from time to time, most grievously have committed...

Sins are one-off events.  We sin from time to time – sometimes the same sin, sometimes different sins.

But what John talks about here in 1 John 1: 6 is quite different.  Walking in the darkness is more than just sin: it is a wrong choice we have made which results in us moving away from him.  To walk in the darkness is to live a lifestyle where we have decided to exclude God from one part of our life.

Some people, even when they are walking in the darkness, claim that they are Christians and have a relationship with God.  They want both a sinful lifestyle and a relationship with God, but they cannot possibly have both.  What they have done is to try to redefine sin.  They reject God's revelation – what he is really like – and substitute their own ideas of the sort of God they want.  This is the very heart of rebellion – refusing to let God be God in their lives.

You hear these ideas expressed by people when they say, "But I like to think of God as..."  So God is not real and objective, but becomes whatever we want him to be.  A God who doesn't mind that I'm in a wrong relationship; who doesn't mind that I have been cheating the tax man for years; who doesn't mind that I harbour a hatred for someone.

But we cannot fool God.  We need to come out of the darkness and to submit every part of our lives to his scrutiny.

Dear Lord, help me to see you as you are and to walk with you in the light.  Please forgive me for the times I try to hide from you in the darkness.

David Long

[Monday's Devotional] - The True Light

This week we are looking at verses from chapter 1 of John's first letter.

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.  1 John 1: 5 [NIV]

God is light.  John is not saying that God is like light: he is telling us that light is the very essence of who God is. In what way is God light?

God began creation with light. [Genesis 1: 3]  Without light there would be no life.

Light guides us in our lives.  Without light we would stumble and fall.

Light is a metaphor for God's purity and holiness.  There is no darkness in him – no sin, no mistakes, nothing second best.

And yet, incredibly, Jesus calls us the light of the world [Matthew 5: 14]. 

We are his new creation; we are guiding lights for people in a dark world; our lives should be pure and holy.  Yet our light does not come from inside us, but from God.  We are called to reflect God's light out into the world around us.

The philosopher C E M Joad was for many years a very vocal agnostic but, towards the end of his life, he became a Christian.  He wrote,

Trying to find happiness from this world is like trying to light up a dark room by lighting a succession of matches.  You strike one, it flickers for a moment, and then it goes out.  But when you find Jesus Christ, it's as though the whole room's suddenly flooded with light.

Dear Lord, please help me to shine for you today.

David Long

[Friday's Devotional] - The Spirit of the Son

And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" Galatians 4:6 [NRSV]

I was tempted to just leave this verse up and say meditate on it today. In many ways it doesn't need any commentary. Jesus called his father 'Abba' Daddy. He taught his disciples to call God father too. Then by the Holy Spirit the early church members felt led to call God 'Abba' too. Incredible! That is God saying that he wants the same intimate, father to son relationship with you as he has with Jesus. You mean that much to him.

Take a listen to Ishmael's version of the old hymn and thank God that you can call him Daddy. It is a totally outrageous thing to be able to do.

Father God I wonder

John Martin-Jones

[Thursday's Devotional] - Brother and Father

…but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is that very Spirit bearing witness  with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. Romans 8:15b-17 [NRSV]

There is an illustration of the Trinity that talks about an eternal dance of joy between the Father, the Son and The Holy Spirit taking place in Heaven from all eternity and the Son stepping to the edge of the dance floor and beckoning us to join the dance. The invite being made by outstretched, nail ripped hands on the cross.  What us? Join the dance? With you three in Heaven? Forever? Nah, you are kidding me. Well that's the offer. To be heirs and not just heirs, but joint heirs with Christ. Everything the Son gets he shares with us. Gulp!

So next time you are suffering, particularly if you are suffering for your love for Jesus in some way, remember your place in it all. You are suffering as your brother did and your place will be with him in glory. That's where you are headed. Yes you! In the dance! With the Triune God and the Saints in Heaven! Forever! Forever with your dad! True!

For prayer today. Think about what your 'Abba' Daddy has promised you. Thank him and thank him some more. Afterwards, keep thanking him.

John Martin-Jones

[Wednesday's Devotional] - Abba Father!

He said, "Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me; yet, not what I want, but what you want." Mark 14:36 [NRSV]

The word 'Abba' appears three times in the New Testament. It is an Aramaic word that children used to address their fathers. It can translate as Daddy.  Jesus used it to address his dad in the garden of Gethsemane when wrestling with the fear of the cross and his temptation to quit his mission. He prays that God will take the cup of suffering from him: the suffering that is deserved by others and not Jesus himself. Jesus asks the cup be taken away from him, but within that request, he addresses God as Abba. Even in a moment of crisis Jesus is so sure in his relationship with his father that he is able to call him Abba. The relationship doesn't change despite Jesus being in turmoil.

Of course, there was a moment of separation later when Jesus couldn't call God father, but Jesus took that one so that we don't have to. So for us we can always approach God in confidence and trust as he is our heavenly father, our heavenly daddy. Jesus is our example and he is the greatest teacher of prayer that the world has ever seen. Also, as we will see tomorrow, there are other reasons why we can call God Abba too.

Your prayer task for today… So, for today, make sure that you make time to climb onto your Daddy's knee and tell him all about whatever is on your mind. He will be delighted to have your company.

John Martin-Jones

[Tuesday's Devotional] - "I will arise and go to my father"

The old 1662 service of evening prayer had a variety of possible opening sentences. The one that I remember hearing most often is Luke15v18-19. "I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father I have sinned against heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy son."

Even in the language of the authorised Bible we instantly recognise this as the prodigal son's decision to return to his father. We also know that the prodigal is welcomed home. But consider for a moment what it would have been like if the son's father had turned out to be like some earthly fathers?:

The Prodigal Son [according to Adrian Plass]

But when he was still a long way off his father seeth him and runneth to him and falleth on his neck and pulleth his hair and smacketh his backside and clumpeth him on the ear and saith, "Where the devil do you think you've been, Scumbag? 

And the prodigal replieth, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee.  I am no longer worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thine hired servants.' 

The father saith, "Too right I'll make thee as one of my hired servants, Master Dirty-stop-out-inheritance-spending-stinker-pinker-prodigal!  I suppose thou believest that thou canst waltz back in here without so much as an by thine leave, and conneth me with thine dramatic little speech?  Thinkest thou that this is "Little House on the Prairie"?  Or mayhap thou reckoneth that I was born yestere'en?  Oh, no.  Third assistant bog-cleaner, unpaid, for thee, mine odorous ex-relative.' 

Then the prodigal saith dismally unto him, 'Oh, right, right - fair enough.  So, er, just to get it straight, there existeth no question of lots of nice presents and instant forgiveness and an large celebratory meal involving the fatted calf, or anything of that nature? 

'In thy dreams, son!' replieth the father.  "The only gift thou art likely to see is the personalized lavatory-brush with which thou shalt shortly be presented.' 

….And behold, as nightfall approacheth, the prodigal's elder brother heareth distant sounds as of an bog-brush being applied, and strolleth out to the edge of the cess-pit after supper holding an large brandy, and he stretcheth luxuriously and picketh his teeth and lighteth an enormous cigar and looketh down and saith, 'Evenin', Rambo.  I see thou hast returned, then?  Likest thou thine rapid progress from affluent to effluent?'  
Adrian Plass

For prayer.. Thank God that he is not that kind of father.

John Martin-Jones

[Monday's Devotional] - A father like God?

This week I want to spend some time thinking about what it means to understand God as father.  I have just begun reading a book entitled 'The Father heart of God' by Floyd McLung.  It is something of a classic now and begins by looking at how people's understanding of God can be moulded or damaged by their experiences of their earthly fathers.

When I think of my relationship with my own earthly father, I think back to a speech that I made when he turned 60.  I publicly thanked him for his caring attitude to myself, my brother and others as we had grown up. I illustrated this by talking about how he had always repaired my bike whenever I had a flat tyre.  My mum would witness me wheeling home the bike, from the kitchen window and sigh. She would explain how busy my Dad was and that I would have to wait a while before he could get around to fixing it.  I never took her too seriously; the bike was usually fixed by the next morning.  I repeated all this in my speech.  My Dad's response was to thank me and then to say that were a lot of other (less favourable) things that I could have said. He was, of course, right. This is true for any earthly father. It is an awesome responsibility being a father and so often we get it wrong with our children. I know that I have and continue to do so. I am so very blessed to have a kind and forgiving son. But if I live to be sixty, I don't want to be there when he gives a speech about me.

More to the point, the way that our children come to view God may be based on the way that they see their parents. My parents must have done and OK job as I am able to see God as a loving father.  Sadly many people reject God as they are simply projecting their own parents' attributes on to him. Children without loving earthly fathers rarely find it easy to respond well to a loving heavenly father at first.  All of us, whether parents or not, need to be good representatives of our heavenly father to the young people that we come into contact with.

For prayer… Thank God for the people that you have a parental role with. There may be more than you think. Ask God to make you a good, living reflection of what he is like for those people.

John Martin-Jones

[Friday's Devotional] - Remembering the past

I recently discovered that Psalm 78 unlocks one of the most important keys to answered prayer – be thankful and praise Him for what He has already done in the past.

Verses 5 – 7 read:

For he issued his laws to Jacob;
he gave his instructions to Israel.
He commanded our ancestors
to teach them to their children,
 so the next generation might know them—
even the children not yet born—
and they in turn will teach their own children.
So each generation should set its hope anew on God,
not forgetting his glorious miracles
and obeying his commands.

Psalm 78:5-7 [New Living Bible]

The reason why God has taken the time to record stories and testimonies of others in the bible is for us to know He will do the same for us. According to verse 7 above, the experiences may not be exactly the same, but God will give us similar results in our own generation. After learning about bible experiences, He wants us to set our hopes afresh for miracles in our own generation, having obeyed the same Word our bible heroes believed and not forgetting the miracles God has done for both bible heroes and for us.

So if you are caught up in an impossible-looking situation, let your mind dwell on the great things God has already done. And if you seem to be getting breakthroughs in some areas but not others, never question God's ability, as He is Sovereign in every situation. In fact if you want to make God unhappy, doubt what He can do for you.

Verses 18 – 21 of the same Psalm say:

They stubbornly tested God in their hearts,
demanding the foods they craved.
They even spoke against God himself, saying,
"God can't give us food in the wilderness.
Yes, he can strike a rock so water gushes out,
but he can't give his people bread and meat."
When the Lord heard them, he was furious.

So, what pleases God? Strengthen yourself by remembering in prayer, what He has done for you and others in the past. Believe that if He can give people water from the rock, He can also give them bread and meat in a desert whether or not they are a multitude.

Read the entire Psalm 78 for encouragement.

Farai Mutsambiwa