[Friday's Devotional] - Come on home

So there we were, out of the garden, awash with sin and cluttered by mistakes.  What a shambles!  After things had started so well too.  We blame Adam, who blamed Eve, who blamed the Serpent.  We’ve not made any real progress at getting back where He wants us to be, have we?  We’ve seen how we can get help, and what we can do to try and make things better, but we still keep coming up short, don’t we?  So looks like we still have no chance, doesn’t it?

 

But wait!  We have a champion, given to us by God himself.  He put Jesus, his son, here on earth to teach us all and then to die for us.  And because of his sacrifice we are forgiven all our sins, and we have only to ask God’s forgiveness for all our faults and it is done.  Almost unbelievable!  So don’t hang about.  Ask our Lord Jesus to come into your life, if you haven’t already.  Then look around at the faces you see every day.  I think you may see a little sunshine in there somewhere.  Then look in the mirror.  See, or sense the sunshine there too.

 

I will leave you with a pleasant task this week.  I had the pleasure of reading in church recently. I’ve read it again privately since. Romans 8 : 1 – 17.

 

Pick up your Bible (or follow the link above) and read it for yourself. Come on Home.

 

Jim Finch

[Thursday's Devotional] - Talk to Him every day

One thing that is important and necessary for all of us is to have someone to talk to and tell our troubles to.  Doesn’t it feel a little less oppressive and a bit better when you can unload your thoughts and problems, and hopefully get a little encouragement too?   Again, hopefully many will have a husband or wife who will listen and can make you feel better about things. Of course, we don’t always want to take our troubles home, do we?  We want to switch off and have a pleasant, relaxing time away from life’s everyday hassle.  And not all of us have someone waiting to welcome us when the day is ending.

 

So talk to God even if you have had the chance to unwind with someone you know well.  He will always listen and even if we don’t have the good fortune to hear Him as Samuel did, we know that he hears us, listens to every word, and spiritually puts an arm around us and comforts us.  Perhaps the next day things will seem to be better, or you find you can cope that bit easier.  He is with you.

 

In fact I find you can talk to God any time you want.  He is there whatever the situation and wherever you are.  A little please or thank you can make such a difference to your day.  He is waiting for your request and loves to help where He feels the need.  He appreciates a little thanks too, just as we do when we get something right or are able to help someone.  You know how you feel when someone says, “Why didn’t you ask? I might have been able to help.”

 

Lord, thank you for being there whenever we need your help, or just need to talk. And guide us even if we forget to ask. Amen.

 

Jim Finch

[Wednesday's Devotional] - Deeds speak louder than words

So we have dealt, or are striving to deal, with our thoughts and words.  But what about our actions?  I know that there are times when I act without really thinking about what I am doing and the consequences of that.  Don’t we all?  After all I hope I’m not the only one at this point.  We don’t always think about what is causing those actions.  Really we should stop and think about them, shouldn’t we?  Perhaps then we might be spared the embarrassment of doing something we shouldn’t.

 

We all have those times when something causes us to think “No!  I’m not having that!”  OK, this is the point where we need to remember what we said yesterday and calm our thoughts down a bit before we go off ‘half-cocked’ as it were.  This time our thinking could save us looking a fool or worse to those around us.  Take a deep breath, think again, and react in a more considerate and helpful way if at all possible.  Well done you, He is smiling.

 

Then there are those times when we know in our mind that we should do something to help someone if we could.  We think about it and sort of know what’s wanted, and perhaps what we could do to assist the situation.  But perhaps it’s not really convenient just at this moment, and someone else will come along and do it.  Come on!  Let’s be modern Samaritans and help that person or situation get better.  It’s Good Deed Day every day.

 

Lord, train us to be more caring of others.  To give aid to those less fortunate than ourselves in a practical way.  Perhaps we can, at least, stop things getting worse with our actions. Amen.

 

Jim Finch

[Tuesday's Devotional] - OK, I'm trying

So here goes.  I’m going to make a real effort to do better in every way from now on.  So where do I start?  Perhaps with things that I say to people and what I say about them to others when they are not around.  Not always too kind am I?  He doesn’t do things right and she talks about others behind their backs, or vice versa.  Just like me then!  Actually I think I’m getting a bit better about that.  There are times when I’ve said something without thinking and then corrected it with words like “No, that’s not right.  I shouldn’t have said that.  That’s unkind and probably unjust too.”  And I do ask God to forgive me too.

 

So can you follow my lead, or are you way ahead of me already?  I expect quite a few of you are and I need to catch up.  OK, but don’t take it easy because I’m still here and I won’t give up trying.  So if you are going to stay ahead you’re going to have to pull your socks up and get cracking.  Meanwhile we all need a bit of assistance, so don’t forget to ask for His help every day.  You know He will give it.

 

And do the same with our thoughts, because we can be just as unkind and critical in our minds even if we don’t speak the words.  The worst place this can happen is probably when we are driving (non-drivers will be pleased to know this!) as we all fall foul of those who don’t think about others once they get behind the wheel.  I’m not doing so well with this one.  I can get quite critical sometimes, it’s a good job they can’t hear me!  But I will keep trying!

 

Lord, help me to control my thoughts and words so that I may not offend your ears and those others they are aimed at.  And as you offer me forgiveness, please offer the same to those whose actions may cause my failing. Amen.

 

Jim Finch

[Monday's Devotional] - No chance

We were created to be part of God’s world.  We are told “in his image” but we have no way of checking to see if that is true.  It’s one of those things we have to take on trust, but again we don’t actually know what Adam looked like, do we?  We ‘assume’ that he was much like us.  We all inherit something from our predecessors, or so we are told.  So what did we inherit from Adam?  Sin.  He made one vital mistake and got thrown out of the Garden of Eden, and it looks like we have no chance of getting back in because with the best will in the world we can’t stop sinning.  So that’s it then.  Might as well give up.

 

So we are going to do whatever we like and to hell with what happens once we are physically dead.  Aren’t we?  Well, as above, try as we may we keep making mistakes, getting it wrong.  Every day there are times when we realise – oops! –we’ve done it again.  I remember my mum saying, any number of times when I’d done something I shouldn’t, “Ooh. Our Jimmy!  You didn’t did you?”  Unfortunately on many occasions the answer was “Yes, Mum.  I did.”  Am, I getting any better?  I’m not sure, but I am trying.  Still, no chance is there.

 

You see, I’m wrong again.  One ‘man’ came to earth many years ago.  He taught people how to live together in harmony, and how to please God so we could be as He wanted us to be. So what did we do?  We crucified him!  Are we barmy, or what??  However, God knew that we would react in that way, and had sent His son to live and die as a token of His love and to redeem us from all our sins.  This was His way of forgiving us and bringing us back to the true Garden of Eden living with Him.  Hey!  That’s one great big let-off.

 

Lord, thank you for your son, Jesus, and all that he has done for us. Help us to try to live to a standard more like him than we have done so far. Amen.

 

Jim Finch

[Friday's Devotional] - Jesus and Mary Magdalene

Our final encounter between Jesus and a woman in John’s gospel is Mary Magdalene at the tomb in John Chapter 20.  She is the only woman whom Jesus addresses by name (v16), and Mary is the only person who calls Jesus ‘Lord’ (v2). There is a significant relationship between the two, and one which we can similarly participate in - we can know Jesus as Lord, and he calls us by name.

 

Once Mary realises that it is Jesus she is talking to, she exclaims and proclaims the news to the disciples. It is a woman who relays the information to the male disciples. Just as we saw the Samaritan woman share the news of Jesus with all in her town, so we have Mary to thank for passing on the message of the resurrection. Who will you tell about the resurrection hope?

 

The appearance of Mary at the tomb concludes our journey through a gospel where women are present at key moments, and act as key characters throughout. It is significant that women are the first to see the risen Jesus - a woman’s testimony would not be considered as valid as a man’s, yet the Early Church tells the story through the eyes of women. By doing this, the first Christians follow in Jesus’ footsteps - taking seriously the role of women, and valuing those who are on the fringes.

 

Emma Higgins

[Thursday's Devotional] - Jesus and Mary of Bethany

The story of a woman anointing Jesus’ feet happens in all four gospels. In John Chapter 12  it is Mary of Bethany, Martha’s sister from yesterday’s reading.  We can learn from Mary what it means to offer everything we have in extravagant and lavish worship of Jesus.

 

The story takes place at Mary, Martha and Lazarus’ house in Bethany.  Jesus is clearly good friends with the siblings, they have appeared in the gospel before.  Once again, Martha’s servant heart is apparent as she serves the dinner.  Lazarus is reclining at the table, while Mary takes an expensive jar of perfume and pours it over Jesus’ feet, wiping it with her hair.

Judas Iscariot, who is also present at the meal, is disgusted by the extravagance. He claims the money could have been better spent on the poor, however John tells us that really Judas was a thief. Jesus challenges this attitude - you will always have the poor, but you won’t always have me.

 

This is a lesson about worship.  Mary’s actions can teach us something about true devotion to Jesus.  It is about recognising who Jesus is.  It is about giving him everything, kneeling at his feet and holding nothing back.  It is about expressing our inward devotion with our outward actions.  Notice how John tells us in v3 that the fragrance of the perfume filled the whole house.

 

Paul tells us something similar, that we bring the aroma of Christ wherever we go:

 

But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere.  For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.
2 Corinthians 2: 14-15 [NIV]

 

This is a challenge to carry Jesus with us wherever we go, how do people know that you are a follower of Christ?

 

Emma Higgins

 

 

[Wednesday's Devotional] - Jesus and Martha

We often think of the sisters Mary and Martha together, and usually we think of the story in Luke 10:38-42 where Mary is sitting and learning and Jesus’ feet, while Martha is frustrated with preparations.  Here, in John Chapter 11, it is Martha who runs out to Jesus, while Mary stays at home.  This may be for practical reasons of greeting mourners, but it allows us to focus on Martha. 

 

Martha is distressed that her brother Lazarus has died, but in v24 states that she believes he will rise again on the last day.  Jesus challenges this belief and says he is the resurrection and the life, and whoever believes this will have eternal life. Martha hears this and believes it to be true in the midst of her grief at the loss of her brother. She makes one of the boldest confessions about who Jesus is found in John’s gospel:

 

 ‘I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.’ John 11 :27 [NIV]

 

As resurrection people we can boldly proclaim as Martha does even when we are in the midst of sorrow and grief. The Jews believed in a resurrection at the end of all things, but could not comprehend that one person would be resurrected in the middle of history when there was still so much pain and suffering in the world. The resurrection of Jesus happens in the middle of history precisely because it is to be the way we view the world. Tom Wright says that the message of the resurrection is ‘that this world matters…that the injustices and pains of this present world must now be addressed with the news that healing, justice and love have won.’ This is the power of the resurrection which we carry with us each day. 

 

Emma Higgins

[Tuesday's Devotional] - Jesus and the Samaritan woman

Our second story this week comes from John Chapter 4 and is the longest conversation Jesus has with anyone in this gospel - and it is with a Samaritan woman, no less. To speak to a woman in public would have been unheard of, and especially a Samaritan. Jesus is once again showing that spending time with people on the fringes of society does not faze him.

 

The Samaritan woman is a model for discipleship in John’s gospel. If we compare this story to Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus in the previous chapter there are some interesting contrasts. Nicodemus, a prominent Jewish man, comes to Jesus under the cover of darkness and struggles to understand what Jesus is telling him about being born again. Here we have a Samaritan woman meeting with Jesus in the heat of the day (v6). She is clearly an outcast in her community - nobody would collect water at noon unless they were trying to avoid everybody. Jesus suggests the reason this might be:

He told her, ‘Go, call your husband and come back.’
‘I have no husband,’ she replied.
Jesus said to her, ‘You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband.  John 4: 16-18a [NIV]

 

The woman is broken. We don’t know the stories of these failed marriages - she may have been widowed, or treated awfully.  What we do know is that any relationship breakdown has an effect on the heart and soul.  In this encounter she has with Jesus she is known, she is accepted and she is loved.  And this profound acceptance leads her to tell others about Jesus, and the whole town believes (v39). She is the first evangelist!

 

What a profound story of how the accepting love of Jesus can transform us on this journey of discipleship!

 

Emma Higgins

[Monday's Devotional] - Jesus and his mother

In this short five day series we will look together at some of the encounters Jesus has with women in John’s gospel. Jesus often spends time with those on the fringes of society, and at this time women would have been included amongst those. In all of the gospels Jesus is shown to treat women with respect and encourages them in a way which would have been counter-cultural. By looking at stories such as these, we can also think about how we treat those on the fringes of society.

 

Our first character is the mother of Jesus, in John Chapter 2 and later in Chapter 19, who is interestingly never named ‘Mary’ in John’s gospel, but is always called ‘the mother of Jesus’. This way of speaking about her does a number of things. It reminds us of Jesus’ humanity, he is God but was also human - he had a mother and shared a relationship with her. And it also extends the family of God, for example:

 

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing near by, he said to her, ‘Woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. 
John 19:25-27 [NIV]

 

The family of Jesus is extended to include the Beloved Disciple and ultimately you and me.

 

In the journey between chapter 2 and chapter 19 Mary moves from a mother who taught her son to walk and to speak, into a faithful disciple. This journey isn’t traced in the gospel, so we have permission to wonder for ourselves what that was like for her. What marked her journey into a disciple? Did she understand what Jesus would have to do on the cross?

 

We can ask those same questions of ourselves: what has marked our journey of faith into following Jesus as one of his disciples? Who has helped us along the way? Is there anybody we can thank or encourage for their part in our journey?

 

Emma Higgins

[Friday's Devotional] - Community of Grace

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
1 Peter 2: 9-10 [NIV]

 

Peter also writes that we are a holy nation, Gods special possession.

 

Holy things are set apart. We are called to be distinct and different through God’s grace. We are called to change; we are called to be made holy by the working of God’s Spirit in our lives.  It is this distinctiveness that should show the world a different way.  It is part of our witness in a broken world.

 

But we are not called to selfish individualism; our holiness is as part of a nation, Gods kingdom, which is beyond man made boundaries, part of a “great crowd of witnesses”.

 

The call on our lives, on the church's life, is to become a holy people, craving the life giving words God has for us, accepted and clothed in grace, giving thanksgiving to God.  Loving others and loving God both in word and in deed.  The church is called to live out its identity as a community of grace, a light in a dark and needy world.

 

Father, help us to be a community of grace.

 

Guy Mowbray

[Thursday's Devotional] - Building Bridges

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
1 Peter 2: 9-10 [NIV]

 

Peter also says that we are chosen to be a royal priesthood.  We no longer need the Old Testament idea of a sacrificing priest, offering burnt offerings to God to appease sin. We have Jesus who is the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, we are in a new covenant.

 

I learnt the hard way, when on a long walk, that in Welsh “Pont ar Gau” means bridge closed.  Pontefract in Yorkshire, famous for its cakes, means broken bridge. In Latin the word for priest is Pontifex – bridge builder.

 

“He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 15: 16 [NIV]

 

We are go-betweens, placed by God in the world, to cry and work in and for the world.  We must bring the world’s needs to God where we place them at the cross.  We leave them in Gods outstretched arms, to Jesus our advocate.  Then ask how can I help? What is my part in building today, to bring the world closer to Jesus?

 

Father, show us today where you want us to intercede for the world.

 

Guy Mowbray

[Wednesday's Devotional] - Chosen People

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”
1 Peter 2: 9-10 [NIV]

 

Most of us seek acceptance, we seek it from our parents, partners, friends, work colleagues, team mates.  Our desire to be accepted can influence the possessions we own, what we wear, how we behave towards others, and even the way we speak.

We like the feeling of acceptance, we love to know that someone has chosen and accepted us.  Remember choosing teams for football, how you felt when they got down to the last two or three players and you still hadn’t been chosen?

 

Eugene Petersen paraphrases "But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted."

1 Peter 2: 9-10 [The Message]

 

Even if you can’t play football - as imperfect as you are, God has chosen you. If we can grasp that we are accepted, loved, wanted by God, so much so that God took all our sin upon himself, we have to respond, we cannot live unchanged lives.

 

Father, thank you for you acceptance of us.

 

Guy Mowbray

[Tuesday's Devotional] - Living Sacrifices

“As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says:
‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’(Isaiah 28:16)
Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe:
‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,’(Psalm 118:22)
and, ‘A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.’(Isaiah 8:14)
They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.“ 1 Peter 2: 4-8 [NIV]

 

We understand the allegory of Jesus being the foundation stone of our faith, and it seems clear that some accept and some reject him, but Peter has not written this in the past tenses, Jesus is the living stone, you like living stones are being built into a spiritual house, to be a royal priesthood (more on that on Thursday), offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God.

 

These are ongoing actions, in Romans 12:1 Paul writes “…to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship”.[NIV].

 

In Philippians 4:18 Paul receives gifts of support from the Philippian church and writes, " they are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God."[NIV]

 

In Hebrews 13:16 we read, " And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased." [NIV]

 

Even the most menial of tasks can be clothed in grace and rendered as thanksgiving to God.

 

Father, teach us how will we use our time, money and resources as worship to you.

 

Guy Mowbray

[Monday's Devotional] - Pure Spiritual Milk

“Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like new-born babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.“
1Peter 2: 1-3 [NIV]

 

Deceit, malice, envy and slander are symptomatic of a lack of love, as Paul explains:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour 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]

 

Peter advises us to put off, literally strip off, those things that do not reflect a loving heart, but instead be like babies craving milk.  We all know milk is required by babies to enable them to grow strong and healthy.  The particular brand of milk recommended by Peter is pure spiritual milk.  Older translations render this “milk of the word” [KJV].   In the context of 1 Peter, “this is the word that was preached to you” 1 Peter 1: 25 [NIV]; a craving for the life-giving words God has for us.

 

It seems a good place to start the week, don’t be envious, malicious, hypocritical, or gossiping, instead be loving and crave the life giving words God has for us.

Father, teach us to be loving and seek you word for our lives.

 

Guy Mowbray

[Friday's Devotional] - Love

5  Love

 

Screwtape writes:

 

“We must never forget what is the most repellent and inexplicable trait in our enemy; He really loves the hairless bipeds He has created and always gives back to them with his right hand what he has taken away with his left.”  [Screwtape Letters, p 74]

 

The devil loves to sow doubt, and nowhere more than when it comes to the love of God.

 

The gospel message is quite clear:  God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son.  John 3: 16 [NIV]

 

God’s love is shown supremely in Jesus who, setting aside his status and his rights, entered our world.  And not just this.  Once here, he suffered what we ought to have suffered and died in our place to bring us to God.  We did nothing; he did everything.  All of this he did out of love for us.

 

So the gospel message is astonishing.  There is nothing we need to do to be saved except to believe.  There is no payment due, no tasks to be performed, no hoops to jump through.  The price has already been paid.  This is what the Bible calls grace – God’s completely unmerited love to sinful people.

 

God loves us – not in the sense that he loves all of his creation, but in the sense that his love is focused on us.  He really loves us, he really wants the best for us, he really wants to bless us.

 

This is radical stuff.  In a world where we are used to paying for everything, it comes as an immense surprise – that being put right with God is a free gift.

 

It is a thing most wonderful,

Almost too wonderful to be,

That God’s own Son should come from heaven

And die to save a child like me.  [W W How]

 

Lord Jesus, thank you for dying for me.  Thank you that there is nothing I need to do to win your love.  Help me to live my life for your greater glory.  Amen.

 

David Long

[Thursday's Devotional] - Moderation

4  Moderation

 

Screwtape writes to Wormwood:

 

“Talk to him about ‘moderation in all things’.  If you can once get him to the point of thinking that religion is "all very well up to a point" you can feel quite happy about his soul.  A moderated religion is as good for us as no religion at all - and more amusing.”  [The Screwtape Letters, p 50]

 

The devil is evil – opposed to all that is good.  But although he uses violence, intimidation and persecution, he is quite at home with more subtle ways to get his work done.  Why bother to use a traffic accident to prevent you getting to the prayer meeting when Coronation Street or Strictly Come Dancing will do?

 

Ridicule is one of his weapons; moderation is another.  He is happy when Christians are only mildly committed, when the gospel is seen as a hobby or a pastime rather than the life-changing thing that it really is.

 

When Tim Farron, a committed Christian, became leader of the Liberal Democrats back in July, The Times marked the occasion with a stinging rebuke.  Under the heading ‘Illiberal Democrat’ the leader writer stated:

 

Mr Farron believes that every word written in the Bible is literal truth, that God has a precise plan for all of us, and that heaven and hell are physical entities to which all of us are consigned after death.  [Times Leader, July 17^th 2015]

 

Tim Farron actually believes this stuff!  That is what the writer is getting at.  Thank goodness that with only 8 MPs in his party he can’t do much damage!

 

I expect the devil was well pleased with this.  How much more helpful to his cause is a person with a vague moral compass than one who has met with the Living God and been utterly changed.

 

Paul writes:

 

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Romans 15: 5, 6 [NIV]

 

Father, help me to live in the world without adopting its values.  Give me grace to stand firm for you and to be a beacon of light in the darkness.  Amen.

 

David Long

[Wednesday's Devotional] - Time

3  Time

 

Screwtape continues:

 

“Let him have the feeling that he starts each day as the lawful possessor of twenty-four hours.  Let him feel as a grievous tax that portion of his property which he has to make over to his employers and as a generous donation that further portion which he allows to religious duties.  But what he must never be permitted to doubt is that the total from which these deductions have been made was, in some mysterious sense, his own personal birthright.”  [The Screwtape Letters, p 107]

 

Here, Screwtape talks about time, but he could just as easily be talking about money or possessions.  We so often go through life thinking that our lives are our own; that our time is “ours” that our money is “ours” that our possessions are “ours”.

 

Of course, we know that giving to the Lord’s work is important.  Many Christians give away 10% of their income, but there can be the unspoken, tacit assumption that the remaining 90% is ours to do what we want with.

 

The devil is reasonably happy for us to donate time and money to the Lord’s work, providing we don’t get carried away.  As far as he is concerned, the important thing is for us to feel that we are in control, that it is our time, our money and we can do with it whatever we want.

 

God has other ideas.  The picture in Scripture is that we have been rescued by Jesus: that we have been bought back (redeemed) like a slave in the market place, and that nothing we have is ours.  We are stewards of time, money and possessions.

 

Paul writes to the Romans:

 

Therefore, I urge you, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.  [Romans 12: 1, NIV]

 

Every part of our lives should be offered to God.  We should hold nothing back because he, himself, gave up everything by coming to earth, suffering and dying in our place.

 

Take my life and let it be

Consecrated, Lord, to Thee;

Take my moments and my days,

Let them flow in ceaseless praise.  Amen.

 

David Long

[Tuesday's Devotional] - Jesus

2  Jesus

 

Screwtape writes:

 

“For the real presence of the enemy, otherwise experienced by men in prayer and sacrament, we substitute a merely probable, remote, shadowy and uncouth figure, one who spoke a strange language and died a long time ago.”  [The Screwtape Letters, p 118]

 

 

The devil is not worried if we know about Jesus.  If we think of Jesus as a figure who was just a great moral teacher, a prophet or a faith healer, the devil is not unduly concerned.  He thinks it is better still if we remake Jesus to be whatever we want: a revolutionary, a mystic, or ‘a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man’ (Elton John); the man who married Mary Magdalene or the gentle Jesus meek-and-mild of Victorian hymns.

 

Similarly, the devil would have us think that since Jesus lived a long time ago in a society very different from ours, that we really cannot know anything much about him.

 

What the devil does not want is for us to know Jesus as Lord and God, as the one who loves us and gave himself up for us.  The Jesus who promises forgiveness and new life to sinners is deeply abhorrent to the devil.

 

But the evidence for this in the Bible is strong.  Not long after Jesus’ death and resurrection his followers were giving him all sorts of exalted names and titles: Lamb of God, good shepherd, new Adam, rock of ages, and morning star.  Nobody gave names like this to other prophets.  And Jesus was not content with a passive response from his followers.  He calls us to renounce our old lives – to die – and to follow him; He calls us to take his message to the ends of the earth.

 

What is Jesus to you?  Is he just a teacher or a friend or a wise man?  Or is he Lord of your life, the one who died in your place to set you free and to give you abundant life?  Is he at the centre of all you are and do?

 

What do you think about the Christ?  Matthew 22: 42 [NIV]

 

Lord Jesus, help me to see you as you really are.  Comfort me and disturb me with your presence, and help me to follow you wherever you go.  Amen.

 

David Long

[Monday's Devotional] - The Devil

1  The Devil

 

 

In 1942, C S Lewis published his book The Screwtape Letters.  These letters are written by a senior devil called Screwtape, to a younger colleague, Wormwood, about a man over which he has some influence.  In our devotionals this week we will look at five short extracts from the book to see how the devil tries to make us ineffective as Christians.

 

“The fact that devils are predominantly comic figures in the modern imagination will help you (writes Screwtape).  If any faint suspicion of your existence begins to arise in his mind, suggest to him a picture of something in red tights, and persuade him that since he cannot believe in that... he cannot therefore believe in you.”  [The Screwtape Letters, p 40]

 

One thing that is central to the devil’s scheme of action is that he never wants to be known or recognised.  He is desperate for his existence to be doubted.

 

If we could see him pulling the strings in international politics or child trafficking or atheism, we would recognise his evil influence.  But, by keeping in the shadows, by keeping a low profile, he can exercise a malign influence across the world, in our daily lives and even in the church, without being implicated.

 

But many people say that to believe in the existence of the devil is laughable in a self-confident and modern society like ours.  But, while we might live in a world with electronic communication, modern medicines and great prosperity, evidence of the devil’s work is never far away.  Wars, family breakdown, climate change, addiction and disease are some of the things on which we can find the devil’s fingerprints.

 

The Bible is clear about his existence:

 

Be self-controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.  1 Peter 5:18,19 [NIV]

 

Lord, help me to recognise the influence of the devil in the world around me.  Help my faith in you to be strong, because you have already defeated him on the cross.  Give me opportunities today to demonstrate your love and to tell people about you.  Amen.

 

David Long

[Friday's Devotional] - Temptation and Deliverance from Evil

Lead us not into temptation

But deliver us from evil

 

I love these two lines. Two pleases in a row.

 

How tempting is sin?  How easy is it to click on something on the internet that you shouldn't view?  How easy is it to curse that friend behind their back?  How easy is it to spread that rumour about a work colleague?  How easy is it to shout obscenities to the driver of that BMW who has just queue jumped whilst you obeyed the rules of the road and waited in traffic for 20 minutes?

 

All very easy, the road to sin and constant sin is long and easy. However the road to peace with God and no sin looks difficult and hard to travel.

 

I don't have the answers, I struggle with my own sin on a daily basis.  Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose.  I go back to God to ask for strength and peace and forgiveness and he charges me up to fight again.  I wish he would take the temptation away from me completely, but if St Paul struggled with it, then why should I have it easier.

 

I know these two lines bring me comfort in my battle with temptation and those roads that lead to evil.  Out of all the lines in the Lord’s Prayer, these stay with me on an almost daily basis.

 

When I feel I may struggle in one area of my life, I mutter these words over and over and they help.  Sometimes, I admit, the temptation is too great and I fall, but we are all human and we all fall short of the grace of God.

 

In conclusion. I love the whole prayer.  And I try to say it daily.  I also know I'm not good at promises and very good at procrastination, but when I begin to struggle, I might pop a post-it in my wallet or on the steering wheel of my car, with just a couple of lines from this prayer.

 

If you struggle with daily prayer, try it, it may help. I wish and pray you have success with it.

 

Our Father, which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth,
As it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive them that trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil

For thine is the kingdom,

the power, and the glory,

for ever and ever.

Amen.

Steve Fogo

[Thursday's Devotional] - Forgive Us as We Forgive Others

And forgive us our sins

As we forgive those who sin against us.

 

For me this is always the most difficult part of my prayer.

 

The first line is giving us a chance to humbly accept our faults and ask Jesus for forgiveness.  It’s not easy admitting we are wrong.  

 

Recently my eldest "stole" a Snickers bar out of the fridge and ate it.  Disregard the fact that this was a 60 pence chocolate bar (My chocolate bar, I might add), but when challenged she denied everything about it.  I asked our youngest (who couldn’t possibly reach the top shelf of the fridge) - she denied it.  My wife, who had left early had not had it and I then doubted myself.  Did I get up in the middle of the night to satisfy a hunger pang?  Had I forgotten about this mini fridge trip?  

 

Hours later, I was tidying up in the living room, and my eye caught something badly stuffed behind the radiator.  Behold, an empty Snickers wrapper!  I was angry, and again I challenged my eldest, presenting the evidence.  I was tempted to lie and say I could send the wrapper to my food laboratory and find out if her DNA was on the wrapper, but this seemed a little too much like CSI and it was only a Snickers…

 

She came clean, confessed, and was punished more harshly than she would normally have been, since she was given the opportunity to admit the theft several times and denied it.  God knows we sin, he can see it, despite our attempts to cover it up and hide it, yet God offers us redemption from this sin, all we have to do is admit it.

 

The second line offers us a challenge. But the two lines are linked.  Just as God forgives us our sins - which he does, we are challenged to turn this around and offer forgiveness to others, should they sin against us.

 

This is, I think, even more difficult than the first challenge of asking for forgiveness. If you have been hurt emotionally or damaged physically, or robbed of something by others, then you can feel an overwhelming anger never to forget and never to forgive.  However, this can cause many problems down the line.  God forgives us the moment we ask for it, regardless of how we have treated him.  Regardless of how hard it is, forgiving somebody can release a stubborn barrier to your happiness.

 

Lord, thank you for forgiving me my weaknesses. Please help me to show the same compassion you show me to others who hurt me.  Amen

 

Steve Fogo