[Friday's Devotional] - Asking God Questions is a Good Thing

Asking God Questions is a Good Thing Most of the journey to the Promised Land, the children of Israel complained and murmured about the pain and trouble God was taking them through, especially in the wilderness. They complained about how they missed Egypt where they used to eat meat, garlic and cucumbers. They complained about thirst - no water and sometimes having the water but behold, the water was bitter. Although this is understandable when faced with some challenges, there is always a better way of responding to these problems. Moses and Aaron seemed to be the only ones who knew how to handle difficult situations. They always went to God with their problems in prayer. Whenever, they asked genuine questions to God, He always answered. In Numbers we read this account: "The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, "If only we had meat to eat!  We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic.  But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!" Numbers 11: 4-6 [NIV] And here is Moses' response and God's answer: But Moses said, "Here I am among six hundred thousand men on foot, and you say, 'I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!'  Would they have enough if flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? Would they have enough if all the fish in the sea were caught for them?" The Lord answered Moses, "Is the Lord's arm too short? Now you will see whether or not what I say will come true for you." Numbers 11: 21-23 [NIV] As it turned out, God did a miracle in answer to Moses' prayers. He caused quails to fly to Israel's camps and there was provision of all the meat they wanted in abundance. However, to those who complained, God's wrath came afterwards and many were struck with a plague and they died. God loves being asked genuine questions. Another example is of King David who always asked God before going into battle or when the land was faced by famine. Even Mary the mother of Jesus asked God's Angel how she was going to have a baby without a man. The bible says: "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.  But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.  Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do" James 1:5-8 [NIV] Farai Mutsambiwa Twitter Website Copyright © 2017 St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email as a subscriber to the Daily Devotionals Our mailing address is: St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church 1a New Street Rugby, Warwickshire CV22 7BE United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list Want to be added to our mailing list? - sign up here!

[Thursday's Devotional] - A Tree and its Fruit

A Tree and its Fruit Jesus taught many things about the kingdom using everyday examples. In Luke Chapter 6 He said: "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.  Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers.  A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of". Luke 6: 43-45 [NIV] This is pretty straightforward. Jesus is talking about the state of the human heart. What is truly contained in our hearts is revealed when we speak and what our hearts are full of is what we constantly feed them on. Like our physical bodies that need food everyday, do we have sufficient time to feed our hearts on God's word, daily? What is it that we expose our hearts, minds, ears, eyes to, daily? Jesus is pleased when we spend most of our time meditating on:  "...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things" Philippians 4:8 [NIV]   Farai Mutsambiwa   Twitter Website Copyright © 2017 St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email as a subscriber to the Daily Devotionals Our mailing address is: St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church 1a New Street Rugby, Warwickshire CV22 7BE United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list Want to be added to our mailing list? - sign up here!

[Wednesday's Devotional] - Testing of Our Faith

Testing of Our Faith Sufferings of the believer are some of the things we do not like to hear about let alone experience. It's mainly painful when we pray all the prayers we know and try all we can do but God appears to be very silent. If you are going through such experiences, here are some words of encouragement. These are from Peter, who walked, ate, laughed and talked with Jesus every day for 3 years. He says: "In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed." 1 Peter 1:6-7 [NIV] Firstly, its encouraging to note that at the end of the suffering, Jesus Christ is going to appear with a reward, answer or miracle that will cause His name to be praised, glorified and honoured by all who are going to witness what He will have done. I think most of us do not like being told, do not do this or that or do this and that without being told the reasons why. The above verses from Peter are very clear that there is a purpose in our sufferings and trials and there is also a time frame. God is interested in measuring the genuineness of our faith, which is far greater in value than the most precious mineral - gold. Remember how Abraham suffered the test of being asked by God to take his only son to a place in the mountains and kill him as a sacrifice to God. Remember how God stopped him, just at the moment Abraham was about to do it in obedience? Remember how God vindicated Job by giving him a double of everything he lost during his season of trials that stripped him of all his possessions? Remember how God exalted Jesus above every other name, after he died a shameful death yet he was innocent? In Numbers we read of these promises: "God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?" Numbers 23:19 [NIV]   Farai Mutsambiwa   Twitter Website Copyright © 2017 St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email as a subscriber to the Daily Devotionals Our mailing address is: St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church 1a New Street Rugby, Warwickshire CV22 7BE United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list Want to be added to our mailing list? - sign up here!

[Tuesday's Devotional] - Pray Without Ceasing

Pray Without Ceasing "And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian." Luke 4:27 [NIV] These words spoken by Jesus give me hope when I feel discouraged to pursue the promises of God particularly when prayer seems in vain. Naaman, the Syrian Army General, had leprosy. Upon advice from his maid, he travelled all the way to Israel to see God's prophet Elisha. When Elisha promised Naaman that he would be cleansed of his leprosy if he dipped himself in the river Jordan seven times, Naaman didn't believe it. However, he eventually obeyed God's word after great persuasion by his aides. As he dipped himself in the dirty Jordan river the first, second and sixth time, Naaman did not receive his healing. He only got it after the seventh dip. What if he had stopped after the sixth dip? In Luke 18: 1 - 8, Jesus told his disciples a parable of a persistent widow to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He is telling you and me to continue praying for our needs and promises till they come to pass. As a soldier, I think one of the greatest characteristics of Naaman was endurance. I believe, it is only the persistent ones who will eventually win the race. When facing insurmountable challenges I often encourage myself with these thoughts. What if I pray then nothing happens? What if I pray, then something happens? Which of the two is better? Farai Mutsambiwa   Twitter Website Copyright © 2017 St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email as a subscriber to the Daily Devotionals Our mailing address is: St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church 1a New Street Rugby, Warwickshire CV22 7BE United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list Want to be added to our mailing list? - sign up here!

[Monday's Devotional] - Show the World Your Love

Show the World Your Love "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life". John 3:16 [NIV] Today I want to explore the love of God in a very practical way. Suppose you have been working all your life and just before retirement, you manage to buy your single major possession, a house. How would you feel if I asked you to give it away to a rough sleeper and then you spend the rest of your life homeless? I bet you would feel a great loss. I do not know about you, but if someone were to tell me they love me by their mere words without showing it, it will be meaningless. The bible teaches us that God is love and there was no other greater thing He could do to show His love to us other than to give His One and only Son, Jesus Christ. With His blood shed for our sins and His body broken for us on the cross, Jesus made us righteous, holy, blameless and innocent in the eyes of God the Father. He voluntarily gave away His body, blood and life away, for our sake. God the Father gave away the most precious thing He ever had, His One and only Son and God the Holy Spirit was prepared to leave Heaven and to come and put up with us – an often stubborn, stiff-necked and disobedient people. This Christmas, how are you going to show someone that you love them in a meaningful way? How are you going to share this Jesus who loved us so much that He was prepared to die for our salvation? In Ephesians 3:18, Paul says the love of God is so "wide and long and high and deep" so much that we have to pray that we be given the power to grasp it with our minds! Imagine the widest ocean in the world, God's love is greater than that. Imagine the deepest ocean, His love is greater than that as well. Imagine the highest mountain, His love is higher than that, many times more. David says: "For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him." Psalm 103:11 [NIV] His love endures for ever! Like John, let's all of us put our faith in believing that - I am the one He loves the most. His love is sufficient for all. Farai Mutsambiwa   Twitter Website Copyright © 2017 St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email as a subscriber to the Daily Devotionals Our mailing address is: St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church 1a New Street Rugby, Warwickshire CV22 7BE United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list Want to be added to our mailing list? - sign up here!