18^th October

“Make the most every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.”

EPHESIANS 5:16-17

God has a plan for everyone’s life. He created you and saved you for a reason. You were not saved just to be a number in God’s Kingdom. You are more than just a number. God equipped you with gifts and tools to be able to live out His plan in your life and to bring Him glory through your life. Yet in order to fully understand who God has made us to be, we need to live by the Spirit’s leading and not our own. We have an opportunity everyday, despite of the world around us, to live fully in what God has for our lives. Whether that be at home, school, work and elsewhere. Everyday let us come before Him, and invite His presence in our lives, to lead and guide us and to understand clearly what He wants from us this day. Start your day in Him, be lead by Him and see Him work through you.

17^th October

“And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

EPHESIANS 5:21

Submission is a term that can conjure negative feelings. Yet in a Biblical context, and more so in this passage, submission is not a sign of weakness or negativity but an act of humility and strength. When you submit to someone else, you are empowering them to be who God made them to be. You are releasing people in their gifts and bringing God the glory. The same applies in marriage, the context of which this passage was originally written for. Submission in marriage is not one way. It is mutual.

Paul alludes to the relationship between us (God’s church) and Christ. He tells us that just as Christ loved us, so we should love each other. Just as Christ laid down His life sacrificially for our sakes, so we should do the same with each other. Christ gave us the perfect example of ultimate humility, sacrifice and submission. He put our needs before His own life, and freely gave it up for us. If we believe this, then we should have no hesitation to freely lay down our lives, not only for our spouse but for all.

When Jesus laid down His life for us, He elevated us to become children of God, no longer slaves to the enemy, sin and temptation. He empowered us to live in His original plan for our lives and in turn, glorified Himself through us. See how powerful submission and humility are?! Both ends of the deal, end up with God getting the glory! Our natural desires of glorifying ourselves are quashed as we start to live in Gods desires for our lives.

14^th & 15^th October

^{Weekend Edition}

““I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in Me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. You can ask for anything in My name, and I will do it. Yes, ask me for anything in My name, and I will do it!””

John 14:12-14

Perhaps today’s key verse needs reading again! Did you get it? Did it sink into your hearts? Jesus clearly says, that we can ask for anything in His name, and He will do it. We have access to the power of the name of Jesus Christ: the name that has been exalted above every other name in all of existence, both past, present and future. Moreover, Jesus promised that the disciples (we are included in this promise too), will do even greater works than Jesus did! How is this possible? Well simply, because we can witness the greatest miracle of all, salvation through Jesus Himself. It is greater than seeing the dead rise, greater than seeing broken limbs healed, and even greater than seeing body parts regrow. Yet all these things too are possible with God, because Jesus said it. Because Jesus lives, because He resurrected from the dead, because He now sits at the right hand of the Father in Heaven, we are empowered and equipped with the authority of Jesus’ name. When you pray in His name, believe for the answers, trust for the miracles and watch the power of God in action!

13^th October

“The Lord will not reject His people; He will not abandon His special possession…. I cried out, “I am slipping!” but Your unfailing love, O Lord supported me. When doubts filled my mind, Your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.”

PSALM 94:14, 18-19

For some, Friday the 13^th is an unlucky day, yet if you are reading this devotional today, it might just be your lucky day! We have good news for you. You are God’s special possession and He promised to never leave you. Even when it feels like you are slipping, falling and even drifting away, know this, that the Lord God is still supporting you, cheering you on with His unfailing love. When you doubt God’s goodness, when you doubt God is with you, when you are surrounded by situations that feel overwhelming, look back to this verse and live in God’s promises for you.

Honesty should be at the forefront of our relationship. Just as the writer of this Psalm so openly shared his struggles with God, so should we. We shouldn’t think that having an off day is a weakness but rather know that His strength is made perfect through our weakness. There is nothing wrong with crying out to God, telling Him exactly how you are feeling. He wants to help us and He will help us. It is His help and comfort that gives us ‘renewed hope and cheer’. Stretch out your hand and trust that God will pull you up!

12^th October

“Then Jesus began to denounce the towns where he had done so many of His miracles, because they hadn’t repented of their sins and turned to God.”

MATTHEW 11:20

You would think, after seeing Jesus heal a blind man¹ and feed 5000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish², people would turn to Jesus in repentance, falling at His feet. These are no mere human achievements. They are completely supernatural events. Yet sadly many didn’t. How could anyone possibly ignore them and not want to turn to the One who did these great miracles? It seems madness right? Yet, and the same is true today, so many people experience and see the miraculous and even encounter God’s wonderful presence, but close their hearts to Him, because the love of this world, is greater than their love for God.

Friends, although this may seem like a hard thing to read, it is important that we too do not fall into the same bracket of seeing the miraculous, experiencing God, yet closing our hearts and ignoring the Holy Spirit because we feel there is too much to give up. Nothing could be further from the truth. When we choose Christ, yes we may have to give up our pleasurable yet sinful habits, but what is waiting for you, can’t even compare in greatness to our former lifestyles. Don’t close your hearts to the loving arms of our Creator God. Acknowledge the work of Jesus in your life and let it change you. Turn to Him and you will receive life and life in all of its fullness. A life that doesn’t leave you feeling empty but full in every sense.

11^th October

“Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.”

1 Peter 5:7

Isn’t it such a wonderful thing to know that the Creator of the world, cares about you and me? He cares more about the little details in our lives, than even we do. In fact He cares so much, that He doesn’t want you to be the bearer of things that burden you. Peter, in His epistle to the churches says, that we should give all our worries and cares to God. What’s the point of carrying them, particularly when sometimes the things that cause us to worry are out of our control. Rather give them to the God who can do something about them.

Carrying burdens only weighs us down, like wearing an extremely heavy back-pack. We can try to carry on in life, but eventually the weight of our cares will weigh us down to the point of collapse. Friends, don’t wait until then. Give your cares to Him now for He cares about YOU and wants to carry your worries so you don’t have to.

6^th October

“Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of His wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?….. We know that our old sinful were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.”

Romans 6:1-2, 6

Just because we have been saved from sin, does it give us the license to do whatever we want to do? Can we use God’s grace as a ‘get out clause’, knowing full well that the action we are doing or thinking about doing is wrong?! The answer is a comprehensive NO! We are forgiven, moreover, God loves and wants to forgive us, yet that shouldn’t be the green light to go ahead and live reckless lifestyles, or use grace as the ‘GET OUT OF JAIL’ card in the monopoly game.

Jesus’ actions on the cross and the grace we have received, was meant to not just forgive but to radically change our lives. His grace changes us!! In addition, not only are we saved to be released from eternal judgement, but we are saved to be released from the power of sin in our lives. We are no longer captives to sin’s enslavement. Rather we can be set free and live in freedom from its power. We are no longer slaves to sin.

We have received grace to save and change us. We are no longer captives or slaves to sin.