daily readings

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The Wooden gods

12th & 13th November

Weekend Edition

“They cut down a tree, and a craftsman carves an idol. They decorate it with gold and silver and then fasten it securely with hammer and nails so it won’t fall over. Their gods are like scarecrows in a cucumber field! They cannot speak, and they need to be carried because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of such gods, for they can neither harm you nor do you any good.”

Jeremiah 10:3b-5

As Jeremiah continues his relentless criticism of false gods, we begin see an almost tongue in cheek approach in his words; it’s almost as if he is making fun of the false gods. Yet what Jeremiah is really doing, is making a case to the Israelites, imploring them to see the foolishness of worshipping gods that are made by human hands. They can do nothing, as Jeremiah says, ‘they can neither harm you nor do you any good’.

When we read this passage, we too are almost encouraged, to take a fine sieve and filter through any ‘worthless idols’ in our lives, any thing that is taking the place of God, and filter it out, getting rid of it and leaving no trace of them. We are almost forced into analysing our lives by Jeremiah’s words because he makes such a clear and heart piercing conclusion about the foolishness and stupidity of putting anything else in front of the ONE TRUE GOD. In verse 11, Jeremiah comes to the crescendo of his argument, and it will be here where we leave this weekend’s devotion. As you read his words, think about what kind of a God you serve, and of how powerful and awesome He is.

“Your so-called gods, who did not make the heavens and earth, will vanish from the earth and from under the heavens. But God made the earth by His power, and He preserves it by His wisdom. With His own understanding He stretched out the heavens. When He speaks in the thunder, the heavens roar with rain. He causes the clouds to rise over the earth. He sends the lightning with the rain and releases the wind from His storehouse. . . But the God of Israel is no idol! He is the Creator of everything that exists… The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is His name!”1

1Jeremiah 10:11b-13,16

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The God Who Sees

11th November

“Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O Israel! This is what the Lord says: “Do not act like other nations, who try to read their future in the stars. Do not be afraid of their predictions, even though other nations are terrified by them. Their ways are futile and foolish.”

Jeremiah 10:1-3a

Jeremiah was an Old Testament prophet who just said things like it was. He heard from God and spoke. Because of his brash yet true words, he was often persecuted and maligned, yet he knew that the God he served, was by far, above every other god.

If Jeremiah was alive today, we can only wonder what he would say to those looking for God in the wrong places, or to those who are seeking ‘divine’ guidance or inspiration from the wrong sources. Yet what is astounding about most of Jeremiah’s prophetic words, is that they were directed to God’s people, his people, the very people whom God led out of Egyptian bondage, who were fed ‘divinely’ for 40 years in the wilderness and who had continually been saved from their enemies by God. Yet somehow, they had again abandoned their God and followed in the ways of foreign, unknown gods who had no power. Perhaps this was why Jeremiah was so unpopular: because the very words of truth that he prophetically spoke, were directed at his own people, his own leaders, and his own priests.

Before we too quickly judge the Israelites, maybe Jeremiah’s words are a reminder for us too, in our day and age, to not put our trust in other nations, in foolish and futile advice from people trying to be like gods. Rather, let us too put our trust back in the One true God who can alone, save, lead and guide. We have nothing to fear about the future, because we serve a God who sees and knows all, and whose ways are higher than ours. All we need to do, is put our trust in HIM! Let us not be like other nations or religions, but trust in the one TRUE GOD, and let Him lead and guide us, His children.

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Who is the King of glory?

10th November

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to Him. For He laid the earth’s foundation on the seas and built it on the oceans depths.”

Psalm 24:1-2

God is not just God on paper. He is not a fictional Bible story or character. He is real. He is as close as your breath and the skin on your body. He is the God who created the very place you are standing or sitting reading this. Everything is the Lords! The world and all its people! We are perfectly created in the image of God, to reflect His glory and to shine His light.

Jesus, in His model prayer, otherwise known as the Lord’s prayer, taught us how to pray by giving His disciples, and us, a guideline or structure to follow to help us pray. What is amazing, is both the start and the finish of this prayer, lead us to call out to our God as Father, as Holy, as the Lord of all Heaven, clothed with power, dominion and authority. Why did Jesus make this a priority? Well, just as David so often did in his psalms, Jesus knew the importance of making sure we know who we are talking to when we approach God’s throne. Firstly God is our Father, He is the King of Kings, He is the King of glory, He is the Lord, strong and mighty, invincible in battle, and the Lord of Heaven’s armies. He is holy and is clothed with power, dominion and authority. When we come to God with this understanding, then all our problems shrink at the magnitude of who God is. If we understand who it is we are praying to, it changes the way we pray, and we begin to pray out of victory rather than need. Who is the King of glory we serve? Our Heavenly Father!

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Our King

9th November

“Come, everyone! Clap your hands! Shout to God with joyful praise! For the Lord Most High is awesome. He is the great King of all the earth.”

Psalm 47:1-2

We serve a King who was not voted in, did not have to go through any publicity to make Himself more popular and certainly doesn’t need people’s approval to prove that He is rightfully KING! He is King by default. He created the world. He is King because He won the ultimate battle against sin and death. He is King because He is King. He is the One, as the book of Romans says, that gives the authority to earthly kingdoms; ‘For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.1’ God is even in control of those in authority.

There is no power higher than God. There is no equal nor opposite to God. He is, the psalmist says, ‘the great KING of all the earth.’ Not just of the earth, but the entire universe. There is no corruption in Him, no scandal, no falsehood, no lies, no racism, no sexism, no rudeness and no division. In Him is life, peace, joy, and acceptance; a fountain of grace and mercy that never runs dry. There is unconditional love for those who accept it. He is the greatest leader of all time; from the beginning to the end of time. He is the King that created time. All things were created by His words. The earth and the universe, the sun and the moon, all listen and obey His voice. He is the King of the animals, the birds, the sea, the land and everything that is! He is the King, that is greatly exalted and worshipped throughout the world, in every language and by every culture! He is KING! Come on! Everyone! Clap your hands, shout for joy! This King is our King!

In a time of global and political uncertainty, it would be wise to put your trust in Him and let Him calm your fears. He is the great King!!

1Romans 13:1

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Lean On Me, When You’re Not Strong

8th November

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.”

Proverbs 3:5-6

Who do you trust when you are filled with uncertainty or anxiety? Sometimes we trust ourselves too much and end up completely lost. It is like following a sat nav. When you don’t know the way you turn on the sat nav, but once you have found a familiar place, you turn it off and continue navigating by memory only to find you took a left turn instead of a right turn and now ended up going the completely wrong way again. More often than not, a sat nav leads you to the right destination, if you put your complete trust in it (and of course if it has been updated!!).

Life can be the same too. We trust God with the big decisions in our lives, then once we start feeling we can take over control again, we almost switch God off until we need Him the next time. Or perhaps we may experience a breakthrough in our lives, and rather than continue to trust Him 100% again for completion, we start managing our lives again, and steer our boats the completely wrong way. Trusting in God with all our hearts is not a one off decision until you get an answer then stop trusting Him. Trusting God is a lifestyle. It’s a lifestyle that says ‘God I don’t know! I need You! I choose to trust You and not live based on my understanding of things but on Your leading!’.

God is like a friend that we can always rely on, when we have no strength and when we out of faith. He is a friend we can lean on always. As Bill Withers said in his famous song ‘Lean On Me’, sometimes we just need to ‘swallow our pride’, admit we are lost, admit we need direction and trust God completely.

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Opposite Spirit

7th November

“Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and He will grant you His blessing.”

1 Peter 3:9

On paper, just reading this verse as it is, it seems like such an easy and straightforward instruction. When insulted, bless your insulter. When wronged, bless the person who has done you wrong. Yet we know in reality that this a hard teaching. Yet friends, we are not on our own. God is with us. Furthermore, when we bless others, God in turn grants us His blessings. When we bless others, we immediately break the offence and the stronghold the enemy wants to have over us. We move in the ‘opposite spirit’, not giving place for the enemy, and in turn pray favour and blessings over those who have wronged us.

Blessings and not returning the insult or wrongdoing, is also good for us personally too. It helps us immediately break the bitterness, anger, hostility or even jealousy we could have felt if we had held on to those feelings. It helps us immediately deal with offence and our carnal ‘revenge’ mentality. Let us be challenged, not just by this devotion but by knowing that this ‘is what God has called you (us) to do!’ We will be blessed when we bless others.

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Rejoice Rejoice Christ Is Risen

5th November

Weekend Edition

“He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Remember what He told you back in Galilee…”

Luke 24:6

Remember remember the 5th of November. Today, all across England, is a remembrance day to commemorate the defeat of Guy Fawkes and his failure to blow up the houses of parliament. The day is celebrated with fireworks and bonfires, as if to mock the failed attempt by Guy Fawkes and his comrades.

What is interesting about us humans is what we choose to remember and furthermore what we choose to celebrate. What holds value in our memories and what is deemed worthy of celebration? A celebration that is often overlooked by the secular world, is the day Jesus was risen from the dead! As Christians, do we too solely reserve celebration of this great news for Easter and Christmas time? Or is Jesus’ resurrection remembered on a daily basis, all year round? For it is because Christ lives, that we live. It is because Christ rose again, that are our sin has been defeated. It is in Jesus’ resurrection that we have life and life in all of its fullness. Let us not be too quick to forget, the great and wonderful news of Jesus resurrection. Rejoice, rejoice, Christ is risen. Rejoice, rejoice, Christ is in you! Make time to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection daily.

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United In Peace

4th November

“Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.”

Ephesians 4:2-3

We are not spare parts, but needed parts of God’s universal body, the church, His bride. In order for the church to function effectively, YOU are a necessary part. Yet as Paul alludes to, unity doesn’t just come naturally. It takes work. It takes ‘every effort’ to stay united in the Spirit. The church is such a special place; a place that welcomes all people, of all ages, all races, all backgrounds and all genders. A place that is not bound by four walls or by human organisation. From the ‘super Apostles’ to the newest believers, we are all equal in the eyes of God. We are a body that on paper, shouldn’t work. Yet, united in the Spirit, we cannot be separated. There is an omnipotent power at work, keeping the unity of believers strong. Yet it takes effort from us too.

As Paul says, we must be humble and gentle with each other. We must be patient with each other, making allowances for each other’s faults because of perfect love. That means if someone does or says something to hurt or upset us, we must work through it in love and peace to keep unity. That means that the Spirit of peace must always be alive and active in us, ‘the church’! Is this just so we can have a happy life or worship together and always be joyful? Well, partly yes, but more importantly, because we are a reflection of perfection; the perfection in the unity of the Godhead. If we are to show the world the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit through our lives, then we need to make sure that our lives reflect their unity, which is perfection. Let us make every effort to be united in the Spirit, who keeps us together and helps us reflect the Godhead.

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Your Purpose

3rd November

“He has saved us and called us to a holy life – not because of anything we have but because of His own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time..”

2 Timothy 1:9

Now that we have found the treasure of salvation or rather Christ found us, what do we do with it? ‘Salvation is only the beginning for Christians as we were saved to do good works in the name of Jesus. The promise of eternity and living free from the bondage of sin is a wonderful gift of salvation’1. Yet it is just the beginning. You were saved for a reason. You have a purpose and a destiny.

There is a wonderful scene in the hit film Hugo, where the main character, a boy named Hugo, is explaining to his friend the comparisons between machines and humans. He says that ‘everything has a purpose, even machines. Clocks tell the time and trains take you places; they do what they are meant to do. Maybe that’s why broken machines make me (Hugo) so sad. They have lost their purpose. Humans are the same. If you loose your purpose it’s like your broken….Think of machines, they never come with extra parts, they come with exactly what they need. I think of the world, and I know that I am not an extra part. There is some reason why I am here.’2 Isn’t it the same with our salvation. We are not saved to just live happy lives or to join an elitist club. We are saved because we have a purpose. We called according to the purpose we have in Him. You are not just a number, or as Hugo says, ‘an extra part’. You are part of the wonderful body of Christ and you play an important and integral part in His Kingdom. Rejoice in who you are! Find your purpose!

2Hugo: 2011

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What Does God’s Kingdom Mean To You

2nd November

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.”

Matthew 13:44

Jesus often told parables to highlight important Kingdom truths: an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. Today’s story/parable is one that is not so often talked about but highlights such a significant truth about God’s Kingdom. It shows us the value of what it means to have or even find the Kingdom of God; in other words, to find salvation. Yet more than us finding it, is us being chosen and found by God.

What is your reaction to this knowledge? Are you like the man in the story, that upon finding salvation, completely gave everything to get it? So often, just as most good things, when the novelty of finding or receiving that great thing wears off, complacency settles in and we forget what we have in our hands. It is our daily challenge to realise what we truly have. The man in today’s story was so full of joy at what he had found, that he sacrificed everything else in his life to get it. Sometimes, we need to sacrifice things that get in the way of appreciating how precious our salvation is, of how deeply we are loved that God choose us, forgave us, redeemed us and restored us.

Salvation is found in our hearts, and is a precious gem that should never be forgotten or buried again. What is the value of your salvation for you?