devotionals

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A Stake In The Ground: Run Away

6th January

“Run away from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.”

2 Timothy 2:22

Francis Chan recently preached a message on how we allow the lie, that what the enemy has to offer is better than God’s best, to easily deceive us. In his sermon he gave an example of fishing. On the hook of a fishing rod, he put a $100 bill. He explained that many would reach out to take it, yet concealed by the money was the hook used to catch the bait. He explained that many of us also fall into the same trap. We take the bait that the enemy dangles in front of us, fully knowing that behind the pleasures of sin, is a hook that can lead to addiction and captivity. We deny God’s goodness and take the bait of the enemy’s sugar coated temptation. Yet the enemy’s best can never compare to God’s goodness and always falls short in comparison.

What if we were to take a stand and reject those temptations; To, as Paul says, run away from anything that simulates youthful lusts. Joseph did, when approached by Potiphar’s wife. Jesus did when tempted by the enemy. And we too can by the power of the Holy Spirit. Let us put a stake in the ground and declare that WE WILL NOT STAND IN THE PATH OF SINNERS BUT RUN AWAY FROM TEMPTATION. Let us heed Paul’s advice even if that means making new friends, getting accountable, or even changing our lifestyles. In Jesus’ power we can overcome. Keep your eyes fixed on Him. Let us live in His grace.

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A Stake In The Ground: No More Bitterness

5th January

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behaviour. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, FORGIVING ONE ANOTHER, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”

Ephesians 4:31-32

On paper, it can seem so easy to forgive. We can almost work it out like an equation. This person did this wrong to me + desire to forgive and forget = forgiveness.. Yet somehow it is not that easy. Mixed into this equation is emotion, hurt, and bitterness. Sometimes we believe that it is our right to hold onto the bitterness and hurt. It is almost comforting. Yet nothing could be further from the truth. Holding onto to hurt and bitterness only causes more pain. It only causes us to become depressed and carry heavy burdens on our shoulders. Bitterness spreads like a cancerous disease in our hearts, slowly eating away at all that is good in us.

When we look at our own lives in relationship with Christ, we can see so many times that we have sinned against God, yet time and time again, He has forgiven us by the blood of Son Jesus Christ and the grace and mercy of Almighty God. There are probably so many times that God has every right to not forgive, yet if we ask Him, He always does. It is this example that we should live our lives by. Christ has set the bar for what our attitudes should be like. Forgive as we have been forgiven. If Christ forgave us, then we too should forgive others. Lets us put a stake in the ground, making a conscious decision to FORGIVE WITH THE SAME MEASURE WE HAVE RECEIVED FROM JESUS. Let us lean on Christ’s strength to help us forgive and trust He will make right what has been wronged.

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A Stake In The Ground: No More Worrying

4th January

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done.”

Philippians 4:6

How many minutes of our lives do we waste worrying? Worrying about circumstances that are beyond our control? The truth is, as Jesus said, ‘worrying does not add a single moment to your life?’ It is a fruitless agenda. It belittles our faith in Jesus and it lessens our understanding of God as ABBA Father: The God who will provide.

Yet having said all that, our natural instinct is to worry. Even though we know God is more than capable to deliver us, provide us and sometimes sort out the mess that we have gotten ourselves into. Yet there comes a time in our lives where we need to suppress these feelings of worry and exercise our faith by trusting in God. Let us put a stake in the ground and say from this moment on, WE WILL NOT WORRY ABOUT ANYTHING BUT TRUST IN GOD ALMIGHTY FOR EVERYTHING! He is our Rock and Redeemer. It is Jesus’ words that re-assure and comfort us to not worry but trust in Him and it is Paul’s words that re-affirm that truth, so that in thanksgiving we too can rejoice that God is in control. There is no need to worry. It is a promise. This is not to belittle your problems, but rather to magnify God to become greater than your than worries.

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A Stake In The Ground: Rejecting The Lies

2nd January

“…he was a murderer from the beginning. he has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

John 8:44b

Who has God made you to be? Is your identity as a failure, or loner? Do you believe that you will never achieve anything or that you are too much of a sinner to be used by God? If so, you are believing lies. This is not what God intended for your life. You are child of Almighty God. He has a plan and purpose for your life. You are His best creation. When He made you, He saw you and said ‘it was very good!’ In fact, so great is His love for you, that He sent His only Son to close the gap between God and man with His life, so that He can have a relationship with you again.

In order to reject the lies, first we must know the truth. It is the truth that sets us free from the lies that the enemy continually tries to deceive us with: The truth about who God is, the truth about who we are and the truth about what God’s plan for our life is. Inside the enemy there is not truth at all. That gives a clear indication that everything he is whispering in our ears is contrary to what God is saying and has said and is a complete lie, which therefore giving us the right to reject it, put a stake in the ground, and say, from this moment on, I choose to believe the truth and reject the lies.

Know who you are in Jesus. Know the truth about who God says you are. Reject the enemy’s lies and live life in the fullness of all God has for you!

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A Stake In The Ground: A Renewed Mind

1st January

“Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by CHANGING THE WAY YOU THINK. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

Romans 12:2

According to a recent sermon by Bill Johnson, many Christians are allowing the enemy to be so comfortable in their minds, to terrorise them with lies and bombard them with thoughts contrary to God’s best for us, that it’s almost like we’re giving him permission to set up his own base in our minds. However, as Bill Johnson said, we can break down these “comfortable bases” and replace them with Holy Spirit fortresses that cannot be penetrated by the enemies evil lies. It is from the truth of Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit that we can fend off the enemies cheap attacks without fear and in victory.

The enemy is relentless in his attacks trying to make us stumble and fall, however in Jesus, we do have the power to overcome and resist all that he throws at us. In fact, staying on the ‘stake in the ground’ theme, we can make a conscious decision to reject those thoughts and to not let them be comfortable in our minds. For example, when a lustful thought enters our mind, we can take authority right then to reject it, rebuke it and send it back to where it came from in Jesus’ Name. The same is with bitterness, rage, anger, un-forgiveness and so on. The more we allow these small thoughts into our minds, the more we are resourcing the enemy with bricks to build his camp in our minds.

As followers of Jesus, we are constantly being transformed into the image of Christ. Yet the change of character, as Paul wisely writes, comes from our renewed minds. God literally transforms the way we think, which in turn is reflected in our characters. We need to guard our minds to not return to the way we used to think before Christ. Let us put our stakes in the ground, and say from here on, we will not let the enemy be comfortable in our minds. Let us stand firm and reject his lies in Jesus’ power. We have the victory in Jesus Christ.

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A Stake In The Ground

31st December

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”

2 Corinthians 5:17

The eve of a new year is such a significant occasion in a believers life. It allows us to look back and reflect on all God has done for us and look ahead to all He will do for us. It allows us to reflect on God’s grace and mercy, His constant provisions, His support in moments of weakness and most importantly, His steadfast and committed love towards us, His children. Yet above all else, it gives us an opportunity to re-focus our intentions and re-align our visions to be in tune with all the Holy Spirit has for us for the forth-coming year.

There is a wonderful scene in Lord of the Rings movie, where a wizard named Gandalf, when confronted with a great evil, slams his staff into the ground and shouts out to the evil “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” There is a great significance about this action, not just in the film but Spiritually as well. Why? Because it is about time that we as Christians did the same thing with our enemy. In Jesus’ Name and in His power we can put a ‘stake in the ground’, and say that from this moment on, enemy, “YOU SHALL NOT PASS”. You shall not enter into my mind, my school, my work, my marriage, my children, my relationship with Jesus, or any other place. It is time friends, to stand your ground, and to resist the enemies fiery arrows. It is time to stop allowing the enemy to be comfortable leading us away from the path of righteousness.

In Jesus’ power and girded with the armour of Christ, we can stand firm. But the conscious decisions to start saying NO must come from us. Will you put your stake in the ground?

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Turn The Light On

30th December

“..God’s Light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the Light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the Light and refuse to go near it for the fear their sins will be exposed.”

John 3:19b – 20

According to some, the scientific definition of darkness is the ‘absence of light’, rather than darkness just being the opposite of light. This can be demonstrated when in a room, which has no light, a match is lit and the brightness begins to dominate the darkness and bring light to the room. Moreover, light exposes the darkness, reveals what is hidden and shows what cannot be seen when there is no light.

Interestingly, have you ever tidied your desk under the watchful eye of a desk lamp? You will soon realise that the desk is more dusty than you first imagined. As you begin to move things around, the dust particles are exposed by the light and it is revealed that.. you have a lot of cleaning to do!

The same principle can be adopted into God’s Kingdom. In fact, it is actually rather a principle we have adopted from Jesus’ teaching. Jesus, the Light of the world, came to this earth and through His teaching, acts and deeds, exposed man’s sinful nature by bringing light into what was and is a dark world. However, Jesus’ light wasn’t to tell us how bad we are and to point fingers at us but rather it was a way to get back onto the right the path, almost like a lighthouse protects boats from crashing into mountains and rocks.

Unfortunately many avoided the Light, not wanting their dark deeds to be exposed and for that reason, continue to live in darkness, headed towards danger. However, there are many that accepted the Light and now follow the path to eternal life. For those of us who have accepted the light, we now also stand as a beacon of Jesus, bringing hope and light to the darkness that we see around us everyday. Let your light shine bright for the King.. May we sing together ‘Shine, Jesus Shine’, ‘Blaze, Sprit Blaze’, let our hearts be set on fire for YOU!

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Do This Is Remembrance Of Me

29th December

“He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then He broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember Me.””

Luke 22:19

As we look back over the year that has passed, there are probably many things that you would want to remember and many things you would like to forget. Our lives are a constant journey, learning more about God’s grace with each new day and more about who God has made us to be. Yes we may have made many mistakes and done things which we regret but God’s mercies are new each morning and everyday is a new gift from God. His grace is more than sufficient in our weakness’ and His love truly does cover a multitude of our sins.

The one thing that remains consistent throughout our memories is the fact that Jesus came to this earth, lived a sinless life, was crucified for our sakes and rose again on the third day, defeating death and sin. We remember this by partaking in ‘communion’, which stands a symbolism of what Jesus did for us by sacrificing His body and shedding His blood.

The great news is that Jesus’ life, death and resurrection is ‘GOOD NEWS’ all year round. It is the constant in a changing world and the foundation on which our faith is built. Moreover, as another year comes to an end, it is a fantastic opportunity to re-align ourselves to Christ being the focal point in our lives and the path that we can follow for a new year.

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Journey Beyond Christmas

28th December

“Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 3:13-14

For some, Christmas means separation rather than reunion. It means a parting glance: Jesus leaving heaven; Joseph and Mary leaving Nazareth; the Magi leaving Babylonia; and maybe you being away from your loved ones.

But now it’s time for all of us to say goodbye to Christmas as we haul off the tree, throw away the leftover candy, box up the decorations, help the guests out the front door, and try to get our routine back to normal.

Here’s the great thing. The incarnation of Christ—the truth of His entering the world for us—is a reality we never leave behind. His abiding presence is a constant reality. We never say goodbye to Him. We’re never separated from Him, not today, not ever. The Bible says, “Neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). Take a parting glance at Christmas and then press onward into a new year with Christ!

#Today’s message is taken from Turning Point Daily Devotions
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God’s Children

26-27th December

Weekend Edition

“See how very much our Father loves us, for He calls us His children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognise that we are God’s children because they don’t know Him.”

1 John 3:1

After the presents have been opened, the turkey has been eaten, games have been played and wine has been drunk, what is left? Is there still a buzz and do we still have the Christmas ‘spirit’? Of course. The root of our joy is knowing who we are, and our identity in our Saviour Jesus Christ. That is what we celebrate. His birth, life, death and resurrection. It is not a one-off event to remember but good news all year round. As C.S Lewis rightly said,

“The Son of God became a man, to enable men to become the Sons of God.”

That is the good news. The Gospel. The truth that remains throughout all generations and until the end of time. Jesus came into this dark world, to reveal His light, the light that shines in the darkness. His light exposes our wrongdoings and leads us to the path of repentance, acceptance and restoration. His light transforms us from being enemies of God to Sons and Daughters of the Most High God. That is joy; and that joy is not just for Christmas day, but all year round. We are His children because He loves us and we have accepted His love. Will you accept His invitation to become adopted into His family?