devotionals

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Unity In God and In The Church

22nd October

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

Ephesians 4:2-3

We can only love others because we have been loved by God first. It is only when we experience and come to the knowledge of God’s perfect love for us that we can even begin to love others. It is only when we realise that God loved us when we still sinners and keeps on loving us in spite of our faults and failures, that we begin to understand how great the love of God is for us. It is with that same love that we are commanded to love others with.

It is that love that helps us be gentle, humble and patient. It is that love that acknowledges people’s faults yet still loves them. After all, it is these characteristics that God shows towards us and so much more. His love is the standard by which we should love others with.

In addition to God’s love, we have been given the Holy Spirit as a gift to lead and guide us in our daily lives. It is His power that enables us to love with Jesus’ love and His power that binds us together in peace. This is why it is so important to be filled daily with the Spirit. Moreover, let us God daily reveal more of His love towards to us, so that we can understand how much we are loved by God and love others with that same love. Unity in the body comes from being united in Christ’s love and being empowered by the Holy Spirit.

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Living Our Lives For Christ

21st October

“Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.”

Ephesians 4:1

Paul’s heart for God’s church to grow in Spiritual maturity is clear to see throughout all of his letters. No matter where he was, in prison, in chains or free, he was always encouraging God’s church to deepen their roots in their relationship with Him and live lives set apart for Christ’s glory.

That same call is as true today and is was when this letter was written. Just as the church in Ephesus was a beacon of light in a dark and hopeless world, so it is with today’s church too. The security we have is that all victory comes from Christ. It is Christ who gives us the strength to persevere, to stand firm and live lives worthy of our calling we have received from God. Furthermore, each of us, through God’s grace, have been given a personal calling by God, equipped for the cause with His gifts and commissioned by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Let us live for Him in all we do by His grace and power. Let us lean on God daily for our strength and the Holy Spirit for guidance. We can, through the power of Jesus’ resurrection, live lives worthy of the call we have received.

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He Is Able

20th October

“Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think..”

Ephesians 3:20

God is powerful. By His very words He created the earth and has sustained ever since the beginning of time. God heals, He saves and sets the captives free from the chains of the enemy. There is no problem to great and no need to complex that He in His power cannot make right. He keeps the planets in the universe in orbit; the sun that gives light and warmth to our day and the moon that lights the night sky. God is mighty.

Yet….! He has chosen our hearts to make His home. Moreover, it is God’s power through us that displays His wondrous works. Paul tells us that God can accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think through His mighty power at work in us. Let us not get confused. This is God’s power in us not our power at work. God, in His grace, allows us to be channels and vessels for His power on this earth. His power through us, displays His magnificence and all is for His glory.

This is a great responsibility and privilege; that we may be used by our mighty God for His glory. As He lives in us and moulds us into Christ-like beings, our will becomes aligned to His, and our prayers become more strategic for the extension of His kingdom and the display of His power. It is then that God, through our Holy Spirit breathed prayers, accomplishes more than we could even think or ask… not just a little bit more but infinitely more.

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Christ’s Home In Our Heart

19th October

“Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And you may have the power to understand, as God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is.”

Ephesians 3:17-18

It is an amazing phenomenon that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, lives in our hearts. Yet what does living in our hearts mean? Of course it doesn’t mean that Jesus has built a physical house in our hearts, although that imagery could be used to explain it’s meaning.

In Ancient times the heart was the root of all feeling, emotions, your will, your conscience, and the centre of your being. It was the base of a person’s existence. It is from the heart that the issues of life flowed. When Jesus summarised the whole of the Old Testament Law for the inquisitive pharisee in Luke 10:27, His command was that one should “Love the Lord your God will all your heart….”

Jesus making His home in our hearts implies a complete and total surrender to Him. It means that we have opened up the deepest parts of our lives and invited Jesus to come and take the reigns, take control and lead our lives, our emotions, our conscience and the centre of who we are. Furthermore, His love in us, not only guides us in all of the above, but opens our understanding to who God is too and how much He loves us. He gives us the power to understand His heart for us! That is grace!

Today will you open your heart for Him? Will you allow Christ to make His home in your heart?

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The Unlimited Storehouse of God’s grace

17th & 18th October

Weekend Edition

“I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with His inner strength through His Spirit..”

Ephesians 3:16

Although this devotion is taken from the beginning of the year, it is a timely reminder again of how much grace God has for us. His glorious and unlimited resources are readily available for all who ask or seek.

Did you know that there is no end to God’s grace? Sometimes we feel like we have used up His resource of grace for the day or we feel like we are running on a reserve tank of grace. God is not a petrol station that once we are empty of His grace, we go, fill up and carry on with our lives until we are empty again.

This is not how He wants us to live. There is good news. God has “unlimited resources” of grace and mercy and they are glorious. He gives strength when we are weak, grace when we don’t deserve it, and love that is unconditional and all these are unlimited all of the time. There is no end to them.

Despite our circumstance, despite of sin, God wants to give you inner strength this day out of His “glorious, unlimited resources”. Let His Spirit empower you. This is not an excuse to live reckless and purposefully sinful lives but is an encouragement that when we fall or feel empty, His resources lift us up and grounds us in His dynamic victory.

Today you can have as much of Jesus as you want!!

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God’s Mysteries Revealed In Christ

16th October

“And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus.”

Ephesians 3:6

We are free. We are no longer bound by the chains of sin and the works of the enemy. We have been bought with the precious blood of Christ. So often, many people are afraid to accept Jesus in their lives out of fear of being bound to a ‘religion’ or a ‘set of rules!’ Yet nothing could be further from the truth. When we accept the Good News of Jesus’ death and resurrection, His love, forgiveness and acceptance, we are set free. Yes, there may be guidelines along the way to help us, but rather than them being rules, they are reminders of who we are in Christ and how privileged we are to be chosen by Him, not because of our works but because of His grace. We are set free to live in all of His blessings and ‘riches inherited by God’s children.’

This was God’s plan from the beginning of time; that all men may be joined equally in the worship of Him, all being united and part of the same body through Jesus. If we fast forward to the book of Revelation, we are reminded by John, that ‘every nation and tribe and people and language’ stood in front of the throne and worshiped the King of Kings together along with all of God’s angels. That picture may be a foresight in the future, but it is also achievable on this earth.

Let us put aside our cultural differences, our judgmental attitudes that divide instead of unite, and let humbly come before Jesus Christ, the Lord of Lord’s and Ruler of all in unity because of God riches and grace towards us. We who believe, are all part of the same body. God’s promise is available to all who believe… Everyone is accepted…It’s not to late to accept His free gift!

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Jesus The Cornerstone Of The Church

15th October

“So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s Holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together we are His house, built on the foundations of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus Himself..”

Ephesians 2:19-21

Because of God’s unlimited resources of love and grace, we are accepted into His family. It doesn’t matter if you are black or white, Asian or European, Jew or non-Jew alike, we all are accepted into His Kingdom. There is no age limitations, no qualifications, no interview needed, no paperwork to fill out, and no VISA’S!! It is a free ticket, available to all those who accept Jesus’ wonderful work of the cross. We can move from being strangers and foreigners to CITIZENS of God’s Kingdom. Moreover, not just citizens but family members dwelling in Heavenly places with Jesus.

Being accepted, despite of who we are or what we have done is only because of the grace of God. Yet this gives a great deal of responsibility to the ‘church’ to live this out in reality. If God accepts all people, then we as His church, should do the same. Even as Paul was writing this letter to the church in Ephesus, the problems of segregation between Jews and Gentiles was very real. Yet as Paul writes, there is no longer a separation because we are one family and one church. As Paul said ‘together we are His house’.

Let us not just make that sentence good reading but work together to make this a reality. If the kingdom of God has no requirements to enter then let us make church a place like that too. Church should be a reflection of Heaven. A place were all are welcomed to worship God as one body, with Jesus being the cornerstone, the One that unites us all in love. We are saved by grace and grace alone as a free gift. That same gift is available to all people regardless of their background or how they look.

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Jesus’ Position In Us – Our Position In Him

14th October

“Now He is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else – not only in this world but in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and had made Him head over all things for the benefit of the church.”

Ephesians 1:21-22

We can be comforted by knowing that Jesus’ work of salvation in our hearts and in our lives is not due to our ‘good works’ but completely out of the grace and love of Jesus Christ; It’s His free gift towards mankind – lest we should boast in our own good deeds. There is nothing we can do to make God love us more and nothing we can do to make God love us less. He, unconditionally pours His grace and kindness over us all the time. The writer of Romans tells us that in fact it was ‘while we were still sinners that Christ died for us!’

Yet not only does God allow us into His kingdom, to enjoy the benefits of His redemption and the unlimited resources of love, kindness and grace, but He also lives in our hearts, helping us to work out our salvation, helping us know Him more and guiding us into all truth.

Moreover, Christ in us is the hope of glory. When Christ was raised from the dead, Father God exalted Him above all things, above all powers and gave Him all authority, in Heaven and on Earth. Therefore when we call upon the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, many will be saved, set free, healed and delivered. Yes, that same Jesus, who was there at the beginning of time, who defeated sin and death, who has all power and all authority, lives in YOU because of the ‘incredible wealth of grace and kindness’ towards us. It is this reason that we have hope, because He lives, we live!

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God’s Rich Love

13th October

“But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with Him in the Heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.”

Ephesians 2:4-6

Sin separates us from God. When Adam sinned and rebelled against God in the book of Genesis, sin entered the Human race. God is holy. Because God is holy, He cannot tolerate sin. Yet there is and was nothing we could do to fix the problem Adam started. We became Spiritually dead. Dead to the fact that we were separated from God because of our sin. Dead, because the wages of our sin, was death.

Yet when Jesus was resurrected from the dead, that all changed. When God raised Jesus from the dead, the power of hell was broken. The shackles that sin so tightly bound around us were loosed. The burdens that weighed us down were set free. When Jesus was raised to life on that 3rd day, so were and are all who put their trust in Him. We now have access again to a pure and holy relationship with Creator God, just as Adam and Eve had before the fall. Our relationship with God is no longer that of enemies but friends. Moreover, because we are are saved and alive in Christ, we are seated with Him in Heavenly places. Our position has been elevated. We are His own children, purchased with His life and perfected by His resurrection. We share in His inheritance and live in His very blessings.

What can we do to earn it….nothing!! It is a free gift to accept. It is only by God’s grace and nothing else that we are saved. Accept it, live in it and share the good news with others.

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Oh, The Deep Deep Love Of Jesus

12thOctober

 

“So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. He has showered His kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.”

Ephesians 1:6-8

It is always a timely reminder to remember that we are purchased with the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s only Son. It never gets old. It is always the right time to hear it. It is what gives us hope. Jesus Christ died for our freedom from sinful bondage and slavery. Period.

Yet it was not a burden for God. It was His joy. It is because He is ‘so rich in kindness and grace’ that He purchased us with His own blood. Moreover, there is nothing we did to deserve it. Just grace, love, and kindness and more grace, love and kindness. So much so, that Paul uses the analogy of a shower to paint the picture of God’s kindness towards us. A shower analogy highlights the continual pouring, drenching and cleansing work of God’s grace in our life. There is no end to it. It pours over us and through us, cleanses us from our sin and still keeps drenching us with more grace, love and kindness.

That is worth praising God for..right?