devotionals

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Give To Caesar What Is Caesar’s

28th July

“He saw through their trickery and said, “Show me a Roman coin. Whose picture and title are stamped on it?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. “Well then,” He said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.””

Luke 20:23-25

The Pharisees, time and time again tried to catch Jesus out, make Him look like a fool, or at best get Him arrested by the Romans for breaking their laws. In a similar situation, the Pharisees again approach Jesus to catch Him out however this time under the disguise of some spies pretending to be honest men.

The ‘honest men’ approach Jesus with flattering words that seemed contrary to their malicious intentions of trying to have Jesus arrested. They pose a question to Jesus to try to trick Him, “Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar?” If Jesus answered yes then the religious leaders could have stirred up a storm and put Jesus in the same bracket as the pious and greedy tax collectors. They could have accused Jesus of putting burdensome demands onto the Jewish people who already felt that taxation from the Romans was unfair and unjust. However, if Jesus answered no, then the religious leaders could have reported Jesus to the Roman governors for inciting rebellion among the Jews. Perhaps they could have even accused Jesus of being a religious zealot trying to set His people free from the Roman authority.

However, Jesus in His supreme wisdom answered, yet again, with such intelligence and authority. His answer, “to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s”. Amazing. In answering this way He silenced His critics, didn’t incite rebellion and actually taught both the people listening and today’s reader an important lesson.

We need to obey the law of the land and pay our taxes faithfully (for in doing so we honour God) and give to God what belongs to God (after all, everything we have is God’s anyway). Jesus’ wisdom yet again silenced the Pharisee’s shrewd tactics and yet again, Jesus set us an example of how we too should live our lives, purely, justly and righteously.

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God’s Love Is Powerful

27th July

“Praise the Lord, all you nations. Praise Him, all you people of the earth. For His unfailing love for us is powerful; The Lord’s faithfulness endures forever. Praise the Lord!”

Psalm 117

There is no greater love than the love of Father God. In fact the Psalmist tells us that God’s love for us is POWERFUL. It is because of His powerful love that sin was defeated. It was His powerful love that resurrected Jesus from the grave. It is His powerful love that saves even the most hardened criminals. Because of His powerful love towards us we too can have an intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father. Even when we rebel against Him, His powerful love calls us back into His arms. He is faithful and just always. His faithfulness endures forever.

It is because we are loved with such a powerful love, that we can praise Him, we can love Him too, and we can love others with the same love He loves us with. His powerful love breaks the chains of addiction, fear and bondage. His powerful love is liberating. He powerful is constantly re-uniting broken families and bringing hope and justice to the world. Let us unite in praise to the Lord, because of His Powerful love towards us and because of His faithfulness.

Start your week in praise. Accept His Powerful love. Love God. Love yourself. Love others.

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One Body In Everything

25th and 26th July

“If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honoured, all the parts are glad. All of you are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it..”

1 Corinthians 12:12-13

Going to church on Sunday, shouldn’t be a religious checklist activity so that when you go home, you can tick the box that says ‘I went to church’. Church attendance is also not just for personal growth. It is not ‘what can I get from church’ but rather it should be ‘what can I give’, or ‘who can I serve’? There is something special about the body of the Christ. There is a deep connection. A church is often made up of many people from different walks of life, different cultures, different age groups and different spheres of influence. Yet all are united in the common factor of worshipping the same God together.

Furthermore, we are all there to support each other; There to lift each other up when we are feeling down, rejoice with each other when there is good news, encourage one another, cry with each other, pray and journey with each other. Our passion should not only be to see the lost come to Christ but to see our brothers and sisters running the race well, not wavering in faith and when life deals a hard blow, be there to support and pick them up. We should be the first to rejoice with our brothers and sisters when someone has received good news. We should praise God together.

Unity pleases God, helps us grow and stops the work of the enemy in our lives. The enemy lives to thwart unity. Yet in the power and because of the power of the Holy Spirit, we can live in love and harmony, bearing our brother’s burdens or rejoicing with our sister’s honour!

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United In Christ

24th July

“The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves and some are free. But we have all been baptised into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.”

1 Corinthians 12:12-13

Yesterday I watched such a moving video. A local school choir in Stanton Island performed their end of the year piece to one of their teacher’s recently diagnosed with cancer. It was such an emotional video, as the words in the song included promises of getting through the struggle together as a class, of not leaving the teacher on her own and being her strength when she was weak.

It brought home the truth that Paul writes about here in 1 Corinthians 12, about the necessity to get alongside one another in faith, acknowledging that we are all one body even though we are different. We may be separate body parts but we are all connected. No body part is more important than another. As individuals who are part of the body, we need to realise what our uses are and how we can be best used to support the other members of the body. Furthermore, the glue that holds us all together is the Holy Spirit living in each of us. Even though we may be different we are one in Christ.

Let us not forget the power of unity, the power of togetherness and the power of holding each other up in times of hardships. Let us lean on Christ for our strength and our brothers and sisters for support. After all, one match by itself is easily put out, yet a bunch of matches together is much harder to put out. Let us support each others flames and burn bright for the Kingdom of God.

A world united by Christ in the Power of the Holy Spirit is not an idyllic fantasy. It should be every Christian’s dream and lived out in reality. May our hearts align to the unity of Christ.

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The Word Of God Hidden In Our Hearts

23rd July

“How can a young person stay pure? By obeying Your word……I have hidden Your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

Psalm 119:9, 11

God’s word is essential for our growth in Him and for our personal growth too. It contains messages of hope, direction and focus. It is a source of strength when we are weak. It is a daily encouragement to our souls. It’s words can convict us and it stands as direction manual that leads us to Jesus Christ. Through the Holy Spirit’s revelation, each day we can learn something new as our eyes are opened to God’s thoughts through His word.

Yet one of the greatest attributes of God’s word is that it is a double edged sword that it used to defeat the enemies scheming plans and evil ways. David comments in Psalm 119 that the way to keep pure and holy, the way to have our hearts and minds fixed on the Lord constantly, is to have God’s word in our hearts daily. To have something hidden in your heart doesn’t suggest that it is a well kept secret that only pops up every now and again. It is the continual meditation on His word. It is reading His word everyday, not in a religious habitual practice but in knowing that it is our source of trust in God.

Our challenge is not just read or meditate upon it but to live it out in our lifestyles, obeying God’s commands and allowing His word to impact every part of our lives. Let us daily spend time with Lord, asking the Holy Spirit for His revelation and allowing His word to increase our love for Jesus and trust in Him.

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Fix Your Mind On Good Things

22nd July

“And now dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

Philippians 4:8

Yesterday we talked about God being on our side, in every situation fighting for and with us, to overcome our problems and to be our hope in hopeless situations. In the same trail of thought, this passage in Philippians presents itself in a similar fashion but worded in a different way.

So often we can feel like the fight to keep our mind pure and holy is a draining war that we are loosing daily. Yet Paul’s advice to the church in Philippi was not to battle in their own strength but to let Jesus, the One who defeated sin, fight for us. Jesus has already won the battle. All we need to do is abide in that victory. When we try to control our minds in our strength, we not only fail but it becomes so draining each day.

Paul’s fatherly and pastoral advice is a reminder today, that although we must allow Jesus to fight for us, it is important to think about all the good things that God has done, is doing and will continue to do. When a thought comes into our mind contrary to what is good, lovely, admirable, true, pure and lovely, let us call on the Name of the Lord, to purge it out, send it back to where it came from and re-align our thoughts to what it of God. By meditating on the scriptures and letting them soak into our souls, we allow God’s goodness to permeate through our bodies. By guarding our ears and eyes from meditating on what is not good, it stops any foothold the enemy can have in our lives.

Let us think on God’s goodness, dwell on His faithfulness, meditate on His word, guard our hearts, minds and ears and allow Jesus’ victory to bear fruit in our lives.

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God Is Good All The Time

21st July

“O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.”

Psalm 86:5

Newsflash…. God is on your side. He is not against you, He not sitting in Heaven pointing His finger at you waiting for you to slip up and to condemn you. On the contrary, God is your number supporter. He is willing you on in life’s race, ready to pick you up if you fall, answering your prayers, and carrying you when you have no energy left. If your image of God is not any of these, then you have misunderstood who God is.

There is a reason why God is constantly referred to as Abba Father in the bible. Why? Because He is our loving, kind and gracious Father. Even when situation may look bad, look like there is no hope, God is still working in the background to bless you and make a way out for you His child. He is so good. He is full of unfailing, unwavering and unending committed love. His love never runs out even if you behave badly, even if you make wrong choices or even if you you don’t want to believe it. His Fatherly heart is always caring for His children. His love is just always there, our job is to accept it.

Know this day that whatever you may be going through, God is on your side, willing you on, ready to forgive and pick you back up again, free you from bondage and is leading you to His Son Jesus Christ. God’s love is consistent and best of all, free!! As the old saying goes, God is good all the time and all the time God is good. He never changes even when our circumstances do. Put your trust, hopes and desires in Him and let Him transform your life.

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Sacrifices Bigger Than Ourselves

20th July

“We know what real love is because Jesus gave up His life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters!”

1 John 3:16

Have you had the experience of knowing that something you do is going to cost you in time or money, only to find out after that actually what you did was so appreciated and really touched someones heart? Furthermore have you ever experienced sacrificing what you think is so great to only find out, what you invested impacted the Kingdom of God greatly?

Quite often we think of the cost to ourselves rather than the blessing of others before agreeing to do something for someone else, and quite often when we way up the cost to ourselves and the sacrifices we have to make, it often hinders us from helping someone financially or with our time. Yet if we are to look at the greatest sacrifice of all, we realise that what Jesus gave up for us, turns our sacrifices into insignificance. Jesus sweated blood in the garden of Gethsemane because He knew the greatness of the sacrifice He was going to make for us. He even asked God to take the cup away from Him, yet because of the love He has for us, preserved to death, even on the cursed cross.

However the outcome of His sacrifice was that we can live in peace with God forever and no longer be slaves to sin, fear and death but be called sons and daughters of the most High God. We are set free by the sacrifice He made for us. There too awaits a huge blessing if we to humble ourselves and start putting others needs before our own. Yes there may be a huge sacrifice to make, but the blessings that await cannot be measured. Let Jesus be our perfect example.

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The Maker Of All

18-19th July

Weekend Edition

“Praise the Lord from the Heavens! Praise Him from the skies! Praise Him, all His angels! Praise Him, all the armies of heaven! Praise Him, sun and moon! Praise Him, all you twinkling stars!…..Let every created thing give praise to the Lord, for He issued His command, and they came into being!”

Psalm 148:1-5

Recently I read on the news that a satellite had finally got close to the planet Pluto. It set off 9 YEARS ago and travelled a staggering 3,500 MPH. If you think a plane travels around 600-700 MPH and takes around 24 hours to reach Australia from the UK, then you can only begin to realise what a seriously big universe we live in. Moreover, you begin to realise how great God is and begin to understand His time frame is completely above and beyond ours.

If it takes us humans 9 years travelling at 3,500 MPH to reach a planet inside our own solar system, think about how much bigger our God is, who flung the stars and planets into space and by His very breath created life! Seriously just take a minute to think about that…. God is so much more bigger than us, yet He is so personal He even knows how many hairs are on your head, so close He can even feel your heart beat.

Join in with creation and praise the God who made it all. Give your burdens to Him. Trust Him. Trust His judgements. Trust His timing and know that He is great!!

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The Wedding Feast: No-one Knows The Time of His Return But Be Ready

17th July

“Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, ‘Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!” But he called back, “Believe me, I don’t know you!”

Matthew 25:11-12

Yesterday we looked at this wonderful parable in Matthew 25 explaining what it will be like when the Bridegroom (Jesus) comes back for His bride (the church). We finished by looking at the consequence of the five foolish bridesmaid’s actions, in not bringing extra oil for the wedding procession.

It has been said many times by unwise people that we can live wreck less and sinful lives, enjoy the pleasures of sins and deny Jesus until the last day on our death bed where we can repent and all will be well. Unfortunately this is not true and is further highlighted by the warning in this parable. We do not know the time of Jesus’ return (moreover it is not for us to know) but what we can learn from this parable, is that we are to be ready at all times.

Being ready doesn’t just mean outwardly looking ready because even the five foolish brides were dressed correctly. It is not idle waiting but rather it is preparing our hearts daily to meet our maker. We should expectantly be waiting for Jesus’ return, keeping short accounts with both God and man, loving our neighbours and loving God. Being ready is a mind set that helps us to make right decisions. It reminds us not to be friends with sin, but to hate sin. It reminds us to love God with all our heart, mind, and soul.

There is nothing worse than going to church all your life, looking the part, doing your religious duties but living for yourself the rest of the time, if when you reach the Bridegrooms house expecting to enter but instead, the door is locked and His answer is “I don’t know you!”

We are warned to be ready and to keep watch. Remember Jesus is only a prayer away. His love and mercy are new each day, unending and limitless.