Daily Devotions for Difficult Days [234] Summing up 1 John

Todays devotion is written by Mike Loveridge

Over the last few weeks, we have slowly made our way through the letter of 1 John. Whilst it's great to break a book down and look at it section by section, it is also important to remember that John wrote it as a single letter. I would encourage you now to go back and read through the letter in one go. As you do, you will see John’s big picture whilst being reminded of the little pictures we have looked at on our journey through the book. 

 

The overall feel of the book of John is one of a warm conversation that comes from a pastoral heart. John’s overall purpose of the letter is to bring his readers back to the fundamentals of the Christian faith. He wants to remind them of what being a true believer is and along the way he also warns them of those who will try to lead them astray. The apostle in this letter talks in very definite terms and deals with certainties, not merely possibilities. Through this letter John reveals to us the character of a true believer in very simple terms, leaving us in no doubt as to how our lives should look if we truly follow Christ. John’s desire is for people to know God, have assurance of their faith and display God’s love to others.

 

John communicates three key themes in this letter, which are faith, obedience and love, and he also shows us how these leads to happiness (1:4), holiness (2:1) and assurance (5:13). The message is this: a proper belief in Jesus produces obedience to His commands; obedience then leads us to a proper love for God, for fellow believers and the wider world. John has emphasised these themes over and over again, almost to the point of excessive repetition but that is because they are so important!

 

At the centre of Christianity is love. First, it is God’s love for us - in the greatest display of love ever known He sent His Son into the world to die in our place. John reminds us that it's not us who love God first, but He who first loved us. The rest of the Christian life is then a response to that love. In response to that love, we put our faith in Jesus, love God and seek to live in obedience to His plan and purpose for our lives. Then the second part of the response is to love as we have been loved. That means a sacrificial, costly love that holds nothing back. That is not easy to do but when it comes from a place of response to the love we have received it comes naturally. 

 

John has taught us that as we love God first and foremost, we will grow in our faith and relationship with Him. As we grow in our relationship with God, we will then love others better. The result of both loving God and loving others is that it confirms our salvation. The ‘good works’ of love are out-workings of salvation and prove our identity as children of God. Just as you can often tell whose parent a child is by their looks, so as we love others we look like God and show our identity as His child. 

 

Love is at the centre of Christianity and it leads to a life of happiness as we serve others, holiness as we love God and in obedience become more like His Son and assurance as we know our future is safe and we have the certain hope of one day seeing God face to face. 

 

Spend some time asking God to increase your love for Him and your love for others.

 

Prayer for today 

 

Our loving Heavenly Father,

 

Thank you that you first loved us and held nothing back to redeem us from our sin. We thank you for Jesus. Father, today may we be reminded afresh of your great love for us and may it move us to love others as we have been loved. 

 

We ask that you bring to mind and into our lives today those who you desire for us to display your love to. 

Thank you for the assurance we have that we can be called children of God. How we long for the day when we see you face to face but until then we ask that you use us as your willing servants to reveal Christ to those around us. 

 

We pray all this in Jesus’ name,

Amen

 

 

Song for today

You can listen and sing along here.

 

All my attempts to be satisfied

Were vain and empty

Until the moment you rescued me

And your love filled me

 

My soul sings

Now my soul sings

 

What blessed assurance

I’ve found in you

I’ve found in you

I won’t be shaken I will not be moved

How steadfast your strong hand

Is keeping me

Is keeping me

I won’t be shaken I will not be moved

Oh blessed assurance

 

No other love that I’ve ever known

Compares to you God

No other love that I’ve ever found

Has done what you’ve done

 

Ever my anchor

Ever my strength

Ever my portion

And all I need

Ever my healing

Ever my hope

Ever the truth that leads me home

That leads me home

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash 

Daily Devotions for Difficult Days [233] Our Certainty

 

Todays devotion is written by Mike Loveridge

This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

 

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

 

If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.

 

We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them. We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

 

Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.

1 John 5:6-21

 

 

The overall theme of John’s letter has been to show as that through a love for God and a love for one another we can be certain of our salvation. In this closing section John points out for us serval facts that as true believers we can be certain of. Benjamin Franklin in 1789 wrote “nothing is certain but death and taxes”. Of course, Franklin would have known there is more in life we can be certain of and as humans we have a deep desire for knowledge and to be certain of things. That is why John finishes this letter with an encouragement of what as believers we can be certain of (not that this is an exhaustive list).

 

Jesus is God (v6-10)

Verses 1-5 of this chapter emphasise the importance of trusting in Jesus, and the consequences when we do - we become children of God and overcome the world. John then uses these four verses, 6-10, to explain why we can trust Jesus. When Jesus walked this earth people called Him a liar, a deceiver, a prophet and failed to acknowledge who Jesus truly was. So how can we be so sure? John assures as that we can trust in Jesus because He is more than just a man. He is truly God. John points us to three signs that Jesus is God. First is water, pointing to when Jesus was baptised and the Father spoke declaring Jesus as His Son. The second is the blood, pointing to Jesus’ death when again the Father spoke audibly to Jesus (John 12:28) as well as witnessing through the supernatural darkness, the earthquake and the temple curtain being torn. The third witness is the Spirit and John tells us we can trust the Spirit because ‘the Spirit is truth’. Whilst Jesus’ baptism and death are past events and witnesses, the Spirit is still a present witness to us today. The Spirit testifies to the heart of believers (Romans 8:15-16) but the Spirit also speaks through the word of God to teach us (1 Corinthians 2:13). Jesus is far more than just a man. He is God. To deny that is to deny the gospel. If Jesus was merely a man then the cross achieved nothing.

 

Believers have eternal life (v11-13)

Next, John shows us that God not only bears witness to His one and only Son Jesus but He also bears witness to every individual that through true faith we have eternal life. Verse 13 tells us that we may ‘know’ that we have eternal life. It is not something we have to wonder about or worry over. If we truly have faith in Jesus, have repented of our sin and put Jesus as Lord of our lives then we are guaranteed eternal life. What an amazing gift! Having this promise of eternal life is a comfort to us Now because it is a reminder that we belong to God. Jesus, when He left His disciples, said to them, “I am going to prepare a place for you”. If you are a real follower of Jesus then He is preparing a place for you and what an amazing place it will be!

 

God answers prayer (v14-15)

What an encouragement to be reminded that Jesus is God and that we have an inheritance as God’s children that will never spoil or fade. But John isn’t finished there. He now comes on to tell us that Jesus is also there to help us with the problems and struggles of daily life. When Jesus walked this earth, He helped so many people as He travelled around preaching the good news and although Jesus no longer walks this earth He is still in the business of helping His people. Just as an earthly father takes care of the needs of his children, so our heavenly Father takes care of our needs. How does this happen? John tells us to approach God in prayer and to ask for what we need. Yet we don’t approach fearfully and doubtful of getting a response. No! John tells us to approach freely, with confidence and sure that God will answer. Of course, there are conditions we must first meet. First, is that we must have true repentant faith in Jesus. We cannot one minute live a life of deliberate sin and then in the next breath turn to God and confidently approach Him, John says in 1 John 3:21-22 that we must have a heart that does not condemn us. By that he means exactly this, that we cannot live with unconfessed sin. Instead we must live abiding in Christ in love and obedience. The second condition is that we must pray in God’s will. Our will is not God’s will so as we pray we would do well to remember the line of the Lord’s prayer, ‘Thy will be done’. God does not promise to give us everything we want but everything we need and what we think we need and what God knows we need will at times be different. So always begin prayer by asking God to bring our will in line with His. Come to God confident in prayer and pray big prayers because we have an almighty, powerful God who answers. 

 

Christians don’t practice sin (v16-19)

I have already touched on this but as a true follower of Jesus you cannot live a life of habitual sin. When we come to Jesus in faith, we put sin to death and we keep on putting it to death. Yes, as Christians we will continue to sin but not intentionally and we should be sinning less and less as we grow in our faith. Daily, each morning, put sin to death and live for Christ. 

 

 

Prayer for today

 

Our loving and gracious Father,

 

We thank you for your word that teaches us about who you are. Thank you for this book of 1 John that has shown us your great love for us and your desire for us to imitate that love as we love others. We ask today that you will help us to love others sacrificially as we have been loved. Will you draw to our attention those who you are calling us to reach out to today and may we respond in obedience to the leading of your Spirit within us. 

 

We thank you for the certainty with which we can live. The certainty that we are your children through faith in Jesus and that one day we will see you face to face. Help us each day to put to death the sin that so easily entangles and live lives that bring glory and honour to your name. 

 

Thank you that we can approach you with confidence because of the work Jesus did for us upon the cross. 

 

I pray all this in the glorious name of Jesus our Saviour,

 

Amen

 

Song for today

You can listen and sing along here.

 

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea,
A great High Priest whose name is Love,
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on his hands,
My name is written on his heart;
I know that while in heav'n he stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart,
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

 

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Saviour died
My sinful soul is counted free;
For God the Just is satisfied
To look on him and pardon me,
To look on him and pardon me.

 

Behold him there! The risen Lamb,
My perfect, spotless righteousness;
The great unchangeable "I AM,"
The King of glory and of grace!
One with himself I cannot die,
My soul is purchased by his blood;
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ, my Saviour and my God,
With Christ, my Saviour and my God!

Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash

Daily Devotions for Difficult Days [232] Daily Light

 

Daily Devotions for Difficult Days [231] The 10 Commandments - an epilogue. Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel.

Today's blog was written by Martin Davids a member of Manor Park Church 

"Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel."

When someone promises us something wonderful, we can hardly wait for that promise to be fulfilled. If the promise is something good, we want it now! We really don’t like to wait. And yet the very best things are worth waiting for.

We can divide redemptive history into two phases; before the cross and after the cross or looking forward to the Messiah and after the Messiah. A long, long time ago, God made a promise to his people, Israel. In fact, he made many promises to them. But God’s most important promise—the promise all his other promises depended on—was that he would send the Messiah, the Anointed One, who would save them from the difficulties of living life in this world broken by sin.

This, the last of my blogs from the series on the 10 Commandments, forms something of an epilogue to what we have been looking at.  You see God’s people were under the burden of the Law; for up to that point, it was all they had been given by God.  Not that the Law itself was a burden but that fallen humans could not keep it and were constantly breaking it.  Even those who attempted to do so could not be justified by works of law (Galatians 2, Romans 3) rather those whom the Bible speaks of as Righteous were justified by their faith in the coming Messiah.  

The Messiah would not be an ordinary person, but God’s own Son. The people he made the promise to had to wait, putting all their faith in the One who made the promise. Next week we begin the season leading up to Christmas called Advent, which means coming. During Advent, we remember the thousands of years God’s chosen people anticipated and longed for the coming of God’s salvation through the Messiah. Then, at Christmas, we celebrate the fulfilment of the promises God made. Jesus—the Saviour God had promised—was born to us. No more waiting. Jesus came.

The writings of the prophet Isaiah inspired the hymn “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” Long before the birth of Jesus, Isaiah prophesied about the Saviour God would send, implanting in the hearts of God’s people a longing for Immanuel (Hebrew transliteration; into Greek is Emmanuel). Hundreds of years before Jesus was born to the Virgin Mary, Isaiah wrote, “The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’)” (Isaiah 7:14).

Though it was hard for the people in Isaiah’s day to imagine or understand how God would actually become a human, they began to long for this Messiah who would be “God with us.” They looked forward to the day when God would fulfil all his promises by coming to live with them. We identify with them in their longing for God to fulfil his promise to send Jesus when we sing “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. “To understand what this song is saying, we have to understand some of Israel’s history.

Remember that at one time God’s people were slaves in Egypt and God brought them out, led by Moses. They wandered in the wilderness for forty years before finally entering into the land God had promised them. But God’s people sinned and rebelled, and after a while, one part of the country was carried off into exile to Assyria and another to Babylon. Living far away from home, the people of God longed for him to come and rescue them from their captivity.

As they sat in exile, many undoubtedly remembered the prophetic words of Isaiah. A child was coming who would save Israel—the Lord’s presence in the flesh. We sing of their longing in the first verse: “O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, that mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!”

When we sing the verse “O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer. . . ,” it reminds us of Zechariah’s prophecy: “The morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death” (Luke 1:78-79). In other words, Zechariah likened the coming Messiah to the rising sun, shining light upon the dark world (cf. John 1:1-5).

”Oh come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer our spirits by Thine advent here; Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death’s dark shadows put to flight. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.”

This song stirs in us a longing for Christ to come to fulfil his promises. I know some may say it’s too early to mention the ‘C’ word however the words of this hymn prepare our hearts to truly celebrate Christmas when it comes.

We are to prepare for Christmas by purposefully nurturing in our hearts and in our homes a sacred longing for Christ to come. This is why I think it is appropriate to sing this song before December and the Advent season as singing this song reminds us that the birth of Christ was not a surprising turn of events in history; it was the long-awaited fulfilment of God’s promise to his people.

As we sing it, we are encouraged that as he came before, he will come again! When he comes again, we’ll hear a shout from the throne of God, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them” (Revelation 21:3). When he comes back, all the longings we sing about will be fulfilled. Finally, and forever we will enjoy Emmanuel—God with us.

Song for the day.

We’ve read about it so lets hear/sing it. I’ve indulged myself a little here as I have posted two versions of this song.  I was going with the traditional choir then I heard this bluegrass version with another song at the 3:20 mark. The link is found here.

Then I heard this more traditional version sung in both English and Hebrew and filmed in Israel.  Seeing the landscape brought home to me the reality of those who lived there in the past and longed for the coming of Christ. The link is found here.

Prayer for the day.

Father,

You are the God of history and time is in your hands, so we know that you can be trusted to accomplish everything you intend in the world and in our lives in your perfect timing. Like your people of old, we are waiting for you, God, to fulfil all your promises. And because we remember how you fulfilled your promise to send Jesus, we know that you will fulfil all your promises to us.  As we prepare our hearts to remember the birth of your Son let us be ever grateful that we no longer live in darkness but by your mercy and calling have ‘seen a great light’ and have been drawn into your kingdom by Emmanuel.

We ask that you hear our prayers for we ask is Jesus’ name.

Amen.  

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Daily Devotions for Difficult Days [230] Daily Light

 

Daily Devotions for Difficult Days [229] Love God First

 

Todays devotion is written by Mike Loveridge.

This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

 

We love because he first loved us.  Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.  And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

 

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

1 John 4:17-5:5

 

 

Up to this point John’s emphasis on love has been on our love for each other, but now John turns his attention to the love a believer has for God. This is the first love that we must have because we cannot love others as we ought to if we do not first love God. As Christians then we should be growing in our love for God as we grow in maturity in our faith. This is the starting point of us loving others as we are called to. 

 

John points out some amazing outcomes of knowing God’s love in our life. First, it drives out fear. Fear is the result on impending punishment. But this is something we no longer need to experience! Because of God’s love for us that sent His Son to die on the cross and pay our debt, if we love God, God’s wrath has been removed from us. We have nothing to fear! As it says in Colossians 2:14, our debt has been nailed to the cross. Second, knowing God’s love gives us confidence about our future. As we do the good works that our love for God and others results in, it gives us assurance of our salvation and certainty of seeing God face to face one day in heaven. 

 

When love for others comes from a love for God, the sacrificial love that we will end up giving to others no longer feels burdensome but joyful. Just as God’s love for us caused Him to not count the cost so too for us. As we love God and act in response to that love, we will not count the cost of loving others. The true Christian life that flows out of a love for God is one of joyful obedience. 

 

The Christian life is also one of freedom. John here reminds us that the victory is won. Remembering this helps us to not count the cost here because our future is certain already. We do not need to earn it or save up for it because in Christ we already have it. Knowing this helps us to live with an open hand towards God as well as an open hand towards others with the resources God has blessed us with in the here and now. The more we grow in our love for God the more we trust Him with our needs and battles in life. The more we trust Him the less we hold dear to earthly things and the freer we are to bless others with what we have. 

 

A love for God like this needs cultivating, it doesn’t just automatically happen. All good relationships take work and effort. God put the effort in to redeem us. Will you put the effort in to grow in your love for God? That effort can’t secure your salvation because that is complete in Christ! But it is a right response to your salvation. Our love for God grows in stages and we must cultivate it. First, we put our trust in God and love Him not the world. That love then begins to influence our lives, as we read the Bible and spend time in prayer. Our priorities, actions, decisions will all change. It will often be a gradual change rather than a big leap, but big leaps can happen. As our lives change in this way, our love for God deepens and grows further and we increase our knowledge of who God is. The more we know God the better we love Him and the better we love Him the more we become like Him. It’s a wonderful, cyclical process. 

 

What an amazing life of love God has called us to. First towards God and then towards others. The place to begin this love is in God’s word and time with God in prayer. 

 

Prayer for today

 

Loving Heavenly Father,

 

We thank you for your great love for us that redeemed us and forgave us for all the wrong we have done. Thank you that your great love for us meant you didn’t count the cost but sent your son to die for us. 

 

We ask today that you will remove the distractions of this world and all that takes our love away from you. Increase our love of you day by day. As we grow in our love for you and become more like you, may we love others as you have loved us. 

 

Thank you for all your goodness and faithfulness to us. 

 

In Jesus’ name we pray,

 

Amen

 

Song for today

You can listen and sing along here.

 

Loved before the dawn of time,
Chosen by my Maker,
Hidden in my Saviour,
I am His and He is mine,
Cherished for eternity.

 

When I’m stained with guilt and sin,
He is there to lift me,
Heal me and forgive me;
Gives me strength to stand again,
Stronger than I was before.

 

So with every breath that I am given
I will sing salvation’s song;
And I’ll join the chorus of creation
Giving praise to Christ alone.

 

All the claims of Satan’s curse
Lifted through His offering,
Satisfied through suffering;
All the blessings He deserves
Poured on my unworthy soul.

 

Singing glory, honour, wisdom, power
To the Lamb upon the throne;
Hallelujah, I will lift Him high.
Hallelujah I will sing

 

Stars will fade and mountains fall;
Christ will shine forever,
Love’s unfading splendour.
Earth and heaven will bow in awe,
Joining in salvation’s song.

 

 

Stuart Townend & Andrew Small Copyright © 2007 Thankyou Music (Adm. by CapitolCMGPublishing.com excl. UK & Europe, adm. by Integrity Music, part of the David C Cook family, songs@integritymusic.com)

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

Daily Devotions for Difficult Days [228] God is Love

 

Todays devotion is written by Mike Loveridge.

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognise the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

1 John 4:1-16

 

John is at risk of starting to sound a little bit like a broken record since this is the third time in this short letter that John has focussed on love. But John is far from being stuck in a rut! He is inspired by the Holy Spirit to write so much on love in order to give us a deep view into it. 

 

The first time John wrote on love he told us that love for fellow believers is proof of fellowship with God (2:7-11). Then on the second occasion he told us that love is proof of sonship (3v10-14). This third time around we get right down to the foundation of love and discover why it plays such a big part in being a true follower of Jesus. In this passage we discover that love is valid proof of our fellowship and sonship because “God is love”. At the core of the very being and nature of God is love and so if we are united with God through Jesus we ought to share God’s nature. So, if God’s nature is love then love is a perfect test of our spiritual health and life. Just as a navigator uses a compass to establish where they are, so as Christians we can use love as a navigator to establish where we are at with God. How much we display love to those around us shows us how much we are like God. A person who knows God and has been born again will respond to God’s nature and love. As a compass naturally points north so a believer will naturally practice love because love has been shown to them by God. It is not a forced love but a natural response to the nature of God being expressed towards us. 

 

Three times in this passage John encourages us to love one another and he supports each of these by giving us three foundational facts about God. They are:

 

1)     What God is – God is love. As Christians our aim and desire is to become more like Jesus each day and so because God is love we should seek to be growing in love for others each day. 

 

2)     What God did – He sent His only Son. God doesn’t just speak words of love but He shows His love in His deeds. The greatest display of love was Jesus’ death upon the cross. It involved sacrifice, cost and action. God shows us that true love is not passive or inactive but that it makes the first move. God loved us first and showed it by sending His Son to die in our place. 

 

3)     What God is doing – God is abiding within us. God didn’t just demonstrate His love in one moment in time through the death of Jesus, but He continues to demonstrate His love for us through His Spirit who He has put within us to dwell with us. The power of His Spirit within us guides us, protects us, reveals God to us. The Spirit is a great gift from God that reveals the love of God to us and then enables us to show love towards others.

 

God’s love for us is astounding and a totally free gift that we did not deserve. At times, loving others is hard - particularly when it involves sacrifice of something we hold dear. Remember God held nothing back to demonstrate His love for us and we were far from lovely when He did it. God calls us to love the unlovely as well as the lovely because He loves us. Take time today to ask God to show you where and how you can love others more.

 

Prayer for today

 

Loving Heavenly Father,

 

We thank you for your great love that you lavish upon us. Thank you that whilst we were far from you, you loved us first.

 

We come to you today and ask that through the power of your Spirit at work within us you transform us more into the likeness of Jesus. Help us to love as we have been loved. You stopped at nothing to show your love to us. May we be ready and willing to sacrificially love others to show you to them. 

We ask that in all we do we may bring glory and honour to your name.

 

In Jesus’ name we pray,

 

Amen

 

 

Song for today

You can listen and sing along here.

 

Here is love, vast as the ocean,
loving kindness as the flood,
when the Prince of life, our ransom,
shed for us his precious blood.
Who his love will not remember;
who can cease to sing his praise?
He can never be forgotten
throughout Heaven’s eternal days.

On the mount of crucifixion
fountains opened deep and wide:
through the floodgates of God’s mercy
flowed a vast and gracious tide.
Grace and love, like mighty rivers,
poured incessant from above;
and Heaven’s peace and perfect justice
kissed a guilty world in love.

Let me all your love accepting
love you ever all my days,
let me seek your kingdom only
and my life to be your praise.
You alone shall be my glory,
nothing in the world I see;
you have cleansed and sanctified me,
you yourself have set me free.

Photo by Emmanuel Phaeton on Unsplash

Daily Devotions for Difficult Days [227] Daily Light

 

Daily Devotions for Difficult Days [226] The Ten Commandments – Summing it all up

Today's blog was written by Martin Davids a member of Manor Park Church

 

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

 The Ten Commandments – Summing it all up

Two men are visiting the doctor for a health check-up.  In the first surgery, the doctor gives a clean bill of health but hands him a large syringe and advises him to inject himself daily to “Improve your health.” 

Not understanding how daily injection could possibly improve his health, he is bit sceptical. Finally, he decides to see if the claim is true. After inserting the needle into his arm, he notices its rather large size, and afterwards he has an ache in his arm that restricts his movement slightly. Consoling himself with the promise of better health, our first patient decides to give it a few days.

Because he’s the only one injecting himself, some of his friends start smirking at him, which only adds to his humiliation. Unable to stand it any longer, he throws the syringe and medicine away. Disillusionment and bitterness fill his heart because as far as he is concerned, he was told a lie.

The second man visits another surgery and again gets a clean bill of health and is also handed the syringe, but this doctor also provides the reason.  A new strain of the plague has broken out – it is 100% fatal.  This injection will save your life.

Our second patient gratefully injects himself. He doesn’t notice the size of the needle nor that slight numbness in his arm. His mind is consumed with the thought of what would happen to him if he didn’t take that daily injection. When other people laugh at him, he is not shaken because he knows what is coming.

We have spent the last few weeks looking at the law – the 10 Commandments.  Why?  Well, to quote John Stott from the first blog in this series, “We cannot come to Christ to be justified until we’ve first been to Moses to be condemned. Once we have gone to Moses and acknowledged our sin, guilt and condemnation, we must not stay there. We must leave Moses and go to Christ.”

Far too often in our lives and in our evangelism, we rightly urge people to be ‘saved’. And there may have been a time when that would simply have been enough.  At that time there was enough of a Christian worldview for people to have understood that.  However, that is not the case anymore.  We live in a post Christian (even anti-Christian) society and when you urge people to be saved they honestly would ask “Saved from what?”.

I fear that much of the message being heard by the lost today (thankfully not from us), is “Come to Jesus and he will make your life better.”  However, this shallow form of evangelism is like the first patient in our story. They ‘give Jesus a try’ but when it becomes uncomfortable for them or when friends ridicule, they quickly walk away partially because they have never heard the full message of the Gospel.

We need to take our evangelism examples from Jesus and the Apostles. They preached repentance first.  So, we likewise, first need to preach the bad news before people are ready to hear the good news.  Like the second patient – we warn ‘of the wrath that is to come.’ That way, when troubles come they stand firm, knowing from what they have been saved.

Now don’t misunderstand me.  I am not suggesting that we are all ‘fire and brimstone’ all the time.  (However, a healthy dose is not a bad thing from time to time as Jonathan Edwards discovered when he preached “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”)

Rather, by asking a series of questions, you can guide them through a few of the 10 Commandments asking if they have kept them.  Usually, they will come to the conclusion by themselves that they stand guilty before a Holy God.  You have taken them to Sinai; you have held up the mirror of the law.  Now you can take them to Calvary and show them grace. 

When, through an examination of the demands of the law and a knowledge that he stands condemned, a repentant sinner’s heart cries out “What must I do to be saved?”  Now you can show them the great love and condescension of God.  How at the cross both justice and mercy meet.  How the Father, in Christ is satisfied, and for those to come to Christ they can be forgiven.

Is this the ‘silver bullet’ in which I will have 100% success in evangelism? No! However, you can rest assured that you have preached the full message of the Gospel and with Paul say “Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.” (Acts 20:26-27).  We have a duty to proclaim the full message of the Gospel – we leave the results to God.

Song for the day. 

This isn’t a song but as I mentioned it earlier, I think every Christian should a least once in their lives have listened to Jonathan Edwards “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”.  It is about an hour long but it will be one of the best hours you can spend – so I urge you set aside that hour, turn off the TV, put the phone on silent, open you Bible and just listen.  You will be challenged and you will be blessed.  Here is the link. 

Prayer for the day.

Father,

Thank you for your Law to us that we see so clearly in Scripture. We’re saddened because there’s so much shallow understanding of these great holy truths. When we understand them, we understand the meaning of salvation. When we understand them, we understand that You have given us a gift that is beyond comprehension. We have violated Your Law. We understand that. We should be and are under a curse. We would remain under that curse forever were it not for the Lord Jesus who covered us with a robe of his righteousness. Lord, let us not neglect of Law. Help us to implement these things and grant us that we can awaken sinners, that we can bring them to fear the One that they naturally do not fear, that they may flee to Christ who waits with open arms to receive them. 

In Jesus name. 

Amen

Photo by Soul devOcean on Unsplash

 

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