Daily Devotions for Difficult Days [175] Daily Light

 

Daily Devotions for Difficult Days [174] God alone is God

Today's devotional is written by Martin Davids, a member of Manor Park Church

And God spoke all these words:

² “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

³ “You shall have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:1-3)

 

Around 18 months ago a very popular American preacher told his congregation that the 10 Commandment don’t apply to Christians, going as far to say that Christians needed to ‘unhitch’ themselves from the Old Testament.  Now it’s quite startling to hear it stated so bluntly and many of us would rightly identify that as erroneous teaching but unfortunately too many Christians live lives that support this on a practical level.  That is, we give little consideration to the ‘law’ saying we are now ‘under grace’ but this makes as much sense and the person who goes to withdraw money from the ‘cash-point’ without checking the balance first, with the attitude “Well if I don’t look I don’t need to feel guilty about going a little over.”

The First Commandment

Before God gave the 10 Commandments the people of Israel had been in Egypt for over 400 years.  They would have been witnesses to the idolatry around them and it is not inconceivable that they had incorporated some of that into their worship of the one true God.  Therefore, it is not surprising that the first Commandment reminds the people what God had done for them in rescuing them from slavery and that He alone is God.

Getting the foundation right

Sceptics will often claim that all the world’s religions are basically the same and even well-meaning unbelievers think that all religions lead to the same God.  However, as any builder will tell you, unless you get the foundation of a building right nothing else you do with that structure will be right.  It is the same with religion.  If you get the wrong God no matter what else a religion may say or how high its moral code may be, it simply is not right. I have found myself having to explain this to my daughter in regards to cults and ‘isims’.  As far as her 8-year-old mind understands they talk about Jesus and say they believe the Bible and I have to explain that at a foundational level if the God they believe in is not the God who has actually revealed Himself in the pages of the Bible it is not God at all.

I understand how this statement jars on the ears of modern man but this is the message of the first Commandment.  God is God and there are no others and you are to be a people who are dedicated to the one true God who is.     

Not laying a foundation at all.

Of course, we don’t have to have a false god to violate the first Commandment the Westminster Larger Catechism rightly identifies the denial of God in the same category.  That is, atheism is equally grievous to God.  In Roman 1 Paul identifies this as foolishness “²¹ Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

²² Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,”  Now this is not a slur against their intellect rather it is a moral indictment - an indication of their wilful rebellion and unwillingness to see what is obvious from the created world.  Like the naughty child who puts his fingers into his ears so as not to hear the instructions from his patents thinking that will allow him to do as he pleases, so many (not all) atheist choose to block out the evidence for God so that they can continue to do as they please.  For they realise that if the acknowledge the existence of God then that brings with it certain moral obligations.  C.S. Lewis wrote, “An atheist can't find God for the same reason a thief can't find a policeman.”

A poorly maintained foundation

We are all aware of the verse in Rev 3:15-16 ““ I know your deeds, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”

These verses are often misinterpreted and a little background helps.  Laodicea was a large and prosperous city, but it it lacked its own natural water supply. Citizens relied on a network of aqueducts to deliver its water from miles away. Unlike Laodicea, the nearby cities of Hierapolis and Colossae both had prolific natural water sources. Hierapolis enjoyed luxurious natural hot springs, and was renowned for its soothing warm baths and natural spas. Colossae had a magnificent natural cold spring. Meanwhile, the water piped to Laodicea would have been tepid, discoloured and unpalatable by the time it arrived.

So this analogy to the Laodicean believers does not correlate with our modern culture’s, “hot=good and cold=bad,” formula. Instead, it illustrates that both hot and cold extremes are desirable! God wants His followers to be helpful, healing Christians like the therapeutic hot water of Hierapolis. And God desires lively, spirited followers, like the refreshing cold water of Colossae. Both are far better than being spiritually uninspiring, or even distasteful, like the lukewarm water at Laodicea.

Why do I mention this as a violation of the 1^st Commandment?  It is because we have put another love ahead of our love for God.  After all, why would anyone be lukewarm about the things of God if he didn't love something or someone else as much as or more than he loved God? If we are lukewarm towards God, it is because something is competing with God in our hearts.

Summing it up

I will keep this short. To believers it should be obvious that God alone is God and the object of our service.  Let us not be like the ancient Israelites who could so easily be drawn away to serve gods who were not God.

Song for the day

The tune for this classic and well-known hymn can be found here

Holy, holy, holy!
Lord God Almighty
Early in the morning
Our song shall rise to Thee

Holy, holy, holy!
Merciful and mighty
God in three persons
Blessed Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy!
Though the darkness hide thee
Though the eye of sinful man
Thy glory may not see
Only Thou art holy
There is none beside Thee
Perfect in power, in love and purity

Holy, holy, holy!
Lord God Almighty
Oh thy works shall praise Thy name
In earth and sky and sea

Holy, holy, holy!
Merciful and mighty
God in three persons
Blessed Trinity
Oh God in three persons
Blessed Trinity!

Prayer for the day    

Our Holy and Majestic God.

We confess that we do not always live as if there are no gods beside you.  Help us to recognise you in all that we say or do.  Let us be a beacon to others who are following after other ‘gods’ those of their own making.  May they see in us the light of the one true God and the only way of salvation.  Lord protect our hearts and affections from becoming lukewarm and of little use in your kingdom.  May we not leave our first love and if we drift bring us back to you.

We ask all this through the powerful name and mighty intercession of Jesus

Amen   

Photo by Sean Thomas on Unsplash

 

Daily Devotions for Difficult Days [173] Daily Light

 

Daily Devotions for Difficult Days [172] Loving Discipline

 

Todays devotion is written by Mike Loveridge.

I wonder what thoughts come into your head when you hear the word ‘discipline’. Maybe it makes you think back to your childhood and how your parents disciplined you, or maybe you are currently a parent and it makes you think about how you discipline you own kids. Or perhaps it conjures up the idea of extreme authority, legalism or maybe even boredom. However, on reflection, this need not be the case as the Bible shows us that God’s view of discipline is very different and in fact brings freedom and growth in our relationship with him. The aim of a parent in disciplining a child, and as fallen sinners we sometimes get this wrong, is for the good of the child; to help them to learn and stay safe. When a child almost runs into the road and you tell them off, you don’t do it because you are angry with them but because you want them to stay safe. 

 

Our verse for today is Hebrews 12:10b -11 and it says:

“God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. 

Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace 

for those who have been trained by it.”

These verses highlight some key points that we can take away about discipline. Firstly, discipline if for our good. God doesn’t do it because he is an angry God but because he is a loving God who has our best at heart. But notice the realistic nature of the verse. Just as a child cries when a parent tells them off, the discipline of God upon his children doesn’t seem pleasant at the time but painful. Through that pain, we need to remember that God is working for our good. This is comforting when we are struggling with being disciplined, that there is no expectation that it is going to be a walk in the park. 

 

That being said, it is also showing us, as Romans 5:3-5 also demonstrates, that God has a greater interest in our character, than in our comfort. God uses discipline to refine and purify our character and He shapes us more and more into the likeness of His Son, Jesus. Through discipline we are made holier, which means we are made more like God since he is Holy. Becoming more like God shows us that discipline is life-changing and life-giving. 

So, our prayer must be that despite the difficulty, we must continue to persevere, as it is promised that discipline is fruitful, holding on to the fact that God teaches us the right way because he loves us and wants the best for us.

Proverbs 10:17 says, “Whoever heeds discipline shows the way to life”. We can all find freedom through discipline, not because of who we are, but because of who the discipline is making us more like – the ever-present, living God, who made all of creation. What could be more worthwhile?

Take time to reflect today… Where in your life is God currently disciplining you to make you more like Christ? Do you have an open heart to God’s discipline? Ask God to reveal areas of your life you need to be more disciplined in.

 

 

Song for today:

Use this song as a pray to invite God into your life and make you more like Himself. You can listen and sing along to it here.

 

Beautiful Lord, wonderful saviour
I know for sure, all of my days are held in Your hands
Crafted into Your perfect plan

 

You gently call me, into Your presence
Guiding me by, Your Holy Spirit
Teach me dear Lord
To live all of my life through Your eyes

 

I'm captured by, Your Holy calling
Set me apart
I know You're drawing me to Yourself
Lead me Lord I pray

 

Take me, Mould me
Use me, Fill me
I give my life to the Potter's hands
Hold me, Guide me
Lead me, Walk beside me
I give my life to the Potter's hand

 

 

Prayer for today:

 

Loving heavenly Father,

 

We thank you for your great love and care for us. Thank you that you use discipline and hardship in our lives for our good and to make us more like your son, Jesus. During the hardship, will you please help us to keep our eyes fixed upon you and to persevere, knowing that it will produce a harvest of righteousness and peace in our lives. 

 

We pray today that you will show us where we need to put sin to death. Will you gives us teachable hearts and minds?

 

We pray all this in Jesus’ name,

 

Amen

Photo by Hello I'm Nik 🎞 on Unsplash

Daily Devotions for Difficult Days [171] God's Masterpiece

Todays devotion is written by Mike Loveridge

Assistant Pastor of Manor Park Church

Psalm 139:14

“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; 

your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

 

 

I recently read the following story and it made me think of the verse above from Psalm 139. 

 

There was once a young boy who built a model boat. He spent hours and hours cutting, gluing, painting and polishing. Days and weeks went by as he took care over every little detail, every delicate stroke of the brush. He loved his boat. He took it out to sail on the river every weekend and he was proud to tell admirers who commented on it, that he had made it from scratch! With his very own hands!
 
One day, something awful happened. As he was sitting back and watching the elegant ship glide over the water, a huge gust of wind came and swept it away! Before he could stand to his feet the boat was gone, it was way down the river and out of sight. The boy couldn’t even express his dismay.
 
A month or two later, the boy was walking into town and ventured past a toy shop and something in the window caught his eye. He could hardly believe it! His boat was in the display with the label “Sailing Masterpiece”! He ran in immediately and cried to the shop keeper, “That’s my boat! You found my boat!”
“What do you mean, little lad?” he replied, “The boat in the window?”
“Yes, that’s my boat! I made it myself!”
“Well I’m afraid you’ll have to buy it if you want it, that boat is for sale.”
 
The boy reached into his pocket and pulled out all the money he had, but it wasn’t even half of what the boat was priced at. After pleading and pleading he decided to go back home. It took him weeks to save up the money, even longer that it had taken him to make it! But the boy was determined. The moment he had the full amount, he ran to the shop, and to his delight he saw that it was still in the window. Not a moment was wasted in making the purchase, and as he walked off holding the ship in his arms, he whispered “I made you, I bought you, you are twice mine.”

 

This story speaks of our relationship to God in such a real way. In the creation story of Genesis 1, as God is creating, He describes His work as good. Then straight after creating mankind He describes His creation as very good. Mankind is the pinnacle of God’s creation and it’s what turns creation from good to very good. Each and every human being is God’s handiwork created in His image. Just as that boy poured love and care into creating his boat, God poured His love and care into us as He created us. 

 

But then, just like the boat, we got lost. We are swept away by the desires of this world and end up far from our Creator, lost with no home. Don’t despair though! Just as the boy went searching for his boat, God came searching for us in the person of his Son, Jesus. When Jesus found us, He didn’t have the problem of not having enough money to purchase our salvation but it did cost him a huge price, his life. God made us, we got lost but then He won us back again through the cost of His one and only Son.

 

Being a masterpiece created by God is our identity. We are God’s sons and daughters, the pinnacle of his creation. That is how we should view ourselves but all too often it is easy for us to make judgements about ourselves, to be slaves to constant comparison with those around us. I am sure that there has been a time when you have looked at yourself – perhaps in the mirror, perhaps in the workplace, perhaps as a friend or parent or spouse - and called yourself something quite a bit less than a “masterpiece”. The more we look at ourselves through the lens of comparison and pick apart each tiny detail, the more we can find fault with ourselves and wish we were different.
 
How different would our lives be if we decided to look at ourselves the way God looks at us; if we tried to imagine the love that he feels for someone he not only created, but bought back? The Bible says that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made!” (Psalm 139 v 14). The God of the universe spent time and effort intricately designing every part of you! He put thought into your appearance, your ability, your likes and dislikes, your passions, your dreams. It is NOT too far to say that you are a masterpiece! You have been “created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for you to do” – not only are you MEANT to be the way you are, made exactly as you have been, but you have a PURPOSE as well!
 
So, the next time you think to yourself that someone else could do it better, or you wish you were different, think about these verses. Think about how God sees you. He made you, he bought you, you are twice his.
 
“You were bought at a high price; do not become slaves of human beings.” – 1 Corinthians 7:23.

 

Song for today:

 

Is “My Creator King’ you can listen and sing along to it here.

 

You who made the mountains and the sea
Measured out the universe and You made me
Echoes of the voice that called the worlds to be
Reach throughout the ages and now speak to me
You're my Creator King

 

You who made the valleys and the skies
Displayed Your love on far horizons and before my eyes
You who lit the stars and set the dawn in time
Called them all by name and now You whisper mine
You're my Creator King

 

Who am I that You are mindful of me? Yeah
Who am I that You sent Your love on me?
You're my Creator King

 

You who made the darkness and the light
Sun and moon to watch the day and guard the night
The hand that stretched the Heavens like a canopy
Reaches down to cover and watch over me
You're my Creator King

 

 

Prayer for today:

 

Loving heavenly Father,

 

We thank you that you are the awesome, powerful Creator of the universe and yet you intimately love and care for us. Thank you that you provide for our every need and especially for our need of salvation. We could never have earnt our way back, so we thank you for your grace and mercy expressed through Jesus. 

 

We thank you that we are your handiwork and we ask today that we will be strengthened by your Holy Spirit to do the good works that you have prepared for us. Good works that display Christ to the world around us. 

 

May we always know we are loved by you.

 

In Jesus’ name we pray,

 

Amen 

Photo by Photo- to-Canvas.com on Unsplash

Daily Devotions for Difficult Days [170] Daily Light

 

Daily Devotions for Difficult Days [169] The Ten Commandments

Today's Blog is written by Martin Davids; a member of Manor Park Church

Over the next few weeks I intend write (DV) a series of blogs on the 10 Commandment and their importance to the Christian today. Before we begin let us look briefly at the importance of the law.

Whilst it is true that the Reformation emphasised grace over law, the law of God was never rejected by the Reformers. John Calvin, himself wrote of what has become known as the “Threefold Use of the Law” in order to show the importance of the law for the Christian life.

 

The Law is a mirror.

The Reformers often spoke of the law of God as a mirror.  This mirror reflects two things.  Firstly, the perfect character of God – why is something virtuous? It is because it reflects the very nature of God.  When we speak of an attribute of God, for example love, holiness, compassion– this is not some external standard to which God measures up to – rather we are saying this is what God IS.  Conversely, sin is not just breaking an arbitrary rule that God made up, rather it is going against the very nature of God. 

How many times have you looked in a mirror only to notice a smudge of dirt? Often our first response is to say to a friend “Why didn’t you tell me that was there?” The implication being that if they were a good friend they would have told you and saved your embarrassment.  This is the second use of the Law.  God uses the law as a mirror to show us our sins and imperfections.  It is very easy to deny our sins when we can’t see them but when the mirror of the law is held up to our faces it reveals the truth.    

The Law brings knowledge of sin.

Many years ago I was teaching an R.E. lesson and I was talking about sin and a young lad around 9 told me that he couldn’t sin because “he was not a Christian.”.  I made sure to tell him that Christians did not have a monopoly on sin. This amusing misunderstanding happened because the world does not understand sin.   In Romans 7:7 Paul tells us that if it were not for the law we would not know what sin was.  ^“What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”  We human beings have an amazing ability to be blind to our own sins.  This is fantastically illustrated in an evangelism technique made popular by New Zealand evangelist Ray Comfort known as the ‘Good Person’ test.  Ray asks people in the street “Are you a good person?” to which they inevitably answer “Yes.”  He then takes them through the 10 commandment to show that they have broken every one and are not a good person at all.  The law then, tells us what is sinful and holds us to that standard.

 

The Law is our Schoolmaster

As a child of around 10, I feared going into year 6 because of the teacher who was known to be fearsome and strict. I even vaguely remember trying to convince my mum to have me transfer to the other class just to avoid him.  Yet as a man there is not one teacher I remember with greater respect and fondness than that year 6 teacher.   Martin Luther said, “The first duty of the gospel preacher is to declare God’s Law and to show the nature of sin, because it will act as a school master and bring him to everlasting life which is in Jesus Christ.” John Wesley who said, “Before I preach love, mercy, and grace, I must preach sin, Law, and judgment.” Charles Spurgeon said, “They will never accept grace until they tremble before a just and holy Law.”  J.C. Ryle, “People who will never set their faces decidedly toward heaven and live like pilgrims until they really feel they’re endanger of hell. Let us expound and beat out the Ten Commandments and show the length and breadth and depth and height of the requirements of the Law. This is the way of our Lord in the Sermon on the Mount. We cannot do better than to follow His plan.” John Stott wrote, “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.” 

Summing it up.

If we tell the lost sinner that they need to be saved they could rightly ask “Saved from what?” This is where the law, as our schoolmaster, teaches us something. By studying or meditating on the law of God, we attend the school of righteousness. We learn what pleases God and what offends Him. It teaches us what sin is and how serious it is.  That God is holy and we are not and that we stand condemned before him without hope or recourse.  Then the Gospel applies the balm of a Saviour who died to take our sins and give is His righteousness that we might stand justified before God.    

 

Song for the day

A very simple song extolling the Law of the Lord taken from Psalm 19:7-11 Song "The Law of the LORD is Perfect" by Esther Mui.  It can be found here

⁷ The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
⁸ The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
⁹ The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.
¹⁰ They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
¹¹ Moreover, by them Your servant is warned;
In keeping them there is great reward.

 

Prayer for the day

 

Our loving Father,

 

We thank you for your law, a light to guide us in this darkened world.  May we come to love your law, to bury it deep with our hearts that we will not sin before you.  Lord as we seek to meditate upon your Word I pray that it will convict us, challenge us, comfort us and bring us ever closer to you. 

Father we acknowledge that we cannot keep the law so we thank you for sending your Son who kept the law perfectly and died on our behalf exchanging His perfect life for our filthy rags that we might become the righteousness of Christ.

With that thought let us live every day seeking to be more like our Saviour who loved you law and was obedient to death even death on a cross.

Amen.   

 

 

 

 

     

 Photo by Sean Foster on Unsplash