Daily Devotional

In Christian thought, the title "God of hope" is used to describe and emphasise God's role in providing assurance and confidence in his plans. This title is often associated with the biblical verse Romans 15:13, which states, "Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul is asking the God of hope to fill these believers with all joy and peace as they put their trust in Him. In other words, he is not asking God to simply dump the blessings of joy and peace into their hearts without cause. He is requesting that as these believers trust in God, so their faith will bring joy and peace to their hearts. In other words, help them to keep believing so that they can experience joy and peace.

What a fantastic prayer to ask God for others or for ourselves. What more could we wish for other believers than to be filled with joy and peace and abounding in hope?

Hope prays for God’s "will to be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10) and then seeks to be God’s agent of change!

One writer says: "Biblical and Christian hope does not mean living in the clouds, dreaming of a better life. It is not merely a projection of what we would like to be or do. It leads us to discover seeds of a new world already present today, because of the identity of our God, because of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This hope is, in addition, a source of energy to live differently, not according to the values of a society based on the thirst for possession and competition. … As we embark on this Life, we are led to create signs of a different future here and now, in the midst of the difficulties of the world. To discover the seeds of renewal that will bear fruit when the time comes.”

Heavenly Father, thank You that I have access by faith into Your amazing grace, and have been enabled to stand firm in the evil day. I praise You that my hope is based on nothing less than the Person and Work of Jesus Christ, Who cannot and will not disappoint. Thank You that Your gracious love has been poured into my heart in great measure through the indwelling Holy Spirit, as a guarantee of Your precious promises. In Jesus' name, AMEN.

Daily Devotions

In Isaiah 40:31 says, “But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” What ann amazing blessing.

A church ran into difficulty when the elders decided that one man was shouting too much in church. They thought he might disturb the very distinguished guests the church was suddenly now having. So the elders called the pastor aside and notified him that this shouter must be refrained. The pastor told them "I won't tell him to stop shouting, but I will go with you if you wish to tell him". So, soon off they went to visit this farmer.

As they drove down the dusty road to his house, they found him ploughing his huge field with his mule near the fence line. One elder spoke for all of the others, stating how they had voted to ask him to hold the shouting down when in the worship service and the potential problem it would cause.

The old farmer quickly stated, "See that beautiful wife standing over there? God gave her to me. See that beautiful farm house? God gave us that house. See those beautiful children playing in the yard? God gave us those children. See all of this beautiful land? God gave me this land. Now, hold my mule while I shout!”

O Lord, you have indeed carried me on your wings.

By your mercy, you have delivered me from sin and death.

You have set me free from their bondage.

Once I was a slave, but now I am free to be your servant.

Thank you, Lord.

Even as I seek to live faithfully as a child of the new covenant,

help me to live each day by grace.

May I continue to ride on your wings

as you guide and empower me to serve you in every aspect of my life.

All praise be to you, gracious Lord,

because you carry me on your wings.

Alleluia! Amen.

Daily Devotions

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:29

Our friend Frederick Beuchner used to speak about the ‘seeing heart’ He also shared that there was a great teacher of the Old Testament at the seminary where he studied for the ministry years ago. He recalls, “One thing he told us that I have always remembered is that we really can't hear what the stories of the Bible are saying until we hear them as stories about ourselves we have to imagine our way into them, he said. 

We have to imagine ourselves the prodigal son coming home terrified that the door will be slammed in his face when he gets there. 

We need to experience having the breath all but knocked out of him by the great bear hug his father greets him with before he can choke out so much as the first word of the speech he has prepared about how sorry he is and how he will never do it again.  This kind of regret is unlike the way Sunday after Sunday you and I say in our prayers how sorry we are and how we will never do it again. 

We have to put ourselves in the place of the good thief spread-eagled in the merciless sun saying to the one who is dying beside him, "Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingly power," the way at the heart of every prayer we have ever prayed or will ever pray, you and I are also saying it in one form or another.”

As in our text, unbelief colours many of the resurrection encounters. Fear and shame fill the disciples. They cling to one another behind locked doors. The risen Lord comes bearing his wounds, in his side, in his hands and feet. He does not blame or chide. Instead he speaks words of peace, and gives them his best gift, his Holy Spirit.

Jesus, 

We dare to believe in the things we cannot see: 

In your love for us 

In your love for those around us 

In the hope of eternity. 

We dare to believe that another world is possible 

That suffering can end 

That we can play a part 

In the kingdom to come. 

We dare to believe in heaven on earth 

In the light breaking through 

In justice made new 

In the blessing that you love for us. Amen

Daily Devotions

We read in Ephesians 3:20-21, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

Immeasurable blessings refers to benefits or positive things that are so great that cannot be fully measured or described, and this is particularly true in describing God's love, grace, and provision. It implies a vast and overflowing abundance.

We often complain about things in life. The economy. Our jobs. The state of this world. We often feel empty and robbed of "the good things in life." But the Apostle Paul saw things differently. Instead of complaining about what he didn't have, he understood and rejoiced in what he did have. Riches in Christ. 

Charles Haddon Spurgeon, near the beginning of his little book All of Grace, tells the story of a minister visiting poor woman he intended to help. He had money in hand to give her, but when he knocked on door, she didn’t answer. Later he found out why: she thought he was the landlord coming to collect rent!

Spurgeon then said: “Now it is my desire to be heard, and therefore I want to say that I am not calling for the rent; indeed, it is not the object of this book to ask anything of you, but to tell you that salvation is all of grace, which means free, gratis, for nothing.” Well, that’s my object this morning: I just want to tell you about “the immeasurable riches of God’s grace.”

In “The Hollow Men,” poet T. S. Eliot describes a desolate and despairing world reeling after the first world war. He opens with the lines 

We are the hollow men 

We are the stuffed men Leaning together 

Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!” 

In this world, rife with sadness and loss, it is easy to feel hopeless and utterly emptied out. However, those of us who know Christ and are known by Him experience the opposite. For when we are in Him, we experience the immeasurable fullness and begin to understand just what’s possible in the power of the Holy Spirit. 

God, you are glorious, generous, and gracious. You have blessed me physically and spiritually with so many wonderful touches of your grace. I praise you for your faithfulness. I thank you for your grace. I exalt your name above every other name and hold it as a personal treasure. Please be glorified in me — my speech, actions, influence, and life. I promise you, O God, to see great things through your power in my life and the lives of your people. In Jesus' name, I pray with expectation. Amen.

Daily Devotions

In Genesis 27:28-29 we find these words, “May God give you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness — an abundance of grain and new wine. May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed.”

These verses record Isaac's blessing of Jacob, which was intended for Esau. This promises Jacob a life of abundance and authority, including the dew of heaven, the fatness of the earth, and the subordination of nations and his brothers. It also states that those who bless Jacob will be blessed, and those who curse him will be cursed, echoing God's promise to Abraham. 

As a minister was addressing a group of men, he took a large piece of paper and made a black dot in the centre of it with a marking pen. Then he held the paper up before the group and asked them what they saw. One person quickly replied, “I see a black mark.” “Right,” the preacher replied. “What else do you see?” Complete silence prevailed. “Don’t you see anything other than the dot?” he asked. A chorus of noes came from the audience. “I’m really surprised,” the speaker commented. “You have completely overlooked the most important thing of all—the sheet of paper.” 

Then he made the application. He said that in life we are often distracted by small, dot-like disappointments or painful experiences, and we are prone to forget the innumerable blessings we receive from the hand of the Lord. But like the sheet of paper, the good things are far more important than the adversities that monopolise our attention.

In spite of Jacob’s deception the promises of God are still sure. As we see later in the unfolding story of Jacob’s life along with God’s blessing comes responsibility to be that blessing.

Lord of every blessing Bless me I pray so that I may be a blessing, use my hands with Your power so that I may be a channel of Your grace in every step I take. May I lead people to know more and more of Your love and care as I love and care. May Your grace always be with us, guiding and protecting us, today and always. Amen

Daily Devotions

We are all familiar with the saying, “it is more blessed to give than to receive” that actually comes from Acts 20:35 where  Paul quotes Jesus. Elsewhere, Jesus talks about such a blessing as, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38

Recently, scientific research has found a neurological link between gratitude and generosity. 

“In a sense, gratitude seems to prepare the brain for generosity. Counting blessings is quite different than counting your cash, because gratitude, just as philosophers and psychologists predict, points us toward moral behaviours, reciprocity, and pay-it-forward motivations. Apparently, our brain literally makes us feel richer when others do well. Perhaps this is why researchers have observed that grateful people give more. Gratitude might be good for us—but it is good for others as well”

Money and material goods can be a blessing or a temptation, and that’s why God urges us to be good stewards of all that he gives us. In addition, good stewardship is not only about what we give in church; it’s also about the generosity we show to people in need. Generosity is not an occasional activity but a lifestyle founded on the gospel: “Freely you have received; freely give,” says the Lord (Matthew 10:8).

We are happy not when we accumulate treasures on earth, but when we gather them in heaven; not when we keep everything for ourselves, but when we give freely for the good of our neighbour.

Give me, O God, a merciful heart, willing to share with people in need. Remove selfishness from me so that I may be a generous giver. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Daily Devotions

There is something about the person who is content with their circumstances regardless of how good and bad their current situation. 

The story is told about a pilot who always looked down intently on a certain valley in the Appalachians when the plane passed overhead. One day his co-pilot asked, “What’s so interesting about that spot?” The pilot replied, “See that stream? Well, when I was a kid I used to sit down there on a log and fish. Every time an airplane flew over, I would look up and wish I were flying... Now I look down and wish I were fishing.”

It is always tempting to think that others have it better than we do, and that if we just had “a little more” everything would be fine. But contentment cannot be achieved by increasing possessions. Nothing will ever be enough.

The Psalmist put it this way, “Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God. He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them — he remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free.” Psalm 146:5-7

G K Chesterton once wrote, “True contentment is a thing as active as agriculture. It is the power of getting out of any situation all that there is in it. It is arduous and it is rare.”

Contentment can be described a state of satisfaction and peace with one's circumstances, and is often regarded as a blessing of the new life in Christ. It can lead to a more joyful and less anxious life by shifting focus from what is lacking to what is present. 

Dear God, thank you for the many blessings in my life. Help me to cultivate a heart of contentment, even when faced with challenges. Guide me to find joy in your presence and appreciate the good things you have given me. May I be grateful for what I have and not desire more than what I need. Help me to trust in your provision and find peace in your unwavering love. Amen 

Daily Devotions

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17

James in his letter is addressing the concern that some believers had while going through trials, wondering whether God was tempting them. By no means, says James. God is the absolutely holy Creator of all that is good, with no hint of darkness or fickleness. He will always be characterised by his hand of blessing, both with regard to his character and with regard to his relentless desire to give good gifts to his children.

At age 16 Andor Foldes was already a skilled pianist, but he was experiencing a troubled year. In the midst of the young Hungarian’s personal struggles, one of the most renowned pianists of the day came to Budapest. Emil von Sauer was famous not only for his abilities; he was also the last surviving pupil of the great Franz Liszt. Von Sauer requested that Foldes play for him. Foldes obliged with some of the most difficult works of Bach, Beethoven, and Schumann. 

When he finished, von Sauer walked over to him and kissed him on the forehead. “My son,” he said, “when I was your age I became a student of Liszt. He kissed me on the forehead after my first lesson, saying, ‘Take good care of this kiss—it comes from Beethoven, who gave it to me after hearing me play. ‘ I have waited for years to pass on this sacred heritage, but now I feel you deserve it.”

O God from whom every gift derives,

You are an awesome God,

greater than our comprehension or our imagination.

You are beyond any word we could ever use to describe You.

And yet, through Jesus, we know the intimacy of Your vast love.

We have come to You in thanksgiving and praise,

to know that You are God

and to place our lives anew into Your perspective.

Enlarge our vision this hour with Your Word.

Instil in us, again,

Your hope in place of our despair,

Your peace where our hatred threatens,

Your joy amidst our depression,

Your love overwhelming our apathy.

May Your Holy Spirit surround

and indwell this congregation now,

and forevermore.

In Jesus we pray. Amen.

Daily Devotions

Jesus was quite clear about the blessing available to us as we read Matthew 6:30-33, “If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you — you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Take these lovely verses in their context: the young Jesus, living in the flowering countryside and relative prosperity of Galilee, is testing the real necessities and true values of life. He enjoys the beauty around him, but sees people so concerned with Mammon (a Semitic word for money or wealth), and worry about tomorrow, that they cannot be in tune with the God who reaches us only in the Now.

Only God is worth our total trust, and God is totally faithful to us. Worries about fashions and menus and diets can take us away from being concerned with the things of God. A prayerful walk among flowers while observing the birds of the air brings this story to life. It’s about recognising what’s really important in life. Even though birds and lilies also wither and die, their lifespan can remind us of where true happiness lies.

Jesus does not just invite me to let my worries and concerns go; he does not want to leave me empty-handed. He offers me a new priority - an eagerness to establish God’s ways, a striving for the kingdom of God.

Lord, show yourself to me in the present moment; I cannot meet you in the past or the future, only here and now. This moment is a channel of your blessing, your grace. Amen

Daily Devotions

As we move beyond the celebration of Pentecost we will start to explore what the Bible has to say about the blessings we receive as followers of Jesus Christ. So first let’s touch base with the word blessing as translated in the Hebrew of the Old Testament and the Greek found in the New.

In the Old Testament berāḵáh is the noun, meaning “blessing" and often involves invoking God's favour and protection upon someone or something. Eulogia, in New Testament Greek could refer to the act of blessing or the state of being blessed, while eulogeō means "to bless" or "to speak well of”.

The New Testament church saw themselves as the recipients of God’s blessing. In Philippians 4:19 we read, “"But my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus”. If we’re feeling we can be quick to share that we feel blessed. But what does that mean? God gives us so many blessings, from food and finances to friends and family. These Bible verses over the coming weeks about blessings will help us explore the ways God has blessed us.”

One morning R.C. Chapman, a devout Christian, was asked how he was feeling. "I'm burdened this morning!" was his reply. But his happy countenance contradicted his words. So the questioner exclaimed in surprise, "Are you really burdened, Mr. Chapman?" "Yes, but it's a wonderful burden--it's an overabundance of blessings for which I cannot find enough time or words to express my gratitude!" Seeing the puzzled look on the face of his friend, Chapman added with a smile, "I am referring to Psalm 68:19, which fully describes my condition. In that verse the Father in heaven reminds us that He 'daily loads us with benefits.’”

Thank you, Lord, for the blessings you have bestowed on my life. You have provided me with more than I could ever have imagined. You have surrounded me with people who always look out for me. You have given me family and friends who bless me every day with kind words and actions. Amen

Daily Devotions

We finally come to the last part of our 14th century hymn:

for none can guess its grace
till we become the place
in which the Holy Spirit makes his dwelling.

Paul, writing to Timothy explained it this way, “So keep at your work, this faith and love rooted in Christ, exactly as I set it out for you. It’s as sound as the day you first heard it from me. Guard this precious thing placed in your custody by the Holy Spirit who works in us.” 1 Timothy 2:13-14

Here’s a definition of the filling of the Spirit. It’s what happens when the Holy Spirit has the controlling interest in our lives. Just contrast the difference between wine and the Spirit. Drunken and Spirit-filled people have one thing in common. They are both controlled people. Their lives and their behaviour are radically changed by that which fills them.

If a someone is filled with anger, 

then anger controls their life.
If a someone is filled with greed, 

then greed dominates their life.
If a someone is filled with love, 

then love influences all they do.

When the Holy Spirit fills us, the Spirit will have the controlling interest in our lives. There is “control by consent.”

But let us stop and make a critical distinction. Being filled with the Holy Spirit doesn’t mean we have more of the Spirit, it means the Spirit has more of us. It doesn’t happen all at once any more than you get drunk all at once. Being filled with the Spirit happens as we continually choose to live under the Spirits influence.

Come, Spirit of Truth, fill our hearts.                   

May that which was of stone 

be now transformed into life.

Come, Spirit of Life, change our hearts.

May we who receive your light 

dwell together in Your love.

Come, Spirit of Love, soften our hearts.

Bestow your compassion 

on those who suffer in mind, spirit, and body.

Come, Spirit of Hope, heal our hearts.

Make us bold to bring light to the dark places,

warmth to the cold places, 

and love to the empty places.

Come, Spirit of Faith, strengthen our hearts.

Spirit of the Living God, fill our hearts, 

minds, and souls to overflowing.

Come, Spirit of God, move in our hearts. 

Our God—we, your people,

celebrate the mystery 

of your never-ending love.

Amen.