Daily Devotions

Another gospel foundation that forms the basis of a disciples life is the Kingdom of Heaven as mentioned in Matthew 13:45-46. “the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”

The pearl symbolises beauty and worth. The merchant had many pearls but he was looking for one finer than the rest. In life there are many pearls - friendships, health, family life, art and music -but the kingdom of heaven, the rule of Jesus, outshines them all.

In the previous parable (Matthew 13:44), the man happens on the treasure. In the same way, some people find Jesus and enter the kingdom suddenly and unexpectedly. But here, the merchant probably spent months or even years looking for the one pearl he really wanted, just as some people take a very long time to find or accept Christ and his kingdom.

People can give their time and energy for many causes and reasons. We can spend a lot of time making enough money to buy a good house, travel the world. We give up some things we like to get what we want. We sell a car to buy another car. We may give up personal interests to look after the family well. 

This is the sort of idea Jesus puts before us. His message is that the kingdom of God has come among us now. In him, God is very close to the world and to us. The marks of this kingdom are qualities like compassion, justice, love, mercy, peace of mind and heart, closeness to God. These are treasures of life, and to live by them, we will find ourselves giving up other concerns. 

Lord, you hit me hard with this gospel. It calls for no compromises. The search for you, and the service of you, is the pearl of great price, the treasure worth more than all that I possess. You are not speaking of a single act of renunciation. You ask us to show that priority all through our life, in every decision we take. Open my eyes afresh by your Holy Spirit to see the true value of your kingdom. Amen

Daily Devotional

As a follower of Jesus Christ we are always afforded an invitation to be with him. In fact in Revelation 3:20 we read, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice an opens the door, I will go in and eat with him, and he with me.” 

It is all too easy to assume that Jesus is with us, when in fact like Mary and Joseph his where about is actually unknown. On the other hand, we can assume that we are far from him when in fact he is, just like Mary Magdalene experienced on that first Easter morning. So how can we be sure of Jesus’ presence. 

If we are given a cheque for £5, can I be assured that I really have the value indicated. Well, Yes, because of the implicit promise assigned to the cheque. Then if I pay that cheque into the bank I have a further assurance that the promise is true particularly when the amount of £5 appears on my bank statement.

However, if I merely say, “That’s a beautiful cheque,” and leave it on the table, keep it on a wallet, or fame it and place it on the wall as an art installation, it will never become the promised £5 no matter how much I believe it will.

Almost every transaction, and certainly every relationship depends first and foremost on trusting the promise and then acting upon it. Therefore, can I be sure that Jesus Christ is with me? Yes, first of all because of his promise and acting upon it. It’s all a question of responding to his invitation and walking through the door of faith.

I recently read, “God will meet you where you are in order to take you where He wants you to go.”

Lord, I have heard you knocking at the door of my life. I am opening this door, and I welcome you in. Come in and make your residence within me. Do your wonderful work in my soul. Cast out the things that do not belong, and set in place the things that do. Let your presence bring peace to my troubled soul. Give me the confidence of knowing that now nothing will ever separate me from you. Amen

Daily Devotions

So often, in our world of competing agendas we called upon to make a judgement, to pronounce a verdict, to pick a side. This happened with the first disciples and still requires a the 21st century Christian to respond to Jesus question, 'Who do you say I am?' Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' Matthew 16:13,15,16

Jesus didn't spend his time stating that he was the Son of God - but the disciples came to believe that he was - because of all they saw and heard of him.

They noticed the quality and authority of Jesus' teaching.

'The crowds were amazed at his teaching because he taught as one who had authority and not as their teachers of the law' (Matthew 7:28,29). And if the crowds were amazed, so were the disciples.

They also noticed his mighty healing power as he 'went throughout Galilee ... healing every disease and sickness among the people' (Matthew 4:23). Lepers were healed, demons cast out, the lame walked, the blind could see, the deaf 

To the artist, He is the Altogether Lovely.

To the architect, He is the Chief Cornerstone.

To the astronomer, He is the Bright and Morning Star.

To the baker, He is the Living Bread.

To the biologist, He is the Life.

To the builder, He is the Sure Foundation.

To the carpenter, He is the Door.

To the doctor, He is the Great Physician.

To the educator, He is the Great Teacher.

To the engineer, He is the New and Living Way.

To the geologist, He is the Rock of Ages.

To the author, He is the Living Word.

To the farmer, He is the Sower and Lord of the Harvest.

To the florist, He is the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Valley.

To the horticulturist, He is the True Vine.

To the judge, He is the Righteous Judge, the Judge of all men.

To the journalist, He is the Good Tidings of Great Joy.

To the philosopher, He is the Wisdom of God.

To the preacher, He is the Word of God.

To the statesman, He is the Desire of All Nations.

To the toiler, He is the Giver of Rest.

To the sinner, He is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

To the Christian, He is the Son of the Living God, the Saviour, the Redeemer, and Lord.

To the disciple, He is the Commander in Chief who gives us our orders with unmistakable and unconditional clarity.

Loving and gracious God, you are so patient with us.

We run away, and you seek us.

We make foolish choices, and you teach us the better way.

We hurt you and others, and instead of hurting us back, you forgive us.

Help us, we pray; help us reveal your glory and goodness in our living,

That we will bear the imprint of Christ throughout the world. Amen.

Daily Devotions

One of the underlying basic desires of the disciple is live within the peace of God that passes all understanding. Paul writing to the Romans spoke of this unique peace found in Jesus Christ, “Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ... For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” Romans 5:1, 10

It's possible to have a great sense of peace while sitting in a quiet church, or watching a sunset, or listening to music. But such an experience may have nothing whatever to do with the peace of God, for the peace of God is only possible for those who have peace with God.

In the natural course of events, we do not have peace with God. Why? Because the problem of our broken relationship with God is so serious that it could only be solved through Christ's death on the cross. The old hymn expresses it well:

Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin?

The blood of Jesus whispers peace within.

Picking up on my rereading of Rev’d David Watson’s I referred to yesterday, I read of how he once visited a prison and met a man who had been consumed with bitterness, resentment and hatred against the prison officers, the police, society - everyone. He was always causing trouble. Several times he had tried to commit suicide.

On one of these occasions, he really believed he was dying and in that moment he cried out to Jesus for help and forgiveness.

The result was that there in the prison hospital he found peace with God and began to experience the peace of God. David found it hard to believe that he had once been one of the worst prisoners in that jail, because he was so full of peace and love and gentleness. 

Christ Jesus,

We are at times like strangers on this Earth

when faced with the suffering

of so many innocent people.

But – like on the morning of your resurrection – 

you come to us and say to us:

“Peace be with you.”

Enable us to believe in your presence,

this hidden treasure.

You send us out, then,

to communicate your Peace.

It renews the face of the Earth.

Amen

Daily Devotions

Today we look at a word that seems become redundant in today’s church, namely conversion. Perhaps Saul’s conversion is the classic go to passage conversion passage in the Bible where we read,  “He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, 'Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?' "Who are you, Lord?' Saul asked. 1 am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,' he replied. Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do. Acts 9:4-6

A well known psychiatrist wrote this about Saul's conversion: 'A state of trans-marginal inhibition seems to have followed his acute state of nervous excitement. Total collapse, hallucinations and an increased state of suggestibility appear to have supervened. Other inhibitory, hysterical manifestations are also reported.”

Personally, I believe we have all the ingredients of a true conversion in this story.

I recently reread after a gap of 40 years the works of Rev’d David Watson and his take on conversion. He notes that with Paul’s conversion we see there is the need for humble recognition of the true nature of sin. Did you notice that Jesus asked Saul, 'Why do you persecute me?' whereas the chapter opens with Saul 'breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples'. What this is saying that all sin is rebellion against Jesus and unless a person comes to see this, he will not experience true conversion.

The Rev’d David secondly asserts that there is also a need for humble submission and obedience to the lordship of Christ. He writes, “I'm convinced that what finally broke proud, intellectual, religious, independent Saul was the love of Jesus. I'm told that communists are not converted by arguments but by seeing the love of Jesus in Christians. 

In our preaching and personal evangelism, are we including these two important ingredients in conversion?

Lord, I am reporting for duty. Show me how to pray and what to do today. You know us, you love us, you free us, then call us to follow you and we bless you. Your mercy meets us in our confusion; may your spirit meet us in our everyday living. Amen

Daily Devotions

Central to the Christian faith, and worship is the Cross. In  Fred Pratt Greens hymn “God is here as we his people,” we find the verse,

Here are symbols to remind us 

Of our lifelong need of grace; 

Here are table, font and pulpit, 

Here the cross has central place. 

But why the Cross?

A reporter once asked the Rev'd David Watson, 'Of what possible significance is the death of a Jew in Palestine two thousand years ago?' 

I wonder how we would answer such a searching question. The truth is that some people are offended and others call the Cross nonsense. In fact Paul writing to the Corinthians knew this when he said, 

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God... Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18, 22-24

It was the Rev'd John Stott who said, "I could never myself believe in God if it were not for the cross. In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I turn to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in God-forsaken darkness.

"That is the God for me. He set aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death."

O God, you hold a mirror before us

and we see love and we see hate.

We see crucifiers and we see the crucified.

Forgive us where we have crucified love – 

your love for ourselves, for others, for you.

Do not abandon us where we have abandoned ourselves, 

where others have abandoned us, 

where we know the pain of crucifixion and rejection and being forsaken.

Take us from the cross to hope and new beginning. Amen

Daily Devotions

For the month of March, our series of Daily Devotions will take up the theme Christian Basics; the essential building blocks of faith. We start with the question, “who is searching for whom?”

There are many instances throughout the Bible that illustrate the activity of searching; humankind searching for God and God seeking humankind. Here are just four biblical word pictures for us to consider.

“Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking, I will hear.” Isaiah 65:24

“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them.Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?” Luke 15:4

“I am the good shepherd.”John 10:11

“You did not choose me, but I chose you to go and bear fruit.” John 15:16

Many people feel hopeless in their search for God; almost as if they are blind, in a darkened room looking for a black cat that isn’t there. So often our long search for God can be a very confusing business. The truth is the Christian faith is not about us groping blindly for God, but about God seeking for us, because he loves us and wants us to know and love him.

Malcolm Muggeridge said: “I've never wanted a God or feared a God or felt under any necessity to invent one. Fortunately, I've been driven to the conclusion that God wants me.”

 

We pray the words of Thomas Kelly

When we cannot see our way,
Let us trust and still obey;
He who bids us forward go,
Cannot fail the way to show.

Night with him is never night,
Where he is, there all is light;
When he calls us, why delay?
They are happy who obey.

Be it ours, then, while we’re here,
Him to follow without fear,
Where he calls us, there to go,
What he bids us, that to do.

Thank you Lord,  with all my heart for wanting me and looking until you found me. Amen