Daily Devotions

So we move on to the number four and I want to view this number through the mention of the 4 seasons found in the Bible. Perhaps most famously we read of the 4 parts of the year in Genesis 8:22, The whole passage from v 20 tells of Noah’s devotion to God following the flood.’Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though[a] every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.

“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”

The changing seasons are theological in nature because they come from God. Summer is long and hot, autumn comes, and all the leaves change colours; winter comes, and everything dies, and then spring comes and resurrects everything back to life. This is exactly what happens within the Gospel account.

One writer compares the incarnation In terms of the seasons; Jesus came to earth to suffer (the heat of summer), died on the cross for our sins, and our sins fell to the ground (autumn or fall as our American Cousins name the season), was buried (winter), and was resurrected (spring). The seasons point us to Jesus and the beauty of the Gospel.

Many of us overlook God as the Creator of the seasons. We start to worship the creation rather than the Creator. When we do this, we need to turn back to God. He is the One we should be praising. There would be no seasons without Him.

Praise God for the beauty of the seasons by thanking Him for them, crafting poems about the seasons, and creating different art forms in your expression of worship. Go to the Lord in prayer and praise His Name.

When the autumn weather comes, and summer subsides, praise Him for the coolness of fall. When spring comes and puts an end to winter storms, praise God.

All of these things are from God, and we need to thank Him for all of these blessings. The beauty of the seasons, new starts, and more temperate weather cause our hearts to rejoice.

For each new season with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything your goodness sends.

We praise and thank you Lord. Amen

Biblical Numbers

Today, in biblical terms, the number 3 has a significant place. It is suggested that  3 conveys the meaning of completeness, though to a lesser degree than 7. It derives its symbolism from the fact that it is the first of four spiritually perfect numerals (the others being 7, 10 and 12).

3 features heavily in the passion narrative; Jesus prayed three times in the Garden of Gethsemane before His arrest. He was placed on the cross at the 3rd hour of the day (9 a.m.) and died at the 9th hour. There were 3 hours of darkness that covered the land while Jesus was suffering on the cross from the 6th hour to the 9th hour. Christ was dead for three day.

But let’s ponder on 3 as a symbol of completeness, that conveys themes of divine perfection, fulfilment and God's profound involvement in the world. It emphasises key doctrinal truths and underscores the structure and unfolding of God's plan throughout biblical history. Of course doctrinally we speak of God’s completeness in terms of the 3 persons of the trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In human terms Jesus spoke of completeness in terms of Mark 12:30-31 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

For the disciple, according to Paul, there are three essential graces, faith, hope and love, with love having the preeminence in all we are and do. So love is the overriding completeness expressed in the trilogy of love for God, love for neighbour and love for self.

Fred Beuchner said, “If we are to love our neighbours, before doing anything else we must see our neighbours. With our imagination as well as our eyes, that is to say like artists, we must see not just their faces but the life behind and within their faces. Here it is love that is the frame we see them in.” And dare I say that we will see a shadow of our selves reflected in the complete love of God.”   

Heavenly Father, thank You for the wonderful Word of truth and the lessons that it teaches. I pray that I may take to heart all that You want me to learn. Give me an understanding heart, a teachable spirit, and a desire to do Your will. Help me, I pray, to do all for Your praise and glory, within your gracious completeness. This I ask in Jesus' name, Amen

Biblical Numbers

Today we move on to look at the word two has found in the  bible.

The English word “two" can convey opposite meanings of union on the one hand and division on the other. In 1 Corinthians 12 such a union of 2 is expressed as that which holds Christ and his church in a relationship of love and hope. Essentially, Love is the expansion of two natures in such fashion that each include the other, each is enriched by the other. Perhaps this is most keenly seen in the prayer Jesus prayed when he said “I and the Father are One” and it is that Oneness he comes to share and that sharing is Grace.

Grace is something you can never get but only be given. There's no way to earn it or deserve it or bring it about any more than you can deserve the taste of raspberries and cream or earn good looks or bring about your own birth.

A good sleep is grace and so are good dreams. Most tears are grace. The smell of rain is grace. Somebody loving you is grace. Loving somebody is grace. Have you ever tried to love somebody?

A crucial eccentricity of the Christian faith is the assertion that people are saved by grace. There's nothing you have to do. There's nothing you have to do. There's nothing you have to do.

The grace of God means something like: "Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever sep

arate us. It's for you I created the universe. I love you.”

There's only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you'll reach out and take it.

Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too.

Jesus, also prayer “I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.” John 17:21

God of all creation, 

in Christ we are reconciled, 

and so we ask for your uniting Spirit 

to help us to overcome all our divisions 

that we may live in peace. Amen

Biblical Numbers

Today we begin a series looking numbers in the bible. A. No, not the book of that name but the numerical value 1. The English word "one" is recorded 1,969 times in 1697 King James Bible verses. This breaks down to 1,361 occurrences in the Old Testament and 608 times it appears in the New Testament.

Mathematically, the number 1 is only divisible by itself and its meaning in the Bible centres on the unity and primacy of God being one.

This is noticeably seen Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one.”

The number 1 also symbolises the unity between God the Father and His Son Jesus and by his singular sacrifice, has made possible the forgiveness of all our sins. We also discover in 1Timothy 2:5 that Jesus is the one Mediator and Shepherd. 

In fact, the apostle Peter tells us bluntly that it is through the one name of Jesus Christ, and him alone, that a person can receive salvation and live forever (Acts 4:10 - 12). There is no other name in all creation, in spite of the sincerity of countless billions who believe in other paths to salvation, eternal life and so on, by which mankind can connect to the true God and fulfil their destiny.

There is another way of looking at the Christian concept of Oneness and is perhaps most clearly seen in the word Atonement - at-one-ment. How can we best illustrate this?

I read about a small boy who was consistently late coming home from school. His parents warned him one day that he must be home on time that afternoon, but nevertheless he arrived later than ever. His mother met him at the door and said nothing. At dinner that night, the boy looked at his plate. There was a slice of bread and a glass of water. He looked at his father's full plate and then at his father, but his father remained silent. The boy was crushed.

The father waited for the full impact to sink in, then quietly took the boy's plate and placed it in front of himself. He took his own plate of meat and potatoes, put it in front of the boy, and smiled at his son. When that boy grew to be a man, he said, "All my life I've known what God is like by what my father did that night.”

Loving Lord, we really  want you to be the one

in whom we live and move and have our being.

We really want to hear your voice

above all of the other voices in our lives.

But we get bogged down in the daily routine.

We forget who we are.

We forget who you are.

We forget what the church is supposed to be.

So here we are, standing before you today,

with our human foibles

and our short attention spans,

asking that you would make yourself known to us,

that you would help us to recognise

the presence of the Holy,

that you would continue to challenge us,

inspire us,

and make us into the people you want us to be. Amen

Bible Snapshots

We now move to one of Paul's shortest and the most explosive letters, the book of Philemon that demonstrates the Gospel through action. It's written to Philemon whose slave Onesimus ran away and became a believer under Paul's teaching.

Paul urges Philemon to forgive Onesimus and accept him back as an equal. Because they are both followers of Jesus, God's grace has made them partners under the new humanity that Jesus has established.

While Paul doesn't mention Jesus' death and resurrection directly in this letter, he offers to take on any punishment Onesimus deserves, a demonstration of what Jesus did on the cross. He encourages Philemon to do the same as he reconciles to Onesimus before God.

For 32 years, the NHK Symphony, considered by many to be Japan’s best orchestra, and Seiji Ozawa, by far its most renowned conductor, played not a single note together. The feud took place so long ago that Ozawa himself doesn’t recall all the details. What he remembers is the humiliation of showing up at a concert hall for a scheduled performance, baton in hand, to find no musicians and no audience. Because of a dispute between Ozawa and the NHK Symphony, the orchestra decided to boycott Ozawa’s concert without telling him.

One Monday night 32 years later  Ozawa let bygones be bygones and led the NHK Symphony in a charity concert for disabled musicians in Sutory Hall in Tokyo. Forgiveness is difficult, but it results in beautiful music.

Dear Father, bestower of freedom,

Thank you for the love and the faith which you have put in your people. Please help them share this with each other and with the world. Let this promote the knowledge of all the good that is ours in Christ Jesus. Put such joy in our hearts and such gladness on our faces that people will want to know what makes us happy.

Help each of us to render such help and comfort, expressing our love, that the hearts of all your holy people will be refreshed. Help us not to make demands on each other, but to entreat, seeking consent, so that the good we ask from others might not be given through compulsion but through free will. Help us to bind up broken relationships. Help us to be willing to step into the breach, to enable others to make amends, even if it costs us money, effort, or time.

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with our spirits. In his name I ask. Amen.

Bible Snapshots

In the next New Testament Letter, Paul encourages the church in Colossae to withstand the cultural pressures of living in a world filled with visible rulers (like corrupt religious leaders) and invisible powers (like deceptive spiritual beings). Paul asserts that the church can withstand these pressures because it has been rescued to live in a new world, God’s new creation. 

His premise rests on the assurance that it is Jesus who rules this new creation by bringing God’s invisible world to our tangible world. He rules with forgiveness, honour, and generosity. He welcomes every human, no matter their ethnicity, social standing, age, or gender. And he never uses fear, coercion, or exploitation to establish his authority on Earth. Best of all, Jesus’ new creation does not end in death. 

In Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous painting of The Last Supper, our Lord’s hands are empty. And therein lies an inspiring story.

Da Vinci dedicated three years to this painting, determined that it would be his crowning work. Before the unveiling, he decided to show it to a friend for whose opinion he had the utmost respect.

The friend’s praise was unbounded. “The cup in Jesus’ hand,” he said, “is especially beautiful.” Disappointed at once Da Vinci began to paint out the cup. Astonished, the distinguished friend asked for an explanation. “Nothing,” Da Vinci explained, “must distract from the figure of Christ.”

Da Vinci focused attention solely on Christ by removing the distraction of the cup. Having removed the cup, he had to do something with the hand. The left hand was already outstretched just above the table, lifting, as if to bless and command. Now the right hand, also empty, was also outstretched invitingly.

In Colossians 1:18 Paul writes, “He is the Head of the body made up of his people—that is, his Church—which he began; and he is the Leader of all those who arise from the dead, so that he is first in everything.”

Jesus promises that those who trust in him survive the grave through resurrection with him. When we believe this, we no longer need to fight to win or survive—we can truly love others instead. Living this way with Jesus allows his new creation to become a visible and experienced reality on Earth as it is in Heaven, even in the midst of life’s daily pressures and suffering.

O Christ, your cross speaks both to us and to our world.

In your dying for us

You accepted the pain and hurt of the whole of creation.

The arms of your cross stretch out  

Across the broken world in reconciliation.

You have made peace with us.

Helps us to make peace with you

By sharing in your reconciling work.

May we recognise your spirit

Disturbing and challenging us to care for creation

And for the poor who most feel the effects of its abuse.

O Christ, the whole of creation groans.

Set us free and make us whole. Amen.

Bible Snapshots

Paul centres his letter to the Philippians around a poem that highlights Jesus’ attitude of humility in the face of suffering. 

His letter invites all readers to consider other people's needs and interests, even when life is hard. Difficult circumstances often make humans want to complain, compete against one another, and hoard resources to meet our own needs. But Paul invites us to remember how Jesus’ selfless sacrifice leads to true life. His resurrection gives us a reason to humbly share with others in the most difficult times. Paul’s prison chains prove that sharing Jesus’ attitude isn’t easy, so he encourages the church and reminds them to endure. Now let’s take the time to internalise his message and reflect more together.

George Atley was killed while serving with the Central African Mission. There were no witnesses, but the evidence indicates that Atley was confronted by a band of hostile tribesmen. He was carrying a fully loaded, 10-chamber Winchester rifle and had to choose either to shoot his attackers and run the risk of negating the work of the mission in that area, or not to defend himself and be killed.

When his body was later found in a stream, it was evident that he had chosen the latter. Nearby lay his rifle-all 10 chambers still loaded. He had made the supreme sacrifice, motivated by his burden for lost souls and his unswerving devotion to his Saviour. With the apostle Paul, he wanted Christ to be magnified in his body, "whether by life or by death.'

Paul explains to the persecuted church at Philippi that living as a Christian means seeing our own story as a living expression of Jesus' story. Paul calls the people to imitate Jesus’ way of life, so that even in their suffering, they can find contentment and purpose through his example.

Though you are God,

with all the influence and status that the name implies,

you refused to pull rank,

and parade your power among us.

 

Instead, you chose to step down into our experience,

living among us, as one of us,

with all the struggle and suffering

that goes with being human.

 

More than that, you adopted the role of slave,

washing feet, serving people of no reputation or social standing,

and giving of yourself completely.

 

As incredible as it sounds,

you are the God who serves,

and we can respond in no other way

than to give ourselves to you in praise. Amen