Devotionals

Philippians 3:12, NIV
“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”

In Bill Hybel’s book on courageous leadership he says the Body of Christ is the hope of the world, and its future rests primarily in the hands of its leaders. So it’s high time for the most unlikely and unusable to stand up, like Peter and the eleven disciples in Acts, and raise their voice and declare out the message of Jesus to a hurting and broken world.

As we look at the story of David and Goliath we find the Bible describes the preparation of David and all the years of learning and patience he had to undergo before he was ready to enter his destiny. He had to be patient about his calling, following his anointing by Samuel, and he had to be faithful in his father’s house. David faced many ‘giants’ before Goliath. He’d been able to kill a lion and a bear. God had been preparing David with a sling and stones while he was in the fields. He’d become a crack shot. Do you think David thought he was doing anything ‘spiritual’ when he was practising with his sling, day after day? God will use everything He has invested in us – even those things we think are unimportant. God prepares us as we’re doing things which seem small and insignificant. Like David, as we step into situations that have been predestined for us by God, and which we’ve been prepared for, we’re to rise up and fulfil our assignment and calling under God.

One thing is absolutely necessary – more than gifting, authority or revelation. The main ingredient that enabled David to take Goliath out was focus. Every great man or woman of God has to have this quality. David’s single-mindedness showed a heart and mind which was focussed. He lived for one thing. He ate and slept it. All his energies, emotions, mental strength and spirit power were channelled into it. So when David pitched up at the battle, cheese sandwiches in hand, he surveyed the scene: an arrogant, uncircumcised Philistine defying what should have been a bold, confident, Covenant-minded army, and he said “something needs to be done about this Philistine”.

God has called each one of us to do something, and that something is unique. We should reach for it, and press forward, forgetting the past. We should discipline ourselves, sacrificing anything that would distract us from the heart of what we have to do. Jesus set His face like flint towards His purpose. Isaiah 61 prophesies about the Spirit of the Lord being upon Him and why. Jesus knew the reason for His anointing. It was to heal, to deliver and to declare. He knew it and stayed focussed to complete it until He could finally say ‘It is finished’.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You that You’ve placed a vision in every single one of us. Thank You that Your calling in our lives is irrevocable. For those You’ve called, You will equip. Help us, Lord, to be single-minded, with hearts united towards you. As we seek your face, bring Your heart deeper into ours. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”Romans 10:15, NIVThese words, quoted here by Paul in his letter to the Romans, first appear in Scripture in Isaiah 52:7 and Nahum 1:15. They express an amazing and very simple truth. When a pers…

Romans 10:15, NIV
“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

These words, quoted here by Paul in his letter to the Romans, first appear in Scripture in Isaiah 52:7 and Nahum 1:15. They express an amazing and very simple truth. When a person comes to you with anything – be it good or bad – it is their feet that carry them. Feet are the most fundamental and basic means of transport without which we could go nowhere and achieve nothing.

I well remember being sick in bed as a child. I was alone in bed upstairs and feeling miserable! I could hear all the noises of normal family life going on downstairs and I wished I wasn’t confined to my bed. But then I heard the footsteps of my Mum on the staircase. The effect was immediate. I knew that Mum would be bringing me something nice and just the sound of her ‘beautiful feet’ put a smile on my face and made me feel better!

My father was led to faith in Jesus by a children’s evangelist called Hudson Pope. Hudson Pope had been conducting a mission in Bolton, but on the last day of the mission my Dad, then aged ten, was ill and couldn’t walk the two miles into town to go to the final meetings. But God had already touched Dad’s heart and he wanted to become a Christian. So he wrote a little letter to Hudson Pope which I still have today. In it Dad simply said to Hudson Pope, in childlike words, “I want to be a Christian – can you help me?” The following day Hudson Pope walked the two miles to go and talk with this 10 year old boy who wanted to be a Christian and led him into the Kingdom of God.

I will never cease to thank God for Hudson Pope’s beautiful feet – the feet that carried him out of town for a four mile round trip on a cold February day in order to answer the cry of a small boy who needed Jesus. A generation later that ‘small boy’ led me, at the age of nine, into the Kingdom of God. If it wasn’t for Hudson Pope’s beautiful feet I wouldn’t know Jesus today. As I write these words my heart is full of gratitude and thanksgiving.

Let us never forget to thank God for the beautiful feet of those who have been a blessing to us in our own lives. And let us never forget that day by day God wants to use our feet to take us to places as an agent of His love to whoever God sends us.

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, for those who have been the means of grace to us – whose feet have been beautiful for You. Help me, Lord, to let my feet be used to bring Your joy into the lives of others. And keep me, Lord, from letting my feet take me to places to do ungodly things. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”Matthew 6:22-23, N…

Matthew 6:22-23, NIV
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”

A few days ago I wrote about my shock at the fact that a recent pornographic book had sold over a 100 million copies and that thousands are now flocking to watch the film of the book. Today I want to draw your attention to what Jesus said about our eyes! We cannot either read a book or watch a film without using our eyes and Jesus made a comparison between good eyes and bad eyes.

He describes the eye as being the lamp of the body – for it is through the eyes that light enters which penetrates right into the very depths of our whole being. The eye is a channel through which light comes. If the eye is good then what is conveyed into the heart of our being will bring light. A good eye is one that looks at things which are good.

Conversely, however, a bad eye is one which focuses on things that are bad and uses the passage of physical light in order to convey images of darkness. Those images of darkness are poisoned arrows which Satan uses to corrupt our whole being. Jesus said that when the light within us is actually darkness, then the whole body will be full of darkness.

Modern day statistics tell us the awful truth – that people who become hooked on pornographic material are often those who want to live out what they have seen in the flesh. Not only is their mind then filled with the images of darkness, but their bodies have joined in the process and through their ungodly behaviour have welcomed in yet more darkness into their whole being.

The book I referred to above is called 50 Shades of Grey. There are four meanings of the word Shades in the Google Dictionary, two of which are of great significance to those who have read the book or are thinking of reading it. ‘Shades’ is a modern day word that has replaced the word ‘sunglasses’ in the vernacular. The only purpose of shades is to block out the light. The other relevant, and much older, meaning of ‘shades’ is ‘evil spirits’. A shade is, simply, a demon or a ghost. How extraordinary that the title word of this book refers to shutting out the light and coming under the influence of the powers of darkness!

When people read this sort of material they are looking at it with what Jesus would call ‘bad eyes’ and are choosing to fill their whole beings with darkness. And when they do so they are laying down a welcome mat for the enemy! The darkness that is welcomed in is described by Jesus as being ‘great darkness’ – not a wishy-washy shade of grey, but penetrating, evil darkness.

People who choose darkness will not be able to see where they are going through life. What an important warning Jesus has given us here not to let our eyes become bad eyes.

Prayer: help me, Lord, not to focus my eyes on things which turn them into channels of darkness. And where I have sinned in this respect, help me, Lord, to bring my eyes to you for cleansing and to choose to walk in the light with ‘good eyes’. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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“Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.”Isaiah 55:2, NIVWhen you need to buy food you don’t waste your money on thin…

Isaiah 55:2, NIV
“Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labour on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.”

When you need to buy food you don’t waste your money on things that you cannot eat. You know what’s good for you and that’s what you buy. But when it comes to the diet of life – all the activities and interests on which we spend our time and with which we feed our souls, it can be a very different matter. It’s so easy to fall into the many traps that the enemy sets for us to eat his poisonous food and to keep us away from the richest fare, that will not only be a blessing for us in time, but in eternity as well.

I was shocked to hear that over a hundred million copies of one of the most perverted and pornographic books ever written, were sold within a few months of it coming on the market. I’ve not read the book and have no intention of doing so, but it’s clear from all the reviews and articles in the press that it is total filth. And now there’s a film of the book and people are flocking to feast their eyes on the most corrupting of images. The problem with the things we read and the things we see is very simple – we cannot un-read them or un-see them. Once having indulged in a diet of such stuff the material has become part of who we are.

Isaiah bemoaned the fact that he lived among a people of unclean lips – I wonder what he would say today at the tsunami of poisonous stuff that so many in the world consider a suitable diet for their entertainment? I can tell you that all this filth, which is swilling about society, is rotting the minds of men and women the world over. They are feeding on poison – it attracts the carnal nature, but it never satisfies – all it does is create an unfillable appetite for more of the same. People are spending their money on a drug which is depriving their hearts of any desire for God and slowly killing them.

There is an alternative – to feed on the living bread of God’s Word and choose to be satisfied with the things of life that are pure. Let your mind dwell on those things that are godly. Satan may tempt us with all sorts of attractive things – but you can be sure of one thing, if they’re from the enemy they will never satisfy and will always disappoint you in the end. They will form the surface of a very slippery slope which gets increasingly difficult to get off! Best solution – don’t start walking on slippery ground! And if you’re on it, get off it fast.

Prayer: I’m sorry, Lord, for the times when I have spent my money on things that I know will never satisfy my soul. I ask, Lord, that you will forgive me, cleanse me, heal me and restore me. I want to feed on the richest fare, which I know can only ever come from You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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“He, himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” 1 Peter 2:24, NIVOur English language is full of some very strange and quaint sayings. Working in the inte…

1 Peter 2:24, NIV
“He, himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.”

Our English language is full of some very strange and quaint sayings. Working in the international environment of Ellel Ministries, I often see some very quizzical looks on the faces of both team members and visitors to our training courses and schools! I thought they were understanding me clearly, but then, judging by the look on their faces, it was obvious that they had absolutely no idea of the meaning of what I had just said!

The problem is simple. I have been brought up to know and love the rich cultural diversity of a very old language, which uses thousands of sayings drawn from our history and literature, which are very meaningful to me and which most people understand, but others can often be mystified by. For many of these people, coming from all over the world to serve or learn at a Centre here in the UK, English is their second language. They have learnt, often extremely well, the basics of English grammar and vocabulary, but when it comes to the hundreds of colloquial phrases that English people can use in their every day speech, they can be very confused!

For example, I was talking to one of the internationals on our team who asked about something I’d been working on and I spontaneously responded, “Oh that’s done and dusted!” A glazed look came over her face, that I’ve come to know so well. She understood the words ‘it’s done’, but why would I need to dust it as well, when I wasn’t talking about anything to do with cleaning the house? ‘Dusting’ was the last thing that was in my mind. I explained in the best way I knew how that the thing she was asking about was not only finished, but that it had been ‘put to bed’! I thought I was making myself very clear, until I saw that glazed look again, this time with a smile of misunderstanding! To try and explain ‘done and dusted’, I had instinctively used another, even more confusing phrase, ‘put to bed’, out of my publishing past, which is used when a writing and printing project, such as a newspaper, is finally completed and there is nothing more to be done on it. It’s finished, life can move on.

Eventually she understood what the phrase ‘Done and dusted’ actually meant. The job was finished, over, completed, a piece of history, nothing more needed to be done on it, life could move on. The reason I have gone to such lengths to explain what this simple phrase means is that this exactly describes what Jesus has done for us! “It is finished!”, Jesus cried out from the cross. There is absolutely nothing we can add to the work that He completed on our behalf – we cannot do anything to try and earn our salvation or make it better, it’s a finished work, it’s done and dusted, it’s a done deal.

And oops, I’ve gone and done it again! And if you don’t know what ‘it’s a done deal’ means, can I suggest you read our Scripture for today? I’ll leave you to work out exactly what it means when applied to the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. What an incredible blessing – exchanging my sinfulness for His righteousness. Now, for the benefit of my American friends, that’s what I consider a humdinger of a good deal!

Prayer: Thank You, Jesus, that there is absolutely nothing more that needs to be done about my sin. Your work on the cross is totally finished and I no longer need to worry about it. Thank You so much for the amazing divine exchange that took place at Calvary – your righteousness for my sinfulness. I’m so grateful that You made full provision for me and that because it’s ‘done and dusted’ I can look forward to eternity with You. Hallelujah, What a Saviour! In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

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John 10:47, NIV
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

Is it possible to hear the voice of God? God wants us to listen to His voice. He created us for that purpose. So the real question is – is it possible to learn how to reliably recognise God`s voice when we need to hear it? In my own walk the most profound times that I`ve heard God speak haven`t been when I`ve said “Oh God, please speak”. It`s happened when I least expected it! Like God we`re spiritual beings and we`re created for communion and communication with Him.

God can communicate with us through various ways. He can do so through our human conscience. This is a God-given part in our spirit to alert us when we`re about to do something wrong. Then there`s our sense of awe at the created world – God can speak through creation. How many times do we look at a rainbow or a mountain on the horizon and think – Oh wow! Our amazing God created that! Of course, our spirit can respond to God’s spirit. Communication with God sits In our human spirit. It`s how we hear and speak to God. And He can direct our thoughts and use our minds.

Then there`s the witness of the Holy Spirit. This is when our spirit connects with the Spirit of God, giving us peace in the midst of turmoil. He can speak to us through people. God can use anyone to speak to us, and that person doesn`t even have to be a believer.

He can also reach us through the gifts of the Holy Spirit – the interpretation of tongues, words of knowledge, discernment, prophecy, and through dreams and visions. Sometimes we can have a spiritual dream when God`s telling us about the future. God can also talk to us through visions. For example, I saw the vision of the globe rolling up the driveway at Pierrepont while we were checking this place out, when it was up for sale.

But the Scripture is one of the most important ways God will speak to us. Have you had the experience when a verse jumps out of the page? The Holy Spirit will connect with our spirit to communicate truth to us through the Word of God, and will also reveal Jesus to us.

When God speaks to us through any of these ways, we will need to learn to listen. The Holy Spirit will guide us and help us to weigh, test, measure and will confirm that what we`re hearing is of God. James said that we should be quick to listen, and slow to speak… not just merely listen to the word, and so deceive ourselves, but to do what it says.

Let`s realise that He wants to have conversations with us that lead us into an intimate relationship. We`re made not just to hear His voice, but have our living, moving and being in His love. He sent Jesus to reconcile us to Himself, and to enjoy intimacy with Him as God our Father.

Prayer: Dear Father, thank You so much that You love us so much, and that Your heart is for us to connect with You through Jesus. Help us by the power of Your Spirit to realise that we`ve been specially created to be in union with You, to be completely connected to You and dependent on You. Teach us to discern, hear and follow Your voice, and to give You space to speak to us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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