Devotionals

Jeremiah 5:24-25, NIV
“They do not say to themselves, ‘Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives autumn and spring rains in season, who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.’ Your wrongdoings have kept these away; your sins have deprived you of good.”

I loved my Dad. He really cared for me when I was young and I would have done anything I could for him as an adult. But, as a child, I also had a healthy respect for him and I know that on more than one occasion the ‘fear of my Dad’ kept me from doing something wrong. And I know, too, that as a result there were many things I didn’t miss out on in my growing years. There was a connection sometimes between doing what was right and the reward of good things that I was looking forward to!

I am so glad that my Dad modelled for me the relationship between love, obedience and blessings – and because I loved him (and I knew he loved me) it wasn’t difficult to do those things that would please Him. But what I didn’t understand at the time was that he was also modelling for me an important aspect of the relationship we can have with God.

In our reading Jeremiah was highlighting the fact that there was a direct relationship between the blessings of seedtime and harvest and living in a loving and healthy fear of God. The people were ignoring the authority of God in their lives and were doing wrong things as a result. As a result they had moved outside the blessings that come from living within the covenantal provisions of God (see Deuteronomy 28:1-14).

God has not changed His character – indeed His character is not only unchanging, it’s unchangeable! So we can fully expect that if we choose to ignore the laws of God and live outside of His covenantal provisions, then there will be a consequence. In Jeremiah’s day God’s people discovered there was a relationship between how they lived and how much they experienced of the blessings of God. Paul reminded us that ‘God cannot be mocked’ and that ‘a man reaps what he sows’ (Galatians 6:7). But he also said that ‘the one who sows to please the Spirit will, from the Spirit will reap eternal life’ (Galatians 6:8).

Prayer: Lord, please forgive me for not thinking that there can be a direct relationship between whether or not I choose to obey your Word and whether or not I experience your blessings. Help me, Lord, to get back on track with you and choose to walk in Your ways, holy fear of You, because I love You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Click Here to read Peter Horrobin`s blog
Click here to find out more about a FREE TRIAL of Ellel 365

John 1:12, NIV
“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God”

I have had several friends across the years who were adopted as babies into a new home. For whatever reason their natural parents did not want to keep their child and gave them away for adoption. Usually they were received by their new parents with much joy as the hole in their aching heart for a child of their own was filled.

When an adoption takes place, paperwork has to be completed giving the new parents the legal right to bring up the baby as if it was their own and giving the baby the legal right to be brought up under the secure covering, protection and, above all, the love of the adoptive parents.

The problem with mankind is that through the fall, man forfeited their natural rights as children of God and chose to be under the covering of a false father. In so doing we lost our natural birthright. But when Jesus came as Man and died as a totally sinless human being who had never come under Satan’s control, and then was raised from the dead, he opened up a legal way back to the Father that is forever open to all men and women everywhere.

And the only entry requirement is to believe in his name – knowing that He has authority with the Father – and He has promised that everyone who receives Him in this way will have their right of access to their natural Father restored for all of eternity. I feel like shouting Hallalujah in a thousand languages, drawing everyone’s attention to this fantastic truth, so that the whole world will know they don’t have to stay under the control of a false father, but there is now a legal right open to them to be adopted back in to the family of God!

Prayer: Thank you Jesus for dying that I might be forgiven. Thank you that when I receive You as my Saviour and Lord, I am adopted back in to my natural family and can be blessed by all the rights available to me as a child of God. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Click Here to read Peter Horrobin`s blog

Click here to find out more about a FREE TRIAL of Ellel 365

“The Truth Stick” – NEW BOOK by Peter Horrobin

Hebrews 12:2
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

We recently restored an old part of our house and were delighted to have some friends come and stay in it for the first time. Everything was fine at first – it looked good, the room was warm and the bed was comfortable – but a few days later our friends were slightly embarrassed to have to tell us that the toilet had ceased to flush away its contents! The drains were blocked.

Fortunately the problem was soon resolved. The blockage in the drain was discovered and with the energetic use of some drainage rods, everything was quickly restored to normal. That particular drainage pipe had not been used for a very long time and, of course, we should have checked it out more thoroughly before inviting our friends to stay. It was our turn to be embarrassed.

But as I looked at the blockage, and watched as it was removed, I sensed the Lord was speaking to me about a much more serious issue than blocked drains! My mind drifted from the stuff that had been causing the blockage from so long ago, to the fact that hidden sins from a long time ago can equally be a blockage today if they have not been confessed, forgiven and, literally, cleaned out of our system!

We tend to think that things which happened a long time ago are of no relevance to today’s circumstances. But just as our friends discovered that an old blockage was obstructing today’s drains, things that have been buried in the past, in the hope that they will just ‘go away’ have a habit of eventually catching up with us. Just as we should have tested the drains before inviting our friends to stay, we should ask the Lord to expose any blockages in our past that are obstructing the flow of His life-giving Spirit today.

Unconfessed and unforgiven sins are the most common blockages to living a fulfilled Christian life. We need to be fit and ready for all circumstances of life as we seek to follow Jesus and fulfil God’s Kingdom purposes for our lives.

Prayer: I’m sorry, Lord, for the things I have buried in years past which today are causing a blockage in my life. Help me to face the truth about myself and come afresh to you for forgiveness and cleansing, so that there will be no blockages in my life to the flow of Your Spirit. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Click Here to read Peter Horrobin`s blog
Click here to find out more about a FREE TRIAL of Ellel 365

“The Truth Stick” – NEW BOOK by Peter Horrobin

Luke 9:11, NIV
“Jesus welcomed the people, taught them about the Kingdom of God and healed those in need.”

I must have read this verse on many, many occasions before it jumped out of the page of my Bible and hit me between the eyeballs! At the time I was praying into the future work that God had called me into and was asking Him what we should teach on the Healing Retreats that would take place at our Centre when it was opened. I was looking for God’s strategy for the ministry and not my own good ideas.

It was as if the Holy Spirit arrested me and made me go back and read that particular verse time and time again – until it had become so much a part of me that I would never forget it. And the more I read it the more I realised that here, in this almost throw away comment in the story of the feeding of the five thousand, was the key to my own life’s calling.

To Welcome (show love), Teach (about the Kingdom of God) and to bring Healing to people in need, is not just the foundation stone of Ellel Ministries, but should be the essence of what ‘Church’ is wherever Christians gather together in fellowship. These three things are at the very heart of the Gospel. Love is the eternal magnet which draws the heart of man to the heart of God. It is only when people feel loved, safe and secure that they will really listen with their hearts to the teaching they receive. And it is only when they have received and understood the teaching that they can really apply it in their lives.

It is exactly twenty five years ago today that we first opened the doors of Ellel Grange and began to welcome those in need of healing through our doors My heart is full of gratitude to the Lord for all He has done in so many lives across the years and across the nations. But no matter how far the work spreads I will never forget that moment when God electrified Luke 9:11 and taught me the most important lesson of my Christian life – a lesson which is still bringing hope and restoration to people across the world today.

When you read the Word of God, always be open in your spirit for that ‘electrified’ moment, when God grips your heart with vital truth. Be ready to let God change the direction of your life as you learn to trust Him and His Word.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, that You are always ready to speak to me through Your Word. Help me to always have my spiritual ears open to listen to your voice so that I won’t miss important lessons that you want me to hear, understand and live out day by day. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Click Here to read Peter Horrobin`s blog

Click here to find out more about a FREE TRIAL of Ellel 365

Philippians 3:13, NIV
“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.”

Do we live in the present or the past? Let’s not look back to how things were in the past. How futile that can sometimes be! The Apostle Paul said ‘But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ’ (Philippians 3:7).

We may have given up our past lives and entered into a new life, but what about our past experiences with God? They will need to be brought into the present, and we need to see them as stepping stones to where we are today. It’s not what happened back then, it’s what is happening NOW that’s important. There is, of course, a certain value in looking back to see God’s faithfulness, and to be reminded that He still does save, heal and deliver today. But if we do look to the past let’s learn from it. We don’t go forward by looking backwards.

Paul was striving and reaching out. He was doing his best for the glory of the Lord. As we take a look today at where we are before the Lord, how would you describe your Christian life? Is it pleasing to the Lord? Or is there still something lacking? Are there still things that need to be dealt with? Is the Lord pleased or grieved when He looks at us? God offers a way through by His grace to make it right. We’re here to be participants in a holy calling. This life is a race. Sometimes we streak ahead and sometimes we get left behind. God’s desire is that we grow in holiness until we resemble Christ.

Life can become a bit of struggle, and then we need to hang on in there. But our future is shining bright and will be eternal. One day we’ll be in our heavenly home but today, as we consider these truths, where do we find ourselves? Are we living for the Lord and the future or are we stuck somewhere in past? Are we on track? Are we listening to God and hearing His voice?

Paul says ‘I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like Him in His death’ (Philippians 3:10). We can be confident in this that the One who began a good work in us ‘will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 1:6). We live in very urgent and exciting days so let’s forget what is behind and reach towards the goal.

Prayer: Lord, help us to desire You more and more and to be found in You. Give me confidence today that You will continue what You have begun in my life, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Click Here to read Peter Horrobin`s blog

Click here to find out more about a FREE TRIAL of Ellel 365

Click Here for more information about the NETS training programme

Psalm 66:18, NIV
“If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”

When I think about the word ‘cherish’, I immediately have a picture in my mind of showing love to someone I care about and love very much. It is one of those warm, affectionate words, the very sound of which almost speaks for itself! It came as something of a shock, therefore, to read our Scripture for today and discover this much loved word linked not with affectionate love, but something we are meant to hate – sin and its consequences. But the more I thought about it, the more I realised what an appropriate word it is to use to describe the idea of choosing to think about sin in our minds and dwell on it affectionately in our hearts. Every single thing we do originates first as a thought, before we choose to act. And in our thinking we can imagine a great deal as we contemplate what we could do with the ideas we have.

There is nothing wrong with creative thinking. For example, every single invention that has blessed mankind throughout history was thought about before it ever saw the light of day. But we can think about both good and bad things and when we dwell on the bad things and cherish them in our hearts we have crossed a line into ungodliness. Even Christians can use their thought life as an opportunity to ‘do’ things in their minds which they would never even contemplate doing in the flesh, and certainly wouldn’t want to share with their own friends and loved ones.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews realised this all too well when he made it clear that as far as God is concerned, the things we choose to dwell on in our minds can be as dangerous before God as the things we actually do. For, he said, God judges the “thoughts and attitudes of our hearts.” (Hebrews 4:12). And we cannot overlook the words of Jesus when he said that looking on a woman to lust after her (dwelling on unclean things in your mind) is seen by God as adultery and will be judged accordingly (Matthew 5:28).

I realise these are extremely challenging ideas, but we cannot ignore bits of the Bible because we find them difficult! We need to seek God’s help to be overcomers, not people who capitulate under pressure from the enemy to think ungodly things. For one thing is absolutely certain – Satan listens very carefully to our ungodly thinking and it is not surprising, therefore, that so many people report that after thinking about something wrong, they suddenly find themselves with the opportunity to put that ungodly thing into practice. The thought can open the door for the action.

Cherishing sinful things – dwelling on them in our minds because we love them – is clearly not something that blesses God. And when this is the message that travels from our hearts to the heart of God then, the Psalmist said, He will not listen. As John said, in his amazing prophetic book, in Heaven there is no unclean thing! (Revelation 21:7). So when the message God is receiving from our heart is saying one thing (cherishing sin), but the message to God from our lips in our praying is saying something else, God won’t be listening to those prayers, because He has already turned His ear away from the message that is going heavenwards from our hearts!

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for challenging me with these truths from Your Word. Forgive me, Lord, for times when I have cherished ungodly things in my heart. I pray that you will forgive and cleanse my thoughts and that you will hear the prayers of my lips when I come to you with a pure heart. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Click Here to read Peter Horrobin`s blog

Click here to find out more about a FREE TRIAL of Ellel 365

Healing through Deliverance – Book by Peter Horrobin

Psalm 46:10 – 11, NIV
“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”

Those words, “Be still, and know that I am God” are so very well known and loved, but they are often quoted out of the context of Psalm 46 from which they come. We forget what God was really trying to say to us through these comforting words!

Psalm 46 begins by saying that God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Later, in verse 6, it talks about the nations being in uproar and kingdom’s falling. In fact, the more I read this Psalm the more I realise how utterly topical it is. We cannot turn on the news without being confronted with world events which describe nations in jeopardy, financial systems in danger of collapse and distress on every side. And here in the UK we have gone through an unprecedented season of riots and public disturbances on our streets.

It is exactly these sort of circumstances in which God is speaking to His people and telling us to be at peace, for nothing that’s happening in the world is outside His knowledge or understanding. He is above all these things and it is He who is speaking into our hearts today, telling us not to be afraid, but to trust in Him. For the day will come when He is exalted above all the nations and the truth about God will be manifest for all the world to see.

In the midst of all these circumstances we can be assured of His presence, His comfort and His encouragement. In Psalm 37 David put it like this, “The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord; he is their stronghold in time of trouble. The Lord helps them and delivers them.”

Prayer: Thank you Lord that I can trust You whatever the circumstances are in either the world or in my life. I choose now to let your peace fill my heart and to be still before you. I give into Your hands, Lord, all my affairs and choose to trust you in everything and for everything, all my days. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Click Here to read Peter Horrobin`s blog

Click here to find out more about a FREE TRIAL of Ellel 365

Psalm 25:14, NIV
“The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare.”

When you confide in someone, you are doing two things. Firstly you are trusting them and secondly, you are sharing with them things that you wouldn’t necessarily want anyone else to know about. This remarkable verse expresses an incredible and amazing truth – that the living God, the Creator of the Universe wants to trust us and share with each one of us personally in just this way!

He wants to trust us and then He wants to share with us things that are precious and important to us that are not for anyone else to hear. But if we want to be one of those who is able to hear the Lord speaking in this sort of way – and sharing His heart with us, then there is a condition that we need to fulfil. It’s a very simple one – have we learned to “fear the Lord”?

When someone fears the Lord, they are not afraid of Him because he’s a frightening person. But because they love Him they will always seek to walk in His ways. Their first choice will always be to do those things that please Him. And it is to these that the Lord reveals the blessings that are to be enjoyed through understanding His covenant. Someone who has the ear of the Lord will not need to be alarmed, in case they accidentally transgress the commandments of God – for they will constantly be aware of the Lord’s gentle confiding voice showing them what is right and what is wrong, what is within God’s covenant provisions and what is not.

It is through this profound principle of covenant relationship with God that we are able to enjoy the guidance of the Lord in all of life’s many different circumstances. I can think back to times when I chose not to listen to God’s confiding voice and do my own thing – always those were proven to be bad decisions. I learned the hard way that the only key to guidance that really matters is also the key to being in relationship with the Lord – enjoying life living in holy fear of a holy God. Then the promise of the second part of the verse can be fulfilled – as our eyes are always on Him, the Lord will release us from snares laid on our pathway by the enemy of souls. No wonder Isaiah said that the Sovereign Lord would come to “proclaim freedom for the captives” (Isaiah 61:1)

Prayer: Lord, I would love to hear Your confiding voice, as you share with me Your truths and lead me along the path of righteousness. Help me to desire above all else to walk day by day within the provisions of Your covenant blessings. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Click Here to read Peter Horrobin`s blog

Click here to find out more about a FREE TRIAL of Ellel 365

Psalm 34:8-9, NIV
“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing.”

Many years ago I was trained at University as a scientist. My degree was in chemistry. Chemistry taught me to analyse carefully the substances I was working with and to test things out one step at a time. When I was doing research we learnt to analyse, test and, having discovered something, to re-test it again and again to see if the experimental results were repeatable. And if they were we could then begin to depend on what had been discovered as a fact and not just a theory. That is how all the great discoveries of science were made, proved and then used for the benefit of mankind.

Our scripture for today encourages us to have a similar approach to discovering the truth about God. When you taste something, you don’t take a big mouthful and swallow it without thinking – you put a tiny bit on your tongue and test it. Then, if it tastes good, you eat it. And if there are no unwelcome side-effects you then remember that this particular food is good to eat at any time. You don’t need to test it any more – you know what it’s like.

I recently gave some of my favourite tropical fruit, papaya, to a friend. He had never tried papaya before. He tasted a small amount and discovered how good it was to eat. He was discovering that what I had told him about papaya was true. By trusting what I had said, he discovered the joys of soaking the papaya flesh with lemon juice, followed by a coating of sugar. He loved it!

Similarly, when we listen carefully to what God has said to us in His word and then test it out in our lives, we will discover that those things God has prepared for us are ‘good to eat’, and that God’s Word really can be trusted. Because God is trustworthy, His Word can also be trusted. I find many people these days like the idea of believing in God, because He’s the one who can save them in eternity, but, sadly, they don’t trust him enough to believe His Word and put it into practice in their lives. As a result they never discover the joys of tasting the fruit of obedience and, eventually, many of them discover the consequences of disobedience instead.

An important key to learning is to trust what those who are trustworthy actually say, and then do what they do. God is trustworthy and if we follow in His ways we will discover the joys that His blessing upon our lives actually brings. Is it time for you to taste and see that God really is good!

Prayer: Help me, Lord, to trust what You have said in Your Word – and then to apply it in my life. I don’t want to discover the hard way that I’ve missed out on all Your blessings by not listening to what You say. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Click Here to read Peter Horrobin`s blog

Click here to find out more about a FREE TRIAL of Ellel 365

Romans 11:29, NIV
“For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable.”

After our salvation I believe the call of God on our lives is the most precious thing we have. God has a calling and a destiny for each one of us, and He never changes His mind over it. We can only be disqualified from that call if we turn our backs on it.

When I was a little girl of 7 a neighbour asked my mother if she could take me to a slide presentation by a missionary, on furlough from Papua New Guinea. I was excited to go and enjoyed seeing all his slides of that beautiful country. At the close of the evening he gave an appeal for anyone who sensed God could be calling them to be a missionary to Papua New Guinea. In the last hymn I immediately went to the front and stood there next to him, though no one else came out. I imagine the missionary was a little disappointed, but eventually he came over and sat with me and said, “I’m going to pray that if this is of God, one day, when you’re grown up, God will take you to Papua New Guinea to preach His gospel”.

I remember returning home and excitedly telling my mother that when I grew up I was going to be a missionary to Papua New Guinea. I actually had no idea what a missionary was, or geographically where Papua New Guinea was. My mother replied, “Of course you are, dear, but now it’s time for bed”. I forgot all about this incident until 2009, when a pastor and his wife from Papua New Guinea came to the NETS programme. They subsequently invited me to hold an Ellel Conference in their church in Papua New Guinea.

Last week, when the wheels of the Air Niugini flight touched down, more than 50 years later, I was deeply impacted by the amazing purposes of God. I’m writing this now in Papua New Guinea and it’s been an amazing time of God’s blessing. We have sensed the presence of the Lord in a powerful way as many lives have been touched and changed.

When I read the story of Peter in the gospels, and Jesus saying, ‘On this rock I will build my church’ and then later Peter’s three denials of Jesus, I think it would have been quite understandable if Jesus had said to Peter, “As you’ve behaved so badly and messed up so much I’ve now decided to use John, instead of you, to build my church.” But in John 21, Jesus re-instates Peter. And in Acts Chapter 2, we see Peter, who denied Jesus, standing up and preaching so powerfully that 3,000 people are added to the church.

God chooses us – the weak and foolish – to confound the wise. God is utterly faithful and we can surely depend on Him to fulfil His purposes in our lives. The only question is: Are we willing to be obedient to that call?

Prayer: We thank You, Lord, that You never change Your mind about Your call or take back Your gifts once they’re given. Would You come today and whisper that call again into our ears, that we might unmistakeably know what it is that You’re calling us to do. We recommit our lives afresh to You now, and we want to be in the centre of Your will and purpose for us. Give us obedience and faith to follow You, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Click Here to read Peter Horrobin`s blog

Click here to find out more about a FREE TRIAL of Ellel 365

Click here for more information about the NETS Training Programme