Devotionals

Luke 8:15, NIV
“But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.”

Many important lessons can be drawn from the parable of the sower, but in his version of the story, Luke draws out a very important principle that was not mentioned by Matthew in the version of the story which is more commonly quoted. Matthew tells us that the one who produces a good crop from his life is the one who hears the word and understands it (Matthew 13:23). This is so true, but Luke adds a very important additional comment on this. For, sadly, it is totally possible for someone to hear and understand the word and do absolutely nothing about it!

Luke adds to the hearing of the word, the desire to retain the word in the heart and then, by persevering produce a crop. We have all known people who hear a thing one minute and have forgotten it the next! The fact that they may even have agreed with what they had heard is of little significance, because they just as quickly forgot it. Luke reminds us that this will not produce a good crop in our lives – we MUST retain in our hearts what we have heard and then persevere in the understanding and the application of the word in our lives.

Without perseverance a farmer would only produce a very limited crop from any sowing of seed. Farming requires diligent attention to the conditions in which the seed is sowing so that it will germinate successfully. It then needs protecting and caring for throughout the growing period until the time of harvest. Perseverance is an essential requirement for fruitfulness.

And so it is in with us. God sows many seeds in our lives of things that He want us to be and to do. But growing and developing those seeds requires diligence and perseverance on our part. There is an enemy of souls who wants to try, even, to devour the seeds before they can germinate and he wants to rob us of the blessing that would be ours if we were able to see the work God gives us to do through to completion – to harvest time.

I am increasingly aware of how important it is that we not only start well, but that we persevere and finish what God gives us to do. It’s in the finishing well that the crop is made ready for harvest. Perseverance may not sound like a very attractive option for the Christian walk – but in reality it’s the only way that the work of the Kingdom will ever produce the fruitfulness that God looks for from the seeds that He sows.

Prayer: `Thank you Lord for the seeds you have sown in my life. I’m sorry for those times when I have not persevered and the crop has not been good. Help me Lord to be so renewed in You, that it will be a joy to press through to completion so that the crop from my life will indeed be good. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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Psalm 19:9-11, NIV
“The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.”

Gold is the international currency by which the governments of the world measure their worth. It is the ultimate trading commodity. Its value is determined by its qualities and its scarcity. A small amount of gold can be worth hundreds, or even thousands of pounds.

Few of us own much of it, but what we do have we look after and we value. We value it not only for its intrinsic worth in monetary terms, but by the additional value we give to it when we use it for very special purposes such as wedding rings and fine jewellery.

But the Bible tells us that there is something else which is much more valuable, even, than much pure gold! And the Bible is not talking about even rarer metals or commodities such as platinum! It is referring to the simple life-changing and life-protecting truths that are contained within the Word of God.

For the fact is, if we choose to live our lives according to the Word of God, in obedience to the commands and ordinances of God, then we will be far richer than if we put all our trust in the valuables we have stored away in the bank! And we will have greater wisdom than some of the most educated people on the planet!

I once prayed with a very rich and clever man – he owned the equivalent of much gold. But he had made some very simple mistakes in life which meant that his riches were now of very little significance to him, for he had lost so much in terms of family and relationships. What he had lost he desperately wanted, but what he had lost no amount of money could buy! If only he had chosen to obey the commands of God, he would have discovered that they are worth much more than pure gold .

Prayer: Lord, help me to understand your value systems and to realise that the blessings that come from walking in your ways are of much greater value than much pure gold. Help me, Lord, to avoid the plans of the enemy for my life and to treasure the blessings that come from obedience to your ordinances. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

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Hebrews 1:14, NIV
“Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?”

Do we believe in Angels? I was at the departure gate at Luton airport waiting for my flight to Sweden with a team from Pierrepont. I had my boarding card and my passport in my hand, when my mobile phone rang. I walked away to a glass wall of the lounge to take the call. Suddenly I managed to drop my passport down the tiny groove between two pieces of plate glass. It fell down several feet. We could see it but could not get to it! I went to a lady at the desk and told her of my predicament. She told me that it was not possible to board the plane without a passport. The flight was now being called. I looked in horror at the impossibility of the situation. The team came over and prayed. An elderly lady on the team asked Jesus to send a ministering angel to retrieve my passport supernaturally. I found it difficult to say amen!

The team now needed to board the flight and my secretary and I decided to stay behind. What else could we do? Then a lady came to us with a roll of sticky tape that is used at the check-in desk for luggage. She lowered the tape in between the two panes of glass and got hold of my passport. But suddenly it dropped again with the spine facing up! She lowered the sticky tape a second time, managed to stick it to the passport, and to my amazement retrieved the passport by lifting it up several feet and handed it to me.

The flight was now closing. I went to thank the lady as we ran to the gate but she had disappeared. I said to the lady on the desk, “Would you thank your member of staff for helping me?” and she said, “Who do you mean?” Well, I explained, and she said, “We do not have such a member of staff here!” We ran to the plane just as the ladder was being taken away and the door was closing. They allowed us to board. Everyone on the plane clapped us as they had been aware of our predicament. I told the elderly lady on the team, “I think it was an angel!” “Absolutely!” she replied. God answered our prayers!

How many times do you think that angels have been involved in your life to bring you protection and help?

Maybe when we get to glory and see the video tape ‘re-run’ we will be utterly amazed to realise just how much angels have intervened.

When Jesus was being arrested in the garden He said (Matthew 26:53) ”Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” Maybe we should ask more often for the Father to release angels to help us in times of trouble.

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Daniel 10:12, NIV
Then (the angel) continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel.. Since the first day when you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.”

Our first thoughts when someone mentions the name Daniel are usually about the story of what happened when he was thrown into the lion’s den as a punishment for not bowing down to an idol. Daniel was more concerned about his relationship with God than he was about his own personal safety. Daniel’s relationship with God was lived out at an unusual level of intimacy and fellowship. He wasn’t interested in protecting himself if it meant that he would be betraying the God he loved. What an example he is to us all.

Through his well-established pattern of living in relational obedience to the Lord, Daniel had grow into having an unusual level of awareness of the spiritual realms. He was able to hear and understand what God was saying through dreams and visions and at times he was able to see the angelic beings and hear what God was saying to him through them. And when Daniel prayed it was as if there was an open door into the heavenly realms – he had an exceptional level of earned authority with the Lord. When he prayed – things happened!

In our Scripture for today we discover the key to Daniel’s effectiveness as an intercessor – as a man who could not only speak to God in prayer, but who also heard God’s answers with amazing clarity – whether those answers came to him directly from God or through the intervention of God’s angelic messenger, as happened here in Daniel 10.

The key is one that is there for each and every one of us to use! The key of humility! Humility is the opposite of pride. Pride says, ‘I know best’. In pride people rise up in their own authority, oblivious to the fact that there is a higher authority than any human authority. Humility recognises that God is the source of all power and all authority and that as we come before Him, in holy fear of the Lord, then we are putting ourselves in the place where our ears can be open to hear His voice in response to our prayers and intercessions. Derek Prince used to say, ‘The way down is the way up.’ Daniel was a dynamic example of how when he humbled himself before the Lord, God raised him up!

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the example of Daniel and for his humble submission to your authority. Help me, Lord, to walk in a similar way in my own life, recognising that pride is a barrier to effective prayer and that humility opens the doors of the heavens to those who know and love the Lord. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

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Luke 4:14-15, NIV
“Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised Him.”

Times of testing are times of great opportunity! We may not think so at the time, but in my own experience I can say that the occasions when I have been personally been under test have always, retrospectively, been huge growth points in my own personal pilgrimage. Sometimes because of the joy that comes through victory, but, sadly, on other occasions, because of the vital lessons learned when things didn’t quite turn out as they should have done!

When Jesus was driven by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to experience first-hand the direct temptations of the enemy, Luke tells us that He went into the desert ‘full of the Spirit’ (Luke 4:1), but that He returned to begin His ministry in the ‘power of the Spirit’ (Luke 4:14). Overcoming the enemy’s temptations, attacks and strategies will always strengthen us for life’s journey and give us vital ammunition to use in the years ahead whenever the enemy tries to take us off course. For those times will always come, no matter how much we try to avoid them!

Paul didn’t say ‘IF the evil day comes . . .’ when talking about the spiritual warfare that is part of every believer’s life, he said ‘WHEN the evil day comes . . . ‘ (Ephesians 6:13). I never gladly choose to focus on the enemy and his tactics, but Paul made it clear that he had chosen ‘not to be ignorant of Satan’s devices!’ (2 Corinthians 2:11). And if it was necessary for Paul to be alert at all times, because of how the enemy wanted to take him off course, then we, too, should be constantly on our guard about the possibilities and be on our guard also – especially in those areas of our lives which we know are potential danger points.

The temptations Jesus faced were always aimed at destroying Father God’s plans and purposes for His life. In just the same way, Satan wants to destroy God’s plans and purposes for our lives. He is a destiny robber! But as we look to God for daily strength to overcome all the attacks of the enemy, what Satan intended to harm us will actually strengthen us to be God’s overcomers in the journey of life, as we enter into all that He made us to be.

Prayer: Help me, Lord, not to allow temptation to overwhelm me, but give me the strength for today so that as I live life one day at a time, I will see Your purposes come to pass in my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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Hosea 10:12, NIV
“Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unploughed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.”

Time is an extraordinary thing – we all spend exactly the same amount of it every single day of our lives – 24 hours, or 1440 minutes or 86400 seconds. That’s our daily allowance. And we can’t save it up and spend it tomorrow either. If we don’t use it we lose it!

So, how we spend our time has to be the single most important consideration of every single human being. Much more important than how we spend our money. For one thing’s certain – the time we have left to live is getting shorter by the day! Every twenty four hours that passes adds another day to the time we have been on the earth, and lessens the amount of time we have left!

In seeking to help people who are struggling with the consequences of what they have done with their lives, one of the commonest expressions I hear them say is “if only . . .” And what follows is usually a description of something they spent their time doing which has only produced bad fruit in their lives. Sometimes people regret the years of pleasure seeking at a time when they could have sought the Lord – and having missed the opportunities to put their lives on a solid foundation when they were young, they didn’t have anything to fall back on, later in life, which would have given them the wisdom to know how to avoid those catastrophic mistakes.

No wonder Hosea wrote “it’s time to seek the Lord”. He knew that if we miss out on the most important search we can ever make, we will never be able to experience the “showers of righteousness” that God longs to bless us with (Hosea 10:12). But the promise is that He will bless us with His righteousness – at whatever stage of life we seek Him – but we cannot sweep the past under the carpet of experience as if it didn’t matter. Under that carpet are often many things that need to be brought before the Lord in repentance, asking for forgiveness. And as we receive His forgiveness we will experience the blessing of being made righteous in God’s sight because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Now is the time . . . to seek the Lord!

Prayer: I’m sorry, Lord, for occasions when I’ve spent my time unwisely. I ask you to forgive me and cleanse me from the consequences of sinful choices. I seek you afresh today and long to be fully restored in You, experiencing your forgiveness and the showers of righteousness that can be mine because of Jesus. In His Name, Amen.

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Mark 15:34, NIV
“And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”)”

As we contemplated the cross afresh this Easter time it occurred to me that the brokenness that Jesus suffered was in spirit, soul and body. As Jesus cried out to the Father, the pain He suffered was far deeper than just physical. A spiritual separation took place between Jesus and the Father as the Son of God laid down His life and became sin for us.

The film ‘The Passion of the Christ’ terrifically depicted the flogging and the physical pain that Jesus went through for us – a most torturous physical death. So weakened was Jesus by the flogging that He needed help in carrying His cross. The story of the crucifixion is one of betrayal, brutality, despair and pain.

In Gethsemane He went through an agony in His soul to the point where He sweated drops of blood. This was emotional agony as His will became subject to His Father’s will. The betrayal of Judas with a kiss was surely an emotionally painful moment for Jesus. A kiss is a symbol of love. How terrible that Judas abused that symbol to betray His Master. And yet Jesus still managed to call Judas His friend.

In Matthew’s account (Matt. 26:56) all the disciples deserted Jesus and fled. He was abandoned by His closest friends – more emotional pain. After this, Jesus was mocked and insulted by the soldiers. As we stand back and look again at all Jesus went through, we see not just physical torture, but also emotional and mental abuse.

And the worst part of the cross was when for the very first time the relationship between Father God and His only begotten Son Jesus was broken as Jesus became sin in our place. At this point Jesus suffered spiritually, crying out “My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?”(Matthew 27:46).

The most important thing for us to consider is our personal response. It was the deep love of the Father for us that did not spare His only Son. He longed to have relationship with us again, just as God had with Adam in the beginning.

The chief purpose of the cross was that we would be reconciled to the Father through the finished work of Jesus the Son. When the curtain of the temple was torn from Heaven to Earth this was God’s way of saying that we can again have a direct access to the Father without needing a priesthood. The story did not end at the cross but with the victorious resurrection on the 3rd day.

In the long prayer that Jesus prayed in book of John He said (John 17:21-22) “They may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you”. The second Adam, Jesus, through His work on the cross, restored our relationship with the Father so that we can now go into the holy place and KNOW Him.

Let us challenge ourselves today:

Have we applied the finished work of Calvary fully in our lives?

Do we know God?

Do we walk with Him and talk with Him every day?

As the way has been made open for us to go into the holy place and sit with Father and have relationship with him, when did we last go there?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to understand more deeply the finished work of the cross that I may better appropriate every aspect of the cross in my life. I am so thankful for the gift of salvation, the forgiveness of my sins, and the promise of eternal life. In Jesus Name. Amen.

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John 20:1-2, NIV
“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!’”

The disciples had heard Jesus say many wonderful things. They had learned to trust what He said, even when they didn’t fully understand what he was saying. They’d heard the teaching, watched the miracles, seen the healings, experienced the deliverances, and now they were on their way to Jerusalem. What was going to happen next? This man was the real thing! But when He told them what was going to happen to Him, they didn’t want to believe that this bit of what Jesus had said was also going to be true!

There must have been great apprehension in their hearts as they approached the city. Surely He wasn’t really going to die? Especially as, at first, the people had waved him into the city, like a returning hero. But then the mood had changed. The Pharisees stirred up the people, Barabbas had been released and the cycle of events which confirmed their worst fears inexorably proceeded towards that terrible death on a cross, rushed through by the authorities to beat the failing light, as the Sabbath dusk closed in on them.

Jesus had died. He had gone from them. Confusion, distress, pain, loss, disappointment, grief, failure, hopelessness, even despair – all these emotions and many more will have been swimming round their agonised minds as they thought about their beloved Jesus lying in a borrowed tomb, behind a giant stone and guarded by Roman soldiers. Sleep would not have been easy for them as, no doubt, they went over and over and over again everything they could remember about what Jesus had said was going to happen. They were facing the unknown.

What had gone so terribly wrong? They had hit the wall and Jesus was no longer there to help them pick up the pieces of their lives. They had no-one to go to and the wonderful three year journey of faith was over. It must have been a very disturbed bunch of disillusioned followers who waited on Sunday morning to hear how the women had gone on, when they went to anoint his body.

And first reports were not good – in spite of being guarded by soldiers, someone appeared to have stolen the body! But this first report was not the whole story! The body was no longer there for a very different reason. It had definitely not been stolen!

The unknown they were facing was about to be totally transformed by the amazing truth – not only that Jesus had died, but He was alive again. When it looked as though all had been lost, they discovered that every word of what Jesus had said was true. Not only was it was the beginning of a new era in all their lives, it was the beginning of a new era in the history of the world!

If you are facing the unknown on this Easter Sunday, not sure about what life has for you just now, may I encourage you to remember that Jesus CAN be trusted. His words ARE true and that you can face the unknown with Him. The message of Easter Sunday morning is not just the record of a historical fact, it is the greatest encouragement to trust Him there ever can be.

Prayer: Thank You, Jesus, for your willing obedience to serve all of mankind through Your death on the cross. Thank You, Father God, for raising Jesus from the dead. And thank You, Lord, that I can face the unknowns in my own life with confidence, because I am not alone with Jesus in my heart. In His Name, Amen.

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1 John 4:10, NIV
“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

The hastily buried body of Jesus’ lay in a borrowed tomb. A Roman guard outside. The disciples were in a state of shock and disillusion. Surely, it wasn’t all meant to end like this? What about those words to Thomas, “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6)? And those words of comfort to Mary and Martha about the death of their brother Lazarus, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25)?

It’s easy to imagine what they must have been going through as they remembered all the things He had said and done during those precious three years. The disciples were naturally caught up in all the emotions and activities of the moment. It was far too soon for them to be thinking through the theology of what was going on at that very moment!

But towards the end of His life, the Apostle John summarised the experience in the simple words of our scripture for today – words that embraced everything that the old covenant sacrificial system had anticipated, but which now had brought that era to an end with the most extraordinary and only complete sacrifice. At that very moment Jesus had become what John the Baptist prophesied (John 1:29), “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

Jesus had died in the place of every sinner. He was right at that moment enduring the hell of separation from Father God and atoning for our sins. He was suffering in your place and mine. Hallelujah, what a Saviour.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for paying the price for my sins, for being willing to accept the punishment that should have been mine. As I dwell on your amazing love, help me to be willing to walk in your footsteps and gladly serve you all my days. Amen.

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Hebrews 11:6, NIV
“Without faith it is impossible to please God.”

Faith is a gift of God; if anyone needs faith let him ask of God. How full is your faith tank? We must have an inflow of the life of the Spirit of God manifest in us to live by faith. Everything in us prefers to walk by sight. ‘When I have the resource I will move’ we say. That is walking by sight. If we try and fix it ourselves we will find that the power of God diminishes.

God has a greater plan for us in our future than we have ever dreamed of in our past. It is God’s delight to make possible for us what seems right now to be impossible. ‘Jesus replied, “What is impossible with men is possible with God(Luke 18:27). Through faith all those things that have been obscured or hidden from us become clear. God wants us to implicitly trust Him by faith so that we may subdue kingdoms and work for righteousness.

True faith originates in the core of our saved being. We aren’t saved by mental agreement to certain statements or warm emotions, but by faith. ‘For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no-one can boast’ (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Personal faith deeply believes that God will do as He says. Faith produces words of agreement. If God has said it then it cannot fail. If we believe: ‘For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken to us by the glory of God’ (2 Corinthians 1:20). GOD HAS PROMISED ME.

Today allow God to take absolute charge of the whole of your life and your circumstances. The alternative is that the cares of this world will blind your eyes to living by faith God’s way and you’ll not be able to see God’s truth.

What is that ‘impossible’ mountain in your life? Can you start to believe by faith today that nothing, absolutely nothing, is impossible with God? If so, then bow your head now, hand over to God that ‘impossible situation’ and trust Him by faith.

Prayer: Dear Lord God, would You come and fill my empty faith tank. I desire today to walk by faith and not by sight, to trust You where I cannot see. I put my seemingly impossible situation of… on open palms to You. I know that nothing is impossible for You. I’m asking in the name of Jesus that You will hear my prayer. Give me Your peace that transcends my circumstances, that I may rest expectantly in You throughout today. Amen.

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