Devotionals

Jonah 2:8-9, NIV
Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord.

Jonah was in the belly of the fish. He lay there with seaweed wrapped round his head, having the ride of his life in an under-water roller-coaster from which there was no escape. It’s amazing how being in impossible situations changes the intensity and urgency of your prayer life. Repentance comes easily when the only obvious solution to the problem is imminent death and an earlier than expected appointment with one’s Maker!

There was no doubt that Jonah was seeing things from a new perspective – very different from the perspective he had when running away from the appointment with destiny in Nineveh, which God had planned for him. Anything which comes between a servant of God and the God he is serving is an idol.

Jonah did not want to go and preach to such a wicked people. The idol in Jonah’s heart was selfishness driven by fear. But it was a worthless idol – and as a result he was now forfeiting all the grace that would have been his, if he had obeyed God first time round and gone to Nineveh.

“Oh God – I’m sorry. I’ll make good my vow to serve you! Whatever you want, I’ll do! Even go to Nineveh, Lord. But God, it’s rather difficult just now – I’ve got a bit of a problem. There doesn’t seem any way off this roller-coaster. Is there anything you can do about it?” And with that the Lord commanded the fish to vomit Jonah up onto dry land. Jonah’s premature appointment with his Maker had been postponed.

There are so many lessons in this amazing story, but the most important one for today prompts me to ask the question, “Are you running from any of God’s plans and purposes for your life?” If so, may I encourage you to get on your knees before God, deal with any worthless idols that have stood between you and obedience, and look to God for His grace as you ask Him how to put things right between you and Him.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for this amazing lesson from your Word. Help me to examine my own heart and see if there are any ways in which I have been running from your calling upon my life. I want to put things right – please show me how. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Jeremiah 2:13, NIV
My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

There were many different things that God’s people did when they turned their back on the living God – the list of sins that would be needed to describe all their ungodly activities would have been very long! But when, through the prophet Jeremiah, God began to speak words of rebuke, he reduced all their sinful behaviour into just two categories.

Firstly, they had deserted the only source of living water and secondly, they had tried to generate their own ‘water supply’ as a substitute for the living water that flows from the heart of God.

In Israel, underground cisterns were vital for the storage of water for use during the dry season. Without a good cistern people would die through lack of water. A cracked cistern was useless, water would flow into it alright. But the water would all leak away through the cracks so that when the water was most needed, there would be no water there.

God uses this picture to speak to His people about what they had been doing. He uses the need for physical water as a parable of the need for the living spiritual water, which sustains God’s people through all the ups and downs of life. The first sin of God’s people was to decide that they wanted an alternative source of supply, so instead of constantly coming back to the only source of living water, they did what mankind has tried to do throughout history – they built their own cistern, which embraced everything from idolatry to sexual immorality. They finished up believing that good was bad and bad was good and going in the opposite direction to the ways of God.

God had provided for them everything that was needful for living in covenant relationship with the God who had created the world and everything in it. But pride in the heart of man will always want to build an alternative way, and say it’s better than what God provided in the first place. Ultimately this is the foundation for every alternative belief system, false religion or moral order that has ever risen up in the heart of man and practised on the face of the earth.

It’s easy to look at the people of Jeremiah’s day and ask, “How could they?” But all we need to do is look at our own generation and see that 21st century man is no different. Part of the reason why I believe God put the vision for Ellel 365 into my heart was to ensure that within Ellel Ministries there’s a constant flow of living water from God’s Word and that people are able to know how to build a cistern in their own lives that is sound and without cracks.

Prayer: Help me, Lord, to only ever want the living water which flows from your heart to the heart of man. And give me the determination to rebuild sound and crack-free cisterns in my own life, so that the Water of Life will always be available to me throughout my days – even in seasons of drought. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Ellel 365 – Online Training School
Living the Life – Book by Peter Horrobin

Ecclesiastes 5:13-15, NIV
“I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner, or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when he has a son there is nothing left for him. Naked a man comes from his mother’s womb, and as he comes, so he departs. He takes nothing from his labour that he can carry in his hand.”

Recently there was a terrible robbery. An elderly and very wealthy couple were murdered in their home. Their wealth had been hoarded and, as referred to in our scripture, it had brought awful disaster upon them. Another person with great personal wealth used his money to make more and more money and amass a fortune. But in a great financial crash much of what he owned disappeared overnight. Wealth that could have been used to provide for the family, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, restore the hurting and broken and build the Kingdom of God was lost in a moment of time. People store money up as if they and their money will be there forever, trusting that their wealth will always be their security.

It always amazes me how blind people can be, to the very salutary and very obvious truth that is at the heart of today’s scripture – we can take no more out of the world than we brought into it! Money is a great servant, but a very bad master and when God gives the increase to the labours of our lives, we have a great responsibility to ensure that whatever these resources prove to be, they are a servant and not a master. No wonder there is so much in Scripture about the blessing that comes from godly giving and warning about how the love of money can become a root of all kinds of evil.

It’s not wrong to make money, but when money becomes an idol, the god of this world can start paying some very ungodly wages! As one commentator said, ‘Treat money like your God, And it will plague you like the devil!’

John Wesley got the balance right when he said of money, ‘Get all you can, save all you can and give all you can!’ If we have a healthy attitude towards giving it away, it will never become an idol and the more we use our money as a servant of the living God, the more money God will entrust us with to use for his glory. There are people who die exceedingly rich but, sadly, possessing little treasure that will be useful to them in the world to come. There are others who may die poor, but the riches of their lives have gone ahead, and for them there will be great treasure in Heaven!

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for all the resources you have entrusted me with. Help me to use them wisely throughout my life and never to focus on how much treasure I have on earth, but on how much spiritual treasure is laid up for me in glory! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Ellel 365 – Online Training School

Living the Life – Book by Peter Horrobin

2 Peter 3:1, NIV
“Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking.”

Recently I was praying with a group of friends and skimming through my Bible at the same time looking for inspiration. Suddenly my eyes lighted on our verse for today – a verse I had never noticed before, even though I must have read it many times!

In this verse Peter was telling his readers the somewhat unusual reason why he had written his letters, not to urge them forward to some great act of spiritual commitment, or to correct their sinful actions, or to teach them some important new truths – even though all of these are implicit in different parts of his letters – but to stimulate them to wholesome thinking.

Peter knew what he wanted to do – he was concerned above all that God’s people should understand a principle that would stand them in good stead for the rest of their days. Practical advice on a particular issue is often important and valuable – but if you can teach people a principle to live by you have given them advice that will hold true for hundreds of occasions.

Everything we do in life – whether it be good or bad – always begins with a thought. Then as we think about it, we decide to do it and finally we involve our body in the action that began as a thought. Now, if our thinking is always wholesome, then it’s obvious that the actions that follow will also be wholesome. But if in our minds we dwell on the ungodly, the unwholesome, the crude, the selfish and the greedy, to quote but a few possibilities, then our consequential actions will also be a reflection of what we’ve been thinking. What a contrast between the two sets of actions!

Peter’s advice holds good for us now. No wonder Paul encouraged us to take every thought captive, for if we control our thinking then our ways will truly be guided by the Lord into the ways of righteousness and the ways of blessing.

Prayer: Help me Lord to always think about godly things and to stop myself thinking about the ungodly so that my actions will be in line with whatever is pure and holy. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Ellel 365 – Online Training School

Living the Life – Book by Peter Horrobin

Psalm 7:15-16, NIV
He who digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit he has made. The trouble he causes recoils on himself; his violence comes down on his own head.

When I opened yesterday’s newspaper I couldn’t help but laugh. I was looking at the pathetically humorous picture of a young elephant that had fallen through a drainage cover on a road in Thailand. The elephant was completely helpless, unable to move, trapped by its own weight and staring up its trunk with a pair of huge eyes that simply said, “How did I get myself into this mess?” Don’t worry, they did, eventually, get the elephant out!

But as I looked at that picture, my smiles slowly disappeared as I realised this was a picture of many people I have known over the years, who have done exactly what the Psalmist was referring to in our scripture for today. They have nurtured ungodliness in their life, often over a long period of time, until the weight of their ungodliness has been too heavy for the flimsy spiritual ground on which they were standing.

They have been digging a hole for themselves and suddenly the covering gave way and they fell into the hole which had now become a pit from which there was no way out. Everything had recoiled upon themselves and they became victims of their own behaviour.

I stared at that pathetic picture of the elephant for quite a while and began to re-examine my own life. I realised afresh that there is no way any of us can get ourselves out of the pits we have dug for ourselves.

At that point our only way forward is total honesty, full repentance and total dependence on the forgiveness and mercy of the God who sent His Son into the pit of sinful Earth, to rescue all those who look to Him for deliverance. It is only Jesus that can lift us out of the pit and set our feet afresh on the rock of our salvation. What extraordinary love our Saviour has – we love Him because He first loved us.

Prayer: Thank you, Jesus, for your extraordinary love – that even when we fall into the pits we have dug for ourselves, you long to come and set us free. Thank you that you never reject the ‘broken and the contrite heart’ of those who look up to you from the pit, with eyes of repentance, desperate for the forgiveness of their Saviour and the security of His love. Amen.

Ellel 365 – Online Training School

Arise O Lord in the Darkness – Teaching CD’s by Jim Graham from Arise Conference

Isaiah 55:1, NIV
Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.

Are you thirsty to love God and to be obedient to Him? When Scripture tells us to come to the waters, it’s talking about the Christ, who is the open fountain. When we come to Jesus, it’s as though we feast on wine and milk. Jesus purchased the living water for us with His own blood. How thirsty are you today?

Let’s look at those who aren’t thirsty. They’re satisfied with the pleasures of this world. They depend on their achievements and good works. They have no sense of their need, they’re not in pain, and they say they’re doing fine without God in their lives. But God invites those who are thirsty to the waters, just as Jesus invites those who are heavy-laden to come to Him so He can give them rest.

Have you spent too much of your life trying to drink at dry wells? It’s only His water that satisfies. Isaiah is talking of the covenant of grace that’s made with us through Jesus Christ – a free invite to all to come and benefit from the gospel of grace. God (through Isaiah) issues an open invitation to all who are thirsty. Anyone can eat and drink the meal – free of charge. The only requirement is to come and be thirsty. We must drink no longer at the muddy puddles of the enemy. We should be praying for God-given thirst. Then God will supply. Psalm 81:10 says, ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it’.

In John 7:37, Jesus says, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink’. This water doesn’t just quench our thirst; it nourishes our body and revives our spirit. We must drink the world’s poisons no longer, (being deceived into believing that it’s good water). Let’s buy without money or cost. This gift is invaluable, and, therefore, no price tag can be put upon it. Jesus has no need of our money because He’s offering what’s already bought and paid for. So today, come to the living water. Come to the healing water. God is calling to you. How thirsty are you for more of the reality of God in your life?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, would You come and create a real thirst for Your living water in us. We’re thirsty after the reality of Your love and Your presence. As we gaze at You today, will You transform us from the inside out, and will You fill us with Your living water of joy and allow our hearts to overflow with Your love. Amen.

Ellel 365 – Online Training School

Holy Church, Powerful Church – Teaching CDs by Jill Southern

NETS School

Hebrews 6:19-20, NIV
We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

Last weekend we drove through a small village in the north-east of England. I rarely take notice of the names of pubs , but I was suddenly impacted by the name above the door of this particular village hostelry! The Hope and Anchor. As I drove on I began to think about the enormous spiritual significance of the hope we have in Jesus Christ as the absolute anchor for our lives in time and eternity.

I doubt if any of the patrons, who were going in and out of the pub for a pint of beer, thought anything about the meaning of its name – or even where it came from. And, to be honest, I can’t think of the names of any other pubs which have their origin in Scripture! But this one certainly does.

The writer of the Hebrews was drawing attention to the certainty of God’s promises. The God who fulfilled his promise to Abraham, is the same God in whom we trust. Abraham waited patiently and the promise to him and Sarah was fulfilled. In verse 12 we are reminded that those who wait in faith and patience ‘will inherit what has been promised.’

God’s promises to us, who know and love the Lord Jesus, culminate in spending eternity with Him. When Jesus died, the curtain of the temple was torn apart. The way beyond the curtain, that separated the people of God from the holiness of God, was opened up for believers in Him, for both time and eternity. Jesus went before us and has entered on our behalf. He is our certain hope and our absolute anchor – it is He who gives us security beyond understanding, an anchor that cannot be moved whatever storms may rage around us. Amazingly, even the name of a pub can give us cause to be thankful and be an inspiration!

Prayer: Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you opened up the way for each one of us to both know You and to enter into the eternal joys of Heaven with you. I choose to trust and depend on you as the anchor of my soul. Amen.

Ellel 365 – Online Training School

Living in the Promises – Teaching CD

Proverbs 24:30-34, NIV
I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest – and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man

The Bible is full of parables – from beginning to end. We ignore them at our peril! This one speaks very directly to the sin of laziness and the writer reaches the correct conclusion from what he saw – that the man who sleeps when he should have been working will soon end up in poverty. This message is obvious, the advice in the message is life-saving.

In the work that we do, however, we come across many people who may be very diligent in working for money, but are careless about the way they live their lives. They know there are issues they need to address, the weeds that have dulled their sensitivity to the voice of God and the broken down defences (the walls), through which the enemy has gained access on many occasions. But they have ignored the obvious signs and carried on regardless of the dangers all around them.

They say to themselves – one day, I’ll get to it! But, spiritually, they behave like the sluggard in the parable who never attended to the essentials when caring for his vineyard. Just as surely as the physically lazy man will end up in poverty, the spiritually lazy person will soon become vulnerable – not to armed bandits, but something much worse! For, as Peter tells us so graphically, in 1 Peter 5:8, “the enemy prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour”.

Let us not follow the example of the ‘vineyard sluggard’, but choose now to get out of our chairs and tackle any vital issues we have been putting off, before it’s too late.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, that your word reminds me of the need to be diligent in the ’vineyard of my life’ Help me to see where the weeds are growing and the walls are broken down and do something about them. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Ellel 365 – Online Training School

Living the Life – Book by Peter Horrobin

Deuteronomy 1:6, NIV
The Lord our god said to us at Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Break camp and advance . . .’

There are times and seasons in life. Sometimes it is right to patiently wait on God and serve Him faithfully in one place. But even when that happens it is vital that we are constantly listening to His voice and not sinking into the deafness of complacency. If we are staying put somewhere it should only be because we know that’s the place God still wants us to be at.

A time without major change is not a time when we should stop listening to God for new directions it should still be a time when we are constantly knowing God’s encouragement to stay where we are. We need to keep the spiritual telephone line open so that when the moment is right to move on, we clearly hear God’s voice and are ready to obey.

From time to time I have met people who have stayed in one place in their spiritual life for much longer than God intended. Complacency, laziness and being at ease have become earplugs of the spirit. Their attentiveness to the voice of God has diminished and they have not heard or recognised God’s voice when it came.

Our scripture for today, in which God was giving instruction to all of Israel to break camp and get up and go, is an encouragement for us all to review our lives and make sure we are still in the right place. It may just be that the time has come to break camp and advance, and begin to conquer new territory for the Kingdom of God. Sometimes it is fear of the future that makes people switch off from God. But if He truly is the one who knows what is best for each one of our lives, what have we got to lose from trusting Him and, at least, asking for his affirmation that we are still in the right place. It just could be that there are some exciting times ahead for you!

Prayer: Lord, I only want to be in the place in my life that is in harmony with your plans and purposes. I choose to remove the earplugs from my spirit – please show me of any changes that I need to make. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Ellel 365 – Online Training School

Living in Vision – Teaching CD

Luke 8:38-39, NIV
Jesus sent him away, saying, ‘Return home and tell how much God has done for you’. So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.

A seriously deranged man, who had inhabited the graveyards of Gadara, had been wonderfully healed and delivered by Jesus. This man, who formerly had been a threat to anyone who went near, was now restored and in his right mind. Naturally he wanted to become part of Jesus’ travelling party.

But Jesus had a different message for him. Go back home and tell all the people you know how it is that you are now well. Tell them what God’s done for you. Let the good news spread. This way many more people will hear and believe the good news.

Jesus said to the man, “tell how much God has done for you.” The man told the people “how much Jesus had done for him.” He took out the word ‘God’ and put ‘Jesus’ in its place! Without realising what he was doing the former demoniac was making a profound theological statement – he was actually declaring that this man Jesus, who had healed him, must, therefore be from God! For his instinctive belief was that only God could have healed him like that. He was speaking the truth – only God had the authority to deal with the highest powers Satan could muster against humanity, and if Jesus had that authority then he can only have got it from God.

A congregation that prays for healing, and sees God at work among their people, should also be an evangelising church. The world out there needs to know the truth about God, but how will they hear unless God’s people speak out into their community what God has done? Fear often keeps people from telling the truth – they are afraid of what people will think.

My guess is that people will be more interested in hearing some outrageously good news than we realise. The church needs to let the world know that God is alive and well and Jesus is still healing people today. So, if God has done something for you, do what Jesus told the former demoniac. Don’t just keep that good news as a closely guarded secret inside a ‘holy club’ we call ‘church’. Get out there and let the world around you know. Do a bit of gossiping of the good news!

Prayer: Help me, Lord, to use every opportunity to tell others about what you have done for me. Open my eyes to see the need in others to know the truth about you. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Ellel 365 – Online Training School

Living the Life – Book by Peter Horrobin