Devotionals

1 John 4:14-16, NIV
And we have seen and testify that the father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in Him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

These letters were written at the end of John’s life. He had been an eye-witness to the events on resurrection Sunday. He wanted his readers to know that what he was saying was not only true, but could be totally depended on. John will have seen Thomas thrust his finger into the wounds of Jesus and heard the excitement of the two who ran all the way back from Emmaus, having seen the Lord!

These were events that could never be erased from his memory and it was absolutely vital that new believers in Jesus caught the validity of John’s experience from the lips and pen who had proved over a long life that what Jesus had said and done was true and that He really was the Saviour of the world.

The resurrection was not just a story that John and the other disciples had concocted. The strength of his words, “We have seen and testify” come down the centuries with the force of conviction of someone in the witness box in a court of law. And just as powerfully, John could testify to the fact that down the years he had found the risen Lord Jesus to be totally trustworthy. There wasn’t a hint of doubt in his witness statement. He knew that he knew that he knew. Jesus had been raised from the dead and was alive and could be trusted.

And today, as we celebrate with thanksgiving the victory of the cross, the atoning sacrifice of the Lamb of God and the glorious resurrection of the Son of God, let us determine to be like John and put our trust in this same Jesus, for as John said in verse 15, “If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in Him and he in God.” What a privilege, what a joy – to be alive in God – both for now and throughout eternity.

Prayer: Dear Father God, Thank you, thank you, thank you for the gift of Your Son. No words can fully express the inner joy of Your salvation. But I do look forward to telling you face to face in Heaven! In the Name of the risen Lord Jesus, Amen.

Arise! Conference Teaching CD’s

1 John 3:8, NIV
The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.

I read a book recently which was attempting to describe what the work of the cross was all about without any reference to the devil. It was a bit like trying to describe a game of soccer without mentioning the idea of a goal! Some things are just not possible!

Satan’s last temptation of Jesus was to challenge him to use his powers to flick out those Roman nails and come down off the cross. At the last, the devil’s last attempt to grasp victory from the jaws of defeat was to try and stop Jesus from laying down his life voluntarily, without ever having come under the authority of Satan, the god of this world. For if Jesus were to die now, then there would be nothing that could prevent the resurrection. The curse of death could only fall on those who had come under the influence of sin. And here was Jesus, totally sinless, about to die! Satan, death and hell were about to be defeated.

Satan had failed. What a nightmare for the god of this world. Jesus was about to overcome death, and from that moment onwards anyone who would choose Jesus as their Saviour, and come under the covering authority of the Son of God, would also escape the judgment of death.

Today has always been known in the calendar of the church as Good Friday. I feel like screaming from the housetops that it’s not just GOOD Friday. For in reality it’s totally stupendous, unbelievably wonderful, out-of-this world, sensational, miraculous, beyond comprehension Friday! As the old hymn says:

“There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin,

He only could unlock the gate of Heaven and let us in!”

Prayer: Dear Father God, Saying thank you seems a totally inadequate response to such incredible grace. We are so very, very grateful that on this special day we can remember with joyful thanksgiving the most important act there will ever be in the whole history of the world and the universe. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Why did Jesus have to Die 1 – Teaching CD

Genesis 5:24, NIV
Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

What does it mean to walk with God? Firstly, we have to be at peace with God and completely reconciled with Him. Amos 3:3 says, ‘Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?’ It means to live a life in a very close communion with God, for God to share His heart with us and to walk together with Him.

Enoch did not walk before God, he did not walk after God, but WITH God as if he was in heaven already. He did not live as the rest of mankind, so he did not die as the rest of mankind. God took him away. It is further explained in Hebrew 11:5 ‘By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: he could not be found, because God had taken him away’. Enoch pleased God and was translated. Whenever a believer dies God comes and fetches them and takes them to glory. In Psalm 116:15 it says, ‘Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints’.

Whilst Enoch walked with God, Abraham is said to be a friend of God and David to be a man after God’s heart. But I believe God wants to say something about choosing to walk WITH God.

Enoch pleased God. When we live to please Him, God takes us from this life into eternity. It will be a happy event for both us and God. If we walk with God, we fully belong to Him. We walk side by side. We practice the presence of God. We listen to His voice and become one in heart and vision with Him. We know God and enjoy Him. We believe in God, and we love Him. We have complete faith in Him. Then we start to become conformed into the image of His Son.

Prayer: Father God, give me a deep desire to walk with You; not to race ahead of You nor to lag behind You. Give me a hunger and thirst to be like Enoch and walk with You as my God. Then, at my life’s end, take me into eternity to be with You forever. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Arise and Fight! – Teaching by Jill Southern from recent Arise! conference

Psalm 119:18-20, NIV
Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law. I am a stranger on earth; do not hide your commands from me. My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times.

I have just bought myself a new Bible. For one reason I am beginning to find that the small print of my present Bible is something of a challenge when preaching – so the larger print version is a great help. But there is another reason also, my present Bible is now so well marked that I am sensing it is time to start again on a new adventure with God and His Word.

For me, getting a new Bible is scary, for I wonder how I will cope without all the familiar and well-loved markings I read and use so often. But then, it’s also got to the stage where there are so many markings that these are what get my attention and I’m in danger of missing other precious truths contained in the unmarked verses!

So, I’m praying the prayer of the psalmist and asking God to open my eyes afresh, so that as I read my new Bible He will open my eyes to new aspects of the wonderful truths He has hidden in His Word. For, as the psalmist says, we are strangers on earth – we are living in a world that has been sold out to the devil and for the time being we live, move and have our being in his domain. As God’s people we are not in tune with the ungodly objectives that consume so much of our fallen world. We are desperately in need of His revelation and truth.

It is into this world that God has come – with both His written Word (the Bible) and His Son – the living Word, who became flesh (John 1:1-5). With His written Word to guide us in the laws of God and the living Word to redeem us from the hand of the enemy, we are a very privileged people. If only the leaders of our nations (and even God’s people) were as consumed with wanting to live according to the laws of God as the psalmist was!

Prayer: Help me Lord, as I read your Word, to see the things that you have hidden there for our benefit and blessing, and live according to your laws. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Life According to the Book – Teaching CD

Psalm 103:1-2, NIV
Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul and forget not all his benefits.

As I have mentioned previously, people who talk to themselves are sometimes thought of as being not quite right in the head! But there is a form of talking to oneself that is very Scriptural and very necessary!

Each of us has three different dimensions to our being. Our body is obvious – a little less obvious is our spirit and our soul, but they are vital to our understanding of how God created us to function in relationship with Him as human beings.

God is Spirit, and our human spirit is made like God so we can have relationship and fellowship with Him. When God speaks to us as believers we become aware of His Spirit impacting our lives. It is here in our human spirit that we gain spiritual understanding from Him and here, also, where many of our most important decisions have their origin – such as choosing to serve God and make Jesus Lord of our lives.

But then action has to be taken to convert what we now understand in our spirit into the reality of human experience, decision making and action. In our Scripture the Psalmist is doing just that. He is speaking directly to His soul and telling it to get into line with his spiritual understanding – for it’s time to worship God.

Many people never come to a place of walking in holy obedience because they think that God should do it all for them, as if by a bit of spiritual magic! But if that were to happen God would be over-riding the freewill He has given us. We have to choose holiness – and then we have to tell our flesh-life (our soul and our body) to come into line with what is God’s best for our lives.

So, David’s spirit is bringing his soul, and then his body, into rightful subjection to his spirit for that is the way that the joy of the Lord (in our spirit) becomes the strength of God (in our flesh) to believe for and do the works of the Kingdom. That’s how vision becomes reality.

Prayer: Lord, help me to live in a God-centred spiritual relationship with you – and then bring all that I am into a place of joyful obedience, so that your true purposes may be known and fulfilled in my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

God’s Power for the Body of Christ 1 – Teaching CD

Acts 3:10, NIV
They recognised him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”

Everyone knew the crippled man. He was a permanent fixture at the gate Beautiful. No doubt he had his regular donors who always gave him money as they entered the temple. It was a good spot to beg for money. But on the day he asked Peter and John for money they declined to give him any, but gave him what they had! In the name of Jesus they healed him and people were filled with wonder and amazement.

When I was very young a missionary friend of my parents was invalided home from missionary service in Nigeria. She was suffering from cancer and the tumour was growing progressively larger as her last days approached. The doctors gave her about three weeks to live. She had left behind a thriving mission work amongst leper children and the greatest agony of her heart was not that she was soon going to meet her Lord, but that the children back in Nigeria needed her.

All the mission supporters were praying for her – including my Mum and Dad, but not even they were ready for the news when it came. News, not of her passing into the presence of her Lord, but that the tumour had miraculously and completely disappeared overnight. Instead of preparing for her last days on earth, she got up and wrote letters to all her prayer supporters telling them what God had done. Her wish had been fulfilled, the hearts of the children crying for their adopted ‘mum’ had touched the heart of the Father. He had stretched out His hand and touched her dying body. She was totally healed and lived many more years to serve the Lord. Everyone was totally amazed.

I understand just what the people must have thought when they saw the crippled man, no longer begging, but dancing with joy! When Peter and John were hauled before the high priests to give an account for what had happened, they were able to testify to the fact that it was through the name of Jesus that the cripple man had been healed, but that there is an even greater miracle that is available to all from the hand of the same Lord Jesus – the gift of salvation.

The physical miracle gave them the opportunity to tell of how this same Jesus wants to heal our broken hearts and restore us into relationship with the Father and enjoy Him forever, in time and eternity. All healing is a witness to the salvation that Jesus won for each one of us on the cross. the One who heals is also the One who saves!

Prayer: Thank you Jesus for the miracle of healing – and that the even greater miracle of salvation is available now to everyone who chooses to believe and receive the Saviour for themselves. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Arise! Be Healed. – Teaching from recent Arise! conference in Blackpool

Jeremiah 18:5, NIV
Then the word of the Lord came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

Sitting on my shelf is a mug without a handle. No, the handle isn’t broken, it just never existed in the first place. At the age of 11 I was really proud of this mug. It had been shaped on a wheel in pottery class at school by my own hands, without anyone else’s help. It is hardly ‘fine china’! The walls of the mug are so thick you would find it difficult to drink out of it. Putting a handle on it was way beyond my skill level at the time.

And so it remained – a fired clay mug without a handle, glazed in a dull grey colour and singularly unattractive and unusable. But when I look at that mug today, I can still remember the joy I had when I showed that ‘ugly mug’ to my Mum and Dad and gave it pride of place. It was beautiful, it was mine and no-one was going to tell me what it really looked like! Mum and Dad played the part magnificently! And what’s more, inscribed on the bottom of the mug and fired into permanence by the heat of the kiln, is my name. It unquestionably belongs to me.

There is a huge difference, however, between a trophy mug such as that, which is shaped in a few minutes before being put in a kiln and our lives. The vessel of our lives is constantly being formed on the wheel of life. The wheel never stops spinning until that day when the ‘clay’ is taken off the wheel, and the vessel is fired in the kiln of eternity? As the wheel of life spins we have the capacity with our free will (something real clay can never have) to either resist the hand of the Master Potter and make what WE want of the vessel or to humbly submit to the Potter’s loving hands and say, “Lord, make of me what YOU will.”

As I read our Scripture afresh today, I began to ask myself whether I would be satisfied with what came out of the kiln if the Great Potter were to take me off the wheel of life today? It was a very salutary few moments. In Jeremiah 18 God is warning the people that if they continue to mess up their lives (and nation) the day will come when he will forcibly destroy what they have made on the wheel of life. It’s always a tragedy when God’s judgment falls in this sort of way. But God is merciful, and very long-suffering, and His patient voice comes down the centuries today, to say to you, ‘let me remake the vessel of your life in a better way, while there is still time.’ All that is required is humble repentance, followed by acceptance of what He then does with our lives as a result.

What wonderful news – the Master Potter is always waiting to apply his firm and loving hands to the clay of our lives and reshape them according to His loving purposes. And then He wants to inscribe His name on the clay as a sign of who we belong to. What an opportunity! What security! What a Saviour!

Prayer: I am sorry, Lord, for the times when I have wilfully resisted your loving hands. I invite you now to apply the pressure of love on my life and reshape me in the way you know is best for me. Thank you Jesus. Amen.

Our Covenant God – Teaching CD

Healing through Creativity – Course at Ellel Centres

Judges 16:16-17, NIV
With such nagging Delilah prodded Samson day after day until he was tired to death. So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”

God chose Samson before he was born to be set apart for the Lord. He was called to be a ‘Nazirite’ which included a vow not to have his hair cut. The Spirit of God came upon Samson, enabling him to do huge acts of strength. In his first recorded act, Samson tore a lion apart with his bare hands. On another occasion, he killed a thousand Philistines with a jawbone of a donkey. Later, leaving a prostitute’s house, he took hold of the gates of the city of Gaza, ran up a hill and left them at the top! Samson was known for his feats of strength and for beginning the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.

Although Samson had great strength, he had terrible character weaknesses. He was controlled by ungodly sexual appetites, he confided in the wrong people, and used his gifts and abilities unwisely. Although Samson could strangle a lion with his bare hands, he could not handle the seduction of a woman. After three false starts, finally, he told Delilah the truth about where his strength actually lay. Samson fell into Delilah’s trap, and as a consequence, he had his eyes gouged out, and was thrown into a Gaza prison by the Philistines.

Samson wasted his life and used God’s gifts for selfish purposes. He also had a problem with pride and revenge. In spite of Samson’s failures, God still answered his final prayer, and gave supernatural strength back to Samson when he was brought out as a sport in the Philistines’ temple of Dagon. He pushed over the temple pillars, destroying the pagan temple and its worshippers, and died alongside the Philistines.

From this whole story, we can see that our character must be in front of our gifting. Our spiritual gifts always belong to God and are for His purposes alone. When God’s gifts are evident in a person’s life it is not necessarily proof of the person’s obedience to God. God does not remove the gifts He has given to His people nor the call on their life. The apostle Paul wrote that God hasn’t rejected His people Israel. He loves them and has still chosen them despite their opposition to the gospel (… for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable Romans 11:29, NIV). God’s presence with a person doesn’t mean He overrides their free will choices. How different Samson’s life could have been if he had been willing to learn from his mistakes and not to be seduced by pretty women!

Samson’s story also teaches us that God uses people in spite of their weaknesses or mistakes. What a gracious and merciful God we have! But let’s examine our own character today and be willing to learn from our mistakes.

Prayer: Father, we thank You that you were Samson’s God and You are our God today. We invite You to come and speak to us about our own character weakness that could potentially shipwreck our lives and ministries. Please teach us from the story of Samson how important it is that we are willing to be conformed into the character of Jesus Christ. Help us to make godly choices that will reinforce the spiritual gifts that You give us in order to empower us to do Your will and establish Your Kingdom. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Life’s Decisions – Teaching CD

John 18:37-38, NIV
Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

“What is truth?” Pilate asked.

It is only Jesus whose life and words have the authority to define what truth is. He is the only man who has ever lived who’s perceptions remained undistorted by Satan, the god of this world. All those who are interested in knowing truth will ultimately come to Him – either in this life, gladly, or when they face Him as judge.

Jeremiah described the human heart as being ‘desperately wicked’ (Jeremiah 17:9). It is out of the heart that deceptions flow. In recent months I have been surprised, and even shocked, at the times when I have heard people say things which were clearly and obviously wrong, but which they passionately wanted other people to believe was the truth. It’s amazing how self-interest and a desire to protect one’s own reputation changes a person’s perception of things that have happened – even to the extent that people can finish up calling good evil and evil good.

At the heart of all self-interest is pride. None of us like’s to admit anything that will diminish our reputation in the eyes of others. We see that process being worked out at every level of society – from national and international government right down to the individuals we know, and sometimes know well.

One might have thought that inside the Body of Christ we would be exempt from such behaviour. But, sadly, that is far from reality. Even believers can try and protect themselves by giving people a distorted view of their behaviour and the reasons behind their decisions. Pride, self-protection and fear of losing one’s reputation all contribute to ungodly motives arising from the heart, which can even malign others in order to try and keep ourselves from being exposed.

It is only Jesus that could say without any danger of self-deception, that what he says is true. That’s why we must listen to Him. It is only as we choose to walk in His ways, and allow Him to expose the inner, hidden motives of our hearts, that we can expect our lives to carry the loving authority of the Saviour. He knew exactly what He was doing when He gave His life for you and me. He, who is truth was being sacrificed for those whose hearts have been deceived. If only our world leaders would once again recognise Jesus for who He is!

Prayer: Thank you Jesus for showing the world and showing me what truth really is. Help me to always filter what I say through the net of your love – so that the things that are untrue will be eliminated and my life will be a demonstration of unconditional truth. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Living the Life – Book by Peter Horrobin

Truth and Freedom – Set of Teaching DVDs

Psalm 27:13-14, NIV
I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

David had many enemies and he faced many battles. At times he was on the run and situations seemed hopeless. But throughout all his trials and difficulties he never forgot the lessons of his early years. Lessons he had learnt while looking after the sheep. The Lord was close to him and he learned to be able to trust that inner voice of God which had been his steadfast defence on so many occasions. God had showed him what to do when defending his flock from the lion and the bear. David had learnt by experience that he could really trust the voice of his God.

David’s words, from today’s Scripture, were not just religious words without serious meaning – they were his own lifetime experience. He was passing on his experience of God to others and training them in the fact that even if things look pretty black, God can be trusted and it is better to wait for God to act than to act hastily and turn away from trusting in Him.

Many years ago I was in the middle of a business crisis. I was under personal physical threat and my business was on the edge of bankruptcy. It would have been easy to turn my back on God and blame him for my problems, when in reality the mess was a result of my own mistake. But God heard my cry and on the very day that my accuser began to threaten my very life, God delivered me from him in the most miraculous of ways. I felt like a bird that had been released from a trap – I was free, I could fly again. God had given me another chance.

I have never forgotten that experience. It is etched on my memory for ever. I learnt in the extremes of near disaster that to be strong and wait for the Lord is not just good advice – but on some occasions, it is life-saving advice! As I am writing this, I am conscious that some people reading this Seed of the Kingdom may well be locked in a difficult situation with no obvious way out. May I encourage you to put your trust in the Lord, who delivered David on so many occasions out of the hand of his enemies, and wait patiently for Him to act.

Prayer: Thank you Lord that you are a God who hears and answers prayer. Help me to be patient as I wait for you. I choose to trust you in a new way today and look forward to your answer to the cries of my heart. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Explaining Covenants – Book by Tom Marshall

Forgiveness, God’s Master Key