TEXT: ‘So the king asked me, “Why are you looking so sad? You don’t look sick to me. You must be deeply troubled.”’ – Nehemiah 2:2 NLT THOUGHT: Moving from Wadebridge to Exeter, I went from living in a small town of 5,000 to a city of over 100,000 people. I remember walking the High Street, seeing hundreds of people rushing to and fro, and thinking, “I don’t know anyone!” Previously in Wadebridge it sometimes took me an hour just to buy a newspaper, because I would stop and chat with people I knew. Another time walking along the High Street, I noticed how sad and worried the faces were of those around me. Looking at the ground as they walked, they seemed to be carrying all the cares of the world. The first time I was just thinking about me. The second occasion I started thinking about others because I noticed them. Jenny & I have just returned from a lovely holiday in Mexico. Despite forecasts of rain and stormy weather, we enjoyed brilliant sunshine and never saw a drop of rain to spoil our sunbathing or sightseeing! At breakfast on the first day I noticed a lady sat alone several tables away. She was making a phone...
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TEXT: ‘Let us not neglect our church meetings, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of His coming back again is drawing near’ – Hebrews 10:25 The Living Bible THOUGHT: Recently I was challenged by the results of a survey. “There are 320 million people in the USA, yet fewer than 20% attend church services regularly. The No 1 reason for not attending, “They say they are too busy!” This situation is being made worse as 150,000 walk away from church every week. It’s the same in the UK and many other countries, although the numbers and percentages are different. What can reverse this trend?” One thing can. One action can inspire someone to return. One simple gesture could lead them back to church. One question could change everything “Would you like to come to church with me?” An Alarming Statistic The survey discovered that only 2% of church members invite an unchurched person to their church in a whole year. Friendship evangelism is the most productive, yet obviously it is the most neglected. A Golden Opportunity The survey also discovered that over 80% of the unchurched said they would be more likely to attend if they were invited by a...
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TEXT: ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ’ – Ephesians 1:3 THOUGHT: As a Christian, Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is for you too. It is not just an historical record, or religious writing. It is God’s living word and it has the power to change your life for the better. One of the best ways to draw strength, inspiration and direction from the Bible is to personalise it. Realise that the promises are to you too, because you are in Christ. God’s Word says, ‘All the promises of God in Christ Jesus are Yes and Amen’ – 2 Corinthians 1:20. The requirement to benefit is to be in Christ. That only happens when we repent of our sins and receive God’s forgiveness. A whole new world opens up to us. We are born again and become like a new baby entering this world, everything is brand new. Then we can start discovering who we are in Christ, what are our rights and privileges, and what we can do through His name and the power of the Holy Spirit. Reading the Book of Ephesians is a wonderful experience, greatly enhanced by personalising it. So I...
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TEXT: ‘Although my house is not so with God, yet He has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure. For this is all my salvation and all my desire; will He not make it increase?’ – 2 Samuel 23:5 THOUGHT: This teaching is the third in the King David trilogy and is taken from 2 Samuel 23:1-7. It is about the thoughts or positive confession of David towards the end of his life. Not the confession of his sins, but of the promises of God. There are some wonderful truths to be discovered than can shape our lives and help us understand why David was referred to as a man after God’s own heart – Acts 13:22. Keep going to the end and then look back over your life with thankfulness – ‘Now these are the last words of David’ He lived a life of praise and thankfulness often in the midst of great difficulty. It started early in his life as a psalmist and musician while still a young shepherd boy. Many of the psalms were written by David when he went through a crisis but then came into blessing as God intervened. Too many leave this life in bitterness and regret. Not so David! At the end he was still being influenced...
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TEXT: ‘There was a famine during David’s reign that lasted year after year for three years, and David spent much time in prayer about it. Then the Lord said, “The famine is because of the guilt of Saul and his family, for they murdered the Gibeonites.”’ – 2 Samuel 21:1 The Living Bible THOUGHT: This is the second teaching in the King David trilogy taken from 2 Samuel 21:1-14. It studies how David reacted when famine hit the nation. Although we may not personally face anything as severe as that, there are principles to understand that will help us to overcome when trouble comes knocking on our door. Do not leave trouble to sort itself out – David spent much time in prayer about it We are not to be like an ostrich burying its head in the sand, thinking that if we ignore trouble it will go away. One year the harvest was reaped, the next year it failed. Then the next year too! Surely it will not happen a third year in a row, but it did. David sprang into action and asked God why. When Christians, who have the promise of God’s blessing, experience trouble, it is not wrong to ask God why. It’s not a...
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