TEXT: ‘Now Jesus was telling the disciples a parable to make the point that at all times they ought to pray and not give up and lose heart’ – Luke 18:1 AMP THOUGHT: ‘When the Son of Man comes will He really find faith on the earth?’ – Lk 18:8. Jesus is looking for faith. The Centurion had it and Jesus commended him, ‘Assuredly I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel’ – Matthew 8:10. We often start off with high hopes, especially when we discover a verse in the Bible that appears to be the answer to what we are looking for. Then, when prayer is not answered immediately, doubts and discouragement creep in and before long we have given up any expectation of divine intervention. Jesus taught this parable about the widow’s fight for justice to inspire us to keep praying and not to lose heart. What can we learn from the widow’s actions? Read Luke 18:1-8. She was in a bad situation with no one else around to help her She could not afford a lawyer or legal representative. She was destitute, devastated by death and perhaps deserted by family. Her late husband’s relatives may well have claimed the marital...
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TEXT: ‘That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ’ – 1 John 1:3. THOUGHT: If you are looking for a perfect church you are unlikely to find one, but if you did, do not join it. The moment you do, that perfection is destroyed because you are not perfect! A perfect church on earth is a myth because it is made up of imperfect people. The church Jesus is building is without spot, wrinkle or blemish. Scrutinise it carefully but you will not be able to find any defects on, in or under the surface. 1 John 1:1-3 reveals a wonderful revelation as to what Christianity really is. The Person – ‘The Word of Life’ I often remind people to whom I am witnessing, “You will notice that I have hardly mentioned my church or denomination but have talked to you about a person – Jesus Christ”. When Philip left Jerusalem to evangelise Samaria, the Bible says, ‘He went and preached Christ to them’ – Acts 8:5. We do not trust in our works to save ourselves, but in another person’s work – The Lord Jesus...
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TEXT: ‘Bless (affectionately, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul, and forget not [one of] all His benefits’ Psalm 103:2 AMPC THOUGHT: In the UK, there are negative and positive attitudes to living on benefits. The negative side is often seen when people have a benefits culture. They abuse the system and through deceit and over-exaggeration of their need, receive what they are not really entitled to. Children raised in households that act in this way often grow up with that taking attitude and demanding rights; never wanting to contribute anything worthwhile to the society that has benefitted them. It is all too easy to complain that benefits are never enough, but go to a country that has none and you will readily see how blessed we really are! The positive side to living on benefits is not always stated. It is someone else, usually the state, giving a helping hand whether financial or practical, to get someone back on their feet or to make the remainder of their days more comfortable. Some government benefits are not means tested so everyone gets it whether they need it or not. This can appear to be a waste of money. A prime example is the Winter Fuel Allowance and Christmas Bonus...
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TEXT: ‘In the morning You hear my voice, O Lord; in the morning I prepare [a prayer, a sacrifice] for You and watch and wait [for You to speak to my heart].’ Psalm 5:3 AMPC THOUGHT: I have just started my new Bible which has a larger print to make it easier on my eyesight. Although I have had it for a few months I wanted to finish reading the New Testament in my old Bible before opening the New! It has that lovely smell of leather. So I started reading Psalms and my attention was drawn to our text which speaks about talking to the Lord in the morning. Why is this important and well-worth doing? Why spend time reading the Bible and praying? It was something Jesus practised – ‘Very early the next morning, long before daylight, Jesus got up and left the house. He went out of town to a lonely place, where he prayed’ – Mark 1:35 GNT However busy the previous day and evening had been, Jesus still got up early the next day to spend time with His heavenly Father before facing the hectic demands of a new day. He said to His apostles, ‘Follow Me’ – Matthew 4:19; to the hesitant disciple, ‘Follow Me’...
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TEXT: ‘Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions. For I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, “The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.” So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer”’ – Ezra 8:21-23. THOUGHT: I enjoy having breakfast, starting the day with food. Break-fast is not really anything to do with fasting, more to do with awaking from sleep. Fasting is not a form of dieting but the denial of drinks and foods and other things, for a set period of time, in order to achieve a higher, more important goal. This can be for just one meal, a day or even weeks. Reading the Book of Ezra recently, the Holy Spirit drew my attention to some fasting principles revealed in our text. Ezra ordered a fast but why and for what purpose? Fasting is a form of submission – ‘we might humble...
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