Posts made in 2021

TEXT: ‘Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! No one can measure his greatness’ (Psalm 145:3 NLT) THOUGHT: Psalm 145 contains seven statements about the Lord, reminders about who God is. The author of the psalm, King David, made praise a daily practise because he wrote, ‘Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever’ (v2). He did not just praise God for a victory he had experienced, he used praise to get the victory when personal or national issues were getting him down. Regardless of your experience, belief or what others have said about the Lord, this is what the Lord is. What was David so thankful for? 1. The Lord is Great – ‘Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised’ (v3) Many verses in the Bible refer to God’s greatness. These are not listed as if God is boasting about Himself. They are there for our benefit, to remind us of what God can do. Let the following verses encourage you about God’s greatness working on your behalf. ‘Lord, there is no one like you! For you are great, and your name is full of power’ (Jeremiah 10:6) ‘Blessed God … the one and only wonder-working God!’ (Psalm 72:18 MSG). ‘You...

TEXT: ‘By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren’ (1 John 3:16) THOUGHT: “By this” is the verification code for the Christian. I have certain online accounts which need an access code sent to my mobile phone, whenever I want to enter. The code ensures it is the real me, not an imposter trying to hack into my account. This phrase helps us to know whether our faith and lifestyle is genuine Christianity, and also to protect us from being deceived by anyone pretending to be a true Christian when they are not. It’s not what we say about ourselves that is important, but whether our lives line up with the Word of God. In Part 1, we studied our relationship with the Father, through our love and obedience, knowing the truth and experiencing His abiding presence. Part 2 studies our relationship with the Holy Spirit Our Relationship With The Holy Spirit For many Christians, the Holy Spirit is a mystery or a thing, not a person. Jesus used “He” when describing the Holy Spirit. He can be worshipped as part of the Godhead. He can be grieved1 and lied to.2 He is Eternal.3...

TEXT: ‘ Here is another illustration Jesus used: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer sowing good seed in his field; but one night as he slept, his enemy came and sowed thistles among the wheat”’ (Matthew 13:24-25 TLB) THOUGHT: I remember seeing a cartoon of the devil sat outside a church saying, “It’s not fair, I do all the nasty work but God gets all the credit!” When witnessing, people often mention about God being the author of the bad experiences in their life. I usually reply, “If you do not give God the glory for the good things in your life, why should He take all the blame when things go wrong?” 1. Bad Things Happen To Everyone It is almost impossible for anyone to go through life and not be affected by the bad, whether directly or indirectly. The blessing that can be found in the midst of tests, trials and tragedies is that God is able to work all things together for good.1 People have found through suffering and tragedy they have come to faith in God, or have experienced other benefits and blessings. The Bible has many of examples of this, the classic being the life of Joseph when he said to his brothers, ‘Don’t be...