Love Your Neighbour – James 2:8-13

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I think “Love your neighbour as yourself” is one of the best known lines of the Bible.  At least thats what non-Christians quote to me when telling me what they understand about the faith.  Have we ever thought about what this law actually means!?

Sure I have….  Havent I?  I am nice to people…

Thinking about it in detail, our neighbour is not simply those who live next door and behind our physical homes, but litterally everyone!  It says quite clearly in James we shouldnt have favourites, and I know for a fact I have been guilty of that in the past, avoiding someone else, and “bee-lining” for someone who is more popular, easier to talk to or have less problems to “moan” about!

You see the problem there is I displayed selfishness, and by that simple action, broke the “law of loving”.

OK, but I have never murdered anyone, nor have I stolen from a bank, robbed a car or anything terribly bad!

 Well, when standing in court for a driving offence be it speeding or parking, it will not help your case should you say, “But I havent murdered, anyone your honour!”.  The fact is, a law has been broken, thus the penalty must be served.

The Bible is clear also, that the wages of sin is death.  And if it were not for our Lord God, through the death and ressurection of His Son Jesus Christ, there would be no hope for us!  We would be no doubt be sent away was it not for His love.

Now as Christians, it is clear we have a calling to keep this law.

Speak and act as people who will be judged by the law that sets us free.
James 2:12  - GNB 

It is a desire of our hearts, as we are freed from slavery to sin (Rom 8:2).  As part of our relationship of love with the Lord, it is natural to want to live a life for Him, to follow Jesus’ example and live like Him.  Examine your heart, examine your motives, and if there is anything that you are struggling with, leave it at Jesus feet, seeking His help.  Invite His Holy Spirit to open the eyes of your heart, to guide you, and to strengthen you in the name of Jesus, Amen.

God’s Power for us – Ephesisans 1:20-23

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The same God who made the universe, who sent His only Son to die on the cross, who raised from the dead and is seated at the right hand of the Father in Heaven, having authority over all things, offers us power by His Holy Spirit, to live a life that pleases Him, and to enable us to do things we never could have acheived without Him, nor even dreamed of!

God, who has the power to raise the dead, can certainly break the chains of addiction, can deliver you from captivity to Sin, can boost your confidence enough to approach someone to share the Gospel, can give you wisdom far beyond your years, for:

For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
Phillipians 4:13 

The Holy Spirit, is the Holy Spirit of God.  What an honour.  Our father is with us here on earth, strengthening, encouraging, building up, guiding and blessing us every day.  Have you been trying to live the Christian life under your own steam?  Have you been failing?  Turn to the Lord, open your heart, invite the Holy Spirit, and surrender yourself to Him, that he may build you up, strengthen you and send you out to battle.

I pray that people rediscover their relationships with God and the Holy Spirit.

 I pray God will pour out his Spirit in the Church, and that the Church will bless the world.

Fathers Love – Hosea 11:1-4

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The first thing that struck me about this passage was the amount of love the Father has for his people.  I sometimes loose sight of how much our God loves!  Here we see him talking just as you or I would talk about our own children had they flown the nest without as much as a wave, a thank you, or even an “I’ll keep in touch!”

It is amazing to think that God is our father, that He was with us when we took our first steps, even when we lay in bed at night scared of the “bogey man” God was there!  The day we chose to follow Him, He was there!

 He is the perfect father, who will never abandon us, who will always be listening to us, always loving and caring.

For parents, this passage is very touching as it is very easy to apply this situation to your own family, and how you would feel in the same situation.  As parents we love our children unconditionally, they do not earn it!  How intense therefore the pain, if our Children were to rebel, or reject our love and care.

God’s love for us led Him to offer the biggest sacrifice He could ever have given;

“…How deep the Father’s love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure…”
Stuart Townsend 

Thank you Father God for your sacrifice, for your immense love.  Thank you for your Father heart, that loves us unconditionally, that extends your grace to those who seek you, that loves us as your very own children.

It is such an encouragement to find a passage like this in the old testament that really reminds me and drives home that our God is a loving Father God.  I rarely dip into the old testament as I am always focusing on the Gospel, and yet God was with man for hundreds of years before He sent His Son, and by reading what transpired, really helps us to build up a picture of our loving father, as well as see the events that led to that manger and eventually the cross.

Committed – Romans 12:1-2

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Last nights preach at Lifegroups Together really struck home, and before I forget the key parts that jumped out at me, I want to spend this mornings quiet time with the Lord, reflecting on what was said, and looking at

what the Bible says about commitment.

“…In a Bacon and Egg sandwich, the chicken is involved…. but the pig is committed…”    The chicken plays its part by laying the egg, where as the pig is “all in”, laying down its life.  We too are told to live our lives as a living sacrifice, Romans 12:1-2.  Doing work for the Lord isn’t just reserved for the weekend, and the odd week night.  We are called to be committed.  That challenged my own approach immediately.  I can list many things I am “involved” with, but if you were to ask to as to which one I was “committed” to, I would more than likely struggle to give you a straight answer….  The basic answer is none!

Margaret Mead said:  “…Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.

Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has…”

Notice she did not say, an army of people who are involved, but a small group of committed people!  Can we rise up to the challenge, and take a step, or even a leap forward into truly committing to something in our church, or a ministry?  Something we can truly throw ourselves into, glorifying the Lord.  I will be contemplating what I should be committed to, and if there is anything else I am involved with that could be in the way of me committing to that which the Lord intend, I pray I will be given wisdom, discernment and will know the right course to take.

My “memory verse” for today will be the following:  1 Corinthians 15:58.

Morning and Evening – Psalm 92:1-6

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There is SO much to give thanks to the Lord for.  Sitting here pondering this I realise how much

I take for granted, and how very little credit I offer to the Lord for everything He has done in my life and the lives of countless others around me and accross the world!

I can thank the Lord for the very fact I woke up this morning!  Yes the Lord has given me another day.  I pray I use it wisely and for His glory.  What other things might we want to be thanking the Lord for in a morning?  I will list a few that come to mind.

Thankyou for:

  • Giving His Son
  • Loving me
  • Family and friends
  • Food on the table
  • His beautiful creation
  • Fellowship with others
  • The car still works!

OK, my list is seemly random, but to make a point!  Psalm 92:4, reminds me how much God has done for us!  Jesus death for our Sins is mind blowing, and I cant thank the Lord enough.  What I often forget is that God doesnt stop there.  He has a hand on our lives, influencing those around us, caring for the creation around us, guiding our hearts and carrying us through those difficult times!

How often I take it all for granted, how often I forget to “declare my love” for Him in the morning, and my faith in Him in the evening (Psalm 92:2).

Check out my recent post about “Starting Right“.  And consider this.  What better way, to start the day, than spending time with God, praising, thanking, communicating with, listening to and growing in the Lord our God.

Thank you father.

Starting Right Psalm 5:1-3

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Over the past few months I have discovered the importance of “Starting Right”.  What do I mean?  Well as they say Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, I believe that the beginning of the day is also the most important time to spend time with the Lord.  By not skipping your breakfast they reckon you will enjoy better health.  Spiritual Health can also be blessed by ensuring we do spend time, reading the Word and talking to the Lord.

In recent months since my holiday, I have been spending time with the Lord in different ways.  It stemmed from a bad habit of not doing my daily readings during the holiday, thus continued afterwards in a “now and again” attitude.  I would read the word at work, or in an evening, and only when I had time and the end result was, in my experience, a feeling of spiritual “unhealthiness”.  I felt I mas neglecting my relationship with the Lord, and by only reading the word as and when, it wasnt sticking!  I was quickly forgetting what I had read or learnt within hours.

Why the morning

? – Psalm 5:1-3

I have realised that concentrating on God first thing in the morning when I wake up is the most important time.  By waiting till further in the day my brain has become full of problems I am dealing with at work, stress of life situations, and constant interruptions from collegues or family.  So getting up early again and maintaining this devotional blog will become my way of spending time with Him.

What better way to start the day, than spending time with Creator God!

I do encourage you, if you to struggle with a daily time with the Lord, or just to get time in your hectic lives to get up those 15 minutes earlier, read some scripture, make some notes if it helps (that why I do this blog to help me remember what I have learnt) and also pray.  You can get so many daily devotionals to help you if you struggle to find a place to start in the Bible, and they ususally have some very good write ups explaining the passage(s) you have just read.

Our Daily Bread and Word for Today are 2 I have used regularly and learnt so much from.

Shuttleworth 08

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This weekend we will be in Shuttleworth!!!

There will be fantastic teaching and seminars led by PJ Smyth from God First church in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Brilliant worship led by Rhys Scott from ChristChurch London. Full on kids and youth work led by Adrian Horner and Melanie Crane.

More Information

If you are lucky to be booked in, see you there!!!

Undignified – 2 Samuel 6: 12 – 23

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God is Good All The Time.  This has been the message of Phils preaches, as well as discussions within lifegroups.  Also that the pursuit of Gods presense is a vital part of growing in faith and our relationship with the Lord.

With this said we can often look at others, how they worship, how they react to the Lord presense and we if we don’t understand it, we can often judge it to be “over the top” or “american”!  OK so a bit of that is the Britishness in us, but the main reason is because we have developed in our minds, a list of acceptable worship methods and reactions that we feel comfortable with.  Should we then see or experience something that is not covered by our list, we are immeadiately uncomfortable with the situation.

The thing is, lots of amazing things happened in the Bible, and our short list of “acceptable” styles of worship does not do it justice!  We certainly shouldn’t be boxing the Lord God almighty into a list of expectation and acceptability.  God is almighty and cannot be contained, or restrained.  He will act how He sees fit, and people will react and worship in different ways.

Looking then at this passage in Samuel, David is really going for it!  Without the fear of what others will say or think, David worships the Lord with dancing.  Michal looks at this, and perhaps it was a bit of pride, and perhaps also she did not have dancing in her “acceptable” list, but when she sees this she is obviously uncomfortable and she challenges David.  His response is as follows (NIV):

22 “I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”

David is prepared to dance, to do whatever it is that He feels will glorify the Lord no matter what others think.  He is prepared to do even more that what he did.  He was certainly not going to confirm to other people expectations, he was also not going to worry about what people thought or said about his actions!  He was c oncentrating

on worshiping the Lord and Glorifying Him.

I think therefore we should become “undignified” ourselves.  No longer being concerned with looking “normal” or conforming to expectations, but we should let ourselves go and worship the Lord in whatever way we feel is right, and that Glorifies His name.  And also, when we see others worshiping, and perhaps their style is something we are not used to, or do not understand, lets not be quick to judge or admonish, but we should remember the day that King David, yes the King of a Great Nation, let his own hair down and worshipped the Lord “David” style!

He Cares – Deuteronomy 32:7-12

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The Bible very often uses imagery in its passages to illustrate and emphasise a point.  This passage is no exception, as it picks up on the Eagles relationship with its young.  The bird watchers among us would realise that Eagles take extremely good care of their young, ensuring their

offspring is will fed, well looked after, and even when it comes to flying the nest, the parents are still near by watching over their young.

Our Lord God cares for us and just as the Eagle, he is always hovering above us, always ready to swoop against the enemy to protect us, always there to help and guide us, a friend that will never leave us, nor let us down.  I think using the imagery of the Eagle, highlights how committed the Lord really is to us.  I understand that upon birth, some birds and animals abandon their young, and their young fend for themselves, but not the Eagle.  The Eagle remains attentive, and sees to the needs of the nest.  The Lord is even more committed to us that an Eagle is to it’s offspring.

He is there to pick us up when we fall, He is there to encourage us when we are down, He is there to share in our joy and our laughter, He never abandons us.  In those moments where I feel alone, or feel far from God, I am going to try to remember these verses and remember just as an Eagle, and just as in the wastelands from this passage, the Lord will always be there for me.

Spiritual Gifts – 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

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Last night at our Lifegroup, we discussed the gifts of the Spirit. As part of our aims in our new Lifegroup we: “aim to encourage the use of the gifts of the Spirit in order to strengthen us spiritually as individuals and as a group”. Brynn therefore felt we should pick up on this and learn more about what the gifts of the Spirit actually are. We first looked through the gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11.

Wisdom

I understand this to be the ability to advise in difficult situations, resolving arguments, solving problems etc. I don’t think it refers either to a worldly wisdom but one that is of a divine nature.

Knowledge

Knowledge of the Word, and being able to effectively communicate the Word and the Knowledge gained from it.

Faith

Matthew 17:19-20 talks of faith enabling you to achieve wonderful and amazing things. As believers we all have faith, however I think this refers to a more radical faith where the normal rationalisations we add to a situation no longer apply to those people, and the have complete and utter faith in the Lord for something.

Healing

Jesus healed the sick.  By the power of the Holy Spirit some are able to pray over the sick and the sick are healed.  I think healing can cover both physical and mental illnesses or afflictions.

Miraculous Powers

Seems to tie in with healing, however there are stories too of other miraculous things taking place in modern times, for example people being raised from the dead.

Prophecy

The ablitiy to receive pictures and Word direct from the Lord, and to then be able to effectively communicate these to the group or to the individual that picture or word is for.  I used to think that prophecy was about predicting the future, however it would seem it is more being a mouthpiece for God, speaking wisdom, knowledge, encouragement and advice into peoples situations.  Prophecy can be particularly effective when someone prophecies into a situation in your life, or into something you are thinking about, and yet they have no earthly knowledge of the situation!  This has happened to me on occasions and it is incredible.

Distinguishing Between Spirits

Often when I watch religious broadcasting, certain preachers will set off alarm bells in my mind.  Sometimes based on what they are saying, and others just the feeling that although what they are saying seems Biblically sound, their motive is not that of the Lord.  It is the ability to see what is of the Holy Spirit, and what is of satan.

Tongues and Interpretation

This is an often debated subject in the church and one I believe we are going to study together in the Lifegroup to better understand this gift.  I think in a nutshell that its the ability to talk in other languages and others have the ability to translate.  I will go into more detail in on tongues as and when we have studied it in more detail soon.

Bryn pointed out that throughout the Bible, there are other gifts of the Spirit mentioned to include:

Serving, Administration, Teaching, Encouragement, Giving, Leadership, Mercy, Helping Others, Hospitality, Interpretation of Dreams and Creative Arts.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but certainly highlights the wide breadth of gifts that the Holy Spirit can and will bestow on believers.

Why so many gifts, and why does he give them to us?  Firstly, these are gifts.  They are gifts of His grace, and not of our own doing.  He gives us these different gifts, to different people, I think to build up the church, as well as each other and to help advance His kingdom.  We all have different gifts at different levels to create balance within the Church so that we can act as one body.  Ann made a good point, if we all had the same gift for example, prophecy, we would never get through one Sunday service as everyone would be prophecying and there would be far to much to act upon!

With such a wide range of gifts at our own church, things really do work well.  We have people gifted with musical abilities, others with serving others (the welcoming team), others with leadership, others with administration (including finances etc) as well as others with serving (including those that always have the tea and coffee ready at the end of the service).  During the service also, we are lucky to have many wise, knowledgable people who bring word to us all, as well as prophecy.  The Lord has built up a dynamic Church, full of people with completely different gifts, all working together to grow His church.  Its is indeed amazing, exciting and wonderful.