Posts tagged with "reflection"
Wednesday, 11. November 2009, 05:14:44
reflection, bible
Scripture
Jesus replied, “Do you see these huge buildings? They will certainly be torn down. Not one stone will be left in place.”
Observation
The temple in all of its magnificence would soon be destroyed. The disciples ask for signs and times, but Jesus tells them merely to be ready for trouble.
There will be deceivers. There will be beatings and suffering. There will be opportunities to speak to rulers and kings.
But in all of the suffering, God will be with them. The Holy Spirit will speak through them. And those who endure will be saved.
Application
This passage, like all prophecies, speaks at several time scales.
Firstly there s the immediate situation. The physical temple was destroyed in 70 AD when the Roman army came into Jerusalem to quash an insurrection. The christians in Jerusalem at the time remembered the words of Jesus and fled to safety while most of those who remained in the city were brutally killed.
Jesus also speaks of the end times and the great tribulation when christians will suffer greatly before “the end comes.” The good news is that the tribulation is a part of the process of world evangelisation and so the suffering is not meaningless.
Since the death of Jesus actually brought in the end times, the passage also speaks of christians in all ages suffering for their faith. There are earthquakes and famines, war and distress, but the Spirit of God is still active and working even in the midst of the suffering.
Prayer
Father, thank you for this wonderful promise. Even when we are suffering for serving you, you are with us. Amen.
Monday, 9. November 2009, 10:28:13
reflection, bible
Hallelujah!
Sing praise to our God!
Come on church-
christians of every age-
join me in singing
Hallelujah to our Lord.
Twenty-four seven
dawn to dusk
and beyond.
Let the praises rise.
Look at the stars,
too many to number,
impossible to scan
God's glory is above all that
All the nations praise Him
He lifts up the poor,
heals the sick
rescues the nobodies
gives babies to the childless.
Hallelujah
Our God is wonderful.
Monday, 9. November 2009, 10:27:04
reflection, bible
Scripture
Eli replied, “You may go home now and I' sure the God of Israel will answer your prayer.”
Observation
This story starts in a place of sadness. Elkanah, a godly man has two wives, Peninnah and Hannah. While Peninnah has children, Hannah has none. Peninnah often reminds her of this shame, although Elkanah loves her and tries to console her.
On one occasion in the house of the Lord, Hannah prays fervently for a son, promising to dedicate him to the Lord. Eli the priest, after first thinking she is drunk, assures her that God has heard her prayer.
Some time later she has a son whom she names Samuel.
Application
Eli is a very ungodly man for a priest- a sign of how corrupt the religion was even in the early days. Eli is unable to tell the difference between fervent prayer and drunken mumblings. Perhaps he had never seen anyone pray emotionally before.
Yet the Spirit of God is able to use him to prophesy- reminding us that God's grace is much bigger than human sinfulness.
Prayer
Thank you Lord that your Spirit is more powerful than human sinfulness. In your compassion you hear the prayers of lowly people and speak even through the most corrupt of your servants. Thank you for this assurance of your power and greatness. Amen.
Tuesday, 27. October 2009, 06:46:53
reflection, bible
Scripture Jesus answered, “The most important one says: 'People of Israel, you have only one Lord and God. You must love him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.' The second most important commandment says: 'Love others as much as you love yourself.' No other commandment is more important than these.”
Observation
The man talking to Jesus really wanted to know what it is to please God and to live in His kingdom. He wasn't there to score points or to play theology He really wanted to know.
He also saw that love is more important than sacrifices and offerings. Our service to God is about a soft heart and not just about external performance.
Jesus said to him, “You aren't far from the Kingdom of God.” The kingdom of God was right there- this was the heart of Jesus' message. This man took the gospel on board and realised what it was about.
Application
In the end the message is still the same: love God and love people.
This is not to say that theology or doctrine does not matter. It is vital that we know the God we are commanded to love, for in the end everyone becomes like what they most love.
But most of the stuff that Christians argue about is not important to loving God. Most of he demands that churches make of people who want to love God are not important.
It is our love for God and each other that is important.
Prayer
Father let me love you more and more each day. Show me how to grow in love for you and for other people. Amen.
Tuesday, 27. October 2009, 06:45:39
reflection, bible
Scripture But Christ was sinless, and he offered himself as an eternal and spiritual sacrifice to God
Observation
The tent of Meeting was the place where the High Priest offered the sacrifice in God's presence for the sins of the entire nation of Israel.
But our High Priest is Christ, and the place where He makes sacrifice is not a human tent but in the throne room of God.
The blood of animals was considered by God to cleanse people from sin,We have the blood of the perfect Christ who is our eternal sacrifice.
The Old Covenant sacrifices were meant to point to the perfect sacrifice of the New Covenant. The High Priest of the Old Covenant was just a sign of the perfect High Priest who was to come.
Application
Under the Old Covenant sacrifice could only cleanse a person until the next time they sinned. There was a need for a recurrent practice of sacrifices. The death of an animal had only limited efficacy for atonement.
But we have a perfect sacrifice. Because Jesus was the eternal Son of God and was without sin, His blood covers our sins for ever. He is the perfect sacrifice that cleanses us not just from the effects of sin but also from the cause of sin. He gives us a new nature, removing the old sinful nature.
Prayer
What a wonderful Saviour you are Lord Jesus. Your sacrifice covers every sin, now and for ever. Please remove from me the desire to sin so that my whole life is a testimony to your grace. Amen.
Monday, 26. October 2009, 07:38:57
reflection, bible
God is great!
Praise His name-
Praise His holy name!
I won't stop singing,
I won't stop shouting
I won't stop praising
the name of our Lord.
Presidents fail
Kings die
Plans and programmes
are abandoned
But our God lives for ever
and He is dependable.
Trust in Him
and you will see
He heals the sick
and captives sets free.
He cares for the weak
the poor and dispossessed.
The strong can look after themselves
but woe to those who rip off the poor.
There is no one like our God.
Shout praise to His name.
Monday, 26. October 2009, 07:37:30
reflection, bible
Scripture
“I will go where you go, I will live where you live; your people will be my people, your God will be my God.”
Observation
The story of Ruth is one of those stories where God uses famine and tragedy to test the character of people and in fact to bring out the best in them.
A man called Elimelech from Bethlehem, and his wife Naomi and their sons are forced by famine to migrate. They settle in Moab where Elimelech dies and the two sons marry and subsequently die childless.
Naomi returns to Judah, but she sends the two daughters-in-law back to their homes. At her insistence, Orpah goes but Ruth clings to her and vows to go wherever Naomi goes and to remain always faithful to her.
Application
Ruth's loyalty to her mother-in-law is unshakeable, Even though the men who had brought them together had died, Ruth felt a great kinship with Naomi.
This is the kind of strong loyalty ties that are supposed to exist within the church. Pastors should not be mere employees on a contract. People should not find it easy to change churches or move locations when relationships get a little challenging or greener pastures beckon.
Our hearts in the Christian community should be so knitted together and lives intertwined that leaving is not an easy option. That's not to say that the church should be like a cult which holds people captive. No, the commitment has to be a voluntary giving of the heart, just as Ruth and Orpah were free to follow or return home.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, let your love so flow among your people that we demonstrate the same kind of covenant loyalty that Ruth and Naomi shared. Help us to give our hearts freely to one another that the world is astounded by your love. Amen.
Wednesday, 21. October 2009, 06:17:24
reflection, bible
Blind man shouts
People scold
Bartimaeus
Wants to see.
“You're not worthy”
“Turn it down”
Bartimaeus
Won't give up.
Jesus walking
Hears the ruckus
Turns to look.
Asks him questions
Likes his answers
Feels compassion
Heals his sight
Bartimaeus
Man of faith
Follows Jesus
Blind no more
Faith enlightens
Jesus heals
Heart responds
Spirit saved.
Wednesday, 21. October 2009, 06:13:29
reflection, bible
Scripture
Jesus will never die and so he will be a priest for ever.
Observation
All human priests suffer two basic limitations- they sin and they die. Sin means that the priests must first deal with their own sins and make sacrifices on their own behalf before they can intercede for others,
Because priests die, their intercession is limited and cannot be forever. One priest does and another follows with the same limitations.
The old covenant with its human priests had its shortcomings, but we have a new covenant with a perfect sinless and eternal high priest.
Application
We have a perfect priest in Jesus. He is the one of whom all previous priests and the whole sacrificial system were just a shadow. “Jesus is the high priest we need” because he is above all sinners and meets our need for a perfect priest.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you are the perfect high priest. You are the one who makes intercession for me. You will never die and never sin, so your intercession is perfect and eternal. Amen.
Wednesday, 21. October 2009, 06:10:36
bible, reflection
Hallelujah!
Our God Almighty reigns.
Hallelujah!
Our God is able to save.
Stand and sing
brothers and sisters
stand and shout
praise to our God
wave flags, bang drums
strum guitars and make music
God has saved you
He has redeemed you.
Your sin trapped you
circling like enemies.
But God freed you
Jesus stabbed deaths dark demons
Jesus died for your life-
He bit the biter
smote the smiter
struck the striker
killed the killer.
His life is your life
So live it for Him.
Wednesday, 21. October 2009, 06:06:09
reflection, bible
Scripture
“I heard about you from others; now I have seen you with my own eyes.”
Observation
Job realised that he thought he had all the wisdom, but on fact he had none. He had known about God from the testimony of others, but now he had a revelation of who God is.
The Lord rebuked Job's friends for their arrogance . The story finishes with a happy ending. All of Job's wealth is restored to him and he lives a long life with many descendants, He receives back double for all that was taken away from him.
Application
Job's problem was that he didn't know God. Despite all his righteousness, his good life and endless sacrifices, Job had not seen for himself who God is,
Relationship with God is at the heart of true faith. God has to be more than a theory. We can't live on somebody else's testimony of God.
Every person has to experience God for themselves. Every one of us has to have our own encounter with God, or else He remains a theory to us, somebody else's God.
Prayer
Lord give me a revelation of who you are. Keep me close to you. Let my relationship with yoube more real than any doctrine or theory about you. Amen.
Thursday, 15. October 2009, 00:44:09
reflection, bible
Scripture
Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup and be baptised with my baptism of suffering.”
Observation
James and John come to Jesus and ask to be given positions of honour in the Kingdom. They sort of half got the message- the Kingdom of God is coming. What they didn't get is that it is a kingdom like no other.
The other disciples were indignant at this request by James and John, but only because they had got in first.
God's kingdom is not about seeking power but seeking to serve others. We are to follow Jesus' example in pouring out our lives to serve others.
Application
It is a basic human drive to seek significance, a sense of worth not just to ourselves but to others. We have people who influence us and whom we seek to influence. We all want to be important to someone.
Jesus says that significance comes from serving not from ruling. If I want to be a leader in God's kingdom I have to be a servant. That means that I look to the needs of the people around me as a priority in my life.
That means a complete turn around on the way the world does things. I don't need to exalt myself, I need to serve others. I don't need to blow my own trumpet as others will speak my praises when I model Christ's love to them.
Prayer
Father, open my eyes to the opportunities that you give today for me to serve others. Amen.
Tuesday, 13. October 2009, 06:01:07
reflection, bible
FEAR
grips me
holds me
chokes me
Black snakes
brown snakes
red-back spiders
Thieves and bad guys
murderers and thugs
car smash
plane crash
hopes dashed
Plague and AIDS
swine flu and SARS
prickles and thorns
Climate change
recession
depression
FAITH
holds me
enfolds me
calms me
I will trust you Lord
protect me
cave me
let your love guard me
nothing can harm me
here at the centre
of your will.
Tuesday, 13. October 2009, 05:22:57
reflection, bible
Scripture “Who is it that questions my wisdom in such ignorant words?”
Observation
after listening to Job's complaints, the Lord now responds. Rather than replying to the specifics of Job's situation, the Lord asks him on rapid succession 64 rhetorical questions.
In the first group of questions, the Lord asks, “Were you there when I created and ordered the world?” The implication is clear- Job does not have a clue about how to run the planet and he should not complain about the way things are.
In the second group of questions, the focus turns to the power to influence creation. “Can you make it rain?” “Can you provide prey for the lioness?”
Application
God's answers to Job are not at all compassionate or empathetic. He does not pat Job on the head and say “There, there, poor munchkin.”
In fact, God gives Job a huge reality check- you can complain all you like, but where are your qualifications to criticise? Are you God or just a man?
The book of Job is does not seek to answer what modern people call the problem of suffering- the academic question of why is there so much suffering in the world. Rather it seeks to demonstrate the application of faith to suffering.
We may not understand what is happening to us or why things happen the way they do. We can get upset or angry, we can shake our fists at God, but that changes nothing.
As people of faith, when life throws us a tough time, all we can do is trust that God is in control. The God who brought the world into existence, who put the water into the right places, who sends rain and lightning, will surely look after us if we trust Him.
Prayer
Lord I confess that I find it hard to understand your ways. Help me to trust you even when life makes no sense to me. Amen.
Friday, 9. October 2009, 04:33:10
reflection, bible
Scripture
Many who are the greatest now will be the least important then and those who seem to be least important now will be the greatest then.
Observation
A rich young man comes to Jesus and asks what he needs to do to be saved. He is a righteous man who keeps the commandments and does what is right. Yet he knows there is a problem.
Jesus nails the problem- possessions. Just give up the possessions, or more accurately the attachment to the possessions and all will be well.
This rich man goes away because his wealth is too hard to let go of. The possessions, which are only temporary, prevent him from gaining eternity.
That's why the great ones in this life may turn out to be nobodies in the kingdom of heaven.
Application
For the young man the issue was his wealth. For other people the issue separating them from God is something else- it might be their career, dreams, family, ambitions, travel etc.
The fact is that everything we have, or desire to have, must be surrendered to Jesus for His kingdom. He may or may not let us hold on to them. The point is that Jesus must be king of every part of our lives.
Anything I hold on to and refuse to yield to Him becomes a false god, an idol, a thing that I treasure more than I treasure my relationship with God.
Prayer
Father please show me the things I hold on to in my heart. Help me to surrender every part of my life to you. Amen,
Wednesday, 7. October 2009, 00:47:24
reflection, bible
Where are you my God?
Why leave me now?
I feel so weak
pathetic
a shadow
I prayed for healing-
the elders anointed me
but I'm still sick
Sceptics and doubters
mockers and unbelievers
surround me and say
“Where is your god?”
Even believers mock
“Where is your faith?”
I will not give up!
You're hiding God
or I'm blind.
I know you're here
even though I feel lost
So I trust you.
Turn me around
restore me O God
and I will praise you.
My testimony will
praise your name
and my report
will comfort many.
Wednesday, 7. October 2009, 00:42:54
reflection, bible
Scripture
“If only I knew where to find God, I would go to His court.”
Observation
Job is sure that if he could just find God and seek an audience everything would be all right. God is fair and will give him a hearing.
The problem is that God seems to be hidden and Job doesn't know where to find Him. This unseen God controls his destiny. Now fear envelopes Job and he concludes, “Darkness is all around me; thick impenetrable darkness is everywhere.”
Application
Where is God when it hurts? It is often easy to believe in God when all is going well. It is much harder to trust when life seems to be falling apart.
Worse still, at these times it can be hard to even see God in the thick darkness of fear.
Like Job, we just have to hang in there, knowing that somehow God will bring us through the time of testing.
Prayer
Father I think you that despite our blindness you are always here with us. Help me Lord to trust you even when you seem so far away.
Thursday, 1. October 2009, 00:03:46
reflection, bible
Scripture
“I tell you the truth, anyone who does not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”
Observation
Jesus turns all of our ideas about relationships on their heads.
Divorce had become a “Get out of jail free” card. Some of the rabbis taught that burning dinner was grounds for divorce. Jesus says that divorce is a concession to the hard-heartedness of people. Clearly God's plan is for marriage to be a life-long commitment of a man to a woman.
While the religious tend to ignore children as being inconvenient and a distraction, Jesus points to them as a sign of the Kingdom. It might be open to interpretation as to what He meant when He said that we must receive the Kingdom as little children. At the very least it should mean that we come with a recognition of our dependence on God. We can only enter the Kingdom in humility.
Application
Marriage is the litmus test for all relationships. The way I treat my wife is the way I treat all people in my heart.
To work at loving my wife is to work at learning to love all people unconditionally.
Similarly my attitude to children, and other people of little “importance”, betrays my attitude towards God. Humility must be a characteristic of all my relationships with others.
Prayer
Father please help me to be like Jesus in all of my relationships today. Let me lave others as you love them. Amen.
Wednesday, 30. September 2009, 23:54:54
reflection, bible
Scripture
And now in these final days, He has spoken to us though His Son.
Observation
Jesus is more than a teacher, more than a good man. He is the Son of God.
Jesus is the one who created the universe. He radiates the glory of God. He cleansed us from our sin and is now seated at the right hand of God.
Jesus tasted death for everybody and He brings many sons to glory. He calls us “brother” and “sister.”
Application
because of Jesus we can now achieve our destiny as glorified sons of the Living God.
I am redeemed. I was once a sinner heading to hell, but Jesus has rescued me from this path to destruction.
This is a cause for great praise. My life should no longer reflect the place I've been but the position of glory to which I am heading.
Sin must no longer have a part in my life. Rather as I look towards the glorious God, my life should increasingly reflect His holiness.
Prayer
Thank you Jesus for dying for me and rising to life. I worship you glorified Lord. Amen.
Tuesday, 29. September 2009, 03:49:39
reflection, bible
I am not ashamed
to worship you
my Lord and Redeemer
All week I walk and work
embraced by your love
You know that I love you
and try to do what is right.
Why would I walk away from you?
Your love is life
Why would I cause you grief?
I long to please you
Wicked people curse and lie
they kill and injure
they live only for self
Lord I love you
You are the solid ground
when all around is quicksand
I will stand on you
I will trust in you
I praise you
I thank you
I love you
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