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Faithful love

“The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” The LORD is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the LORD.” ‭‭Lamentations‬ ‭3‬:‭22‬-‭26‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Lamentations was written by Jeremiah. Jeremiah had prophesied to the people of Jerusalem without fail and had been imprisoned, thrown in a well and treated shamefully by all including the king. Yet, in this chapter he identifies with those being judged, just as he had prophesied. He is often called ‘the weeping prophet’. However, his words ring true to us so many years past where God’s people were being judged for their sins. God is near to us when we search for Him. His ears are open to our cries. It is always good to turn to the Lord. He is always open to speak to our hearts. He is goodness itself, patiently...
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He will go before you

“Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Deuteronomy‬ ‭31‬:‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬ These were words spoken by Moses to Joshua. Moses was passing on the mantle of leadership to Joshua. God had shown Moses he would not go into the promised land but that Joshua would lead the people there. Now, given the role of leading the huge crowd of Israelites across a swollen, flooded river, Joshua may have been tempted to be anxious. However, Moses was encouraging him with these words. Joshua saw Moses handle the beligerent crowd for some forty years. He knew they were not particularly obedient or faithful. Yet, Joshua had spent time at the tent of the Lord and had developed his own relationship with His God. When he does make it into the Promises Land God meets Him and encourages him also. God’s word is eternal and full of life. We can also take courage from these words. Today we move one step closer to the p...
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And God said!

“Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day.” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭1‬:‭3‬-‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Do we grasp the beauty of these verses? They show our beautiful God speak light into our world. The power that acted when He spoke. The previous verse says:  “The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬ ‭NLT‬‬ The Holy Spirit was hovering over our former emptiness, waiting for the word. John 1 tells us who that word was. “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God.  God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines i...
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Rest

“Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”  Matthew‬ ‭11‬:‭28‬ ‭NLT‬‬ The burdens we carry vary: emotional, physical, financial, relational. Jesus is offering Himself as a solution to all of them, yes all! We do not need to carry the burdens, we just need to pray about them and give them to Him. Yesterday I met with a visiting pastor from Australia and my young colleague who was doing the talks in schools about human trafficking. They were going down a path of Bible teaching and I am going down a different path. My young friend wants to again be involved in my latest thrust into business. I cannot see a way, but God can. He knows exactly where He wants us all in His picture. God is in the future and the mystery. I do not have a handle on all He is doing, but He does. I can trust Him for the big picture. He has it together, I have only a part. Today is Saturday, I will rest from my labours and allow God to work, for He...
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Caring for each other

“Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.”  Galatians‬ ‭6‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Ooh! So we don’t shoot them? We don’t shoot the wounded?? The Christian church can be guilty of wiping off those who sin, instead of praying for them and ‘gently and humbly’ restoring them.  Yes I know there are other scriptures where Paul instructs to cast out a member, however, that is usually after they have failed to repent and turn back to truth, and even then it was only for a time so that the person was not destroyed. Yes, there are those who fail to repent and even cause grief to their leaders. But, are they a majority or minority? In our microw...
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Good seeds of righteousness

“I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.’” Hosea‬ ‭10‬:‭12‬ ‭NLT‬‬ The book of Hosea was primarily written against Israel. Israel was in a time of prosperity but in it forsook the Lord for foreign gods. This verse is a call to repentance, but it was not heeded. Prosperity tends to allow pride and falsehood. The west has prospered but turned away from their God. People elevate their own opinions, own desires and are hardened to God’s heart and His desires. We do well to open our ears to what God is saying to us in this verse. If we diligently read the Bible we hear calls back to our first love, Jesus. He died so that we might have new life. He blesses us with His goodness and presence in our hearts. Do we allow Him to reign or is the throne of our hearts usurped by king I? Are our lives consumed with comfort and en...
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Pride

“For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning. When I was prosperous, I said, “Nothing can stop me now!” Your favor, O LORD, made me as secure as a mountain. Then you turned away from me, and I was shattered.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭30‬:‭5‬-‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬ If there is one thing the Lord hates, it is pride. Satan’s fall was pride in self. We read in the book of Daniel how Nebuchadnezzar had a dream about a great tree in which the birds enjoyed living but is was cut down and a metal band was places around it and for seven years it could not grow. The dream spoke of Nebuchadnezzar’s pride in self and God’s judgement. Daniel warned him not to be proud and he held it in check for 12 months but then he let it loose. In the book of Ezekiel God’s prophet is required to prophesy against Egypt and Assyria. They became tall tress but were cut down by the Lord, because of their pride. Our Bible is full of such stories. Pride d...
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