22/9/09         AT YOUR WORD I WILL   

 Scripture – Luke 5:5 “But Simon answered and said to Him, ‘Master we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net’ “

 Observation – This shows a number of things.

1. Our toil compared with His power.
2. Our reason compared to faith in His word.
3. Obedience sets the scene for a miracle

Application – Like Peter (Simon) we have a tendency to reason things out like when, where and how is the best place or method to fish. Our reasoning can keep us from a miracle. Much of our “ministry” can be “toiling” and working in “the dark”. We need to learn to obey God’s voice no matter what our natural reasoning is saying. This can be applied to reaching the lost “fish” or any other ministry.

Prayer – Lord please help me to listen to you and not look at the circumstanaces and see natural reasoning as the way through those circumstances. Fear can be a problem. Help me to be brave and strong. More and more I want my life to be punctuated by ‘At Your word I will…’

16/8/09                   BLESSINGS OF THE RIGHTEOUS             

Scripture – Psalm 122:1  “Praise the Lord! Blessed in the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments.”

 Observation – The righteous man is blessed by the Lord. There are promises that we can receive as the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus and because all the promises are Yes! And Amen in Christ. Here is a list of blessings and His righteous works.

1. His descendants shall be great in the earth
2. Wealth and riches shall be in his house
3. His light arises in darkness
4. He is gracious, full of compassion and righteous
5. He deals graciously and lends
6. He guides his affairs with direction
7. He shall never be shaken
8. He shall not be afraid of evil
9. His heart is established – trusting in the Lord
10. He will not be afraid
11. He disperses abroad and gives to the poor.
12. His strength increased and honoured.

 Application – by faith I receive the blessing and by faith and obedience to the Holy Spirit I carry out righteous works.

 Prayer – Lord, help me to be gracious, full of compassion, deal righteously and graciously with people, lend and not borrow, give to the poor, and give everywhere – let my strength and honour abound as I serve You and fear You, Thanks, Lord!

6/9/09           THE RULERSHIP OF THE LORD         

 Scripture – Revelation 11:15 “…The Kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ and He shall reign forever.”

 Observation – The day is coming when all who reign as leaders of nations and every self-ruling Kingdom will be submitted to the rule of the Lord. From that time of the Lord and His people will reign forever. Then justice, love, righteousness and peace will reign over all. Mankind, without God, will have reigned and demonstrated their failure to rule without God. All will be so wonderful under His rulership. And it appears that we will reign and rule with Him.

 Application – Perhaps during the time of the ‘rule of man’ (under Satan) we will have been thoroughly convinced of the failure and deadly results of such governments. We will be more than ready for Him to reign forever. Right now we are being trained for that time. We are being tutored in the lesson of rulership. Even within the church at present we have so much to learn about leadership and ruling.

 Prayer – Teach us our ways well, Lord. Help me to prepare others to rule and reign His way. Only His way. Show me your ways Lord.

5/9/09 THE DANGER OF PRIDE

Scripture - Ezekiel 28:17 “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty. By the beauty and wisdom given by God You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendour I cast you to the ground, I laid you before the kings that they might gaze at you.”

Observations – This word has a dual meaning – referring to Lucifer and to the king of Tyre. The sin is one of pride – to be lifted up by the beauty and wisdom given by God. He thought he was good because of attributes given by God. This is a dangerous deception. If we learn from this we will give God the glory for everything that He gives us. When pride gets hold of us we shall end up falling and what we have will be corrupted – such as has happened to the devil.

Application – We can all make this mistake. God wants us to be wise and beautiful and flourishing, but not at the expense of our correct attitude towards Him. May all that God gives us be greatly used and appreciated – but He should get all the glory. It would have been untrue for the King of Tyre to deny his beauty and wisdom. He needed to give glory where glory was due.

Prayer – Thank you Lord for all you have given to us – because of your desire and your choice. All I have that is good is from you, and all that is corrupt comes from another source.

3/9/09 GOD’S GREAT WORKS

Scripture – Psalm 111:2 “The works of the Lord are great, studied by all who have pleasure in them.”

Observation – The works of the Lord are great, including His awesome creative works that we see in what is called ‘nature’, or His works of grace and the supernatural works we see and experience. If we have pleasure in them we will study them. As we study them we will discover even greater aspects we didn’t see before. Perhaps we spend too much time studying other things rather than studying His great works.

Application – We really should spend time meditating on the great works of God. The more we study God’s works the greater we shall appreciate them and the greater we shall see our God to be. His ways are infinitely wonderful and worthy of exploration.

Prayer – Lord show me the greatness of your great works. I know that I miss so much. Reveal yourself to me through your works. Thank you for your wonders. I am so blessed to be surrounded by your greatness. We are without excuse. Your seal of creation is before us so much. Thank you Lord, for making things so amazing.