TEXT: ‘Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh”… but Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord’ (Jonah 1:1, 3). As I was reading in the book of Jonah, that he didn’t want to obey God and go to Nineveh, I wondered why God didn’t just get somebody else to go instead. After all, the saying goes, “One volunteer is worth more than ten pressed men!” As I thought about this, several key things came to light and these form the basis for Today’s Teaching. 1. God does not like us saying “NO” to Him – ‘Obedience is better than sacrifice’ (1 Samuel 15:22). When we refuse to go, it’s saying to God, “You really do not know what you are doing by asking me!” When Moses replied, ‘Please, Lord, send someone else’ (Exodus 4:13 TLB), God got angry with him. The Bible says, ‘Furthermore, we have all had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. Should we not much more submit to the Father of our spirits and live?’ (Hebrews 12:9 ESV). Say “No” to sin and Satan’s temptations, but say “Yes” to God. Obedience was what made David special to...
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TEXT: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me’ (Luke 4:18). Just as Jesus waited until He could say, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me”, before He started His public ministry, so His disciples were told to do the same. ‘And now I will send the Holy Spirit upon you, just as my Father promised. Don’t begin telling others yet—stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven’ (Luke 24:49 TLB). The Apostle Paul reminded the Corinthian Church that the Holy Spirit had been given as a guarantee, that what Jesus was preparing for them, really was for them and they would experience all of it (See 2 Corinthians 1:22, 5:5 and Ephesians 1:14). He also reminded them that everything they received, whether then or in eternity, was all through the Holy Spirit. Today’s Teaching focusses on some of the things the Holy Spirit does in us and for us. 1. The New Birth – ‘Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts’...
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TEXT: ‘The people cry out, “The summer is gone, the harvest is over, but we have not been saved.”’ (Jeremiah 8:20 GNT). Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet. God called him to prophesy about the consequences of Israel’s wilful disobedience and idolatry. He spoke about coming judgment and saw firsthand the destruction of Jerusalem and thousands of Jews exiled to Babylon. He suffered persecution because he spoke the truth. His tears weren’t just for his own pain and suffering, but for God’s people and the misery they would suffer. Hundreds of years later, Jesus experienced the same grief saying, ’O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!’ (Matthew 23:37). 1. The Blessings of Summer There are three blessings about summer that lift people’s spirits including mine! Heat The coolness and rain of Spring turns to warm, sunny days and long evenings of daylight. It’s the time for T Shirts and shorts! It’s wonderful to feel the warmth of the sun on one’s back. Holidays The schools break up for the summer holidays. Living in Cornwall, some weeks we...
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TEXT: ‘I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word’ (Psalm 119:16). Why do Christians risk their lives smuggling bibles into atheistic countries? Because they believe in the power of the written word of God. Why do countries ban the bible, if there is no threat from just a book? The authorities may not know what the Bible really is, but controlling demonic spirits do, and they will do their utmost to prevent people from being exposed to God’s Word as the Parable of the Sower makes clear (See Mark 4:13-20). Herein lies a paradox. Countries where there is religious freedom have more bibles than they could wish for, but fail to read them, whereas those in bible-starved countries are desperate to get just a page because they believe it is God’s Word. In Part 1 we considered three things to do: Believe the Word; Know the Word; Learn from the Word. In Part 2 there are two more things to do. 1. Continue in the Word – ‘But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them’ (2 Timothy 3:14) Mastermind is a very popular TV Quiz programme. The quiz master often says,...
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TEXT: ‘I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word’ (Psalm 119:16). Psalm 119, the longest psalm, mentions “Word” (meaning God’s Word, the Bible) over 40 times, so its significance cannot be overstated. God’s Word is one of the keys to having peace in our lives, ‘Great peace have those who love Your law, and nothing causes them to stumble’ (Psalm 119:165). Today’s Teaching focuses on several things we can do to benefit from God’s Word. 1. Believe the Word In 1973 a work colleague started witnessing to me about Jesus. My first reaction was, “You don’t believe the Bible do you? There are things wrong in it!” I didn’t say that from knowledge, but because of what others had said. The Bible is very special and not the thoughts of man. ‘For no prophecy recorded in Scripture was ever thought up by the prophet himself. It was the Holy Spirit within these godly men who gave them true messages from God’ (2 Peter 1:20-21 TLB). The key to becoming a Christian is linked inseparably with God’s Word, ‘So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God’ (Romans 10:17) I believe that the Bible (Old and New Testaments) is God’s Word to man...
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