TEXT: ‘Three things will last forever – faith, hope, and love – and the greatest of these is love’ – 1 Corinthians 13:13 NLT THOUGHT: Soon it will be Easter, when the following Bible texts are so poignant: ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son’ – John 3:16, and ‘Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends’ – John15:13. In this teaching I want to take the word Love and use each letter as an acronym. L – Listen We are living in a world where everyone wants to be heard but few want to listen. The Epistle of James powerfully puts it like this, ‘You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry’ – 1:19 NLT. It’s hard not to be formulating a response before we have even heard, understood and digested what the other person is saying. The fact that we have two ears and one mouth reinforces the need to listen more! An over-fussy City Building Planner once said to me, “I hear what you are saying”, yet nothing was further from the truth. He was making sure I heard him. My concerns about his proposals...
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TEXT: ‘You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come and follow Me’– Luke 18:22 THOUGHT: The challenge of Today’s Teaching asks, “Where is your treasure?” Does being poor make us more spiritual and godly? Is God against us having riches? No, not at all, but God does not want riches to have us! Three of the Gospels record the account of The Rich Young Ruler. Reading Luke’s account recently – 18:18-23, I saw Jesus challenged him about having treasure in heaven. He had everything he could possibly want on earth and more besides, but what had he stored up for the other side of the grave? The very fact that Jesus challenged him to sell everything and distribute it to the poor in order to store up treasure in heaven, meant that for all his riches on earth, he had nothing as far as heavenly treasure was concerned. There are two main ways to deposit treasure in heaven Firstly, the treasure we produce through blessing others. The Rich Young Ruler was encouraged to give to the poor rather than accumulate more wealth. Jesus taught that even a simple act of giving someone a...
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TEXT: ‘And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over” – Mark 5:34 NLT THOUGHT: When facing a crisis, especially to do with health, it’s comforting and encouraging to have the support of family and friends to help get through it. How do you cope however when you are on your own? Today’s Teaching is about just such a person. Her story as recorded in Mark 5:25-34 is an inspiration for anyone facing similar circumstances whether surrounded with love or isolated on their own. This miracle has been recorded in the Bible to create hope that the same life-changing power through the name of Jesus can change your situation too. We will consider the following key points. Her Fear She didn’t want to die and could think of a thousand reasons why she shouldn’t. Perhaps those around her spoke similar things to what Job’s wife said, “Curse God and die!” Yet to die without first finding peace with God through Jesus Christ is not relief or release at all. Her Fight Doctors know that when a patient decides to fight the illness, it greatly increases their chances of recovery and this woman did just that. She tried everything she could...
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TEXT: ‘Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!’ – Mark 4:8 NLT THOUGHT: Jesus told His disciples that understanding the parable of The Sower was the key to understanding all the other parables – Mark 4:13. Reading this passage again I was stirred by it to send out this Today’s Teaching. When Jesus explained this parable to His disciples, He made clear that the seed was God’s Word. The question is simply this, “What effect is God’s Word having in your life?” Where’s the fruit? The parable of The Sower reveals four types of ground that corresponds to the spiritual state of a person’s heart. No Understanding – ‘The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message about the Kingdom and don’t understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts’ – Matthew 13:19 We can talk for hours to people about Christianity but if there is no understanding it cannot do them any real good. Every gospel seed you are trying to plant the devil is able to snatch away if it...
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TEXT: ‘Behold a leper came and worshipped Him saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean”’ – Matthew 8:2 THOUGHT: Jesus had just finished his wonderful teaching, the Sermon on the Mount – hard-hitting, thought-provoking and lifestyle challenging. There is no mention of healing, yet when Jesus comes down from the mountain a leper is amongst the great multitudes following Him wanting Jesus to heal him. Leprosy was an illness to be dreaded. Great advances have been made throughout the world to reduce, even eradicate its awful effect. There are degrees of leprosy. Two long chapters in the Book of Leviticus concern the diagnosis, treatment and recovery from leprosy. For a person to go from being included in society to excluded and then included again must have been a wonderful experience. However this leper was no small case or even in the first signs of this awful disease. The Gospel of Luke states he was full of leprosy – 5:12. So often God uses the worst scenario to show us that, “With Him all things are possible!” From the Gospel accounts of this encounter and wonderful miracle, there are four things we must be willing to do. Be willing to go where you would not normally...
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TEXT: ‘Let your eyes look directly ahead [toward the path of moral courage] and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you [toward the path of integrity]’ – Proverbs 4:25 Amplified Bible THOUGHT: Recent visits to the theatre disturbed me about the intrusive use of mobile phones. It was amazing how many blue screens suddenly switched on once it was the interval. No, the owners of those phones could not enjoy a night out without looking at their phone. Sat just six rows from the stage, the excellent performance of Jules Holland and his band was marred by people in front of me videoing the concert. Trying to capture the moment, yet unaware they were helping to destroy that same moment for those sat behind them. I found out later that there was no restriction on recording the event like there normally is on other occasions. The blessing or curse of mobile phones Every good invention can end up damaging instead of blessing. It is true that many lives have been saved by a mobile phone, but we will never know how much damage it has done to society. The art of conversation is dying, replaced by steely stares at a tiny screen oblivious to what’s going...
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