Pass it on

Scripture:  2 Tim 2:2 :  “You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many witnesses.  Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others”

 

Observation:  I wonder if Paul realised how effective his charge, not only to Timothy, but to all those who heard his message, would be?  For they very effectively “passed it on”!  So effectively, in fact, that the message of Christ crucified resounds around the world today – a far larger world than Paul even dreamt existed, and 2000 years after he wrote these words!  

 

Application:  “Pass it on” is still Paul’s charge to believers today.  It is Paul’s charge to me today!  Even as the Lord said “Go” to His disciples, so Paul says “Pass it on”  Don’t hide the truth.  Let the Light shine.  Gossip the Gospel.  Speak of the Good News to all and sundry.  And let the light of what Christ has done for me be what manifests to those around me.  Not only do I “pass it on” with words, I do so by my actions .  Even as I must teach the truth to others, so my life must be one of those “many witnesses” that confirm the truth.  Future generations must hear – and the only way they will hear is if I & my generation “pass it on”!!

 

Prayer:  Dear Heavenly Father, please forgive me for those times I have hesitated – for fear of man- to pass on what You have done for me, to speak of Your love & faithfulness, of Your mercy & righteousness.  Lord, I want to be re-fired with passion for You, that I might be an effective witness to those around me of the difference You have made in my life!!  I ask, Lord, for a deeper understanding – a greater revelation – of Your love for me, that I might take every opportunity to “pass it on” to others.

 

In Jesus’ Name

 

Amen.

Poured out

 

Scripture

And afterward, l will pour out my Spirit on all people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy

Your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

Even on my servants both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those day.

 

Observation/Application

The power of God! Spirit poured out, flowing, continually flowing, pouring into everyone of us,

 penetrating every fiber of our being, soaking into our every fiber.

We are so full – it is just coming out through our mouths, through our actions, through our thoughts;

 streaming out like sunlight, ray’s of light, through whatever opening it can!

 

Prayer

Dear Lord, make us this, make us a people so consumed by your Spirit that we burst forth,

 burst forward into all you have us, into the doors you have opened to touch all

Standing on your own two feet

Scripture

2 Kings 12:2 “All of his life Joash did what was pleasing in the Lords sight because Jehoida the priest instructed him”.

2 Chronicles 24:1 “But after Jehoida’s death the leaders of Judah came and bowed before King Joash and persuaded the king to listen to their advice”.

 

Observation

Joash had been raised by the priest Jehoida. The priest was like his father and from the age of seven Joash, as King, had allowed Jehoida to instruct him and assist him to make good decisions for the nation. But as soon as Jehoida dies, Joash is lost. He hasn’t learnt how to make decisions based on the principles that Jehoida had shown him throughout all of the years they spent together. What a tragedy! So what went wrong? Who failed here? They both did. Jehoida obviously made all of the decisions for Joash perhaps without ever letting the young king wrestle with the decision making process. It was easier to just tell him what to do. Joash failed to become a leader by never learning the responsibility of the decisions made – he abdicated this to Jehoida – and during the years of success it worked well but it was at the expense of the next generation. This tragic story is played out even today. This was a God appointed partnership that was created to bring godly rule to a people. Successive generations paid dearly for this tragedy by not having the ability to raise sons who would carry on a godly legacy handed healthily to them by their fathers.

 

Application

Helping my sons make right and good decisions is a responsibility I hold very dearly. This goes for my natural and spiritual children. But my role is not to dominate nor to remove their ability to make decisions for themselves. Otherwise they are never going to learn to stand on their own two feet. This will be tested when I’m not around to advise them or one day when I’m gone – but the ground for their success begins now. Instruction and direction is good and healthy but giving room for them to take risks and then apply cause and affect to those decisions whilst having me around means a healthy apprenticeship is being undertaken and they graduate whilst I’m still around.

 

Prayer

Father, how this tragedy must grieve your heart and yet we continue in its pattern again and again. Help me to learn from Joash and Jehoida – the things they got right as well as the things they got wrong. May the success of the next generation after me be seen in the outworking of these lessons. In Jesus name I ask it. Amen.

 

 

Jim Jung

"My Heart Is Not Hidden"

Scripture

 

1 Timothy 5 v 25b “…good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not cannot be hidden.”

 

Observation

 

There are many people around that do a lot of good, and their good deeds are often obvious. Because their kind actions and good deeds are obvious they often get noticed and blessed in return. We as people can develop a mindset that says “the good things I do must be seen by others to be effective and for me to in-turn receive my due blessing from God”. But that’s not how God operates. God calls us to be servants, and do to others as unto Him. Good deeds aren’t about the satisfaction we get when we do them, and they’re not about the reward or blessing we receive when they are seen or noticed. Good deeds, whether obvious or not, are about exactly that – doing good deeds, meeting the needs of others, serving others, putting others before ourselves, being generous. The great thing about doing something good and not having it noticed by anyone, is that God sees everything. Our secret generosity is not hidden from Him. I’m not sure that he’s actually that interested in my deeds anyway, but more my heart, that is the essence behind what I do. And my heart – is never hidden from Him.

 

Application

 

How easy it becomes to fall into the trap of living for myself. God sees my heart even before he notices my deeds. If my generosity or actions are out of selfish desires for recognition, then God sees that. Just as my good deeds are not hidden from Him, either are my motives. This scripture speaks more to me about the heart I have behind my actions, than my actions by themselves. It’s not often that I’m short on good deeds, after all, being Gods hands and His feet is why I’m on this planet. My heart though, needs to be in check. My heart needs to be all for building Gods kingdom, then my actions will fall in line. If I’m doing something good, it doesn’t matter who gets the reward, as long as God gets the glory.

 

Prayer

 

God I thank you that you see all things, You even see my heart. Lord I pray that in everything I do, whether great or small, whether noticed or un-noticed, that my heart would be for You. I don’t want to live for myself, I’m yours. Thank you for speaking to me so simply and clearly, I pray that I’d always be still enough to hear your words, your whisper in my ear. Amen.

 

James Williams 

 

 

Watchful not Wantful

S – Colossians 4: 2&3

 

‘Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains.

 

O – Another great focused prayer encouragement form Paul. To be both watchful, and thankful in our attitude to prayer and not to be casual about it. He asks for prayer that God will do the opening of the doors for the gospel message. He knew that seeking God’s guidance and activation was the key. It was God who is the door opener for the message; it wasn’t his own thoughts, strengths or strategies. It was a deliberate asking and waiting for the Lord to open the doors. He also refers to the breadth of the message as a mystery – a mystery that will never be solved, but one that has no ending in what it reveals.

 

A – This is again another great challenge to my own devotion and attitude in prayer. How easy I can lose the impact and importance of prayer. I know if I don’t keep the focus and attitude right then my prayers can degenerate in their focus too purely around my own circumstances and issues. If I feel there are no issues then it becomes casual and with no kingdom intention or outcome. Paul instructs me to keep focused, to be watchful and thankful and not ‘Wantful’. For there to be a higher purpose in my prayer, that the doors will open for the preaching of the message. I am challenged and convicted as to how little my praying is directed to this, and yet I say I believe that it is the most important commission given to me. How I forget that God is the one who opens the doors. It’s not from my human endeavour or my so called good ideas. I seem to so readily forget this focus and pray for lesser things and then lose this important focus. I think this is why he is telling me to be devoted, not causal or inconsistent. It seems devoted prayer is directed to opening the doors for the message.

 

P – Lord I need your help to be more watchful and thankful. The more I allow this to happen in y life the more I pray for what is important. Forgive me when I allow my prayers to be so ‘me’ centric. Lord I want to be part of the great prayer that you will open the doors for the message.

Creative Power

Scritpure:  For in him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible... all things have been created through him and for him.  Colossians 1:16

 

Observation:  Creativity in word form is not really menioned through out the Word but it's so often displayed.  Creativity is part of the character of God, it's in his Divine nature. And as sons and daughters of the most high we have the ability to create as part of our spiritual heritage.  As we recieve love, and peace we also recieve creativity because our spirit has been regenerated.

 

Application: I need to constantly be tapping into the creativity that is stored up for me. There is creative wisdom set aside for me to access.  The very fact that i am created by him FOR him gives me divine purpose.  I often catch myself saying the creativity went to the other side of the family! But the reality is that the creative power that is found in Heaven -resides in me.  By the power of Holy Spirit i have access to my full creative potential.

 

Prayer:  Lord, thank you for revealing to me your creative power today.  And now that i am more aware of the access i have to creativity i choose to tap into it. Help me Lord, as i seek to be more creative in problem solving, ministry giftings, in leadership and relationships, to see more of your purpose outworked in my life.

 

 

_Hayley

That I May Know Him

Scripture: Philippians 3:10 '...that i may know him...' Observation: There is no friend or earthly possesion that could or should satisfy the deepest longing of the spirit. Any loss of these relationships or lack of intimacy from them in unmatched to the gain of knowing Christ. To know God is to love Him. Application: To love Him is to trust Him, this unseen God who knows my every past, present and future moment; who calls me into a nearness unlike any other; who covers my shame, fear and insecurity with the warmth of His kind forgiveness, grace and acceptance. By His maginificance He shatters my religiosity, self performance, earthly mind-sets, and personal agendas. The loss of these false securities brings me to the very core of all that really matters: Jesus. Prayer: Father, i want to know you more. Thank you for calling me deeper into a nearness i have never known. Help me release the areas of false securities to you so that i can live a life of trust and surrender. Hayley

Scripture:

Philippians 2:  5 & 6
Your attitude should be the kind that was shown us by Jesus Christ.  Who, though he was God, did not demand and cling to his rights as God.

Observation:

Wow.  This is so true.  Jesus Christ the son of God had all the rights and privileges of royalty.  He could summon angels to do anything he wanted.  Even as the song goes . . . ‘He could have called 10,000 angels to destroy the world and set him free’ from being crucified on the cross.   But he didn’t.  His humble heart and attitude is certainly an example for all of mankind to mirror.  He was the servant although he was the son of God.  He thought of others above himself.  Jesus Christ, the only man without sin, became as a lamb crucified for the sinful.  He gave up his rights and privileges willingly.

Application:

I need to think about my attitude a little more closely.  I need to assess my heart and see if it lines up with what Jesus desires of me.  If my eyes are focused on God – then my forward vision reassures me that – in time – the reward is in heaven.  Heaven lasts forever so that means my reward will last forever.

 Jesus is now glorified and seated on the right hand of God and he says that he is preparing a place for me.  That reassurance brings me confidence that if my attitude is like Christ’s, then I have a home in heaven. My demands and rights I need to relinquish to allow God to be glorified in me.

Prayer:

 Lord, my attitude I give to you.  My heart I offer to you.   Forgive me for not keeping my eyes on you when I only know too well, that when my eyes are lowered, my attitude goes ‘down the tube’.  I know that my reward is in heaven and I ask you to help me keep my vision focused on what is good and right.

In your name – Amen

 

Terry B

 

Only in You

Scripture:

 

Philippians 1:14  “And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers have gained confidence and boldly speak God’s message without fear.”

 

Observation:

 

O, What a conundrum!  Paul is in chains – imprisoned for preaching the gospel!  To today’s believer in our western world, that would tend to shut us all up and send us underground – If we continued in the faith at all!!  But not for the believers in Rome – it has the opposite affect and gives them boldness to speak the message without fear !!  Why would it have that effect? Is it that they see Paul’s way of dealing with imprisonment and figure that it’s not that bad?  Perhaps it’s not the imprisonment - and threat of death – that’s not that bad, but the attitude Paul displays in the midst of this difficulty that inspires them to use their freedom while they can!  Paul writes with joy.  He writes to encourage. He recognizes the difficulties – he doesn’t sweep them under the carpet and make it all sound like a bed of roses – but Paul’s key here is that he rejoices in the midst.  It doesn’t matter that some preach Christ from selfish motives – Christ is preached.  It doesn’t matter that he’s in chains – he rejoices in the Philippian Church and knows that the Good News is continuing to be spread through them.  He knows he faces possible execution – but he even rejoices in that possibility as it will mean being permanently with His Lord!  There is absolutely no hint in Paul’s epistle of ‘poor me’.  He sees suffering for Christ as a privilege, as much as trusting in Him is!!!  Any wonder the Roman Christians were emboldened to share the gospel. 

 

Application:

 

I am blown away by Paul’s example, as I’m sure the Roman Christians were!!! If I were in Paul’s shoes, would I respond as he did?  Would my hallmark be ‘joy in the midst’?  I have enough attitude struggles now – and my ‘sufferings’ aren’t even on the same scale as Paul’s!  But what an example!  And Paul’s ability to rise to the occasion was because he knew that his Lord loved him no matter where he was or what was happening.  Paul’s ability to rejoice in the midst was not based on Paul’s ability, but based on God’s ability to bring all things together for Paul’s good and for the good of all who love the Lord.  Paul’s confidence in his Lord was what communicated itself and resonated with the believers around him.  It was his confidence in the Lord that emboldened others to risk life and limb and preach the message without fear.  Is that what I communicate to others in both the good times and especially in the bad?

 

Prayer:

 

Dear Heavenly Father, forgive me for allowing my fears to hold me back from speaking your Good News with boldness.  Thank you that you have no expectation that I will have an innate ability to “step up to the plate”, but that You provide Your unlimited resources for me to do so.  Help me to remember Paul – not on a pedestal, but in a prison, relying on You, rejoicing in You, and by his confidence only in You, being responsible for emboldening others as well.

 

In Jesus’ name

 

Amen.

 

Sue Otto

Perfect Conditions

Scripture

Ecclesiastes 11: 4 “If you wait for perfect conditions you will never get anything done”.

 

Observation

Sometimes you just need to take a risk and jump. Waiting for the right opportunity or the right moment often leads to inaction and missed intervention. Praise the Lord for perfect conditions! Praise the Lord also for the times when faith is required, when the conditions aren’t as favourable and you’ve got to lead the situation.

 

Application

So often I can be intimidated into waiting for the “right moment” or for the conditions to be perfect before getting something done. God is convicting me today – waiting in this area will often lead to missed opportunities, delayed outcomes and even wrong attitudes in situations that really should be dealt with. Sometimes we just need to act – even if it’s unpopular. Perfect conditions often look like diplomacy, harmony, committee – but sometimes issues just need to be confronted and though these scenarios (diplomacy, harmony and committee) in some instances are wise, they can also be destructive. Sometimes you just need to take a risk and jump.

 

Prayer

Lord, help me to discern when faith and risk need to overcome diplomacy and committee. I know both are useful but too often I wait for those perfect conditions and they rarely come in time.

 

 

Jim Jung

Every Spiritual Blessing

S – Ephesians 1:3

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”

O – This powerful opening first verse encourages me as to where my focus and reason for why my praise to God is directed. The reason for the praise is because of the blessings given in Jesus. The searching place and understanding for these blessings is in the heavenly realm and not in the natural dimension. It makes me realize that God’s blessings have to be searched for and found in a greater place and understanding far beyond myself.

A – This scripture challenges me to address and comprehend afresh the vastness of God’s provision and grace for my life. The provision is with every spiritual blessing. This is an amazing thing for me to dwell on. Everything that I needed spiritually for every eternal purpose, God has provided for in Jesus. These are blessings that are so different to what I would seek after in the natural. So many ‘blessings’ that I seek are for my own immediate comfort and benefit. They are short term and have such an earthly context and dimension. How easily do I forget or don’t have the adequate understanding. I need help and revelation to fully appreciate and enter in to all that these blessings provide. It makes me realize how important it is to allow Holy Spirit to open the eyes of my heart. To understand these blessings are seeded in the heavenly realm and I need to seek them out for my own application and understanding.

P – Lord, I thank you for the powerful blessings you have seeded in the heavenly realm. I ask for your help to understand and focus on them in a deeper way. Forgive me when I only express or comprehend your blessings by what you do or connect with me in an earthly or in my own dimension. I pray for a greater understanding and revelation of the extent and grace of these spiritual blessings.

-Ken

A House of Wisdom

Scripture: Proverbs 24:3-4

A House is built by Wisdom and becomes strong through good sense.  Through knowledge its rooms are filled with all sorts of precious riches and valuables.

 

Observation:

Life is built on wisdom, the things to watch out for the things to say yes and no to, the seasons we need to look at are all very important in the scheme of life.  To build “who I am” being my spiritual house will become strong from “good sense”.  As I build knowledge and experience my spiritual rooms are filled with precious riches and valuables.

 

Application:

Wisdom I need must come from the Lord, I must be able to read the times have an understanding on life that will give me strength to stand firm.  As I gain in knowledge I need to align myself with the Holy Spirit where I can draw upon my well of wisdom, where my spiritual house is strong and can with stand any season that comes my way.  Where my riches and valuables can bless me as I walk in Gods wisdom and good sense.

 

Prayer:

Father let me walk in Your wisdom, not that of man.  As I build that house of wisdom let You be the mortar that hold me together.  Let not my own wisdom and insecurities get in the way of a richness of life.

Lord guide me always in the journey of life to be the wise man you’ve called me to be.

Amen

 

Stephen Hutchison

Answerable to One.

Romans 14:7 ‘…its God we are answerable to—all the way from life to death and everything in between—not each other. That's why Jesus lived and died and then lived again: so that he could be our Master across the entire range of life and death, and free us from the petty tyrannies of each other.’

 

 

Paul insists we abandon judgmental attitudes. Christ, who is the Master of each of us, is able to bring each of us to obedience and to maturity.  The one purpose of our lives is to please God. It is not to please ourselves or those surrounding us.  Paul speaks concerning food here, but the reality is this applies to everything.  Our life is no longer our own, it is His.  We answer to Him.

 

 

Somehow we always default back to thinking this life we live is all about number one! And because we filter life through this position we blow petty tyrannies right out of proportion.  Instead, when we diligently guard against this and are responding purely to please our father our responses, our actions, our attitudes… everything we are communicates who we are answerable to.  God’s opinion is the only one that should truly matter. This lesson seems so grade 3 at times but the reality of this is regenerates me from the inside out.

 

 

Father, thank you for your word to me today; for reminding me that my life’s purpose is to please you! Forgive me Lord when I am consumed and weighed down by the thoughts and opinions of others.  Help me adjust the volume levels in my life that I might hear your voice above any other.

 

 

 

_________________________________

Hayley

 

Conviced of God's Grace

Scripture:

Romans 11:6-7 ‘they're convinced of God's grace and purpose in choosing them. If they were only thinking of their own immediate self-interest, they would have left long ago.’

 

Observation:

God by grace chose the Jewish people that Paul refers to here.  It was not because of their works that God chose them; it was entirely because of His grace.  Paul identifies they are a people of great conviction and purpose, who understand the position they are called into.  And because of this there is faithfulness and longevity.  When conviction is evident there is depth to a person; their roots run deep they are not easily uprooted or swayed by their own self interest or others beliefs.  The word Plerophoreo means “to fill completely” and emphasizes the total conviction that fills the heart of the believer.

 

Application:

There is a big difference between great intent and convictions.  I need a constant increase in the depth of my convictions and a greater revelation of God’s grace.  That I would be convinced of His purpose in choosing me. I need to embrace God’s grace in the most inward parts of my being that it might outwork in my behaviour. 

 

Prayer:

Father, help me embrace a greater revelation of your grace and purpose for my life. Let it be evident in evry area of who I am.  Thank you for your gift of grace .

 

_________________________________

Hayley