"in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord". This is not an outward form or observance or conforming to a pattern laid down for you. It is not erecting an altar in a corner or a part of your life. It is setting up a throne room in the very centre of your being and ... Read more
"he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem". Jesus' task was greater than anyone living had ever performed or ever could perform. The path that lay before Him was one of suffering. He who was holy, harmless and undefiled was to bear the sin of the world and be sacrificed as the Lamb of ... Read more
"But you were unwilling to go up". It was a contest between God's word and the Israelites' reasoning. They listened to the gloomy report of the majority of the spies. Their minds operated on an earthly level and did not take into account that the God who had brought them so mightily out of Egypt's ... Read more
"Faithful are the wounds of a friend". Sometimes it is necessary to wound in order to heal: this is notably so in the case of surgery when the surgeon makes an incision to remove diseased tissue. It is also true in the things of the Spirit. Our waywardness and refusal to listen and obey the ... Read more
"this is the promise … even eternal life". It is the greatest promise of all - it grasps a prize beyond the grave and places it in the heart of those who make Jesus Lord. Because it is God's promise, it conveys real hope to the hearts of those who believe it. All who do, ... Read more
"Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe". There need be no feeling of failure if, when you witness to someone of your faith in Jesus, they do not believe. The Apostle Paul preached and proclaimed Christ to all who visited him in Rome for the last two years of his ... Read more
"seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness". Too many have things in the wrong order: what they consider to be of prime importance is in fact of least value to them. The important piece to get in place in life's jigsaw is the quest for God's Kingdom. Make Jesus King and all else ... Read more
"because you have wholly followed the Lord my God". Caleb comes to us as a quiet, steady and godly leader. He did not seek notoriety and neither did he hesitate to speak positively about entry into the Promised Land when all but one of the other spies spoke against it. Throughout the forty years wandering ... Read more
"the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark". A godly home in which John Mark was brought up to love the Lord and desire to serve Him. It was the centre for meaningful church activity and the natural choice for an all-night prayer meeting among the believers when Peter was imprisoned and under sentence ... Read more
"Teach us to number our days aright". We do need to value and properly use each day the Lord gives us. Today added to yesterday prepares us for tomorrow. Few things are completed in a day, just as some things we need to leave for others to complete. A night's sleep is for refreshment not ... Read more