Mar 16th

Exodus 27     Proverbs 3     Judges 6     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

Prov. 3:3a, "Let love and faithfulness never leave you."

How do we live the Christian life?  What instructions should we follow to ensure that each day we bring honour and glory to God in all our ways?  The Bible’s answer is, "Let love and faithfulness never leave you."  These two great principles guide our lives in the way of godliness.  The way of love is the way of God for God is love (1 Jn. 5:8).  Jesus said, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven" (Matt. 5:44-45).  To be faithful to God in all our ways is also the way of God because God is consistently and unfailingly faithful to all His promises.

God's love and His faithfulness combine to inspire His people to praise  Him: "I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.  For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies" (Ps. 57:9-10).

Let us today reflect on God's great love and faithfulness as it is revealed in Christ and let us seek to imitate Him.

(overseas mission partner)

Mar 15th

Exodus 26     Proverbs 2     Judges 5     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

Prov. 2:8, "He guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.” What challenges, difficulties and trials are we going to face today? 

 We simply do not know.  We do know that our lives as Christians will not be free from trials and difficulties.  Jesus said to His disciples, "If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also" (Jn. 15:20) and Paul wrote, "Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (2 Tim. 3:12).

That is why this promise in the book of Proverbs is such a precious one. It is a promise made to all God's children, for we are all just in the sight of God through faith in Christ and we are His faithful people because we seek to live lives that honour Him and bring glory to Him.  The promise of God to us is that He guards our course and protects our way.  This means that God goes before us in all things, just as the shepherd in the Middle East goes before his sheep.  It means that God enables us and empowers us to meet 
every challenge and to come through it to His glory.  The promise is not that He will remove trials, difficulties and challenges but that He will take us through them and keep us faithful to Him so that we do not fall away and are not overcome.

Let us reflect today on this great Biblical truth: we are able to live the Christian life not because we are strong, but because He who lives in us and keeps us is strong and mighty in all things.

(overseas mission partner)

Mar 14th

Exodus 25     Proverbs 1     Judges 4     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

Proverbs 1:7a, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge."

The Bible tells us that we are to live our lives here on earth in the fear of the Lord: "Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear" (1 Pet. 1:17).  What does it mean to live our lives in the fear of the Lord?

Negatively, it does not mean we are to live our lives in dread.  Once we are saved through faith in Christ, we are the beloved children of God, accepted  and loved by Him through Christ.  To be in dread of Him is to dishonour Christ who has saved us from our sins.  Positively, to live in the fear of the Lord means to be conscious of His rule in our lives, and to seek to honour Him and glorify Him in all our ways.  It means to be conscious of the fact that we are His children and His representatives here on earth.  It means to be more and more like Christ in all our ways.

Let us pray each day that the Spirit of God who lives in us would enable us to live our lives in the fear of God in the midst of a world that needs to know Him and His love in their lives.

(overseas mission partner)

Mar 13th

Exodus 24     Job 42     Judges 3     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

Exodus 24: The familiar words of Jesus at the last Supper (Matthew 26:28) have their roots here as Moses uses blood as a symbol of God’s promise to dwell with his people. Their declaration of obedience speaks as a challenge to us – how do I respond to God’s offer to covenant with me?

Job 42: Moving scenes close Job’s life. He receives from the Lord more than he lost. It is his prayer on behalf of his friends (whose words to him were so unhelpful) that brings the Lord’s mercy. But my favourite part is Job’s final reply to the Lord. His acknowledgement that he spoke of things beyond him (which God, in his graciousness, allowed him to do!) is humbling. And I, for one, long to be able to say with Job ‘My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you’. How precious each glimpse of the Lord our God!

Judges 3: We begin to see a repeating cycle of periods of obedience from God’s people followed by times of rebellion; forgetting God and serving other gods (v7). These times result in slavery with other nations overcoming Israel (v8 & 14). Yancy & Stafford, introducing Judges, write ‘Every picture has shadows, every thriller has chapters that look truly dark. In the story of God and His people Judges is that kind of chapter. Heroes appear sporadically but humanity remains terribly unheroic.’ The faithfulness of God is shown, however; when Israel finally cries out to him (v9/15) he gives them deliverers. Once again the shadow of the cross can be seen across these pages as we remember Jesus is the ultimate deliverer.

(lay member of staff)

Mar 12th

Exodus 23     Job 41     Judges 2     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

Exodus 23: Today we again see God’s passion for justice and insistence that the poor are cared for and treated with mercy. There are also clear foreshadows of Jesus’ words to be radical in your approach even to those who are your enemies (V4-5 and also Luke 6:27-36).

Job 41: There are several theories about which animals are being described by the words Leviathan and Behemoth from (yesterday’s reading). Whatever the answer v9 makes it clear that the being is untameable and an awe-inspiring sight. If such a creature cannot be challenged who could dare take on its creator? (v10-11).

Judges 2: Whilst Joshua and the elders were alive, the Israelites seemed to keep their priorities straight with God as the focus of their lives (v7). How terrifying it is that within a generation no-one ‘knew the Lord or what he had done for Israel’ (v10)? How could that happen? Did they allow life in the promised land to dilute the memories of the God who got them there? Are we in danger of doing the same? These verses sound a strong reminder of the importance of testifying to each other about who God is and what he has done in our lives.

(lay member of staff)

Mar 11th

Exodus 22     Job 40     Judges 1     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

Exodus 22: In the remainder of Exodus and the subsequent 3 books God puts laws in place for His people. Although some of them are undoubtedly culture specific we should not overlook these passages as we can discover plenty about God’s priorities as he lays down a society’s boundaries from scratch. Here we can see that God favours restitution over vengeance and is concerned with justice for the poor and foreigners.

Job 40: As we’ve journeyed with Job we’ve seen a man resolutely refusing to forsake God even whilst his world comes crashing down around him. After 2 chapters of God’s rhetorical questioning Job gets his chance to address Him but is overwhelmed by the greatness and power of the Lord. Job’s demands for detailed answers to his suffering fade away in the face of Almighty God.

Judges 1: It’s easy to skim over some passages here with their details of military tactics and various battles but there are plenty of things to be challenged by. For instance the rather odd note in v6 where Adoni-Bezek has his thumbs and big toes removed. One presumes this would be a measure taken to destroy your enemy’s ability to fight in the future as they would be unable to move quickly or grip a weapon. Reflecting on this leads me to question if there are any ‘enemies’ in my life that I have fought and beaten for now but failed to completely immobilise therefore leaving the possibility for them to attack again in the future.

(lay member of staff)

Mar 10th

Exodus 21     Job 39     Luke 24     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

It may seem strange to read both Exodus 21 and Luke 24 in the same day. Exodus 21 is part of a law-code and is concerned with how justice applies to concrete, practical situations. It is part of God revealing to his rescued people how the life of freedom under his rule will work. He is concerned to see justice and goodness in every aspect of human life. This will then be an attractive model of holy living for the rest of world.

In Luke 24 we read of how the future God has planned for the world has already broken into the present as he overcomes the death of Jesus by raising him to new life. This is not a promise of some disembodied life in the clouds (as many people think of our future hope) but of resurrection – God bringing new life to the physical world. Jesus is flesh and bones. He walks, talks and even eats with people. Talking to the disappointed disciples on the road to Emmaus, he explains how the Old Testament Scriptures point to him. He may even have said how the minutiae of Exodus 21 show the resurrection life to be one of holiness in every part. And he passes the baton on to his disciples (us included) to be witnesses of all this to the world.

For thought:

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->How can I obey the call to be a witness to my bit of God’s world?

(Christ Church lay preacher)