June 15th

Deuteronomy 20     Isaiah 47     Psalms 107     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

It appears that this chapter in Isaiah was written about the time that Hezekiah was king of Judah (729-687 BC ) and foretold the fall of Babylon some 200 years later during a proud and drunken feast thrown by king Belshazzar. Gods of silver and gold etc. were being praised using looted vessels from the Jerusalem temple. Great fear fell on the party when a human hand wrote on the wall, interpreted by the prophet Daniel (Daniel Chap. 5) as, ' You are weighed in the balances and found wanting'. That night the Persians slew Belshazzar.

          At the same time, the Jews had also been found wanting and suffering slavery in Babylon because of their abandonment of the Lord God of Israel and their detestable worship of false Gods.  Gentile domination of Jerusalem endured under Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Roman Empires until recent times when Israel gained control  in 1967, ending the times of the Gentiles. We are now in the latter days when scattered Israel is returning to their Land of Promise, as predicted in Isaiah and other prophets.  As in Babylonian times, God is still sovereign in a world that will be full of strife until Jesus comes again.

(written by member of a homegroup)

June 14th

Deuteronomy 19     Isaiah 46     Psalms 106     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

Older members of the congregation will be encouraged by verse 4 of this chapter in Isaiah, God promises to take care of his people “even to your old age and grey hairs”. He promises to sustain the elderly as he has known and “upheld...and carried” (verse 3) them since before they were conceived and has cared for them throughout their lives since then. Sometimes we feel that God is less interested in us as we grow older but these verses clearly show that this is not the case. The elderly in our country may not be as respected by our society as they once were (and indeed still are in many countries) but they are immensely valuable to God. Many retired folk in our church do a great work for God and serve others and the church faithfully and it is all too easy to take them for granted.  We should be continually thankful for them and indeed actively encourage them. When was the last time you made a point of saying “thank you” to a senior (or anyone of any age, for that matter) in our church for any dedicated service that they carry out or any fellowship they provide? 

(written by member of a homegroup)

June 13th

Deuteronomy 18     Isaiah 45     Psalms 105     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

I always place great value on reading the Psalms, largely because they reflect David’s honesty in prayer, revealing his times of joy, depression, excitement, anger, compassion, love and grief.

In Psalm 105, David is telling his people to remember their story, (that we too can read in Genesis and Exodus):  The covenant God made with Abraham, verse 5 – 11, the rise of Joseph from slave to master in Egypt, verse 16 – 22, and how God sent Moses and Aaron to bring His people out of slavery in Egypt and into the Promised Land, verse 26 – 41.   From this story, I am reminded that God is mighty and always in charge.  He loves and protects His children and is ever merciful.  God kept His covenant with His chosen people, verse 42.  

God will keep His promises to us as well.  He will love and protect us and, through the sacrifice of His son, Jesus, we can look forward to eternal life with Him in heaven.  We can trust God’s generosity in the future because He has been so faithful in the past.

So, let us too shout our praise and thanks to God, just as David did in verses 1 – 4.  Tell of His wonderful acts, rejoice in our hearts and sing to Him. 

While writing this reflection, I am thoughtful of a chorus that we sing at Christchurch:

    “From the rising to the setting sun, God’s love endures forever”

     and the chorus sings:

   “Forever God is faithful, forever God is strong,

     Forever God is with us, forever, forever” 

(written by member of a homegroup)

June 12th

Deuteronomy 17     Isaiah 44     Psalms 104     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

In Deuteronomy 17, God outlines His law regarding judgements amongst His people. The people wanted kings to rule over them and God allows this but there are very strict rules that any king must follow if he is to “rule a long time over his kingdom in Israel” (verse 20). We sometimes complain about the laws of our country but we need to remember that most of them are based on God’s laws. In many countries of the world, corruption is rife and ordinary citizens have to pay bribes to people in authority in order to escape fines or imprisonment. We can be thankful that this is not the case in our country and should pray regularly for judges, police and people in authority such as the men and women in Government.  In verses 16 and 17, God warns any king against accumulating great wealth and possessions or he will lose sight of God and, as it says in verse 17 “....his heart will be led astray”. In our current materialistic society, there is a lesson for us here as well.

(written by member of a homegroup)

June 11th

Deuteronomy 16     Isaiah 43     Psalms 103     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

In this chapter in Isaiah, Israel is reminded about how God has guided them over the years and that whatever happens to them, His loving purpose will finally be achieved. He will be with them in adversity and will restore them to prosperity. The promise God gives in verse 1 “Fear not, I have redeemed you...you are mine” was true for Israel then and, as a result of what Jesus has done or us on the cross, it is now true for us today. He has stamped His name, the “Maker’s name” upon us, but many people have rubbed it off and pretend that they owe Him nothing; they may not even acknowledge that there is a creator at all. God sacrificed other countries to bring back Israel because He loved her. In his book of memoirs of the Second World War, Winston Churchill calls one chapter “Africa Redeemed” and in it he tells at what tremendous cost the countries of North Africa were bought back during 1940-43. It was an even greater price that Jesus had to pay to redeem us from our sin – His precious blood.

 (written by member of a homegroup)

June 10th

Deuteronomy 15     Isaiah 42     Psalms 102     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

This Psalm is headed “a prayer for an afflicted man”. Whilst reading it, I immediately started thinking about persecuted Christians around the world – in particular about the plight of Christians in labour camps in North Korea and the great difficulty of living the Christian life in that highly authoritarian state. In the second part of the psalm, the afflicted man sees that God is omnipotent and unchanging and that he does hear and answer prayers. Verse 17 says “He will respond to the prayer of the destitute” and in verse 20, He “hears the groans of the prisoners”. May I suggest that we make praying for persecuted Christian a regular part of our prayer life – in particular praying for specific people and issues within particular countries. Of course, there are times when all of us feel downhearted and lonely (and perhaps persecuted). We can take heart that God hears our prayers and, in His own time and in His own way, He will answer them. 

 (written by member of a homegroup)

June 9th

Deuteronomy 13-14     Isaiah 41     Psalms 99-101     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

Worshipping other gods.

When I was growing up my dad would take me sea fishing, I can still remember the first time asking how I would know if I had caught a fish, and my dad’s response was ‘you will know’. Sure enough when a fish took the bait it was a totally different feel to the false alarms of the weight dragging on the sea bed, or the waves giving a slow rhythmical pull. The bang and tug left no room for doubt.

It is easy to skip over sections such as Deuteronomy 13 and dismiss what is being recorded as no longer relevant today., The passage speaks about the danger of  being deceived and following other gods. In 2 Thessalonians 2 Paul gives a similar warning to his readers, not to be deceived by the  ‘man of lawlessness’ Today we still come across  claims of new insight or revelation which if listened to will lead us away from Christ. 

When prophecy is shared its eventual  fulfilment is only one small  test of whether or not it is true. The more stringent rule given in Deut 13:1-5 is to guard against intelligent foresight masquerading as prophecy and then being used to take us to other gods. How will we know if a prophetic word is true? If we are rooted in scripture it should be like catching a fish, we will know that the tug is false, it is not the clear tug of the truth we know.

When this happens we need to choose to hold fast to the Word and test what we are told against Scripture. The Message translates 2 Timothy:3 14 as ‘Don’t let it faze you. Stick to what you learned sure of the integrity of your teachers.... there is nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ’.

We are  commanded to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul all our strength and all our mind Luke 10:27. That is how we ‘keep His commands, obey Him, serve Him and hold fast to Him’. Deut13:4.

Take time to listen to God today and ask him to help you to ‘keep His commands, obey Him, serve him and hold fast to Him in all the challenges of the day.