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2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

TO PONDER

As God is not willing that any should perish, and as He is willing that all should come to repentance, He has never decreed the damnation of anyone, nor has He rendered it impossible for any soul to be saved.

Of course, God wants all people to be saved; and Jesus gave himself as a propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. Nevertheless, some people will exercise their choice to reject and exclude God from their lives; and this God cannot prevent without taking away from people the very freedom of choice that makes them people.

It is why Christians should want to grow in holiness in their gratitude to God for his patience with us, for without such patience sinners could never be saved.

PRAYER

May the Lord bless us and cause us to grow in grace and in knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. May we be freed from that power of darkness, the corruption that is in the world through the selfish desires of our hearts. And may we grow up in Him in all things, and be strengthened to share His hope with all the world. Amen.

Today's devotion written by Francis Leung, LifeWay Asian ministry pastor.

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Philippians 4:8

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.

TO PONDER

The human mind will always set itself on something and if a person thinks of something often enough, they will come to the stage when they cannot stop thinking about it. Their thoughts will quite literally be in a groove out of which they cannot jerk them. It is, therefore, of the first importance that we should set our thoughts upon the fine things.

There are the things which are true. Many things in this world are deceptive and illusory, promising what they can never perform, offering a specious peace and happiness which they can never supply. We should always set our thoughts on the things which will not let us down, we should fix our minds on Jesus.

Paul recommends holiness and righteousness to be in every point of view; and to show that the Gospel of Christ requires Christians to have the mind that was in Christ, and to walk as he himself also walks. Everything we do and say should bring honour to God, good to others and credit to God's people, the church..

PRAYER

God, help us to meditate upon your words, revolve them in our minds, seriously consider them, and reason with ourselves about them, in order to put them into practice in every aspect of our life. Amen

Today's devotion written by Francis Leung, LifeWay Asian ministry pastor

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Acts 22:14-15

“Then he said: `The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.

TO PONDER

This encounter with Jesus is not only for the life of Paul but also of every Christian life. There are three highlights in it. First, to know the will of God. It is the first aim of the Christian to know God's will and to obey it. Second, to see the Just One. It is the aim of the Christian to walk daily in the presence of the Risen Lord. Third, to hear God's voice. It was said of a great preacher that in his preaching he paused ever and again as if listening for a voice. The Christian is ever listening for the voice of God above the voices of the world to tell him where to go and what to do.

PRAYER

Oh, Lord, it is a privilege that we have been appointed to know your will, to see you and hear you speak. This gives us an appreciation for the significance of what it means to be in your presence. I pray that you would make me eager to tell my story of your presence in my life because it is a story of your mercy and grace on a sinful person like me..

Today's devotion written by Francis Leung, LifeWay Asian ministry pastor

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Luke 2:20

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

TO PONDER

Glorifying and praising God is useful in confirming and strengthening our faith. Like the shepherds, we should all know that the life of Christ Jesus was a work of God. Their zeal in glorifying and praising God is an implied reproof of our indolence, or rather of our ingratitude. If the cradle of Christ had such an effect upon them, as to make them rise from the stable and the manger to heaven, how much more powerful should the death and resurrection of Christ be in raising us to God? The testimony of the angel to the shepherds points out the nature of true godliness. For our faith is properly aided by the works of God, when it directs everything to this end, that the truth of God, which was revealed in his word and his son Jesus, may be brought out with greater clearness.

PRAYER

Lord, may we never forget to marvel at your works and keep them in our hearts, coming back to them repeatedly for the purpose of praising you and testifying about your goodness and grace to others.

Today's devotion written by Francis Leung, LifeWay Asian ministry pastor

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Matthew 19:23

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.

TO PONDER

Although we all have our stories of how the Covid pandemic has negatively impacted our lives, and I happily admit that it has been very mildly in my own family compared to the struggles it has caused for many; the reality is that often these kinds of struggles are necessary in order for us to take stock of where our faith and trust really lies.

It is no coincident that throughout history and across continental and political borders, the church of God seems to grow fastest where its people experience hardship and oppression. Nothing drives us to God quite like a crisis. While each of us will experience our own personal crises in life, the death of a loved one, the breakdown of a significant relationship, the loss of a job, the fact is that as a society, we have not really experienced a corporate crisis like the current Covid situation in an unusually long time.

Interestingly, Jesus talks about money more than almost any other topic in the gospels. Our money and financial security give us the illusion that we do not need God, that all our material needs are taken care of. It is this kind of belief that makes it hard for rich people to recognise their need for God and therefore to place their trust and faith in Jesus rather than their own wealth.

The key, as it has been all this week, is the perspective we hold when it comes to our money (which is all God's money anyway!). Are we looking to the horizon of the kingdom of God from where all blessings flow and there is life in abundance, or to our own personal kingdoms in which we need to secure ourselves and protect our meagre resources fiercely from the 'greedy' hands of others in need?

PRAYER

Jesus, in a world which is so bent on accumulating personal wealth and financial security, help me to remember that all the security I need is to be found in you. Help me to remember that you call me to use the gifts and blessings that you have given me to be a gift and a blessing to others, not to simply to build a kingdom for myself. Amen

Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle Site Pastor.

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Matthew 13:47-48

“Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away.

TO PONDER

Jesus often talked about 'sorting' when it came to the kingdom of heaven. Here he talks about sorting fish, but in other parables he talks about sorting wheat from weeds, and in another he talks about separating sheep from goats. So what does that all mean for us today?

We live in a world which is convinced that we (humanity) can solve any problem if we just put our minds to it. That somehow the recognition and accolades of this life will somehow help us in the next (if such a thing really exists). Jesus makes a different and much more exclusive claim. Exclusive in so far as there is only one way to assure our security in the next life - faith in him. But it is also wonderfully inclusive because he invites all to put their trust in him. It is one of the wonderful paradoxes of the Christian faith, it is at the same time both incredibly exclusive and equally inclusive.

But we need to help people recognise that the sorting day is on its way, we need to help them recognise that the only distinguishing factor that determines whether they are a good fish or a bad fish, a bushel of wheat or a pile of weeds, a sheep or a goat, is their faith and trust in Jesus as Lord and Saviour. Nothing else will determine our eternity.

That's great news if you're a good fish, terrible if your not. Let's get busy helping people telling people the truth about what's coming so as many as possible end up in the Kingdom of Heaven.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, help me to remember that the good news of my salvation through your son Jesus is not just for me but your offer of salvation in Jesus is for all the world. Please help me to play my part in sharing that reality with others. Help me to see you at work in my life so that I can share the wonders of your goodness to me with others. Amen

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Matthew 13:44

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field."

TO PONDER

This is one of those parables of the kingdom of heaven which I try to avoid. I try to avoid it because it usually convicts me.

I shared at a recent LifeWay staff development day, a story of one of my earliest memories of camping with my family at a little camping ground on the goldfields just outside of Ballarat, Victoria. We were camping with my grandfather who was an avid, amateur gold prospector. I was probably about eight or nine years old at the time and not the kind of kid who usually enjoyed camping. I'd much rather have been in my comfortable house with a book or in front of the television.

Yet there was something about the lure of gold that got me excited. I was up early with the adults every morning and among the first of us standing in the freezing cold, knee deep river water sifting through a pile of dirt in my gold pan. I would spend all day in that river, despite the numbness of my toes and the ache in my back hoping that the next pan would turn up a significant gold nugget.

Yet faced with this parable of Jesus, I recognise that I do not pursue his kingdom and his glory with the same kind of enthusiasm. I am often all too quick to say, 'it's too hard' or to wonder if all the effort is really worth it. The question of selling all I have in pursuit of God's kingdom is not one I allow myself to consider often. But Jesus' words are true, there is nothing more valuable in this life or the next than the knowledge that we are God's children and that he loves and accepts us because of Jesus. There is not better investment - even if it cost everything we have - than investing in the eternal Kingdom of God.

PRAYER

Father of all that is seen and unseen, help me to see the value of investing all that I am and all that I have in you and your kingdom. Help me to put aside the riches of this world and this life and to use all the blessings that you give me in service of you and others. Amen

Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle Site Pastor.

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Matthew 13:31-32

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

TO PONDER

I had to google search an image of a mustard tree for today as I had never seen one before. As Australians, used to the sight of ancient river red gums, the sprawling branches of Moreton Bay figs and towering Norfolk pines, the sight of a mustard tree doesn't see so impressive. However, it is easy to imagine in the dry, wind swept, hill country of Israel and Palestine, that the mustard tree may be among some of the bigger trees naturally occurring in the area.

One of the things this parable has to teach us about the kingdom of heaven is what God can do with just a small seed of faith.

How often have you looked at other Christians and thought to yourself, "I wish I had faith like that person" or "I could never do something like that"? The reality is that in the kingdom of heaven, in God's economy, everything is possible when our faith is firmly planted in Christ.

The thing about seeds, is that it doesn't matter what type of seed or what kind or size of plant it might grow into, unless it is planted in good rich soil, it will never amount to much. Our faith must be firmly planted in Jesus if it is to grow into something that can benefit others like the 'mighty' mustard tree.

What kind of tree do you feel like at the moment? A strong tall gum tree or a small and scraggly shrub? How might you go about improving the soil you are planted in?

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, you created a garden for you people to live in and enjoy. You know how to make things grow and what is needed to make me thrive in my surroundings. Please work on me, and in me, so that my faith will be firmly planted and rooted in you and that my life might produce fruit for you and your kingdom. In Jesus name, Amen

Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle Site Pastor

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Matthew 20:1

For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.

TO PONDER

The gospel of Matthew is full of pictures and images about the kingdom of heaven and over this week we will look at a number of them. In today's picture, Jesus tells the story of a landowner who goes out at various times of the day and hires additional workers to work in the vineyard, agreeing to pay those who only come on board for the last shift of the day, the same wages as those who have worked a full day.

You can just imagine the uproar from the fair work commission if someone tried that kind of stunt today! But the funny thing is that for a lot of smaller vineyard owners in the Barossa Valley, that is kind of how things still work. I have an uncle who is one of these smaller vineyard owners and at harvest time there is a huge amount of work which needs to be done in a very short amount of time to ensure the grapes are picked at their optimal wine making consistency. It's more work tan any one man can do on their own, even with modern machinery and harvesters. So, a group of grape growers, work together sharing harvesting equipment and going to work on each others vineyards until all the work is done. It doesn't matter that one farmer brings the most expensive piece of equipment, it doesn't matter that one farmer has the largest vineyard and requires the most help. Everyone just gets in and helps until everyone's grapes have been picked and delivered to the winemakers. What is important is not what each gets out of or puts into the arrangement, it is simply that the harvest gets collected.

I sometimes thing we miss this point in Jesus story about the vineyard workers. We focus on the disparity between those who worked all day and those who worked little. I think part of what is important here is that everyone got to work in the vineyard. Sure, it cost some more time and effort than the others but everyone got to work, to be productive and everyone was rewarded in the end.

How is Jesus calling you to serve in his vineyard?

PRAYER

Jesus, Lord of the Harvest, you call each of us to work the fields and to go and reap the harvest of your kingdom in this world. Help me to be excited at the opportunity to work along side you to see your kingdom come to life in the hearts and lives of those around us. May I be ready to work for you no matter the cost. Amen

Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle Site Pastor.

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