We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
TO PONDER
I was one of those people who associated the death and resurrection of Jesus with ‘fire insurance’, protection from the fires of hell. Sure, being a Christian meant I had to change, I had to do what it said in the Bible to be a good Christian but if I was honest the ‘new life’ today’s verse mentions didn’t really apply to my life now, it was all about the life after death.
I was in fact missing a major part of the Christian life, the new creation life, the ‘Living Fully’ part of LifeWay’s vision, the promised John 10:10 overflowing life. Jesus died to give us a new life here and now as much as for the after-death life, the gospel message is good news for us now, we don’t have to wait until we die, we can and should live fully here and now because He died for us.
Grace empowers us to live the gospel life today.
PRAYER
Saviour God, I thank you that I am now a new creation, living a new life because of you. I ask you to help me live fully everyday, that when I wake up I would give the day to you and ask you to lead and guide me in everything I do. Amen.
Today's daily devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
TO PONDER
I don’t know about you but I often struggle with maintaining a spiritual practice, even some simple ones like the the ‘3 Prayers’ we practice at LifeWay Westside.
I call it simple because its about praying three ‘headline’ prayers when we wake up in the morning, we call them ‘headline’ prayers because its just praying single sentence prayers. The concept is to pray for LifeWay Church, pray for a person who God lays on your heart, and finally ask God to use you ‘today’, so its as simple as saying; “God I ask you to bless my church family at LifeWay, God I pray for Danny today because he could surely use your help, and God I ask you to use me today to shine your gospel light through me today. Amen”.
See simple right?
The idea is to get into the habit of setting your heart on the things of God as soon as you wake up but the struggle usually arises with the distractions that flood my mind as I wake, having to take the kids to school, the stressful meeting I have during that day, or the myriad of other ‘important’ life events I have to do that day. So instead of taking the less than 60 seconds it would take to pray three headline prayers I jump into the distractions of life, I stress about the things I have no control over, etc. etc…
Today’s verse tells us as followers of Jesus to ‘set your heart on the things above’, basically wake up and think about Him, before we stress about ‘earthly things’ take some time to start the day with God, even if it’s saying 3 simple headline prayers.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, I repent of not setting my mind on you, I ask you to help me wake up every morning with you on my mind, not the stresses of the world but rather on the things above. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
TO PONDER
After almost 17 years of living in Canada as an Australian I returned to live in Australia as a Canadian…
The transformation over time went unnoticed, my accent didn’t really change, I still identified as a true-blue Aussie, I proudly displayed an Australian flag on my bags, I cheered on Australia when they competed against Canada in any adversarial endeavour. I was Australian!
But then I returned to my homeland as a foreigner, an outsider, I didn’t really fit in a place I felt ownership with. I was now viewing life in Australia on the other side of a life in Canada, I had changed, I was a new creation, I was a new person. I was now Canadian!
Today’s reading reminds us that on the other side of grace we are now foreigners of the past, that while it may be familiar to us we no longer belong in that past. On the other side of grace we are new creations, new people. The following verses tell us that as a result of our new identities we are now ambassadors of Christ’s message of reconciliation between God and the world, ambassadors of His grace.
PRAYER
Almighty Father, I thank and praise you for your amazing grace provided to me through Jesus and for the reconciliation accomplished. I pray that as I walk through life on the other side of grace I would carry your reconciling message to the world around me. Amen.
Todays devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside
“He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,”
TO PONDER
I remember the day Cody, our youngest put on his first pair of glasses, the smile and look of amazement on his face as he saw clearly for the first time. He had always seen the world as a blurry, fuzzy space, he never knew he was actually missing out on the reality that was hidden from him due to bad eyesight and then he discovered the once hidden, vibrant reality, his world changed.
Do you remember the time grace became real to you, when you realised that God already loved you regardless; regardless of anything you had done, regardless of all your faults, regardless of your insecurity, regardless of where you have fallen short? Do you remember the weight lifted off your shoulders, the freedom from guilt and condemnation you felt, realizing that it was all about Jesus and what He did, not about you? Do you remember when that grace formally hidden from you came into a vibrant focus and your world changed?
Every time the scriptures talk about the reality of His vibrant grace it is followed up with the call to action, the call to ‘doing good’- ‘good works’ are our response to the reality of grace. In fact verse 8 puts it this way ‘those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good.’
But this is the thing about those ‘good works’, Cody discovered a vibrant world that was previously hidden from him once he put on his new glasses and it set him free from the hard work required of him to live in a vibrant world when he couldn’t see properly. All he had to do was make sure to put on his glasses every day and live through the power provided by the new lenses. Even those ‘good works’ are us living through the power provided by the new lens of His grace.
PRAYER
Holy Spirit, I praise you for your ongoing rebirth and renewal in my life, I ask you to help me to live everyday through the power of your grace, Amen.
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
TO PONDER
I don’t know about you but I have gone through some hard times in life where I felt abandoned by God, where His presence felt so distant from my circumstance, from my reality. Where I cried out to God “Where are you!?”.
Today’s verse reminds us we are always cradled in His hand.
This right here; “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty” shouts to me an important fact about Jesus that we often forget, He is the Saviour who is always on time, He is always here.
C.S. Lewis in his book “Miracles” says it this way, “To Him all the physical events and all the human acts are present in an eternal now.” In short, He is always present in the now, He was present before there was a now, He was present when the now was before, he is present right now and he will be present when the now is to come.
Theologians call it ‘omnipresence’ to describe this eternal now, in that there is no-where, no-when He is not present. He is always on time, He is always here.
Jesus our Lord and Saviour is here with us now He never leaves us or forsakes us (Deut. 31:6, Heb. 13:5), never has and never will
PRAYER
Lord and Saviour Jesus, I thank and praise you that you cradle me in your hand, you will never leave or forsake me, that regardless of any circumstances, events, or experiences I face you are always right there with me now. You are always on time, you are always here, whenever, wherever I am. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside
It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved them.
TO PONDER
What about us left-handers? How come the text only mentions a right-hander?
There are some famous left-handers throughout history, including Alexander the Great, Babe Ruth, Pablo Picasso, Joan of Arc, Rod Laver, Jimi Hendrix, and half the Beatles – Paul and Ringo.
The Israelites were defeated twice by an army of 700 left-handed fighters. It was the Romans who made up the rules against left-handers. They invented the handshake, and the left-to-right alphabet, and their word for ‘right’ was ‘dexter’, whereas their word for ‘left’ was ‘sinister’.
But with 90% of the population considered right handers, there is an understandable preference for right handedness. In the Middle East and parts of Africa and India, the left hand is considered the dirty hand and it is taboo to offer that hand to anyone, even to help.
The reformer Martin Luther, when confronted with seemingly contradicting passages of scripture, designed a formula to help understand these passages. Entitled the Two Kingdom Doctrine, it is essentially two ways in which God cares. God’s left-hand cares for his people through earthly and human means, such as police, hospitals, and governments. God’s right hand cares, with the Holy Spirit, via spiritual means, such as ministers, pastoral care, and churches.
The bottom line is, God cares. God wants you to follow him, to talk with him, to have a relationship with him. And if you commit to following, or not, he’s still watching over you. There’s nothing you can do to prevent him caring.
PRAYER
Carer of all, thank you for your unconditional love. Thank you that you rose to life, so we could have life. Thank you for the gifts of law and order on this earth you allow. Help us to get that balance of law and grace, so that we can live as your children in your world. Amen
TOday's devotion written by Mark Simpfendorfer, LifeWay Epping
But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
TO PONDER
Our team had finished fourth in the round robin competition, and managed to scrape out a win in the elimination final. Next stop – the Grand Final, and a possible premiership. The club had not won a premiership for many years, so hope was high. However, we were the underdogs. Never having beaten our opponent during the year, we were not terribly confident. Still, we were determined to give it our best shot. We prepared ourselves during the week, and everyone put in the extra skills and fitness training. We resolutely declared to go in hard for the ball, putting our bodies on the line for a win, for the sake of a premiership, and for our teammates.
What a different scenario to our text. God gives us the victory! You do not need to work for it! You do not need to earn it! You do not need to put in the hard yards - because Jesus did it for us. At Easter, he put his body on the line, for us. He went in so hard for us, he ended up on the cross. But the final siren had not yet gone. Easter Sunday morning saw the game end, with Jesus the victor. His victory over death gives us victory over every hassle in life, and we get to have a Premiership party with him later.
(Oh, we did end up victorious in the Grand Final, 84 to 35)
PRAYER
Giver of all, help us to remember, and then thank and praise you for the victory you’ve given us. Remind us that the only work involved, is the Holy Spirit working in our hearts. Help us to respond to that work, with love in our words and actions. In Jesus name. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mark Simpfendorfer, LifeWay Epping
The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord.
TO PONDER
If you are in NSW, arrange a visit to the Fire Museum. It is a museum of anything fire related. This includes Fire Engines (some from the 1930’s), fire brigade apparel, instruments and tools used, stories of famous fires, video of devastating bush-fires, and much more. It also tells the history of the Fire Brigade from the 1880’s. Briefly, large companies employed their own fire fighters for themselves. Too bad if the neighbours building caught fire, and you could not afford to employ firemen - you lost everything!
The early fire responders and their gear were pulled by horses. Horses were a vital part of saving lives and buildings. When the encounter of fighting fires was upon them, the horses were ready for the battle. For 50 or so years they were the backbone of transport to the scene. And then the motor car appeared. So in the 1930’s horses were phased out, and replaced with the car. The only memory at the museum, is an honor roll for those horses.
Although a horse can play a significant part in a conflict, there is a more important role, and that is the role of the captain, or commander, or leader. In our text, God is the irreplaceable part in the battle. And with God on your side, victory is assured. Beware though – victory may not be the way you envisage. It may not be the way the world tells us it should be. But if God promises victory with him, I’m satisfied with that.
PRAYER
Victorious Lord, thank you for the victory you won for us, over death. Thank you for the small victories we have every day, with you on our side. Bless our journey through life, keep us safe, and continue to walk alongside us during any spiritual battles we face. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mark Simpfendorfer, LifeWay Epping
You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you stripped him from head to foot.
TO PONDER
Pocket money for our children was non-existent. Instead, they earned a little money by sharing a paper-round. When the local newspaper needed to be delivered to the neighborhood, we put up our hand to be one of the couriers. So all three of our boys (with the help of their parents) had the opportunity to collect, wrap, and then deliver the local rag for a couple of years each. We were paper deliverers for about six years. We delivered news to our suburb.
God is a deliverer too. Better than we ever could. In this Old Testament book, the prophet Habakkuk questions why the Lord permits evil. And the answer may not please our human thinking, because God’s ways transcend ours. So Habakkuk’s final words are of comfort and support, where we are reminded that the deliverer, or saviour, is for us. God for us. God delivers us from sin, death and the power of the devil. A message worth savouring in this Easter season.
Prayer
Dearest Heavenly Father, thank you for your continual protection of us. Thank you for the blessings we receive from you every day – even though we don’t always acknowledge them. Thank you being our deliverer, and that we get to spend eternity with you. In Jesus we pray. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mark Simpfendorfer, LifeWay Epping