See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
TO PONDER
Sometimes, our faith and hope in God ebb so low, that we need assurance and consolation that we are actually released out of captivity from sin. God is the Lord our redeemer. God reminds us of the great things He did for Israelites when He brought them out of Egypt. For the encouragement of our faith and hope, it is good for us often to remember what God has done formerly for His people against their enemies because if He did it for them He can do it for us also.
PRAYER: God of new beginnings, thank you for a fresh start in Christ. Help me to leave behind my sin and to live joyfully for you. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Francis Leung, LifeWay Epping
You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land where there is no water.
TO PONDER
What does it mean to really know someone? What does it take to get to know someone? Does God want us to know him? He absolutely does! We are encouraged to ask God for things we need, but we are also given the greater privilege of knowing, really knowing, God. It is our earnest desire to come close to God and our hunger and thirst are then filled by the Lord.
PRAYER: Lord, I pray that your would correct and direct my desires toward you. May you be the beginning and the end of them. Fill me, O Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Today's devotion written by Francis Leung, LifeWay Epping
Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will youa]refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out.” So the people rested on the seventh day.
TO PONDER
What are the things that you guys are juggling right now or feel like you should be trying to juggle when it comes to your schedules? Finding time to balance all of our lives is really hard. After the Israelites are rescued from Egypt by God, they wander around in the wilderness. People began to whine and complain. God responds to this by supplying bread daily except on the seventh day of the week or sabbath day, as they would be given double the day before. What is God getting at with the people and the Sabbath? Trust! Trust that what you need for your life comes from God. Your busyness is probably founded in the fact that you don’t trust God to provide for your need.
PRAYER: Lord, I tend to take control, try to do everything on my own and end up exhausted because I just can’t do everything. Sabbath is about us saying to you Lord, “I can’t do all this on my own. I’m going to do what I can and then I’m going to leave the rest in your hands.
Today's devotion written by Francis Leung, LifeWay Epping
The Lord said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”
TO PONDER
Not long after being rescued and set free from Egypt, God’s people soon found themselves out in the desert without food and water. And here the people defaulted to complaining.
God endured their grumbling and graciously rained down food upon them. When there is no way, God makes a way. When we come to the Lord’s table, we receive the miraculous gift of grace in the bread and wine. This simple practice can actually train us in the discipline of trusting God. Put this in our heart that God takes care of his people.
PRAYER: Lord, trusting you does not come naturally. Thank you for enduring my grumbling and impatience and for showing me, again and again, that you will take care of me. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Francis Leung, LifeWay Epping
Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?”
TO PONDER
This is another story of God’s provision and testing. Running out of water, standing before a pool of bitter water, the people of Israel begin to grumble and complain. Don’t forget that only a few days earlier God had parted the Red Sea and saved them from Pharaoh’s army! God delivers his people and makes the water fit to drink. We should learn that God expects us to trust him in all things, and to be holy, as He is holy. We should remember that Jesus is the LORD who suffers to heal us and to forgive our sins. By his wounds we are healed.
PRAYER: O God, you are the one who heals. Through your Son, Jesus, we have been healed and forgiven. Help me to live fully with this assurance. May your peace be with me today, knowing that all all my sins have been forgiven. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Francis Leung, LifeWay Epping
Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
TO PONDER
Do you live by the Spirit? That's a confronting question for many Christians if we are to take it seriously. Because it is not just asking, as many pentecostal or charismatic movements do, "have you been born again in the Spirit?" or "Have you received the gift of tongues?" and it's not just asking, as we might in the Lutheran church, "have you been baptised". All of these kinds of questions refer to one-off events, a particular ceremony or prayer or act, carried out at a particular point in time.
What we are being confronted with here is the question, "who is living and directing your life? Is it you, or is it the Holy Spirit of God?" This is a question of the present and the future, not the past. What drives the decisions and choices you will make today? Is it the Holy Spirit or the selfish desires of your heart?
This reading from Galatians makes it pretty clear that receiving the Spirit and 'staying in step' with the Spirit are not the same thing. We live by the Spirit - this is a free gift of God through faith in Jesus and not something that we do ourselves and involves no choice on our part. However, remaining in step with the new life we have in the Spirit, now that's a daily choice and one even Martin Luther recognised that we have to make every day - the choice to 'live daily in our baptism'.
So what step is the Holy Spirit calling you to take next?
PRAYER: Loving Heavenly Father, you are the giver of all good things among which is the gift of Holy Spirit. Forgive me for the times I refuse to acknowledge Holy Spirit's prompting or leading and I fail to stay 'in step'. You are the Lord of the Dance, teach me the steps that you want me to take and help me to confidently stay in step with you. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
TO PONDER
The "light of life" is an interesting idea. While thinking about this passage of scripture I was reminded that the first act of God in creation was to create light. Before He created any living things, plants, animals, or humans, He created light.
It then made me think further, that we have all these multiple sources of light these days - ultimately most of our light comes from the sun in one way or another because the energy that the sun's rays give to the earth are used by plants to grow (we all learned about photosynthesis in high school), those plants - over time - become wood for fires, or coal and fossil fuels which we then use for our electric lighting.
Yet the source of all light in the universe - if we hold to the account of scripture - is not the sun, or any other star or astronomical phenomenon, it is the life giving Word of our creator God who became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the embodiment of God's words "let there be light". He is the Light of the world and His light is not something like a house light or torch which we might flick on and off. His light is the ever-burning light of life.
Maybe next time you turn on (or off) a light switch, you might take a moment to remember this promise of Jesus - when you follow Him you will never walk in darkness and you will have the light of life.
PRAYER: Jesus Christ, Light of the World, Help me to remember that only in you will I find the light of life. Help me to lay aside the things of this world that claim to give life, hope, and fulfilment, and help me only cling to you, the one who gives life in all its fulness. Amen
Today's devotion written Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognising him.
TO PONDER
Have you ever had one of those experience where it wasn’t until afterwards that you realised it was a God moment, a divine encounter?
Today’s verse is the epitome of a divine encounter, a God moment where two of Jesus’ disciples were walking down a road debriefing the events of the past few days, trying to make sense of the crucifixion and the empty tomb when ‘it’ happened.
In the middle of their confusion, disappointment, and, I’m sure, heartbreak a stranger walks up to them and injects himself into their moment. The stranger even insults them, says they are being foolish and slow because they were missing what should have been obvious to them.
Sometimes we sit in ‘church’, hear the scriptures, learn about life and being a disciple and we still miss a divine encounter. Because it's often not until we walk down the road, returning to the real world, back in the mundane of the everyday that the God moments can take place because they usually happen in a context, not a classroom. If you are reading this, chances are you read scripture regularly, and probably even go to church often. If that's you, you have been taught well. Stop waiting around for the penny to drop because it may not happen until you start walking and living the things you have learned.
PRAYER: Forgiving Saviour, I repent of my hard heart, for every time I have known what to do but failed to do it, for every encounter I have missed or overlooked because I was too busy doing other things.Open my eyes so that I might see more clearly the places where you invite me to encounter you and also the places where you want others to encounter you through me. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Dany Brock, LifeWay Westside.
Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits. These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts.
TO PONDER
Most of us will have prepared for a journey at some point. Maybe it was an overseas trip or perhaps just a weekend camping trip or getaway. Regardless, a journey away from home takes planning and preparation; especially if you have children to take with you!
Of course each trip requires its own specific equipment. At this time of year many people will holiday in the snowfields and take a skiing vacation. They'll want warm, waterproof clothing, and skiing or snowboarding gear. Other people like to avoid the winter cold and head north to Queensland or the Northern Territory where you will still be comfortable packing only shorts, thongs, and t-shirts.
Jesus asks his disciples to go on a journey. He also tells them what they need to pack. It's not a long list, just take a friend, the clothes on your back, and a walking stick. No food, no money to buy food, no accomodation plans or pre-booked lodging, not even a tent or caravan. Just go, hit the road.
Jesus is telling his disciples to go and to trust that God will provide all they need for the journey and for the tasks he is sending them to do. Are you one of Jesus' disciples who is ready to go and serve Him now, trusting that he will give you the right words to speak to your friends, or that he might use you to bring healing or release to someone's life if you would only trust and obey him completely; or are you one of the disciples who feels like they need more training, more equipping, more tools in the toolkit, before you could ever go on a journey like that? Jesus says - just go with what you have and trust that I'll give you what you need.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, Thank you that you are always with me. Help me to recognise that You have promised to provide all my needs, especially the things that I need when I go out to serve others with your grace and love. Make me bold in sharing your word, trusting that you will use what I have and give me the words to speak when the time comes. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle