“Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise.”
TO PONDER
Christians are all enlightened by Christ and are charged to live our lives attentively and with wisdom. We have to be careful and examine how we live. We are to live as children of light through complying with the truth. We are not to be spiritually foolish, but wise. A wise person will spend the time to understand what the will of the Lord is. A wise person will acquire wisdom from God’s Word and be led but the Holy Spirit - the Spirit of Truth. What is considered wise in this world ranges day after day, but the truth of the Word of God is eternal and unchanging.
PRAYER
Lord God, you are the source of all wisdom and truth. A wise life is to live according to your word. Help me to put aside the wisdom of this world and live in your wisdom and truth so that I might honour and obey you in all things. Amen
Today's devotion written by Francis Leung, LifeWay Epping.
“So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.”
TO PONDER
Although Christians have received new life from our Lord Jesus Christ, we still live in a world that does not honour or even know God and whose moral outlook is darkened by their ungodliness. As Christians we have an obligation to influence the moral standards of our society. But influence happens both ways. Christians can be overwhelmed by waves of ungodly trends popular in the society. We, as Christians, should not behave according to the commonly accepted practices of society. Ungodly people, through repeatedly ignoring the warnings of conscience, can easily lose those feelings of guilt that conscience produces. They then live solely to please themselves, without thought for others. Christians, by contrast, should act according to the teaching and example of Jesus. We must put off attitudes that belong to their former way of life. We must have a new way of life, where our thinking is changed and our practices examined in the light of our new life in God.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, I pray that you would help me to work honestly, help others, control my tongue, and empower me with your Holy Spirit so that my life might be characterised by love, kindness, compassion, understanding and forgiveness. Amen
Today's devotion written by Francis Leung, LifeWay Epping
"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
TO PONDER
To say to live is Christ, obviously is not of our natural life, but of the life received through Christ. Life means Christ. Christ is our life. Life carries no meaning apart from Christ. As Paul wrote to the Philippians, he was helping them to see that the only goal worth living or striving for was Jesus Christ. That is why Paul can say, at the end of this life, when the sinful desires of our flesh are finally put to death along with our earthly bodies that we have not lost, but rather gained the one thing we sought in life - Fulness of life in Christ. That is why even our death would be our gain if we die in Christ because we also will be raided with him to full eternal life.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, living has no meaning apart from you. May you always be the primary motivation, inspiration, and goal of my life. May I always be prepared to lose everything if it means holding onto the surpassing greatness of knowing you as my Lord. Amen
Today's devotion written by Francis Leung, LifeWay Epping
"Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no-one will see the Lord.”
TO PONDER
We live in a society where the rights of individuals seem to be the supreme goal and people often end up in court to ensure their rights are upheld. Hebrews tells us not to give indulgence to passions that lead to litigations, strife, wars. This is the nature of the gospel. We are to make war with sin, not with people. We are to manifest a spirit of kindness toward all. Instead of yielding to contending passions and to a spirit of war; instead of seeking revenge on our persecutors and foes, make it rather our aim to be holy. Let that be the object of our pursuit, the great purpose of our life. The spirit of Christ would counsel us to strive to be holy that others will see Christ dwelling with us.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, when I feel oppressed or attacked by others, help me to walk the path of holiness rather than revenge. Create in me a clean heart O God and put a new and right spirit within me. Amen
Today's devotion written by Francis Leung, LifeWay Epping.
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
TO PONDER
When we, as sinners turn to Jesus Christ in faith, we are removed from the law’s power and given new life, the life of Christ. God declares us righteous. He gives us a righteousness that is not our own. He gives us a new status, a new standing, that makes us fit for the presence and purpose of our holy God. God now sees us as being ‘in Christ’, and accepts us not because of anything we have done, but because of what Christ has done for us. No one is ever saved in his own identity as possessing any true righteousness. We must renounce self and become identified with Christ who is the righteous one.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, I pray that you would help me have a closer union with Christ. In being united with him in his death, help me to live free of the things of this world; ambition and the love of money, the pride and pomp of life, and the dominion of evil and selfish and hateful passions. Amen
Today's devotion written by Francis Leung, LifeWay Epping
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
TO PONDER
By those words Jesus intends to comfort us that we may not lose courage, even if we may find ourselves detested in the eyes of the world. God’s children should reflect the true character of their Father. We show ourselves to be citizens of God’s kingdom when we stand for Him against wrongdoing, even though we may suffer as a result. Jesus knows that the enemies of the Gospel would attack His small and despised flock. It was therefore His will to equip us with a sure defence that we might not give way. The faithful will be reproached for Christ's name. We will be persecuted for refusal to walk in ungodliness. But amidst that struggle we are blessed because our God is with us.
PRAYER
God, we are your children and we pray that although we know there will be persecution and slander because of our relationship with Christ, that we might also rejoice, knowing that we are united with Christ in our suffering and will also be united with him in his victory. Help us to enter your presence with humility, aware of our own unrighteousness and resting only in your mercy and grace. Amen
Today's devotion written by Francis Leung, LifeWay Epping.
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
TO PONDER
There are few more exciting things as a child, than getting an invitation to a party. You are passed an envelope with your name on the front and when you open it up you see something colourful, with details of when and where, and perhaps even a theme or special activity. As soon as you get home at the end of the day the invitation is put up on the fridge, and each time you pass by the excitement for the party returns. I remember this feeling from my childhood and now I get to see it with my own children. At some point in life though, the excitement of getting an invitation can change. It can be replaced with obligation, or burden. You will need to purchase a gift, perhaps travel for the event, buy a new outfit or have to sit at a table and make small talk with people you don’t know. This can be the same in our relationship with Jesus. When our faith is young, or perhaps we have had a significant event that has changed something about it, we can be excited for and anticipate our encounters with Jesus. However, there can also be times when we feel obligated or burdened to ‘do’ the faith things.
Zacchaeus is a great picture of the excitement we can feel when we encounter Jesus. Jesus offers an invitation to spend time with Zacchaeus and Zacchaeus gladly accepts. What a wonderful example for us. Jesus makes the same invitation to us each and every day. Be with me, take me with you as you go about your day, have me stay in your workplace, in your home, in your car, wherever you are going to be today. The challenge for us is how we will respond to the invitation. Will we be excited, like Zacchaeus or the child with the party invitation, or will we choose to decline the invitation, instead choosing to go about our day without Jesus close by?
PRAYER
Jesus, thank you that you invite me to do life with you each and every day. Help me to gladly and excitedly choose to follow your way today. Help me to be aware of your leading and the opportunities you place in my path. Amen
Today's devotion written by Elise von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
TO PONDER
As a teacher, I have a toolkit of call and response gimmicks to get the kids attention. “1, 2, 3” I will say. “Eyes to me,” the children respond. It is a quick way to let them know I need them to stop what they are doing and give their attention to me. At the start of the year you teach the children how the drill works and then you can use it throughout the year. This is key, the teaching, learning and understanding. If I walk into a class I have not taught before and try my gimmick, it doesn’t achieve its purpose, because the kids don’t know their part.
It is the same with the sheep and the shepherd. The sheep trust the shepherd because they know his voice. When he calls them, they come. This is important! If the sheep were not able to distinguish their shepherd’s voice, they may be fooled into following just anyone. Jesus shares this picture to help us in our daily walk too. We are the sheep, He is the shepherd. If we are not able to distinguish His voice amongst the noise of our own desires, what others tell us is good for us, or what the world believes we should aspire to, we can be fooled into following the wrong thing, missing the good things God has in store for us. It takes time to recognise Jesus voice, but we can trust He is speaking to us, we just need to stop, listen and then follow.
PRAYER
Jesus, you are the Good Shepherd. Thank you that you love your sheep and you speak to them, leading in the right way to go. Help me to slow down to listen to your voice. Help me to trust where you lead me. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Elise von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
A third time the Lord called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”
TO PONDER
A common courtesy that I don’t think is so common anymore is announcing yourself when you call someone, or even answer your phone. Before mobile phones, if you received a call, you didn’t know who it was calling you. There was no such thing as caller ID. So, when you answered the phone, you said your name and the person on the other end of the call announced who they were. In these days of caller ID this doesn’t always happen. People often assume you must know it’s them, they can see your name on their phone before you answer the call. In fact, many people won’t answer a call if the number is unknown, thinking it is a telemarketer or scam call.
Knowing who you are talking to, or who is talking to you can change the way you speak, what you say or how you say it. In this reading from 1 Samuel a young boy, Samuel, is awoken from his sleep by an unknown voice. Each time this happens he thinks it is the priest, Eli and so he runs to him. Eli eventually catches on to who may be speaking and he tells Samuel to address the voice, saying, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening” We can learn 2 things from this simple interaction. Samuel is obedient. Each time he gets up and goes to Eli. It is the same when Samuel eventually realises it is the Lord who is speaking. He gives Him his attention and listens attentively to what God has to say. Secondly, it took a little help for Samuel to recognise the voice of God. Eli, who was older and a little wiser helps Samuel to understand who is speaking. We live in community for this reason, we can help each other to recognise God’s voice, and give each other the courage to say, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening”.
PRAYER
God, thank you that you continue to speak to us today. Help me to hear your voice and listen attentively to what you have to say. Help me to obedient to what you are calling me to today and to encourage those around me to do the same. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Elise von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle