Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
TO PONDER
King David ends his psalm with, ‘wait’. We spend so much time waiting; for the doctors, on hold, in traffic, in lines, for computers to re-boot, for tardy friends, and for all kinds of other things too.
The gift of waiting is often received with a frustration that makes us irritable, sharped tongued and a pain to be around. If that is our experience with waiting, then we will not like waiting for God as it is likely to bring out our worst, unless we wait with faith, hope, love and a coming expectation of the glory of God at work among us. We wait expecting God to act. Something huge is going to happen.
Wait for it, wait for it ……..
This waiting is the anticipation of the Glory of God renewing the earth. Renewing his church, his people. Be strong and take heart and fill the waiting moments with prayers for all His creation, and wait.
PRAYER
Lord, you have established your Kingdom for ever and ever, your one holy church is alive in Christ, its head, forever and ever. Come and transform your people in their temporary outposts in every city and nation. So, we wait, and hope. Amen.
Today's devotion written by David Schuppan, LifeWay Illawarra
… but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
TO PONDER
My body is not one of an athlete’s and never has been, nor am I twenty-one anymore. I often ache with weariness. Sharing the Gospel is joyful, but it can be hard when persisting in it over time. The soul may grow weary without refreshment. Life is hard and hope can often seem to be absent.
Isaiah wants us to know that true hope, weariness healing and life-giving hope, is always available to those who ask for it. Hope is in the Lord and since our lives are hidden in the Lord, so must be our memories, our store house of hope from trials past. God always turns up! Remember your past experiences and how your prayers were answered, and your trials resolved. Remember that God is good.
Jesus said that we should remember him when we eat his body and blood in bread and wine. We remember his sacrifice for our forgiveness and healing, and we remember all the times his sacrifice and his presence with us, has lifted us up and filled our tanks with hope again.
PRAYER
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. On Christ the solid rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand. Amen.
Today's devotion written by David Schuppan, LifeWay Illawarra
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
TO PONDER
The Greek word for faith is variously translated as ‘faith, ‘trust’ and ‘believe’. It is a word that incorporates our whole being: heart, mind and soul. Believing in our gut not just in our head. Faith that holds fast with enduring loyalty and a trust that is child-like, and entirely reliant upon God. Without this faith, we would crumble in our calling and duty.
In these times of extraordinary cultural change and so, to the way we relate to each other, we need faith as never before. Faith of the God given kind that has confidence and a steady assurance in the face of an unseen future. Without this gift of faith, that embraces our entire being, we cannot see how Jesus is leading his church and sending each of us into an entirely new landscape, but powerfully equipped to carry the Good News. It is by faith that we are saved and transformed into people of far-sightedness, of hopeful courage in the face of great change and with a deep assurance in God who is creating all things new.
PRAYER
Father, I want to see as I have never seen before. Transform me according to your original design. Amen.
Today's devotion written by David Schuppan, LifeWay Illawarra
For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake.
TO PONDER
Power!? What does that mean? When St. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, Jesus was no longer physically present to speak powerful words or exercising power in miracles that would change the hearts and minds of people. Paul was in the same situation as we find ourselves in. No visible Jesus, but still, a desire to serve the Good News.
It is that ‘deep conviction’ that Paul speaks of that is the conduit of the Spirit’s power. It is evident in our willingness to pray for people in all kinds of needs, just as Jesus did, and in our willingness to speak into the hearts of those who are ready to hear, just as Jesus did.
This ‘deep conviction’ is trust and faith in Jesus and a belief that he is who he has proven himself to be to generations of Christians before us. God with us and God for us. The Greek word for ‘power’ here is ‘dynamis’ from which we get ‘dynamite’. The power of God is no small pop, but the big bang needed to move mountains. Do you believe? Are you deeply convicted? The Spirit within you is.
PRAYER
Come Holy Spirit, fill me with new life again today. Create in me the power to believe and to become more deeply convicted of your faithfulness day by day. Amen.
Today's devotion written by David Schuppan, LifeWay Illawarra
Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
TO PONDER
‘That you may believe’. This is powerful Good News. John begins giving his testimony by drawing our attention to Jesus the Eternal Word of God who was there at the beginning forming the cosmos. As John continues, we find the Living Word being love in action, for God is love.
Many hear and yet don’t believe; many see but don’t understand. How about you? Do you move through life with your senses dulled to the work of God around you? Psychologists and sociologists have demonstrated that we only truly register the things we already know and understand but are blind to things that don’t fit our world view. We are naturally deaf and blind to the Word of God because it doesn’t fit our world. The Word active in love can only be truly understood through eyes attuned to the Kingdom of God.
Jesus says in John 14, ‘whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these’. Do you think that the ‘even greater things’ may be evidence of true deep conviction, of belief? I do.
PRAYER
Open the eyes of my heart Lord, so that I may see you at work and have confidence that you have called me and all Christians to partner with you for love in action. Even in the ‘greater things.’ Amen.
Today's devotion written by David Schuppan, LifeWay Illawarra
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
TO PONDER
Paul is convinced, but are you? Are you really? Take a moment to ask yourself, ‘does my life and do my choices reflect a conviction in the love of God for me, in Christ Jesus our Lord’?
If you are like the rest of us, you will be finding reasons for why you are not worthy of God’s love, or not able to trust in his love with conviction.
We look for reasons to justify our lack of conviction that God would choose us to love, and we do so by placing the burden of responsibility for trusting in God’s love on our own shoulders.
Conviction is another word for faith or trust, and the burden of responsibility is on God because faith is a gift of God. God wants you to have that gift. He has demonstrated his love through Jesus and his death and resurrection. He wants to demonstrate his love and its resurrection power, for you today.
PRAYER
Father, forgive my unbelief, heal my doubts. Convince me of your love again today.
Today's verse written by David Schuppan, LifeWay Illawarra
For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, ``YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."
TO PONDER:
There's a wonderful law in Buenos Aires, Argentina that allows anyone to draw or pain a mural of any wall with the permission of the owner. It's a relatively new law that arose out of the Dirty Wars in the 1970's and 80's where over 30,000 citizens were kidnapped, tortured and murdered by the Government at the time. The mothers of the children who were taken away, used their own freedom to march in the streets and demand change. Their boldness, their willingness to use their freedom for the sake of others is the reason that there is a freedom to express oneself creatively in Argentina today.
The Gospel Freedom we have is because God has taken a stand in his son Jesus, to free us from all that would enslave and kidnap and destroy our lives. We are freed from sin, death and the devil. But Paul reminds us that there is an added dimension to that freedom. It is not just freedom from something, it is a freedom for something...to serve others humbly in love. To use our freedom in the Gospel for the benefit of others...to bring them the same freedom. Your life is to be a work of art that gives freedom, joy, release to others so they can add their creativity to the world. How might you do that today as you use your freedom to serve others in love?
PRAYER:
God of freedom, help me use my freedom to serve others and draw out the creativity in them that you have created them for. Amen.
It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.
TO PONDER:
Do you remember what it was like the very first time you got to drive the car by yourself after getting your licence? Free at last! Free, not to have to wait for someone to drive you places, or to wait for you. Free to change plans at your discretion, not others. Free to do what you want. Or so it felt. If you could be free of anything today, what would you choose? Free from having to go to work? Free from debt? Free from expectations that weigh you down? Free from responsibilities? Free from wet weather?
Paul expresses a beautiful truth today - your freedom is what Christ came for. Freedom from sin, death and the power of the devil. It's a reality that you live in today and it is a gift that Jesus has given you. You are free from having to strive? Free from having to perform? Free from the expectations that other's heap on you in order for you to be worthy. It's not a licence to do whatever you want, because selfishness is a slavery all of its own. But the freedom of Christ that you are called to stand in, is a freedom to fully live in relationship with God with all the blessings that relationship bring, and a freedom to live for others in love. How might you do that today?
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for setting me free from all that enslaves me. Help me to cherish that freedom and live in it for the sake of others today. Amen.
May Your loving kindnesses also come to me, O LORD, Your salvation according to Your word; So I will have an answer for him who reproaches me, For I trust in Your word. And do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, For I wait for Your ordinances. So I will keep Your law continually, Forever and ever. And I will walk at liberty, For I seek Your precepts. I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings And shall not be ashamed. I shall delight in Your commandments, Which I love. And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments, Which I love; And I will meditate on Your statutes.
PONDER THIS:
Think about the best hamburger you have ever had. What was on it. Chicken, meat patty, halloumi? Cheese, lettuce, tomato, bacon? Tomato sauce, BBQ sauce, Sweet chilli choice? Did it have egg, or pineapple or the controversial beetroot? What made it the best hamburger you have had? While we don't give it must credit, what is most important for a hamburger is the bun that that holds it all together
Think of today's text like a hamburger. Your life is the filling, the patty that is central to the hamburger...but makes this an extra special hamburger is the bun that holds it. The bun is the word of God, the Word that tells us that God is full of loving kindness and mercy. The Word that tells us that God is eternal. The Word that holds our life together when life's pressure squeeze us. It is the Word that gives us freedom to embrace life, enjoy life, and live life despite its challenges. But without the bun...without the Word of God, our lives are a total mess and will spill out everywhere. The bun of God's Word surrounding us, covering our lives, above and below us, pressed down on our lives, squeezes out the best juices that make this the best life ever, and one that will bring joy and delight not only to us, but those that we do life with! How are you letting the bun of God's Word press down and reveal the best flavours of life in you and for you?
PRAYER:
Lord, your Word has feet it runs after me, it has hands, it takes hold of me. Let your Word cover me, surround me, be above me and below me. May your Word hold my life so that I may walk today in freedom. Amen.