A Devotional Life

Psalm 121. [ESV] What do you do when you need help? Psalm 121 is a song of ascent - these are psalms sung by worshippers on their way up to Jerusalem. (Historical context of the writing was during the time of Judean exile by Babylon. So, written to encourage pilgrims of a future of hope.) And the psalmist begins: I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? On this journey up to Jerusalem, the Psalmist looks to the distant hill of Jerusalem where the Temple was and perhaps gazes in hope from a distance. But ultimately, he comes to a conviction of God's present help: My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. He affirms that God is as present in his journey as He is in the destination. My help comes from the LORD! I think of a recent testimony a friend shared about when he needed to decide about university. At first, he was uncertain of what to do. So...

Isaiah 9:1-7. Out of the ashes, from a very dark place in the history of Israel (nearly 800BC, Assyrian captivity) came a word of hope. Usually, God would send His rescue government through a priest (Moses) or a judge (Deborah) or a king (David). But this time, He had a bigger, better plan - to send His Son Jesus for us (John 3:16) who fulfils these promises in us. Promise: A hope, spiritual and physical (v2-5): v2 Salvation (darkness to light) v3 The Holy Spirit (increased joy) v4 Freedom v5 Justice Promise: A relationship to demonstrate His sovereignty and love. Where He calls us in fellowship by His Spirit to experience His wonder and might (transcendence), but also His everlasting love and peace (immanence). (v6) Promise: An everlasting government because His office is perfect - He is a Priest, who is a Judge, who is a King and who is God. Which means we have pea...

Psalm 46. Imagine this long psalm, sung in Soprano (alamoth) just to catch one's attention, to communicate a key truth: God is always with His children. God is with us! 1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. 5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. 6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. 7 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. 8 Come and see what the Lord has done, the desol...

Hello again, Praise God for a new year. It's 2019. Thank you, Father God, for this new day. This is the day that the Lord has made, and we rejoice in it. Halleluyah! Every single day is designed by God, not just the beginning (in Genesis) but every day. Amos 5:8 indicates this with some detail - that God actually "turns midnight into dawn and darkens day into night,...". He does all that for everyone all over the world, at different time zones. And just at the right time He turns the midnight into a new dawn and we say good morning - and sometimes, to me, it feels like nothing happened, but something spectacular just happened - the miracle of a new day, and this, a new year. What a God! And who better to entrust with something other than the creator of it. Psalm 118:22-24 22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 23 This is the Lord's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. 24 This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice...

Praise God for a new month. As a fastly growing - new-ish at the time - church, Rome became a recipient of Paul's letters. He begins to write about the new life in Christ; justification by faith. However, in light of their persecutions, Paul, by inspiration, interconnects his teaching with suffering, and consequently, hope (in Romans 5 and 8). Romans 5:1-5 We are justified by faith .. we have peace with God .. we have access to His grace .. we stand in His grace .. we boast in hope. We also boast in sufferings - which produces perseverance - then character - then hope. Hope makes us unashamed - because the Holy Spirit who is in us fills us with God's love. In his letter of encouragement, Paul links our hope to our faith in Christ. Since by faith Christ lives in us through His Spirit, hope is in us. He is our hope of glory in and beyond the suffering. And despite the sufferings, we have hope, our courage to stand. Romans 8:18. Christ in us the hope of glory. He has ...

I’ve a message from the Lord for you, no matter the problem you’re going through: Look unto Jesus, and live. He’s the answer. I’ve a message from the Lord, hallelujah! This message unto you I’ll give, ’Tis recorded in His word, hallelujah! It is only that you “look and live.” Refrain: “Look and live,” my brother, live, Look to Jesus now, and live; ’Tis recorded in His word, hallelujah! It is only that you “look and live.” I’ve a message full of love, hallelujah! A message, O my friend, for you, ’Tis a message from above, hallelujah! Jesus said it, and I know ’tis true. Life is offered unto you, hallelujah! Eternal life thy soul shall have, If you’ll only look to Him, hallelujah! Look to Jesus who alone can save. I will tell you how I came, hallelujah! To Jesus when He made me whole— ’Twas believing on His name, hallelujah! I trusted and He saved my soul. Always remember, you are the blessed of the Lord. Oh, we give You praise Lord!

It's exactly 12:10am over here - so, good morning. Thanks to God for a new day. Great is your faithfulness O Lord. You know how it's very easy to focus on the wrong/non-promising side of things, even first thing in the morning. Well, that's one of the devil's devices, to make us begin our day wrongly and consequently have a bad rest-of-the-day. I once heard a rough statistics that every minute a life is lost (for instance a child dies of malaria), then I heard another which says, a child is born every minute. In one case, there is an outburst of mourning and in another, inexplicable joy. There are lots of questions which might remain mystery to us, like; why what happened yesterday persisted despite..., why that friend did not get healed despite..., and so on. But there is one reality; God is faithful. And his word says in Romans 8:39 that nothing can separate us from his love, no matter the situation (in Hebrews 13:5) He lets us know that He'll never leave nor f...

It's Easter season, so I'll just give a short personal-biblical story/encouragement to stir you to doing something for the Master's sake this season and continually. One day I was meditating on Jesus feeding the five thousand story (Matthew 14:16-21) and his other acts of love, and suddenly I could discern God asking me to do something similar, (and even provided me with how to go about it). At one point of reflection, just to back out I thought: but Jesus was the Son of God, He was anointed for such stuff, he could easily multiply the loaves... Further, at the point of reflection, I knew the word easily in this context, sounds like it cost him nothing. But in fact it cost him his kingdom, his life, his everything to come to earth. And the thought of 'feeding the five thousand, whom he knew would crucify him later' is a whole lesson on self-denial and sacrifice. Yes, it did cost him everything. All my initial resistance was against the sacrifice of a couple ...