A Devotional Life

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 do...

Matthew 10. This is the day that the Lord has made we shall rejoice and be glad in it. Indeed, we are currently living in a very challenging season, but it is also true that God is aware of that, and He cares. Matthew 10 gives in great detail how Jesus commissioned His disciples - how he sent them into the world (a pattern which is repeated in the gospels Mt 28; Lk 9, 10; Jn 16). Amid His commissioning messages, he keeps reassuring us of His care, His peace and His Presence: So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:28-31) ..in me you have peace... Take heart! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33) And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:16-20) God cares for us, God loves us and God is with us... even here, even now, even in this season. Reflect & Pray ...

Jonah 4. Happy New Year!!! The book of Jonah is a book that teaches God’s compassion to all. It is, in summary, a story of how God saw a people’s (Nineveh) need for salvation, and so, sent a messenger (Jonah) to deliver a call to repentance. Jonah thought the people didn’t deserve God’s love and mercy (His compassion) and so he got angry. However, in verse 6-10 God demonstrated His compassion towards Jonah to show him that His compassion is a gift. It is really as John wrote - we (can only) love because He first loved us . (1 John 4:19) After Jonah had personally tasted of God's compassion, God then posed a question to Jonah to end the book (the only book of the Bible to end with a question from God): “...should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right ...

2 Kings 8:16-19. Written in the time of exile, the book of Kings is probably one of the most pitiful records of the Old Testament. As it conveyed the unfortunate story of the decline and fall of God's chosen people. First division of the nation, then idolatry, then exile and captivity into Babylon. Yet, between the pages and paragraphs of a very painful story, we see God's promises spring forth hope like a seed. Despite the sin of the kings and the nation as a whole, verse 19 says "Nevertheless, for the sake of his servant David, the Lord was not willing to destroy Judah". God had promised to David an everlasting kingdom (2 Samuel 7:11), and many years later we see God's faithfulness to His promise (1 Kings 11:13, 15:4; 2 Kings 19:34, 20:6). And when Israel as a nation in exile had no king to look to, they held on to God's promise to establish David's king...

Romans 5:1-5. In a world of uncertainty, shifting opinions, and personal trials, what enables a believer to remain steady? Paul gives us the answer in our passage today. We stand in these ways: Stand in grace (v1-2). Our standing does not begin with our strength, but with our justification (v1). Through Jesus, we have been declared righteous. We are no longer enemies of God but reconciled to Him. Peace with God becomes the foundation beneath our feet. We do not stand on emotions, achievements, or circumstances. We stand on grace. Verse 2 says,“Through [Christ] we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand”. Grace is not merely the doorway into salvation; it is the ground we continue to stand on. We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God because our future is secure. The believer’s confidence is not fragile, it rests on Christ’s finis...

Matthew 2:1-11. I still remember my first attempt at reading through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. My mum gave my elder sister and me a classic reading plan during my first year at university, with a small prize for whoever finished first. At first, I was motivated by the reward. But somewhere along the way, something deeper happened. When I reached Genesis 6:5-6 and read about humanity’s sin and the grief of God, the weight of our brokenness became real to me. As I continued through the Old Testament, I journeyed with the strong sense of awareness that: the world was lost, and we needed rescue. But when I arrived at the first two chapters of Matthew, I found the hope. Particularly in this verse “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matt. 1:21) For me, it was as though the grief of ...

2 Kings 6:1-23. In 2 Kings 6, God grants a fresh vision to Elisha in moments of need, fear, and conflict. What seems like setback or danger becomes the very place where the Lord displays His power and kindness. At some point Elisha prays for his servant to have the same vision and the Lord grants that request, and the servant sees differently. In life’s journey we too can ask for fresh visions amidst whatever we face. When we ask, like Elisha, we too can have a fresh vision for a blessing even in the midst of adversity. We can have a fresh vision of... Divine provision in times of need (v1-7). The company of prophets had grown, and the place where they met had become too small (v1). As they built a new place, a borrowed axe head fell into the Jordan (v5). The concern was real, “It was borrowed.” Elisha cut a stick and threw it into the water, and the iro...