Category: Devotions

“The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals”.
I will never forget the above notice in a flashy brochure advertising a certain conference. I decided not to attend!

A priest was coming back to his rectory one evening in the dark when he was accosted by a robber who pulled a gun on him and demanded, “Your money or your life!”
As the priest reached his hand into his coat pocket, the robber saw his Roman collar and said: “I see you’re a priest. Never mind, you can go.”
The priest, surprised at this unexpected show of piety, tried to reciprocate by offering the robber a chocolate bar that he remembered was in his pocket.
The robber replied, “No thank you, Father. I don’t eat chocolate during Lent.”

The robber’s double-standards were the heart of the problem in ISAIAH 58.

The Jew knew that the Day of Atonement was a day of afflicting their body (Lev 23). Their rabbis would needlessly add a further list of abstentions to aid this self-denial such as washing, wearing shoes etc. Fasting had become a ritual. This was God’s complaint. He is saying fasting has to be accompanied with an amendment of behaviour towards other people.
Fasting is the afflicting of the body so that you can share in the suffering of God for those who suffer.
Forget about yourself and focus on others through the eyes of a loving God.
The heart of God is focused on those who have been dealt unjustly, those enslaved by man’s burdens, the oppressed, those without food, without homes and without clothes.
1. True Fasting is necessary, v6.
2. True Fasting brings God near, v2.
3. True Fasting leads to answers, v9.
4. True fasting is empowering, v10.
5. True Fasting is revelatory, v11.
6. True Fasting is satisfying, v11.
7. True Fasting is strengthening, v11.
8. True Fasting is refreshing, v11.
9. True Fasting brings restoration, v12
10. True fasting is joy, v14.

Let’s fast!

Clear the path

U2’s song ‘Stuck in a moment’ is written with Bono’s friend in mind who had committed suicide:
And if the night runs over, and if the day won’t last
And if your way should falter along this stony pass
It’s just a moment – this time will pass

I have spent my whole life trying to help people.
The main focus of that help has been to help them get nearer to God by overcoming and removing obstacles in their life that block their path to Him.

In verse 14 of ISAIAH 57 God is calling for the removal of “the obstacles out of the way of my people.” He is soon to lead them out of exile in Babylon and He wants them ready.

We are called to stand alongside those who are faltering on the stony pass and help to remove those stumbling blocks so that God can lead them forward.

Repeatedly I have come across 4 recurring obstacles that have needed removing: Hurt, Anger, Regret and Lies. These have blocked many from the gracious hand of God and all He has for their lives.

When a mountain is in your way what do you do? Just ask Ramchandra Das, 53, who lives in Bihar, India. In order to access nearby fields for food and work, Das and his fellow villagers had to take a 4.3-mile trek around a mountain. Fed up with the obstacle, Das did something about it. With just a hammer and chisel, he cut a 33-foot-long, 13-foot-wide tunnel through a narrow area of the mountain. It took Das fourteen years to complete the task. And get this: Das isn’t the first person to do such a thing. He was inspired by another villager who cut a 393 feet-long, 33 feet-wide, 26 feet-high passage through another mountain so that villagers could reach a local hospital. That man was motivated to do so when his wife died because he was unable to get her to the hospital.

Today try and help someone who is ‘stuck in a moment’.

Upgrades in the kingdom!

Isaiah 56

God is calling His people as they begin their return from Babylonian exile to embrace the outcast.
Whereas the law in Exodus and Deuteronomy banned the foreigner and the eunuch from worshipping the Lord, here in the salvation God is offering from exile, all are welcomed. Can you imagine the distress of having been forced to become a eunuch because you served in the royal palace of Babylon knowing you would not be welcome home once you return to Jerusalem? Most probably Daniel and his three friends all felt this. Or the foreigner who converts to Judaism but is himself not embraced by the Jew?

Our God of salvation over-rules the Deuteronomic law by saying if they keep the Sabbath and honour Him as best they can then they will be accepted. It is not the outward, physical state that counts, but the spiritual state.

Our God of grace states that for the eunuchs whose name will literally be cut-off once they die will have an everlasting name, a memorial within the Temple. For the foreigner, this Temple is their place of prayer as much as for the Jew. It is for all nations.

Our God of missions states that there will be others who are still to come. He is referring to the gentiles, to us, who will also come to Him. We are all outcasts brought in by grace.

“When a Christian sees prostitutes, alcoholics, prisoners, drug addicts, unwed mothers, the homeless, refugees, he knows that he is looking in a mirror. Perhaps the Christian spent all of his life as a respectable middle-class person. No matter. He thinks, Spiritually I was just like these people, though physically and socially I never was where they are now. They are outcasts. (Spiritually speaking) I was an outcast”: Tim Keller, Ministries of Mercy.

An outcast saved by a gracious, missionary God will always welcome the next outcast into the Kingdom.
No one deserves an upgrade but everyone can have one.

His promises to believe

Isaiah 55

(v1) To those who are thirsty, longing for more but you have run out of human resources to be satisfied … Come to Me.

(v2) To those who are working so hard to be and to have but realise the tide is against them … Come to Me.

(v4-5) To those with a missionary heart for unreached people groups … Go and summon them.

(v4-5) To those faithful in missions … Expect success for the nations will respond.

(v6) To the disciple and those who are not … Call on Me.

(v8-9) To those troubled with thoughts and decisions … Leave them with Me.

(v10-11) To those waiting for a miracle … My Word will accomplish My purpose in your life.

(v12) To those who are sad now … You will go out in joy.

(v12) To those anxious now … You will be led in peace.

(v13) To those who struggle now … The landscape will be transformed.

Believe!

Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.

In 1792 the ‘father of modern missions’, William Carey, founded the Baptist missionary society. It didn’t come without a struggle. At first, no one seemed to respond. Many church leaders not only ignored his call but some of them denounced it. At one meeting of the ministers of the Northampton Baptist Association, Carey delivered a fiery message based on Isaiah 54:2, concluding with the now famous phrases, “Brothers, expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.”

This great statement was based on a great verse.

Isaiah 54

v2 ‘Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes’.

Here are 5 keys that will help you in expecting and attempting great things for God.
1. Prepare for More: Isaiah has already told us in 26:15 that God is an Enlarger, an Increaser, a Giver of life. With God we should expect more.
2. Lose your Shape: The shape of the tent changed and so must we. When a mother conceives she knows she will change shape otherwise the gift cannot come. When David was called he had to lose his shape, he thought of himself as a ‘worm’; Mephibosheth thought of himself as a ‘dead dog’ and Jeremiah just a ‘youth’. They all had to lose their shape and become someone else.
3. No Limitations: “Do not hold back”. We need to spare not and we need to think big.
4. Decide how Big. “Lengthen your cords; Measure it up. Count the cost. Make decisions, goals/targets based on how big this great thing will be.
5. Develop your support base. “strengthen your stakes”. Know what the boundaries are. Be wise with finances. But let your security be in God. The anchors of your life will hold the great thing in place.

Become great this year!

Lose weight. Get organised. Spend less, save more. Enjoy life to the fullest. Stay fit and healthy. Learn something new and exciting. Quit smoking. Fall in love. Spend more time with family.
It must be a new year!
Happy 2014!
Most resolutions like the above are simply packaging. They won’t make us a better person, they may help us to look better, more likeable, but they won’t change who we are.

Isaiah 53
v6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way;

If we were to lose our church, our Christian friends, our worship, our ministry, our musical ability, our leadership gifting, our prophetic gifting, our dreams and visions, if we were to lose our Christian books, tapes, cds, conferences, hero-preachers. If all of the packaging was taken away, would we still be a sheep following the Shepherd?
So much of that packaging that we have and are involved in, only deceive us to say we are a good sheep and yet we drift from the closeness of God. We praise Him but we don’t talk to Him. We hear about Him but we don’t hear from Him. We get men to pray for us but we don’t pray ourselves.

Did Christ come with worldly packaging? The story of Christmas shows us He didn’t.
Was salvation bought with worldly packaging? Isaiah 53:3, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”

To become great this year it’s not the packaging that you need…v12
1. Pour out your life for the sinner: “he poured out his life unto death”
2. Live and die with the sinners: “and was numbered with the transgressors”
3. Be compassionate to the sinner: “For he bore the sin of many”
4. Pray for the sinner: “and made intercession for the transgressors”
That’s how we become great.

The voice of 2014?

I have to admit I am excited about 2014 because U2 should have a new album out maybe even in March! You may not be blessed with the gift of music to appreciate that information so let me also tell you that Coldplay, Take That and Adele are all lining up new albums! Still not thrilled? How about Kylie?!!

In 2014 the voices that truly matter may not be those from the large stages of our world but from people like a young boy named Elliott Prior. As we look back on 2013 we remember the brutal murders from Al-Shabab gunmen in a Nairobi shopping centre. After seeing his mother shot in the thigh, young Elliott Prior is said to have confronted the gunman shouting ‘you’re a bad man. Let us leave.’ Incredibly, the gunman is understood to have taken pity on Elliott and his six-year-old sister, giving the pair a Mars bar each, and allowing them to leave in the middle of the terror attack. Sometimes, even the wicked recognize the power of conviction.

This year we need the Church to be the voice of 2014.

Isaiah 52

The voice of Proclamation: How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news … v7
The voice of Prayer: Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices … v8
The voice of Praise: Burst into songs of joy together … v9
The voice of Power: The LORD will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations … v10
The voice of Purity: Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing … v11

The winner of the UKs ‘The Voice’ for 2013 was Andrea Begley who began losing her sight at the age of 6 and has only 10% vision now. In 2014 there may be things that try impair you. But find a way so that your voice is heard not on a stage but in the important places like shopping centres, on days when evil strikes you, when the world needs the voice of courage.

5 TRUTHS NEEDING YOUR ATTENTION!
Isaiah 51

God is trying to get our attention.
Listen to me …
Listen to me, my people …
Hear me …
Awake, awake …
Awake, awake, hear this …

1. GOD’S PAST IS A BLESSING
V1-3 They are discouraged and begin to doubt things will ever change. God is telling them to look to how he dealt with His people in the past. As yesterday so today. He can bless you and make you great. LISTEN TO ME!

2. YOUR FUTURE IS CERTAIN
V4-6 Justice will be done on your behalf. His righteousness in your life will never die. He will never change His mind regarding your salvation. You are eternally secure. LISTEN TO ME, MY PEOPLE!

3. THE PRESENT IS TEMPORARY
V6-8 For those who suffer because they belong to Him, it is only temporary. Keep holding on for His righteousness and salvation will never let go of you. HEAR ME!

4. GOD IS PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
V9-16 From within our hearts comes a rising call to awaken in faith, to call upon God and to believe on His promises of returning in victory and joy. He has sheltered us from the storms of life so who do we fear? Nothing happens without His permission. AWAKE, AWAKE!

5. THE HISTORY MARKER FOR PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE IS CHRIST’S CUP OF WRATH.
V17-23 This is not the time to sleep. Christ has drunk even the dregs of the cup of suffering for you at the cross, so that we no longer have to drink such judgment. There will come a season of recompense for those who walked over you. AWAKE, AWAKE, HEAR THIS!

It’s all about Jesus!

Isaiah 50

Learn to meditate, slow the words down.

• His name is Jesus …
Though we are sinners, He never rejects us by divorcing us, v1
Yet when He came no one welcomed Him, v2
The answer to the rhetorical question of ‘can I save?’ is YES, v2
He hung on the cross in sheer darkness for you, v3

• His name is Jesus …
In His humanity He trained himself to hear the words of God, v4

• His name is Jesus
He suffered voluntarily, v6
In the middle of it all his confidence was in God, v7
Through it all He was determined, steadfast and courageous, v7
He reveals the truth: if God is for us who can be against us? v8-9

• His name is Jesus
Therefore, will you fear Him? Will you obey Him? Will you trust Him? v10
Therefore, do not light your own fires to guide your own paths, follow Him. v11

• His name is Jesus
Look at the cross of Christ again, you are not rejected.
Look at the training of Christ again, you can know the word of God.
Look at the suffering of Christ again, you can keep going.
Look at the challenge of Christ again, you can be His disciple.

It’s all about Jesus!

Isaiah 49
Learn to meditate, slow the words down.

• His name is Jesus …
Listen to Him, v1
He is eternal, v1
He speaks with power and authority, v2

• His name is Jesus …
A Servant, v3
Who knew discouragement but He overcame, v4

• His name is Jesus …
He has come for the Jews in order to restore them to God, v5
He has come for the Gentiles in order to be their Saviour, v6
He was despised and rejected and still is, v7
But He will also be worshipped from those with honour, v7

• His name is Jesus
His Father helped Him especially on the day of salvation, the time of the cross and the resurrection, v8
He Himself is the new covenant from God, v8
He sets the captives free, He opens the way for those contained and trapped, v9
Throughout the world many make the journey towards Him, v10
As a follower of Jesus your mountains will no longer be impassable, v11
The followers of Jesus will come from every conceivable place in the world, v12

• His name is Jesus
Whatever Jesus has done for you PRAISE HIM! V13
Stop saying He has forgotten you. It is not true, v14
His concern for you is stronger than a nursing mother, v15
He died for you with nail-pierced hands, how could He forget you? v16

• His name is Jesus
The history of the forming of the nation of Israel is testimony to the person of Jesus, v19-26
Now which line has spoken to you the most?
Think on this.
Pray this.

His name is Jesus.
It’s all about Him.