Category: Devotions

Why did God allow that pain to take place? Why did He lead you into that valley of suffering? Why did He direct you to do something that on the surface looked unwise at the least and so traumatic at its worst? Do you think similar questions?

“When the Lord began to speak through Hosea, the Lord said to him, “Go, marry a promiscuous woman and have children with her, for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord.” So he married Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.” (Hosea 1 v 2-3)

Hosea experienced promiscuity against him before he began to speak about the promiscuity against God.

The context was simply this: the northern kingdom rebelled against God led by King Jeroboam who set up 2 golden calves and the people of God stopped worshipping Him and started worshipping Baal and Asherah. God had a message for them and He chose Hosea to deliver that message but first this prophet had to go on a journey to truly understand and feel this message.

So Hosea marries a prostitute. How does he explain this? Why does he have to do this? Why couldn’t he just speak the message from God? Will we ever know? But pause for a moment.

No doubt she promised him her undivided affection when they married. She was going to stop being a prostitute and she made a commitment to Hosea that he would be her man. And why wouldn’t she? For she probably had never had such an unbelievable offer.

We don’t know why she had become a prostitute. We don’t know the pain behind her life but there probably was. Men had come to her for one thing and it wasn’t to set up a home for her. She was living in the worst scenario, a world that pretended to give her love but just took from her. She was a sinner but she was also sinned against. She was abused and had little dignity left. Then one day ‘Salvation/Hosea’ came along and promised her a new life!

That day a saviour came to her to rescue her from the place and pain of unfaithfulness. What a day of rejoicing that was as it was for us!

The story will continue and soon Hosea will see the full extent and power of salvation and what is the heart of God for all people who rebel and turn from Him.

But for today we pause and we are thankful for the salvation that He continues to pour out on this world. The Great Rescuer continues to save men and women from places of despair. He did it for Gomer and for us and He still does it for others! Let us rejoice!

I begin delving into the Minor Prophets this morning. Minor only because they are smaller than the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel and Daniel who are seen as Major Prophets because they have larger texts. I am looking forward to the journey as we walk slowly through each of the 12:  Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

So we open Hosea. And for the last couple of hours I have been simply overwhelmed with this opening verse. I hope it blesses you as much as it does me. Stay with me because after wading through some important detail you realise the importance of this verse.

“The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and during the reign of Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel” (Hosea 1 v 1)

Breaking this verse down and understanding the importance of the names, what do we learn about God? Pay particular attention to the emboldened names and words.

Hosea = Prophet in the northern kingdom of Israel (c.750 BC) witnessed the decline and ending of that kingdom under Jereboam. Calls people back to God using his marriage as an illustration. His name means ‘Yahweh has saved’. The name Joshua and then Jesus arises from Hosea. ‘Salvation’ (another form of Hosea) was the only prophet from the Northern Kingdom in the Old Testament. He was born during the wicked leadership of Jeroboam. And though the economy had grown and the nation was initially prosperous, God’s people walked away and worshipped BAAL and ASHERAH. Hosea calls them back but experiences the decline and ending of that nation he was born into. He was still prophesying when Hezekiah became King in the south.

Beeri = The gentile name for BEER meaning ‘well, cistern’ a refreshing place.

Kings of Judah (southern kingdom)

Uzziah = His name means ‘Yahweh is my strength’ and for the large part of his life that was the case. “He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success.” (2 Chronicles 26:5) Sadly the latter part of his life was filled with pride.

Jotham = His name means ‘Yahweh is perfect’ and after succeeding his father Uzziah was influenced by Isaiah. God gave him victory over the Ammonites (2 Chronicles 27:5). A good king.

Ahaz = His name means ‘Yahweh has taken hold of to protect’. However He didn’t mirror his name for he let go of Yahweh and did not walk by faith. A bad king. “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14) said after Ahaz would not step into faith and trust God. A Messianic promise of salvation.

Hezekiah = His name means ‘Yahweh has strengthened me’. A good king (he reopened the Temple) but in later life rebelled and paid the price. God stepped in and saved the city of Jerusalem (2 Kings 19:35)

Kings of Israel (northern kingdom)

Jeroboam = A bad king on the whole and his name means ‘The people are great’! But an interesting detail is that Hosea, Jonah and Amos prophesied during his reign and Jeroboam does appear to listen to the prophecy from Jonah (2 Kings 14:25) and he re-established Israel’s borders by being obedient to the word from God.

Jehoash = His name means ‘Yahweh has granted’ and though he was a bad King, God enabled him to defeat King Benhadad and recover cities that had been taken (2 Kings 13)

Perhaps someone needs to hear this simply message today! Maybe you need to hear a prophet declare truth to you. Mediate on what you will read based on this simple yet powerful verse!

Out of the well (Beer) salvation (Hosea) came and out of the well of your heart God’s presence will flow and He will save you.

Even in the context of challenging circumstances:

He will give you success;

He will give you victory;

He will give you the promise of Him coming to you;

He will step in and save you;

He will re-establish whatever has been broken down;

He will recover for you what has been taken or lost;

How?

He is your strength;

He is perfect;

He has taken hold of you to protect you;

He is your strength;

He alone is great;

He is your giver.

Amen!

What beautiful powerful promises and truth! Walk in them today!

My last devotional on Jude and we end with Jesus Christ our Lord!

“To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” (Jude v 25)

Can we just pause and not rush? Can we just slowly think of Jesus?

The world need to know who God is.

They need to know what Jesus has done.

They need to know who they are as a result of that.

They need to know how to live.

For that to happen they need to know who Jesus is.

They need to know the centrality and supremacy of Christ in 2023.

They need to know that when you look at Jesus you look at God.

• Jesus Christ is not a created being. He is Lord and He is God.
• Everything is about Jesus Christ.
• The enemy does not have free reign to do whatever he wants to you.
• Even your worst day, the worst attack from your enemy on your life serve Christ’s higher purposes and for His glory in your life.
• We were not created for our own plans and pleasures but for His. Life is not Christ living in our story but US living in His story.
• We don’t have rights to this life. We cannot demand that we live a long life on earth and become rich in every way. The majority of the world struggle in this life. Life was never meant to be fair. It is for Christ and He will bring us all home to a new heaven and new earth. This earth isn’t the ultimate. We are passing through.

You may wonder if God really cares for you or the world you live in. But on those days look again on Jesus Christ. Look on His sacrifice on the cross. Look how He came and walked this earth and got down into the dust and reached out to the lost, the last and the least. See how He cared. See what He said. See how He loved. He holds even the broken pieces.

No matter how broken our lives may become. Jesus is more powerful than whatever caused the hurt that you may be experiencing. You may think you will not survive this life that you are beyond fixing. Jesus created it all, sustains it all and can fix it all. He is holding you today.

He holds life and He holds death.

I may not be sure about many things but I am confident that my life and my death is in His hands. It doesn’t matter what I have or don’t have in this life. It doesn’t matter how long I live or whether I am cut off in the prime of my life. I am in His hands.

I may have many questions and few answers. I may be hard pressed, persecuted or in pain but I have a Person His name is Jesus.

I may journey on my own but I am not alone.

I may have desires unfulfilled but He is the greatest desire.

Spiritual powers may attack but they sit in His hand.

Nothing, absolutely nothing happens to me that He is not holding. He never drops me. He never lets go and He is never in a crisis.

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Do you feel life is unfair? Do you believe you are entitled to something more? Do you look at what others have and want it?

Remember Job? He lost his children, his livelihood, everything, even the respect from his wife.

What have you lost? If you lost everything will you still love Jesus? Is He enough?

If you never get married, if you never get that job, that house, those friends, that popularity, will you still love Jesus?

If He never answered another prayer of yours the way you want Him to, will you still love Him?

Jesus Christ is still your Lord.

This is a letter from a brother of Jesus who at one time refused to believe in who he was. He thought Jesus mad at least and certainly not the Son of God and he was not afraid to let that be known (John 7:5 – “For even his own brothers did not believe in him.”). But in the days preceding Pentecost he is in a prayer meeting (Acts 1:14 – “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers”). Why the change? Surely it was the living proof of the resurrection of his brother who was indeed the Son of God. Whether or not Jesus showed himself to Jude/Judas he definitely met James (1 Corinthians 15:7 “Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles”).

We all have years of our lives where unbelief and periods of doubt dominated our walk with God. For some the knocks of life weakened our walk with God and perhaps we are not as strong as we used to be. Jude starts his letter by saying two words really, ‘Be confident’. False teachers had got into the church and he was having none of it. They were robbing the Christians and he wrote with clear description to oust these deceivers from the community. He wants the Church to stand firm and to be confident in Christ.

And Jude ends the letter by saying God will keep us through the Lordship of Jesus throughout time, the ages. He will keep you now and He will keep you forever. Amen!

Pray that the eyes of your heart may see His glory, majesty, power and authority!

“To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” (Jude 24-25)

He alone is great. No charismatic personality is great. No Church or denomination or organisation is great. He is magnificent. He is glorious and he will never fade.

He alone is great. No nation, terrorist group, army or AI technology are strong enough to overwhelm Him. No deceptive ungodly people infiltrating Jude’s church can stand against Him either.

In every age, in Jude’s day and in 2023 let our prayer be:

1.         Let your GLORY be seen. Let God be seen. Let His radiant manifestation of His presence be on His church. On you!

2.         Let your MAJESTY be known in our lives. We are royal priests. We are not cast-offs. We can have that air of importance in our lives not that we become arrogant with that knowledge but that we no longer fall under the lies of the enemy that says we are rubbish.

3.         Let your POWER be demonstrated throughout our lives. Let miracles be known in the Church and on the street. Let signs and wonders flow.

4.         Let your AUTHORITY reveal that we will not give up and we will not fear man.

We need these 4 attributes of God and when our lives are filled with them then confidence is ours.

In June 2023 the world news was focused on a tourist submersible vessel which was destroyed going to view the sunken Titanic. A nonsensical tragedy which killed 5 people based around the tragic historical story of a sunken ship in 1912 where more than 1,500 people died. No one could save them in 1912 or in 2023.

What carries you may go down. The storm of life may cause your security to be broken up. The foundation gone. The vehicle that is taking you to your destination lost forever. Yet at that time you will find that what you thought was carrying you actually wasn’t. It is someone else who is carrying you. The God of the seas is carrying you!

“To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” (Jude 24-25)

You won’t go down with this ship. You will not be lost. You have a Saviour. And if you do go down He not only is Saviour He is the Resurrection! You don’t lose.

But it takes courage to remain when the ship sinks. You have to make a decision to maintain your resilience. Never surrender your life to any storm that comes your way. From moments of discouragement to depths of despair many have said ‘I give up’. But the Spirit urges you today to hold on, to get a grip of yourself. You see, the real battle is not the storm of circumstance but the storm within. To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy. How? He is God our Saviour! He saves! He saves not only from sin and death but He saves from being deceived by the false teachers as in Jude’s day so in ours. He saves from those who infiltrate through stealth to try to divide and destroy what has been handed to us. And … He saves you today from whatever you are going through!

Let the ship go down, not everything lasts, but the eternal everlasting all-powerful Father will never lose you. He holds you today, so take courage.

One day our earthly bodies will all sink but we will be saved!

“Weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5)

You can face today for you will live in a joyful tomorrow.

You may be uncertain about today but you already have the certainty of eternal joy so you can face tomorrow.

You may be wondering where life is taking but you know it is to the place of great joy so you are not afraid.

“To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— ²⁵ to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” (Jude 24-25)

He’s not only got you but He will be with you till the end when He brings you into great joy!

These are some of the most important words for those today who are uncertain about what they should be doing, where they are going and how much time is left. Lean into the truth that you are going to be brought into great joy!

What the enemy of your soul tries to take from you is immaterial. What your fiercest critic says about you matters not. Even what you might say in your self-condemnatory life does not count. The prognosis may not be good if all there is what is in this world. But for those who follow Jesus we will all be led into an eternal experience of great joy!

If today was your last day on earth it is okay you are safe. There is no need to worry. Your future is secure because your present, today, is full of joy!

Since the first lie in the garden the enemy of our soul has been continually working at telling us we are not good enough for the world we live in and for God.

Every bereavement he has exploited; every accusation he has magnified; every mistake he has echoed; he has continually worked at reminding you of what you don’t have and who you are not; you have fallen short and do not make the grade; you are not acceptable to God or to anyone. This is the work of the father of lies. As you read this you can remember the voice that has tried to destabilise you, blind you and bring you down.

It is time that we stopped listening to such lies.

“To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” (Jude 24-25)

He will not only keep you from falling; He’s not only got you; He will be with you to the end and will present you faultless before His glorious presence. You make it. You are not only acceptable you are presentable!

When people (or you!) say you are not what you should be then remind yourself of this promise. When the voices of doubt say you need to perform and prove yourself in order to be accepted by God then it is a complete lie. Do not listen to that lie. It is a falsehood. Ignore it.

You are complete in Him; you are alive in Him; you are free and not afraid; you are a child of God and belong to Him; you are without blame within His love; you have peace with God and the peace of God in your mind; you have the Spirit of God hovering over your life and dwelling in you; you have the Spirits wisdom and understanding for every situation you face; you have the powerful strengthening enabling to be and do whatever needs to happen; you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you; you are chosen by God for this moment; you have everything you need for this life because you have Him; you are a temple of the Holy Spirit; cleansed, forgiven and set aside for a holy life; you are saved by the grace of God. That’s who you are! It’s all because of Him. He’s got you and He will get you there!

As we come to the end of this amazing letter where Jude in no uncertain terms calls out the false teachers and the ungodly and says they will be punished we close with this famous and inspiring doxology.

“To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— ²⁵ to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” (Jude v24-25)

To those who wonder if they’re going to make it. Will you also fall away into heresy? Will you finish the race? He’s got you!

To all you Church planters who are labouring in difficult situations: God is able to keep you from stumbling.

To all you Pastors thinking of giving up: God is able to keep you from stumbling.

To all you today going through the most testing time of your life: God is able to keep you from stumbling.

Today may be small and there may be some feelings of trepidation. But put it in the hands of the One who is able. The One who established the world and everything in it is the One who is holding you and your dream! In this world which is being shaken to the core you are going to be just fine because He’s got you!

This letter from Jude pulls no punches as we have seen. We need this letter today as much as when it was first written. For centred around the Christian faith are those who by their choices to be whoever they want to be and do whatever they want to do are harming what was passed down to us generationally. We must continue to stand up for the truth given to us. Jude has told his readers to remember what was spoken to them by all the apostles and not just him.

“They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.” (Jude v18-23)

I have kept this instruction to the last because I believe it to be crucially important in these days.

“Poverty-stricken as the Church is today in many things, she is most stricken here, in the place of prayer. We have many organizers, but few agonizers; many players and payers, few pray-ers; many singers, few clingers; lots of pastors, few wrestlers; many fears, few tears; much fashion, little passion; many interferers, few intercessors; many writers, but few fighters. Failing here, we fail everywhere.” (Leonard Ravenhill)

The greatest need for the Church today is not to move into the digital world but to move into the world with prayer.

The world is not waiting for the Church to become modernised and slick in front of a camera but it is waiting for the Church to discover the ancient paths of being in front of God.

Great communication is only successful if there has been communication with a great God. Jude instructs us not to pray with our intelligence but to pray in the Spirit.

The Bible clearly reveals the Holy Spirit as a person, describing the Spirit’s personal characteristics, involvement in personal actions and His personal relationships.

He is called, ‘another Counsellor’, who’s the first? Jesus. The Holy Spirit is a person not a power. He lives with you and in you. He is a teacher and a witness in his own right. He has intelligence. He has love and affection. He can be grieved. He has emotions. He can be lied to. He prays and intercedes for us. He speaks. He gives commands. He works miracles. The Holy Spirit is not some reality less than God or other than God, He is God. The Bible says the Father begets the Son and the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. In their operation it is the Father who sends and then operates through the Son and the Father and Son together who send and operate through the Spirit. There is no conviction, regeneration, sanctification, gifts and power without the Holy Spirit.

We must pray in the Spirit. This is a battle we are in and we need to fight with prayers in the Spirit. Paul tells us in Romans 8:26 that the Spirit helps us in our praying. He gives us the right words to say and even prayers without words and prayers that are the gift of tongues. But pray we must and we must learn to pray far more in the Spirit than in our intellect and own desires.

This letter from Jude pulls no punches as we have seen. We need this letter today as much as when it was first written. For centred around the Christian faith are those who by their choices to be whoever they want to be and do whatever they want to do are harming what was passed down to us generationally. We must continue to stand up for the truth given to us. Jude has told his readers to remember what was spoken to them by all the apostles and not just him.

“They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.” (Jude v18-23)

Jude tells us that we do not have to be like those who follow mere natural instincts’ they have natural insights, their whole focus on life is from the natural, feeding their own ungodly and selfish desires, if it feels good, if it is for gain, if it is for me, my and mine then grab at what is before you.

Instead we should hate “even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh” v23.

Hate is a strong word but that is how we should view all kinds of sin even anything that comes in touch with it. Attitudes and motivations, desires and behaviours, the outward that is seen and the deepest recesses of our heart that no one sees, hate the sin.

If we love humanity and if we ‘keep ourselves in God’s love’ then it means we will have to hate the sinfulness of humanity.

On Sunday as I began to preach I told a story from the time I visited the east side of the DRC. It was only an illustration coming from one of the most evil places in the world where the UN say is still the rape capital of the world with the highest rates of sexual violence than anywhere in the world brought about by armed militia groups. We don’t hear anything in the British news of what is happening every day to women and girls there. Maybe that is because of it being a French colony or simply ignorance. But after the service a few women came to me, they were from the DRC and they knew the pain, I could see it in their eyes. They thanked me for mentioning the plight of their nation. The hate of the sin was in their voices and they expressed in no uncertain terms the evil that their people were suffering.

The world’s largest displacement crisis is still Syria 11 years on from when it started. More than 13 million people have been displaced. Do we hate this?

Do we hate when bullies bully, killers kill, rapist’s rape and abusers abuse?

Do we hate the selfishness around us; the consumerism and greed in our society; the family breakdown in our neighbourhood; poverty, violence and racism; the list goes on; evil is here. There is evil and there is good. It isn’t what we call it. It already exists. It was there before we were born and it will be there after we die. In order to demonstrate love then get involved with both. With the evil abhor it. Call it what it is. Take it on. Detest it enough to defeat it. Hate even the clothing stained by the corrupted flesh.