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Episodes
Monday Feb 03, 2025
Monday Feb 03, 2025
Aleph
1 Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD. 2 Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart. 3 They do nothing wrong; they walk in his ways. 4 You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed. 5 Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees! 6 Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands. 7 I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws. 8 I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me.
I wonder what you regard as being successful in life? Is it the amount of money in your bank accounts? Or perhaps it is the long and successful career? Now while there is nothing essentially wrong with those sorts of things, the Psalmist writes that the key to living a successful life is to be obedient to God and doing, as He has decreed. God has spoken and given His decrees, law, commands and statutes! Look at the picture the Psalmist writes. Walk according to the Law of the Lord. Keep His statutes. Seek Him wholeheartedly.
The person who is blessed doesn’t do wrong against other people (that is what is meant in verse 3) and is obedient to God’s decrees. The successful person considers how to best apply God’s commands in their life, letting them permeate every facet of their being! A successful life is one, which is utterly obedient to God and God’s commands, precepts and decrees. Not only in the doing of them, but also in the underlying attitude. God’s commands are not only things to be done, but also things not to be done!
When we sin, and we all do, sometimes is because we do something that is wrong and contrary to God’s law. But there are also sins that are because we fail to do something in order to fulfil God’s commands. God’s commands it should be noted are not to become objects of worship themselves! God alone, the giver of the commands, is to be worshipped and adored!
Some people I meet are all for the laws of God but forget about the giver, Almighty God! God, as revealed in the Bible, is to be followed with commitment to God but also with consistency or as the Psalmist says “steadfast”. Obedience to God brings about praise to God and does not end in disappointment or shame. Obedience brings joy and a glow to the face! And how can we be fully obedient to God? Is it through our own strength, wisdom and actions we can fully satisfy all of God’s laws? No! Because we will fail if we try to obey God in our own strength!
Read verse 8 again! God will help you to fulfil all His commands if you ask Him! God will not abandon or forsake you, but wants to help! God is personal, and not distant – He will help! Amazing!! To have a successful life is to be obedient to God and His decrees, cries the Psalmist.
What has all this to do with the Christian in the 21st century? Jesus Christ is the only man who ever fully obeyed God in every facet of life. He was the only man to truly be successful and by claiming Him to be our God, then we too can be successful. If you need help to be obedient, just ask Him! If you are a Christian listening to this, you have God inside you through the person of the Holy Spirit! Part of His role in your life is to guide you and help you to live a life of obedience to Jesus Christ the Son, so that the praise, honour and glory go to God the Father. Will you ask the Holy Spirit to do that for you? And if you have done wrong, ask God for forgiveness of that sin and do not let it trap you in its snare! Be quick to ask forgiveness and do not fall for the tempter’s traps. Be blessed by God, and to show that you are blessed, live a life of obedience to Him!
A question for you to ponder and act upon: What areas in my life do I need to give fully to God, so that I can be seen to be obedient to Him, in everything I do, in all my attitudes and thoughts?
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Sunday Feb 02, 2025
Sunday Feb 02, 2025
Words for Scripture
Welcome back to our series based on Psalm 119. This is the second in our series. Throughout Psalm 119, the writer has 8 different words for Scripture or "Law of the Lord". When the Psalmist says "God's Law", "Law of the Lord" or Torah, he does not mean, as some think, just the Mosaic law, but rather all of the revealed will and mind of God in the Old Testament scriptures. We, of course, don't know how much of the Old Testament was written when the Psalmist was writing Psalm 119, but we do know that he would have had at his disposal at least the first 5 books, the Pentateuch. That's Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy to you and I. Additionally, it is also quite probably some of the historical books and maybe even the book of Job.
So with that brief introduction lets investigate these 8 words. Of course our modern translations don't always use these words, but rather, these are root meanings of the original Hebrew words.
1. Commandments: This word, commandment, signifies a direct order from authority. It is not simply power to influence but rather the right to give orders and an attitude of assuredness.
2. Law: The first word to share is "law" and it is the most common of all the words used here in Psalm 119. It has as its foundation the word "teach" or "direction" and can be synonymous with one commandment or a whole book of laws to be followed. It shows that God's revealed will is not simply for observation only but is primarily for obedience!
3. Ordinance: Within the Old Testament, this would be judgements or decisions as laid down by a supremly wise Judge. But its more than judgements, because it also signifies the justice of being dutiful and responsible.
4. Precepts: this word is drawn from a person who is a manager or inspector, looking into a situation and getting ready to act. This word reflects the finer detail or specific instructions as laid down by the Lord.
5. Promise: Very similar in nature to "Word", its root or foundation is from "to say" or "promise to do or say". God's promises are true - He keeps His promises! For a quick example: throughout the Old Testament, God's people, Israel, had the promise of the Messiah - not only for themselves but for the whole world! In the New Testament, we see this promise fulfilled - with Jesus Christ being the long-waited for Messiah.
6. Statutes: When the Psalmist speaks of statutes, he writes about the permanence of Scripture, as an enduring reminder of the Lord and His goodness.
7. Testimonies: This means that what God says is a reliable witness, a witness that is faithful, dependable and true. Rules & high standards for practical and obedient godly life with warnings against disobedience abound within this expression.
8. Word: This the most popular expression used by the Psalmist, simply means God's revealed truth in any shape, form, commandment or statement.
Of course for those of in the 21st century, Scripture or "Law of the Lord" is not confined to the first five books of the Old Testament or even the whole Old Testament. No! Scripture for us also includes the New Testament. We have the benefit of being able to read and study the Old Testament with the understanding and eyes of the New Testament. So many Christians only look at, study and preach the New Testament. But Scripture is all 66 books, all revealing God's timeless truths.
Here in Psalm 119, the Psalmist equates 8 key words about God's revealed word: Law, Testimonies, Precepts, Statutes, Commandments, Ordinances, Word and Promises. They are not meant to be seen as 8 individual words, but rather 8 distinct aspects of God's revealed word in Scripture. For the Psalmist, at least the Pentateuch and probably some of the histories.
For Jesus and the first Christians, the Old Testament and later on some of Pauls's writings as attested to by Peter:
"Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. (2 Peter 3v15-16)
Hopefully by the end of these series of studies, you will have found a new delight in reading your Bible: all 66 books of it including perhaps some that you have never read before!
And now for you to ponder: Ask yourself how you view the Bible, how you read it, why you read it and do you listen to God speaking to you as you do so?
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Saturday Feb 01, 2025
Saturday Feb 01, 2025
Introduction
Welcome to the beginning of our journey together through this colossus or giant of the Psalms! The name for the moment of this series is Scriptural Delight. Alas because of its length, a lot of people are put off reading it, let alone studying it. Yet it has a vibrant beauty and pearls of wisdom to offer Christians living in the 21st century with all its rigours, tests and temptations.
Why did the Psalmist write this Psalm? I think the Psalmist wrote it to encourage followers of God to firstly, lead a holy life, a life of obedient godliness and secondly, to show what true worship of God is like, through the study of His written word. To aid the reader of the Psalm help achieve these twin goals, he wrote it as an acrostic, so as to aid memorisation! The Psalm has 22 stanzas or sections, with each line of that particular stanza beginning with the same letter from the Hebrew alphabet. For example, the first section has 8 lines, all of which begin with the letter Aleph. The second section of 8 lines would all have words beginning with the letter Beth and so on through the Hebrew alphabet until the final section, which has the letter Taw. It would be like you writing a poem that went something like this:
A good boy eats apples
Apples that are rosy red
Always crunchy apples
As crunchiness is best!
That is a poor example of what an acrostic is, but hopefully you get what I mean. That is acrostic because the first word on each line begins with the letter ‘a’. Then each subsequent section would be from B to Z. Now, while all that may be very good for helping memorizing Psalm 119 in Hebrew, in English it does not translate like that, as you can see just by looking at it! That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to memorize it though.
The famous David Livingstone once won a Sunday school prize for reciting it from memory – all 176 verses! CS Lewis described this acrostic form of poetry or psalm, as “a pattern, a thing done like embroidery, stitch by stitch, through long, quiet hours, for love of the subject and for the delight in leisurely, disciplined craftsmanship.”
Despite its length and its seemingly repetitive composition, it is indeed an unparalleled work of beauty, colour and descriptiveness. So lets take this journey together, through this colossus of the Psalms. In the course of these studies, we will be looking together at each of the 22 sections and looking briefly at one or two delights contained in each one of them.
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Friday Jan 31, 2025
Friday Jan 31, 2025
Studies of Ruth
Study 5 - Ruth's Worship through Obedience.
The book of Ruth is a cameo story of love, devotion and redemption set in the black days of the Judges. It tells the story of a pagan woman giving up everything to cling to the people of Israel and to God Himself. Shows her faithfulness when the nation was faithless. Download the mp3 audio using the link below to start discovering more about this great lady of faith.
In our previous episode, we looked at Ruth's wholeness of obedience. In this episode, we look at Ruth’s worship through obedience.
Now, finally, Ruth's obedience was also worship. How is this? The result of Ruth's obedience was Obed, the child fathered by Boaz as kinsman-redeemer, the one would inherit the family land and name in place of Naomi's dead husband and sons. Obed in Hebrew means "worship". Is not obedience really the outward action that derives from the inner response of faith love, and trust practised in regard to individuals and God? Jesus said "If you love me, you will obey what I command!" (John 14:15). Ruth's acts of obedience throughout this her story, are also practical acts of worship of the God she had made her own by faith.
So Ruth's obedience has four factors to it: the wow factor, the witness factor, the wholeness factor and finally the worship factor!
Conclusion
Let us ask God to work in us, changing our weak attempts at obedience into acts of divine worship. We find delight in serving the Lord, instead of indulging in resentment over sinful leaders. The result will be inner freedom and release from bitterness, and also a powerful story to those in authority and to onlookers as well. Just as too Ruth's obedience of Naomi, moved Boaz and all Bethlehem, the Holy Spirit will enable us move others (Colossians 3:23-24). While we obey others, we can joyfully remember that it is God alone who is worthy of complete obedience. When our confidence in Him is reflected in our submission to others we become living stories to our trust in God's perfect plan. If we follow the example of Ruth, perhaps someone will notice our stories and find the witness, the wholeness, and the worship in our lives of obedience and praise God because of us.
Remember this from 1 Samuel 15:22 "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”
So go from here and be obedient to our awesome and holy God! Through obedience to Him as revealed in Scripture, you will be growing and changing into the very likeness of Jesus Christ whom you follow. Through obedience, you will be able to enduring and be persistent in your Christian lifestyle and evangelism. So much so, that people will ask you for the reason for the hope you have and portray.
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Thursday Jan 30, 2025
Thursday Jan 30, 2025
Studies of Ruth
Study 4 - Ruth's Wholeness of Obedience.
The book of Ruth is a cameo story of love, devotion and redemption set in the black days of the Judges. It tells the story of a pagan woman giving up everything to cling to the people of Israel and to God Himself. Shows her faithfulness when the nation was faithless. Download the mp3 audio using the link below to start discovering more about this great lady of faith.
In our previous episode, we looked at Ruth's witness in her obedience. In this episode, we look at Ruth’s wholeness of obedience.
But just how did Ruth's obedience come to have such a tremendous impact on those around her? It all started with a personal commitment, a permanent decision that brought her peace and provided her with direction for all that followed. On the border of Moab, Ruth had told Naomi of her commitment (Ruth 1:16-17) as we read earlier. Ruth's commitment was absolute.
Rather than constraining her, this new commitment gave her new purpose and opportunity to develop her character. When they arrived in Bethlehem, Ruth volunteered to pick up the leftover grain (Ruth 2:2). When she returned to Naomi, Ruth shared her grain with Naomi and told her about her day.
Then it was Naomi who sensed God's direction and gave Ruth detailed instructions as to how to approach Boaz, which Ruth obeyed perfectly (Ruth 3:1-6). Ruth 4:17 indicates that after Ruth's future and family were secure, Naomi was included in the household redeemed by Boaz, for when the neighbours noticed how much she cared for Obed they said "Naomi has a son." Truly the deepest love, trust and respect were at the centre of Ruth's & Naomi's relationship, bringing both of them mutual fulfilment.
As Ruth obeyed Naomi, so she obeyed Boaz, both at their first meeting and later at the threshing floor. She won both the admiration of Naomi and Boaz as much by the quickness of her unquestioning responses as by her completeness in carrying out commands. Ruth won respect because she offered her respect in the form of obedience. Her obedience was total and complete. Not through coercion, but by love and adoration.
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Wednesday Jan 29, 2025
Wednesday Jan 29, 2025
Studies of Ruth
Study 3 - Ruth's Witness in Obedience.
The book of Ruth is a cameo story of love, devotion and redemption set in the black days of the Judges. It tells the story of a pagan woman giving up everything to cling to the people of Israel and to God Himself. Shows her faithfulness when the nation was faithless. Download the mp3 audio using the link below to start discovering more about this great lady of faith.
In our previous episode, we looked at Ruth's surprising obedience. In this episode, we look at Ruth’s witness in that obedience.
Ruth did more than merely remain with Naomi. Ruth was in fact Naomi's main support, both during their journey and after arriving in Israel, even though she was a stranger in Bethlehem. News of her faithfulness obviously spread quickly as it went before her into the fields of Boaz. When she asked why as a woman not from Israel was being treated so kindly, Boaz replied because of her support and friendship of Naomi You can see that in Ruth 2:11. Though directly attracted by her outward beauty and manner, Boaz was already -aware of her reputation for loyal love and service. We see this when Boaz tells her, "All my fellow townsman know that you are a woman of noble character" (Ruth 3:11).
Here we see the powerful testimony and witness of Ruth's relationship with Naomi. Her unselfish devotion to one person, characterized by her obedience, made her appealing to another person and to a whole community. However, Ruth did not abuse -or flaunt her obedience as long-suffering, but held it in her heart as love. She was not looking for praise or pity, and she seemed genuinely surprised that her service of Naomi had been seen and recognized. Not once did she complain about the leadership of Naomi or her own circumstances. Instead of bitterness there was beauty, in her attitude as well as on her face. Ruth found her obedience fulfilling. Her immediate and ultimate rewards far outweighed anything she could have anticipated. Her obedience was a wow surprise but it was also a testimonial witness that had gone out before her.
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~
Tuesday Jan 28, 2025
Tuesday Jan 28, 2025
Studies of Ruth
Study 2 - WOW! obedience.
The book of Ruth is a cameo story of love, devotion and redemption set in the black days of the Judges. It tells the story of a pagan woman giving up everything to cling to the people of Israel and to God Himself. Shows her faithfulness when the nation was faithless. Download the mp3 audio using the link below to start discovering more about this great lady of faith.
Today we look at Ruth's obedience. Firstly, her obedience is surprising - it has a wow factor to it! The harmony between Ruth and her mother-in-law is even more appealing when we consider the two unusual facets that could have driven them apart.
Firstly, Mahlon, the natural connecting link between Ruth and Naomi was dead (Ruth 1 :3-5). Nothing specific is mentioned about the way the two women got along with each other while he was alive during those years in Moab. Instead, the story begins with the development of their relationship after Mahlon's death and at the time of the women's departure for Judah.
The second part of this wow, is that could have driven them apart was that Ruth was from Moab. A brief review of the history of this neighbouring nation proves that its land and people were clearly off limits for the Jews. The founding father Moab was the result of Lot's incestuous union with his older daughter (Genesis 19:37). Though Moab was not on the list of nations to be entirely destroyed by the Israelites under Joshua, its worship of false gods were offensive and troublesome (Numbers 25). Judges 3 relates that Eglon the king of Moab, received power from the Lord to punish Israel for eighteen years. When the people of Israel again cried out to God, the Lord raised up the judge Ehud, to kill Eglon and defeat Moab, to bring peace for eighty years.
The story of Ruth as we have heard already, is placed at the time of the Judges. Elimelech's decision to take his family into Moab to escape the famine in Israel probably occurred at a time when Moab was subdued, or at least not hostile towards Israel. However, God, had told the Israelites not to marry into the surrounding nations or join in their worship of false gods. The fact that Naomi's sons chose Moabite women shows that they ignored this instruction. It also indicates the attraction of foreign influences to the Israelites, which God wanted them to stay away from. But we also see mercy in grafting into his line of blessing one Moabite because of her faith and obedience to Him.
Naomi had two daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah. In view of their position as Moabite widows, it may seem that Orpah's decision to return to her own mother's house was more natural than Ruth's when Naomi announced her determination to go back to Bethlehem in Judah. We could even argue that Orpah, after politely offering to accompany Naomi, was acting in accord with her mother-in-law's wishes by remaining in Moab with her own people. Ruth, however, clung to Naomi and refused to leave her. But Orpah's obedience was shallow, as her offer to go with Naomi was done out of duty not of love, and Naomi probably saw this and declined Orpah's offer. Ruth however, remained to finish her story and claim a place in the genealogy of David and also of Jesus (Matthew 1:5).
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Monday Jan 27, 2025
Monday Jan 27, 2025
Studies of Ruth
Today we start a short series looking at one of the Bible’s most enduring and endearing people – Ruth.
There are perhaps two reasons why we study about people in the Bible - to learn how not to do some things like being deceitful, and how to do the right things. We will see how and in what way, Ruth was obedient to God in doing the right things.
The book of Ruth is a cameo story of love, devotion and redemption set in the black days of the Judges. It tells the story of a pagan woman giving up everything to cling to the people of Israel and to God Himself. Shows her faithfulness when the nation was faithless.
Download the mp3 audio using the link below to start discovering more about this great lady of faith.
Click or Tap here to listen to or save this as an audio mp3 file
Sunday Jan 26, 2025
Sunday Jan 26, 2025
God - so what?
Ezekiel 36:22-28
1. A God who is holy (Ezekiel 36:22-23)
22 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. 23 I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.
2. A God who gathers (Ezekiel 36:24)
36v24 "For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you to your own land."
3. A God who cleanses (Ezekiel 36:25) and operates (Ezekiel 36:26)
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
4. A God who indwells (v27)
27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
5. A God to live for (v28) 2
8 You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God.
Conclusion - What about you?
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The Partakers book, Glimpses into Ezekiel, is also available on Kindle and paperback on Amazon by clicking or tapping here
Saturday Jan 25, 2025
Saturday Jan 25, 2025
God Comes To Town!
Ezekiel 1:1-4, 24-28 to 2:2
Introduction
Imagine you are a 25 year old and being trained for the family business. Then suddenly your enemies invade your city and take you away to a foreign land. That's what happened to Ezekiel 5 years before this passage of Scripture, Ezekiel 1-2, when the Babylonians, led by Nebuchadnezzar in 597BC took 3000 Jews back to Babylon. This was the first deportation.
1. Ezekiel - who was he and how did he get there?
2. How does Ezekiel describe this vision of God?
3. God is Holy God
4. God is Universal: Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Mission minded & Personal
5. What does all this mean? Worship & Tell others
6. We speak God's word
Conclusion
I don't know about you, but sometimes I feel like I am in exile. I don't mean as an Australian living in England, the mother country! Although sometimes it does feel like I am in exile! We are living in a country, which despite its Christian heritage, evangelical non-compromising Christians are being increasingly marginalized by a society, which decrees that, all religions or none are equal, and that to declare otherwise is simply arrogance and divisive. How are we to react? When you are faced with a crisis or some trouble, how do you react? Are you like the ancient Israelites that Ezekiel was sent to? Do you trust in the holy, all-powerful, all knowing, personal God or do you trust in other things?
- God is coming again!
- Be Holy and be obedient!
- Live a life worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
- Trust fully in the God of your salvation
- Go tell somebody!
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The book, Glimpses into Ezekiel, is also available on Kindle and paperback on Amazon by clicking or tapping here