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Episodes
Friday Sep 15, 2023
Friday Sep 15, 2023
Romans 12: Living Life
Study 15: Glue to good and eschew evil
V9- Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.
Love is also discerning and doesn’t let others sin wilfully but allows for you to gentle guide others back to living right with God and other people. Note I said gentle and not forceful or coercion. It’s not your job to convict others of sin. That is the role of the Holy Spirit and for Him to bring to repentance. God is love and cannot abide sin or evil. We as Christians are to turn away from all that is wrong and evil. Love God by living a life worthy of God – all that which is good, holy and pleasing to God! WOW!
Evil is anathema and poison to love. Saying that we love God, yet having known sin within our life, is akin to the love that Judas had for Jesus when Judas betrayed Him with a kiss. Judas’ love of Jesus was false, hypocritical and deceitful – it was a fake love, not real love. As a Christian you are to throw off everything that hinders your Christian life so that you can run the race of love for your God. With evil and sin there is to be no compromise or conforming!
Want to know what is right to do? Ask God and He will tell you! He may even surprise you with what He would have you do: against all your own expectations. Regularly confess your unconfessed sins to God and accept His forgiveness - turning away from that evil! Read and study the Bible. Be prepared to have a mentor and to be discipled by somebody. Part of the trouble with 21st century church, is that discipleship is a lost art and in some church circles, almost a dirty word. Go! Really hate what is sinful and wrong! Glue yourself to what is good – then you will be loving God and loving others.
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Thursday Sep 14, 2023
Thursday Sep 14, 2023
Psalm 114
As read by Heather aged 8
1 When Israel came out of Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of foreign tongue,
2 Judah became God's sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.
3 The sea looked and fled,
the Jordan turned back;
4 the mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.
5 Why was it, O sea, that you fled,
O Jordan, that you turned back,
6 you mountains, that you skipped like rams,
you hills, like lambs?
7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 who turned the rock into a pool,
the hard rock into springs of water.
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Thursday Sep 14, 2023
Thursday Sep 14, 2023
Romans 12: Living Life
Study 14: Go! Love! Really Love!
To have a gift or gifts, such as those Paul lists here, is a sign of God’s love for you! Therefore you are to love others – all others. If you are doing it after God’s own interests and the welfare of other people then you really do love others. Really love them! People can smell out fake love in an instant! If you are doing things for your own interest and welfare, and patronising towards others or as a means to manipulate them, then that is a fake love.
Why do you do what you do for God and for other people? Is it because you are driven by your love for God and love for others? This is love for others without pretence or hypocrisy. That is real love! If it is for any other reason, then it is not real love. That includes loving those who wouldn’t naturally be the target of your love - including those who hate you and those who have done you wrong. To love only those who love us, is what those outside the church expect as normal behaviour. But as Christian Disciples, we are to do more and to be seen to love more than any other people! That can be very hard to do. But if we use the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, then we can do it. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you and He will.
How is the invisible God seen? God is seen through Christian Disciples showing love for other people. If the Church was to be seen as loving others and loving their local community, the Gospel message, the story of God’s love, would have an enormous impact. The Christian Disciple is to be so filled and magnetized with God’s love and grace, that it is a magnetic attraction to others to the majestic goodness of the awesome God that they serve and obey. Our motive for all things is to be love. That includes gently restoring people into living a life worthy of following God if they are a Christian Disciple. There can be no excuse for sin in the life of those who claim to follow Jesus Christ.
How and in what way do we love – love God and love others? That is what Paul goes on to say! Go and love!
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Click on the appropriate link below to subscribe, share or download our iPhone App!Wednesday Sep 13, 2023
Wednesday Sep 13, 2023
Psalm 113
(Read by Sharona)
113:1 Praise Yah! Praise, you servants of Yahweh, praise the name of Yahweh.
113:2 Blessed be the name of Yahweh, from this time forth and forevermore.
113:3 From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, Yahweh's name is to be praised.
113:4 Yahweh is high above all nations, his glory above the heavens.
113:5 Who is like Yahweh, our God, who has his seat on high,
113:6 Who stoops down to see in heaven and in the earth?
113:7 He raises up the poor out of the dust. Lifts up the needy from the ash heap;
113:8 that he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.
113:9 He settles the barren woman in her home, as a joyful mother of children. Praise Yah!
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Wednesday Sep 13, 2023
Wednesday Sep 13, 2023
Romans 12: Living Life
Study 13: Gift of Kindness & Mercy
However, all Christians should seek to be kind and merciful. This would include visiting the sick, caring for the elderly, sick and disabled, the unemployed, orphans, widows, the destitute. It could simply be a listening ear, a smile or a kind word at the right time to somebody. One way to do it cheerfully and gladly is to do it as a generous thanksgiving to God. If you are to help people with kindness and mercy, show you are happy to help! The word Paul uses here is hilaroteti. We get the word ‘hilarious’ from it! Laughter can be good medicine when used appropriately! As Calvin said “to observe sadness in the countenance of those by whom assistance is given, makes them to feel themselves despised.”
How are you and your church being kind and merciful to people in need? How are those you know who are housebound being shown kindness? Are you and the church using imagination to be kind and merciful – helping people to be a part of the church community? How can you help with kindness and mercy those who are unemployed and looking for work? Let each of us use our imaginations to help those in need with kindness and mercy.
I read today of a homeless man who died in one of the richest parts of London. As he died, he fell and was found dead impaled on fence railings. The link to the story is here. Imagine if that man had been shown genuine kindness and mercy? To be fair, he may have rejected any kindness towards him. I don’t know. But I do know that we sometimes reject the kindness and mercy of people out of pride instead of accepting with gratitude and humility. I know I am like that sometimes!
Go! Be cheerfully kind and merciful. Thank you.
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Click on the appropriate link below to subscribe, share or download our iPhone App!Tuesday Sep 12, 2023
Tuesday Sep 12, 2023
Romans 12: Living Life
Study 12: Gift of Leadership
Romans 12:8 If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously.
Now Paul comes on to the gift of leadership. Leaders are to lead with diligence, take their responsibilities seriously but also with care for those they are leading. The word used here indeed can mean leader but also mean to give aid or care for. Perhaps Paul meant both – a leader must be caring and giving aid to those in need – doing so with diligence and without manipulation or favouritism.
Whatever kind of leader you are – for example pastor, priest, elder, deacon, Sunday School teacher, Small Group leader or Prayer Group leader you are to lead with care and diligence and to lead by putting all your heart into it! Love those you lead as Christ loves the church – sacrificially – doing your best for those you are leading – regardless of the size of group you are leading. Leading and being willing to show people your love of God and your love of them.
As a leader, you are being watched and looked up to by those you lead – whether you want to be or not. As a leader, you are not to lead others by being filled with pride and being unapproachable! Rather, you are to lead others with godly humility, be encouraging of others cheerfully and being approachable. As a leader you are to set the example, and demonstrate a way forward to those you are leading. WOW!
Good leadership also has good accountability to others as well as to the whole community. As a leader, are you accountable to anybody else for what you do and how you do it? As part of your Godly responsibility, you are to be accountable to others to live a life of integrity worthy of the gospel, which is seen to be as holy and blameless. As a leader, it is a necessity that you be dependent on the Holy Spirit for strength and care – remember that He lives within you!
Finally, whether you are a leader or not, pray for your church leaders – they need your prayers and dare I say, they will covet your prayers for them.
Go! Lead others with diligence, responsibility, love and care.
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Monday Sep 11, 2023
Monday Sep 11, 2023
Psalm 11
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For the Chief Musician. By David.
1 In Yahweh, I take refuge.
How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your mountain”?
2 For, behold, the wicked bend their bows.
They set their arrows on the strings,
that they may shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.
3 If the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?
4 Yahweh is in his holy temple.
Yahweh is on his throne in heaven.
His eyes observe.
His eyes examine the children of men.
5 Yahweh examines the righteous,
but his soul hates the wicked and him who loves violence.
6 On the wicked he will rain blazing coals;
fire, sulfur, and scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
7 For Yahweh is righteous.
He loves righteousness.
The upright shall see his face.
- World English Bible
As read by Sharona
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Monday Sep 11, 2023
Monday Sep 11, 2023
Romans 12: Living Life
Study 11: Gift of Giving
And now we have a gift which echoes that of God the gift-giver – the gift of giving! When we give to others, contributing to those in need, we are to give generously and liberally. I wonder if that describes your giving? Again, some people have this wonderful gift – they are able to give just like that – generously and liberally. Yet, all Christians are to give generously because that is how God gives good gifts – generously and abundantly.
Jesus said in Matthew 6:3-4 “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
We are not to give to others in need in the hope of getting something in return for that help. Giving to others is for the benefit of the person being helped and not to be for our own benefit? Does that describe you when you give or when you are the receiver of somebody else’s generous giving to you? Too often we don’t give generously and use the excuse of it being poor stewardship of our money as the reason not to give generously to those in need.
If you are in need and somebody offers to help you generously, how do you react? Do you accept with humility and a grateful heart, giving thanks to God for His provision through other people? Or, in your hour of need, are you too proud to accept the help of God as He uses other people as His hands and feet? Too often we can hinder the work of God in our lives because we are too proud to accept help when it is offered.
Giving – go and give generously to somebody in need today and every day!
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Click on the appropriate link below to subscribe, share or download our iPhone App!Sunday Sep 10, 2023
Sunday Sep 10, 2023
Psalm 10
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10:1 Why do you stand far off, Yahweh?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
10:2 In arrogance, the wicked hunt down the weak.
They are caught in the schemes that they devise.
10:3 For the wicked boasts of his heart’s cravings.
He blesses the greedy, and condemns Yahweh.
10:4 The wicked, in the pride of his face,
has no room in his thoughts for God.
10:5 His ways are prosperous at all times.
He is haughty, and your laws are far from his sight.
As for all his adversaries, he sneers at them.
10:6 He says in his heart, “I shall not be shaken.
For generations I shall have no trouble.”
10:7 His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and oppression.
Under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.
10:8 He lies in wait near the villages.
From ambushes, he murders the innocent.
His eyes are secretly set against the helpless.
10:9 He lurks in secret as a lion in his ambush.
He lies in wait to catch the helpless.
He catches the helpless, when he draws him in his net.
10:10 The helpless are crushed.
They collapse.
They fall under his strength.
10:11 He says in his heart, “God has forgotten.
He hides his face.
He will never see it.”
10:12 Arise, Yahweh!
God, lift up your hand!
Don’t forget the helpless.
10:13 Why does the wicked person condemn God,
and say in his heart, “God won’t call me into account?”
10:14 But you do see trouble and grief.
You consider it to take it into your hand.
You help the victim and the fatherless.
10:15 Break the arm of the wicked.
As for the evil man, seek out his wickedness until you find none.
10:16 Yahweh is King forever and ever!
The nations will perish out of his land.
10:17 Yahweh, you have heard the desire of the humble.
You will prepare their heart.
You will cause your ear to hear,
10:18 to judge the fatherless and the oppressed,
that man who is of the earth may terrify no more.
As read by Ian Wakeham
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Sunday Sep 10, 2023
Sunday Sep 10, 2023
Romans 12: Living Life
Study 10: Gift of Encouragement
Now we come to perhaps one of the most amazing gifts – encouraging! Why is it amazing? Because of the impact it can have on the receivers of encouragement! This could mean anything from encouraging to exhorting to comforting to counselling to rebuking gently. The encourager is to build people up in their faith and life with words of warning, comforting words or a sign or gift of appreciation. The gift of encouraging can be done in the gifts so far in this lift: prophecy, preaching, serving, or teaching as well as the gift in this list to come: giving!
Encouragement can be done from the platform to many people at the same time. However more often than not, it is as one person interacts with another person, individual to individual. Encouragers urge people to respond rightly to God. Encouragers strengthen the weak and comfort those who are in sorrow. Paul himself had a great encourager on his ministry team – Barnabus (Acts 4:36; Acts 9:26ff)! If you are a counsellor in your church, you are exhibiting your gift of encouragement. Are you aware of that? WOW!
Oh how the church needs encouragers! A quiet encouraging word to that teacher or preacher you just heard in your church, or the music leaders – anybody! Your pastor or church leader would appreciate a kind word or a gift from you.
I can tell you from personal experience, that I get more verbal encouragement from those who are not Christian than I do from those who are self-professed Christians. But it should not be that way! Again, every Christian can encourage somebody else – even without the specific gift of encouragement. As we looked at in verse 5, as Christians, we belong to each other, so let each of us be practical in our encouragement of each other! Perhaps the next person you speak to will need a word of encouragement! What will you do? Encourage that person or simply ignore them? Who are your encouragers? Have you made sure they know how much you appreciate their encouragement of you?
Of course, God the Holy Spirit is also the great encourager – always urging us and encouraging us to live obedient lives worth of Jesus Christ whom we follow. Will you listen to His encouragement of you, as He urges you to go encourage somebody else? Or will you ignore His encouraging voice to do so?
Let each of us encourage at least one person a day.