Episodes
Thursday Jan 30, 2025
Story of Ruth 04 - Ruth’s Wholeness of Obedience
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
Story of Ruth 03 - Ruth’s Witness in Obedience.
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
Story of Ruth 02 - Obedience of Ruth
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
Story of Ruth 01 - Introduction
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
Sermon - God? So what? - Ezekiel 36
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
Sermon - God Comes To Town - Ezekiel 1
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
Friday Jan 24, 2025
POD - Psalms 81 to 85
Friday Jan 24, 2025
Friday Jan 24, 2025
Psalm 81 to Psalm 85
Often we hear the Psalms one by one, but today we offer you the chance to hear a group of Psalms read as a collection!
Psalm 81
For the director of music. According to gittith. Of Asaph.
1 Sing for joy to God our strength;
shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
2 Begin the music, strike the timbrel,
play the melodious harp and lyre.
3 Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon,
and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival;
4 this is a decree for Israel,
an ordinance of the God of Jacob. 5 When God went out against Egypt,
he established it as a statute for Joseph.
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Psalm 82
A psalm of Asaph.
1 God presides in the great assembly;
he renders judgment among the “gods”:
2 “How long will you defend the unjust
and show partiality to the wicked?
3 Defend the weak and the fatherless;
uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
4 Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
5 “The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing.
They walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 “I said, ‘You are “gods”;
you are all sons of the Most High.’
7 But you will die like mere mortals;
you will fall like every other ruler.”
8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
for all the nations are your inheritance.
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Psalm 83
A song. A psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, do not remain silent;
do not turn a deaf ear, do not stand aloof, O God.
2 See how your enemies growl,
how your foes rear their heads.
3 With cunning they conspire against your people;
they plot against those you cherish.
4 “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation,
so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.”
5 With one mind they plot together;
they form an alliance against you —
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
of Moab and the Hagrites,
7 Byblos, Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia, with the people of Tyre.
8 Even Assyria has joined them to reinforce Lot’s descendants.
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Psalm 84
For the director of music. According to gittith. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.
1 How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord Almighty!
2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
3 Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young — a place near your altar,
Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.
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Psalm 85
1 You, Lord, showed favor to your land;
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You forgave the iniquity of your people
and covered all their sins.
3 You set aside all your wrath and turned from your fierce anger.
4 Restore us again, God our Savior,
and put away your displeasure toward us.
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger through all generations?
6 Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?
7 Show us your unfailing love, Lord, and grant us your salvation.
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Thursday Jan 23, 2025
POD - Psalms 76 to 80
Thursday Jan 23, 2025
Thursday Jan 23, 2025
Psalm 76 to Psalm 80
Often we hear the Psalms one by one, but today we offer you the chance to hear a group of Psalms read as a collection!
Psalm 76
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of Asaph. A song.
1 God is renowned in Judah; in Israel his name is great.
2 His tent is in Salem, his dwelling-place in Zion.
3 There he broke the flashing arrows,
the shields and the swords, the weapons of war.
4 You are radiant with light, more majestic than mountains rich with game.
5 The valiant lie plundered, they sleep their last sleep;
not one of the warriors can lift his hands.
6 At your rebuke, God of Jacob, both horse and chariot lie still.
7 It is you alone who are to be feared.
Who can stand before you when you are angry?
8 From heaven you pronounced judgment, and the land feared and was quiet –
9 when you, God, rose up to judge, to save all the afflicted of the land.
10 Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise,
and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.
11 Make vows to the LORD your God and fulfil them;
let all the neighbouring lands bring gifts to the One to be feared.
12 He breaks the spirit of rulers; he is feared by the kings of the earth.
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Psalm 77
For the director of music. For Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A psalm.
1 I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me.
2 When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;
at night I stretched out untiring hands, and I would not be comforted.
3 I remembered you, God, and I groaned;
I meditated, and my spirit grew faint.
4 You kept my eyes from closing; I was too troubled to speak.
5 I thought about the former days, the years of long ago;
6 I remembered my songs in the night.
My heart meditated and my spirit asked:
7 ‘Will the Lord reject for ever?
Will he never show his favour again?
8 Has his unfailing love vanished for ever?
Has his promise failed for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be merciful?
Has he in anger withheld his compassion?’
10 Then I thought, ‘To this I will appeal:
the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.
11 I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
12 I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.’
13 Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God?
14 You are the God who performs miracles;
you display your power among the peoples.
15 With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.
16 The waters saw you, God, the waters saw you and writhed;
the very depths were convulsed.
17 The clouds poured down water, the heavens resounded with thunder;
your arrows flashed back and forth.
18 Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind, your lightning lit up the world;
the earth trembled and quaked.
19 Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters,
though your footprints were not seen.
20 You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
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Psalm 78
A maskil of Asaph.
1 My people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth with a parable;
I will utter hidden things, things from of old –
3 things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their descendants;
we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD,
his power, and the wonders he has done.
5 He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children,
6 so that the next generation would know them,
even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.
7 Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds
but would keep his commands.
8 They would not be like their ancestors – a stubborn and rebellious generation,
whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him.
9 The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows, turned back on the day of battle;
10 they did not keep God’s covenant and refused to live by his law.
11 They forgot what he had done, the wonders he had shown them.
12 He did miracles in the sight of their ancestors in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.
13 He divided the sea and led them through; he made the water stand up like a wall.
14 He guided them with the cloud by day and with light from the fire all night.
15 He split the rocks in the wilderness and gave them water as abundant as the seas;
16 he brought streams out of a rocky crag and made water flow down like rivers.
17 But they continued to sin against him, rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High.
18 They wilfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved.
19 They spoke against God;
they said, ‘Can God really spread a table in the wilderness?
20 True, he struck the rock, and water gushed out, streams flowed abundantly,
but can he also give us bread? Can he supply meat for his people?’
21 When the LORD heard them, he was furious;
his fire broke out against Jacob, and his wrath rose against Israel,
22 for they did not believe in God or trust in his deliverance.
23 Yet he gave a command to the skies above
and opened the doors of the heavens;
24 he rained down manna for the people to eat, he gave them the grain of heaven.
25 Human beings ate the bread of angels; he sent them all the food they could eat.
26 He let loose the east wind from the heavens and by his power made the south wind blow.
27 He rained meat down on them like dust, birds like sand on the seashore.
28 He made them come down inside their camp, all around their tents.
29 They ate till they were gorged – he had given them what they craved.
30 But before they turned from what they craved, even while the food was still in their mouths,
31 God’s anger rose against them;
he put to death the sturdiest among them, cutting down the young men of Israel.
32 In spite of all this, they kept on sinning; in spite of his wonders, they did not believe.
33 So he ended their days in futility and their years in terror.
34 Whenever God slew them, they would seek him;
they eagerly turned to him again.
35 They remembered that God was their Rock,
that God Most High was their Redeemer.
36 But then they would flatter him with their mouths, lying to him with their tongues;
37 their hearts were not loyal to him, they were not faithful to his covenant.
38 Yet he was merciful; he forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them.
Time after time he restrained his anger and did not stir up his full wrath.
39 He remembered that they were but flesh, a passing breeze that does not return.
40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness
and grieved him in the wasteland!
41 Again and again they put God to the test; they vexed the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not remember his power – the day he redeemed them from the oppressor,
43 the day he displayed his signs in Egypt, his wonders in the region of Zoan.
44 He turned their river into blood; they could not drink from their streams.
45 He sent swarms of flies that devoured them, and frogs that devastated them.
46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper, their produce to the locust.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamore-figs with sleet.
48 He gave over their cattle to the hail, their livestock to bolts of lightning.
49 He unleashed against them his hot anger,
his wrath, indignation and hostility – a band of destroying angels.
50 He prepared a path for his anger;
he did not spare them from death but gave them over to the plague.
51 He struck down all the firstborn of Egypt, the firstfruits of manhood in the tents of Ham.
52 But he brought his people out like a flock;
he led them like sheep through the wilderness.
53 He guided them safely, so they were unafraid;
but the sea engulfed their enemies.
54 And so he brought them to the border of his holy land,
to the hill country his right hand had taken.
55 He drove out nations before them and allotted their lands to them as an inheritance;
he settled the tribes of Israel in their homes.
56 But they put God to the test and rebelled against the Most High;
they did not keep his statutes.
57 Like their ancestors they were disloyal and faithless,
as unreliable as a faulty bow.
58 They angered him with their high places; they aroused his jealousy with their idols.
59 When God heard them, he was furious; he rejected Israel completely.
60 He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,
the tent he had set up among humans.
61 He sent the ark of his might into captivity, his splendour into the hands of the enemy.
62 He gave his people over to the sword; he was furious with his inheritance.
63 Fire consumed their young men, and their young women had no wedding songs;
64 their priests were put to the sword, and their widows could not weep.
65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, as a warrior wakes from the stupor of wine.
66 He beat back his enemies; he put them to everlasting shame.
67 Then he rejected the tents of Joseph, he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim;
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loved.
69 He built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth that he established for ever.
70 He chose David his servant and took him from the sheepfolds;
71 from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob,
of Israel his inheritance.
72 And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skilful hands he led them.
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Psalm 79
A psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy temple, they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.
2 They have left the dead bodies of your servants
as food for the birds of the sky,
the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild.
3 They have poured out blood like water all around Jerusalem,
and there is no one to bury the dead.
4 We are objects of contempt to our neighbours,
of scorn and derision to those around us.
5 How long, LORD? Will you be angry for ever?
How long will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you,
on the kingdoms that do not call on your name;
7 for they have devoured Jacob and devastated his homeland.
8 Do not hold against us the sins of past generations;
may your mercy come quickly to meet us,
for we are in desperate need.
9 Help us, God our Saviour, for the glory of your name;
deliver us and forgive our sins for your name’s sake.
10 Why should the nations say, ‘Where is their God?’
Before our eyes, make known among the nations
that you avenge the outpoured blood of your servants.
11 May the groans of the prisoners come before you;
with your strong arm preserve those condemned to die.
12 Pay back into the laps of our neighbours seven times
the contempt they have hurled at you, Lord.
13 Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will praise you for ever;
from generation to generation we will proclaim your praise.
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Psalm 80
For the director of music. To the tune of ‘The Lilies of the Covenant’. Of Asaph. A psalm.
1 Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,
shine forth 2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Awaken your might; come and save us.
3 Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.
4 How long, LORD God Almighty,
will your anger smoulder against the prayers of your people?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears;
you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.
6 You have made us an object of derision to our neighbours,
and our enemies mock us.
7 Restore us, God Almighty;
make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.
8 You transplanted a vine from Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches.
11 Its branches reached as far as the Sea, its shoots as far as the River.
12 Why have you broken down its walls so that all who pass by pick its grapes?
13 Boars from the forest ravage it, and insects from the fields feed on it.
14 Return to us, God Almighty! Look down from heaven and see!
Watch over this vine,
15 the root your right hand has planted, the son you have raised up for yourself.
16 Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire; at your rebuke your people perish.
17 Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,
the son of man you have raised up for yourself.
18 Then we will not turn away from you; revive us, and we will call on your name.
19 Restore us, LORD God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.
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Tuesday Jan 21, 2025
Bible Thought - Heaven
Tuesday Jan 21, 2025
Tuesday Jan 21, 2025
Heaven
What is heaven like? People, both believers and non-believers have an opinion about Heaven! To some its where everybody will meet up after death providing they weren't too bad in this earthly life! The caricature of the comedians is that heaven will be floating around on clouds and playing a harp! So what does the Bible, the foundation for all serious Christian thought, have to say about heaven?
Physical Place:
The first thing to say is that Heaven is a physical place! The Bible describes Heaven as a House (John 14:2); a Kingdom (Matthew 25:34); Paradise (2 Corinthians 12:2-4); Holy City (Revelation 21:2)!. These are all descriptions of Heaven's physical properties!
Characteristics:
Now, look & listen at all these characteristics the Bible offers about heaven! Joy (Luke 15v7-10); Rest (Revelation 14:13); Peace (Luke 16:19-25); Righteousness (2 Peter 3:12); Service (Revelation 7:15); Reward (Matthew 5:11-12); Inheritance (1 Peter 1:4); Glory (Romans 8:17-18). No sitting around on clouds there - for instance: service implies working!
Who is it for and who can enter?
Who is it prepared for and who can enter Heaven? It is for all those recorded in the Book of Life (Malachi 3:16-18; Philippians 4:3); the Righteous (Matthew 5:20); the obedient (Revelation 22:14) and those who are declared holy (Revelation 19v8). People enter heaven through giant gates of pearl (Revelation 21:21). A pearl is formed as an oyster suffers, covering a grain of irritating sand, until the irritation ceases. Now what do you think the suffering was that created these giant pearls that are the gates? It can only be the cross and the incredible suffering and pain that Jesus endured upon it. It is only through the death of Jesus on the cross that you can be declared holy and righteous! Only those who have been declared holy will be able to stand in the presence of Almighty God!
Christian Attitude
As a Christian Disciple, your current attitude towards heaven should be to desire (2 Corinthians 5:2-8), eagerly keep watch for (2 Peter 3:12) and to put your treasure there (Luke 12:32)!
We also see from the Bible that Heaven is prepared, and a pure place!
Prepared: Jesus promised us "I am going to build a place for you" (John 14:1-4). Jesus has been working on heaven for almost 2000 years!! Jesus has prepared a place for those who love Him, trust Him and obey Him as King. He is expecting us, wanting to lavish His love upon us.
Pure: Heaven is also a pure place (Revelation 21:1-4). Today we all suffer in some way. When our King returns, no more will man's inhumanity to man be allowed. No more pain. No more death. No more suffering. No more sin. Perfection attained and it is to the glory of an Almighty and merciful God, that this will occur.
What does this mean now?
All this doesn't mean you are not to be so heavenly minded, that you are of no earthly use. Rather, you are not to be so earth bound, that you are not tied to Jesus in your eternal home - heaven! Won't you tell somebody today, about heaven and how they can get there with you?
Q1. Read Luke 10:20. How can I help others to have their names written in Heaven?
Q2. Read 2 Peter 3:12. How am I looking forward to Heaven?
Q3. Read Revelation 2:7-11. What do I need to in order to be an “overcomer?”
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Monday Jan 20, 2025
A Christian Response to Suffering & Sickness - Bible Thought
Monday Jan 20, 2025
Monday Jan 20, 2025
A Christian Response to Suffering & Sickness
Jeremiah 37:11-16 After the Babylonian army had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh's army, 12 Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the property among the people there. But when he reached the Benjamin Gate, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, arrested him and said, "You are deserting to the Babylonians!"
"That's not true!" Jeremiah said. "I am not deserting to the Babylonians." But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into a prison.
Quite possibly the biggest question Christian Disciples ask themselves or is asked of them by others concerns the problem of suffering. I will start out by saying I don’t have all the answers, but hope to give some idea as to what the Bible says about suffering. Many people mention suffering as the main reason they do not believe in any form of God, whether that be a personal God or an impassive God. What is true of all humans, is that we all suffer in some way. It is an endemic part of human life. Suffering of any kind leaves some sort of scar or mark. Do you have scars? Physical, emotional or mental scars due to sickness, somebody else actions against you or as a result of your own actions? Scars come as a result of human life - everyone one of us has them! Are you suffering today from sickness? Are you suffering today because of somebody else? Guaranteed you know of somebody suffering, even if its only by watching the news and the scenes of devastation presented!
Come and listen to find out more. Thank you.