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July 6, 2014 By Dennis Greenidge Leave a Comment

1Samuel 12-13; James 2:19-26 and Psalm 119:81-96

1Samuel 12-13

12:1-3 Help us to be like Samuel, Lord, faithful to the end. May they say of us that we was not one to cheat or lie or take advantage of anyone weaker than ourselves. Where we have done any wrong, show us how to make it right. Make us Your servant. Make us like Jesus.

12:14-15 Time after time, You warn Your people to stay close to You. Time after time, they fail. Lord, have mercy on me when I fail You, too, either by choice or by indifference. Thank You for Your willingness to work with me and to forgive.

12:23 Is there someone you love who continues in sin? Do you feel like giving up on them? Ask The Lord to help you persevere in prayer, like Samuel. While there is life, there is hope. Pray for that person right now.

13:6 Sometimes life is scary, Lord, and I want to hide from it’s battles and strife. I pray that You will give us Your strength and Your perspective. You are with us. We have nothing to fear.

13:7-14 You know our hearts, O God. You see our every act. Help us not to blame others when we are caught in sin. There is no deceiving You and no one else’s opinion matters. Cleanse us and make us pure before You.

13:15 It is clear that Saul bases his assessment on a worldly assumption, size and strength determine the course of the battle. His equation leaves out God. How do you assess your potential for success? Is God’s help part of your equation?

James 2:19-26

2:21-26 Pray that God by His Holy Spirit will draw you and support you as you take that difficult step of faith and obedience He has been prompting you to take for Him.

Psalm 119:81-96

119:83 Ask The Lord in these trying
days to give you the spiritual stamina to cling to His principles and obey them even when you are exhausted with waiting.

119:95 Ask The Lord by the help of the Holy Spirit to help you to memorise verses of Scripture so you can quietly keep your mind on His decrees.

July 5, 2014 By Clint Scott Leave a Comment

Faith and Works

Today’s Reading: 1 Sam 10:1–11:15, James 2:14–18, Ps 119:65–80

Today’s Theme: Faith and Works

The work of the Holy Spirit

Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. 1 Samuel 10:6 (ESV)

God’s Holy Spirit would come upon Saul causing him to prophesy and would even change him as a person while under the Spirit’s influence. This would serve to confirm his calling for Saul himself and the people.

God the Holy Spirit comes upon us today too, to empower us with gifts to be used for God’s glory and to change our hearts. See 1 Corinthians 12:11 and Hebrews 2:4

The Holy Spirit’s work of regeneration in the heart of believers is one of the greatest miracles. See Titus 3:5 and John 3:3

Empowered for war

And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled. 1 Samuel 11:6 (ESV)

God’s Holy Spirit is not in our life for superficial reasons or just for show. God’s Spirit comes upon us to equip us, empower us, make us bold for the battle. Ephesians 6:12

God the Holy Spirit wants to capture our hearts today to be engaged in the spiritual war raging in God’s Kingdom. We should be filled with God’s passion to see God glorified, to see his kingdom established and for the flourishing of church. Galatians 5:17

The World Cup is on right now and it is easy to get passionate about a team we are supporting, however we should be even more passionate and driven when it comes to things concerning God and his kingdom. Philippians 1:27

Saul did not waste the passion and anger he felt when the Spirit of God came upon him, he made a plan and executed it in verse 11. We need to channel the energy God gives us, make a plan and execute it.

Just Faith!!

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? James 2:14 (ESV)

“Can that faith save him?” the answer to the question is No!

Faith alone will save no one, just believing in God or believing the gospel will not save us.

Many people believe God is God, believe the bible is true and the gospel is true but they do not have saving faith because they do not obey the gospel.

Inactive faith is ineffective, dead, and worthless, it is literally not worth having because it brings no benefit to those who hold it.

True faith will always have the fruit of behaviour, deeds and works that correspond to, conform to and come from the proclaimed faith.

God calls us to real faith not to mere intellectual agreement.

Dead faith

So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. James 2:17 (ESV)

James writes in such and understandable way there is little room for confusion. Here he makes it clear that faith without corresponding deeds is dead.

Man may try to redefine faith and even what it means to be saved but the fact remains that what we believe will show fruit in our lives through our behaviour and actions.

Faith by itself is dead. True faith goes beyond the mind and heart and ends up right here in the real world, showing itself through the things we do and refrain from doing.

Only God can grant us live giving, saving faith by his Holy Spirit.

Show your faith

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. James 2:18 (ESV)

Faith is not a private affair, it’s a community project. Our faith is not a privately held opinion it is a publicly proclaimed message and a life lived openly in community with the body of Christ.

We are called to actively show our faith by the things we do.

Our society tries to force us to keep faith private which is not biblical and is a ploy to silence the proclamation of our faith and make our faith impotent through no obvious displays of faith in life.

Today’s culture is always talking in the movies and stories about believing, if you just believe… they don’t talk about believing in God just believing in general. In fact it is quite fashionable to have belief… just in general not anything as specific as believing the Gospel of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ or believing the bible.

Determine to actively exhibit your faith today.

God does good

You are good and do good; teach me your statutes. Psalm 119:68 (ESV)

God is good and so does good. The same should be true for us, if we have been made good through faith in Jesus then we should do good, just like God.

July 5, 2014 By Dennis Greenidge Leave a Comment

1 Samuel 10-11; Psalm 119:65-80

1 Samuel 10-11

10:7 Thank The Lord for all the ways He guides you. Ask Him today to make you aware of the signs that light your path and keep you faithful to follow His lead. 10:9 It is just amazing how the unwilling become willing when God’s power enters. Ask The Lord to make you willing to do whatever He ask you to do. If necessary, ask Him to change your heart.

10:23 Saul stood head and shoulders above the others physically but he wavered in his commitment to obey The Lord. Ask The Lord to make you tall and strong of spirit.

10:26 Lord, thank you for sending faithful companions to Saul to stand with him as he becomes king. Please send committed companions to us to support us on this earth. Give us the same faithful heart for them.

11:6-7 I can see the Saul’s anger is an effective tool in God’s hands, but it leads him into sin when he allows it full reign. Ask The Lord to refine your anger for His purposes but save you from it’s folly.

Psalm 119:65-80

119:67 Consider the benefits of God’s discipline in your life. Remember that God disciplines those He accepts as His children. ( Remember Hebrews 12:6).

119:74 Lord, may my love for You and Your Word be so obvious to those around me that they experience joy because of me. And may I find joy in those around me who honour You.

Have a blessed day bringing glory to our King.

July 4, 2014 By Clint Scott Leave a Comment

God the true King

Today’s Reading: 1 Sam 8:1–9:27, James 2:1–13, Ps 119:49–64

Today’s Theme: God the true King

One of the bible’s great themes is God as King and the Universe as his Kingdom. This is an over arching story in the biblical narrative which brings the whole story together. God establishes his Kingdom in creation, sin brings rebellion in the kingdom and Jesus comes to proclaim and reestablsih the kingdom and will return to ruke and reign as king over all.

The rejected King

And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 1 Samuel 8:7 (ESV)

One of the main narratives of the bible is that God is King. One of the clearest ways we see this is with Israel. God’s chosen nation was always intended to be a witness and example to the world. One example they were to show was Gods kingdom on earth, they were to show the nations what it meant to have God rule as king, known as a Theocratic Kingdom.

The rejection of their covenant keeping God and King was a foreshadow of the rejection of Jesus the Messiah. See Acts 3:13–15; 7:51–53.

Regardless of the people’s rejection it does not change hat fact that God is the sovereign king over all creation. Yesterday we read how God was sovereign over the Philistines and the people of Israel.

We must joyfully submit to God as our covenant keeping, sovereign King.

Like everyone else

that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” 1 Samuel 8:20 (ESV)

Don’t be in a hurry to be like everyone else. We must learn to be content and happy with God’s provision and guidance in our lives.

We learn throughout the bible that it is unwise to compare ourselves with others and so become covetous. We may be envious of a seemingly wealthy person but do not realise that to get what they have, we need to sacrifice, family, time and health for example.

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 10:12 “Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.”

Trust God as the king, don’t try to be the little king and ruler of your own life, deciding what and who you should be. Instead determine to submit yourself to the King and what he has for you

The King’s providence

But he said to him, “Behold, there is a man of God in this city, and he is a man who is held in honor; all that he says comes true. So now let us go there. Perhaps he can tell us the way we should go.” 1 Samuel 9:6 (ESV)

God used Saul’s servant (who would seem insignificant) to change his mind so that they would encounter Samuel. God uses people around us to direct us according to his plan.

We should ask the Holy Spirit to guide us in this way today so that we meet the people and go to the places God wants us to.

Our King’s royal law

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. James 2:8 (ESV)

God our great King, demonstrated the royal law by showing us his love for us in giving us Jesus his only Son to die for our sins.

We as members of his kingdom here on earth should fulfil the royal law which is to love others as we love ourselves. As Jesus said all the law is summed up in this.

James is making the point that we should not act with partiality and prejudice.

Walk in the love of the king towards those around you today. Show mercy and remember mercy was shown to you, this will triumph over being judgemental in your own mind.

Entreat the King

I entreat your favor with all my heart; be gracious to me according to your promise. Psalm 119:58 (ESV)

Like this psalm we entreat the king to show us his favour according to his word.

July 4, 2014 By Dennis Greenidge Leave a Comment

1 Samuel 8-9 and James 2:1-13

1 Samuel 8 Prayer Points

8:11 Samuel is just telling it like it is! Power corrupts. Ask the Lord to give you a measure of influence you can handle with out corruption.

8:19 The Lord gives the people the freedom to choose a king, even though He knew it would prove to be their down fall. He gives us the freedom to choose our course as well. Ask Him to make you wise and godly in your decisions so that you will not turn away from His love.

1 Samuel 9 Prayer Points

9:6 Pray for the body of Christ, that when we are confused and don’t know which way to go, we will seek out godly advisers. Those who don’t know you will only give us advice that leads to more confusion. We need guidance that comes from the Lord.

9:16 Even though God’s people made the wrong decision for a king, in mercy God guided Samuel to Saul. Even when we make the wrong decision, You do not desert us. You have mercy on us and begin the process of bringing us back to Your side. Thank the Lord for His grace and mercy.

9:21 Saul begins well. God exalts the humble, the smallest tribe, the shy, the least likely candidate. That includes us. Thank the Lord for using you in His service today.

James 2:1-13 Prayer Points

2:1-9 Ask the Holy Spirit to illumine your spirit and root out any tendency you have to discriminate against people. Pray that the Holy Spirit will help you see others with God’s perspective.

2:12-13 Praise God, for His mercy and love in the way He has dealt with your sin. Pray that His perfect law of love and mercy will be your rule as you deal with the shortcomings of others.