Mercy triumphs over law
We are supposed to be under grace not law, so why is there a de facto legalism? Maybe it is introduced to avoid the displeasure of God? We tend to believe that He is unwilling to act in the presence of...
View ArticleWord & Spirit – false dichotomy.
The division between Spirit and Word is a false dichotomy of our time played out between conservatives and charismatics. Do I experience God through the Spirit’s leading in worship and seeing Him at...
View ArticleThe embarrassing cross
The cross stands as an embarrassment! If I proclaim a God of power it is embarrassing that my God was taken to a cross and executed. If I expect the Lord to bring physical and emotional wholeness then...
View ArticleFocus on the Father
When I focus on my Father, I see His kindness and His justice in the way He tenderly deals with my failure and restores me. As I focus on Him, I begin to live out His values of kindness, justice and...
View ArticlePraying in trouble
Why is it that when something is going wrong it is hard to believe God will save me? I know I am not alone in this, I see it written all over Psalm 116. It is not that the author has no faith, he knows...
View ArticleHope for the hopeless
My struggle with hope is an indication of how hard I find it to keep my focus on Jesus without being overwhelmed by our spiritual climate. I look upon our situation in the Church and it seems to be...
View ArticleGod’s Protection
What is the dividing line between presumption and faith. Some take God’s promise to protect us, and enter the lion’s den. Others know the Lord could protect, but will He choose to? They are unwilling...
View ArticleThe Lord’s Leadership
Can I trust God for my leaders? A while back I saw someone take a role I felt they were unsuited for. At that time I needed to trust God for His control. Then a situation arose that tested this godly...
View ArticleForgetting God
When I am spiritually empty I get caught up with myself, and forget God. It is a strange emptiness coming either through abandoning routine times in the word and prayer or through intense activity and...
View ArticleFragrance of Christ
When a person meets with God, the impact is not often in the spectacular, but in the fragrance. It is not often in miracles or recordable events, but in the tenderness of the love, the quietness of...
View ArticleSurrender to the Light of a Child
The oppression of our self-focused, secular rooted religion is crushing us. We need the freedom only Christ can bring. As Isaiah says, Isaiah 9:4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, You have...
View ArticleDrawn out of hiding
My desire for God can be so conflicted. This is seen in Song of Songs 2. 8 … Look! Here he comes, leaping across the mountains, … It begins with wonder and worship – her lover coming. This is easy....
View ArticleDriven
When I am driven by a task I find myself clinging to the false hope that this next attempt will succeed. When it fails I jump immediately to the next attempt. There is no time for reflection and...
View ArticleChrist in us – Majesty
Our culture tries to smear us with shame for following Christ. Atheism’s angry voice dominates. I want to fit in, yet that means concealing the majesty the Lord has clothed me in, covering it with the...
View ArticleNice or Kind?
I have often been ‘Mr Nice Guy’, yet niceness is not godliness. I read up on the difference between nice and kind and was shocked by how different these two words are, when most would consider them...
View ArticleNice encounters Love
Being nice has become a core value of our age. It is hard to argue against what superficially seems so good. Nice however is rooted in selfishness, with its fear of what people will think and its...
View ArticleReward with God
What a privilege to participate in Jesus’ ministry. Paul and Barnabas were directed into ministry through Isaiah 49:6: “… I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to...
View ArticleWho is a disciple of Jesus?
Who is a disciple of Jesus? Jesus gave two key passages. The first - 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know...
View ArticleAwaiting God’s intervention
In a crisis I am tempted to force a solution. The Lord shows a different way – Isaiah 56 1‘Maintain justice and do what is right, I can’t achieve righteousness through abuse, only love. for my...
View ArticleRest in stress
There are times when I am stressed out by the urgent and yet it seems every road I take to resolve the situation ends in frustration. It seems I am battling against God. The real surprise shown in...
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