Daily Devotions

1 John 1:6-2:2 - Jesus: a light in the darkness The message that God is light not only tells us about God’s goodness and guidance; it also tells us about our lack of goodness and our need for guidance. People who claim to be God’s friends yet ignore his Son are exposed as living in darkness. People who deny being sinful are exposed as deluded and foolish. People who deny that they do bad things are exposed as making God out to be a liar. All in all, under the piercing illumination of God’s purity, our sins are exposed in all their ugliness and darkness. In this respect, the message that God is light drives us to see our need for Jesus’ help. John describes Jesus as speaking to the Father in our defence, and as the “propitiation” for our sins (2:1-2). Propitiation means ‘to turn away someone’s justifiable anger’. That’s what Jesus’ death on the cross does for us. When Jesus died on the cross, he was sacrificing himself in our place and taking the punishment that we deserve for being s...

1 John 1:5 - God is Light  Yesterday, we discovered several important things about 1 John. These included: The primary reason for the letter is to reassure Christians that a belief in Jesus Christ truly gives them eternal life.  John repeats a number of important topics throughout the letter, but each time he does, he adds a new truth so as to provide a fresh perspective. The letter begins with the foundational truth that “the word of life” has appeared on earth as the man Jesus Christ. It is this third truth that John now wishes to expand on, as he begins to describe the message delivered by Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:5 says "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all." Light is quite a common image in the Bible. It’s an especially important image for representing God’s presence and guidance. During the exodus, God leads Israel through the desert with a pillar of fire to give them light (Exod 13:21-22...

1 John 1:1-4 - “I was there!” The first truth John is eager for his readers to know is that “the word of life” has appeared. John mentions this twice in verse 2 so that we don’t miss it. He even emphasises which bits of his own body were involved in knowing this: John’s own hands touched “the life”; his own eyes saw “the life”. John wishes to stress the fact that “the life” really did appear. “It actually happened”, John is saying; “I was there!” John is, of course, referring to Jesus Christ. We know this because of what John goes on to say later in the letter (e.g. 5:11), but also because John uses similar phrasing to speak about Jesus in his Gospel (e.g. John 1:1-3, 6:35, 11:25-26). But why doesn’t John simply call Jesus by his usual name in these opening verses? Why does he use titles like “the life”, “the word of life” and “the eternal life”? The reason is linked with John’s purpose for writing. He is writing to reassure followers of Jesus that they do indeed have eternal life. T...

1 John - Introduction Imagine meeting the Queen of England down the street. I know it sounds ridiculous, but imagine it really happened. You’re picking up some groceries at the local supermarket and suddenly you bump into Queen Elizabeth II. Now imagine that she was at the shops to give out all-expenses-paid holidays to England, staying at Buckingham Palace. To accept the offer, you simply need to ring a travel agency and tell them Liz sent you. Now if that had really happened, it would be a most remarkable piece of news—news that would certainly be hard to believe, but news that you would nevertheless be desperate to pass on to your friends. Indeed, because it is so hard to believe, that’s all the more reason why you would need to tell your friends about it. Let’s face it: no-one is ever going to spontaneously ring a travel agent to book a free holiday to England by saying, “Liz sent me”. That’s the sort of thing someone will only ever do if they’ve been told the good news about the...

Day Twenty – Praise to God 2 Corinthians 9:11 “You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion... your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. " 2 Corinthians 9:11-15 - "You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.  Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" When we can bless others with our generosity, the praise goes to God. People who receive the...

Day Nineteen – Community of Care Acts 2:44-47 ”All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. " Acts 2:42-47 "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.  They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,  praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." The first Christians instinctively knew that their possessions needed to be shared with their brothers and sisters in Chri...

Day Eighteen – Pleasing God Philippians 4:15,18-19 "... the gifts you sent are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” Read Philippians 4:10-20 Giving to the work of ministry is really an offering to God himself. When the Philippians gave to Paul they were actually offering their resources to further God's kingdom. They gave so that his ministry of advancing the claims of the Gospel would progress. All giving is used by God in this way. Money is never meant to be stored up in some type of bank account but instead used for God's kingdom purposes. When the church has hoarded wealth, it has strayed far from God's purposes and needs to repent. He doesn't desire extravagance; He doesn't need worldly success. He is a giving Lord who constantly pours out the ‘fragrant offerings’ given to him back into people so that they would know him. For example, Paul, th...

Day Seventeen - Adventure I Chronicles 29:14 "But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand." Read  1 Chronicles 29:1-20  David beautifully expresses a heart of gratitude here in this passage. We too should marvel at even the ability to be generous. It is one of God's good gifts to us, a sure sign of our understanding of His grace. Giving to God's kingdom, laying down our earthly treasures at his feet, has no end. It is a roller-coaster ride through life, an adventure. And yet it is an adventure that is safe within the loving arms of the almighty God. Only the gospel of new life in Christ can sustain such a life-long experience. To paraphrase G. K. Chesterton: "Every person wants two things in life: adventure and security. Only in Christianity do you get both." 1. Where does your ability to be generous come from? Were you a...

Day Sixteen - Outpouring of Grace 2 Corinthians 9:6 "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously." 2 Corinthians 9:6-10 "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written: “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.”Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness." God promises that he will pour out even more abundant grace into our lives to the degree that we commit to him. ...

Day Fifteen - Outgiving God Malachi 3:10 "Bring the whole tithe... test me in this, "says the LORD Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." Malachi 3:8-12 "“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty." God dares you to tru...

Day Fourteen - Sacrifice of First fruits 2 Corinthians 8:3 "For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. " Deuteronomy 26:1-4, 9-11 "When you have entered the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance and have taken possession of it and settled in it, take some of the firstfruits of all that you produce from the soil of the land the Lord your God is giving you and put them in a basket. Then go to the place the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his Name and say to the priest in office at the time, “I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the land the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.” The priest shall take the basket from your hands and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God... He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; 10 and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, Lord, have given me.” Place the basket before the...

Day Thirteen - Investing in the Kingdom Luke 12:33 "Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted." Luke 12:22-34 "Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he...

Day Twelve - Proportion 1 Corinthians 16:2 “On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income.” 1 Corinthians 15:58-16:4 - Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me. After a lengthy discussion of the glories of resurrection in Christ, Paul places an important "therefore" in 15:58. Because we know for sure that death is...

Day Eleven - Starting Somewhere Leviticus 27:30 “A tithe of everything... belongs to the LORD.”  Leviticus 27:30-33 - “‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. Whoever would redeem any of their tithe must add a fifth of the value to it. Every tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod—will be holy to the Lord. No one may pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If anyone does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed.’” In the Old Testament, all believers were required to give a tenth of income to God's work and the poor. The tithe is still a minimum guideline for our giving. The tithe (or ten percent) guideline makes many Christians feel guilty. Some of that guilt, as we saw yesterday, is false. However, as one observer states: "...some of us should feel legitimately guilty ...

Day Ten - A Cheerful Giver  2 Corinthians 9: 7 "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 - Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.  As it is written: “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.” Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will ...

Day Nine - The Motive 2 Corinthians 8:8,9 “I want to test the sincerity of your love. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” 2 Corinthians 8:1-15 - We want you to know, brothers,1 about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favour of taking part in the relief of the saints— and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness...

Day Eight - The Antidote 1 Timothy 6:18 “...do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” 1 Timothy 6:6-9, 17-19: "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.  Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.  In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." Paul has already warned us about the dangerous...

Day Seven - Love of Money at the Root 1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” 1 Timothy 6:6-10 "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." This famous passage is central to our view of money. Paul claims that the love of money is at the bottom of a wide variety of sin and idolatry. Money is like a spice in the smorgasbord of sinful desires. In other words, few people lust after mere dollar bills. Instead, money plays into idolatries of security, or comfort, or approval, or power. We like money because it g...

Day Six - Contentment Hebrews 13:1-6: 'Keep on loving each other as brothers. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. Marriage should be honoured by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”' In the midst of exhorting Christians to live according to the gospel the writer to the Hebrews actually commands contentment. Just as contentment is a result of trusting God, it is also the means of trusting God. T o be discontent is to accuse God with being either unloving or impote...