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Daily Devotional thoughts by Stephen Thompson

Daily Bible thoughts 1481: Monday 21st August 2017: Mark 4:30-34: Don’t judge by appearances.

Mark 4:30-34: Don’t judge by appearances.

“30 Again he said, ‘What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. 32 Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.’  33 With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. 34 He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.”NIV UK

Don’t judge by appearances. Just because a Christian work is small this does not mean it is insignificant. If it is truly Christian, it has life and growth latent within it. Watch this space, as they say!

The Kingdom of God on earth in Jesus had infinitesimally small beginnings. Christ was born in obscurity. One of his twelve disciples betrayed Him. Although He had a wider circle of followers, the majority of people rejected Him and He was crucified (Isaiah 53:3).Yet the Kingdom has filled the earth and ‘’…the birds of the air…perch in its shade’’ (34). This is believed to be a reference to the nations of the world coming into it. Within just a few decades of the death and resurrection of Jesus, the church had spread to every part of the then known world. The tiniest of seeds became the biggest of garden plants. It’s growth was miraculous and spectacular.

So, don’t despise the day of small things. A great, effective missionary was described as ‘a man small enough for God to use.’

Also, if you find yourself part of a small church, perhaps in a remote setting, do not allow yourself (yourselves even) to become parochial. Lift up your eyes on the fields. Cultivate a world vision if you don’t have one; nurture and feed the global outlook if you do. The birds of the air are still looking for branches to perch in; so spiritual ornithology should be a matter of great interest and concern to us.

PRAYER: Again Lord, help us to live on a world map. Thank you, too, for the encouragement that though our work may be small, it is not irrelevant or powerless

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Daily Bible thoughts 1259: Thursday 27th October 2016: John 16:25-33: On top of the world!

John 16:25-33: On top of the world! (please click for todays passage)

Here is a truth you will discover sooner or later if you haven’t already done so: people can be fickle. You will probably, in the course of your lifetime, be wounded, and feel let down by and disappointed in people who you thought were your friends. You loved them, and served them; you treated them kindly and courteously, and then one day you find yourself bleeding copiously from a ‘knife wound’ they inflicted on you. And it hurts so much. Sometimes the cut goes that deep you feel you will never recover. At least, you can’t imagine the scar fading.

Many years ago, as a rather naive eighteen year old, I asked a Ugandan student in Bible College how he found people in the UK. His deadpan response was, ”People are people brother.” As someone said, ”The best of men are men at best.” We are all fallen, flawed and frail and capable of damaging as well as being damaged. ”People are people”.

In this world Jesus had trouble – terrible trouble. He soaked up the hatred and violence of His enemies. But He was also badly let down, when ‘push came to shove’, by his closest friends. He had spent around three years with these men, and poured His life and love into them. He had given Himself unstintingly to them. Even as they were telling Him that they were beginning to ‘get it’; that they were starting to understand His specialness, His uniqueness, He knew that they were about to let Him down big time.

”Do you finally believe? In fact, you’re about to make a run for it – saving your own skins and abandoning me.” The Message.

Like Jesus we will have trouble in this world. It will come predominantly from an antagonistic culture. But probably too much will come our way from fellow disciples who ought to know better. (Yet, knowing the worst about ourselves, we are not surprised, even if we are saddened.) How do you deal with this? Jesus points the way by example and word:

  1. Remember you are never alone. The Father will not abandon His beloved child.
  2. Recognise that in Jesus, the ‘Prince of Peace’ there is peace. ‘He is our peace’. In this world we will have trouble. But there’s a deeper reality: first and foremost we are in Jesus
  3. Realise that Christ is the Victor and we share in His victory. I believe that in one version Jesus, having spelled out that in the world His disciples will have trouble, goes on to say, ”But cheer up. I’m on top of it.” That’s important to remember. In fact, never let it out of your sight.
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Daily Bible thoughts 1257: Tuesday 25th October 2016: John 16: 17-22: Any Answers?

John 16: 17-22: Any Answers? (please click for todays passage)

”Are you trying to figure out among yourselves what I meant when I said…?” (19) The Message.

Questions, questions, questions! It is not wrong to ask questions. Rather it is natural and normal to have them. Life throws up scores of questions.

It’s not wrong either to talk with fellow disciples about our questions. The essence of fellowship is ‘sharing’, and we can and should open up our hearts, our thoughts to one another. We really can help each other.

Neither is it wrong to try to ”figure” out what Jesus means. God has given you a wonderful brain. It is a remarkable gift. We are told that we don’t come anywhere close to fully utilising its capacity. So, by all means, please use the grey stuff between your ears. Be a thinking Christian…

…but do this PRAYERFULLY.

It is a big mistake to ask questions that pertain to Jesus, His Word and His work, and not ask Him WHEN HE IS WITH US. It is sad when we run the church by committee meetings and brainstorming sessions and good ideas, but do not pray – or, at least, pray only perfunctorily:

”If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5).

Sometimes we just don’t do the obvious:

”Jesus knew they were dying to ask him what he meant…” (19) The Message.

So why don’t we?  Is it that we think the Lord might ‘find fault’ with us; might scold us for our stupidity or ignorance? Might be somewhat annoyed or irritated? 

Jesus is willing to explain to us as much as He wants us to know. He doesn’t unveil every mystery of course, but He is alive, and He speaks to His followers. I thought about entitling this piece ‘Any questions?’, but in the end I went for ‘Any answers?’ His answers are far more important than our questions. We will not always find what He says to us easy to bear, but we can trust Him to be truthful. Whatever pain may lie in the short term, over the long haul the outlook is glorious. The Christian story is a ”happy ever after” story.

And a day is coming when we will have all the answers we need.

But for today, what pressing, burning questions do you need to lay at Jesus’ feet? Come – He bids you, and at His door you will see the ‘welcome’ mat.

PRAYER: Thank you Lord Jesus that you speak to your disciples still today, and that you are willing to help. Please forgive me for the many times I try to work through stuff on my own. I ask today for your wisdom with regard to…(fill in the blanks yourself), and I trust that I will be given help and understanding. Thank you Lord.

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Daily Bible thoughts 1255: Friday 21st October 2016: John 16:5-11: The Supreme Counsel for the prosecution.

John 16:5-11: The Supreme Counsel for the prosecution.(please click for todays passage)

I believe I once read somewhere that the great and effective Victorian preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, used to say to himself,every time he was entering the pulpit, ”I believe in the Holy Ghost.” He knew where his strength lay.

Today’s passage says at least three things to us:

  1. Have confidence in the Holy Spirit. He has a job to do, and He will do it. You can be sure of that: ”When he comes, he’ll expose the error of the godless world’s view of sin, righteousness, and judgment: He’ll show them that their refusal to believe in me is their basic sin; that righteousness comes from above, where I am with the Father, out of their sight and control; that judgment takes place as the ruler of this godless world is brought to trial and convicted.” (The Message) He causes people to see fundamental spiritual realities. Believe in His presence and activity in the world, even though you do not see Him. He is at work. You may or may not be a preacher, but every Christian should share Spurgeon’s confidence in the Holy Spirit.
  2. Don’t confuse your role with that of the Holy Spirit. It is not your work to change people. Some  folks seem to see it as their life’s assignment to put everybody else right. If that’s you, you are wrong! Christian wife, you are not asked to do the Holy Spirit’s work with reference to your unconverted husband. And to any Christian husbands with unregenerate spouses, it’s exactly the same message to you. Christian parents, much as you love your children and want to see them in God’s Kingdom, you can’t push them in by force. You can’t badger and bully them into submission. This is not the God appointed way. Please get this: it is not your job to bring another human being under conviction of sin. This task is definitely the domain of the third Person of the Trinity. It’s not the case that we have nothing to do. We have already seen the ‘double testimony’ in (15:26, 27). Jesus said about the Spirit, ”he will testify about me”. But He went on to say, ”you also must testify…” We do have to co-operate with the Holy Spirit in pointing to Jesus, but He is supremely ‘the Counsel for the prosecution.’ Spirit-filled witness is your job; conviction of sin is His unique work.
  3. Look for what the Holy Spirit is doing in every situation you find yourself in. He is working in people and situations where it may appear to the outward eye that nothing promising is happening. Only this morning, I heard a testimony given by a highly influential pastor. He told a story of how as a youth he was totally reprobate. He said he loved his sin. But then his life began to cave in. A friend invited him to a Christian meeting. After attending for a while he bought himself a Bible (‘The Authorised Version’, because that was the one in use in that particular church!) and it began to come alive to him. He was soundly converted. Again, as you read the Book of ‘Acts’, you get the impression time after time that the church is playing ‘catch up’ with the Holy Spirit. They are discovering what He is doing, and joining Him in it. That makes for effective mission. As someone said, the Holy Spirit is ”President” and not just ”resident”.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, as I understand you here, I believe you are saying that I; that we who make up your church today, are in a more advantaged position than were the disciples who lived with you during your earthly life. This is a remarkable, mysterious truth, but we have your Holy Spirit within us. How wonderful. Thank you Lord for your abundant provision.

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Daily Bible thoughts 1254: Thursday 20th October 2016: John 16:1-4: Loving honesty.

John 16:1-4: Loving honesty.(please click for todays passage)

In order to help people, you can’t always tell them what they want to hear. There are times when the only way to protect is by proffering loving honesty. Jesus knows what His disciples need to hear and WHEN they need to hear it (4). You can feel Jesus’ love for His disciples in the content and timing of these words.God has a way of preparing our hearts for times of trouble ahead. I’ve heard people say that they can cope with bad news better when they know precisely what the diagnosis and prognosis are; when they can look what they are facing squarely in the eye. When there’s a vague sense of threat hanging in the air it’s much harder to deal with.

When ”the time comes” they will remember that Jesus knew all about it and prepared them in advance (4). This will strengthen their confidence in Him. It points to the Lordship of Jesus. He (and they) may be under threat, but He is definitely in control.

What had Jesus already told His disciples to keep them ‘on the straight and narrow’?    Here are a few things:

  1. They will be hated (15:18). They are to expect animosity, violence and even death itself. Look how that theme continues here (2);
  2. They will be hated because of their relationship to Jesus (15:18, 20, 21). But the hatred of Jesus, and His church, is irrational (15:25). It is also inexcusable (15:22);
  3. This hatred springs from spiritual ignorance (15:21; 16:3);
  4. In the face of hatred and danger, they ”must” testify to Jesus (15:27). But they are not alone (15:26). The Holy Spirit will do the work. So there is a balanced picture of warning and encouragement. Some people did wholeheartedly obey Jesus’ teaching (20b) so they could anticipate some degree of success.

Let’s be careful to spell out the cost of discipleship to potential (and actual) followers and ask them to count it. And don’t be surprised if you find the Christian life hard; if you find yourself and your message opposed; if you should be socially ostracised. Expect it. If it’s not your experience now, it no doubt will be at some point. Keep going, trusting in the reality of the Holy Spirit. Remember, Jesus knows, and He is in charge of all things.

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Daily Bible thoughts 1253: Wednesday 19th October 2016: John 15:26, 27: The evangelistic imperative.

 John 15:26, 27:The evangelistic imperative.(please click for todays passage)

”And you also must testify…”

It is an imperative for a disciple of Christ to ”testify” to Him. We who have been called into relationship with Jesus; who know Him; who spend time with Him – we are to testify to Him.

But the testimony spoken of here is a double testimony. It is the witness of the Holy Spirit and that of the disciple. In fact, the Holy Spirit is the primary witness. His testimony is mentioned first.

In the first place He testifies about Jesus to us, so that we may know Him more and more.

But, secondly, He testifies about Jesus through us. He is the great evangelist in our world; the foremost missionary and witness to Christ. Without Him all our efforts to spread the gospel will fail.

I like to think, as an illustration, of a gloved hand. To the outward eye it looks like the glove is moving, touching, picking things up.But in reality it is the hand in the glove doing the work. The hand and glove have become as one.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I pray that the Holy Spirit will so fill my life that I become a powerful witness to Jesus. I ask in Christ’s own Name.

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Daily Bible thoughts 1252: Tuesday 18th October 2016: John 15:18-25: On persecution.

John 15:18-25: On persecution.(please click here for todays passage)

If the last section in John was about love, this next one turns to the theme of hate – the hatred of the world (”the moral order apart from God” D. Guthrie) for Christ, for His Father, and for the church (18, 19, 23, 24). At one level it is an inexplicable hatred because it is ”without reason” (25; see Psalm 25:19; 69:4). Why would ”the world” hate the God who ”so” loves it (John 3:16). It doesn’t make any sense naturally speaking. But we are not ‘naturally speaking’. We live and serve in war time realities (Ephesians 6:10-20).

Here are four observations from the passage:

  1. The persecution of Christians is indissolubly linked to the persecution of Jesus (18, 20, 21). The Lord had previously enunciated the principle found in (20) back in (13:16): ”No servant is greater than his master.” There it related to the need for humility. Here it has to do with how the world will treat them. If Jesus was hated by the world they will be. But some did respond warmly and positively to the teaching of Jesus and we will find this too. The picture is not totally bleak.
  2. Christians are persecuted because they do not belong to the world (19). We belong to another country, a better land, a different commonwealth, a greater kingdom: ”But our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). We have been born from above. We don’t belong in this world. It’s been said that the principle here is that like attracts like but repels opposites. It’s like when birds turn on other birds of a different plumage and want to kill them.
  3. Persecution has its origin in ignorance of God (21). People who truly know God would not hound other lovers of God. They just wouldn’t.
  4. Persecution may be understandable, but it is nevertheless inexcusable (22,24). The preaching and miracles of Jesus left them without excuse. Brilliant light had shone in their darkness. They allowed their day of opportunity to pass them by.

I applaud every sincere attempt to befriend people who are not Christians. Jesus was the Friend of sinners, and I want to follow in His steps. But if we offer that friendship without compromise, we will find that there will be many who do not wish to return it. Don’t be surprised if you are often rejected, ostracised and even hated. Don’t let it be because you are offensive, or unwise in your behaviour. But you must be prepared for it. That’s how things are. That’s how Jesus said it would be.

I heard that a new Christian said to Charles Spurgeon: ”Mr. Spurgeon, now that I am a Christian, how much of the world must I give up?” Spurgeon replied, ”Young man, don’t worry. The world will give you up.”

PRAYER: ”Lord Jesus, in the face of hostility, help me to not be surprised, and fill me with courage to still stand by your Cross.

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Daily Bible thoughts 1241: Monday 3rd October 2016: John 13:18-30: Ask Jesus.

John 13:18-30: Ask Jesus.(please click for todays passage)

This passage ends in a dramatic fashion with the short sentence: ”And it was night” (30). It was night in more ways than one. It was a time of deep darkness as  the diabolically inspired Judas (27a) went out to do his worst. But Jesus is in total control. That is the feel; the tone of this section. Judas may go out to betray Jesus, but he goes out at the Lord’s command (27b).

So today’s reading affirms that ‘Jesus Christ is Lord.’

It also encourages us to:

Ask Jesus (22-26): become someone who enquires of the Lord, as David did in his best moments. Pursue this relationship with a real, living Lord Jesus who speaks. Where you do not know; where there are mysteries, you can ask Him. He’s not obliged to give you an answer, but He may well choose to do so. Even here, where He answered Peter, it seems the disciples still didn’t fully understand. But that, I feel, is a reflection on their dullness yet again. We see a Jesus who responds with words to our words. ”You do not have, because you do not ask God” (James 4:2b). Ask Jesus.

Here is something else for us to grasp:

Jesus knows (18, 19). He knows the Scriptures better than we do (18) and can give sparkling insight into them. He knows the future much better than we do (19, 21, 26, 27b). Someone said we should be very interested in the future because we will spend the rest of our lives there! Well, some people try to peer into the future in dark, unbiblical ways that are outlawed in Scripture. We should stay well away from that kind of thing. But in the Bible the Lord has revealed what He wants us to know about the future. There are prophecies yet to be fulfilled. And if Jesus wants to prepare you for anything in your personal future, He has ways to do that.

PRAYER: Yet again Lord Jesus I must confess to you my slowness to pray and to ask for all that I can have from you. Lord please fight against all the enemy’s stratagems to keep me off my knees, and help me to do all I can to resist him.

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Daily Bible thoughts 1240: Friday 30th September 2016: John 13:6-11: Dirty feet.

 John 13:6-11: Dirty feet.(please click for todays passage)

You have to smile at Peter, don’t you? I know that in smiling at him we are regularly smiling at ourselves, but I have to admit he makes me smile. You see the contours of a real, larger than life character appearing on the page. The Biblical portrait of Peter bursts out in vivid, flawed realism.

Initially, Peter was resistant to having his feet washed by Jesus (6, 8a). It didn’t seem fitting and proper to let the Master be the slave in these circumstances. He wasn’t having that.

Jesus’ words of reply (7) to Peter’s initial shocked question (6) apply to many circumstances in life. I remember someone sending a bereavement card to my family after my mum died in her early 50’s. It made reference to this verse. Life throws up many mysteries.

After Jesus had corrected Peter’s faulty thinking (8b), typically the disciple was enthusiastically ‘all or nothing ‘ in his response; wanting to do the right thing: ”Then…not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” (9). But  in the East in those days, a person might bathe in the morning. When they arrived at a home where they were visiting they wouldn’t need a bath. It’s just that their feet would have got dusty and dirty on those hot, dry roads (10a). Jesus reminded Peter about this.

When someone becomes a Christian they ‘have a bath’, you might say. They are thoroughly washed and cleansed by Jesus. But on this Christian ‘walk’ our ‘feet’ get dirty. They need regular washing. We must learn to ‘keep short accounts’ with God (1 John 1;6-10). We are truly grateful for the once-for-all bath, but we will keep offering our ‘feet’ to Jesus for His cleansing work: ”…what we need day by day is the regular washing of those parts of ourselves, our personalities and bodies, which get dusty and dirty. When Peter objects to Jesus washing him, this reflects his objection (in Mark 8.32 and elsewhere) to Jesus going to the cross. Neither he nor the others have yet understood what it is that Jesus has to do, and why.” (Tom Wright: ‘John for everyone’,pp.45, 46.)

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