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31st June 2013 – Lord God, may the knowledge of your unalterable rule fill me with unfailing courage and joy. I pray that the great truths you have revealed to me will change me, day by day, and make me more and more the person you want me to be.

30th July 2013 – Lord, without gloating, please help me to learn from the failures of others, and strengthen me that I will not repeat their mistakes. Thank you for your promise that we do not have to be overcome by any temptation.

29th July 2013 – Lord God, please strengthen me to persevere in running this Christian race. I ask for great endurance. And enable me to remove from my private, personal life anything and everything that would erode the power of my public ministry.

 26th July 2013 –  Lord give me, please, a burning passion for lost people.

25th July 2013 –  Lord I want to be someone who endures to the end. I have some sense of how difficult this can be. Please help me!

24th July 2013 –  I thank you Lord that in you I find everything I need to keep me anchored in a world of raging storms and shifting currents.

23rd July 2013 –  Day by day, my Lord and King, I want to get out of bed and give you my very best, for you are worthy of nothing less. I pray that the temple of my life will be ‘absolutely stunning – a showcase temple’ for your glory alone.

22nd July 2013 – Lord, make my life personally a song to you; and make our lives collectively a symphony. Help us not to hesitate to use words to tell how great you are, and may we live from day to day ‘in awesome wonder’.

19th July 2013 –  Help me Lord to never put an obstacle in the pathway of someone coming to know you. Enable me to consider the effects of my actions and spot difficulties before they arise.

18th July 2013 –  Lord let me hear your voice and obey you – TODAY!

17th July 2013 – Help me to truly love my Christian family, even if it involves the sacrifice of things I love.

16th July 2013 –   (Today, if you are single ask that you may glorify the Lord in your single state. If you are married, dedicate your marriage afresh to Him, praying that in every detail you will glorify Him and fulfil His purposes in bringing you together. )   Lord, as I write my life’s story, let it be that your Hand is upon mine, so that all that I write will be your script and not my own.

15th July 2013 –  Lord God, keep me centred on you and your Word.

12 July 2013 –  Thank you Lord for this precious gift of life. All that I am and have I give to you. It is my heart’s desire to be fully yours now and always. I want to so invest my life in time that there will be returns in eternity.

11 July 2013 –  Lord I ask for the true spirit of Holy Ghost adventure. Help me to set my sails and go with you, even though fear of the unknown could hold me back.

10 July 2013 –  Thank you Lord for the breadth and depth of your Word; for its practicality and its relevance to the whole of life.

9 July 2013 – Lord enable me to see the things that tend to blunt my ‘cutting edge’ and avoid them. Keep me sharp. Teach me how to sharpen myself.

8 July 2013 –  Lord, may it be that my community is different because I live in it. Please may I be enormously influential for you by the power of your Holy Spirit.

5 July 2013 – Lord, how gloomy and pessimistic I would be if I were restricted to the purely ‘horizontal’ view of life. But now you have flooded me with light and I am seeing from heaven’s perspective. Everything looks different and filled with hope. Thank you for this ‘vertical’ insight into the nature of things.

 4 July 2013 –  Lord, I pray that in the ups and downs of everyday life I will put you first and not all the good things you so richly give us to enjoy, for which I am truly grateful.

3 July 2013 – God of the impossible, I thank you that you can do the things that I can’t. I am amazed that you call me to do the things I am unable to do by your powerful enabling.

2 July 2013 – Although this world has had ‘a great fall’, and sin has spread and spoiled everything, thank you Lord that Jesus puts ‘Humpty’ together again. I am grateful for His restoring work in me, and in all creation

1 July 2013 – Thank you Lord for today. I am grateful for sleep and rest and your gift of a new day. Help me to see it through your eyes and use it for your praise and glory.

28th June 2013 –  Thank you Lord that light from you shines on our otherwise dark paths. Help us to walk in that light and never step outside of it.

27th June 2013 –  Lord God, I acknowledge the wonderful wisdom in all your Words. Be my Teacher and let me learn of you always.

26th June 2013 – Thank you Lord for your precious gift of marriage. At the beginning you declared that it is not good for man to be alone. But let us so live as married couples that, as one, we are devoted to you first and foremost and never distracted from this central dedication.

25th June 2013 – Lord, I realise afresh today that I am responsible to you. You are my Master and I am your slave. Help me to keep my eyes on you and obey you fully.

24th June 2013 – Thank you for opening my eyes to see, dear God, that my chief end in life is to know you, glorify you, and enjoy you forever.

21st June 2013 – Thank you Lord for the money and possessions you have put into my hands. I again find myself needing to affirm that it is yours and not mine. Help me to live thankfully and generously, looking to you at all times. Teach me to sow your abundant goodness to me into the lives of others in meaningful ways.

20th June 2013 – The next time I ‘go to church’ remind me to prepare my heart Lord. I want, and need, to hear your voice.

19th June 2013 –  Thank you Lord for those who walk through life with me. Thank you above all that you are with me and will never forsake me.

18th June 2013 – I thank you Lord Jesus that I don’t have to strive to be ‘somebody’ in order to feel good about myself. I am so grateful that in you I already am ‘somebody’ and all that counts is to be the me you are calling me to be. Thank you that you make life to be full of meaning; that you are the answer to every question ‘Ecclesiastes’ raises.

17th June 2013 – Sovereign Lord, in the face of so much in this world that I find disturbing and perplexing, I affirm this day that you are in ultimate control, and that you will always do right as Judge of all the earth

14th June 2013 –  We pray for all married Christians whose partners are unconverted. Please cause the lives they live to bring those closest to them into the Kingdom of God.

13th June 2013 – Lord, you call some to be single, and some to be married. Thank you that with your calling there comes a gift of grace to fulfil it. We could never get by on our own.

12th June 2013 –  Thank you Eternal God that you fully satisfy the eternal longings you have put into my heart. You are not a disappointment.

11th June 2013 – Thank you Lord for the gift of my daily work. Help me to give my best today. Let me work worthily and well as one working for you.

10th June 2013 –  Thank you Jesus for taking the sting out of death. Thank you also for revealing the true meaning of life and giving me purpose.

7th June 2013 –  Lord God, everything you made is good and I celebrate your wonderful gifts of beauty, work, the creative arts, marriage, food and drink. I do not look for meaning in these things. I receive them gratefully as your gifts. But only in you do I find meaning and sense. All your gifts make wonderful servants but terrible masters, so help me to view them as I should.

6th June 2013 – Thank you Lord for education and for educators. These are among your finest gifts. But help us to not search for meaning in the gifts, but in you the Giver of all good things. We pray for all who teach others, that they will be blessed in their vocation. Help them to keep you at the centre of their instruction, and enable us all to keep you right in the middle of our learning.

5th June 2013 –  Help me to seek first your kingdom, Lord, and enjoy your gifts within the orbit of enjoying you most of all.

4th June 2013 –  Lord, you make wars to cease across the earth. I pray that you will bring peace and justice to all war-torn lands and strife- torn communities

3rd June 2013 – Let me never forget my body is all yours Lord God, and help me live accordingly.

28th June 2013 – Daily Bible thoughts 390

27th June 2013 – Daily Bible Thoughts 389

26th June 2013 – Daily Bible thoughts 388

25th June 2013 – Daily Bible thoughts 387

24th June 2013 – Daily Bible thoughts 386 

21st June 2013 – Daily Bible thoughts 385

20th June 2013 – Daily Bible thoughts 384

19th June 2013 – Daily Bible thoughts 383

18th June 2013 – Daily Bible thoughts 382

17th June 2013 – Daily Bible thoughts 381

14th June 2013 – Daily Bible thoughts 380

13th June 2013 – Daily Bible thoughts 379

12th June 2013 – Daily Bible thoughts 378

11th June 2013 – Daily Bible thoughts 377

10th June 2013 – Daily Bible thoughts 376 

7th June 2013 – Daily Bible thoughts 375

6th June 2013 – Daily Bible thoughts 374

5th June 2013 – Daily Bible thoughts 373

4th June 2013 – Daily Bible thoughts 372

3th June 2013 – Daily Bible thoughts 371

1 Corinthians 6:1-11

Not only were the Corinthian Christians compromising with worldliness, but they were also in danger of tarnishing their testimony before a watching world (6). Let’s always remember that we live our lives in front of unbelievers! (6). We are being scrutinised. When we identify with Christ eyes are upon us. The people of the world are in the front row. We would be better to just let certain things go (7) than bring God’s Name, and our witness, into disrepute.

Warren Wiersbe points out (With the Word, p.747) that Paul repeatedly asks: Do you not know? (2, 3, 15, 16, 19). He states that the Corinthians were ignorant of some basic truths of the Christian life, and mentions three of them in chapter 6. We will look at the first two today, and deal with the third next time.

1. We will judge angels (1-8):  It has to be admitted that we do not fully know all that will be involved in our judging the world and angels, but Paul clearly believed that this would happen, and he made a logical application of the principle to the current disputes in the Corinthian church, which had been brought to his attention.

 And how dare you take each other to court! When you think you have been wronged, does it make any sense to go before a court that knows nothing of God’s ways instead of a family of Christians? The day is coming when the world is going to stand before a jury made up of Christians. If someday you are going to rule on the world’s fate, wouldn’t it be a good idea to practice on some of these smaller cases? The Message.

If you’re going to one day work on the greater, wouldn’t it be a good idea to start now with the lesser? Have a run out on the ‘nursery slopes.’

2. We have been changed (9-11): We have been utterly transformed. We are not what we once were, so why should we live as we once lived? Warren W. Wierbe. There is something very powerful about the statement: And that is what some of you were. But… (11). You will see in these words that the sexual standards of God’s Kingdom are radically different from those of the world. Not all expressions of human sexuality are equally valid and legitimate. There are certain practices that people need to repent of and be delivered from. They need to be removed to the past tense of their lives as the individuals become new in Christ and are indwelt by the Spirit of God. Every Christian can say: I’m not what I want to be; I’m not what I’m going to be; but praise God, I’m not what I once was. Of course there is much more to sin than sexual sin, but Corinth was a notoriously immoral city, so it is not surprising that such sins figure prominently in this list. In those days there was a saying: ‘to Corinthianize’ or ‘to play the Corinthian’, and it meant to live immorally. Corinth was a moral sewer, but so many had been salvaged from it. It’s a wonderful thought. And our Lord still meets people in the gutter and lifts them up.

Prayer: Thank you Lord God for your transforming power. Thank you that you live within me by your Spirit and you are changing me from the inside out. Hallelujah! I am a work in progress. Please strengthen me to live out my ‘newness’ every day in every situation.

2 Chronicles 1

If only Solomon’s ending could have been like his beginning. He made an impressive start. But it’s not where you are placed at the outset of a race that counts; it’s where you finish.

There are certain things we are called to do, and we can only do them if we have the presence of God with us (1), so let us seek Him and His anointing at all times. There is a wonderful balance in this first verse, between Solomon’s action/initiative and God’s involvement. Ever remember: Without Him we cannot; without us He will not. Work as if it all depends on you and pray as if it all depends on God. Solomon sought the Lord and established himself firmly over his kingdom (1a).

Solomon led the people in going into God’s presence to hear from Him and to worship Him (2-6). He both spoke to them (2) and set an example (3). It’s interesting that the first thing we read after the statement in (1) about the Lord being with Solomon is about the King enquiring of God (5). Solomon positioned himself to hear from God. We need to do the same. We do this, for example, by regularly, in a disciplined fashion putting ourselves in the place of prayer; or by consistently being involved in the public worship of the church

It’s not surprising then to read: That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him… (7a). It’s an inevitable question isn’t it? What would we do with an opportunity such as Solomon had? What would you ask for if God said to you: Ask for whatever you want me to give you (7b)? What would you do with such an offer? Solomon here illustrates the principle taught by Jesus in Matt. 6:33: But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Solomon asked unselfishly and humbly for wisdom to do the task he’d been assigned, recognising that he was called to shepherd God’s people (10; see also James 1:5). And because of this he was granted wisdom, but also many other wonderful things for which he had not asked (11, 12; see examples of his great wealth in 14-17. However, even here we may be having a preview of the beginning of the rot which was to set in: see Deut. 17:16, 17).

This reminds one of the constant teaching of Jesus. He who seeks his life loses it; but to lose it is to save it in the best and deepest sense. F.B.Meyer: Great verses through the Bible, p. 149. As someone said, God is prepared to take full responsibility for the life that is fully yielded to Him.

It is good and right to go to our place of work/ministry from before the Tent of Meeting (13). Go to it ‘prayed-up’ day after day. I knew someone who had what might be regarded as a fairly ordinary job. But morning by morning she was up early and on her knees, praying, among other things, for God’s blessing on her work and people and things connected to it. This I know, God’s smile was upon her, and a fairly low-key job was transformed by a prayerful attitude that sought to glorify and honour God in all things. It could be you!

Prayer: Thank you Lord that no-one loses by putting you and your concerns first. Thank you for your kindness and generosity to your undeserving servants.

Psalm 93

It is helpful to look at the repetitions in this wonderful psalm:

a.)    …robed in majesty (1): Clearly, this is referring to The LORD who reigns…and is armed with strength. He is the LORD who reigns over all the turbulence and tumult of this world. (Psalms 93 to 100 are linked together by the common theme of the LORD’s kingship.)

b.)     …established… (1b, 2): I believe these two realities are interconnected. The world, in spite its many ‘storms’ (3, 4) cannot be moved because God cannot be moved from His throne. God on the throne is a firm, immoveable reality, therefore this world is also. I am not saying that it will never come to an end. We know from Scripture that it will. But it will not come to an end before God’s appointed time, and without Him being firmly in control of all that happens. It is no mistake that the reference to the stability of our world is sandwiched between a reference to the Lord’s reign (1) and throne (2). (We note also God’s statutes stand firm (5). They have to because they are an expression of who He is; they reflect His solid and permanent character. In the structure of the psalm the fifth verse matches the second.)

 c.)     The seas have lifted up… (3): The picture is of the turbulence of life in the world, including the anger and revolt of men against God. We live amidst very stormy seas that threaten to capsize our little boats and drown us. The restless seas here stand for all the forces of destruction and hostility in the created order, whether violent storms, turbulent nations or evil cosmic powers.

d.)    Mightier…mighty (4): However great and severe the storms, our God is greater and His voice is louder. He will not be overwhelmed and His Word will not be drowned out. He has the final say in any storms we find ourselves in (Mk.4:35-41). It’s been said that we have here a picture of the King with his effortless sovereignty.

Vs 1-2 work downwards from the securely enthroned Lord to the derivative security of the world he rules; vs 3-4 work upwards from the turbulence of earth’s ‘forces’ to the serene might of his exaltation. The earth is a safe place to live in because he reigns; and even when it is at its most turbulent he is still on the throne. Alec Motyer: New Bible Commentary, p.547

 Let Him but say, ‘’Peace be still!’’ and the greatest storm that ever swept the waves with wild fury sinks in to the tranquil sleep of childhood.’ F.B. Meyer: Great verses through the Bible, p.228

Prayer: Sovereign Lord, we are grateful beyond any words for the security we find within your sovereignty