innocent...

Hebrews 10:22

Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

Having our bodies washed speaks of a clearance of sin – but that’s only half the story. The cleansing of my heart speaks of a clearance of conscience.

If God’s purpose was for us to just live with good behaviour, then there would be no need to clear consciences. In fact, it may be good to keep that guilt there.

But God’s purpose is for intimate relationship, and so the sacrifice of Jesus did what all other sacrifices could never do (v2). It cleared my conscience!

We too often teach that you have to change your life to get into God’s presence. But why not teach the new and better way (Hebrews 8:6) – Come into His presence and watch your life change. ‘But Aaron, will people want to serve if they don’t feel at least a little guilt?’ A cleared conscience is what will allow you to truly serve the living God (Hebrews 9:14)!

Have you ever found that if you have weight on your conscience about something you have done to someone or something you haven’t done for someone, you act differently around them? You find that even though you want to reconcile, you end up avoiding them instead?

It was a guilty conscience that made Adam and Eve hide from the presence of God. The NIV renders God’s actions at the end of Genesis 3 towards man as “banished” and “drove out”. But the original Greek is a lot more a statement of the fact of separation. Regardless, we should realise that it is you and I who first walk away from the presence God.

So is there anything that you feel like God wants you to feel guilty about? You should know that God isn’t secretly fuming on the inside while smiling to your face. He loves walking with you too much.

Prayer for this week: Father, all I have is you. I want to see the light of your face. Let me see what you are doing in my life so that I may do the same. I decree the blessing of You on my life; literally You - the amazing blessing of relationship with You.

bright...

2 Corinthians 4:6

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness”, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Look at the context in which Paul is writing. He earlier wrote that when we come under the new covenant of relationship with the Father through Christ, we “reflect the Lord’s glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18) for the gospel is His light (v4). I love that this light is associated with His “all-surpassing power” (v7). We reflect his light… that light is His glory… and His glory has power!

There are some of you right now, who could do with some of God’s all-surpassing power.

And I’m not talking about it in some esoteric, “spiritual” sense, but in a real, practical way. For some of us, it’s in a relationship you feel is breaking down. For other, it’s in your job. Some need a miracle for a loved one and others a miracle for ourselves. Others want to be taken to a new level of ministry. Some need a renewal of confidence.

I love that God makes light shine out of darkness. That means He can shine light out of me. That means He can shine light in this situation I am facing.

As believers, we no longer have to qualify for the glory of God. We turn toward our God who just shines (oh, can you see His magnificent light!!) and His power reflects off our life.

Prayer for this week: Father, all I have is you. I want to see the light of your face. Let me see what you are doing in my life so that I may do the same. I decree the blessing of You on my life; literally You - the amazing blessing of relationship with You.

sees...

John 5:19

Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can only do what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does”.

Ps Bill Johnson from Bethel Church was at PCLC for the Miraculous conference earlier this month. One of the things, he explained so well was Jesus’ absolute dependence on the Father. As fully man, Jesus trusted completely on the indwelling of the Holy Spirit enabling Him to see what the Father was doing. And what great things He did!

In the same way, Jesus prophesied that you and I would do greater things (John 14:12).

You may be thinking, This must comes at a huge cost. The next verse shows us how it was and still is done – For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. The Father loves us and shows us!

The two states of man’s life are contrasted by Christ. Without the Father, I have nothing. With the Father, I have everything.

We don’t strive for the miraculous and prophetic to be these ‘super-Christians’. But know this, deepen your relationship with your good Father and you will see what He is showing His children. He will show you what He is doing in your life.

We do not do because we have not seen. And it’s not because the Father keeps it carefully hidden. So often, it’s because we don’t look at Him.

He loves you and is showing you right now. Go closer and see what He’s doing.

Prayer for this week: Father, all I have is you. I want to see the light of your face. Let me see what you are doing in my life so that I may do the same. I decree the blessing of You on my life; literally You - the amazing blessing of relationship with You.

lest we forget

Revelation 1:6

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever!

On ANZAC Day, Australia remembers the great service of men and women who gave up so much to defend this great country. Many of them gave up their very lives. Their blood helped preserve the freedom of this nation.

Every day, we should remind ourselves of our great Saviour who gave up His blood to guarantee our freedom.

Imagine how foolish it would be on our part if we took instruction from a German, Japanese or Italian head of state? Or imagine how dishonouring to our ANZACs it would be. Lest we forget, they served and many died for our freedom to claim.

Some like to ponder about whether Jesus really had to die. Was it necessary for Him to suffer and bleed? Regardless, it has already been paid. You can’t change it. Imagine if you didn’t believe in war to resolve conflict. Would you then deny your freedom that was won by war? No, even the staunchest of pacifists claim and live in the freedom that war has given to them.

Each day, wake up and claim your freedom. Declare your allegiance to the kingdom of God. His is a kingdom of glory and power, health and abundance, goodness and favour.

This grace is not cheap. It cost the blood of the Saviour.

Prayer for this week: Thank you Father for you are for me. Help me grow in the knowledge of your Son and what he did for me. I am immeasurably blessed. Keep me in your presence in every moment, conscious of everything you are.

convince...

Genesis 45: 26

They told him, “Joseph is still alive!”… Jacob was stunned; he did not believe them. But when they told him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. And Israel said, “I’m convinced! My son Joseph is still alive.”

When Joseph’s brothers first told their father that Joseph was alive, Jacob did not believe them. But when Jacob heard what Joseph had said and seen what Joseph had sent, his spirit was revived and faith to believe came.

Notice that when Jacob’s spirit was low, he was called Jacob. But God had previously given him a new spiritual name; a name of destiny. When Jacob’s spirit revived, he was called by that name, Israel. You too have a great destiny that comes alive when you revive your spirit with the Word and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The very next verse (Genesis 46:1), Israel sets out to meet Joseph and before too long, he stops to worship God. Notice that we don’t worship God, so that we can revive our spirit, in order to receive revelation and gifts from God. No, God gives us revelation and blessings which revive our spirits and takes us to a place of worship!

As believers, take in the Word of Christ and be aware of the great things He has done for you. As leaders, be bringers of the Word and of His gifts.

We revive spirits, awaken destiny and bring people to worship by making them aware of everything Jesus has said and everything Jesus has generously given to them.

Prayer for this week: Thank you Father for you are for me. Help me grow in the knowledge of your Son and what he did for me. I am immeasurably blessed. Keep me in your presence in every moment, conscious of everything you are.

great...

Genesis 45:7

“But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.”

These words by Joseph were true of his situation but also prophetic of what Christ, of whom Joseph was a shadow, would come and do.

When the time of salvation came for Israel (the patriarch) and his children, they were invited into restored relationship with Joseph. They weren’t just barely saved, taken from Canaan to Egypt and left to fend for themselves and treated like everyone else. No, because they were Joseph’s family, they received all the benefits of Joseph – which was the very best (v18)!

When the time of salvation came for you and I, the same thing happened. Jesus invited us all into restored relationship with Him. We weren’t just barely saved, left to fend for ourselves. No, as Christ’s family, we are given the best!

Too many believers live like they start their Christian life with nothing. Jesus saved you and gave you so much because He wants you ready to do great things. When God saves lives, He saves them graciously, generously and gloriously (Romans 8:32)!

Prayer for this week: Thank you Father for you are for me. Help me grow in the knowledge of your Son and what he did for me. I am immeasurably blessed. Keep me in your presence in every moment, conscious of everything you are.

silver...

Genesis 42:25

Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to put each man’s silver back in his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey.

When the famine struck the lands around Egypt, everyone heard of the grain stored in Joseph’s storehouses and went to him to buy food. Joseph’s brothers, who were also caught in the famine, went to Joseph to buy food, paying with ten sacks of silver.

On the way back to their home with the food, they found that the silver they had used to pay for the food was still with them (v28)! They felt like they had robbed Joseph. They were worried and afraid because they had taken something without paying for it.

But Joseph’s brothers did not recognise that the ruler of Egypt from whom they had received their food was their brother. Firstly, Joseph did not need the money and secondly, he did not want his family to pay for their provision. Instead, as Joseph’s servant would later tell them, “It’s all right. Don’t be afraid. Your God, the God of your fathers, has given you treasure in your sacks” (v22).

In the same way, Jesus does not want a payment from believers - His family. God has no intention to take from you before He gives you something in return (this goes right back to the Garden of Eden when the serpent tempted Adam and Eve by saying that God was withholding something from them!).

Does that mean we don’t ever give anything to God? No, He loves our worship. And when we come into a greater and greater revelation of what He has already done for us and how generously He gave us all things in Jesus, worship is our overflowing response!

Prayer for this week: Thank you Father for you are for me. Help me grow in the knowledge of your Son and what he did for me. I am immeasurably blessed. Keep me in your presence in every moment, conscious of everything you are.

famine...

Genesis 41:54

And the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all the other lands, but in the whole land of Egypt, there was food.

Joseph was a type of Jesus in the Old Testament. Just like Jesus, he was the beloved son (Genesis 37:3), he was sold out by his own brothers (Genesis 37:28), he was mobilized for work when he was thirty (Genesis 41:46), all authority was given to him by the king (Genesis 41:40), his word was exceptionally powerful (Genesis 41:44) and he died promising better things to come (Genesis 50:24).

When Joseph was in Egypt, despite a great famine that spread right throughout the middle east, Egypt had plenty for themselves and others. The one thing that differentiated Egypt was that they had Joseph.

In the same was, the one thing that differentiates you and I is that we have Jesus in our land. And we are amazingly blessed because of it!

Jesus is far and above any circumstance in our lives. He is far and above world events. He is far and above economic situations. He has stored up immeasurable goodness (Genesis 41:49) for you and I.

What is it that is causing you to lose sleep? Causing you to be distracted at work? Causing you to worry during class? Causing you to stress out?

No matter what goes on around us, you can be assured that Jesus has already stored up the answer and solution for you. It's already yours, it's already available!

Prayer for this week: Thank you Father for you are for me. Help me grow in the knowledge of your Son and what he did for me. I am immeasurably blessed. Keep me in your presence in every moment, conscious of everything you are.

jailbird...

Isaiah 61:1

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners…

Isaiah, prophesying of Jesus, and as quoted by Jesus Himself, said that Christ came for both the captive and the prisoner.

It is one thing to be saved when you are taken captive by the enemy. It is quite another thing to be broken out of prison when you have committed a crime. The truth is, there are some times when I am in darkness because of my own doing. As a guilty person is put in prison, so I have been. The amazing truth is, Jesus came for me in those times too.

God didn’t go easy on sin because of Jesus. God maintained perfect holiness and perfect love by putting all the (deserved) punishment on Jesus.

His amazing work on the cross gives me freedom at all times.

His cross proclaims my release even when I should be serving a punishment!

Prayer for this week: Father, thank you for your redeeming work. I want to know more about Jesus and how He has given me everything. No matter what happens, I can always rely on what was done for me at the cross.

peace, dude!

Isaiah 53:5

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

The most famous of Isaiah’s prophesies of the coming Christ is found in the 53rd chapter. Here, we can see that it was what Christ came and did was not an invention of desperate men wanting Christ to be someone He wasn’t.

The cross was the plan all along!

Every wrong thing we did, do and ever will do deserves punishment. God didn’t decide that sin didn’t concern him. But outside of time, God looked at every sin committed and every sin to be committed and put it all on Jesus.

Why? So that we will now have peace!

Therefore it is not a sign of holiness to say that God kept you up all night about sin. In fact, it is unscriptural for the Christian to say that God gives us anything but peace.

Don’t feel like you have to agitate yourself or stir up guilt. Remind yourself that He bought us our peace.

This grace that allows peace is what takes us into relationship with a Father, which is the true cure for all ungodly acts (Titus 2:12). The cross was His incredibly good plan!

Prayer for this week: Father, thank you for your redeeming work. I want to know more about Jesus and how He has given me everything. No matter what happens, I can always rely on what was done for me at the cross.

here...

Isaiah 65:1

“I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, ‘Here am I, Here am I’.”

Here, God prophesies through Isaiah of how He would work salvation for you and I.

It’s how Israel was originally called. They were a chosen people. Not a people who proved that they deserved to have God watch over them.

God revealed himself to us in Jesus and through His disciples, announcing ‘Here am I, Here am I’. Now if God is ready to show Himself so readily to people who do not ask and who do not seek, what of you and I who do ask and seek (if even in the smallest ways)?

That God answers His people, is just a statement of a glorious fact. But it is not an if we do, then he does. He comes at all times. Ready at all times. Revealing at all times.

Jesus is the proof of that. The empty cross hangs on our churches as a reminder that God is always there for you and I. He came to us before we took any steps towards Him.

He really is that good!

Prayer for this week: Father, thank you for your redeeming work. I want to know more about Jesus and how He has given me everything. No matter what happens, I can always rely on what was done for me at the cross.

overpaid...

Isaiah 49:6

“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

The prophet Isaiah prophesied so amazingly accurately about the coming work of Jesus Christ. Initially many of the later chapters of Isaiah, which contain most of the prohesies, were found at a later time than the earlier chapters, and some scholars thought they might have been invented subsequent to Christ. However, subsequent finds, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls show them to be authentic prophesies from hundreds of years before Christ.

This prophesy helps show us just how good Jesus was.

The Father didn’t just send what He could. He sent the very best of heaven. Jesus’ redemptive work would be more than enough to bring salvation to the ends of the earth!

That is the sacrifice that was made. As Joseph Prince calls it, an overpayment for your sins. That’s why there is so much in Christ. Not because God went soft on sin but because Jesus was just that good!

Prayer for this week: Father, thank you for your redeeming work. I want to know more about Jesus and how He has given me everything. No matter what happens, I can always rely on what was done for me at the cross.

shut up!

Genesis 7:13,16

On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark… Then the Lord shut him in.

The story of Noah and his ark is a type of the story of our lives, of those who have been called and Christ. Noah, by faith says the writer of Hebrews, built an ark believing that salvation would be found in it.

For us, we believe that Jesus is our ark, our hope and salvation is found in him.

Noah walked into the ark and you would have thought he was responsible for his own salvation. In the same way, we sometimes think we are responsible for our own salvation. But salvation is no salvation at all if we aren’t shut in. If we could drift in and out of salvation, I’d be forever scared of whether I was in or out!

But we are not kept in salvation because of what we do. The Lord shut Noah into his ark of salvation. In the same way, the Lord has “shut you in” in Christ your salvation.

I think there would have been times when the flood was pounding against this wooden box and they wondered if the ark really was strong enough. I think maybe they thought it was just too hard being cooped up with dirty animals without sanitation for forty days (and that was just the in-laws! Ba-da-tish!). Maybe as they saw the judgment of God on the world outside they thought they didn’t deserve to be in the ark.

But the thing is, they couldn’t leave the ark because they didn’t shut the door - it was the Lord that kept them into the ark. We don’t keep ourselves in Christ, God does. He keeps you safe and protected, He is in charge of assuring your salvation, health and prosperity.

Prayer for this week: Father, thank you for your redeeming work. I want to know more about Jesus and how He has given me everything. No matter what happens, I can always rely on what was done for me at the cross.

rainbow...

Genesis 9:16

“Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth”

One of the great Bible stories told to children is the story of Noah’s Ark. You have all the cute animals - and then you skip over the part where a violent flood wipes all evil off the face of the earth! - and get to the colourful rainbow at the end!

Scripture tells us the rainbow is a ‘reminder’ to God of His covenant. When God sees rain and He sees the rainbow, He remembers that the earth was already cleansed by the rain.

In heaven, the Father is seated surrounded by angels, the elders, jewels and a sea of glass (I can’t do Revelation 4 justice in a little devotion!) - and there is a rainbow (Revelation 4:3) and Jesus, the Lamb of God, is there (Revelation 5:6). The Father sees Jesus and He sees the rainbow. He remembers that you and I have been already been cleansed by the Christ!

Rainbows are hardly mentioned in Scripture but it appears again in Revelation when the angel who has the Book of Life appears (Revelation 10:1). He also comes with a reminder of God’s covenant!

Everything that was put on Jesus, God will never put on us again. Set a reminder for yourself that Christ has come and washed away all your sins, sickness, poverty, fears, anxiety. Receive your inheritance. The covenant has been made and God does not forget it.

Prayer for this week: Father, thank you for your redeeming work. I want to know more about Jesus and how He has given me everything. No matter what happens, I can always rely on what was done for me at the cross.

day...

Psalm 118:24

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

How many of us know that we need not just a day of rest, but an age of rest, a lifestyle of rest? That is what Christ died for, Amen!

I had never seen this line from one of the Psalms as prophetic. I had thought it just meant rejoice in each day.

But in the context, the psalmist is prophesying about the sacrifice of Christ and tells us to rejoice in the day that has been made.

Did you know in the creation story, God actually consciously created a day? Days and nights were incidental with the creation story through the first six days but on the seventh day, God declared His work finished and consciously blessed and created a holy day of rest (Genesis 2:2)!

So when it talks about rejoicing in a day that has been made, let us see that it is the day of rest. The day God created after again declaring His work finished in the sacrifice of Jesus, was the created day of rest fully come. The power of sin may have disrupted the first day of rest but sin is now fully destroyed.

Nothing can take this age of rest away. Keep your mind of the benefits of the cross. Enter His life of rest that was created at the cross.

Prayer for this week: Father, thank you for your redeeming work. I want to know more about Jesus and how He has given me everything. No matter what happens, I can always rely on what was done for me at the cross.

sacrificed!

Genesis 22:2

Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah”.

Isaac was a picture of Jesus – a son born of promise, taken up a mountain with wood on his back to be sacrificed.

And here Abraham is a picture of God the Father. In thinking of Abraham and Isaac, we see the Father and the Son. The Son was not just a sacrificial lamb, He is the only begotten Son, the beloved of heaven, loved incredibly by the Father.

The WILD boys had an incredible “upper room” time a few Sundays ago and we all had such an intimate time with the Holy Spirit.

One of the things I felt as I pondered the cross was the pain of the Father, a picture of Him crying, and I wept saying “I know, I know – you gave your Son and all we do is mess around down here”. But I felt the Father’s sorrow grow.

And He said ‘My heart does not cry, “Hey, I gave you my Son, what have you given for me?” I cry because I see a people who don’t believe how much I loved my Son and how precious he was to me. He was everything to me and it hurt me so much to have him cry out “Why have you forsaken me?” And you think that I want more sacrifice from my children? That one sacrifice was more then enough; so abundantly more than enough. I gave up everything for my people and they act like it wasn’t enough for their health, their success, their prosperity, their hope.’

The very works that I thought proved to God how much I deserved his favour are actually a dilution of the work of the cross. His beloved Son was more than enough for His favour to be released all over my life. Doesn’t that make us want to worship and know Him even more? It’s not a cop out – it’s our gospel!

Prayer for this week: Father, thank you for your redeeming work. I want to know more about Jesus and how He has given me everything. No matter what happens, I can always rely on what was done for me at the cross.

encounter...

Genesis 15:18-21

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High”.

Melchizedek’s name itself means “King of Righteousness” and his title means “King of Peace”. Familiar titles? He is a picture of Jesus Christ as the psalmist prophesied (Psalm 110:4) and the writer of Hebrews confirmed (Hebrews 5:10).

The priesthood of Christ, just as it was with Melchizedek, is that He comes to us presenting his body and blood (the bread and wine) and blesses us.

Look at Abram’s behaviour after his encounter with Melchizedek. He gave a tenth of everything unto God via the priesthood of Melchizedek (v20) and resisted the temptation of the enemy’s prosperity (v23).

For those who believe that good behaviour only comes because we beat the drum of discipline, Abram lived far far before the law was given.

We do not need laws to behave righteously, we need an encounter with Christ and a revelation of His blessing for us in the body and blood of Christ.

Prayer for this week: Father, thank you for your redeeming work. I want to know more about Jesus and how He has given me everything. No matter what happens, I can always rely on what was done for me at the cross.

old...

Luke 24:27

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

When Jesus reappeared to his disciples following His resurrection, Jesus himself showed his disciples how to read the Scriptures, which was at that time, what we now call the Old Testament.

From the Torah, the account of creation, the Exodus, the Levitical laws, right through the Psalms and the ravings of wild prophets, there is one common thread – the revelation of Jesus.

Scripture is revelation of how God redeems humanity. Barely two chapters cover creation, and the rest of what we have is the beautiful story of salvation. The Bible itself prophetically speaks of putting our faith not in created things, but in the redemptive work of God!

One sure way of getting the most out of your devotions and reading – having your hearts burn with Godly fire and passion (v32) - is to ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate Christ to you in everything.

Prayer for this week: Father, thank you for your redeeming work. I want to know more about Jesus and how He has given me everything. No matter what happens, I can always rely on what was done for me at the cross.

same...

Ephesians 2:6

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.

We have been attributed the benefits of resurrection because we are in Jesus. If Jesus is resurrected and seated in the heavens, then we are resurrected and seated in the heavens!

This is not our goal – it is our starting point.

If it was something that we should all strive for, then some people arrive and some won’t. We are called to do great things, prepared in advance for us to do (v10). But so many people don’t get there because they think that they are “not yet ready”.

No, we are God’s workmanship, not our own. We are not self-made men and women who will achieve much because of our great works. We are God-made men and women who have been given so much through the work of Christ.

I would hate to think that all I am called to do for God, I can do on my own. No, I believe He has prepared something incredible for me to do and that only through what Christ did for me, does it become possible!

Prayer for the week: Father, you deserve all the glory. Thank you for calling me to great things in your kingdom. I declare your blessings based on what Christ did on the cross, restoring a full relationship with my generous, healing, powerful Father.

invisible...

John 16:10

In regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer…

“What’s with all this talk about how I’m righteous? Sorry, but you don’t know me. You should see what I just thought about, what I just joked about, what I just did, how I ignored God there… I’m just not righteous.”

Christ knew that when He left to be with the Father, we’d be looking at what is visible – our circumstances, our actions, what people say about us – and question our righteousness.

But if we always did the right thing, we wouldn’t need the conviction of righteousness. Yet that is what the Holy Spirit was sent for. We need the Holy Spirit to convict us of something we couldn’t possibly do ourselves - call us righteous!

How would you feel about Jesus being right there beside you every where you went? Now before you say, ‘I would feel guilty and condemned’ (you’re thinking about a Jesus that is watching you, not walking with you), think about what you think when it is obvious Jesus is around other people.

When you see Jesus performing miracles in people’s lives, when you see prosperity flow in their lives, heck if you saw Him appear next to someone; you would say, Wow, that person is blessed! When the disciples had Jesus walking around with them, I bet they felt indestructible (enough to maybe even attack an armed Roman soldier!). You know what? You would too.

Imagine Jesus right here with you. There is no condemnation, just a great sense that you are unbelievably blessed and accepted.

Prayer for the week: Father, you deserve all the glory. Thank you for calling me to great things in your kingdom. I declare your blessings based on what Christ did on the cross, restoring a full relationship with my generous, healing, powerful Father.

from...

John 1:16

From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.

There is only one source for the great things of God! Now if we have earned something, has it come from grace?

If you work very hard at work and get paid accordingly, is that a blessing from grace? Or would someone in the same position get exactly the same reward?

I say go for something more!

The cross opened the way to the Father and a grace that the world does not fully know.

This grace came through Christ so in our positioning to possess, position yourself right there with Christ. Don’t do anything that takes you away from being under grace.

Did you know that it is not sin that makes us fall from grace? It’s when we try to be acceptable to God by doing the right things that we actually fall from grace (Galatians 5:4).

You are blessed because Christ came to redeem your life and you believe He did it!

Prayer for the week: Father, you deserve all the glory. Thank you for calling me to great things in your kingdom. I declare your blessings based on what Christ did on the cross, restoring a full relationship with my generous, healing, powerful Father.

another...

John 1:16

From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.

There is only one source for the great things of God! Now if we have earned something, has it come from grace?

If you work very hard at work and get paid accordingly, is that a blessing from grace? Or would someone in the same position get exactly the same reward?

I say go for something more!

The cross opened the way to the Father and a grace that the world does not fully know.

This grace came through Christ so in our positioning to possess, position yourself right there with Christ. Don’t do anything that takes you away from being under grace.

Did you know that it is not sin that makes us fall from grace? It’s when we try to be acceptable to God by doing the right things that we actually fall from grace (Galatians 5:4).

You are blessed because Christ came to redeem your life and you believe He did it!

Prayer for the week: Father, you deserve all the glory. Thank you for calling me to great things in your kingdom. I declare your blessings based on what Christ did on the cross, restoring a full relationship with my generous, healing, powerful Father.

repayments...

Romans 11:35-36

“Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever!

It can sometimes seems like our efforts and our sacrifices for God compel God to move in our lives. After all, we have seen great moves of God following times of prayer, fasting, worship, etc. And in my own life, for example, I have seen financial breakthrough after giving generously.

But the true key to financial blessing is not giving, it is knowing the Giver. The true key to healing is not declaring scripture, it is knowing the Healer.

The truth is, if we really knew God as Provider, we’d take our opportunities to give generously. If we really knew God as Healer, we’d be declaring healing over our lives every day.

If it really was me who evokes blessing because I have given or done something, then I deserve some glory.

But it’s always been “from him and through him and to him”. Let’s not focus on what we can do to make God move in our lives, but just actually be with Him. He is a good Father, a good Shepherd, a good Provider, a good Healer.

Prayer for the week: Father, you deserve all the glory. Thank you for calling me to great things in your kingdom. I declare your blessings based on what Christ did on the cross, restoring a full relationship with my generous, healing, powerful Father.

command...

2 John 5-6

I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

This is the second instance in Scripture that John tells us what love is. The first is in John’s first letter – “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us”.

Now a lot of people like to quote just this part of the verse, “And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands”. But we have to keep the context. What is the command that Jesus gave?

(If you say, no this verse means you have to listen to do everything Jesus commanded then what will you do with Matthew 5 which says that if your right eye causes you to sin, you should gouge it out and throw it away? And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off!)

Here’s the context: there is a commandment we’ve had from the beginning - His command that you walk in love. His command is that you walk in the full knowledge of Christ’s love for you and I.

Did you know even loving one another can become religious? Instead of actually being concerned with what love is, we just want to know what it looks like, replicate it and get it done – ‘Look at how good I am - I’ve discharged my Christian duty to love’.

Our lives have been taken over by a desire not to do what is actually loving, but what appears to be right.

In our love for Him (which is frail and dynamic), we can’t walk in obedience, loving one another. In his love for us (which is strong and unfailing), we can!

Prayer for the week: Father, thank you for how you created us for relationship with you. Let your Spirit be a constant provider and teacher in my life. May my relationships with others be the same, full of life and love.

others...

Romans 15:7

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

Do you know when people ask you to think ‘happy thoughts’? It’s just a general principle of life that what you think about internally will get reflected outwardly.

I think sometimes we find accepting others hard to do. But that’s because we so often focus on the external; striving and working at trying to accept people. However, if we were to think about the acceptance Christ has for us, that external change will come supernaturally.

If we strive and force ourselves to accept others in our own strength then let fair be fair and some praise should go to you. No the acceptance of others – as Christ accepted us! – can only be a work of God.

Christ accepted you just as you are, with open arms, in love and with rejoicing.

Spend the best of your time focusing on how Jesus accepted you and you will find yourself accepting others. In that way, praise must be given to God.

Prayer for the week: Father, thank you for how you created us for relationship with you. Let your Spirit be a constant provider and teacher in my life. May my relationships with others be the same, full of life and love.

together...

John 14:16-17

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth.

Jesus didn’t leave us to fend for ourselves when He went to be with the Father in heaven.

He left us with two things that are from heaven itself. We have the Word of God, the actual words of God given to men inspired to write them. And we have the Holy Spirit, our great counselor, who reminds us of the Word given to us (v26).

These two are meant to work together. Sometimes we read the Word and interpret it without the counsel of the Holy Spirit. Other times we attempt to stir up a ‘spiritual’ experience with no reference to the Word.

What a great benefit we have, yet so often leave dormant!

Bring your decisions and thoughts constantly into the light of the Spirit and Word that are your guide and teacher in this life. This is truly a double-edged sword that will judge whether what we are thinking or doing is from man’s soul or God’s spirit.

Prayer for the week: Father, thank you for how you created us for relationship with you. Let your Spirit be a constant provider and teacher in my life. May my relationships with others be the same, full of life and love.

paradigm...

Colossians 3:13

Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

Has anyone needed your forgiveness lately? Yesterday? A few hours ago? A few minutes ago? Yep, our lives are just filled with people who don’t always make us feel the best.

Did you know God benefited from forgiving us? As much as it was in our best interests to be forgiven, God knew it was good for him too. After all, He created us to be loved by Him in relationship, and that works best when the other person knows it!

I’m also sure the things He has forgiven us are much greater than that which we forgive others for. And He did it with no strings attached - He didn’t make a deal with us that He’d forgive us only if we started to be good to Him.

In a paradigm of right and wrong, relationship can only ever break down because people are not perfect, or true relationship is never built because grievance is inevitable.

In a paradigm of love, forgiveness restores and redeems our relationships with each other.

Prayer for the week: Father, thank you for how you created us for relationship with you. Let your Spirit be a constant provider and teacher in my life. May my relationships with others be the same, full of life and love.

living...

2 Corinthians 3:3

You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

In the context of the weekend past, you should know that the cross changed everything! We say it a lot, but we don’t live like it a lot…

We’re still so often people who live according to sets of rules and laws. We want to blessed according to how ‘good’ we are. We try to change lives by bringing in ‘better’ rules.

In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul clearly distinguishes a life lived by rules against a life lived by Spirit.

God wants us to not live a life of reference to an external source but a life in obedience to an internal source.

Don’t set up your life to live according to a set of rules. The ten commandments were written on tablets of stone. They are great standards but no means by which to live – in fact, they minister death (v7)!

God actually wants you to constantly go to your redeemed heart (Ezekiel 36:26). The less time we spend thinking law fixes our lives, the more time we will spend filling our heart with the life of the Spirit.

Prayer for the week: Father, thank you for how you created us for relationship with you. Let your Spirit be a constant provider and teacher in my life. May my relationships with others be the same, full of life and love.

cursed!

Galatians 3:10, 13

All who rely on observing the law are under a curse… (but) Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.

I am gently reminded by the Holy Spirit that even as I try to do the right thing, not to rely on that as my cause for blessing.

If I believe in my heart that God’s premise for blessing me is because I have done the right things, I come under a curse because God can’t just hold me to the parts of the law that I do keep, but also to all that I don’t.

That's why I needed today. That's why Easter Friday is Good!

I am blessed only because of my beautiful Saviour, the Father’s only Son. He took every curse I deserved and gave me every blessing that I didn’t deserve.

I now receive blessing because I believe (that is, by faith) that I am righteous in Christ.

By the goodness of Christ, you are highly favoured and empowered to live the great destiny you have. By the goodness of Christ, you are blessed and who loves others selflessly.

May every one of us be blessed as a vessel of the love and good news of Christ.

Prayer for this week: Father, I want the love you have showed me to transform the way I live. I want my actions to always testify of the great love you have shown. Prepare opportunities this week for me to express love in situations, both easy and hard.

motivated...

Hebrews 12:2

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Why did Christ die? It was to restore forever relationship between man and God. When Jesus saw the joy of relationship with us, He went to the most extreme ends for us.

The great motivator for the greatest act in the history of the world was love.

There is a great and worthy joy in relationship. We should be thinking about this outcome when we relate to the people around us. But I know what you’re thinking, There are some people who I can live without having relationship with; I have no intention to build relationship with them; in fact, relationship with them would be awful.

Did you know Christ counted it a joy set before him, to be restored with drunkards, the immoral, thieves, adulterers, liars, murderers… me?

Jesus saw it all as a joy worthwhile.

Now, if you see relationship as a ‘have-to’ chore and another person whom you have to please and ‘be good’ to, then you’ll miss the joy. But see it how Jesus truly did, as a blessing to both you and the other person as you minister the love of God, and you’ll find yourself doing great things in the name of love too.

Prayer for this week: Father, I want the love you have showed me to transform the way I live. I want my actions to always testify of the great love you have shown. Prepare opportunities this week for me to express love in situations, both easy and hard.

ours!

Luke 15:31

“My son,” the father said, “you are always with me, and everything I have is yours”

In the well-known story of the prodigal son, the prodigal son’s brother is shocked, angry and jealous of the way the father treats the prodigal son’s return.

Here, the father discerns the root of the brother’s problem with the whole situation.

The brother did not have a realization that whatever the father had was his also (“everything I have is yours”). He didn’t realize that he had the glorious benefit of always being in relationship with his father (“you are always with me”).

Disunity is not primarily caused by people not pulling their weight (e.g. leaders blaming those they lead) or by bad decision-making (e.g. the people blaming their leaders). It is caused by a failure to realize the fullness of our relationship with our Father!

So in everything, let us be conscious of the fact that the Father is right there with us and all that He has is ours. Resolution and restoration is found in that moment.

Prayer for this week: Father, I want the love you have showed me to transform the way I live. I want my actions to always testify of the great love you have shown. Prepare opportunities this week for me to express love in situations, both easy and hard.

goodwill...

Ephesians 5:1

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Although this is the start of a new chapter in terms of Bible organisation, it is the conclusion of a line of thought Paul has about believers interacting with one another.

The best place in which to imitate God is a place where you are aware of how dearly loved you are. We are amazed at Christ’s sacrifice for us, but it was not born out of a life of discipline, it was born out of a life of love.

When we truly feel loved, we are taken away by the revelation of how loved we are. Nothing can touch us! And that’s usually just the love of people. Imagine the power of knowing how loved I am by God!

If you and I are honest, so much of the things Paul talks about ridding ourselves in dealing with one another (bitterness, slander, gossip, etc) come out of a place of our insecurities and doubts about ourselves.

In interacting with each other, let’s not think about whether the person deserves our goodwill. Let’s think about how loved we are and how powerful that is.

Prayer for this week: Father, I want the love you have showed me to transform the way I live. I want my actions to always testify of the great love you have shown. Prepare opportunities this week for me to express love in situations, both easy and hard.

never been kissed

Romans 16:16

Greet one another with a holy kiss.

Confession time: I used to seriously read this verse and think to myself, How cool if it were still so - imagine who I could kiss that girl with no repercussions!

Of course, in the custom of the Mediterranean, just as it still is, it was how family and close friends greeted one another.

Church should not be a place of shallow greetings between might-as-well-be strangers. It is a place where our internal feelings of love toward each other should be expressed with an outward action.

Our community should show expressions of love toward each other. Don’t we so often think highly of people but say nothing to them? Or people who we love seeing each week but don’t tell them so? And the list goes on…

Just as Jesus proved on a cross, love is best when it is shown, not just thought about.

Prayer for this week: Father, I want the love you have showed me to transform the way I live. I want my actions to always testify of the great love you have shown. Prepare opportunities this week for me to express love in situations, both easy and hard.

fashion

Colossians 3:12

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

Straight up, you are holy and dearly loved.

Before you do any good thing or take on any good virtue, you have already been chosen, you are already holy and you are already dearly loved.

In the great knowledge of knowing that you are absolutely in the right shape, you are able to check out your wardrobe so you can look your best.

Don’t you just love it when you find the perfect outfit for the occasion? I’m just a guy, but even I have to admit that when I put on something that looks good, I’m like, That’s what I’m talking ’bout!

Well, the believer looks great when they put on the clothing that fits them perfectly. That clothing happens to be the same clothing that Jesus wore (Romans 13:14). Obviously not His physical clothes - I don’t know how’d we’d go with a girdle and tunic - but the great way that He interacted with the world around Him.

Jesus freely lived His life of love because He knew He was the beloved of God – and we can do the same!

Prayer for this week: Father, your great love has shown me the way. Thank you for transforming me and aligning me with the truth. In my quest to live a life of love, I pray that your favour is awakened in me so that I bring favour into my world.

blessed...

1 Peter 3:8

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

Just pause for a moment and think about Jesus… on a cross… insulted and spat on… bloodied by the people snickering at him from below… and with what breath he still has, he cries out, “Forgive them” (Luke 23:24).

Now, did you know you are called to a blessed life? Despite anything you could do, God still wants nothing but good for you.

In light of this, you should know that being a blessing is a blessing!

Why would you respond to someone with an insult? Thinking a bad thought about someone doesn’t make them a bad person (our thoughts aren’t that powerful!) – it changes us for the worse. Come on, who’s ever truly felt better after being vindictive or vengeful? (If you do, can I suggest that you may have a wrong attitude!)

It blessed Jesus, just as it blesses us, when we respond positively to negative situations (v14). Respond with how you want to feel. When you are insulted, don’t you wish instead you were being blessed?

Jesus has empowered us to respond with a blessing - it will change you for the better.

Prayer for this week: Father, your great love has shown me the way. Thank you for transforming me and aligning me with the truth. In my quest to live a life of love, I pray that your favour is awakened in me so that I bring favour into my world.

trump!

James 2:12

Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!

It personally hurts me on the inside every time now I hear someone talk about Christianity like it is a set of teaching on rights and wrong. Even moreso when the church and its leaders teaches that that is how we are judged.

Here, scripture contrasts judgment by the law that gives freedom against judgment without mercy.

I love the fact that Christians are judged with the law that gives freedom. The law of freedom is explained in Galatians 4:21-31 as the new covenant – that Jesus Christ has redeemed us through what He has done. You and I have been set free in Christ. You and I will be judged, thank God, by mercy.

The reason that we judge people is that we often believe that judgment triumphs over mercy when it comes to the kingdom of God.

No - mercy triumphs over judgment! Every time someone does you wrong, remember the great mercy shown you by Christ. Rest in the knowledge that you are judged by mercy and watch how your perspective towards them changes!

Prayer for this week: Father, your great love has shown me the way. Thank you for transforming me and aligning me with the truth. In my quest to live a life of love, I pray that your favour is awakened in me so that I bring favour into my world.

above...

Romans 12:9

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves.

There are those who say that the gospel of grace requires so little from people. How can grace change people if they don’t have to do anything to have it?

But here’s the thing, under the law, you might never steal – but never become a generous person. Under the law, you might never commit adultery – but never truly love your wife. Under the law, you might never covet – but never celebrate other’s success.

When in grace, the law is superseded by something much greater.

Because of the cross, we can be called to honour each other above ourselves. Where the law could be summed up in “Love your neighbour as yourself”, Jesus gave a new command before He went to the cross: “As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34). I believe that is an absolutely impossible command – without the cross.

I don’t need to obey the law, as much as I need Jesus to totally transform the way I live.

Prayer for this week: Father, your great love has shown me the way. Thank you for transforming me and aligning me with the truth. In my quest to live a life of love, I pray that your favour is awakened in me so that I bring favour into my world.

know...

1 John 3:16

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

I’m sure the people who organised Scripture into verses delighted in the symmetry of John 3:16 and 1 John 3:16!

It was Jesus who showed us what true love looked like. In love, Jesus saw everything He had and then looked at us and knew that He had to do something (v17).

You will hardly find a person that would say that he or she wouldn’t like to be more loving. We are all looking for a true and greater love than the counterfeits so prevalent around us.

But if we don’t know the true example of love, the great command to love one another becomes a shell of its original intent.

So this was the intended flow: He teaches and shows us how much He loves us, and we are transformed to do the same.

How much of Christ’s love do we know and what example can we start living today?

Prayer for this week: Father, your great love has shown me the way. Thank you for transforming me and aligning me with the truth. In my quest to live a life of love, I pray that your favour is awakened in me so that I bring favour into my world.

position...

(this week's devotions are adapted from those of revolution's leaders)

Romans 5:1-2

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace where in we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Man was created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-28). However, all sinned and have fell short of His glory (Romans 3:23).

But faith in Christ changes the scenario. Through grace by faith in Christ we have been justified – in our redeemed state, we have and are the glory of God.

In this new position we can rejoice. Our souls are to be glad that we can now hope for something that was previously never available to us – that we might be what God originally intended us to be.

This fact does not fit in with the way my daily life looks. It doesn’t look to me or feel like I’m God’s glory sometimes. But that is my position (“where in we stand”).

Just as before Christ whatever good I did not change my position outside of God, so after Christ whatever I do can not change my position in God!

Prayer for the week: Father, your grace is sufficient for me. I will ponder upon all your goodness and believe the right thing. I will delight in your protection and in your peace. Nothing will come against your beloved children.

never fail

1 Corinthians 13:8

Love never fails.

It is important to know what kind of love never fails. If this is talking about my love, then the Bible lies because my love definitely fails sometimes… okay, lots of times.

But the Bible doesn’t lie, and it is talking about the amazing love of Christ.

Why put your faith in something that may or may not succeed? The love of God never fails. In any situation, you can put yourself in a place where you can not fail.

That place is under His love. Our relationships should be covered with our love, yes. But more importantly, if they are to be guaranteed to succeed they must be covered with His love. Same with our jobs, studies, health etc. Our effort and discipline is good, but is not the guarantor of success.

His love is.

Never let anything take you away from places where you know you experience His love.

Prayer for the week: Father, your grace is sufficient for me. I will ponder upon all your goodness and believe the right thing. I will delight in your protection and in your peace. Nothing will come against your beloved children.

where...

(this week's devotions are adapted from those of revolution's leaders)

Psalm 91:4

He will cover you with His pinions and under His wings you may seek refuge. His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

God's grace and love for us is often pictured as protecting and shielding us. The only condition is to “dwell in the shelter of the Most High” (v1).

It's not about what we do - but about where we are!

The Hebrew origin for “wings” implies “extremities” and “covering”. God doesn't just say, Stand over there and if danger comes, I'll come and get you. He stretches out to keep as close as possible at all times! Furthermore, His “shield” is really a “large shield” and a “bulwark” is a “surrounding solid wall”. God doesn't do things by halves - He goes over the top for us because He loves us so much!

His faithfulness means God WILL NEVER fail! It is His very nature.

The situations in life that come at us cannot affect us when we see them through God's eyes of grace. God, who sees bigger than us, covers us with His grace and love, and therefore, we are shielded from hopelessness, depression, etc that the world would have us fall into.

Anytime, a wrong thought or negative belief enters our world, picture the extreme covering of God, His large shield and His fortifying walls.

Prayer for the week: Father, your grace is sufficient for me. I will ponder upon all your goodness and believe the right thing. I will delight in your protection and in your peace. Nothing will come against your beloved children.

cry...

(this week's devotions are adapted from those of revolution's leaders)

Rom 8:15

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.

I can't ever get over how much God loves us!

Not because of anything we have done but just because we’re his beloved children.

We’re free to come into His presence at any time for any reason. Who can remember those times when you were younger when you just hung out in your parents’ room just because you felt safe there. You felt like nothing could go wrong because your mum or your dad was there.

No matter how large or trivial the concern we can always run to Him; no matter how ‘spiritual’ or ‘unspiritual’ we may be feeling.

He just loves spending time with me.

Oh, to always remember He's there, He loves us and that in His presence all our fears will fade away…

Prayer for the week: Father, your grace is sufficient for me. I will ponder upon all your goodness and believe the right thing. I will delight in your protection and in your peace. Nothing will come against your beloved children.

draw

(this week's devotions are adapted from those of revolution's leaders)

John 15:5

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing”

Relationship with our heavenly father is “achieved” simply by remaining in Him. The love of Christ, the foundation of our relationship with Him, is not earned, it is received.

In the same way that a branch receives all it needs from the vine we must remain in Him to live purposeful lives. The vine does not lack anything. It has a root system that allows it to access what the branch cannot – nutrients and water. The branch’s job is simply to receive from the vine and produce fruit.

I have a friend who loves gardening, and one of his successes was been an oregano plant that he waters at least once per day if not more. Except for one busy week end when it slipped his mind and he saw his beloved plant had withered – the leaves were curled up and the colour had faded. He watered it hoping that it would somehow survive. The next day the plant was virtually 100 per cent and he was no longer depressed!

When the plant did not receive properly from the source, it began to draw on the very thing it was trying to pour into and produce fruit from. And that is exactly the same for us. When we don’t receive from the father the nutrients and water we need, we draw from our work, our friends, our ministry – the very things that God wants to pour into.

Prayer for the week: Father, your grace is sufficient for me. I will ponder upon all your goodness and believe the right thing. I will delight in your protection and in your peace. Nothing will come against your beloved children.

rest...

1 John 3:18-20

Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us.

Ever wonder how God is so at rest? It’s not because we appease Him with our love and worship. It’s because He loves so beautifully.

In a world where we so often see examples of shallow or fallen love, it’s God’s love that absolutely amazes me.

His love is meant to be our inspiration for loving people. Instead of using the example of our love to love Him, we are to use His love as an example to love.

United’s Second Chance has these lyrics: How could greater love than this… ever possibly exist? Consume my thoughts as I rest in you…

It’s living a life of love that truly sets our hearts at rest.

Prayer for the week: Father, it is your love that forgave my sin, fulfills my destiny and brings freedom. Thank you for treasuring relationship with me that you would give it all for me. Your love is more than real and is how I want to love you and others.

under...

Romans 6:6

For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

Sometimes it feels like grace is such an ‘impractical practice’. After all, by definition, we do nothing when we live under grace.

But that is the point. The very things we need forgiveness from, the very things we want fulfillment in, the very things we want freedom for, don’t ultimately come from us.

For those of us who have strived to change ourselves, I am sure we have found it an onerous task. Don’t we read that self-control is fruit of a Spirit-filled life (Galatians 5:23), not a method to achieve it? Don’t we read that the Spirit is a gift (Luke 11:!3), that is, it comes by grace not by us being ‘spiritual’? We have a choice, to believe what we are conditioned to think or to read the word given in Scripture.

You can’t happily live in sin and claim to be “under grace”. And in the same way, we don’t avoid sin by setting up the greatest set of rules to keep us in check.

Under grace, we become “slaves” to righteousness. Grace breaks the power of sin.

Prayer for the week: Father, it is your love that forgave my sin, fulfills my destiny and brings freedom. Thank you for treasuring relationship with me that you would give it all for me. Your love is more than real and is how I want to love you and others.

purpose...

Luke 4:18

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.

Jesus quotes a messianic prophesy from Isaiah to declare his purpose on earth. Not only is the Spirit and Jesus as one on this purpose but it’s the same purpose that His Father has (John 5:19).

The thing that people found so hard to believe back in Jesus’ day is still the same thing that we struggle with – that Jesus came not to be served but to serve (Mark 10:45).

He truly wants to have a meaningful relationship with us. He truly is everything we need. Are we looking everywhere else for a sense of freedom, release, healing and favour?

Or have you let Him into your world where He can start to do all these things in the best way?

Prayer for the week: Father, it is your love that forgave my sin, fulfills my destiny and brings freedom. Thank you for treasuring relationship with me that you would give it all for me. Your love is more than real and is how I want to love you and others.

treasure!

Matthew 13:44

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

The kingdom of heaven comes at a great cost. But it is a cost that we could never pay.

The parable of the hidden treasure is not about what we must do to earn the kingdom, but what it cost to bring us into the kingdom. Jesus explained that the man is himself (v37) and the field is the world (v38).

You are the treasure!

Christ knew the joy of relationship with you (Hebrews 12:2) and pursued you with everything He had.

This love is not superficial, it is real and He wants to know you so deeply and passionately.

Pause and take a moment to realize how much He wants to know and love you.

Prayer for the week: Father, it is your love that forgave my sin, fulfills my destiny and brings freedom. Thank you for treasuring relationship with me that you would give it all for me. Your love is more than real and is how I want to love you and others.

proud...

Hebrews 1:11

Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.

Jesus is not ashamed of us.

Sometimes, you may hear the accusations of the enemy, or maybe wrong preaching, that claims that there are times when Jesus is ashamed of you. Perhaps, that every part of our life is being filmed and will one day be played in heaven to our eternal shame.

If Jesus is not ashamed of us who are we to claim to be so holy and righteous that we are ashamed!

No, Christ did not come to shame us but to call us brothers and sisters.

He stands in front of His Father and presents you proudly (v13). It is Christ’s great joy to tell you everything about our heavenly Father (v12).

So sing it like Sister Sledge – We are family!

Prayer for this week: Father, thank you for your love that sees everything I’m not and still qualifies me to do great things! Father, I can be confident in what you can do through me. I have not been called just to be saved but to something much greater. Speak to me and direct my steps.

because...

1 John 4:19

We love because he first loved us.

He loved us.

I have full confidence in calling Revolution a place of love. I have full confidence in saying that all of us are called to love this generation. I have full confidence that there is a movement of love and grace that is set to take this generation into the presence of Jesus.

Not because of how good we are.

But because He loves us.

That love is the reason why. And that love is more than enough.

Prayer for this week: Father, thank you for your love that sees everything I’m not and still qualifies me to do great things! Father, I can be confident in what you can do through me. I have not been called just to be saved but to something much greater. Speak to me and direct my steps.