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Reflection on Galatians 5:13-25

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Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+5.13-25

Scripture
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace,patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. There is no law against these things.

Observation
Let the Holy Spirit guide your life and you won’t be walking in sin. Our sinful nature opposes the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit gives us desires that counteract our human nature. So, if we obey the Spirit we don’t need external agencies such as the Law of Moses to keep us on the path of righteousness.

The works of the sinful nature are evident: sexual immorality, selfishness, fighting and witchcraft. These things have no part in God’s kingdom. But the Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Those who belong to Christ have nailed these things to the cross. As people of the Spirit, we must live by the Spirit in every part of our lives.

Application
The true follower of Christ is constantly advancing, changing to become more like Christ. The Holy Spirit is transforming us away from our sinful self-directed ways and towards the Spirit-directed was.

We must be careful to yield every part of our life to Christ- home, family, work, leisure, friendships and so on. Every part of my life must be nailed to the cross, handed over to Christ. My repeated prayer must be, “Lord have your way in this aspect of my life.”

Sometimes the changes seem slow and imperceptible. Sometimes we face challenges that seem to throw us back into selfishness. As we daily seek to yield everything to the Lord, change will come and we will be people of the Holy Spirit.

Prayer
Holy Spirit, grow your fruit in my life. Please help me to turn away from my own desires and to let your desires grow in me. Amen.

Reflection on 2 Kings 2:1-14

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Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2Kings+2.1-14

Scripture

Elisha struck the water with Elijah’s cloak and cried out, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” Then the river divided, and Elisha went across.

Observation

Elijah and Elisha travel to some of the key places in Israel. At each place, Elijah tells Elisha to stay while he travels on, but Elisha is determined to follow Elijah.

At each place, the local prophetic community come and tell Elisha that the Lord is going to take Elijah away that day.

Elijah and Elisha cross the Jordan near Jericho. Elijah asks Elisha what he can do for him. Elisha asks for a double portion of the Spirit that is on Elisha. Suddenly a chariot of fire appears, and Elijah is taken up in a whirlwind.

Elisha takes up Elijah’s cloak and crossed the Jordan.

Application

This is a story about spiritual sonship. Elisha, the son to Elijah, is determined to walk with Elijah to the end. Nothing will deter him. When asked what he wants from Elijah, Elisha asks for a double portion of the Spirit that is on Elijah- this is the language of inheritance not of arithmetic.

Everyone needs a spiritual father- someone whom they can love and learn from, serve and walk with. Out orphan society, in its obsession with individual fulfilment, misses the point that our biggest joys come in close relationships.

Elisha received the “double portion” and the cloak of authority precisely because of his love and commitment to Elijah.

Prayer

Lord help me to be a son/daughter to a spiritual father. May I walk in the grace of passionate commitment to the people you place me in relationship with. Amen.

Reflection on Luke 7:36-8:3

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Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+7:36-8:3

Scripture

“She has been forgiven all her many sins. This is why she has shown me such extravagant love. But those who assume they have very little to be forgiven will love me very little.”

Observation

A Jewish religious leader invites Jesus to dinner. A local prostitute joins the party. She falls at Jesus’ feet, washing His feet with her tears and wiping them with her hair. She then takes an alabaster jar of expensive perfume and anoints His feet.

Simon thinks that Jesus cannot be a prophet to accept this worship from this woman.

Jesus tells a story of two men who could not repay their debts. The banker forgives these debts. Jesus asks Simon who would be the most thankful. Simon replies, “The one who owed the most.”

Jesus then rebukes Simon for not even doing the minimum for Jesus as a guest. In contrast the woman had poured out her heart and her tears in love for Jesus. Her extravagant worship was because she knew she had been forgiven much.

Jesus then tells her that her sins are forgiven.

Application

We all carry a huge burden of sin. Some of us are more aware of this burden than others.

Some try to cure it with religion. They try to prove to God that they really are good people and not awful sinners. Religion might make us feel better about ourselves but it doesn’t deal with the real problem.

Only the free grace and love of Jesus can set us free from our sin. We cannot pay the debt we owe God, so He forgives the debt.

When we realise that, then our hearts are overwhelmed with joy and adoration.

Prayer

Thank you Lord for forgiving me. You have taken that burden of guilt away. Amen.

Reflection on Galatians 2:15-21

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Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+2.15-21

Scripture
My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who lives but Christ lives in me.

Observation
Paul is a Jew by birth but he knows that it is faith in Christ, not the Law that makes him right with God. No one will ever be made right with God by obeying the Law.

Sin is not in following Christ but in seeking to rebuild the old system of Law. The Law condemns; Paul died to the Law and stopped trying to meet its demands.

His old self was crucified with Christ. He no longer lives but Christ lives in him.

Application
Many christians want to re-introduce various Old Testament laws and ordinances to make them super-christians, different and better than ordinary christians.

Paul makes it clear that the Law only brings condemnation and judgement. He should know as He was the Pharisee’s Pharisee, the champion of law-keeping.

There is nothing that we can add to grace to make God live us more. There is nothing we can do that will earn God’s favour. We already have it all through Christ our Lord.

Prayer
Thank you Lord for your deep and eternal love. I can do nothing to grow your love for me so I simply receive it in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Reflection on 1 Kings 21:1-24

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Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Kings+21.1-24

Scripture
Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give you my ancestral inheritance.”

Observation
King Ahab demands that Naboth sell his vineyard to him. When Naboth refuses because it is his ancestral land, Ahab gets all sulky.

Queen Jezebel, always a woman of action, arranges a public feast where some scoundrels are to falsely accuse Naboth of cursing God and the king. Naboth is stoned and Ahab gets the vineyard.

The Lord is angered by this. Elijah pronounces judgement against Ahab and Jezebel.

Application
We all exercise power and influence over others to some extent even though we are not all leaders of nations.

The issue here is how we exercise this power. Ahab and Jezebel used their power for purely selfish goals rather than for the good f their kingdom. They were not afraid to take the life of a man of integrity in order to get their way.

Our words and deeds can build people up or pull them down. Our actions may seem acceptable to us but destroy the livelihood, reputation or family of another.

The way of godly influence is through service, laying down our own rights and desires for the sake of others.

Prayer
Father help me to live a life of sacrifice and service to build others up and to glorify your name. Amen.

Reflection on Luke 7:11-17

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Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke+7.11-17

Scripture

Fear seized all of them, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us!” and “God has looked favourably on his people!”

Observation

Jesus and His disciples go to Nain. As they approach the town, they encounter a funeral procession of a man who was the only son of a widow.

Jesus has compassion on her. He commands the young man to rise. The man sits up and begins to talk.

Everyone is moved by fear and they exclaim praise to God.

Application

The Lord has compassion on us, a far deeper compassion than we comprehend.

We may think that God is distant and too great to be moved by our suffering. This is not true! He feels for us.

God is not wanting anyone to suffer, This was not His plan for the world. Death, sickness, violence and poverty are the result of sin in the world and they deeply grieve the Lord.

God reaches out to us in our pain. If we hand it all over to Him, we will see Him act even in the midst of our hurt.

Prayer

Thank you Lord for your compassion. Thank you that you are with me always even when I am not aware of it. Amen.

 

Reflection on 1 Kings 17:1-24

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Passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Kings+17.1-24

Scripture
“Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

Observation
Elijah says to King Ahab that there will be no rain or dew in the land except by his (Elijah’s) word. The Lord then tells Elijah to go to the Cherith Wadi where the ravens will feed him. So Elijah goes there, and the Lord provides for him, but the wadi eventually dries up.

The Lord sends Elijah to Zarephath, where he finds a widow gathering sticks to cook a last meal for her son and her self. Elijah declares to her that her jar of meal and jug of oil will not run out until the drought is over.

The son later becomes ill and dies. Elijah stretches himself over the child and calls out to the Lord, and the son revives.

Application
God cares for His people. When we trust Him with our possessions, no matter how meagre, and our family and life, we can know that He will provide what we need,

It’s not always in a way that we imagine or are comfortable with. Who wants to be feed by ravens?

The Lord feeds our bodies and our spirits. The word of God is the bread of life. Without regular reading and meditation on God’s word our spirits will shrivel to nothing.

We live in a land that is the reverse of Elijah’s situation- we have plenty of material resources, but there is a famine for hearing God’s word.

Prayer
Lord help me to be attentive to your word in every situation of my life. Grant me understanding and wisdom as I study the Scriptures. Amen.

Reflection on John 16:12-15

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Read passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+16:12-15

Scripture

“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.”

Observation

This is a part of Jesus’ teaching to the disciples at the Last Supper.

Jesus tells them that He has many more things still to say to them. The Spirit of truth is coming and He will lead them into all the truth.

The Spirit does not speak from His own authority but only what He hears. He will glorify Jesus by taking all that is His and passing it onto the disciples.

All that the Father has belongs also to Jesus. The Spirit will take all of this and declare it to the disciples.

Application

The Trinity- Father, Son and Holy Spirit- is a mystery to us. Three persons in one God. Not one God totally homogenised. Not three gods living separately. Rather, a community of love expressed in three distinctive forms.

Every follower of Jesus has the Holy Spirit dwelling in them. The Spirit is the Spirit of truth who will not allow us to be deceived. The Spirit takes all the truth about the nature and personality of the Father and the Son and leads us to a place where we “understand” the mysteries of God.

We never have to fear being alone because He is always with us. And, to the extent that we surrender our will to the Holy Spirit, He will lead us always in the ways of truth.

Prayer

Blessed God- Father, Son and Holy Spirit- you are a mystery too deep for human understanding. Thank you for the grace of knowing you. Take me deeper into your ways. Amen.

Reflection on Romans 5:1-5

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Read passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+5.1-5

Scripture
Therefore, since we are justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Observation
We have been justified by faith and that brings with it peace with God. Jesus has given us access to this grace.

We can boast in our hope of glory, but Paul tells us also to boast in our sufferings. Suffering produces endurance, character and hope. Our hope is in God’s love poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

Application
When we come to God we come with nothing. God is not interested in our money, talents and achievements, not even those we direct towards Him.

The only human trait that can influence God is our faith- our ability to trust that He loves us and wants to be in relationship with us.

With faith in the blood of Christ we can know peace with God the Father. Through Christ’s blood all my sins are washed away and all the power of satan is blown away like chaff.

Faith is a little thing- tinier than a seed. But when directed to God it moves the mountain of sin that separates us from Him. Instead of being at war with Him, we experience His peace, grace and love.

Prayer
Lord, I thank you for your love for me. Thank you for the blood of Christ that washes me clean from all sin. Amen.

Reflection on John 14:8-17

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holy-spirit-fire

Read passage: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+14.8-17

Scripture

“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth.”

Observation

Philip says to Jesus, “Show us the Father.” Jesus replies, “”Whoever sees me sees the Father. The Father and I are one.”

Jesus then goes on to say that whoever believes in Him will also do the works that He does, and even greater things. Anything we ask for in His name, He will do it.

Jesus is going to send another Advocate, the Holy Spirit. The world cannot receive Him, but the disciples can. He abides with them and will be in them.

Application

Jesus promises to give them the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, the Advocate.

This promise is to all who follow Jesus. The miracle of Pentecost is that the Spirit is poured out on “all flesh,” to all who call on the name of the Lord.

One of the limitations in the contemporary church (actually all through history) is the ongoing desire for a priestly class. Even in Pentecostal or charismatic churches there is a veneration of the “Man of God” who alone has the anointing.

The Bible is clear that God calls and equips certain people to lead the church. But the Holy Spirit is poured out on all believers. All followers of Jesus must engage in the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

Prayer

Holy Spirit come and fill me. Give me faith today to do the “greater things” that Jesus promised I would. Amen.