Month: February 2023

The Lord watches over

February 28, 2023

I am away from home at the moment for some training for my chaplaincy role. Often when I am away I do not sleep very well. Last night I got 4.15 hours according to my FitBit watch.

I have learned not to get frustrated by this and often I get up and pray and read my Bible. I actually started my devotions at 2:18am this morning.

Today I read Psalm 121:1-8. It is a great Psalm that talks about God being the maker of heaven and earth and how He cares for us.

As I read this passage again I was drawn to the phrase “The Lord watches over you”. This idea is found three times in the short passage. In the NLT it is mentioned in verses 3, 5 & 7.

I really like the idea of the Lord watching over me. It makes me feel like a truly loving father is watching over me at all times. I also like that it says He never slumbers in verse 3.

I find it comforting to know that not only is God is watching over me but He is also awake with me and I can talk to Him at any time.

Hmmm it is now 4.42am, a bit early to go for a walk…I might sit and talk with God some more.

Knowing and known

February 22, 2023

Two words have been on my heart this morning. They started when I woke up and then did my morning prayer time. The words are knowing and known.

As I reflected on this I realised my heart is all about knowing Jesus more and more. More of who He is, what He has done and what He is going to do. And this knowing is not just head knowledge but heart knowledge.

Like most of us I come to know Jesus more as I spend time with Him in prayer, as I read His words in the Bible and as I consciously try to walk with Him each day. It is about joining Jesus on the road of life.

Out of this knowing Him comes the second word known. Out of the outflow of His love and presence in my life, I want to make Him known to others. It is like an ongoing circle, the more I know Him, the more I want to make Him known.

Without even really noticing these two words have been embedded in my life. Knowing Jesus and making Him known. This is my heart right here. This is what I desire to do. At the end of my life if someone described my life, I would be happy if they said the bolded words.

Prayer

Dear Lord Jesus, I pray each and every day I will come to know You more and more. I pray out of this knowing that I would help others come to know You too. I ask in Your name, Amen.

God is my…

February 21, 2023

Psalm 18:1-3 NLT – I love you, LORD; you are my strength. [2] The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. [3] I called on the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies.

I love theses verses. It is David’s response to God saving him from his enemies. I love the way he says “God is my…” a number of times.

David says God is his rock, salvation, fortress, place of safety, shield and strength. He proclaimed who God was to him after a very difficult time.

As I reflected on this I realised that sometimes we need to go through the valley of hard times to really appreciate who God is to us.

At times in my life I quoted Scripture to help me in times of need. This is a really good thing. But it wasn’t until really hard times came that I learned to hold on to the God who backs up the Scriptures.

I found in these times I learned to hold on to both the Scriptures for comfort and assurance and also the God who loves me and holds me in the palm of his hand.

There is nothing like really hard times that bring us to the point of falling on our knees before God and crying out to Him. It is a place where we come to the end of ourselves and the beginning of Him.

It is in this place where we learn, like David did, that God is our rock, our fortress, our strength and our safe place. He is the one we can run to in our times of need.

Prayer

Dear God, I thank You for being my rock, my fortress, my strength and my safe place. I pray that when I go through hard times I can run to You to be my refuge. Amen.

The importance of declaration

February 12, 2023

Romans 10:9-10 NLT – If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. [10] For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.

Declaration is very important thing. As you can see from the passage above it is part of the salvation process. We need to declare Jesus is Lord of our lives.

This morning as I was doing my devotions it was impressed upon me to make some declarations of my own. I felt that I needed to record a prayer in my journal and declare it out aloud. I am not sure why, but God prompted me to declare my faith and trust in Jesus and who He is.

The prayer…

Lord Jesus, I believe You are the Son of God, the Messiah. I believe You died on the cross for my sins and I believe You were raised from the dead. I believe you are seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven. I believe You are coming back for me so I can live with You forever. Amen.

As I said I am not sure why I had to do this? Maybe obedience? Maybe God wanted to hear me say it afresh? Maybe it was to declare it to the powers and principalities? Maybe it was for this blog post? Maybe for all the reason above?

When we declare with our mouth truths about Jesus – who He is, what He has done and what the Bibles tells us He is going to do – it is powerful. It can change our attitudes, it can raise our spirits and it can change the atmosphere around us.

I would encourage you to try it today.

Blessings,
Dave

No separation

February 8, 2023

“Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:35‬ ‭NLT‬‬

It is great to know that if we are in relationship with Christ nothing can separate us from Him. Unlike human relationships that often break down over time through stressful situations, nothing in all creation can separate us from Christ’s love. His love for you is eternal, never ending and complete. His love for you is unbreakable!

Prayer

Thank You Jesus that nothing can separate me from Your love. Help me to remeber this truth always. I am Yours and You are mine. Amen.