A love for His Word

March 18, 2022

Psalm 119:36-40 NLT – Give me an eagerness for your laws rather than a love for money! [37] Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word. [38] Reassure me of your promise, made to those who fear you. [39] Help me abandon my shameful ways; for your regulations are good. [40] I long to obey your commandments! Renew my life with your goodness.

For my devotions this morning I read the above passage. It reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend years ago. My friend loved God’s Word, the Bible. He would always talk about the passages he read and how it spoke to him in his devotions. He could quote passages and God’s Word was never far from his lips.

One day I asked how he had such a love for God’s Word? Where did it come from? His simple answer amazed me. He said, “I asked God for it!” He went on to say that in the Psalms David often told God how much he loved His Word. He then simply asked God for a love of the Word like David had.

He then asked me if I sincerely wanted it. When I said, “Yes”, he prayed for me. That prayer changed my life. Today I want to pray a prayer for you. I will write it out below. If you want a real and lasting love for God’s Word, you can pray it too and say amen at the end. I believe it will be life changing for you!

Prayer

Dear God, I pray that I will truly love and desire Your Word like David did. I pray that I will read it and meditate on it day and night. I pray my life will be built on Your Word and Your commandments. I ask that the Holy Spirit will speak to my heart every time I open my Bible. I ask in Jesus’ name, Amen.

The hole inside

March 16, 2022

In my late teens and early 20s I started to wonder if there was more to this life. I started to wonder if there was more to this life than just go to school, get a job, get married and have kids.

The more I thought about it, I realised there was something missing. Like there was a hole inside me or there was a missing piece that I was looking for? Something was not there but I did really know what it was or where to find it.

Thankfully I made some friends where I worked that were Christian. When I talked to them I realised they had something that I didn’t. They had a peace and a solidness about them. It didn’t matter what happened to them in life, they just seemed to remain rock solid.

One day I asked one of my friends about it and they told me it was Jesus. Jesus was the anchor to their soul. In the midst of the storms of life that seemed to buffet others around, Jesus kept them anchored firmly to Him. He enabled them to weather the storms with a sense of peace. He was their solid rock.

One friend told me that when we ask Jesus into our lives as our Lord and Saviour, then He fills the hole inside us. The hole that makes us feel like something is missing or there is more to life, is for Jesus. We are created with that space inside us that is meant for Him.

After thinking about this for a while I realised I needed Jesus too. I spoke to one of my friends and they gave me a short pamphlet that explained how to accept Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. It is similar to the one that I have on my main website. It helped me to accept Jesus as my Lord and Saviour.

Today I would encourage you to accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour too. If you are feeling there must be more to this life or you have a hole inside you, I want you to know that the answer is Jesus.

Please take a few moments to visit my “peace with God” page on my main website. My prayer is that you will find Jesus and you will allow Him to feel the hole inside of you too. You can find it here www.passionaustralia.org/salvation.html.

Be blessed,
Dave

Paul’s life for Christ

March 12, 2022

Today’s reading comes from Philippians 1:20-26. It is titled, “Paul’s life for Christ”. Verses 21-24 explains Paul’s heart. They gives us a glimpse of his priorities.

“For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. I’m torn be- tween two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live”.

For Paul, living was all about Christ. He was all consumed with Christ. He desired earnestly to go and be with Christ, but knew staying here would mean he could continue His work in the world.

Paul knew he could help others come to know Christ, he could plant churches, and he could strengthen the churches he had planted. In short his mission was to know Christ and make Him known.

Over the years I have known people like this. They have been completely sold out for God’s Kingdom. Their life was hidden in Christ and His will was all they wanted. Some are alive still serving, while some have gone to be with their Lord.

I am so inspired by these three verses and the sold out Kingdom people I have met over the years. It is something that I aspire to myself. I hope and pray that I can wholeheartedly say, “To live is Christ, to die is gain”.

Prayer

Dear God, thank You for Paul’s words in this passage. Thank You for his commit- ment to Christ and his commitment to making Him known. I pray today that I will have that same commitment to Christ and to His mission in this world. I pray my life will be all about Christ. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Building bridges and ladders

March 9, 2022

Two of the images I like to hold in my mind for undertaking any ministry tasks are bridges and ladders. It doesn’t matter if you are a Sunday School Teacher, a Pastor or a Chaplain. It helps with all of them.

The first image is that of a bridge. Bridges help us to get from one place to another. It is usually over the top of something that is hard to go through. As a minister I try to imagine building bridges to help people cross from where they are to somewhere else. If I am in a school it might be a relationship bridge from a student to a teacher so they can better understand each other. If in the church it might be a teaching bridge that helps people understand one aspect of our faith. If I am talking to a person who does not know Jesus, it might be a salvation bridge so the person can understand how much Jesus loves them and wants to be in relationship with them.

The other image is that of a ladder. In the natural ladders help us to climb higher. In a career sense people use them to climb higher and often climb over people to get what they want. Years ago I decided not to climb the ladder, but to be a ladder builder. Rather than use the ladder to climb up the career ladder, I decided to build ladders so we can all rise up together. If it is in a school I want to build ladders so the students can grow and learn. If it is in church I want to be a ladder builder so people can grow in their faith, become closer to God and become true disciples of Christ. This is always at the forefront of my mind and helps me to keep focused on the task of Matthew 28:18-20 to go and make disciples.

Often when I am praying I am asking God to show me the bridge that will help a person to move on. Or I ask for help building the ladder that the person needs to climb higher in one area of their lives. It is two simple images, but they help me a lot.

How about you? Have you got any images that help you with you ministry tasks? Perhaps that is worth reflecting on today?

Be blessed,
Dave

What is Lent and why do we give things up?

February 28, 2022

When I first started going to church I heard about Lent but did not really know what it was. The churches I attended did not really talk about it much either.

More recently I have been attending a church that does talk about Lent and celebrates it each year. This year some of the blokes from our Men’s group “Who let the blokes out?” are giving some things up and we are doing some things to help us focus more in God.

Here is a really good description of Lent from a devotion I am doing…

“The basic purpose of Lent is to create space in the middle of life’s responsibilities to appreciate what’s always been there—God’s presence. Lent is a 40-day period leading up to Resurrection Sunday. Based on Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness, Lent is a tool that can help you become more aware of God’s voice and His sacrificial love. Although Lent isn’t actually mentioned in the Bible, it was discussed at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD because it provided a rhythm of reflection and repentance for Christians as they entered spring—a season often associated with new beginnings.”

So what am I giving up and deciding to do? Here are my things…

I usually grab an iced coffee and maybe a snickers bar when I get fuel. I will give that up. That will be a little bit of donation money for the Lent Event that funds missions. I am going to listen to an audio book called “40 days with the Holy Spirit” by KT Kendall. It is a short audio of 5-8 minutes each day.

If you have never celebrated Lent or taken part, maybe you could try it this year? I pray that if you do, you will hear God’s voice more clearly and be reminded in a deeper way of God’s sacrificial love for you.

Blessings,
Dave