God uses many methods and means to get our attention, in order to teach us a deeper truth about Himself. Having fled from the fierce threats of Jezebel, a vicious and rebellious woman, Elijah cowered in the corner of a cave. He prayed to escape through death… but the Lord had something more to teach His servant about God’s Own perfect character. God had something greater to achieve in Elijah’s life. He desired to draw Elijah into a deeper and more intimate understanding of Himself, as He does with all His children.

In faithfully carrying out God’s purpose, with great energy and commitment, Elijah fell into the trap of exalting himself rather than God. He desired fierce vengeance on the wicked people of his day, rather than applying the godly principles of a gentle and contrite spirit.. which bears all things and believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things. Elijah fell into the trap of not leaving things in God’s hands or entrusting all things into God’s own keeping.

Elijah had just challenged the priests of Baal and gained a magnificent victory. His prayer for rain was wonderfully answered. But Elijah wanted his fiery ministry to continue. He wanted the Lord to rain down judgement on the wicked and show more of His might and strength. He wanted the Lord to use him to confound his enemies.. but fear of Jezebel’s threats, left him hiding in the desert. He was fearful, confused and complained that he was the only faithful servant and true worshipper of God left in the world!

Elijah had enjoyed his ministry and wanted his own personal ‘success’ to continue… rather than humbly recognising that God’s plans and purposes span from eternity past, into the ages to come. He had to learn that God fulfils His word in many different ways. God does not always do what WE think is right and He has many thousands of faithful people who trust His word and obey His commands. Elijah needed to learn that he was simply one small cog in the wide-ranging wheels of God’s almighty purpose for humanity.

In order to help him understand about God’s own gracious character and the petulant nature of man, God spoke to a downcast Elijah, in a cave on Mount Horeb. The Lord taught His servant something of His own character, through a series of natural occurrences, before He brought him to a gentle understanding of the truth about Himself.

First, the prophet saw a mighty, raging tempest followed by a great earthquake and a fiery inferno…but finally God spoke to Elijah in a still, small voice that brought him to his knees. Elijah came to a deeper understanding that men’s hearts will never be compelled to believe in God.. but the long-suffering, gracious nature of God will draw all men to Himself.

God’s ultimate plan and purpose is to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ, and put all things under His authority. Jesus did not come as a mighty warrior or a fighting champion. The Son of Man was lifted up on a Tree. ‘I, if I am lifted up will draw all men to Myself,” were Christ’s own words. Elijah had to come to an understanding of the mercy and grace of God as well as His almighty power.

The Lord our God is the same yesterday, today and forever, and just as Elijah was one of God’s many servants who was being refined, like silver, in the furnace of affliction, our lives are also brushstrokes on the canvas that God has been painting throughout history. For the time being, we only see through a glass darkly, but one day we will see His finished tapestry and be amazed at God’s wisdom and grace.

At the moment we are passing through life not quite understanding why certain things are taking place in our lives – but if we are prepared to listen to His still small voice and follow His gentle commands, we will all one day gaze in awe and wonder at the whole, magnificent tapestry of life.. of which we are one small part.

Remember, He takes our personal situation, and from it selects the method and means to get our attention, in order to teach us a deeper truth about Himself. He wants to draw us into a more intimate fellowship with our heavenly Father. Let us keep our ears open to the gentle softness of His still, small voice, for He continues to speak into the lives of all who have ears to hear.

Father God, I am humbled to realise that You have included me, and my life, as part of Your plan for humanity. I realise more and more that I must decrease in every area of my life and entrust all circumstances into Your gracious hands… so that You may increase, and I may decrease. Use me Lord as You will in Your wider plans and purposes, and develop in me an understanding heart and a listening ear to hear all You have to say to me. Teach me the lessons that You would have me to learn and keep me looking to Jesus. This I ask in His precious name I pray, AMEN.

There are many occasions in Scripture when God uses simple things or unschooled people… whom the world considers foolish or juvenile, to undertake an assignment and forward His plans and purposes. It was in his letter to the Corinthians that Paul highlights this important issue when he wrote, “God has chosen the base things of the world and the things that are despised… God has chosen the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are”.

Corinth was a place that was teeming with citizens of Rome, and other people from different places – both Gentiles and Jews. Many had relocated in Corinth, because of its importance as a commercial city and industrial centre. It had become a bustling town that was strategically situated, for both land and marine trade and travel.

Corinth had a range of intersecting trade routes from across the world and had become a busy centre, with a wide variety of merchants and travellers passing through. Like so many cities in Paul’s day, it was replete with pagan practices, depravity, and corruption. There were many temples dedicated to pagan deities… and sexual idolatry and temple prostitution were two of the ungodly habits that flourished within the city gates.

It was in the midst of this den of iniquity that Paul made Corinth his missionary headquarters and started to preach the good news of the gospel of Christ. He ministered in Corinth for about 18 months before moving to Ephesus.

While in Ephesus Paul received some concerning news about the ungodly practices that the Corinthians Church had adopted. Paul was distressed by their fall into carnality, which caused him to write a chastening and corrective letter, exhorting the believers there to stop engaging in such ungodly practices and giving instruction on right thinking and godly living.

Some in the congregation were engaged in some serious sexual misconduct, which was allowed to go unchallenged by the elders there. Others were involved in internal squabbles which resulted in disorderly meetings and presented a poor testimony to unbelievers in the city.

Pagan courts were being used by Christians to sue a brother in Christ! Spiritual gifts were being abused and Paul’s apostolic authority and doctrinal teaching had already been challenged and disputed by false teachers and legalists. As a result, Paul found it necessary to address these issues in a letter of correction, as well as defending his position as an apostle of God and a chosen instrument of Christ.

In an attempt to justify his apostolic authority and the gospel he taught. Paul pointed out that God uses foolish things of the world to confound the wise and weak things to dumbfound the strong. He uses things like the cross of Christ and Paul’s own ministry in order to humiliate those that are wise in their own eyes. God chooses the weak things of the world, to bring down the powerful and Paul contrasted the clever oratory skills of his critics with the simplicity of the pure gospel he taught.

In His wisdom, the Lord uses things that are insignificant and people who are despised, to carry out his plans and purposes. God is able to take things that are viewed as nothing… in order to topple those that consider themselves superior! The Amplified Bible puts it this way, “And God deliberately selected and chose to use things in the world that are lowborn… things that are insignificant. God chooses to use those that are branded as useless and treated with contempt. He even uses things that are of absolutely no value whatsoever, so that He might depose the proud and bring their arguments to nothing”.

We read in Psalm 2 that God sits in the heavens and laughs at the pompous piety and arrogant attitude of fallen man who rails against the Lord and His Anointed. What a comfort to know that God in His grace, takes the base things of the world and chooses those that are despised to bring to nothing those that view themselves as important!

Human wisdom and philosophical thinking may be coveted by the world and celebrated by fallen man, but the gospel exposes this attitude as foolish and futile. Human wisdom is the antithesis of godly wisdom and in this verse Paul’s quoted from Isaiah, who said, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise”. Paul was not suggesting that God will not save the wealthy man or intelligent person, for His goodness and grace embraces all, but how important that we get our priorities right and put JESUS as the central focus of our lives.

What a reminder that God is not influenced by the debating skills, intellectual capacities, business acumen or human wisdom of the wise. Such people are insignificant in His eyes. But the Lord values the man who is humble of heart and ever looking to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.

Heavenly Father, thank You that I am accepted in the Beloved and my salvation does not depend on my debating skills, intellectual capacities, business acumen or human wisdom. I pray that I may develop an attitude of heart that trusts in You implicitly, and looks to Jesus, day by day. Thank You that You take the base things of the world and people that are insignificant in eyes of the proud, and use them for Your greater glory. Use me I pray and help me to walk humbly before You all the days of my life  – this I ask in Jesus’ name, AMEN.

The responsibilities; busyness; stresses and strain of simply living can cause each of us to neglect what is important and have a lasting effect on what we consider to be immediately urgent and vital. Even the duties and tasks to which God has called us can be placed higher on our daily agenda than those things that are vital to our spiritual well-being – taking time to be alone with the Lord.

Mark is the shortest gospel… detailing the work of Christ’s ministry, the calling of His disciples, the healing of the sick and the teaching of the kingdom at breakneck speed. By chapter 6, Jesus has already been falsely accused of performing miracles by the power of Baalzebub; rejected by both the Jewish leaders and the people and had started to teach His disciples through parables – so that only those with ears to hear would understand.

The twelve men chosen to be Christ’s apostles had been commissioned by the Lord to travel throughout the cities of Judah, in pairs, preaching repentance wherever they went. They were given authority to cast out demons; raise the dead; heal the sick and anoint them with oil. It was a demanding schedule, and they were not always welcome in the places they visited.

It was not an easy task for the Twelve, for they were forbidden to take any sort of provision for their journey. They were not even allowed to take a bag with them, food, money in their pocket or a change of clothes. During this assignment, they were to rely entirely on God’s provision and His sufficient strength – just like the lilies of the field and the birds of the air.

The Lord Jesus knew how the pressures of ministry affect the human body. He knew what it was to be tired and thirsty, weary and worn out. He was well aware that times of mental and spiritual refreshment are necessary for all God’s people, and the strenuous work of the Kingdom had caused His disciples to neglect their own bodily needs – they didn’t even have time to eat.

Their preaching assignment was followed by days of caring for the physical needs of 5000 hungry people. Together with Christ’s rejection at Nazareth and the shock of Herod’s bloody murder of John the Baptist, the rigorous schedule had taken its toll on both the bodies and emotions of this little group.

Recognising their fatigue and need of restoration, the Lord, in His gentle chiding, but gracious compassion, told them… “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest for a while,” because so many people were coming and going that they didn’t have time enough to eat”. Throughout Scripture God often uses the simple, natural things to teach us important spiritual truths, and these gentle instructions of the Lord to His faithful little band –  “to rest awhile”, were no exception. Just as the body needs time to recover and recuperate, so also the spirit and soul need times of rest and refreshment.

Just as Jesus gave these men work to do, so He called them to step aside from their mission and ministry and rest for a while. Just as the Lord provides opportunities for service so He also gives us periods of ‘time-out’ to recharge our batteries and refresh our soul. Although Jesus was fully God, He was also fully human. He understands our weaknesses – and in His grace He called His disciples to “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest for a while” – because so many people were coming and going that they didn’t even have time to eat.

We too need to hear the Master’s tender warning and provide ourselves with the necessary rest and refreshment in our wearisome labours; mounting pressures; escalating fatigue and the worrisome hardships that are strewn across the daily paths of each one of us. We are all well aware of the effect of the disregard and neglect of our physical needs and need to be wise in the way we conduct our lives and our various duties, but of far greater significance is the neglect of true, spiritual refreshment and the failure to spend quality time with our heavenly Father.

Life’s pressures, can start to take a severe toll on our relationship with the Lord Himself as intimate contact with the Lord Jesus is edged out by urgent time constraints… and too soon we discover He is pushed outside the door of our helter-skelter lives. May this never be. May we take serious steps to address this issue in our lives.

The desert place to which He calls us is not necessarily connected with a TIME or a PLACE, but rests on an ATTITUDE of heart towards our Lord. May we keep the eyes of our heart firmly fixed on the Lord Jesus day by day. May we abide in Him and He in us, moment by moment, and may we respond to His call to ‘COME AWAY” to a deserted place by ourselves with JESUS, knowing that He will provide the nourishment for our souls and the sufficient strength to live holy lives – as we take time to rest in His love and enjoy sweet fellowship with Him.

Thank You Father for Your Word and for helping me to recognise how quickly You can be pushed out of my life. Help me to change my attitude from prioritising the urgent things in life to that which is of eternal value. Help me to recognise that keeping the eyes of my heart on You is the more important thing in life. Refresh my weary soul today I pray, as I abide in You and rest in Your love, in Jesus’ name, AMEN.

Nehemiah, a Jewish descendant of Babylonian exiles, had earned the trusted position of cupbearer to King Artaxerxes of Persia. Having received news from certain returnees to Jerusalem, that the city walls and gates remained dilapidated and broken, and the morale of the people was low, he became deeply distressed.

Nehemiah fasted and prayed fervently to the Lord, about the sorry state of his ancestral home. The dejected countenance of his servant was noticed by the king, who asked Nehemiah about his sadness of heart, and offered to help in the rebuilding of Jerusalem.

God moved the heart of the king to help his servant, who agreed to send Nehemiah back to Jerusalem, to undertake a grand rebuilding programme. He even promised to supply all the necessary materials to carry out the work. The king wrote letters to the governor of the region, outlining his support for the project and giving Nehemiah his permission to use wood from the royal forests to undertake the rebuilding project.

God’s hand was certainly on this prayerful man as he set out to Jerusalem, accompanied by officers of the king’s army and horsemen. Nehemiah delivered the king’s letter of instruction and support to the governor, but those in charge of the city were infuriated by the news. They were annoyed that someone had come to seek the well-being of the Israelites, and restore their self-respect.

No doubt, when Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem, the morale of his countrymen was sorely depressed. They were living within a ruined city, under an authoritarian, foreign leadership. Some of the people in the city would have been those deported by Nebuchadnezzar… or descendants of exiles, who most likely returned when Cyrus the great issued his decree to rebuild the city and the sanctuary – as prophesied by Daniel.

Despite coming back to their homeland, the city could not return to its former glory or optimism, when the inner souls of the returning exiles were so deflated. As a result, the city remained in ruins. It must have brought great encouragement to the people when Nehemiah arrived, accompanied by all the king’s men and his army officers.

However, following Nehemiah’s impressive arrival, it only took him a few days to undertake an initial inspection of the damage done to the city walls and gates. He didn’t immediately broadcast his intention to restore the city, but spent the next few nights making a detailed inspection of all that needed to be done.

Neither the foreign officials nor the Jewish people knew what he was planning. But finally, he told the governor and shared his plans with the people and Nehemiah invited them to join him in his rebuilding project. “You already know the trouble we are in.” he said to the Jews, priests, nobles, officials, and those who would be doing the work, “Jerusalem lies in ruins. It’s gates have been burned down! Come, let’s rebuild Jerusalem’s wall, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.”

No doubt Nehemiah voiced what many of them may have been thinking, and he recorded his conversation with the people.“I told them how the gracious hand of my God had been favourable to me,” he wrote, “I told them what the king had said to me. Then they said to me, “Let us arise and build.” So they put their hands to the good work.”

It only took a few days for Nehemiah to gather the facts he needed, encourage the people living there, deliver the king’s message to the governor, and secured the enthusiastic commitment of the residents of Jerusalem to join him in this important building project.

Nehemiah was a prayerful man of God, who was willing to cry out to the Lord for help… but he was also prepared to be used, by God, to carry out the task. Nehemiah could have argued that he did not want to give up his secure job, in the king’s palace, to undertake such an impossible task. Alternately he could have rushed back to Jerusalem, like a bull in a china shop, to carry out the task, through his own insufficient strength. But in trusting God with his request, he was also willing to be used by the Lord – Who graciously answered his prayer!

Sometimes the prayers we pray exceed our expectation of God’s ability or willingness to answer! But He is able to do over and above all that we can ask or think when we trust Him with both the enormous tasks at hand, as well as the insignificant things of life.

May we be ready and willing to be used by God to forward His plans and purposes in our life, and for the glory of His name.. And may we be willing to pray into impossible situations, knowing that He is able to accomplish the impossible.

Heavenly Father, it is such an encouragement to see the way You used Nehemiah to answer his own prayers, because he was praying into Your will through a knowledge of Your Word. I pray that the thoughts of my heart would be brought into alignment with the desires of Your heart. Make me willing to be used by You in whatever way You choose and keep me ever looking to Jesus, by submitting my will to the Spirit’s leading, trusting Your word and living in total dependence upon You  – this I ask in Jesus’ name, AMEN.

Christendom is saturated with heretical and apostate teachings. The heretic believes but distorts God’s Word and strays from the truth of scripture while the unbelieving apostate puts-on a garment of pretence with the subtle, but deliberate intent, to lead Christians astray. Both exemplify a ploy of the enemy to prevent genuine believers from entering into spiritual maturity and the fullness of Christ.

The apostle John tells us how a false teacher can be identified. If someone denies either the deity of Christ or His humanity, that man is a fraudulent teacher. We are not to be gullible in our Christian walk. We are to discern the spirit that is behind a teacher or his doctrine. “Dear friends”, John reminds us, “do not believe every spirit. You are to test the spirits to determine if they are from God.”

We are reminded, in earlier verses, that there are many spirits in the world that are not to be trusted, and the apostle points out the importance of testing every spirit to see if it is from God or if it has been spawned from the evil one. We are told that many false prophets and false teachers have gone out into the world with the deliberate intention of misleading Christians by teaching a false gospel… under the pretence of being a true believer.

From the time of John, there have been teachers and religious groups that refuse to accept that Jesus is fully God or that He is fully Man. But Jesus is both fully God and fully human. Some like to suggest that the Lord Jesus was a lesser god – a created being, while others have taught that Jesus was not fully human.. but simply the mirage of a man. However, only the perfect God is good enough to pay the price for sin and only a sinless Man could die on the cross and shed His life-blood as payment for humanities sin. It is only in the hypostatic union of Christ’s humanity with His divinity, that qualified Him to be our Substitute for sin

It is ONLY faith in the incarnate Son of God – the eternal God made in human flesh, that is sufficient to pay for the price of sin and save us from death and hell. Without faith in the humanity of Christ, there is no Christian faith. Without the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ there is no forgiveness of sin and without trusting in His death, burial, and resurrection to save… we remain dead in our sin and without hope in the world.

But through the pen of John, the beloved disciple, the Holy Spirit gives a simple rule to identify, whether or not, a professing believer has the Spirit of God. John gives clear guidelines to discern whether or not a doctrine is really from the Lord. He tells us that every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh has the truth… for every person; every preacher; every teacher; every denomination; every doctrine: every spirit that does not acknowledge the humanity, of God-incarnate in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, proclaims a false gospel and is influenced by a ‘spirit’ other than the Holy Spirit of God.

It was only by the eternal God becoming a Man, that He could die as a Man as payment for the sin of mankind. It was only because the eternally existing Son of God set aside His glory, for a time, and took upon Himself humanity, that sin and death could be defeated. Life is in the blood and only the shed blood of a perfect Man was sufficient to pay the price of sin. Only the God-Man could die for us and be resurrected to life – so that in HIM we might be forgiven through his blood and receive His life.

Jesus took on humanity that He might die. He gave His life for us that we might have His life forever. Jesus eternally existed as God… but at a point in time He stepped onto the earth, and took on Himself the form of a Man. In so doing, our Saviour did not strip Him of His eternal deity. He simply set aside His glory for a time, so that He would live His life as all men ought to live.. in total submission to the Father.

We do well to reflect on this truth, for scripture tells us that as the Church age comes to a close, apostasy; heresy; the doctrines of demons and all manner of false ‘gospels‘ will infiltrate every sector of Christianity.

Let us hold fast to the truth and confess Christ crucified, as the anointed Messiah of God and Redeemer of the world – for our Saviour Jesus Christ is Prophet; Priest and King. He is Son of God and Son of Man. He is very God of very God – incarnate and not created. He is the Word that became flesh. He is the unique God-Man, Who alone is our kinsman-Redeemer; our Lord and our God.

Dear heavenly Father, thank You that You sent the lovely Lord Jesus to be born in the flesh so that He could die for my sin. Thank You that He was willing to be born into the human race and shed His life-blood so that we might live in Him. Give me the wisdom and insight to discern the truth and not to be led astray by apostate teachers or heretics. May I feed on You in my heart by faith with thanksgiving and praise. Protect my mind from all false teachings and may I grow in grace and in a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, in Whose name I pray, AMEN.

The wonderful love of God for those that trust in Him is once again laid bare in this first epistle of John. Perfect love casts out fear and our relationship with our heavenly Father, which is founded on Christ’s finished work at Calvary, should give us inner joy and a profound peace.

As His blood-bought children, we are reminded that we should have boldness in the day of judgement and not be filled with fear or concern. Fear causes our heart to become tormented and as John rightly points out in the previous verses: the one who fears has not been made perfect in love.

We have an assurance because our future is not only recorded in the Word of God and settled in heaven, but we have the indwelling Holy Spirit in our heart as God’s guarantee that all that He has promised to those who trust in Christ for salvation – He will fulfil.

The love that God has for the world and the love that Christ has for the Church was written in blood… on a wooden cross – 2000 years ago, and the future day of judgement should not hold any fear for those who have been saved by the blood of the Lamb – for there is no fear in love because perfect love casts out fear.

The very character of God is love. He is divine love and He initiated love in our heart and inner soul. It is only because of His love for us that we are able to love Him back. But the love that He gives is not the broken human love that was tainted by sin, but the love of Christ that is placed within. How wonderful to know that we are not only the object of God’s divine love but that His desire is that we reciprocate His love. BY His grace He has poured the love of Christ into our inner being so that we can love with the same supernatural love with which we are loved.

We are therefore called to love Him because He loved us first. But do we simply express our love for the Lord as a required obligation or Christian duty as do unsaved tax-gatherers and sinners, who only love those who reciprocate love, or is there a deeper level of loving God because He loved us first? God’s love for us streams from the perfection of His character and the eternal excellencies of His attributes.

Oh, we are indeed intensely thankful and eternally grateful that He loved us enough to die His ignominious death on the cross to save our damned souls, but God’s Own love must be the foundation upon which our love for Him is firmly secured and His compassionate, perfect love in us, must be the fountain-head, through which our love streams-out into the lives of others.

Perfect love; divine love; the holy love of God which first loved us is surely established as the ultimately highest pinnacle of our Christian life and the capstone in our relationship with the Lord, for as Paul reminds us in Corinthians.. the greatest of all is love. We are commanded by Jesus to emulate this love: love as I have loved you, so that Christ is seen in us.

Let us not only reflect in deepest gratitude our love for the Lord, Who willingly sacrificed His life to save us all – but let us also contemplate in reverent awe and hushed wonder His amazing grace; His eternal perfection; His gracious character and the immeasurable excellencies of the God whose nature is pure Love.

Yes, indeed – we love Him because He first LOVED us.

Father, when I think of the depth of Your love for me I am overwhelmed. I could not love as You love unless You pour Your supernatural love through me – so that it may flow through me and out to others. Thank You that I am being conformed into the likeness of Christ. May the seed of love that You have planted within my heart blossom into a godly love. Take my life as a vessel through whom Your love is shed abroad into a world where real love has been corrupted. I love You, Jesus. Hear my prayer I pray, AMEN.