Thursday 24th Christmas Eve Luke Ch 1 verse 11 – 13 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your … Read more
Thursday 17th John Ch 15 verse 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing This is the 7th of the ‘I am’ sayings in the Gospel of John [can you remember the other 6?], … Read more
Thursday 10th Isaiah Ch 45 verse 23 ‘Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.’ Isaiah is here writing possibly in about 681BC to give hope to God’s people. They had rebelled, sinned greatly and suffered the wrath of God Almighty in the form of being exiled and separated from the … Read more
Thursday 3rd Micah Ch 6 verse 8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly[a] with your God. The Bible is full of narrative, direction, encouragement, challenge and mystery, that at times it can be difficult to ‘see the wood … Read more
Thursday 26th Amos Ch 4 verse 1 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy and say to your husbands, “Bring us some drinks!” You might consider this a strange verse for a daily thought? The prophet Amos is addressing the wealthy women who oppress … Read more
Thursday 19th Matt Ch 8 verse 2 ‘Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.’ Satan loves to convict us and drag us down with condemnation and accusation as we recall past failings and times we’ve messed up and hurt other people. As well as reminding us all that when we’ve surrendered our … Read more
Thursday 12th 1 Peter Ch 4 verse 12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you The words that jump out at me from this verse are ‘do not be surprised’. In fact what surprises me is the … Read more
Thursday 5th Proverbs 27 verse 6 ‘faithful are the wounds of a friend’ What are friends for I find myself asking? Socialising, sharing life together, being there when things are not going well, but being wounded by them is not an answer that readily sprung to mind. This verse gets to the heart of what … Read more
Thursday 29th Psalm 120: 1 ‘I call on the Lord in my distress, and He answers me.’ I love the simplicity, yet sure and certain faith, hope and trust of this verse. ‘I call…and He answers me.’ This is God’s inspired Word speaking, and countless people of faith now and before us testify to … Read more
Thursday 22nd Revelation Ch 3 verse 22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” I wonder what you make of this verse on first reading. The book of Revelation is not an easy book to read or understand, that is because it is apocalyptic in its outlook, which basically … Read more
