Devotionals

A massive thank you to Sarah for writing this special devotional for the week during which we remember our Lord’s death and resurrection.
I’ve been reading the book of Zechariah recently. To give you some background, the people of Judah were consistently disloyal to God, and He exiled them to Babylon as punishment. For seventy years they lived there, until King Cyrus allowed Jews to return to Jerusalem (Ezra 1:1-3). They began rebuilding the city and the Jewish high priest laid the foundation of the temple, but their enemies frustrated them and eventually convinced the current king that rebuilding of Jerusalem should cease (Ezra 4). Zechariah and his contemporary, Haggai, were spokesmen for God. Basically, their purpose was to galvanise the people into getting back to work.
Continue reading “Clothed With Rich Robes, By Sarah Tummey.”

A massive thank you to Sarah for sharing the history behind the incredible gift the Lord has given her.
I always wanted to write songs, but me getting into song-writing was extremely unlikely. Neither of my parents are musical. They did encourage me (and my sister) to have piano lessons, but we weren’t in a house full of instruments and people playing them. I kept up piano until my mid-teens and reached Grade Three. I never got the hang of Braille music, so the pieces became too complicated to learn by ear, and that was that. I also did half a year of music G.C.S.E. Whereas a typical mainstream school would have three hundred people in a year, the special school I attended at the time had about twenty, so there were only two people in my music class. At the end of the year, our teacher gave us predicted grades – hers an A, and mine a C. Looking back now, I should have been really encouraged by that. A C is good! But when you only have an A to compare it to, it sounds terrible. I was in the process of changing schools and choosing my G.C.S.E.s all over again. Based on her prediction, and the fact I was moving to a mainstream school (where Braille music would be unfamiliar to the staff), I gave it up. Very sad, but I never lost that desire to write a song.
Continue reading “Songwriting – The Birthing Process, By Sarah Tummey.”

I’m sure we’ve all heard that old rhyme that says: “Patience is a virtue. Virtue is a grace, and Grace is a little girl who didn’t wash her face!” That one always infuriated me as a child when I felt it was being directed at me, but it makes me smile as an adult. It has a point. Patience isn’t always easy to come by, and of course, if you’re praying for patience, then you can be pretty sure God will allow situations that will test and stretch you, in the hope that with each event, you’ll get a little more of the thing you most desire.
Continue reading “Patience In Prayer.”

Last week, we began considering growing in the fear of the Lord by looking at some incidences from the life of Elijah. We compared bold as brass Elijah confronting the prophets of Baal in 1Kings 18 with the scared Elijah of 1Kings 19 who ran for his life after death threats from queen Jezebel. We then pondered the story found in 2Kings 1 as proof that Elijah’s experiences had helped him grow in the fear of his God.
Continue reading “Whom Shall I Fear (Part 2)”

It seems that at the moment, the Lord wants to teach me about fearing him alone. He has also been educating me about true wisdom, and that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, as stated in Proverbs 9:10.
Continue reading “Whom Shall I Fear? (Part 1)”

During my mid-20s, I was involved with helping my mother coordinate a weekly children’s club called Sunshine Corner that had existed ever since I was a child. During the 6 week summer school break, we would often host a themed holiday club, which proved to be a lot of fun for adults and children alike.
Continue reading “A Powerful Proverb.”

This is the final part of the sermon I heard my father-in-law preach nearly 20 years ago which had a massive impact on my thoughts and attitudes.
For the past 2 weeks we have been discussing the problem of hatching snake eggs. We have seen how angry and bitter thoughts and gripping, and overwhelming fears can sow seeds of destruction in our lives.
Finally today, we will consider the Terrible Consequences of allowing these eggs to hatch.
Continue reading “Hatching Snake Eggs (Part 3), By Rev. Ernie Banwell.”

This is part 2 in an incredibly challenging set of devotionals, taken from a sermon Ernie preached at the church I attended almost 20 years ago.
In this series, we are talking about the danger of hatching snake eggs. Last week in part 1, we considered the danger of angry and bitter thoughts, and how they can consume and destroy us.
Continue reading “Hatching Snake Eggs (Part 2), By Rev. Ernie Banwell”

I asked my father-in-law if I could share the text of this sermon, because it made a huge impression when I first heard him preach it about 20 years ago. Although I have heard many more sermons in my lifetime, this one has stayed with me.
Hatching Snake eggs is a biblical term, not a joke. It has to do with walking in holiness before God.
Continue reading “Hatching Snake Eggs By Rev. Ernie Banwell (Part 1)”

Last week, we began looking at 3 of the 7 “I Am” statements of Jesus as they appear in John’s gospel. WE considered Jesus as the Bread of Life and talked about how we must feast upon him every day. Next, we presented him as “The Resurrection and the Life.” Since Jesus rose from the dead on our behalf, we can have eternal life if our lives are hidden in him.
Continue reading “Feasting, Living, And Abiding (Part 2)”