Devotionals

A Truly Beautiful Healing.


He followed the same routine every day. His friends helped him get ready, and then they carried him here, to the temple, where they left him beside the gate called Beautiful, just in time for the three o’clock prayer service. It was the most sensible hour to come, because surely those moved to pray would have generous hearts and something to spare, even if it was just a few measly coins.
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The Qualities of A King.


Here in the UK, we have just celebrated our queen’s Platinum Jubilee, meaning queen Elizabeth II has been on the throne for seventy years. That’s a long time, and as we’ve heard on countless occasions, she has witnessed more changes than any other monarch before her. While I am by no means a royalist, I believe the Bible tells us to treat our leaders with respect, and I cannot but respect a lady who has worked tirelessly for so many decades despite some very personal and public tragedies.
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We Are Called To Rejoice!


Philippians 4 verse 4 is a verse that may be familiar to many of us. it says: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” I’m sure you’ll agree that’s very good advice from Paul. It reminds us that Christians are called to rejoice. But is the decision to rejoice always an easy one to follow through with? Today, I’d like us to think about what rejoicing is, and also what it isn’t.
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conviction Born Of Love Does Not Lead To Condemnation.


During recent months, I have been pondering some of the Biblical accounts of Jesus’s encounters with people whom the Pharisees, and maybe even Christians today, would label as notorious sinners. When we think of Zacchaeus, or the woman caught in adultery, or even the woman at the well, we see the narratives through the lens of their outcome, because we have the blessing of being able to read about them after the event. So we know that Zacchaeus turned his life around and made amends for his stealing. We know the woman caught in adultery was saved from death by stoning, and we know the woman at the well became one of the first female evangelists, begging the men of her town to come and see the man who had told her everything she ever did. But how would we view these people, or others like them, if we didn’t know the end of their stories? Or indeed, what if we ourselves were living out some of these events?
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Cry Out To Jesus.


“I sought the Lord, and he answered me; He delivered me from all my fears. (Psalm 34:4.)

When I prepare to write a devotional, I usually seek inspiration from a particular Biblical passage or theme. I am incredibly grateful to the Lord for his faithfulness in giving me the words to write on this little corner of the internet for over three years. My prayer is that those words have brought hope and encouragement, and perhaps ministered to someone at just the time they needed to hear them. Yet this week as I write, I feel strongly that the Lord wants me to depart from my usual methods, and rather than giving biblical teaching, to share some things from my own personal testimony. I have an intense feeling that this message is meant for someone specific, so if that is you, I pray the Lord will use it to encourage you, and to achieve what he desires.
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