ENCOUNTERS
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Daily Readings: Matthew 17 and Psalm 17 On the mountaintop, Jesus spent a mysterious moment in such deeply intimate communion with the Father that heaven’s glory shone out of Him. He received clarity and encouragement for the road ahead, first from Moses and Elijah (representing the Old Covenant Law and Prophets) and then from the
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Daily Reading: John 21:15-25 In this lovely, poignant passage, the risen Jesus spends one-on-one time with Peter. Walking along the lakeside which was filled with so many of their shared personal memories, Jesus draws Peter back to the heart of the matter: “Do you love Me?” Peter had denied thrice that he even knew Jesus,
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Daily Reading: John 21:1-14 Peter had denied publicly that he knew Jesus or was ever his disciple – thrice! Afraid and ashamed, Peter would quite probably no longer have put himself into the category of ‘disciple’, feeling that he had disqualified himself, and that Jesus, having seen and overheard his denials in the high priest’s
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Daily Reading: John 20:24-31 Jesus’ resurrection body enables Him to come to the disciples despite locked doors. His resurrected body is visible, His voice is audible, He can be touched and related to just as He could before His death. Mysteriously, He is also able to come and go at will, and is not subject
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Daily Reading: John 20:19-23 When Jesus appeared among the disciples in that locked room, they really needed to know that Jesus came to them with love and peace, not with an angry desire to avenge the betrayals, denials and abandonment they had dished out to Him in His hour of need. As they mourned together
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Daily Reading: John 6:1-15 In John 6, a great crowd of people were following Jesus. We’re told that they were following Him “because they saw the signs He had performed by healing those who were ill.” (v.2) No doubt they were filled with great excitement and anticipation. What would be next? They were certainly not
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Daily Reading: Matthew 5:38-48 In Matthew 21, as Jesus entered Jerusalem, with the crowd accompanying Him spread cloaks and palm branches on the road hailing Him as “the Son of David” and “He who comes in the name of the Lord”, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” (Matt 21:9-11) The citizens
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Daily Reading: Psalm 118 Psalm 118:1-14 calls God’s people to bring God thanks and praise because of His goodness and His eternal love for us. It extols God’s presence with us and His power to save and deliver us from danger. It reminds us that God is our refuge and strength, and that it is
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Daily Reading: Zechariah 9:9-17 Because next Sunday is Palm Sunday and our focus will fall on Jesus’ fulfilment of this prophecy from Zechariah, it would be easy to focus almost entirely on v.9 when we read today’s passage. That’s the part of the prophecy that Jesus very obviously fulfilled on that glorious day in Jerusalem
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Daily Reading: Luke 7:11-17 Reading the account of Jesus raising this dead man back to life should take our minds back to Elijah. It certainly did so for the townspeople. Like the young man whom Elijah raised from the dead in Zarephath (1 Kings 17:8-24), this man in Nain was the only son of a
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