Devotional
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Daily Readings: Philippians 1-2 and Psalm 144 In about 62AD, while imprisoned in Rome, Paul wrote his letter to the Philippian Christians to encourage them, reassure them and thank them for their support. Chapters 1 and 2 are filled with beautiful and powerful statements about the faithful Christian life, and the ancient hymn recorded in…
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Daily Readings: Ephesians 6 and Psalm 143 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Ephesians 6:10-20 portrays the Christian life as a spiritual battle in which our spiritual enemy, the ‘Adversary’, ‘Satan’, comes against the Kingdom Family of God on multiple fronts. He attacked the Ephesians through false teaching, temptation to…
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Daily Readings: Ephesians 5 and Psalm 14 1 Follow God’s example … 2 and live a life of love … 3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. As in the days of the early…
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Daily Readings: Ephesians 4 and Psalm 141 On Friday, in reflecting on Ephesians 3, I invited you to … “Imagine when we are empowered to encounter this love not only inwardly and individually by the Spirit, but also as it overflows between us in loving relationship too. Imagine when each member becomes an instrument of…
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Daily Readings: Ephesians 3 and Psalm 140 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s…
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Daaily Readings: Ephesians 2 and Psalm 139 In Ephesians 2, “the incomparable riches of God’s grace” are celebrated. We are reminded that, before God intervened, we were physically alive but spiritually separated from God. We were spiritually “dead in our transgressions and sin” and thoroughly deserving of God’s judgment. We had done absolutely nothing to…
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Today we shift to the apostle Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, written to the fledgling Church in Ephesus while he was a prisoner in Rome around AD 60-62. It is a glorious presentation of God’s beautiful plan for His people. Daily Readings: Ephesians 1 and Psalm 138 Starting at the very beginning, Ephesians 1 reminds…
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Galatians 6 and Psalm 137 The opening section of Galatians 6 illustrates just how important it is not to read a verse or two in isolation. If we were to do so with this chapter we’d be thoroughly confused by the combination we find here: 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will…
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Daily Readings: Galatians 5 and Psalm 136 13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh … 16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and…
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Daily Readings: Galatians 4 and Psalm 135 Galatians 4 is focussed on the contrast between the past and present of its readers. In the past, those who were Jews had been subject to the Law, which acted like a “guardian” to show them the way to live. But they had been motivated by their fear…
