Devotional
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Daily Reading: 1 Kings 18 This week our focus shifts from Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan “Town” to His encounter with the “Theologians” in John 9 – on the occasion of Jesus healing a man born blind. The theologians in question are the local Pharisees on the one hand, and the man born blind on…
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Daily Reading: Acts 8:1-25 Once the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the apostles and the early disciples of Jesus, a remarkable change of heart was evidenced. Whereas once these Jewish disciples had shared the general animosity of Jews towards Samaritans and had wanted to call down the fire of judgment on them, now…
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Daily Readings: Luke 9:51-56 For the sake of the salvation of people from every tribe, language and nations, Jesus “resolutely set out for Jerusalem” (v.51). The older translations of this verse are more direct and capture the original image of the author with these words, “He steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem” (KJV).…
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Daily Reading: Psalm 67 “3 May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you.” When God called Abram to leave his father’s household and his country and to follow God, He promised Abram that “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3). Now, centuries later, Psalm 67 represents an extended prayer…
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Daily Reading: Ezra 4 We continue our readings of passages that give us background insight into the animosity between the Jews and Samaritans in Jesus’ day. This animosity made His gracious ministry to the Samaritan Town of Sychar all the more wonderful. Ezra 4 opens with the returned Jewish exiles attempting to rebuild the Temple…
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Daily Reading: 2 Kings 17 This week our attention shifts from Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus, “The Teacher” to the encounter he had with “The Town” in John 4. The encounter happened when Jesus ministered so powerfully to a woman from the town of Sychar in Samaria that she rushed back home and told the townspeople,…
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In the course of this week we have taken in a huge sweep of God’s “salvation plan” for humanity. To summarise it, we could say that when anyone looks to the crucified and risen Jesus with genuine repentance of sin and wholehearted faith, trusting entirely in Him for our salvation (Numbers 21 and John 3)…
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Daily Reading: Galatians 5:13-26 Today’s passage has a beautiful message of hope: By the grace of God, your personal faith in Jesus Christ has released in you a life-transforming work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God is at work in you to transform you into a person of selfless love in a world…
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Daily Reading: Psalm 104:27-35 “I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.” (v.33) It is absolutely fitting that every human being should promise: “I will sing praise to my God as long as I live”, because our lives are gifts from God. Every beat of our…
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Daily Reading: Numbers 21:4-9 Grumbling and complaining is a powerful poison. It has a way of spreading through a person’s heart and mind, corrupting everything it touches and leaving an entire personality affected. Likewise, it can spread through a whole family or community, poisoning everyone’s outlook and mindset. The poisonous snakes in the wilderness were…
