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Psalm 51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
This verse used to remind me of images of people beating themselves with branches until it was explained better to me!
Each of us needs to remember that we are guilty before God and that we do need to ask for forgiveness. That forgiveness is forthcoming when we ask.
To ask, we need to admit our guilt and show our guilt to God. On the first Passover the people purged themselves by sprinkling the lamb’s blood with hyssop branches. Don’t beat yourself up!
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James 1:3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
Have you ever wondered why you have to do drills and other repetitive exercises in order to become proficient at a sport or task?
Almost sounds like a silly question when you put it like that; so why then do we wonder at why we should have to have our faith tested at times?
God allows our faith to be tested so that we will learn how to wait on Him and to be patient with that. It also gives us time to make sure that we have got it right and can stand on our faith!
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2 Peter 1:20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation,
It still amazes me that people will take some part of the bible and try to make it support their own reasoning or interpretation instead of accepting the whole truth of God’s Word.
We take a single verse each day and bring you ‘good news’ (the gospel) as God directs through His Word and through scholars and preachers from the past who God has used incredibly.
God’s Word is exactly that, God’s Word, and not an example text by which we can make our own vain interpretations work just because we want our own way!
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2 Corinthians 4:6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
In order for a torch to be able to shine in the darkness it must have a source of energy that will allow the light to shine bright. Nowadays that is a case of putting a battery into the torch and switching it on!
But for us to be able to shine for others we need a source of energy that others do not have. That source then needs to feed the light that will shine forth.
That source is the Word of God. That light is our lives. Christ has given us the knowledge so that we can use that source to shine brightly in the world so others can find out that knowledge too.
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Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
Take note of that first word “Blessed”! Have you ever noticed how you never quite feel good enough when you are not walking with God?
Have you noticed that no matter how good life on this planet gets, it gets a whole lot better when God is in your life?
Let us stop living for this world and start living for Christ. If you want joy and peace, look to the author of joy and peace: Christ our Saviour!
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Genesis 6:5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
What happens if you are following someone or something and you take your eyes off of your target for a short while? It may just be to wipe your eyes or clean your glasses or something small, but once you have lost sight of your target it can be very difficult to get it back!
God wants us to love Him with all our might so that we will not lose sight of Him. If we don’t concentrate we may well lose sight of His ways and lose track of our direction!
Once we lose direction it goes downhill a bit faster than we realise!
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Deuteronomy 6:5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
Have you ever been in love? I mean really in love… not just a bit but totally immersed in your feelings for someone else?
How do you treat you love for God? Do you treat Him with that same respect as for the person you are in love with? Do you want to be with Him always and forever?
What do you actually do so that you can be with God and Him with you? Does this display and define your love for Him in the right way?
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James 5:12 But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment.
One of the biggest problems that we face is the amount of lies that we have to face or even tell others.
When God said that we should always be truthful, it was not just to please others but to make sure that we do not fall into the pit of destruction ourselves!
Does that sound harsh? Well think about the consequences of a lie. Think about the destruction and broken hearts it eventually brings and don’t try to make excuses this time!
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James 5:8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
If we are called to look after a garden then we have to work and be patient! Digging in new plants and things does require a whole lot of work and preparation, but waiting for them to grow requires a lot of patience.
We cannot just leave it and hope for the best either but rather have to continue on working and supporting things as they grow.
God wants us to have a heart that is willing to work, be patient and continue working as well. He wants us to be willing servants so we can have our just reward!
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Micah 7:7 Therefore I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me.
When we see all our friends or the people around us falling away from God and going their own earthly ways, we should be the ones that stand firm and call on the name of our Lord!
It is Jesus who willingly gave His own life for everyone showing us just how much He does love us, and it is Him who we need to look toward for our salvation. He did that so that we can be saved.
We do not have to go jumping through hoops, paying loads of money and making sure we say all the right words at the right time in a building where lots of people gather together – we just need to talk honestly and openly with our Lord Jesus Christ and accept the truth. He is God.
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Isaiah 45:22 “Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.
If you made a small statue and declared that it was your god, would you seriously expect it to be able to save you?
Sadly we make all manner of things in our lives and we treat them as gods, taking them before our one true God, breaking His commandments and upsetting Him.
God wants each one of us to turn from our ways, to turn away from the world and to look to Him alone for salvation; not just a few of us, but every one of us!
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Hebrews 12:2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy that was set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
We need to take a good look at the One who began this all, the One who upholds it all, the One who will complete it all; Jesus our Saviour and our God.
It is not sufficient to just look and see though because we have to experience what He can do in our lives by trusting in Him more and believing in the promises that He has made to us.
Jesus saw what lay ahead and willingly went forward to accept what came His way because of the Joy He was able to see ahead. We need to knuckle down and look ahead now.
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Mark 9:24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
What is it going to take for you to put aside your doubt and unbelief? Is it going to take a miracle or will you be able to accept it in faith?
Yes our immediate answer may well be, “I can accept it in faith”, but when we get squeezed into a tight spot we often cave in and go with doubt because it just seems a little easier!
God has performed many miracles in our past so that we can be convinced. He has made sure that records of those miracles have been kept so we can know them. Does He really have to do one on you before you stop doubting?
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Luke 17:5 And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”
As the apostles grew with the Lord they realised how much more they needed to learn and how much they needed to exercise their faith as well – hence asking for greater faith.
We all do have our doubts which the evil one will try to play upon, but we all have faith as well. That faith, no matter how small, makes a huge difference!
God wants us to know that no matter how little faith we may think we have, we always can come to Him for more because He always wants to love and support us – as long as we will let Him!
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Ephesians 6:19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel,
How often do you ask for help? How often do you accept that help? How often will you allow others to do things by themselves?
Each of us may be given gifts and we may well exercise those gifts whenever we can and we may use them in love... but unless we are willing to allow others in to assist, we continue to work alone!
God wants us to work with other, to help others but also to teach others so that they can continue when we have to leave; that means teaching them the gospel so they can know these secrets too.
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1 Corinthians 13:2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
Have you ever tried to encourage someone who you really do not like? It is very hard to talk up the virtues, strengths or abilities of others when you do not like them!
God has told us that we need to love others because without that love that He has already given each of us, we cannot hope to achieve what He has in store for us.
We need to take His love, apply it in our hearts and share it with others so that we can then apply the gifts He has given us…
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Acts 15:32 Now Judas and Silas, themselves being prophets also, exhorted and strengthened the brethren with many words.
One of the things we often forget to do is to strengthen and encourage others; we can do this just by talking to them and telling them how much you think of what they are doing.
We are surrounded by people who do a lot of talking and they demand praise from everyone before they get down and do things.
Then there are the few who simply get on and do what has to be done and do not ask for praise. Lift them up today by encouraging them with words of thanks instead of praise. Love them.
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Hebrews 13:6 So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
How many times have you lost sleep because you are worried about something that may happen or worried about what someone has said against you?
I know that I have lost many hours sleep because of what others say, do or say that they will do. But I have also always found great comfort in bringing those situations to God.
Our Lord wants us to be secure in the knowledge that He is in charge and that we can bring everything to Him and not have to fear what man can do – His power is infinite!
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Luke 3:14 Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?” So he said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.”
It is God who knows what you do when others are not watching. It is God who knows what is going on inside your head. It is God who knows what is in your heart.
If you do want to get things right with God then you have to be honest and admit what you do get up to so that you can move forward with Him from that point onward.
We all have our ups and downs, but God wants to support us so that we have more ups than downs; so that we are encouraged to do more with Him and live more with Him instead of working against Him.
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1 Timothy 6:6 Now godliness with contentment is great gain.
Have you ever thought about what godliness (or piety) in this verse actually means?
None of us is perfect, in fact most of us are as far from perfect as could be so let us not think of it as being anything like perfect.
Godliness can be seen as being closer to God’s ways; perfection is God, not His ways. Instead we should combine all of the ways together: faith, hope, love, fear, humbleness, trust… the list is actually quite long!
How about the outward showing of the inward ways God would have us to be like?