Daily devotional - Gen. 1; Matt. 1; Ezra 1; Acts 1

-
Gen 1

  • God created everything and saw that it was good. God's creations (the things on this earth) are a gift from Him
  • God created us in His perfect image (Gen 1:27, 31)
  • We are commanded to be fruitful and to multiply (v28)
  • God will provide us with everything that we need (v29)
Matthew 1
  • 14 generations from Abraham to David, 14 from David to exile to Babylon and 14 from the exile to Christ (v17)
  • The purpose of Christ was to save us from our sins (v21)
  • God fulfill's all his promises and Christ is just another one those promises (v22)
  • Joseph shows obedience to God when called upon by his angel (v24)
Ezra 1
  • King Cyrus of Persia declares that the Jewish exiles may return to Jerusalem and rebuild the ruined temple
  • The book of Ezra is the story of God's work to fulfill his promises of bringing back His people from exile and establishing them again in their land (v1)
  • The exiled people gather money and materials for the temple (v5-11)
  • God's faithfulness is shown through the testimony of the preservation of not only his people but also the materials they would need to rebuild a temple of worship (v9)
Acts 1
  • We are baptised with the Holy Spirit (v5)
  • We must trust in God's perfect timing because he is the one who has authority (v7)
  • As Christians who have received the Holy Spirit, we are now witnesses of Christ to all the nations (v8)
  • Christ will return (v11)
  • Again it is shown that God fulfills his promises (v20)
  • Important ministry and Godly decisions require prayer - the apostles used prayer more than anything to discern the replacement for Judas (v24-25)
Application
  1. I can have joy in knowing that we are created in God's perfect image, so we have a purpose in this life - we weren't a mistake
  2. God has constantly proven that he fulfills his promises - he is trustworthy
  3. God is faithful to his people
  4. Christ will return

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

James 5:13-20

-
Key points When we're suffering our first response should be prayer When we're cheerful our first response should be praise A prayer of faith will save the one who is sick A prayer of faith is also how we repent and He forgives our sins We are encouraged to pray for one another so that we might all be healed There is comfort in knowing that the prayer of a righteous person (we are all righteous through Christ) has GREAT power We are encouraged to bring others who may have strayed from the path, back to the correct path Reflection I often don't look to God when I first face trouble or struggles. I should be comforted in knowing that when I go to God, he posses great power to actually respond and listen to my prayer I should be regularly praying for others and their sins (this involves asking others how to pray for them) When things are going well - am I praising God or myself?
Read more

Philippians 3:12-21 ~ In this world but not of this world

-
v12) Paul admits that he is not perfect even as he commits to a life of servitude - shows what true humility is  Paul reminds us that we are God's children and that he adopts us and therefore owns us v13-14) Paul describes his walk with Christ as him "straining forward" We are to expect this walk with Christ to be difficult However we forget what lies behind because Christ has already redeemed and saved us from it We continue to press on to the goal that is the upward call of Christ v16) We should hold true and fast to what we have attained That is, God's word and his salvation through Jesus v17-18) We should imitate Paul and his walk and faith in Christ we should also look towards those who walk faithfully (brothers and sisters) v19) For enemies of Christ, the end is destruction - no matter how much joy they have while on this earth Their god is their own fleshly desires and they set their mind on earthly things v20-21) But our citizenship is in heaven We are in this...
Read more

Day 11 - Imitating other Christians (1 Cor 4)

-
Observations God will judge everyone. We should remember that it isn't us who judges people in their final day, it is in fact God.Therefore, we should not jpronounce judgement before the Lord comes. In fact, God will reveal and bring to light any darkness and will disclose all purposes of the heart  (v2-5) We should not put our own understanding beyond what is actually said in the Word of God. In fact, Paul is saying to the Corinthians that they have actually forgotten that all they have is from God - and therefore they should not boast.  Paul then asks what do you have that you did not receive?  - repeatedly asking this question fosters deep humility and thanksgiving (v6-7) Paul implores us to imitate him and in fact, God has designed us to imitate other Christians, imperfect though they may be (v16) Imitating Paul as Paul imitates Christ Application Deep humility comes from repeatedly acknowledging that everything I have received I have received because o...
Read more