Sunday Scripture - Romans 8 v 25

Sunday Scripture is just simply a thought or two on a Bible verse that may have struck me afresh or maybe for the first time or has always been special to me.

Today I am looking at Romans 8 v 25

As soon as I saw this verse I was drawn to the two words hope and patience.

Hope is a word I would use often and have grown to love the true Bible meaning of this word, whereas patience is not a word I like to talk about much probably because I feel I do not have a lot of it.

However while I was trying to memorise this verse some time ago, I realised that the Biblical word hope leads us to this patience.  If we have the hope of life eternal through Jesus then we will have patience as we wait to see this hope fulfilled regardless of what comes between because that Hope is worth everything.  

Background Photo credit to Yash H Dubal via DealFuel

If we simply looked at verse 25 on it's own would we come to the right meaning?

As usual the verses in this chapter should be read together to give the right context so let's consider verses 18 - 26

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

verse 18  

reminds us that what we have now is nothing compared to what we will have when we are in the presence of God.

verse 23  

reminds us that we are eager to see the fulfilment of his promise of sonship and full redemption

verse 24  

reminds us that our salvation is because of this hope we have in Jesus

Some people may think we are all like children who when they are eager for something to happen get impatient and cannot wait - it just has to happen immediately, but we have more understanding than children and we know that when something is worth having it is worth waiting for and our experience and the Word of God tells us we can trust it will happen.

But of course God has not left us on our own to wait

26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

How wonderful it is that even though we are 

eagerly awaiting the outcome of our hope;

 we can do so patiently by the power of the Holy Spirit.

PRAYER
Lord I pray that all who read this will either be rejoicing in the knowledge of the hope they have in you or led to examine your word further until they put their trust in you and gain this hope of life eternal.
Amen.

Sunday Scripture - 2 Timothy 1:7

Sunday Scripture is just simply a thought or two on a Bible verse that may have struck me afresh or maybe for the first time or has always been special to me.

Today I am looking at 2 Timothy 1:7

Looking at verse 6 of this chapter we may be tempted to ask if Timothy had a fear of rejection in the use of the gifts or had he been hurt in some way in the past and was now timorous of exercising the gifts again.

Perhaps this was not the reason Paul felt he had to specifically write this, it could simply have been that Timothy had not made a conscious effort to be seeking to be used by the Spirit or he had let the gift lapse?

But then we read verse 7  and we do seem to have the indication that there was a worry or fear of some kind holding Timothy back.

Remembering that God is not going to give us something that is bad for us we can agree that He is not going to put fear into our lives but power, love and a sound mind instead.

Then that would lead us to 

"What gift was Paul referring to?"

If we simply looked at verse 7 on it's own would we come to the right meaning?

As usual the verses in this chapter should be read together to give the right context

5 when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. 6 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God,

Verse 5 points us to the faith that Paul had witnessed in Timothy and we can presume that Paul was not mentioning this without a reason.

Verse 6 points us to the fact that Timothy has a gift from God and he is responsible for how he uses that gift.

Verse 7 points us to what God has given to Timothy which reminds him of how he has been equipped by God.

Look at the order of these three things:

1. Power - to combat fear and timidity 
2. Love - to bring care for people
3. Sound Mind - to bring clarity 

but then we must ask the question "What does Timothy need these three things for?"

To be a good Pastor 

to do the job he has been given to do

Verse 9 points us to what the people need.  The Good News of the Gospel and the building up of their faith.

Perhaps then the gift Paul refers to is one which is important for Timothy to have in order to continue to be a good pastor.  A gift that he knows about and Paul knows about but we do not necessarily have to know about. 

Can this be related to us?

Yes, we must always be equipped to do the job God wants us to do.

What has God given us?

What has God given us?                     The Right Spirit.

What should we give God?                 Faith.

I think this passage is not just about Timothy;
 it is about how God has equipped him and the faith he must use in order to share the Gospel.

Sunday Scripture - Matthew 8 v 27

Sunday Scripture is just simply a thought or two on a Bible verse that may have struck me afresh or maybe for the first time or has always be special to me.

Today I am looking at Matthew 8:27

In chapters 5 -7 of the gospel of Matthew, Jesus taught the people and they could see he spoke with authority but then he continued His ministry to them through signs and miracles in chapter 8.

It is a chapter of healings (the leper v. 1-4,  the centurion's servant v. 5-13, Peter's mother-in-law v. 14, many who were demon possessed v. 15 & 28-32) which verse 17 tells us was to fulfil the words of the prophet Isaiah.


This chapter also shows the faith that people already had in Him.  The leper, the centurion, the demon possessed as they came to Him for their miracles.   

Why?

Because of faith.

Looking back we can see that the teaching of Jesus recorded in the previous chapters stirred up faith in the hearts of those people who came to Jesus in chapter 8.

Yet then in verse 27 we read

The disciples may not even have known exactly who He was, and the people certainly didn't, but they had heard Him and witnessed His power through the miraculous and this led to their faith.

So what excuse then is there for the people who do know who He really is?

The teaching of the Word of God and the work of God around us should stir up our faith too.

We need to stir up our faith.

What about the difficulties we have been through?
What about the difficulties we are facing right now?
What about the difficulties that will come to face us in the future?

Nothing about these difficulties should hinder our faith because we will be stirred up in our faith if we read God's Word and take heed of His miraculous deeds.

We should be able to say:

Who can this be but the Son of God!

Sunday Scripture - Psalm 145:1-3

Sunday Scripture is just simply a thought or two on a Bible verse that may have struck me afresh or maybe for the first time or has always been special to me.

In the Prayer Meeting at church last Thursday evening I was thinking on one of my favourite verses which is


     Psalm 34 verse 1   
         I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth.


Now this is often a verse I think about during a prayer time but the next day I opened some notes I had forgotten I had written down about a year ago and there straight away I saw my few lines about Psalm 145 and it so described how I felt our prayer meeting had been even more than Psalm 34 did.


In Psalm 145 v 1-2  the Psalmist says:

This seems to be more intense than Psalm 34 and this is how I am sure our church members felt as we prayed together from the tone and content of their prayers.

We were exalting and extolling God, we were blessing Him and we were praising His name and we want to do that for ever.  It is good to be in such unity wanting to completely praise the name of the Lord together.

This was our ADORATION to the Lord our God.

But why would we want to give our adoration to God?


Well taking these two verses on their own is not enough, we should always look in the context around the verse and when we look at the next verse you can see the very reason we had felt as we did.



In Psalm 145 v 3  the Psalmist gives us the reason why we act as described in verses 1&2:

So why do we extol, bless & praise Him?

Because God is Great and no-one or no-thing can ever outdo Him or overshadow Him in Greatness.

How Great is Our God?

And

The Greatness of God is limitless, no end to it can be found.

Sunday Scripture - Luke 1 v 37

Sunday Scripture is just simply a thought or two on a Bible verse that may have struck me afresh or maybe for the first time or has always be special to me.

When looking at a piece of work for children this week I was struck by this verse and wanted to make a graphic for it immediately thinking what kind of background would reflect the awesomeness of the words.

Something powerful perhaps like a storm because I had thought of how powerful Jesus was in the face of the storm and was able to calm the roaring winds and raging sea.

Something immense and unmovable like a mountain?

Something so large it is almost infinite like the universe?

In the end I was enticed by a picture of a guy standing by a roadside, suitcase beside him and Bible in his hand looking into the distance.

To me this picture summed it up.

For with God nothing shall be impossible when He has led us to do it.

For with God nothing shall be impossible because He is in it.

For with God nothing shall be impossible because He is always with us.

For with God nothing shall be impossible because He is greater than everything else.

For with God nothing shall be impossible because He is Almighty God.

Taking this verse in context which must always be the case, brings us to the passage in Luke chapter 1 where the angel is telling Mary that she is to have a son and call him Jesus.

30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

However the angel does not stop at verse 31 but continues to tell Mary how great Jesus will be because He is the Son of God and then gives an example of an impossible thing having happened to her cousin Elizabeth.  That impossible thing was only possible because of God.

What about the impossible things ahead of us?

So I chose the picture above to encapture this verse because God was not just the God of the impossible with Mary he was also the God of the impossible with Elizabeth and He is also the God of the impossible with all of us who trust in Him.  

Whatever we have to do or wherever we have to go or whatever situation we have to live through that we do not see how it can possibly be done, or got to, or lived through - it is all possible with God.

What hinders us from seeing this for ourselves?

Simply because we can not see things as God does - we are not almighty like God.

He is the God of the Possible and Impossible.

Smile God Loves You! Ephesians 5:2 - Sunday Scripture

This Sunday's Scripture on God's Love is Ephesians 5:2  

So many times when looking at a verse from Scripture I come back to these 

Question Words.

Who?

                    How?

                                        What?

                                                            Why?

 In this verse we are exhorted to Walk in Love but the verse goes on to tell us how to do this 

by following the example of God's Love.

Who gives the example for us to follow?
Christ.   We have seen that He loves us.


How do we know He loves us?
He gave Himself in our place.


What did He become?
An offering for us to God, a sacrifice instead of us.


Why did He do that?
To make an aroma of fragrance for God to be able to enjoy.

Because of Jesus we can be a sweet fragrance unto God.

If God had not had such great love for us then Christ would not have loved us and there would have been no sacrifice to prepare our way back to God.

It all stems from God's Love to us.

There is no hope for us without God's Love for us.

Surely this should make us smile each day.

Smile God Loves You! Psalm 36:7 - Sunday Scripture

This Sunday's Scripture on God's Love is 

Psalm 36:7  

What type of Love?

Precious

Important

Personal feel to it.

Worth a lot

Kind

Embracing

What does this love offer us?

Security

Peace

Calm

A hiding place

Protection

What can God's precious love offer us?

What should our reaction be?

Trust His Love

Recognise God's Love is the most Important Love

Believe He is giving us His Personal Love

Know there is nothing else like God's Love

Come into his care

Accept his kindness

Rest in his protection

Smile God Loves You!! Psalm 100:5 - Sunday Scripture

This Sunday's Scripture on God's Love is Psalm 100 v 5  

 One of the things that makes God Good is His Everlasting Love which is exactly what this verse talks about and then it leads on to His Faithfulness.

Look at the powerful words we see in this verse telling us about the Lord, His Goodness, Love and Faithfulness.


It tells us 2 things about this Love

• it is steadfast  -  sure, dependable, unmovable, like an anchor
• it endures -  lasts, strives, overcomes everything

Because of this great dependable love that overcomes everything God is faithful to all of us who come to Him.

What else could we ask for to feel (as the well known hymn states)

"safe and secure from all alarms"

The Love that makes God the True Faithful One.

Smile God Loves YOU! 1 John 3:1 - Sunday Scripture

This Sunday's Scripture on God's Love is  

1 John 3:1

  

John has often been referred to as the "Beloved Disciple" and last month we featured a verse about God's Love from the Gospel written by John -  John 3:16  you can read it HERE

Now this month we are starting with a verse from John's first Epistle another verse about God's Love.


This verse 1 John 3:1 tells us about the type of Love God has for us.

God is referred to here as the Father which immediately makes me think of a fatherly love which would obviously be a love that cares about our well-being and protection.


It also makes me think of a love that looks to the future and not just the present time because we expect our fathers to own the responsibility of always loving us and wanting our futures to be good.


God the Father has given us the greatest love because he has accepted us into His family as sons and daughters so we will experience His unconditional love that only He can give.

Being His son or daughter gives us great hope for the future because of His great love.

Parents are human and not perfect yet can love unconditionally.

God is divine and perfect yet He has chosen to make us His children 

and love us unconditionally and perfectly.

It reminds me of the the title of a hymn by Charles Wesley

"Love divine, all loves excelling"

God's Love excels all other love.

  

His love is far greater than any other love.

Of course I always like to make sure to take each verse in context as it was written so let's look briefly at 1 John 3:1-3

 1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

If we have received His Salvation then we are His children and the world will treat us as it has treated Him but we have the assurance that He will pass on His characteristics to us and yes we have great hope for the future.

Smile God Loves YOU! Romans 5:8 - Sunday Scripture

This Sunday's Scripture on God's Love is Romans 5:8

As I read through this one I thought of the 6 Question Words as I call them when teaching English as a second language.

Who, Where, What, When, Why & How.

So that's how I want to look at this verse today.

Who's Love?        It's God's Love.


Who to?      Us.  Everyone because all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God.


How?       By giving His Son to die in our place.


When?        While we were in our sin.     When we were separated from God.


Why?       There was no other way.      No other substitute would have been good enough.


Where?      On the cross at Calvary.


What does it show?      The perfect Love.    The perfect sacrifice.


Who is it for?         The Imperfect People.

The Perfect for the Imperfect.

The Perfect Father 

because of His Perfect Love 

gave the Perfect Son 

as the sacrifice for the Imperfect People.