Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God

This week’s Bible Verse: Isaiah 9:6

'For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given.

And He will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.'

- He is ALL you need, especially at this wonderful time of the year.

- He is the giver of life and we can receive the life He has for us.

- He wants to be your Wonderful Counsellor and your Mighty God.

- He is the Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace.

PRAYER: Lord, I am so thankful for the Gift of Your Son. May this season be particularly special as I remember and appreciate the true meaning of this 'most wonderful' time of the year. Amen.

Have a blessed time as we celebrate the birth of our Lord.

Send Me

This week’s reading: Isaiah 6:4-8

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.

With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"

And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"


- When we encounter God in a meaningful way, there is no turning back

- He touches our lives and sends us out

- Once we encounter the brokenness in the world, there is no going back

- We can never again say “ I didn’t know!”


Prayer:
Lord thank you for touching my life. Thank you that I have the opportunity to influence the lives of others. Help me to do it to the best of my ability. Amen.

Listen to the Lord

This week’s Bible Verse: Isaiah 1:10

'Listen to the Lord. Hear what He is telling you.'

- There are so many voices clamouring to get our attention.

- In the midst of all the noise, we should be ready to listen to Him.

- Being ready to hear is really an attitude of the heart.

- The ears of our hearts need to be ready to hear from Him.

PRAYER: Lord, may I live in that place where my ears are attentive to Your leading and promptings in my daily life. Amen.

Our Foundation

This week’s Bible Verse: Psalm 119:89


'Your word, O Lord, is eternal. Your word is settled in heaven.'

- What a sure foundation our faith rests on.

- His Word is firm, established and stable and it will be so forever.

- So you can be sure, confident and convinced.

- He will do what He said He would do.

PRAYER:

Lord, You are the eternal, true, living God. My life can be secure knowing that it is built on the One whose word is eternal and settled. Amen.

Refuge and Strength

This week’s Bible Verse: Psalm 73:28


'I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge.'

- We should live life with an underlying trust in God.

- He should remain your refuge in the midst of all you may be facing.

- Is the Sovereign Lord your refuge?

- Then He will be your shelter and you have a rock to stand on.

PRAYER: Lord, I declare that You are my refuge. I will look to You for all I need and I will be confident in You. Amen.

Promises

This week’s Bible Verse: 2 Chronicles 6:14

O Lord, there is no God like You in all of heaven and earth.
You are the God who keeps His kind promises to all those who obey You and who are anxious to do Your will.

- He keeps His promises.

- There is no one like Him.

- He is looking for those who obey Him and want to do His will.

- As we do what He tells us to do, He will make a way.

PRAYER: Lord, thank You for Your faithfulness towards me. It is my desire to do what You would have me do in this new week. Help me to do what pleases You. Amen.

APOBLEPŌ

This week’s Bible verse: 2 Chronicles 32:7

'Be strong and courageous. Don't be frightened or terrified. Someone greater is on our side.'

- Sometimes we can begin to feel alone.

- The enemy may seem great and we may feel insignificant.

- But we have God with us!

- He is greater than any enemy you may be facing.

PRAYER: Lord, I pray that You will come and strengthen me. Help me to see things from Your perspective and help me to realize that You are with me. Amen.

Please remember this week to APOBLEPŌ. (You say it like apo & vlepo) which means To Look Up.

Look up at Him only.

Respect

Our series on Respect has definitely struck a chord with the congregation. God is good!

Let’s respect our spouses, work colleagues and children so that what we sow will be reaped!

This week's reading: Exodus 20:1-17 (The Ten Commandments):


You shall have no other gods before me.
Respect God


You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name
Respect His Name


Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy
Respect His Day


You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above
or on the earth beneath or in the waters below
Respect People


Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long
in the land the LORD your God is giving you
Respect Family Life


You shall not murder
Respect Life Itself


You shall not commit adultery
Respect Marriage


You shall not steal
Respect Property


You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor
Respect Reputation


You shall not covet your neighbor's house.
You shall not covet your neighbor's wife,
or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey,
or anything that belongs to your neighbour.
Respect Yourself

Strong and Courageous

This week’s Bible Verse:


Joshua 1:2-3 and 6

"Arise, go over this Jordan. I will give you every place where you set your foot. Be strong and courageous!"

- When God speaks we can have the confidence to obey.

- But we must do something from our side.

- We need to take the first step and 'get up' and do what He says.

- Grab the opportunities that He gives you with boldness and strength.

PRAYER: Lord, help me to 'arise' and step into those areas You have prepared for me to possess. Give me the strength and confidence I need. Amen

Yep, we all need that!

Have a good one!

Pray About Everything

This week’s reading: Philippians 4:6


'Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs and don't forget to thank Him for His answers.'

Here are 4 things we should do:

1. Don't worry about anything.

2. Pray about everything.

3. Tell God your needs.

4. Be thankful.

PRAYER: Lord, I bring my needs and concerns to You right now. I ask You to move and do a miracle in these issues and situations. Thank You that You will undertake and thank You that You hear my prayer. Amen.

Innocent in His Sight

Daniel 6:22



'My God sent His angel to shut the lions' mouths so that they would not hurt me, for I have been found innocent in His sight.'

- God can shut the mouths of the lions' that want to destroy you.

- The lions could have devoured Daniel, BUT God intervened.

- The best time for a miracle is when we need a miracle.

- May we be found 'innocent in His sight'!


PRAYER: Lord, help me to do what is right and give me the victory in my situation. Amen.

Peace Be With You

This week’s reading: Luke 24:36

HE stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you!"

- There is enough going on in the world today to shake us.

- Life also has its fair share of storms.

- But in all these things, HE gives us His peace.

- Look into the face of your Saviour and receive His peace.


PRAYER: Lord, when I look to You, my heart is sure and confident. Help me not to take my eyes off of You. Amen.

Impatients

Don't be impatient for the Lord to act!


Keep travelling steadily along His pathway and in due season He will honour you with every blessing,

and you will see the wicked destroyed.



Psalm 37:34



- Impatience can cause great problems.

- If we try to force things, things often go wrong.

- Don't become impatient with God.

- Keep on trusting Him.

- The key phrase here is 'in due season'.

Our God is...

God is truly blessings our 40 Day Campaign. Thanks for all the hard work so far.

This week’s reading comes from a devotional I receive:

Verse:           Psalm 119:37

Turn my eyes away from worthless things. Give me a new life in Your ways.
 

- Life is too short to waste time on worthless things.
- We need to shift our focus on to what is truly worthwhile.
- The greatest fulfillment comes as we follow God.
- What is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

PRAYER: Lord, I don't want to be distracted by things that have no eternal value. May my heart and my desire be to follow Your ways. Amen.

Significance

This week’s reading:


Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18


Isn’t God amazing? That which He has given us is everlasting.
It will never be taken away and is more important than anything this world has to offer.

Save Me

This week’s reading:

The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.
They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"
"Blessed is the King of Israel!"

John 12:12-13

The word Hosanna, I am told, means “Save me!”

So heres the thing:

- Jesus saves us
- Being saved is an ongoing process
- We are saved from moment to moment

This for me means:

- Jesus is my strength – when I grow tired & weary
- Jesus is my fortress – when the world hammers at my emotional & spiritual reserves
- Jesus is my all – beacuse I live for Him

Blessed is He for who He is!

Humility

This week’s reading:

When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain,
or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people,
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray
and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways,
then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:13-14


I used to think humility was an attitude. I have learnt that it is actually a discipline.

It works like this:

- every time I am complimented for achievements, I say aloud, “God is good!”
- every time I think I can look down on people, I think gratefully, “Thank you for changing me, Jesus!”
- every time I am to occupied with myself, I remember lovingly, “God wants to hug the world!”

The truth is that we are nothing without Him.

Confidence

This week’s reading:

And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.

1 John 2:28


Are we confident of facing Jesus today?
So many amazing things are happening this year at NR that I am confident (humbly so) that we bring a smile to God.
Changing lives is His passion for us.

Bless you Lord Jesus.

Labour for the Lord

This week's reading:


Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you.
Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.

1 Corinthians 15:58


Blessings

This week’s reading:

Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my sighing. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray.
In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.
You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell.
The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; you hate all who do wrong.
You destroy those who tell lies; bloodthirsty and deceitful men the LORD abhors.
But I, by your great mercy, will come into your house; in reverence will I bow down toward your holy temple.

Psalm 5:1-7

Waiting in expectation for the Lord is probably one the most difficult things we can do.
This can often be heavy because the things we sometimes request from Him are very serious.

However, there is another side to it.

Isn’t one of the most fulfilling things to know that our God, the Righteous One, wants to be close to us.
He knows our frame, mind, heart and He is with us every step of the way!
Whilst ‘rats’ may jump ship at first sign, when the proverbial hits the fan, He is right alongside of us.
In the same way He is alongside us when we are having fun, feeling great and doing some cool things!

Have some fun with Him this week...He is the Lord of good times too.

Blessings

This week’s reading:

To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed:
Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers - not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.
And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

1 Peter 5:1-4

Thanks for the awesome weekend. God is indeed doing amazing things with NR.

May you be blessed as you serve Him, at home, at work and at NR.

Have a good one

Two wolves

How true is this!!!!

TWO WOLVES

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.

"One is Evil - It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

"The other is Good - It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Prayer

This week’s reading:

The king said to me, "What is it you want?" Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king!

Nehemiah 2:4-5


- Before you do anything, don't forget to pray.
- In every situation you can call on God in prayer.
- You have the liberty to call on God at any and all times.
- Even in stressful situations, He hears your quick and urgent prayers.

Have a blessed week

Hope

This week’s reading:

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Romans 5:1-5


Eish! All roads at NR lead to dealing with faith at the moment! Must be on God’s hear t for us.

Faith is living out hope, knowing that everything small thing we do for Him matters, because God does not want the world to be hurting, lost and confused. He certainly wants to free it from sin!

The work that NR is doing through each one of us is bringing that hope to a concrete manifestation in the lives of those that we are able to reach.
The awesome thing is that as we grow spiritually, and in numbers, we will be able to be greater agents of hope.