The God who renews me We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise Than when we first begun. John Newton Read Isaiah 40:25—31 Am I betrayed by a hint of sameness as I come to my devotional time tonight? It is more than a passing question because this relationship with God is meant to…
The language of thanksgiving O give thanks to the Lord of Lords, For his steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 136:3 Read Luke 17:11—19 I take it that the Samaritan was the only Samaritan of the ten. When they were all sick together their common illness, their common exclusion from society must have brought them…
The right hand of the Son of Man In you, O Lord, I take refuge; Let me never be put to shame. Psalm 71:1 Read Matthew 25:31—36,40 In tonight’s quiet time I am advanced to what looks like the conclusion of God’s dealings with the nations. It began when God promised Abraham that those…
My pension Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. John Donne Read Deuteronomy 24:19—22 It is one of life’s satisfactions, I find, to make my living. If I have been able to find a job, an occupation that provides income, a business, employment in someone’s office or factory,…
Really finding the real person Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely. Psalm 139:4 Read Philemon 10—16 Let me sift through the fellow believers I know. Some of them I talk with more than others. I know them well. Our thoughts run along similar lines. Even when…
The life I’m made for O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; For his steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 107:1 Read Mark 12:28—34 My life is pretty listless if I don’t know any driving passion or purpose, if I just drift from one day to the next for whatever comes…
God’s righteousness and me Plead my cause and redeem me; Give me life according to your promise. Psalm 119:154 Read Romans 3:19—22 Whenever I have tried to prove myself — the whole business of trying to prove myself before God and the watching world — I have been degraded to the status of a…
The generous life But when you give alms, Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Matthew 6:3 Read 2 Samuel 9:6—11 If I were king, as David was, there would always be another interpretation of my behaviour. What I presented as generosity of heart, the honouring of an…
The love story The alien who resides with you Shall be to you as the citizen among you. Leviticus 19:34 Read Luke 10:30—37 So Jesus draws me into the story. I can’t help making my own judgements. I’m looking at the beaten-up man. I’m moved. I’ve crossed a border now, and I’m letting a…
Come to Zion with singing Guide me, O thou Great Jehovah, Pilgrim through this barren land. William Williams Read Isaiah 35:5—10 Before Israel went into the Promised Land they drooled over pictures of it. It was a land flowing with milk and honey. There they would grow fat.[1] In this passage I am again…