Tag: Lent
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Day 10
We should not make it difficult for the Gentiles … Acts 15:19 It must have been natural for Jews who decided to follow Jesus to continue following Jewish rules and practices unless they were clearly contrary to Jesus’ teaching. Likewise, it must have been natural for Gentiles (non-Jews) only to adapt their rules and practices…
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Day 9
Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. John 14:23 I’ve been focussing on how Jesus tells us to respond to God’s love by displaying love to the world around us – to neighbours, enemies and one another. But what about responding to God’s love by loving Him back? Jesus himself said that the…
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Day 8
Love one another as I have loved you. John 13:34 I did say we would spend a few days looking at what Jesus said about how we should respond to God’s love for us, starting with the (seemingly) easy response and getting harder. We considered loving our neighbours, and then loving our enemies. What can…
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Day 7
Love your enemies … Matthew 5:43 This is a bombshell in Jesus’ teaching about love. I wonder if he worked up to it, or just dropped it. Did Jesus really say this? Yes! Both Matthew and Luke record it alongside several verses of explanation, which is just as well. Let’s face it, it is radical,…
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Day 6
Love your neighbour as yourself. Matthew 22:39 Jesus’ sacrifice for us demonstrates God’s love towards us. How then should we respond? We will spend a few days looking at what Jesus said, starting with the easy one (!) and getting harder. When challenged to say which was the greatest commandment, Jesus replied, “Love the Lord…
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Day 5
God so loved the world … John 3:16 This week we will look at some of Jesus’ statements about love. Where else could we possibly start? God’s love runs like a river through the whole Bible, and today’s so very well-known scripture stands as a summary of the gospel and of God’s sacrificial love…
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Day 4
I the Lord do not change. Malachi 3:6 One last day reflecting on Biblical authority! With God all seems so black and white. The Israelites were offered a simple choice: blessings or curses, life or death. Proverbs contrasts the wise and the foolish. Elsewhere the contrast is between the righteous and the wicked. We are…
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Day 3
All scripture is God-breathed … 2 Timothy 3:16 At some point reading the Bible, we all come across statements that do not sit easily with us, even after checking the context and looking at other translations for nuances of meaning. We have reached a “Did God really say?” moment, though we are more likely to…
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Day 2
The heavens declare the Glory of God. Psalm 19:1 It is probably best to begin our exploration of “Did God really say …?” by considering how God communicates with us. This can probably be summarised as being through: What He has done, What He has said (recorded mostly in the Old Testament), Jesus’ life, teaching,…
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Day 1
Did God really say …? Genesis 3:1 Once again this year, I’m following Nicky Gumbel’s ‘Bible in One Year’ for my daily bible reading. It’s a resource I highly recommend. On Jan 2nd it included the first question in the Bible in which the serpent opens his assault on Eve by asking, “Did…
Thoughts for the Day 