We’ve just had an amazing holiday. Four of the highlights of our holiday involved water. In each case the area immediately around the water was really dry. The water had either travelled long distances in creeks and rivers or had come from deep underground. The results were amazing.
The life and beauty generated by the water attracts people from all over our country to these places. The vegetation, birds, and fish that are part of the spectacle are all dependent on the water but, no doubt, don’t give it a thought, just take it for granted.
We’re also dependent on water and can’t live without it. We might also take that for granted but we shouldn’t.
Water is one of God’s good gifts. All the water we saw on our holiday fell as rain at some stage even if it was no where near where we saw it or many years before. Without continuing rain all these places would eventually go dry. Thank God for his life-giving rains.
God declares his commitment to supply the needy with water through the prophet Isaiah. He says,
When the poor and needy are dying of thirst and cannot find water, I, the Lord God of Israel, will come to their rescue. I won’t forget them. I will make rivers flow on mountain peaks. I will send streams to fill the valleys.
Dry and barren land will flow with springs and become a lake. Isaiah 41:17f
We saw some examples of this prophecy fulfilled at Innamincka, Lawn Hill National Park (pictured), Dalhousie Springs, and Lake Eyre. Amazing!
Even more amazing is the living water that wells up within us, the Holy Spirit, to satisfy our spiritual thirst. John records these words for our encouragement,
On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted, “If you are thirsty, come to me and drink! Have faith in me, and you will have life-giving water flowing from deep inside you, just as the Scriptures say.” Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit, who would be given to everyone that had faith in him. John 7:37-39a
God supply your needs and quench your thirsts, today and always!
What’s in a word?
by Stephen Abraham
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple (Psalm 119:130).
Read Psalm 119:129–136
When you think of God’s word, what comes to mind? (Think for a second before you read on … maybe write down your response.)
I seldom refer to the collection of 66 books as ‘The Bible’ – especially when preaching or leading worship. I have two reasons for this. The first is that it’s often used in a phrase I’ve come to dislike: ‘The Bible says …’ When I visit any denomination of Christian church and hear this phrase, I tend to recoil because that phrase has often been used by preachers to either take a single verse out of context to prove a point (proof texting), or it’s been used in a moralistic/legalistic ‘law-only’ sense without the gospel (and trying to obey the law doesn’t get me to heaven!).
My second reason is that ‘The Bible’ is a secular term. By that, I mean that anybody – a Christian, an atheist scholar or a person of another religion – can refer to the 66 books as ‘The Bible’. To me, however, it is much more than just a collection of ancient writings; it is ‘Scripture’ – the sacred writing. Or it is ‘God’s word’ – what God has actually said to humanity. To me, that distinction matters, and it is my faith statement referring to the Bible in that way. (Now, are you obliged to do the same as me? Of course not, but hopefully this makes you think!)
Now read Psalm 119:129–136.
Did you count how many different words are used in this text for ‘God’s word’? One of the joys of using a Bible app is that it is so easy to compare translations and see how each treats the original language (and it’s a simple way to do your own Bible study).
In the NIV, you get ‘statutes’, ‘word/words’, ‘commands’, ‘law’, ‘precepts’ and ‘decrees’. It was one of my professors who taught me that in the psalms, all of these can be thought of as synonyms for God’s word, because for the Israelites, the first five books of the Bible – often referred to as ‘the law’ – were God’s word for them. This really helped me when I read these legal command-like terms in the psalms. All of them simply refer to God’s word.
Almighty God, thank you for your word. It convicts me, challenges me, shares your grace and heals my heart. Open my eyes to your word each day. May it always light my path. Amen.
Stephen Abraham is a retired Lutheran pastor and musician who served as a school pastor and church planter in Mawson Lakes, South Australia. Having to retire due to a spinal injury that leaves him largely housebound with chronic pain, Stephen still preaches, takes chapel and serves his local church and school. He also writes and records personal songs, worship songs and Christian meditations, which he shares on his YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/StephenAbrahamMusic
Is God Santa Claus?
by Stephen Abraham
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18).
Read 1 Corinthians 1:18–25
On YouTube, there is a fascinating debate between an atheist Professor Dap Hartmann of Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands versus the famous Christian apologist Professor John Lennox of Oxford. In it, Professor Lennox responds to Hartmann, who compared God to Santa Claus. John’s response: ‘I’m not convinced about comparing God with Santa Claus … because have you ever met an adult who came to believe in Santa Claus?’
The text for today is a profound paradox. Paul reminds us that what the world labels as weakness and foolishness is actually the display of God’s ultimate power and wisdom. In Western culture, we demand logical answers, faultless strategies and undeniable physical proof. (Isn’t it fascinating that in Paul’s time, people sought the same things as we do!) The Greeks chased logical reasoning, while the Jews demanded miraculous signs. A crucified Saviour does not fit into either of these moulds. To the intellectual, a Messiah on a cross seemed utterly absurd; to the religious elite, it was a sign of God’s complete absence, not his divine presence.
Later in the debate, John Lennox shares that his own reason for believing in God is twofold. Firstly, God hasn’t hidden himself. He’s revealed himself in space–time in history through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Secondly, God doesn’t force his way into our thinking. God came into the world in such a way that did not threaten people. Not in a colossal display of power, but almost incognito, so the people could get to know him and see his love.
You cannot get people to accept the truth by force, so another way is required, and the incarnation is the way God chose to do it. God deliberately bypassed human expectations. He chose to come through the life of a human being and to completely conquer sin and death in humility, pain and the seeming weakness of the cross.
Lord Jesus, thank you for revealing yourself to the world in such an intimate and personal way. You defeated sin and death for me. Help me share that good news with someone close to me today. Amen.
Stephen Abraham is a retired Lutheran pastor and musician who served as a school pastor and church planter in Mawson Lakes, South Australia. Having to retire due to a spinal injury that leaves him largely housebound with chronic pain, Stephen still preaches, takes chapel and serves his local church and school. He also writes and records personal songs, worship songs and Christian meditations, which he shares on his YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/StephenAbrahamMusic
A question I don’t want to ask myself
by Stephen Abraham
Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.
Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time? (Luke 12:56)
Read Luke 12:54–59
In Luke 12, the crowds have gathered to hear Jesus’ message. But rather than go easy on them, Jesus goes hard! He confronts their hypocrisy that they follow the local weather patterns – that clouds in the west predict rain blowing in off the Mediterranean Sea, and if south winds blow, there will be scorching heat off the Negev desert – but they completely fail to interpret the significance of the present time – of what is coming and who is speaking to them.
As I picture the scene in my head, I’m so amazed at how blunt and gutsy Jesus is. I’ve spoken at some pretty big school and community events with large crowds. Yet I cannot imagine walking out in front of a large group of people who’ve come to hear me speak and starting off by calling them hypocrites! Man, that is something else!
And now for the kicker, a question I don’t really want to ask: Am I a hypocrite? Am I too comfortable in this life – too absorbed with the temporal to not see the eternal? Am I so focused on my little kingdom that I am oblivious to God’s kingdom? Am I so busy focusing on my practical needs that I’m missing the bigger spiritual picture and the physical and spiritual needs of my neighbours? Am I too comfortable and spiritually lazy? Ouch. Lord Jesus, that’s going to take some time to unpack.
After this verbal barrage, Jesus then shifts to a sobering legal analogy. He warns the hearers to settle matters with their adversary quickly while on the way to court. Otherwise, they will be dragged before the judge, handed over to the officer and thrown into prison until every last penny is paid. Okay, Jesus. I get it! The time to get my spiritual house in order is right now. Time to be honest with you. Time to confess and repent.
Lord Jesus, you know my heart. You know my failings. You know how focused I am on the things of this world – my own creature comforts and trying to make this temporary place ‘heaven’ while I should be focused on ‘actual heaven’. I chicken out on starting faith conversations with my neighbours. I avoid your call to be your envoy at work and at home. I have no excuse. Holy Spirit, turn this heart around. Turn my eyes to you. Forgive me for Jesus’ sake. Renew in me a willing spirit. Set me on the path you have for me. Open my eyes to what is going on spiritually around me today. Make me bold to speak your truth to others. Amen.
Stephen Abraham is a retired Lutheran pastor and musician who served as a school pastor and church planter in Mawson Lakes, South Australia. Having to retire due to a spinal injury that leaves him largely housebound with chronic pain, Stephen still preaches, takes chapel and serves his local church and school. He also writes and records personal songs, worship songs and Christian meditations, which he shares on his YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/StephenAbrahamMusic