God's Word For Every Day

Zechariah 1:1-4:14; 3 John 1-14; Psalm 139:11-16  The removal of sin (Zechariah 3:4,9) and the restoration of glory: Here, we have a great description of salvation, wiping out the sin of the past, giving an anticipatory glimpse of the glory to come. The past is forgiven. The future is promised. What about the present – “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord” (Zechariah 4:6). This life in the Spirit – lived between the forgiven sin (the past) and the glory to come (the future) – is to be a life of “working together for the truth” (3 John 4). As we live this life in the Spirit, we enjoy the “peace” of God (3 John 14). This peace arises in our hearts as we learn to praise God. we praise Him for His work of creation – “I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” This praise – “Your works are wonderful” – causes us to reflect also on His works of providence – “All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be...

'He's a born again Christian.' This phrase suggests that there are some Christians who are born again, and there are  other Christians who are not born again. What are we to make of this? According to Jesus, you cannot be a Christian unless you have been born again. There is no such thing as a Christian, who has not been born again. To be a Christian is to be born again. Jesus doesn't say that some people need to be born again, and other people can be Christians without being born again. Jesus says, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again" (John 3:3). He doesn't say, 'Being born again might be a good idea for some of you, but there are others for whom it's not really all that important.' Jesus says, "You must be born again" (John 3:7). The new birth can be described in different ways: 'born from above', 'born of the Spirit', 'born anew.' Each phrase teaches us somethin...

What kind of influence do we have on other people? Do we do a lot of good? Do we do a lot of harm? These, Lord, are questions that we need to ask ourselves. They are questions that You are asking us. They are questions that demand an honest answer. They are questions that call for a change of direction – for a life that is less centred on ourselves and more centred on You. Give us grace, Lord, to rise to the challenge of being a good influence – not a bad influence.