On the Couch With God - Daily Devotional

Biblical Text: John 11:3-17 “I kept returning to three large questions about God…The longer I pondered them, the more I realised that these questions are lodged somewhere in all of us…Is God unfair?… Is God silent?… Is God hidden?” Philip Yancey Too often, we only turn to God when we face impossible situations in our lives. Mary and Martha came to Jesus when other options have been tested and tried without any positive result. Lazarus' sisters knew that He could help and Jesus would help them. They knew and heard the signs and wonders that He has done to others. They knew Jesus loved their brother. For sure, “He’s healed so many others; certainly, he’ll heal the one he loves” (John 11.3). Time goes, and Jesus did not come. Where was he? Why did not Jesus come? We just can wonder how they felt when Jesus did not come to heal Lazarus. Would they think that it was fair, or he was distant or even hidden? Mary and Martha did not realise God's plan went beyond their own thinking. Nei...

Bible Texts: John 11.1-3 “Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” ~ C.S. Lewis. Pain appeals when we less expected it. I remember the pain I felt the first time that arthritis manifest itself. In less than a couple of hours, I was unable to walk at all. It felt things went out of my control and took me to a road, never travel before. Mary and Martha felt the whole world took them to a place of great emotional pain. They did all that it was in their hands, but they were no longer capable of doing much as their brother slowly went away. Tears were shed, a struggle arose within them, and they went to seek help. When we face the reality of loss and pain, the Lord helps us grow our faith. It is in our darkest hour that we discover the character of our God. He becomes real to our circumstances. It is not any longer theoretical, but real. Today, let us consider the ...

Bible Reading - John 11:1-43 God often creates unique circumstances in our lives to grow our faith. It may come as a surprise, although it should not. The Lord God is deeply interested in the state of our soul. He works in your life in ways that you may not understand; however, it does not differ from our natural growth. My daughter often feels a sharp pain in the legs days before he would grow. The pain is her body working to be ready for physical growth. The same may be said of the spiritual growth of our soul. There is a lesson to learn as we wait for the growth to occur in our life. However, waiting has never come easy. We ask the Lord to intervene in our situations, as pain and chaos seems to take control of our circumstances. It may be a relationship beyond repair, an illness, a profound sadness for the lost one, or it could be a job loss or a dream that we must let it go. We wait and wait... and wait a little bit more. Mary and Martha waited for their friend, Jesus. He was the O...

Text: Luke 2.1-20 Merry Christmas!!!! Over the past few days, we have read about the baby Jesus as the Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. He is ‘God with us’, Immanuel. This is great news! Because He came and, through Him, all things were made new, you and I have been made new in Christ. Hallelujah! Paul writes we are a new creation (Gal. 6:15; 2 Cor. 5:17). After that first Christmas, the world was different. Jesus changed everything. The spiritual world became visual to the natural world in Christ. God’s Kingdom was inaugurated into it, and our world was impacted by God’s intervention to transform it by His Son. Now Christmas is also a time when we can look forward to His return to the earth. This is why Christmas is a time of celebration. We celebrate as a family, because we have the promise that all believers are part of God’s family. The feast is a sign to the future feast of the Lamb. Christmas is a time where all things point to Jesus and His...

“For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us,… He will be named… Prince of Peace…” (Isaiah 9.6). Jesus was born in a time of constant conflict. In fact, the New York Times says “Of the past 3,400 years, humans have been entirely at peace for 268 of them, or just eight percent of recorded history.” It seems people have difficulties in living in peace. There is something within us that draws us to conflict. People desire peace but often find war. Israel as a whole was at peace when Jesus was born; however, there were regular rebellions against the Romans that occupied the land. Rome was constantly at war in one part or another of their vast empire. It was into this context that the Prince of Peace was born. At first, the world did not grasp the reality of the birth of the Prince of Peace. The shepherds were surprised by the visit of a host of heaven’s angels announcing the good news. “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people” (Lu...

“For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us,… He will be named… Everlasting Father…” (Isaiah 9.6). The concept of fatherhood may be a difficult one. It can stir up diverse emotions. I have met people who could not say anything good about their father, others were fatherless. However, there is a desire within us to get connected in a healthy way, to a father figure. Even if our own father was not the person we could put our trust in, or we never actually knew, we can turn to our Everlasting Father, accepting Him into our lives in the knowledge that we can put our whole trust in Him. The contemporary world says, “let us not talk about those topics that are controversial or bring negative emotions.” However, Jesus says, “I came for you to find the perfect Father that will embrace and hold you through all situations.” Our Father in heaven wants to connect with you through Jesus. He desires to bring healing of emotions and wholeness of life. Those who know Jesus, know the E...

“For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us,… He will be named… Mighty God…” (Isaiah 9.6). Christmas is a time where all images of Jesus are represented as a fragile baby. Indeed, a child is fragile, and it is dependent on his/her parents for anything and everything. This is the reason why it is sometimes hard to consider baby Jesus being the Mighty God. Christmas is about how the Mighty God became wholly man and wholly God. A beautiful story of redemption that is manifest in history through the birth of a child. Jesus is not just another child. He is the Mighty God. He is not just a reflection of God, or used to be God, he is God and He is a man. HE IS THE WORD, the Creator of the heavens and earth. God becomes a reality in human history. It is not an accident, but it is a definite act of love and mercy towards all people. We see Jesus is the same God that rescued Israel from Egypt, guided Israel into the Promised Land, and used Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of the cit...

“For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9.6). Christmas is the most incredible story ever told. It is impossible to imagine it being any different. The idea of the Almighty God being born as a human child is beyond our understanding, particularly when the reason for his birth was His love for the world and His people. The whole idea that God that loves, was a foreign concept to the ancient world. Emmanuel (God with us) means that God is 100% man and 100% God. He was not just another child being born in ancient Israel. He was the promised Messiah. The One that the prophets spoke about. He was God’s greatest promise and a unique gift to the whole world. In today’s bible verse, Isaiah describes the promised child using four descriptive names. Today, we will look at the first one of them: Wonderful Counsellor. Jesus was not just the S...

Text: Psalm 19:12-13 The Bible described King David as a man “after my own heart” (Acts 13:22). The apostle Paul was paraphrasing 1 Samuel 13:14, where a similar description of David occurs. In the 1 Samuel passage, Samuel was informing King Saul that because he had disobeyed, God was replacing him with a king after his own heart. David was a man of faith and compassion. He even forgot King Saul’s life once, even when Saul was after him. However, David also recognised the condition of his heart. He knew he was not in a good place; he was not who he should be. As he reflected on God (creation and the Word), he came to take a step further and started looking at himself. As we consider our own lives, everything outwardly may appear to be alright, but it takes courage to look into our own hearts and to consider our spiritual condition, as David did. David knew he had committed a terrible act and sinned against God. He also realised it was not within his ability to clearly see all he had d...

Text: Psalm 19.10-11 If I ask you, what is the worth of the Bible? What would you say? Is it a question that you have given much thought? The worth and value of something, is related to how much it really means to us. I will never forget when I was in Africa once, and we gave away Bibles to the village people. Their faces lit up, many danced with happiness, others cried for joy, and all of them embraced the Bible and brought it closer to their heart. I saw how much The Book meant to them. David knew the worth of God’s Word, because he spent time reading it and realising how important it was to meditate on the Scripture, day and night. It is not just about the benefits of reading the Bible, as we saw yesterday, it is also because we get to know God and what He wants from His people. You see it through the pages of scripture, that we discover the good and perfect will of God and, at the same time, we learn the way of the Lord. This is the reason why David could write about how much wo...

Text: Psalm 19:7-9 In the past few days, we have thought about God revealing Himself through creation and nature. Today, I would bring to your attention another aspect of God’s revelation: through The Word. we are able to know him, as God reveals Himself to all people. David has declared about the beautiful nature that says so much about our God and Lord. Now, the Psalm turns to the Sacred Word. We find that God also reveals His character and qualities through the written pages of Scripture. As you read the Bible text today, you may be aware and even overcome by the emotions that David expresses. He understood the power of God’s Word, that it changes the heart of humankind in a way unknown in any other text. David turns our attention to “the instructions of the Lord is perfect”, “testimony of the Lord is trustworthy”, “the precepts of the Lord are right”, “the ordinances of the Lord are reliable and altogether righteous.” God not only reveals himself through the world he’s created, h...

Text: Psalm 19.1-6 Do you know that Psalm 19 is literally a song? Songs are such a superb way to learn about God. King David used music and psalms to instruct Israel to look at the countryside around them. Nature points to the Creator. If you remember, David was a shepherd. He spent years walking in the valleys and mountains of Israel. His faith demonstrated that the future king was closer to God. He could hear God speaking through the created world. Nature was the revelation that raised the young David to see the power of God. It should not be a surprise to any of us. Imagine seeing regularly magnificent sunsets, stunning night skies, and glorious mornings. All of those revealing the power and might of the Creator. Nature lead David to believe God in ways that others could not. He knew the Creator was a God of generosity, creativity and goodness. The Lord has revealed through nature ways that we could not see Him otherwise. God’s calls us to come closer to Him, to enjoy His presence a...

Text: Revelation 21.1-7 Creation points with such beauty to the Creator. The Creator that made heaven and earth and established the whole creation. In the beginning, it was perfect, good. The harmony of creation was expressed by God’s presence.  There were no signs of pain, neither discord, or conflicts between people and animals. Creation was an echo of God’s favour and goodness. This is the reason why, even today, the world points to the Lord God. The world is His, even when the world has the mark of the fallen. The actions of the first humans left an imprint that change all. The watermark of God is mirrored on Creation, sadly all people should acknowledge it is not any longer what it was created to be. Sin had consequences that are hard to understand in their totality. Adam and Eve diverge the direction of God’s plan. Through their actions, a terrible curse came upon the world and creation. Sin was the source of the pain we still experience today. Hopelessness took the heart of ...

Text: Psalm 104.33-35 “I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live” (Psalm 104.33). Today’s Bible verse reveals to us, wholehearted emotion - “sing praise to my God as long as I live”. Such noble sentiment is shared by most Christians that I know. We want our hearts to be captivated by God until the end of our days. The whole idea of living a life defined by worshipping God, is uplifting. I want to be 90 years old and still amazed by the beauty of God’s creation and overwhelmed by His presence. The idea of losing sight is very scary. It is far too easy to lose our childlike wonder of God’s creation. Life takes our minds, emotions and dreams away as fast as the bills pile up on our doorstep. This is why the Psalms author desires to maintain an open heart to God. He wishes to praise God all the days of his life. If this is also your hearts-desire, let me invite you to consider that this does not just happen. It requires a conscious act of will to d...

Text: Psalm 104.24-35 Psalm 104 starts and ends with the words, “Praise the Lord, my soul”. The beginning and the end are a proclamation of praise to the Almighty God. In fact, the whole psalm is a review of the greatness of God in creation and, therefore, a meditation on God’s providence. To consider such things, helps us to draw closer to God and worship Him. If we are sincere with ourselves, our daily situations (children, work, news, stress, etc.) can take our attention away from God. It is not easy to just plug-in and worship the Lord. I find myself missing so much of God’s creation, because my mind wanders off to my daily concerns. My wife calls me to really see the beauty around us, otherwise I would miss it. How easy it is for us to be carried away and not once lift our eyes to the Lord, and worship Him that created the earth. Let us open our spiritual eyes, God has revealed through the authors of the Psalms that all of creation is called to worship. It is not just appreciation...

Text: Psalm 104.10-23 Psalms is one of the biblical books that communicates much about God. In Psalms you will find songs and prayers of God’s people. We have been reading Psalm 104. This psalm is a beautiful song composed around the subject of God’s creation. Today, we are going to consider God as the Creator that provides and sustains all of the universe. Gardening is a way to create beauty around us. Consider God as a gardener, and you will begin to draw a beautiful picture of the One that creates, provides and sustains. God created the most amazing garden that will ever exist. Not only that, He also made the heavens and the earth. He cares for the world. The Lord brings rain to the planet that in turn becomes springs, rivers and seas, and provides waters for the faunas of the earth (verses 10-14). He provides and sustains both for His people and for the animals (verses 10-14), and all things come together to create a daily rhythm of life and rest ( verses 19-23). The Lord wants to ...

Text: Psalm 104.1-9 Today we begin a new devotional series called “Disclosure”. In the coming days, we will look at how God reveals himself to us and what it means for our life. Psalm 104 is a good place to begin discovering God’s heart to make himself known through all of creation. This is what it is known as Natural Revelation. If you look around, you will see so much beauty. God formed the earth and all of creation. The earth was created to echo the heavens. The Lord God created the world which reflects His beauty and character enabling our souls to feel the magnificence of His power, glory and beauty. He is good and wants to have a closer friendship with you and me. Creation features in every aspect of God. Look at the skies, the heavens declare God’s splendour. The mountains point to His majestic presence. The oceans declare the Lord’s immensity and the waters (rivers and seas) tell of His creativity. The flowers and the colour of the trees proclaim His beauty and attention to det...