On the Couch With God - Daily Devotional

" All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work " (2 Timothy 3:16-17) Read: 2 Timothy 3:16-17 The Bereans studied the Scriptures every day for understanding. Because they didn’t have copies of the Scriptures at home, their study required going to the synagogue to read the scrolls together. This wasn’t a five-minute, quick read-through in the morning before running off to their day. They read and discussed the Scriptures at length, asking God for help to understand Paul’s teaching. Their study took commitment and dedication. They submitted their lives to the authority of God’s Word and ordered their lives around it. We face complex, confusing and challenging decisions every day. We also anchor our lives in something. Maybe we scroll our news feed to understand the world. We might text friends for help with a tough decision. Perhaps

We love because he first loved us . (1 John 4:19) Read: 1 John 4:19 As the people of Israel approach the Promised Land, God commands them to love him with all their heart, soul and strength. This heavy demand is because God has always loved his people. He demonstrates his love by freeing them from slavery and leading them to the Land of Promise. This should motivate them to love him back. One day, a Jewish leader asked Jesus, “What is the greatest command?” Without hesitation, Jesus quotes the passage we have been studying, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:29). Jesus demonstrates the love God has always had for us by dying on the cross in our place. Freeing the Jews from slavery foreshadows Jesus dying to free all people from the slavery of sin (Romans 6:6). Why love God? Because he loved us first and died to set us free. Jesus is our motivation to love God back by living a life that

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts . (Deuteronomy 6:6) Read: Deuteronomy 6:5–9 Worshipping one God and making him the centre of their lives is new to the Israelites. They are an unruly mob of ex-slaves who know very little about the God who made promises to their forefather, Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3). As they enter the Promised Land, God wants them to move away from what they once were toward who he desires them to be. God wants the same for us. Like Israel, God wants us to leave our old life behind and put him in the centre of our life right now. That means putting him in the centre of everything we think, say and do, not just moving him up in our priority list. His word (the Bible) should have a central place in our hearts. Making God central is inviting him into our family, job, school, politics, sexuality, recreation and more until he overflows into everything we do. This is what we were made for. To know God and make Him known through the wa

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength . (Deuteronomy 6:5) Read: Deuteronomy 6:5 So here is Israel, at the edge of the Promise Land, about to experience something new. God has a message for them that strikes deep into their hearts. He says to love him with all they’ve got. He wants them to honour him with their thoughts, passions, desires and all the resources they have at their disposal. As they possess the land, he wants them to love him back. What does it mean to love God with all our heart, soul and strength? Loving him with our heart means aligning our thoughts with the Bible—God’s thoughts and words in written form. Loving with our soul means submitting our desires and passions to line up with Him. And loving with all our strength is giving him the gifts he formed in us (such as intellect, creativity, influence and humour) to use the way he desires. We can’t love in any of these ways without his word and power. We can

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one . (Deuteronomy 6:4) Read: Deuteronomy 6:4 Worshipping many gods was the norm in Egypt (where the Israelites lived for 400 years). In the land of Canaan, their new home, the people also worshipped lots of gods. And the Romans who occupy Israel in the time of Jesus worship many gods, too. In the midst of this, the Israelites stand out. They don’t turn to one god for their work and another to solve family problems. They trust the Lord our God for everything. They are not like everyone else, which is good because it puts the spotlight on God and draws others toward him. If we are a follower of Jesus and take our faith in the God of the Bible seriously, we will also look different. Our boundaries for dating will be different. How we spend and share our money will be different. The way we speak, listen and relate will be different in our marriage, at work, at school and everywhere we go. It is good we trust God in all these areas beca

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. (Deuteronomy 6:5-6) Read: Deuteronomy 6:4-9 Israel stands on the edge of something new. God heard their cries to be set free from the bondage of slavery in Egypt. Then he leads them to the Land of Promise (read Exodus) through a series of miraculous events. Slavery lies behind, and freedom lies ahead. Before they enter their new home, God has an important message relevant to all of us. We stand on the edge of something new too, as we celebrate the 125th anniversary of Christ Church Exmouth. God’s message to Israel and us is not about a change of venue or what year it is. His message of a fresh start is about loving him within the depths of our hearts. The kind of love that means choosing to be different, giving him everything and putting him at the centre of our lives. It’s a simple yet challenging message of surrender

" And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved " (Acts 2:47b) Read: Acts 2:46–47 The early church never stays the same. It grew miraculously by continually looking upward toward God and then outward toward non-believers. Luke records in Acts the story of the Holy Spirit changing lives and drawing more and more people to the Gospel message of salvation through Jesus. God loves to grow his church. There are two mistakes churches make today. One is making growth more important than people by focusing on finances. The other is committing not to grow because there are already too many people. Luke wants us to see that Christianity is always about adding new believers—and has been since the beginning. God’s love for people and his power is what causes growth. We follow the early believers’ lead by becoming students of our faith and family with each other, committing to prayer, awe, and praise and displaying Christ-like character leading to favour with

" Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts… enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved " (Acts 2:46-47) Read: Acts 2:46–47 Luke describes the early believers as looking beyond themselves to a world that didn’t believe in Jesus. Because of their outward focus, the early church won the favour of the people in Jerusalem by being like Jesus and proclaiming the gospel (the good news of the Kingdom). They became a doorway to the Gospel, adding to their numbers. Early believers wanted to bring glory to God and, therefore, they got favour. So did Jesus. Luke records in his gospel that “ Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man ” (Luke 2:52). As Jesus matured, his godliness was noticed favourably. This doesn’t necessarily mean he was popular, but that he was respected. The world and society see godliness as “judgmental.” However, some see it as “caring, kind and honest

" Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God " (Acts 2:46-47a) Read: Acts 2:46–47 In his description of the early church, Luke points out new believers were constantly praising God. Their praise was a verbal expression of their sincere awe. They thoroughly understood God was behind the miracle of their salvation, and they couldn’t keep quiet about their joy. We don’t express our joy because God is needy and must be told how great he is. We express how great he is to appreciate and experience our awe fully. The Apostle Paul describes praise as being “ filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, [and] hymns, and [making] music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ ” (Ephesians 5:18c-19). Praising God isn’t exclaiming mindless clichés—but is an outward expression

" Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles " (Acts 2:43) Read: Acts 2:43 The word awe is defined as “fearful” and usually refers to the fear of the LORD in the Bible. Fear of the Lord doesn’t mean sheer terror. It’s having a healthy respect for God’s power, acknowledging his all-encompassing character and that he holds life and death in his hands. Early believers focused upward and gave God credit for the miracles performed through the Apostles and the salvation they offered through Jesus. We have no less reason for awe of God today. His signs and wonders are all around us. He created everything (Genesis 1:1), holds everything together (Colossians 1:17) and raised Christ from the dead by which we are saved and made new (Romans 6:4). He has a home for each of us in his Kingdom (John 14:2), which will be established when Jesus returns (1 Thessalonians 4:16). God is the author of life through which babies are formed, and plants s

" They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship… and to prayer…. praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved " (Acts 2:42, 47) Read: Acts 2:42-47 For two weeks, Bishop Josep Rossello spoke about envisioning church. The account of God moving in the lives of these first believers shows them as learners of the Gospel and as a family of believers who become the envisioning church. They devoted themselves to prayer and praising God in a way that gained favour from others and caused their numbers to grow. This is not the prescription of a perfect church, but the description of what an ideal church can look like—and it all starts with prayer. Luke shows us the early church’s devotion to prayer is foundational, leading them to a deep faith and zealous outreach. Devotion to prayer shows we are first and foremost dependent on the power of God in our lives. This translates to pr

…for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple. (1 Corinthians 3:17b) Read: 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 The church that gathers every Sunday in Corinth is unlike any other group. A room survey would see it filled with the young and old, rich and poor, Jewish Jesus-converts and former worshipers from the Zeus temple. It would find those familiar with the Old Testament Scriptures and those who know next to nothing. Sitting side-by-side would be slaves and slave owners, Jews and Romans and the well-educated and the illiterate. God brought this group together and made his temple. Working together gospel, they show people where God dwells in the world. God desires this for his church today. The opportunities for division are more numerous than ever, yet God wants his community to be recognized as his dwelling place in the world. We get to choose how the world sees God’s community. We can present his dwelling place as one united as we serve joyfully, give generously and tel

" Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, to the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people… " (1 Corinthians 1:1-2a) Read: 1 Corinthians 1:1-3 Paul opens his first letter to the Jesus-followers in Corinth clear about his intended audience—the church. He writes to “the church of God in Corinth,” a community of people who trusted Jesus and received God’s mercy and grace. He writes to a group attempting to follow Jesus in relationship to many others doing the same thing. He gives direction about issues dividing the church such as leadership, sexuality, conflict among believers and problems with the Lord’s Supper. Paul hopes to stop the division. The goal is unity. It’s still the church’s goal today. Much of what the church does involves relationships and unity. When we join a life group, we enter into relationships to become more like Jesus. Serving in places like chi

" Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies " (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) Read: 1 Corinthians 3:19-20 The dwelling place of God is a holy place. In the tabernacle and temple, the high priest enters this holiest place just once a year. He enters by stepping behind a curtain to burn incense and sprinkle the blood of a sacrificed animal on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant. This is him atoning for his own sins and the sins of the people. These rituals remind everyone that man cannot enter God’s holy presence carelessly. Sin is not compatible in the place where God dwells. With God now dwelling in his people through the Spirit, we are told to “be holy in all you do” (1 Peter 1:15). This is what Paul means when he says we are to “honour God with [our] bodies.” In another of Paul’s letters, he tells a group of Jesu

" Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies. " (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) Read: 1 Corinthians 3:19-20 As the Corinthian family heads to the Agora (marketplace) to shop, their eyes travel from the temple after temple. Over on the right is the temple of Apollo, the god of healing and diseases. A long line of people waits to offer their sacrifice in hopes of a cure. Further down on the left is the temple of Zeus, the weather god. Farmers there pray for a good harvest. Around the corner is the Aphrodite temple, the goddess of procreation. Those who desire a child seek her favour. The Corinthians know they must go to the temple where that specific god resides to offer prayers and praise for whatever they need. But Jesus changes everything, including where God dwells. God’s people no longer have to go to a place (tabernac

" Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple " (1 Corinthians 3:16-17) Read: 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Visitors to the city of Corinth see immediately that, like other cities in the Roman Empire, this city is very religious. Apollo, Zeus, Athena and (most prominently) Aphrodite are worshipped by those who call Corinth home. Every god and goddess had their own building, called a temple. When someone worships a god/goddess in Corinth, they go to their temple. But Christians in Corinth don’t go to a temple. Their God, Jesus, doesn’t reside in a building that his followers go to worship him. Amazingly, God resides in people who’ve placed their trust in him for the forgiveness of sin. The Apostle Paul tells them that God’s Holy Spirit resides in them, both individually and in the gathered Jesus' comm

" Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them ." (Acts 6:3)  Read: Acts 6:1–7  The early Christians didn’t just eat with each other or hang out. They took care of each other. They were so convinced they were family that they moved resources around to look after each other. When they saw a need, some of them would sell their own stuff to meet that need. In fact, the early church’s generosity became such a big deal that they had to choose seven people to oversee it. This generosity carried down throughout church history, with Christians keeping storehouses for the poor and opening the first public hospital.  The heart of the gospel is God’s generosity toward us through Jesus’s death on the cross. We emulate Jesus and the early church together as a larger church community and in smaller acts of service.  As the church community, we pool our money together to assist those wh

" The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. ’" (Luke 7:34)  Read: Luke 7:34  Luke tells us the first followers of Jesus devoted themselves to fellowship (Acts 2:42). A word we don’t use very often—it means family, partnership, camaraderie and togetherness in a single word. One tangible way their fellowship gathered was to eat meals together. In the first century, eating a meal with someone carried a cultural significance. Showing acceptance or association, Jesus leveraged sharing meals to show how radically different his message was. It meant the people invited to your table were welcomed and a part of your life. The early Christian fellowships were counter-cultural, bringing together people from diverse backgrounds. The developed relationships were so meaningful they played a significant role in the growth of the church.  Many churches have fellowships —gatherings of people invested in eac

" Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit " (Acts 2:38)  Read: Acts 2:14–41  The early church united around the Gospel, the good news of Jesus. They listened to the apostles unpack what it meant for Jesus to be Lord and how forgiveness should change their lives. That’s the message of the section of our Bible known as the epistles. These are letters written to the early churches in places like Rome, Ephesus, Corinth, Thessalonica and other cities. As the church grew, the apostles wrote letters to help the new communities of followers of Jesus know what it meant to follow Jesus.  The early church needed to know what they believed because it was so counter-cultural. They experienced social, political and family pressure to turn away from Jesus. The way of Jesus was so radically different from their previous lives that they needed help knowing how to d

" They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer " (Acts 2:42)   Read: Acts 2:42-47  Throughout history, Christians have devoted themselves to learning about God, the good news of Jesus and what that means for their life. The truth about God and his love for us is what nourishes everything else we do. Watch this video clip as Dr Bobby Conway explains the word “disciple” means learner. To be a disciple of Jesus means to be a learner of Him, to study his life and His word and, then, to live according to His teaching.  Some of us love the idea of being a student, while others hate the idea. But we study things all the time. For fun, we study lawn care, the Premium League, birding, the latest show on Netflix or our friends’ social media posts. We become experts in these things. They aren’t necessarily bad things but aren’t as important as being a student of God. Being part of the first church meant being a student. To f

" They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer " (Acts 2:42)  Luke writes the book of Acts to give us an account of God’s work through the early church. It’s the sequel to the Gospel (good news of Jesus) that bears his name. Covering the approximately 25 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, Acts tells the story of the spread of Jesus' message following key figures like Peter and Paul. New communities of followers of Jesus (known as churches) begin everywhere Jesus' message goes. Noting the type of writing (genre) when reading the Bible is important. The Bible contains numerous genres like law, poetry, epistles, narrative and prophecy. The book of Acts is narrative and tells us what happened. Some genres give instructions on how to live life (like the epistles, which are considered prescriptive). Acts is descriptive—it tells us what happened—but it’s also more than that.  Luke presents the verses we l