YOur Team

‘The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, And rescues them.’ Psalm 3 4:7 NASB What are some other situations when God might send an angel to help you? 1) To get you out of trouble. Lot was living in Sodom, a city about to be destroyed because of its extreme sin. That’s when God sent angels to rescue him and his family from impending doom. Lot listened, obeyed, and survived, but sadly his wife didn’t, and she perished (see Genesis 19). 2) To change your life’s direction. ‘Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro…There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush’ (Exodus 3:1-2 NIV). Moses thought his life was over. He grew up in a palace and...

‘He will order his angels to protect you wherever you go.’ Psalm 9 1:11 NLT In what situation might God send an angel to help you? 1) When those you love and trust have disappointed you. Imagine how Hagar felt. In a joint decision with his wife, Sarah, Abraham got Hagar pregnant in order to try and fulfil God’s promise. Then Sarah conceived, and after Isaac was born, Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away into the wilderness. Not wanting to see her son die after their resources ran out, Hagar sat a bowshot away from Ishmael, lifted her voice, and wept. But God sent an angel to tell her that her son was a child of destiny from whom would come a great people (see Genesis 21:18). 2) When you’re...

‘Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?’ Hebrews  1:14 NIV God can come to you in varied forms. When Jesus appeared to His disciples and stilled the storm, they thought He was a ghost. So, your intellect can undermine your faith. The Bible says angels are ‘ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation’. Have you ever seen an angel? They aren’t always dressed in white with dramatically arched wings. Sometimes they’re so ordinary that they’re overlooked. ‘Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it’ (Hebrews 13:2 NIV). Perhaps you think God...

‘Forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.’ Ephesians  4:32 NLT The Bible says, ‘Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behaviour. Instead, be kind to each other, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you’ (Ephesians 4:31-32 NLT). Are you struggling to forgive someone? Here is a prayer: ‘Lord, I praise You for forgiving me and washing my sins away. Reveal anything I need to confess to You today so that I can bring it before You and be cleansed and set free, especially any place in my heart where I have not forgiven someone. I know how subtly resentment and bitterness...

‘He has filled them with skill to do all manner of work.’ Exodus 3 5:35 NKJV The Bible says God ‘filled them with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker, in blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine linen, and of the weaver – those who do every work and those who design artistic works’ (Exodus 35:35 NKJV). When God calls you to do something, He has already placed within you the ability to accomplish it. Satan hopes you never discover that. He wants you to remain trapped in the status quo, believing that the way things are is how they will always be. Not so! When you change your thinking, your life begins to change. ‘For as he thinks in his...

‘He who is greedy for gain troubles his own house.’ Proverbs 1 5:27 NKJV Today one of the biggest sources of conflict in marriage is money. That is because a husband and wife often have opposite ideas about how money ought to be used. Stop and consider the words ‘delayed gratification’. When one spouse is willing to delay purchasing something until their financial house is in order, but the other one isn’t, the battle lines begin to form. Another disagreement that can arise is deciding when and for what credit should be obtained. This is very dangerous territory. Nothing irritates a disciplined, thrifty person more than living with someone who wastes their income and their future earnings...

‘Nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works, for that is his heritage.’ Ecclesiastes  3:22 NKJV Solomon writes: ‘Nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works.’ That is why we are here! If you’re unhappy with your life you don’t get to push some magical reset butten that means you start life over. Begin now to think about what you can do to find more joy in every experience. The present moment is all you’re guaranteed, so don’t wait until later – until you get married, retire, go on holiday, or until your children finish university – to enjoy your life. No one knows what will happen next in their lives or in the world. You’re alive now, so...

‘In Your presence is fullness of joy.’ Psalm 1 6:11 NKJV If you were miserable before you met Jesus, it’s easy to make the mistake of thinking that the only place His presence can be enjoyed is in church. No, you can enjoy His presence everywhere. At home, at work, at school, in business, and even in times of suffering and adversity. Brother Lawrence, a Carmelite monk in a French monastery, wrote the best-selling book, The Practice of the Presence of God. He resented his daily routine in the kitchen. Then God showed him that everything he did each day could be done for God and with God. That truth transformed his life. You can cultivate your mind to be more productive, and you can also...

‘The day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief.’ 2 Peter  3:10 NLT Don’t let date-setters make you cynical about Christ’s soon return. When the founder of a major church denomination predicted in print the date of Christ’s second coming, his successors faced the embarrassment of having to publicly acknowledge that they were wrong. Do you remember the alarmists of Y2K? Declaring a scientific certainty that the year 2000 would bring the end of the world and the return of Christ. They caused people to leave their jobs, sell their homes, stock up on food, and head for the hills. And because of such embarrassments, many preachers today have silenced or toned down the truth of...

‘Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.’ Colossians  3:16 KJV Before written languages were developed, memory was the only way to learn. In our day, memorising has got a bad name as ‘rote learning’. But memorising never makes your mind a duller place, just the opposite! When we have stored wonderful words in our memory, we will have a much richer inner life than someone who doesn’t. Eva Hermann spent two years in a Nazi prison camp. She wrote how a young cellmate happened to recite the prayer of St Teresa: ‘Let naught trouble thee; let naught frighten thee; all things pass. God alone changeth not. Patience can do all things. Whoever has God, has everything. God alone sufficeth.’ When...