Galatians 1:4 Every now and again we hear about rescue missions. Brave soldiers are put down behind enemy lines, often in a low flying helicopter, and set some prisoners free. It’s all very exciting and impressive. Here the apostle Paul talks abo...
Galatians 1:1 Yesterday we were reflecting on the call of Isaiah. He was absolutely clear that he was called by God to his challenging ministry. Today in this reading from Galatians we meet the apostle Paul, hundreds of years later, making it...
Isaiah 6:8 Isaiah’s encounter with God in the temple was so intimate that he was able to overhear God having a conversation. In it God was wondering who he could send as a messenger and Isaiah immediately put up his hand and offered his services....
Isaiah 6:5-7 I’m sure you’ve had the experience of cleaning a window with great care. The last smudge has been removed andyou are convinced that you’ve done an excellent job. And then you sit down and see the sunlight streaming in, and you c...
Isaiah 6:1 Uzziah had become king when he was 16 and reigned for 52 years. For much of that time the kingdom of Judah had thrived. Uzziah had listened to the prophet Zechariah and walked in the ways of the Lord. But later on in his reign he had b...
Isaiah 5:7 There is only one reason why you would plant a vineyard. It would be because you wanted grapes. No one has ever planted a vineyard for any other reason. You certainly wouldn’t plant one for their natural beauty, or because you want to ...
Isaiah 2:4 This beautiful verse gives us an insight into the heart of God, who always longs for peace. In this passage we are given a vision of what the world will look like at the end of time when God takes charge and there is complete peace. Th...
Isaiah 2:2-3 The previous chapter makes for scary reading. God is hopping mad at the unfaithfulness of his people. They have comprehensively let him down, and they are paying a terrible price for it. God’s blunt language is enough to make anyone ...
Isaiah 1:18 If you want to know what God’s like when he’s in a rage, read the first chapter of Isaiah. He is fuming. He simply can’t believe that anyone could treat him like this. After all he had done for his people it was as though they now...
Proverbs 28:23 The first three words are the crucial ones in this verse! At first, probably all of us would rather be overwhelmed by flattery than offered criticism. We all want to be loved and to have people tell us how wonderful we are. Bu...
Proverbs 28:13 Sin always tries to hide itself. It’s a pathetic process because it is always bound to fail. Sooner or later the sin will be revealed. Given that we are all sinners, and regularly do things that are well short of perfection...
Proverbs 28:6 This is such a typical proverb. It’s punchy, brief and contains a massive amount of wisdom. Honesty is always the best policy. Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States of America, said: “Honesty is the first chapte...
Proverbs 28:5 The Bible has a great deal to say about justice. The reason for that is clear. God is a God of justice, and so he wants us, his followers, to share his passion. The writer of Proverbs is characteristically blunt on the subject. Evil...
Matthew 2:10-11 We know very little about the wise men, but their visit was of such significance that it has been endlessly repeated and often embellished. We have often been told that there were three of them, that they were kings and that they ...
Matthew 2:7-8 Jesus was born into a highly charged political situation. As soon as it became clear the King of the Jews had been born, King Herod was deeply alarmed. He was a powerful king and had, in many ways, a very successful reign. He had be...
