Rev. Luke Powell Daily Devotions

Jesus was full of grace. Perhaps he learned this grace, in some way, from watching how Joseph treated Mary! Christmas is no time to hold grudges. Let's be full of grace and mercy.

Joseph was faithful to God, even at the cost of his own reputation. Let us have the same dedication this Christmas!

We need good men in this world! Men of respect, love, strength and dignity. Men, in other words, like Joseph.

Instead of getting caught in the hype, Mary ponders and treasures the right things about Christmas. Let us follow her example!

Mary doesn't take the glory for herself, but she humble points to God. Jesus does the same later on - did he learn this from her? Let's also point to Him this Christmas.

Unlike other people in the Bible, Mary says "yes!" to God straight away. Let's learn from her today, and be willing servants when God calls us.

Society saw Mary as a "nobody" - but in God's eyes she was highly favoured! If he could use her, he will use you.

Mary must have been a special lady. Do you have a special lady in your life? Maybe a wife, mother, daughter, sister, grandmother, friend etc... How blessed you are if you do.

God isn't lonely in heaven - though Jesus relates to our loneliness. But God's phone-line is not just for the pope or pastors... He became one of us, so that we could each have a direct line to Him!

We see the face of God when we see the face of Jesus. Yes, without the Son, we cannot see the face of the Father! And as we look at His face, our own faces begin to reflect his glory and love.

The great mystery of the Christian faith is that God WAS one of us! He became a human being, but instead of being a slob, he showed us true holiness. Do we see HIM in everyone, including strangers around us?

Does God's greatness and God's goodness bore us? Or thrill us? Joan Osborne's song reminds us to keep rediscovering our awe for our God.

Can Christians get anything from Joan Osborne's song "One Of Us?" Today we look at the first line and remember the wonder and holiness of God's name.

A lesson from an old CrossRoad song on loving with the love of Jesus, so that people can come to see the truth. Full song here: https://open.spotify.com/track/6idfC7FJ8HEPIpCMeVbAJS

Jesus didn't say "neither do I condemn you, go now and carry on as you were." Instead, he guides us away from our lives of sin, from a place of love. We must do the same for one another.

Truth flows from love, not the other way around! Do people know you as FULL of love? Like Jesus, let us always love people first, and from that place of love, we can show them the truth.

Jesus shows us in John 8 that waiting for the right moment to speak is wise. Instead of shooting our mouth off and speaking words that aren't true or loving, we are slow to speak.

Truth without love is no truth at all... love without the truth will not last... But Jesus was full of grace, and full of truth. Are we keeping our balance here?

We are His hands and feet, and we are to share His good news with everyone! Let's take responsibility, and try our best to bring Jesus to the world.

Even though God has given us salvation for free, we still TRY to please him. Not to earn His love, but BECAUSE he loves us already.

Sometimes we try our best but things don't pan out the way we had planned. In times like these we have only one option: to TRUST in God's plan, which is going ahead anyway.

Sometimes we need to trust God to do what we cannot; other times we have to take responsibility. One place we can't afford to get this wrong is when it comes to our salvation: we can't TRY to earn our own salvation, we must TRUST in Christ's sacrifice on the cross.

South Africa are rugby world cup champions! And captain Siya Kolisi is not ashamed to give all the glory to God. Let's learn from his bold faith today.

Sometimes God breaks through into our dimension to tell us that He is here. Some would say these are co-incidences... but the Christian knows that these moments are a tap on the shoulder from a loving God.

Bill Meaker shares thoughts from his book about heaven. Heaven is infinitely better than any image or illustration anyone has come up with.