Word in Five

Unity is so important as God's people - we have one faith - the faith of Abraham. His faith wasn't a blind leap in the dark and neither is ours. It is based upon who we know God to be - his track record and most of all, what he has done in the death and resurrection of Jesus.

God loves to give good gifts to his children. He has given us the greatest gift of all - being with right with him through Jesus. It's always been a gift, even for people like Abraham and David. They had faith in Jesus too because Jesus is the only Rescuer.

How can good things happen to bad people? How can I a sinner have peace with God and be called good by him? Because of Jesus, our sacrifice and goodness. God is totally fair and just. In fact, because we are in Jesus, it would be unjust for him to condemn us! Glory!

Wow! These verses are so convicting. None of us are good in and of ourselves. We need one who is good to rescue us! Thank the Lord that the next verse (v21) begins, 'but now'.

The whole Bible is 'the very words of God'. What a privilege it is to have the Bible and hear it read and explained. What a responsibility to have ears to hear! God is just in punishing sin. We are responsible for our sin and need the rescuer, Jesus Christ.

Why can we pray? How can we know God? How can we stand before him in judgment? Only because he has given us new life in Jesus. It's not knowing stuff or doing stuff - but trusting in Jesus! Knowledge and good works are important in the Christian life, but they flow from being connected to Jesus.

God is passionate about justice. There is a great day of judgment to come where there will be a great righting of everything. We can rest in knowing he will do all things well and know that on that day, we can stand because of the great day of judgment upon the cross when Jesus died in our place!

Wow! Paul could be describing Wales and the rest of the UK. Our experiment of making our own truth based upon what we feel has been a disaster. Paul reminds us of the truth that we see in God's creation and points us to a God who is kind and willing to forgive through his Son Jesus.

Paul is not ashamed of the good news - he is so excited about the church in Rome as he hears about what God is doing in saving people. May we have the same eagerness to tell people about the Saviour, Jesus Christ and the same interest in praying for churches, even those we have never met.

Jesus is at the centre of the good news. His resurrection is like a megaphone from heaven telling us who Jesus is. He is the king of Psalm 2; the Son of David who has been installed on God's holy hill. This good news transforms us as his holy people who are loved by God.

Let's learn to pray like Jesus - praying for trust, saying sorry for our sin and turning from it, asking God to teach us his ways and giving thanks for the hope we have in Jesus.

Jesus endured the shame of the cross and bore our sin as if it was his own. Hallelujah! What a Saviour!

There is a Man in heaven - Jesus - he will make reunite heaven and earth and make everything new. And we are 'in Christ' - think of him there and how pleased the Father is with him - we are in Christ!

Jesus tested the truth of this psalm to the absolute extreme so as we walk in Jesus, we can be confident of every word of it!

Jesus has done it! We can trust him even in the darkest places and follow his example of prayerful faith.

We have a Saviour, Jesus who 'why's' for us! He knows the effects of sin and carries our grief. He has born our guilt. May we turn to him and put to death sin and recognise that sin and all of its ugly consequences has an end date, because Jesus has conquered!

How was King Jesus' prayer answered? He was welcomed into heaven and made King forever. He will defeat all of his enemies, including the last enemy, death! How we need to know the unfailing love of our God and remember that because of it, we cannot be shaken, because we are 'in Christ' who is unshakable!

Jesus' prayers are always answered - we pray in his name. What is his desire? That his church will be built throughout all the nations and peoples of the earth and that we will be kept safe to one day be with him and see his glory! Therefore we can pray big and confidently in Jesus' name.

The LORD teaches us to depend upon him and sometimes he does it by bringing people into our lives who might be quite difficult. Jesus shows us what it is like to depend upon hos heavenly Father and proves how trustworthy he is.

The LORD leads us and we follow him and then all of a sudden, it can seem like everything has gone wrong? What do we do? Often we can be tempted to think we must have made a mistake or taking a wrong term, but that is usually not the case. We are called to trust in his unfailing love which we see so clearly in the finished work of Jesus on the cross.

Jacob has 20 long years ahead where it might seem like the sun has set on his life, and yet the LORD comes to him and speaks such kind words to reassure him. We can be confident that Jesus will never leave us or forsake us.

God is so kind with Isaac who had been stubborn - he gave Isaac the opportunity to do the right thing with Jacob and he did. We have God who stays with us and will carry on to completion the good work he has begun in us.

What a story! God can draw a straight line with a crooked stick. He uses us in all of our weakness and even sin. What a warning to not be like Esau who despised Jesus. Thank God for Jesus he is the truth!

The end doesn't justify the means. Just because we have good intentions, we can't say it's OK to do things that are wrong to get there - even if we're desperate. It's better to say, "Lord I believe, help my unbelief" and to follow the always trusting example of Jesus.

Jesus will build his church and nothing will overcome it - not even the immovable object of Isaac who wants to give the blessing to evil Esau!