Daily Scripture:‘The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear?The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.Wait for the Lord; be strong and he shall comfort your heart; wait patiently for the Lord.’ (Psalm 27.1,16-17)Daily Reflection:‘I believe’ stops short of certainty – I don’t know, but I have confidence, I trust. The psalmist is clearly not enjoying life as he would like to, has reason to be afraid, but also has reasons for hope and trust that he will be saved from his troubles/enemies. ‘Wait’ he tells himself, and us; wait, don’t weaken, don’t give in to despair, dare to trust that you will ‘see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living’.David Harmsworth
Daily Scripture‘for the Lord does not see as mortals see, they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart’ (1 Samuel 16 v 7) Daily Reflection:What are we sure of in life? – death and taxes are the “negative” answer! For How often do we hear the phrase ‘You need to make a good impression” - which usually refers to the way we present ourselves to others in respect of our appearance. Does our hair look good, are our clothes smart and have we polished our shoes. We seem to be more accepting of people if they appear to be well turned out and we assume that they will be as nice on the inside as they are on the outside!!God does not care about our appearance, what he deeply cares about is what is in our hearts, the way that we treat each other and the love that we share with all our fellow human beings - regardless of race, gender, or monetary wealth. We are all equal in His eyes and we are all deserving of His unending love.Lyn Hayes, ALM
Daily Scripture:'I call to you God, because I am sure of an answer' (Psalm 17, v6-7)Daily Reflection:What are we sure of in life? – death and taxes are the “negative” answer! For Christians, those who follow Jesus’ teachings and His way of life, there are only “positives” – Christians are sure of God’s rich blessings, sure of Heaven, and sure of the joy that comes from being God’s friend. That doesn’t mean that life’s sufferings are absent for Christians. When sufferings come, as they surely will for all of us, Christians know that God has the answer, and will work it out in their lives – because of faith. To have faith, is to “be sure of what we hope for and certain of what we cannot see” (Hebrews, Chapter 11 v 1). Vicki Young
Daily Scripture:‘We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish’ Matthew 14.17 (Feeding the Five Thousand, continued)Daily Reflection:Understandably, the disciples’ response to Jesus telling them to find food for the crowds is to point out that what he asks is impossible. The resources are quite obviously inadequate for the current need. Yet Jesus takes these ‘inadequate’ offerings, blesses them, and satisfies the hunger of the crowds.Jesus has been teaching about the unbelievable potential of very small things: the seed that grows to be a tree; the tiny amount of yeast needed to transform a large amount of flour. Now he demonstrates this in action. Nothing we offer to God however small - our time, our money, our gifts, our talents - is too small for God to use. It is not about the size of the gift, but the heart of the giver.Rev Rosemary Kobus van Wengen
