1st October 2025

Encountering God In Nature

Since the creation of the world,

His invisible attributes are clearly seen

        Romans 1:20

Today's Bible Reading: Psalm 19:1-6.

When I see the sunrise of each new day, I am reminded of God, and that is how it should be. The whole of Psalm 19, celebrates God’s revealing of Himself to humanity through creation. By connecting with nature, the Psalmist, heightens our awareness of God. Creation declares the truth and beauty of its Creator (Psalm 19:1). Day and night, the skies display God’s glorious majesty: “their voice goes out into all the earth” (v 2–4). And just as the radiant light of the sun touches all, no one is hidden from God’s loving care—a care displayed throughout His created world (v 4–6).

Wherever we are, we can all connect with God through nature—even by gazing out of the window at the sky, opening our hearts to His revelations. Listening to birdsong stills our racing thoughts, inviting His restoration. Appreciating God’s sunset brushstrokes on our homeward commute reassures us of His presence. Seasonal changes prompt thoughts of what God is nurturing within us. A daisy prising its way through tarmac promises that we can fulfil our God-given potential, despite apparent obstacles.

Endless gifts in creation are ours to receive from God today. Amazing!

Prayer: Creator God, thank You for the gift of this world to help me to know You better. In Jesus name. Amen.

30th September 2025

Praise The God of Hope

(Miniseries on praise – Final)

He grants the barren woman a home,

Like a joyful mother of children. Praise the Lord!

Psalm 113:9 

Today's Bible Reading: Psalm 113.

In Old Testament times being childless was a social disgrace. Childlessness was even more than that. It was a question of survival. In the agrarian society, the children helped in the fields and enabled the family to live out a meagre existence. Also, children assured that the parents would be cared for in their old age. Land was passed down to children, and children carried on the lineage. Children were valuable. The disgrace and fear that childlessness brought with it was overwhelming for the women. It also brought with it a sense of hopelessness.

Medical science has made great strides in enabling couples to have children when previously they would have been unable to conceive. These various medical procedures have brought a sense of hope to the situation. No such hope, though, was available to the childless couples centuries before the birth of Christ. Their only hope was in God.

In Psalm 113:9, the Psalmist envisions something different for those who were childless. He saw the Lord intervening, allowing the barren to conceive, blessing the couple with children and replacing their hopelessness with joy. Naturally, we realise that Israel did not suddenly experience a population explosion. That does not take away the truth that God does move in our lives and in our world. God also has the ability to change our hopelessness into joy.

In life, we will be faced with overwhelming situations. Life is full of them. However, they do not need to be hopeless situations for us. God is present and where God is there is hope. And the psalmist ends on the same thought he started with v 9: Praise the Lord! The caring, loving God who comes from the highest heaven to help the humble of the earth is worthy of praise — Hallelujah!

Prayer: Eternal Father strong to save, be my rock when the storms of life threaten to destroy me and rob me of my joy, and I am tempted to lose hope. In Christ's name I ask and pray. Amen.

29th September 2025

Praise From the Lips of All

(Miniseries on praise – Day 7)

He raises the poor out of the dust,

and lifts the needy out of the ash heap. 

Psalm 113:7 

Today's Bible Reading: Psalm 113:5-9.

One of the more harmful false beliefs that can take root in our thinking is the idea that God is closer to the rich and powerful than to the poor and needy. Traces of this mindset can be found even in the Old Testament. But throughout His ministry, Jesus Christ consistently rebuked such assumptions. The Apostle Paul also confronted the undue privilege of the wealthy—whether assumed or granted—in his letters to the Corinthians. And yet, even today, we often speak of God's blessings in terms of wealth and comfort. We look at the poor and struggle to see how the Lord could be blessing them, too.

Psalm 113 challenges this distorted view. While its authorship is uncertain—some suggest Moses, others David—its message is clear: God is not partial to the rich. This is not a psalm that celebrates the wealthy being lifted higher. It proclaims that God sees the lowly and the needy, and that He has the power to raise them up from the dust.

Importantly, God’s power is not usually displayed in dramatic or supernatural acts. More often, it is revealed through His people. We are His hands and feet—those called to reach out, lift up, and walk alongside the broken and forgotten. Sometimes, even the poor

themselves believe the lie that they are unseen by God. That’s when we, as Christians, have the privilege and responsibility to remind them of God's love, grace, and salvation through His Son (v 8). We tell them that they are not forgotten—because God sees, God cares, and God lifts up.

Prayer:  Loving Eternal God, use my mouths, hands and feet to share the good news of Your love and grace with those who need to be reminded of this great truth. In Christ's name. Amen.