20th July 2025

The True Shepherd

I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,”

says the Lord God.  

 Ezekiel 34:16

Today's Bible Reading: Ezekiel 34:11–16.

A faithful minister heard that a man in his church had deserted his wife and family, he asked God to help him meet the man as if by accident so they could chat. And He did! When the minister walked into a restaurant, he spotted the gentleman at a near by table. “Got some room for another hungry man?” he asked, and soon they were sharing deeply and praying together. The man was reunited with his wife and family.

That minister was acting as a shepherd for those in his church community, even as God through the prophet Ezekiel said He would tend His flock. God promised to look after His scattered sheep, rescuing them and gathering them together (Ezekiel 34:12–13). He would “tend them in a good pasture” and “search for the lost and bring back the strays”; He would “bind up the brokenhearted and strengthen the weak” (v 14–16). God’s love for His people reverberates through each of these images. Though Ezekiel’s words anticipate God’s future actions, they reflect the eternal heart of the God and Shepherd who would one day reveal Himself in His Son, the Lord Jesus.

No matter our situation, God reaches out to each of us, seeking to rescue us and sheltering us in a good pasture. He longs for us to follow the Good Shepherd, He who lays down His life for His sheep (see John 10:14–15).

Prayer: Dear God, You love me even when I go astray and wander. Help me to stay always in Your sheepfold, that I might receive Your love and care. In Jesus name. Amen.

19th July 2025

A Generous Heart

. . God loves a cheerful giver.  

  2 Corinthians 9 :7

Today's Bible Reading: Matthew 25:14-30.

You know that the hardest thing for you to give up is your money. It represents your time, your energy, your talents, your total personality converted into currency. We usually hold on to it tenaciously, yet it is uncertain in value, and we cannot take it into the next world. The Scripture teaches that we are stewards for a little while of all we earn. If we misuse it, as did the man who buried his talent (Matthew 25:14-30), it brings upon us the severest judgment of God. The tithe is the Lord’s. If you use it only for yourself, you are robbing God. We are to take the tithe as a standard, but to go beyond the tithe is an indication of our gratefulness for God’s gifts to us. In the midst of sorrow and trouble, this life has many blessings and enjoyments which have come from the hand of God. Even our capacity for love is a gift from God. We show our gratitude by giving back to Him a part of that which He has given to us.

Prayer: Give me a generous heart, Father, that does not grudgingly give back to You all that is rightfully Yours. In Jesus name. Amen.

18th July 2025

Fact

. . . Seek, and you will find . . .    

  Matthew 7:7

Today's Bible Reading: Romans 1:18-23.

Anyone whose mind and heart are closed to God will never find Him. The promise of the Lord Jesus is for you: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find. … For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds” (Matthew 7:7-8).

Have you ever asked yourself how we could know — really know — that God existed — and not only existed, but cared for us and wanted us to know Him? The only way would be if God revealed Himself to us. Anything less than that would be guesswork on our part.

This is exactly what He has done! God is not silent; He has shown Himself to us. How has He done this? He did it firstly through the universe He created. As the Bible says, “Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made” (Romans 1:20).

But God has revealed Himself in a far greater way: He became a man. That man was Jesus Christ, who was not only human but also divine (which is what we celebrate at Christmas). Do you want to know what God is like? Look at Jesus Christ as He is revealed in the pages of the Bible. When you do, you will realize not only that God exists, but also that He loves you and will make you part of His family as you open your life to Christ.

Prayer: Father God, I stand in awe of the magnitude of Your forgiveness, and thank You for it. In Jesus name. Amen.