Description

Bring some Spirit-filled peace into your hectic schedule every weekday morning with this new Daily Devotional.
Épisodes
  • January 30th - Mark 8:34-35

    January 30th - Mark 8:34-35
    Jan 30 2026
    Mark 8:34-35 Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, [Jesus] said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it.” Jesus’ breathtaking honesty is very striking. Day by day, we are constantly being encouraged to sign up to organisations which can improve our health, wealth or general wellbeing. Their marketing is slick and highly polished and calculated to get us to subscribe to their products or services. They help us to dream of a happier and more successful life and cram in every attractive and glossy image to lure us into signing up. Jesus took a completely different approach. He spoke straight to people about the costs of following him. It reminds me of Winston Churchill, who during the second world war offered people “blood, toil, tears and sweat.” I am firmly convinced that living for Christ is the most amazing and wonderful life. I would recommend it to anyone. However, that doesn’t mean it’s easy, and Jesus wanted his followers to know from day one that he was going to completely change their approach to life. If they wanted to hang on to their old ways, they could do just that. Jesus was only inviting people to follow him who were prepared to go on a completely new journey. They needed to turn their back on their old way of life and start all over again. We miss the point completely if we think that we can simply add a few Christian attitudes and virtues to our old way of life. It just won’t work. Like driving a car, there can only be one person at the controls. The apostle Paul put this very clearly when he wrote: “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Question Do those words from the apostle Paul describe your life? Prayer Lord Jesus Christ, I hand over my life to you. I want to live for you today and ask you to fill me with your Holy Spirit so that I will please you in all that think, say and do. Amen
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    4 min
  • January 29th - Mark 8:33

    January 29th - Mark 8:33
    Jan 29 2026
    Mark 8:33 Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.” I have a soft spot for Peter. When Jesus informed his disciples that he was going to suffer at the hands of the Jewish authorities and then be killed, Peter did what any friend would do. He told Jesus off for saying such terrible things. He loved Jesus and hated the thought of him going through such suffering, but Jesus would have none of it. “Get away from me, Satan!” was as complete a reprimand as he could have uttered, and then he explained that Peter was just thinking things through from a human point of view. He needed to start thinking from God’s point of view. This is an important challenge for us all. It is easy for us to become so immersed in the busyness of daily life and the demands of our world that we struggle to think of anything from God’s point of view. Like Peter, it’s very easy for us to respond to situations in kind and thoughtful ways which totally miss the point. God is calling us to have a completely different worldview that is shaped by his agenda. The apostle Paul addressed precisely this issue when he wrote to the Corinthians. He reflected that they used to see one another and even Christ from a human point of view, but that had all come to an end. “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone, a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). If we are to be the people that God wants us to be, we must receive a complete overhaul of our ways of thinking. That’s where the revolution needs to begin. Only then will our actions reflect God’s generosity, wisdom and love to the world. Writing to the church in Rome, Paul got to the heart of the matter when he wrote: “Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2). Question In what ways has God transformed your thinking recently? Prayer Loving God, thank you that you love me so much that you want to transform my thinking. I invite your Holy Spirit to direct my thinking today. Amen
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    4 min
  • January 28th - Mark 8:27,29

    January 28th - Mark 8:27,29
    Jan 28 2026
    Mark 8:27,29 Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi…He asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.” As you look back through your life, you may be able to spot turning points. At the time, the day was just like any other, but with hindsight you realise that nothing was quite the same afterwards. Jesus’ visit to Caesarea Philippi with his disciples was undoubtedly a major turning point in his ministry. Up until this moment, Jesus had been preaching and healing with the rumble of threats from the teachers of the law in the background. From this point on, he was heading to the cross. These verses, in which Jesus asked his disciples about his identity, are followed by his first prediction of his death. From the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, people had tried to work out who he was. They were amazed by his authoritative teaching and his powerful miracles. They also knew that he was from Nazareth, a town which had no reputation for producing influential people. As Jesus spent time alone with his disciples in the beautiful mountainous setting of Caesarea Philippi, this was an ideal moment for him to talk with them about his identity. At first, he asked a general question. He wanted to know what people were making of him. There were lots of theories. It isn’t surprising that some people imagined he was a revived John the Baptist. In Mark 6, King Herod had come up with the theory that John, who he had beheaded, had come back to life in the form of Jesus. Clearly, he was a man with a lively conscience. Others reflected on the possibility that Jesus was Elijah or one of the other prophets. Then Jesus turned the spotlight on the disciples themselves. They had spent about three years with Jesus and had enjoyed a close relationship with him. He wanted to know who they thought he was. Peter was first to reply. “You are the Messiah”, he declared. People today still have many different theories about Jesus, but the time comes when we all need to answer for ourselves. We can’t put it off any longer. Question Who do you say that Jesus is, and how does your answer shape your life? Prayer Lord Jesus, I thank you that you are the Messiah and that you are my Lord and my Saviour. Amen
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    4 min
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