“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 3:2 ESV This was the focus of John the Baptist’s preaching in the wilderness of Judea. There had been 400 quiet years (in between Old and New Testament) where the Israelites waited in anticipation for the one whom Isaiah, the prophet, spoke about: “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forever more…” (9:7). Almost out of the […]
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Coronavirus and Christ – John Piper
Dear friends, it’s a new month! Starting today, 1 May, we’ll be using John Piper’s free book, Coronavirus and Christ, for our Friday devotion. Please download, read or listen to it from the links. We’ll encourage you to read or listen to half a chapter each Friday, starting with Chapter 1 today. Here are some questions to help us make the most of it: What strikes you most from this reading? What is one Biblical truth I can hold onto today from this reading? Who is one person I can share this truth with? (Who may need this encouragement) May […]
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What Is God Up To During This Crisis?
It can be dangerous to assume that we know what God is doing through a crisis unless he has revealed his mind to us in his word. Which he has. To answer the question – ‘What is God doing through the Corona crisis?’ — we’ll reflect on Exodus 1-2. As you may know, the people of God, Israel, were now in the land of Egypt (Exodus 1:1-7), far from the land God promised their forefather, Abraham. They were suffering terribly, but their numbers were growing (1:9) just as God promised Abraham. Out of fear, the new Pharoah tried to slow […]
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What Does the Bible Say About Disease? Part 5: Lamenting Loss
“How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave.” If we read the first sentence out of context, we might be persuaded to think that it is describing most cities in lockdown nowadays, due to COVID-19. But what it describes is much more tragic. This is the first verse in the book of Lamentations; a book that I’m sure a lot of you almost never reads or perhaps skims through very quickly. It […]
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A Call to Endure in Times of Anxiety – Psalm 23
From the 5th March, when the first suspected case of COVID-19 was reported until now, there are 3,953 total confirmed cases in South Africa with 75 deaths. Around the world, there are currently 2 649 680 cases with 184 643 deaths. The world has never been the same, since the virus was reported in Wuhan, China in December 2019, and is certainly going to take a long time to recover. The point is we are living in very anxious times and the question facing all of us is how do we keep trusting God and enduring in these very difficult and challenging times? […]
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