MONDAY 9 FEBRUARY
2 Kings 2: 1-12
Elijah taken up into heaven

Elijah was a mighty man of God. He had an enormous faith and saw the Lord performing many miracles. He was so holy that when it was time for him to leave this earth he was spared the pain of going through death. We saw in our reading today that he was miraculously taken up into heaven. God must have been so pleased with all that Elijah had done in his life. What a wonderful reward to have been taken up in this way. As we read the gospel this week we will see how Elijah appeared again in a miraculous way. He was with Moses when Jesus revealed all His glory to His close disciples on the mountain of Transfiguration. Jesus chose Elijah the prophet to be with Him at the transfiguration to show the disciples that He was truly the messiah, the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.

What can we learn from today’s reading? It shows us the reality of eternal life. Jesus said many times that He came to give us eternal life. In John 17:3 He says: “Now this is eternal life : that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Elijah was given the free gift of eternal life because he had a very good relationship with God. Jesus tells us that all who have a relationship with God have eternal life.

PRAYER: Father God, thank you for showing us the reality of eternal life and thank you for sending us Jesus who paid the price for us on the cross to enable us to enter into a personal relationship with you. Please give us all the faith to go on trusting in Jesus as our Saviour and to keep our hearts open to him as our Lord, so that we may remain in a good relationship with you and be sure that we are on our way to heaven, through Jesus our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

TUESDAY 10 FEBRUARY
Psalm 50: 1-6
God Summons All of Us to Be With Him

God is calling people from all over the world. From the rising of the Sun to the place where it sets, from the Far East to the far West, from everywhere, God is inviting people to come and be His friends. He has made every person who inhabits the Earth and His heart burns with a very strong love for them all. If only all the non-Christians and all who do not believe in God could see God’s enormous love for them and realise He is calling them.

When God calls we must respond with faith. Only those who are consecrated are given the gift of eternal life. It’s very easy to become consecrated. All we have to do is to believe what the Bible says; believe that Jesus died on the cross to take all our sins away. Jesus consecrated us by making a covenant with His Father on our behalf. His sacrifice on the cross sealed the covenant. If we accept this by faith we become absolutely sure that God has accepted us to be his for ever. The Psalmist says that the heavens proclaim the righteousness of God. God is righteous because of His great longing to be in a right relationship with everyone. He just longs for everyone to be His friends.

PRAYER: Father, we thank you for your summons, for calling all of us to be your friends. Thank you for the sacrifice of your Son that made it possible to be yours for ever. Consecrate us all with Jesus’ blood and keep us your friends for ever. Amen.

WEDNESDAY 11 FEBRUARY
2 Corinthians 4: 3-12
His Light Shines in Our Hearts

Once we have been consecrated by Jesus and our sins have been taken away the bright light of Jesus begins to shine in our hearts. On the mount of transfiguration Jesus’ face shone so brightly that it dazzled the disciples. All of us who have invited Jesus into our hearts as Lord and Saviour reflect this light so that the knowledge of the glory of God can be seen by everyone. We have this treasure of the living Lord Jesus in our hearts though our bodies are like jars of clay. On the outside we are as ordinary as anybody but inside Jesus’ light shines brightly. There are ways in which we can make this light shine brighter. We can find them in verses 8-12 in our reading today.

1. When we don’t let ourselves be crushed by our troubles.
2. When we never let our doubts lead us into despair.M
3. When we love our enemies and always keep friends with everyone we can.
4. When we are badly hurt we don’t let ourselves be destroyed.
5. When we trust that when Jesus died on the cross He gave us the power to die to self and get rid of our selfish attitudes.
6. When we put other people before our selves and live our lives as living sacrifices.

Years ago I went to a conference where Colleen Malcolm, the wife of the Aboriginal Bishop, Arthur Malcolm was speaking. As she told us about a revival God had brought to Yarrabah, which came after many crushing experiences, I could see a light shining from her face.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, though we are like vessels of clay please let your bright light shine from our hearts so that others may see the glory of God in us. Help us to die to self. Work a miracle in each one of us so that it is no longer we who are living but you who are living in us. Amen.

THURSDAY 12 FEBRUARY
John 8:12-30
Jesus The Light Of The World

Jesus spoke very boldly when He said that He was the light of the world and that all who follow Him would never be in darkness because they have the light of life. The Pharisees came along and challenged Jesus. They wanted proof that Jesus was who He said He was. They were so spiritually blind that they could not see the bright light shining out of Him. Jesus told them that He had come from God and that God was His witness. He told those who doubted him that He and his Father were ONE and if they didn’t recognize Him it meant that they didn’t know God! Jesus was so powerful. When they tried to seize Him they couldn’t. (Later on He offered Himself up to be crucified.) He went on to tell them that they would die in their sins if they didn’t believe that He was the one He claimed to be. He had come from heaven; they were of the world. If they wanted to get to heaven themselves they had to follow Jesus! Jesus told them that when they crucified Him then they would see the truth and know that He was the one He claimed to be. Even as Jesus was speaking many saw the bright light shining out of Him and came to put their faith in him. When Jesus died on the cross and rose again from the dead His light shone brightest. Ever since then His Light has been turned on in the hearts of all who trust Him and believe He is who He said He was.

Walking in the light of Jesus is so fantastic. He gives real meaning and purpose to our lives. He enables us to love more effectively and puts so much joy into our lives.

PRAYER: Jesus, thank you that reading your words in the gospels causes us to put so much faith in you. Please make your light shine more brightly in our hearts. May it shine so brightly from us that others may see you in us and come to believe in you and follow you. We want to see everyone coming to have faith in you so they may be with you in heaven! Amen.

FRIDAY 13 FEBRUARY
2 Peter 1 12-19
Eyewitnesses of Jesus’ Majesty

We saw yesterday that Jesus said that God was His witness who testified that Jesus had come from Him. In today’s reading from 1 Peter we are reminded of the time when God spoke to Peter, James and John on the mountain of transfiguration and told them that Jesus was His Son and that He was very pleased with Him. Peter tells us that the message of the Gospel is not made up of cleverly invented stories. They were eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ glory when they saw Him transfigured on the mountain. The majestically glorious voice of God made them certain Jesus was who He claimed to be. They were utterly convinced that all Jesus’ power came from God. The experience of the transfiguration utterly convinced the disciples that the predictions of the prophets of the Old Testament had come true.

Down through the ages many people who have been living in darkness until the Morning Star of Jesus has begun to shine in their hearts have been made certain of His reality. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and for ever. He is working just as powerfully today as He was two thousand years ago. We have seen so many changed lives and so many people being healed by him that, like Peter, we are utterly convinced that He is real and He does what He promises to do!

So often when we come to church and worship Him we have a most wonderful sense of His presence. It is so awesome. We can say with much confidence “My God is real!”

PRAYER: Father, thank you so much for making Yourself so real to the -disciples and so real to us. Please make your reality known to the people all around us. Fill us with your Holy Spirit and give us the power to be your witness. Help us to show everyone your power and your majesty, through Jesus, the Light of the World, our majestic Saviour. Amen.

SATURDAY 14 FEBRUARY
Mark 9 : 2-9
The Transfiguration

Six days before the transfiguration the disciples had come to the full realization that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the Saviour King the Jews had been waiting for. It filled them with so much joy to know that the Messiah had come and chosen them to be His right hand men. They were on cloud nine; they were so happy. Out of the blue, Jesus suddenly dashed all their expectations to pieces. He told them He was soon to be handed over to sinful men and be crucified and that He would rise again. This burst their bubble and made them very unhappy. Some doubts about Jesus set in. This is why Jesus took their leaders, Peter, James and John up to the top of the mountain where He was transfigured before them. For a few moments they caught a glimpse of Jesus in all His Majestic Glory. They heard God saying that Jesus was His Son and that He was very pleased with Him. They saw a vision of Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus about his death. This convinced them that Jesus was indeed the Messiah and it was God’s will for Him to be crucified. All their joy came back. They were over the moon. Peter was so happy he wanted to stay there for ever and make three shrines for Jesus and the two Old Testament saints. Soon the vision ended and they were given the confidence to accompany Jesus up to Jerusalem.

Most of us have doubts at times. Jesus is so good to us. He wants to take all our doubts away. He does this in many ways. To some He gives visions. Others find their hearts are strangely warmed by His presence. Others experience miraculous healings. Still others are convinced that God has spoken to them. I myself have experienced many of these phenomena. This makes me utterly convinced of the reality of Jesus and I know I can never doubt Him.

PRAYER: Jesus, thank you for making your reality known to your disciples in such a miraculous way and thank you for making yourself known to many people today. As I pray to you and read your Bible please make yourself real to me and take all my doubts away. Amen.

SUNDAY 15 FEBRUARY
THIS WEEK’S MESSAGE
The Transfiguration – God shows us Jesus’ Glory

Christianity is unique among all the world’s religions because it’s about God revealing Himself to the peoples of the world and making Himself known to them. All other religions are about men trying to find gods.

We know what God is like because He became a human being in Jesus, His Son. We can get to know Him by reading the Bible. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the authors of the Bible wrote down words that came from God. As we read through it’s pages, God speaks to us. Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit who makes the Bible come alive for us and enables us to understand what God is saying to us.

Many times in history God has revealed Himself to people through special visions and dreams. This happens in difficult situations where people are searching for God and when God wants to give them the assurance of His reality. Many modern day people have come to faith in God after they have experienced a vision of Jesus. In Islamic countries, where people are often put to death if they convert to Christianity, Jesus is making Himself known to many through such visions. They are becoming Christians even though it means risking their lives!

A very difficult situation arose for the Disciples. After following Jesus for three years and seeing how fantastic He was and being convinced that He was the Messiah (God’s anointed King and saviour of the world), Jesus said something that rocked their faith.

He told them he was soon to be crucified, but that He would rise from the dead. It was impossible for them to believe that the Messiah could be so defeated and executed!

To boost their faith Jesus took their leaders up onto a hight mountain and gave them a most wonderful spiritual experience. God revealed the Glory of Jesus to them in a spectacular vision. They saw Him as He was to be after his glorious Ascension into Heaven. He was standing with Moses and Elijah, two Old Testament Saints.

God also spoke to them and told them Jesus was indeed His well loved son and told them to listen to Him and believe what He said. They came down from the mountain with their faith greatly strengthened, utterly convinced that He was the Devine Son of God and with lots of courage to keep following Him.

Saint Paul reminds us that as well as revealing God’s glory through visions and spiritual experiences God also reveals it through the lives of those who love Him and Follow Him.

The closer we get to Jesus the more like Him we become and we become like mirrors reflecting His Glory to the world. Paul says this: “We, who reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2Corinthians 3:18)

PRAYER: Father thank you so much for revealing the glory of Jesus to Peter James and John on the Mountain of Transfiguration. You convinced them that Jesus was truly the Messiah even though He would have to suffer on the cross. Please reveal yourself to us and make Jesus really known to us as we read the Word and break bread together in Holy communion. Amen.