Please click this link for the video version:
Nicky Gumbel's Bible in one year today:
Silence
1. Put on your “brakes” and stop for a moment of silence
2. Wait for God. Breathe deep for God's peace and feel His presence. Exhale your worries.
Praise and Thanksgiving
1. Think through your day, all the times that made you smile
2. Thank God for all those moments, and for all those people
3. Sing a song to praise God (you are welcome to use "Father, I adore you" which I have been singing every morning for the past 20 years or your own choice to praise God)
Father, I adore You, lay my life before You, how I love You.
Jesus, I adore You, lay my life before You, how I love You.
Spirit, I adore You, lay my life before You, how I love You.
Confession and Repentance (Subjective Shifting Devotion Method https://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/08/count-down-5-subject-shifting-devotion.html
1. Pray for the Holy Spirit to shine on you that you are able to discover your sins and be willing to repent:
“Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God and having Jesus as my Lord. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”
"Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sins to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gifts to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."
“Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God and having Jesus as my Lord. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”
2. Through the Holy Spirit, examine yourself for a short silence and then pray:
"Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sins to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gifts to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."
3. John Stott's daily prayer of Christlikeness (Christopher J.H. Wright, Cultivating the fruit of the Spirit. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2017, 13)
(Please click this link to see how God used John Stott to change my life:https://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/07/
"Heavenly Father, I pray that this day I may live in your presence and please you more and more.
Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow you.
Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."
The link to today's Time with Abba passages: http://api.pastoralcareschool.org/twa/
Time with Abba passages: (Psalm 119:65-72, Lamentations 2:20-3:66; Hebrews 1:1-14; Proverbs 26:21-22)
Today's key passage:
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.
Lamentations 3:22-27
Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage we have just read. Offer this time to Jesus as you listen to him.
My Listening The topic I received today from Jesus is: Jesus gives you a new gift every morning!
Do you believe that Jesus gives you a new gift every morning?
If you believe, I think your life would be full of expectation and joy, because when you wake up every morning you have a great expectation for a big gift from Jesus. You believe that is because Jesus' gifts keep coming every morning and you have experienced that!
Start from the beginning of Lamentations to 3:22 talks about great sufferings. Why God's people had to suffer like that? It is because they deserted the Lord and the consequence is their nation being destroyed, they were being taken away from Jerusalem to an alien country, Babylon and suffered greatly!
But from Lamentations 3:23 - 27 everything suddenly changed because every morning we as God's people have new blessings and that suffering is good for us because suffering helps us to turn back to God, wait for God, close to God that we can receive God's blessing every morning!
My catch today is that we need to have two actions every morning: 1. Be close to Jesus: Because Jesus is the one who gives us gifts each morning and if we do not go to him and be close to him so that we can receive His gift to us from His hands, how can we get His gift, right?
2. We need to unwrap Jesus' gift: What this really means is that we need to open the Bible each day to read and listen carefully so that we can get the good word and wisdom from Jesus personally to open our eyes and minds to a new paradigm, a new hope and a new direction!
May you be full of expectation and joy each day waiting for Jesus' gift to you each morning!
Dear Lord Jesus, Help us to be full of expectation and joy each morning waiting for your gift and be willing to unwrap and open your gift. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Reflect on these questions:
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”
therefore I will wait for him.”
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
to the one who seeks him;
it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
for the salvation of the Lord.
It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young.
while he is young.
Lamentations 3:22-27
Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passage we have just read. Offer this time to Jesus as you listen to him.
My Listening
The topic I received today from Jesus is: Jesus gives you a new gift every morning!
Do you believe that Jesus gives you a new gift every morning?
If you believe, I think your life would be full of expectation and joy, because when you wake up every morning you have a great expectation for a big gift from Jesus. You believe that is because Jesus' gifts keep coming every morning and you have experienced that!
Start from the beginning of Lamentations to 3:22 talks about great sufferings. Why God's people had to suffer like that? It is because they deserted the Lord and the consequence is their nation being destroyed, they were being taken away from Jerusalem to an alien country, Babylon and suffered greatly!
But from Lamentations 3:23 - 27 everything suddenly changed because every morning we as God's people have new blessings and that suffering is good for us because suffering helps us to turn back to God, wait for God, close to God that we can receive God's blessing every morning!
My catch today is that we need to have two actions every morning:
1. Be close to Jesus: Because Jesus is the one who gives us gifts each morning and if we do not go to him and be close to him so that we can receive His gift to us from His hands, how can we get His gift, right?
2. We need to unwrap Jesus' gift: What this really means is that we need to open the Bible each day to read and listen carefully so that we can get the good word and wisdom from Jesus personally to open our eyes and minds to a new paradigm, a new hope and a new direction!
May you be full of expectation and joy each day waiting for Jesus' gift to you each morning!
Dear Lord Jesus,
Help us to be full of expectation and joy each morning waiting for your gift and be willing to unwrap and open your gift. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Reflect on these questions:
1. What inspiration have you received from today's catch? 2. What is your next step?
1. What inspiration have you received from today's catch?
2. What is your next step?
Family Corner:
Find an opportunity to share with your family the importance of today's message.
To know, learn and practice the method of Time with Abba, please click this link: https://www.pastoralcareschool.org