Elaine Campbell

'The Lord God has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary...' (Isaiah 50:4). All around us we see people suffering; people are lonely, worried, perplexed, depressed, in a state of confusion, having  mental health issues, indebtedness; which are due to adverse circumstances. Let us search out these suffering ones and speak a word of comfort to their hearts. There are people struggling from poverty, having to labour hard for very low wages, unable to provide the necessities of life for themselves and their families. They see  no way out or hope of a better future, and are carrying these heavy burdens without support. We need to reach out and sympathise with them through these trying times - through their heartaches and disappointments; with compassion, seek to help them where we possible can or where we can point them in the right direction for help. In this time of pandemic, where we are in lockdown, many have lost

'Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven' (Matthew 5:19). God is our Creator and has given us a set of rules to follow - His commandments. These commandments teach us how to love God and one another. So when we break even one of them, we violate God's command, and in truth we do not keep any of them. James 2:10 says, "Whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." When we break God's commandments, we are in fact, rebelling against the laws of God's government. We are all under obligation to heed and observe the laws God gives; even the least of His commandments must be received and honoured with respect and obedience. Just as Jesus reproved the teachers of Israel who taught the people themselves, but did not put it in prac

'Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place, and there He prayed' (Mark1:35). Jesus is our example, and we should therefore follow in His footsteps. Jesus knew that each day would bring new trials, new temptations, and new problems with the leaders and people around; so very early in the morning, He went out in a solitary place, most times in the mountains, and prayed to His Father for strength, so he could be a blessing to the people he would minister to. He, communing with His Father was very  important for his sustainance and work He had to do. We too need to commune daily with God through our prayers and worship; to strengthen us throughout the day. Like Jesus, let us arise early in the morning in the quietness of daybreak, before the hustle and bustle of the day; alone with Jesus, pray earnestly that we can obtain energy, perseverance and steadfastness from Him. If we look at Jesus' life, the pattern of p

'You shall walk in the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess'(Deuteronomy 5:33). God loves us with a love that is incomprehensible. There is no greater love than His love for us. His love is wide, high, and deep; there is no measurement that can compare His love for us. How much more could He love us than what He did at Calvary for us. We will not comprehend the sacrifice of God giving His Son, if we lack the spirit of self-denial and self-sacrifice. But God is imploring us to to walk in the ways He has commanded us, that we may live, and it be well with us. He is calling us back to basics, that by our obedience we will be bless, we will experience happiness as our days are prolong in the world now and gaining eternal life in his heavenly kingdom. Deuteronomy 10:12 says, '...What doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord th

'Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the son of man' (Luke 21:36). We are told in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, to pray without ceasing. This means we must pray often to God, our Father. The more you engage in prayer, the closer your soul will be drawn into a nearness to God. The Holy Spirit, will make intercession for the heart that is sincere with groanings which cannot be uttered, and your heart will be softened and subdued by the love of God. Jesus's message to us in Luke 21:36, is for us to watch ourselves, to be vigilant about our own spiritual state and be spiritual awake as we go through life. We need to 'take heed' to ourselves, constantly examining our walk and how we are seeking and imitating God. We need to seriously take stock of our conditions and responsibilities - don't let material concerns and self-indulgence distract us or we will find ourselves spirit

'Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord' (Hebrews 12:14).  God is a God of peace and of such wants His Children to seek peace between themselves and others. We are also encouraged to pursue a life of holiness, which can only happen through having a relationship with God and being empowered by the influence of the Holy Spirit. As we turn the eyes of our heart upon Jesus, fixing the thoughts of our minds on Him, that His peace, like a river flows into our heart, and His holiness becomes a reality in our life as we consecrate it to Him. We are called to be holy in our thoughts, in words and our deeds; but cannot achieve it by our own efforts.  W e must be consecrated in body, soul, and mind, but not of our own strength. It is only through the empowering of the Holy Spirit that we can pursue holiness and be at peace with each other. Without the Holy Spirit leading us to live a life of holiness, we

'Don't you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can't you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?' ( Romans 2:4). Paul recognised the haughtiness and  presumptuousness of the Jews, as God's special people which led them to show contempt for the riches of God's kindness, forbearance and patience. This attitude allow them to be judgemental about the Gentiles and complacent about their own sin. Let us take heed and be mindful of of having a judgemental attitude that we miss God's goodness, his patience and his tolerance. It is the tolerance and patience of  God towards us that leads us to confess our faults, turn from our sins and be returned to that sweet fellowship with Him. God's goodness is manifested in "long suffering and forbearance." His will and desire are for us not to perish, but that we should come to repentance. He did that for us at a high cost, the dea

'O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker' (Psalm 95:6). God is such an awesome God! Even when we don't deserve His love, his grace or mercy; He is still looks after us and cares for us. He is our Creator, and of such is worthy of our praise. We ought to come in His presence with humility as we humble ourselves before Him. He is a great king above all gods, not to be compared with graven images made by man. He is the God of the universe; the one who created mankind in His image. How can we not worship Him? He is inviting us to come, worship, bow down and kneel before Him our Creator. Will you accept His invitation today? Let us then come and kneel before Him with all that is within us. To worship Him in spirit and in truth. If we can show respect for our fellow men by rising before them; how much more should we show our respect and reverence to God our Maker? When we come before God we should have attitude of reverence and total respec

'Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us' (Psalm 62:8). Trusting in God at all times means, when things are going well and when things are not going so well, we must trust him. It is when you're facing difficulties in your life, that your character is developed, just by simply trusting God. When you look around you today, there is so much uncertainty and insecurity, but when we realise that God is our fortress, we shall never be shaken - because He is our might rock and refuge. We must know God and trust him for ourselves. When we know and trust him it leads to inner peace, security and importantly, our salvation - having faith in God. God is deserving of our confidence at all times and we need to place our confidence in him at all times. In having confidence in God, we learn to trust him more and more. In times of prosperity, in times of adversity we must trust God. We must pour out our heart before Him. He already k

'But my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus' (Philippians 4:19). Many of us at times confuse our 'needs' with our 'wants'. However, what we 'need' and what we 'want' are not always the same thing. A need is something you have to have to survive and a want is simply the desire for something. God is our provider and whatever resources He has given us, must be used according to His purposes, in order for blessing to come. When we allow our needs to be met through Christ, the one who made and control all things; we will never lack. When we trust God to provide our true needs - not materialistic; we will not be consumed by worry, anxieties and worldly desires regardless of our circumstances. We will be confident that God will bless us. When we rely on the power of Christ, we will be content and be filled with God's peace as we seek to have a good relationship with each other. God knows our daily needs

'We praise you, God, we praise you, for Your name is near, people tell of Your wonderful deeds' (Psalm 75:1). How can we praise God when things look bleak or in times of crisis? It is always easy to praise God and give Him thanks when things are good; when our love ones who are sick has recovered; our jobs are secured and our finances are great. But what about when things are not going as we planned, or want them to go? Can we still praise God? Of course we can. We must praise God at all times, good or bad. We must do so not  because of what He has done for us, but because of who He is .We must love to dwell on the precious name of Jesus and praise God. We need to celebrate Him and give Him thank for His unfailing love, His compassion, His faithfulness, His mercy, His peace, for Calvary, and His wonderous works. We need to give God thanks and praise always! Call out to Him in praise because He is near, to deliver us. He is Sovereign and we should praise His Sovereignty. God i

'Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness' (Isaiah 41:10). Are you fearful, worried, anxious? Well it is ok to acknowledge that you are; be honest with yourself and face  your fears. It may be you're worrying about a love one who is sick; maybe you're fearful for your health or finances (most of us or). You may be worried about your children, about your job, etc. We are human beings and we worry about all these things, big and small. God knows we would struggle with fear and be dismayed when things befall us. He doesn't want us to be consumed by fear so he encourages us through Scriptures, 'to fear not', 'be not afraid.' He is not disappointed in us when we have fears. He is patient with us and keeps reassuring us that we need not be, because He is with us to strengthen us. He encourages us not to fear, so we w

'Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand or to the left: remove thy foot from evil' (Proverbs 4:26-27). We are all on a life journey which includes obstacles, dangers, distress, disappointments and evil surmising.  In that journey we also experience peace, joy, love, compassion and kindness; etc. But the Bible says we are to "ponder the path of thy feet and let thy ways be established." When you're walking and deliberately consider where you step, you're far less likely to stumble or fall in a trap. Solomon in giving assurance to his son, that a well-pondered path establishes a secure direction for life, is also speaking to us today. Have you ever thought about, where you go? What about where you have already trodden? Had it been a path of usefulness; has it been a way of evil or good? Had you visited the Cross? And what about the path you're treading now? Are you following the footsteps of Christ? In

'Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed'  (James 1:6). Christ says, "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them" ( Mark 11:24). We see here that prayer and faith goes together. You can't truly have one without the other. The things we ask God for must be what He has promised, and whatever we receive must be used in doing His will. God wants us to come to Him convinced both that He is the one true source of wisdom, and that the wisdom He gives us is trustworthy. He wants us to be ready to act upon faith. James said, the person who doubts God's wisdom, is like a wave in the wind storm being tossed every way. So anyone who comes to God with unsettled convictions and hopes, is liable to be driven about by every new feeling that may spring up in his mind. When you lack confidence in God's faithfulness you'll manifest a lack

'Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God' (1John 4:7). When our lives are influenced by Christ we will love one another. If we truly love God, we will keep His commandments which gives us the guideline of our love for God and one another. When you are born of God, meaning to accept Jesus as your personal Saviour and Lord and have a close relationship with Him; this results in you 'knowing' God. This will help us to truly love others. God loved us first, that we may know how to love. Our love for Him is rooted in His love for us and we act on that love by our obedience to Him and His will for us. When we truly love God, there would be no room for hatred of any kind for one another. Because God is love, man still have the capacity to love, even if they don't know God or they have rejected Him. Human love, however,  highly motivated will fall short if it doesn't include God, and the love of H

'No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies' (Job 28:18). In the time of Job, coral was a well known substance that was very beautiful and may have been regarded as valuable and therefore, deserved to be mentioned in connection with pearls and other valuable gems. Job is saying, these jewels including rubies are precious and valuable, but not as valuable as the price of wisdom. The Word of God says, "But where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living" (Job 28:12-13). We also read in the Word of God, that the wisdom of God is pure, peaceful, holy, and is without partiality and without hypocrisy. Wisdom is worth infinitely more than all the riches in the world. It is a gift of the Holy Spirit and cannot be bought with money. Man's wisdom is foolish and with flaws and seek to recognise self, in comparison to God's

'Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a moment, until the indignation be overpast' ( Isaiah 26:20). We are in crisis, one we have never seen before. But we need not worry, be overly anxious, or fearful. God is ever present. He is calling you,   His people to enter into your chambers and shut the door about you and hide for a moment until the situation is past. You may be asking, 'But what are the chambers where we are to hide?' They are the protection of Christ holy angels. The Word of God tells us that, 'The angel of the Lord encamps around about those who fear him and deliver them' (Psalm 34:7). We are living and dwelling in an awful time where there is fear, uncertainty, people mental issues are more prevalent than before, the government don't know what to do and the people are scared. In the midst of all this, God message is pointing His people to the only refuge they can trust in, th

'If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new' (2 Corinthians 5:17). As human beings our tendency is to sin. We were born in sin and shaped in iniquity and as a result our heart is naturally deceitful and desperately wicked. It is only the blood of Christ that can cleanse us and save us from sin. When we accept Jesus we are justified by our faith in Him. You become a new person, and the process of sanctification takes place daily in your life, so that you can become more and more like Christ. The text above said, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." To be in Christ you need to give up your old habits, tendencies and practices and become partakers of the divine nature God with the aid of the Holy Spirit. This will give evidence of our relationship with Christ. All our dreams, ideas, agendas and purposes that we have prior to our acceptance of Christ, will cease to exist and are now replaced b