Elaine Campbell

'He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God' (John 8:47). Jesus speaking to the Jews knew their hearts and that they didn't believe in His message. He referred to them as spiritual children of the devil, who choose not to hear from God, because He was from God. But from the father of all lies who abode not in the truth - Satan. When we love, fear and honour God, we delight in  listening to His word and to receive it with readiness of mind, submitting to His will. When we love God we will obey all of His commandments and live them daily in our lives. Like the Jews, whose attitude towards Jesus was one of arrogance and insults; If anyone disregard the commands of God, it proves Jesus stated, that you're not of God, and is therefore, rejecting Jesus. We must open our ears to hear God's word by faith, and our hearts to understand what He wants us to do. Because it is not just hearing the word that is important,  but

'Let me live to praise You; may Your judgements sustain me' (Psalm 119:175). Our lives are not our own to do as we please, it is God who gives life and we should live to praise and give Him thanks. Are you not grateful for life? Are you not grateful that in Christ we can have  hope of a better and more glorious life with Him? Sin has deformed our life and separate us from God, but His love and grace is greater than sin; and it is Christ who has restored and reconciled us back to God. We have so much to praise and thank God for. We all need to see God and accept His salvation. We need to ask Him to instruct us in the way to go and to help us in our struggles to overcome sin and practice holiness.   The world we live in is in a state of great confusion; many storms are brewing and many are now raging. We who trust and have our hope in God, ought to lift up our eyes to the judgements of God and let it sustain us. We must praise God! Let praise to the Almighty God be our lifestyle,

'But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear' (Matthew 13:16). Jesus was at the sea side sitting, when a multitude came to hear Him. He went into a ship and spoke to them in parables (Matthew 13:1,2). His disciples wanted to know why He spoke to the people in parables. Jesus addressing them contrast them to the unbelievers said, "...blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear." They were bless by Him to not only see Him physically in the flesh, but with divine sight to see His glory, to hear and understand His plan of salvation. The disciples who saw every miracle of Christ performed, and heard every sermon preached; was privy to receive an increase of wisdom and understanding. He pronounced their eyes to be blessed, as they perceived Him as the begotten Son of God and acknowledge Him as their Redeemer. They understood that it was only through Him they could obtain salvation. They beheld His glory and the mysteries of th

'But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they' (Acts 15:11). Whether Jews or Gentiles, bond or free we are all sinners, who are saved by the grace of God through Christ Jesus. We must understand that we have no cause to boast against others, because  we were all sinners. It is Christ who has made atonement for our sins by pardoning us through His blood, justifying us before God, through His own righteousness that we may be acceptable before God. We have done absolutely nothing to deserve God's grace and favour, because we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. Praise the Lord for Jesus and His wondrous work for the salvation of men. It is only through Christ that we can obtain grace; it is freely given and shall be freely accepted, as we humble ourselves before God, sensing our own unworthiness. No matter how rich or poor you are; blessed with more gifts than others; how famous or infamous; a villain or a saint;

'Verily, verily, I say unto thee, we speak that we do not know, and testify that we have not seen; and yet receive not our witness' (John 3:11). Can we know God, and not believe in Jesus? The Jews knew God yet they didn't believe in Jesus or what He stands for. When we know and believe in Jesus our lives are changed. We believe in who He is, why He came and what He speaks about, His message and His mission. Nicodemus saw evidence of the miracles Jesus performed and his teachings, so he came to Jesus by night. He affirmed that what Jesus said came from God, but had difficulty seeing the truth about the new birth or the spiritual nature of the His kingdom. He in fact, was allowing his legalism and traditions to get in the way of his understanding of this truth. The Pharisees was more determined to keep the laws of Moses, than they were willing to submit to the authority of  Christ. John the Baptist preached about the Messiah and called people to repentance, he baptised Jesus

'Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God (2 Corinthians 9:11). God the giver of life teaches us the importance of giving, through His love. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God is always giving and when we exercise that agape love - the love of God; we will give to others liberally. Giving is not be legalistic, oppressive or mandatory; but should should be voluntary, cheerful and from a place of faith in God. "Every man according to the purpose of his heart should give not grudgingly, or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 11:8). God not only provides for our basic needs to our satisfaction and contentment, but also surplus to help in relieving the poor and needy. When we exercise our faith and give willingly of what God has blessed us with, it will cause an overflowing thankfulness to God. Kn

'Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh' (Matthew 24:44). There is no doubt about it, that Jesus is coming soon. But are you ready for that great moment? What does Christ's coming means to you? The passage of Scripture indicates that no one knows the exact time Jesus will appear, but we ought to get ready, because He is coming - it's a certainty.  It is only God who knows the appointed time of Saviours return. We need not waste valuable times debating the exact time He will come, but be in a state of spiritual readiness every day, in anticipation that it could be our last. We are in the last days of earth's history and the wrath of God will be poured out upon the earth. But God has promised to shorten the days for His elect sake, and we can see it being manifested right now. We have such a loving and merciful God, who wants to save His Children and gives us every opportunity to do so on a daily basis. He even send His S

'And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before (Job 42:10). Job was a model citizen who loved God and went about doing good to others. God knew Job to be an upright man, full of integrity and very loyal to Him. He allowed Satan to afflict and bring calamities upon him to prove that he was what God said he was. Even though Job couldn't understand what was happening to him and why, he trusted God none the less. In the end the Lord turned his captivity when he prayed for his friends. God restored him from his afflictions and calamities and delivered him from Satan. In our afflictions and distress, we too need to trust God and pray not only for ourselves but for others. Sometimes, God allows Satan to interfere in our lives to test us, or to prove to Satan that we are loyal to Him. We see the importance here, of interceding for others. When we pray for others; whether it be our family, friends, enemies

'For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known' (Luke12:2). Jesus was speaking to his disciples, warning them against the dangers of hypocrisy being  displayed by the Pharisees. We all have a  responsibility towards our salvation and of such must live according to the will of God. Every secret or personal sin we manifest in our hearts is known to God. It may not be detected even in our  interaction with  others, but will be made known in the judgement. All professed children of God should avoid the sin of hypocrisy, and live a life of honesty, integrity and transparency. We must reflect on who we are in Christ, bringing all our failures, weaknesses and successes humbly before God. We should ask ourselves, is there anything in my life of which I will be ashamed in the day of judgement? When Jesus comes all will be laid bare and our hypocrisy will be unmasked. Anything we have hidden in our lives will be brought to light. It is our

'But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works'  (Psalm 73:28). In this world of sin there are many distractions. We lose sight of God and what He has done for us. We have to remove ourselves from some of these distractions and draw near to God. By doing so, it allows us to draw away from the worldly attractions and see the world in a new light through the lens of Jesus. We are sinners and by our nature we are far from God - being separated from Him; but thank God for Jesus, who bridged the gap when He died for our sins at Calvary. It is dangerous to be far from God, but even more dangerous to be afar off. God bid us to come near to him so He can save us, as we reap the benefits of being near to him. David said, "It is good for me to draw near to God." It should be the sentiment of our heart too. It will bring happiness to our souls when we draw near to God, knowing His presence is with us; His Holy Sp

'Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life' (Jude 1:21). How does one keep themself 'in the love of God?' Practically speaking, by staying obedient to God. We are told in 1 John 2:5 that, whosoever keeps the word of God, His love is perfected in him. Jesus also told his disciples: "As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If you keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full" (John 15: 9-11). Jesus here, is giving us the assurance that, if we keep His commandments  we will abide in His love. If we stay focused on God's love for us and and do His will, we will remain strong. Jude is reminding us to anticipate eagerly the mercy of God  with patience, that He will bestow on us when He returns. W

'Those who listen to instructions will prosper; those who trust in the Lord will be joyful' (Proverbs 16:20). Every day we are faced with decisions and situations that are sometimes overwhelming. How do we handle them? Are we fearful? Look to others for help? Look to self? Or do we hand them over to Jesus? If we look to anyone else than Jesus we will fail. When we put our trust and confidence in God, believing that nothing is too hard for Him and that He cares about all our concerns, we become joyful. We ought to cast ourselves at God's mercy and promises, because we cannot do anything without Him. We need to depend on God's blessing more than our own efforts and be wise when choosing any course of action. We should study God's Word and apply it faithfully to our lives, never handling those decisions and dilemmas we face without trust in God. He will reward us with spiritual happiness. We should learn to trust in God and delight in doing our duty toward Him, it brin

'Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread' (Isaiah 8:13). God is holy and righteous and as His children, we should celebrate the perfection of His holiness by sanctifying Him. In doing so, we ascribe our holiness to Him by looking to Him as our sanctification - the one who sanctifies. God wants us to trust in Him implicitly, to call upon Him in our time of distress, trouble and adversity. He wants us to look particularly to Him for help, and not to man. God is our hope of safety, we can find no safe haven than His protection; therefore we should seek to honour Him. We need to trust in His promises, giving Him glory for His mighty power; His goodness and His faithfulness  to us. When we sanctify God with our hearts let Him be our fear and dread. This doesn't mean we should be filled with horror and have a desire to flee from him. No! It means we ought to reverence Him continuously and freely give our heart to Him. When we truly

'Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead , yet shall he live;' (John 11:25). The story of Lazarus is a well known one in the Bible. He and his sisters Martha and Mary were friends of Jesus, who loved them. Lazarus became sick and died, and after four days Jesus raised him from the dead. This was more for benefits of those around including His disciples, so that they may truly believe that God had sent him.  He was speaking  with Martha who was more focused on the telling Jesus the problem, than demanding a specific solution. We too can be so focus on the problems we faced, that we forget that God is  much bigger that the problem and is our solution to them. When Jesus told her Lazarus would rise again, she understood it to mean he would live again someday. But Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life: he that believes in me, though he was dead, yet shall he live." Christ at this time, was able

'I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace Him that is afar off, and him that is near, saith the Lord; and I will heal him' (Isaiah 57:19). "The fruit of the lips" is sacrifice of praise to God (Hebrews 13:15); giving Him praise and Thanksgiving continuously. We are to give God, our Creator, true praise at all times, because He is worthy of it. This fruit that God created is the good fruit, the true fruit that is worth gathering. Christ's lips speak peace and gives peace to all who believes.  He is our peace; as the Peacemaker he promises us His peace. He promised to give it, and  leave it with His disciples, when they have tribulation in the world. He wants the same for us! Just as the Apostles were given the mandate to preach the gospel first to the Jews that was near, (but afar off from God) and then to the Gentiles that were afar off in distance, but also from God; we too are called to bring the Gospel of Peace  to the world, near and far. God promises to h

'So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom' (Psalm 90:12). When God created man, it wasn't His intention for man to die, but with the originating of sin our life span was shorten. Over time we see the degeneration of man, from Adam to us. Our  life span came down to seventy years, and if reason of strength it be eighty years (Psalm 90:10). However, it is God himself who know the exact length of our lives. Moses prayed here for God to grant him understanding of the briefness of his life on earth that he might live accordingly to God's will and purpose. We are reminded, that our life is short and the way we live it, is important. We do not know what tomorrow brings, or do we know when our life will end; but like Moses let us ask the Lord to teach us and give us wisdom of how we should live. To get wisdom we must gain understanding. To acquire understand we have to spend time prayerfully in the Word of God, allowing the Holy Spirit to be our

'The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death' (1 Corinthians 15:26). When Adam and Eve sinned it resulted into physical death for the entire human race. For when one is born, he is born in sin and shaped in iniquity, in need of a Saviour. It was only Jesus, the Son of God, that could come and save us from the curse of death and sin, and give us the hope of eternal life. Without the resurrection of the body, Christ's sacrificial work on the cross would have been incomplete. It is Christ's resurrection that guarantees us resurrection to life; for all who believe on Him. It is Christ who shed His precious, lifegiving blood to pay for our sin. He arose from the grave, in His physical body so we might also be raised from the dead in our physical body before we are transformed from mortal to immortality, on His returns. And death the last enemy shall be destroyed. When we are grounded and rooted in Christ, we can rejoice and be glad because we know Christ will defeat deat

'My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise' (Psalm 57:7). Through the perplexity of life one can be despondent, weary, disheartened and even give up on their dreams and aspirations because they can't seem to cope. But the Word of God gives us courage, strength, confidence and hope. It elevates you when you are feeling low and hopeless; it reminds you of the One who loves and created you; who died to save you and to give you hope of eternal life with Him. David was having a tough time, been hunted down by King Saul like an animal; He had to leave his home and family and on the run constantly. He was always praying and complaining to God, but after the event that took place with Saul in the cave; his complaint turned into praise. His heart was fixed; with confidence in God, he stood firm amidst all his troubles and was determined in giving God praise. We too can rejoice and give God praise amidst our sufferings and chaotic life. When God comes t

'Shew is thy mercy, O Lord and grant us thy salvation' (Psalm 85:7). Everyone at some point in their life strayed away from the path God  had directed them to follow. He is gracious and always seeks to bring us back, ready to demonstrate His loving kindness and tender mercies, to anyone of His children who decided to turn from their sins and call upon Him for help. Have you strayed from God? Have you turned away from Him and following your own path? Well, God is calling you back right now. He reaches out His loving arms to draw you back from your wanderings, to come back to him. God is a forgiving God, and is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins, and cleanse you from all your faults. You ought to look to Him and praise His name, because no matter how far you have fallen, His mercies endures forever, and are new every morning. Every day you spend with Jesus, you're refresh by His tender mercies and transformed in his likeness. You are revived by the mercies of God;

'The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?' (Jeremiah 17:9). It is God alone who knows the heart. What we see on the outside, is what is in the heart. However, there are times when it's not necessarily so; the outside doesn't always reflect the inside, because the heart is deceitful. We do not know what is in the contents of our heart, but God knows what is in each of our heart. Knowing that the heart is deceitful and wicked, should propel us to examine it daily to see if we are walking in spirit and truth; to see if the heart need cleansing and transforming. It is quiet easy to judge others by their vile behaviour; their profane conversation and  evil ways; but more importantly we should discern our own heart and its condition. We cannot rely upon ourselves but should readily confess our faults and actions to God, the one who knows and search our hearts. Because our heart is deceitful, we should humbled ourselves before God, not

'Be thou exalted, Lord, in thine own strength: So will we sing and praise thy power' ( Psalm 21:13). God our Creator is always worthy of our praise. It is for that purpose we have been created, to exalt and glorify Him. He  deserve our highest praise all the day long, when we rise in the morning until we go to sleep at night. We have a duty to God, which is to fear Him and keep His commandments. Let that resonate with us for a moment! Christ is our solid foundation - our Rock, and we must safely trust in Him, for the name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous flee into it , and are safe. The Lord is also our defender  and our strength; He manifest His power, providence and wisdom; His grace and mercy and longsuffering. Isn't His power worthy of our praise? This world of sin and the evil surmising ; where the law of God has been trampled upon and God's people been persecuted; will see God standing up for His people who will have victory in Jesus; while the wicke

'And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the  tail; and thou shalt be above only,  and thou shalt not be beneath; If that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command  thee this day, to observe and to do them' (Deuteronomy 28:13). Whatever you are going through right now, know that it is temporal and will pass. When you trust God with your past, your present and your future, expect great things to happen. In some circumstances it may get bad before it becomes better, but still trust God. God says he will make you the head, not the tail. When He makes you the head, you will be on top of your circumstances.  Remember that God is bigger than all your  problems! He will get you pass your past; you just have to hand it over to Jesus and believe he will. You may be in a dark and dismal place at this moment and do not know how to get out of it; Or you might have lost your job or business, as a result have reached rock bottom and it feels like there

'Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men' (2 Corinthians 8:21). We live in a world that is wicked and perverse. Most people know of God, but don't really know Him. Some don't want to associate with Him and allow their minds to be taken over by Satan. When you know God intimately, you learn to obey Him by keeping His commandments and doing His will. Knowing Him helps us to have a clear conscience and a honest heart; knowing Him give us eternity with Him. We are called to be honourable before God and man, avoiding the appearance of evil. Jesus our Saviour and soon coming King, is one who search our hearts, discern our thoughts and observe our ways and actions. We should therefore set our minds on those things that are good and of good report among men and approved by God. The Scripture says, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are