1 Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob! 2 Begin the music, strike the timbrel, play the melodious harp and lyre. 3 Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival; 4 this is a decree for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob. 5 When God went out against Egypt, he established it as a statute for Joseph. I heard an unknown voice say: 6 “I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket. 7 In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. 8 Hear me, my people, and I will warn you— if you would only listen to me, Israel! 9 You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not worship any god other than me. 10 I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. 11 “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. 12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices. 13 “If my people would only listen to me, if Israel would only follow my ways, 14 how quickly I would subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes! 15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever. 16 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

What a Psalm. A real and honest call to worship the Lord with song and in festival. A song that celebrates the liberating work of the Lord on behalf of His people. And yet acknowledges the wilful ignoring of the Lord in spite of such deliverance. Verse 13-14 strikes me as the heart of the Psalm, indeed the heart of God – if only we would listen and follow. Then we would be fed on the finest of wheat, satisfied with honey from the rock.

Oh, how simple, and yet so hard to practice at times. When all that is within me wants to escape. Or work it out myself. Or turn first to human sources of support and help. But who can promise me what the Lord does – quick deliverance; the shaming of adversarial forces; and deeply satisfying feeding.

Though it will take all of me to practice this, I will give myself wholeheartedly to this simple call – to listen for, and follow, my Lord.

Jesus, I listen for your voice. Jesus, I will follow in your ways, and by your counsel. Amen!

Written by Ps. Rob Waugh

23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart” (3:23) is such good advice for a fruitful and enriching life.

But step back a bit and, surprisingly, these are instructions for slaves. This is about working to enrich other people’s lives with all your heart. It’s what a life full of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) looks like. It’s what freedom in Christ looks like as we “serve one another humbly in love” (Galatians 5:13). That’s so counter-cultural.

And I should work with all my heart at serving and enriching other people’s lives as though I’m “working for the Lord” (3:23). This is the Jesus who put all his power, and glory and riches as God to one side and became a servant (literally a slave), dying a slave’s death on a cross for me (Philippians 2:5-8). My most fruitful, enriching life is when I’m imitating Jesus, thinking like him, and working with all my heart at what he’s doing in the world.

Jesus, how are you enriching people around me today? Can I be part of what you’re doing? Holy Spirit, I’m going to need lots of help to enrich the lives of people around me with all my heart (there is still so much of my old selfishness in me). Work with me so that together we can be fruitful.

Written by David Cornell

Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.

Along the journey from becoming a child to an adult I would guess that I needed to make plans and decisions in their life about thousands of things; how to get around, how to obtain and keep a job, how to pay rent, what to eat, what car to buy, the list goes on. 

In the 90’s when I became an adult, I couldn’t ask Google, so I relied on asking my friends, parents, teachers, the newspapers and even the yellow pages for information and advice on how to live life, all without the internet – Hard to imagine! Today, I feel that the internet has become a strong contender for our preference for advice and information. With the click of a button, I can learn how to do pretty much anything from fixing a washing machine to how to understand the human brain, even if it’s just theory and not always in practice.

I know I feel better equipped when I have the right advice and information from a variety of sources, including the somewhat archaic tradition of asking people (face-to-face) about their opinions and experience in person! Real people who want you to succeed, and who support you in your endeavours make a difference in every aspect of life, especially making good choices.

Dear God, thank you that in life you placed us where you want us to be and that we are surrounded by people and technology that are designed to help us manage our lives. Thank you that you do not leave us alone and that you bring people to us to guide and help us. Thank you for the gift of community and the ability to share.

Amen

Written by Susannah Ware

(5) Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; (6) in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

We all have times in life when we ask, ‘am I making the right choices in life?’, or ‘am I doing what God wants me to?’. It is easy to be overwhelmed with choices, distracted by disruptions, and feel unsure of what is ahead. This passage is a reminder that when we walk with God, He will guide us so that we have firm footing and will not stumble off the path God has set before us. 

This passage notes three things to do as we walk with God. Firstly, we should trust God. We should trust with our whole heart that He is who He says He is, and that the promises in His word are true. Secondly, we should recognise that we do not have all the wisdom or resources to get through life ourselves, but instead need to learn how to rely on God. Finally, we should submit ourselves to Christ, asking for His help and wisdom in all situations and making a choice to put his word into action every day.

Lord, thank you that you have good plans for me and that you make my paths straight. Help me to not rely on myself, but to trust you with all I am, to rely on you, and to submit to you every day. Amen.

Written by Ps. Andrea Molteno

Commit your actions to the LORD, and your plans will succeed.

This is an interesting verse for me. The idea that your plans WILL definitely succeed if you commit them to the Lord is one I struggle with. So many people have things happen in their lives which send their plans off in completely unexpected directions. Sometimes that unexpected direction is good, sometimes it is devastating. I think the important things here are your definitions for success and for commit.

If you assume God means success in terms of the world’s definition (i.e. money, power, renown), then you may be disappointed. If you assume God means success on His terms, then, whatever work you do, you will have the opportunity every day to be a blessing to your employer, your customers or clients or patients, your work colleagues and everyone you may encounter.

The concept of committing your actions to the Lord means doing your work in collaboration with the Lord, inviting Him into your day, asking Him to help you design your day and to complete the tasks in the plan with love and grace. If that is how you approach each day, then the goals and plans you have will be those that bring wonder or comfort or blessing or success to those you encounter. Helping other people (and yourself) see God’s love and the wonder of the world He has created through the work you do is definitely a beautiful way to see success.

Lord thank you that you want to collaborate with us each and every day. That you are interested in all aspects of our lives and that you wish us to grow to see the world as you do. Help us to understand what you see as success. Help us to bring each and every day to you so that together we can do amazing things. Thank you that we can be a blessing to every person we encounter if we just let you help us. Amen.

Written by Therese Manning