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Psalms 98:1-100:5 ‘Exalt the Lord our God... Make a joyful noise to the Lord’(Psalm 99:5,9; Psalm 98:4,6; Psalm 100:1). Lord, You're calling us to worship You with joy. You're calling us to glorify You. You want us to enjoy You. In our worship, may we never forget Your holiness : ‘He is holy!... The Lord our God is holy!’(99:5,9). In our worship, may we rejoice in Your love : ‘His steadfast love endures for ever... He has done marvellous things!’(Psalm 100:5; Psalm 98:1). You are the God of ‘awesome purity’ - and You love us with the most perfect love of all: ‘No earthly father loves like Thee...’. Help us to worship You with holy fear and heartfelt love.

John 21:15-17 Jesus loves us so much more than we love Him. In love, He comes to us to draw out from us a greater love for Him. I find great encouragement in the story of the restoration of Peter in John 21. Peter had denied the Lord three times. For each denial, Jesus came to Peter with the question, “Peter, do you love Me?” Three times, Peter reaffirmed his love for Jesus. Following on from this, there is the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2) when the Lord works through Peter in a very wonderful way. Three thousand people are brought to faith in Christ – for each denial, a thousand souls brought to faith! What a wonderful restoration! May we have much cause to say of the Lord, “He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3). May our ministry of His Word prosper – “those who turn many to righteousness shall shine like the stars for ever and ever” (Daniel 12:3).

Deuteronomy 14:22-15:23 Lord, You call us to belong to You. This is wonderful. It makes our hearts glad. You also call us to serve You. We're not to remain what we were before we became Your redeemed people. We're to be renewed - "beholding the glory of the Lord, we are being changed into His likeness from one degree of glory to another" (2 Corinthians 3:18).

John 17 - This is such a great prayer. At the heart of it, we have these great words, “Your Word is truth” (John 17:17). True prayer is always grounded in truth. There is a conversation between ourselves and God. God initiates this conversation. From Him, there is revelation. From us, there is response. Revelation comes first. He speaks to us. Then, we speak to Him. In our world, there are many voices. There is one voice which must not be drowned out: the voice of God. “Your Word is truth” (John 17:17). Where does our faith come from? It comes from the Lord. He has spoken to us in His Word. He is still speaking to us. Are we listening to Him? We’re not to come to the Word of God with the attitude that says, “This is true. That’s not true.” On what basis do we say, “This is true. That’s not true”? We may come to some parts of the Bible and say, “That speaks to me.” We may come to other parts of the Bible and say, “That doesn’t speak to me.” What are we saying when we say ...

Christ brings a change of direction into our life. This change of direction is described for us in Acts 2:42 -“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Christ is preached. We believe the Gospel. We receive salvation. Life is no longer centred upon ourselves. It is centred upon Christ.

 * The suffering of Christ - "My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Psalm 22:1). These words lie at the heart of Christ's suffering. He suffered for us. He died for our salvation. He is our Substitute and our Saviour: "He died that we might go to heaven, saved by His precious blood." He went in obedience to the Cross so that we might be called to obedience from the Cross. He was forsaken by God so that we might be forgiven by God.  * The glory of Christ - "I will declare Your name to My brothers; in the congregation I will praise You" (Psalm 21:22). Christ's prayer was answered. God raised Him from the dead. Apparent defeat was turned into glorious victory. The cloud of darkness was removed. The glorious light shone through. death is a defeated enemy. Resurrection to eternal life - this is our glorious hope. As we look at the death and resurrection of Christ, let us give all the glory to God for all that He has done for us....

Psalm 27:1-14 The Lord brings light and salvation to us. He is our light and our salvation (Psalm 27:1). When the Lord saves us, He gives us a great desire to worship Him (Psalm 27:4). We are on a journey - a lifelong journey, an eternal journey (Psalm 27:13-14) - “all the days of  my life, “forever” (Psalm 23:6). “Wait for the Lord” (Psalm 27:14). We need to hear this for both our lifelong journey and our eternal journey.