Author: nickjones2011

Before the smoking ban came into place in pubs, you would notice the smell of smoke when you went in, but sit there for a while and you would stop noticing it. It’s only if you went outside and came back in that you’d notice it. And as you sat there, you would take on…

How do you think Jesus feels when you let Him down? Do you think you have to earn your way back into His good books? In Matthew 28 we see the risen Jesus speaking to men who had totally let Him down, they had abandoned Him when He needed them most, Peter had denied even…

Psalm 118 was the last in a group of Psalms (113-118) traditionally sung at Passover time. As you read Psalm 118, consider what it must have meant for Jesus as He sang it on the night before He would lay down His life for us. Jesus began encouraging his disciples to help Him remember the…

We talk about going through a dark time. You probably know what that feels like. Sometimes it may feel hopeless. When Isaiah was writing, things looked bleak for God’s people, they faced losing everything they had worked for, their homes, their livelihoods. They were facing being taken far from home into a foreign land. They…

When things look bleak, you need hope. The prophet Micah has warned of the severity of God’s coming judgment, things look very bleak. Then into the darkness comes hope from an unexpected place. God’s ways are not our ways. Help is going to come from a place too small to even have a traffic light…

Do people think you’re crazy for believing that Jesus will come back? When you try and encourage people to trust Jesus so that they will be safe from the coming judgement, do people look at you as if you have two heads?! Imagine what it was like for Noah, building a boat for years and…

Two pictures stand out today, a loved plant and a hen with her chicks. If you’re not a gardener then you won’t understand being upset over a plant! But a gardener will invest so much in a plant, that they may be upset if it doesn’t flower or produce fruit. They have weeded, put in…

Just as we saw in Hosea, Isaiah shows us the dilemma God faces. How can He keep His promises to disobedient people. The LORD tells His people that the animals are better than them! “The Ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know.” God’s own people who He…

Worship matters to God, and that’s a good thing. In 1 Kings 16, King Ahaz is condemned for his worship. His worship involved him looking at what the nations did rather than what God commanded. This worship was so wicked that it included human sacrifice. Thankfully God does not approve of this. When Ahaz faces…

Pride is not a good thing. In each of our readings today we see either the danger of pride or the wisdom of humility. In Hosea we have seen God’s faithful love to His people, wooing them back to himself. In Hosea 14 we see the Lord’s gentle rebuke to His people – “what have…