Author: John Rowland

Read 2 Timothy 4:1-8 vv 3-4  They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.  They will reject the truth and chase after myths. Here we go again

Read 2 Timothy 3:10-17 v 13   But evil people and impostors will flourish. They will deceive others and will themselves be deceived. The reading doesn’t get any easier does it – the picture seems just as dark as yesterday. The

The world into which the Good News is announced   Whilst Paul was committed to announcing the Good News of Jesus wherever he went, he was under no illusions as to the difficulties he faced as a result. In 2

Read 2 Timothy 2:15-26 v 25  Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth.  Spreading the Good News of Jesus can often provoke opposition, so Timothy is urged

Read 2 Timothy 2:1-14 v 2  You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others. So here

Read 2 Timothy 1:11-18 v 12  That is why I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to

Read 2 Timothy 1:3-10 v 8  So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord.  Everyday conversations often include something about family life; questions like ‘How’s your mother/brother/auntie etc?’ frequently crop up. Some folk might go on at great

Spreading the Good News.    We are going to read Paul’s second letter to Timothy for the next couple of weeks. In this first section Paul has a great deal to write about his driving purpose in life – he wants

Read 2 Timothy 2:17-18 They have left the path of truth Route planning and finding is one of the most basic skills of any walker or climber let alone of a general traveller. With the advent of the internet, and

Read Acts 15:36-41 as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked.  We thought about this image of shipwreck in our reading on Monday, but not all shipwrecks are a total disaster! Paul survived several in the course of his travels.

Read Matthew 27:11-24 some people have deliberately violated their consciences I’m sure you have at different times been offered advice; maybe you set out asking for advice, or perhaps it came unsolicited and somewhat hard to take aboard. Your conscience

Read Hebrews 10:19-25 and keep your conscience clear. Hard to define conscience isn’t it. But we all recognise our own conscience when it shouts a warning to us. Perhaps you remember getting to the end of a day saying to

Cling to faith   I well remember talking with a man who had faithfully served God as a Pastor only to discover that he was struggling painfully with faith. The only thing he could say with honesty was that he

Read Romans 1:8-17 v 12  I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do his work. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve him,  Paul was made conscious of his call to serve God

Read Acts 26:19-29 v 16   But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe

Read   Acts 9:10-19 v 15   This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all.  There are some people who constantly put themselves down.

Read Acts 9:1-9 v 13. In my insolence, I persecuted his people. But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief.  Paul attributes his antagonism against Christians to unbelief and ignorance. We read here in

Mercy me!   Paul’s Gratitude for God’s Mercy   We are all people with a past! Sometimes we are proud (in a good way) of the things we have done; while at other times we feel we have been failures and

Read Romans 6:12-18. v 8 .We know that the law is good when used correctly.  For the law was not intended for people who do what is right. It is for people who are lawless and rebellious, who are ungodly and

Read 1 Corinthians 13 ;1-13 v 6   But some people have missed this whole point. They have turned away from these things and spend their time in meaningless discussions.  A little while back I read a helpful book by Steve

Read Ephesians 1:15-23 v 5.  The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith.  Once again we find the purpose of Paul’s preaching

Read Acts 19:1-10 v 4. Don’t let them waste their time in endless discussion of myths and spiritual pedigrees. These things only lead to meaningless speculations which don’t help people live a life of faith in God. I guess that

One of the topics I studied as an Engineer was called ‘Critical Path Analysis.’ It was learning to prioritise tasks so that a process could be completed in the most efficient way. It was no good having all the kitchen

Read Philippians 4:4-9 PEACE v 7.  Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Just as God’s gift of mercy deals with

Read Titus 3:1-7 MERCY v 5.  he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.

Read Ephesians 2:4-10 GRACE v 8.  God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. This was the message of the first Christians and it is really

Read 1 Timothy 1:1-2. HOPE. v 1 This letter is from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, appointed by the command of God our Saviour and Christ Jesus, who gives us hope. Hope – in our everyday language – can

Paul had a close and caring relationship with Timothy. He first met him on his second missionary journey, described in Acts 16. Paul went first to Derbe and then to Lystra, where there was a young disciple named Timothy. His

Read Matthew 24:1-2 So we have come to the end of our readings about the Exile. It was a deeply traumatic experience for the Hebrew people, but by no means the last of such events. As we come round to

Read Esther 2:1-20 Vv 6-7   His family had been among those who, with King Jehoiachin of Judah, had been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar.This man had a very beautiful and lovely young cousin, Hadassah, who was also

Read Nehemiah 8:1-12 v 12  So the people went away to eat and drink at a festive meal, to share gifts of food, and to celebrate with great joy because they had heard God’s words and understood them. This was

Read Nehemiah 6:1-19 v 9  They were just  trying to intimidate us, imagining that they could discourage us and stop the work. So I continued the work with even greater determination. Bullying, intimidation, fake news, – there’s nothing new under

Read Nehemiah 1:8-11 v 9  but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen

Read Daniel 12 v 11.  From the time the daily sacrifice is stopped and the sacrilegious object that causes desecration is set up to be worshiped, there will be 1,290 days. Blessed are those who wait and remain until the end of

Read Nehemiah 1:1-7 v 3. They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.” The

Read Ezra 9:1-15 v 4    Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel came and sat with me because of this outrage committed by the returned exiles. And I sat there utterly appalled until the time

Read Ezra 6:13-22 vv 15-16   The Temple was completed on March 12, during the sixth year of King Darius’s reign. The Temple of God was then dedicated with great joy by the people of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and

Read Ezra 2:1-2 Read Ezra 2:64-70 v 68   When they arrived at the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, some of the family leaders made voluntary offerings toward the rebuilding of God’s Temple on its original site,  and each leader gave as much

Read Ezra 1:1-11 v 1  In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and

Read Daniel 11 v 32  He will flatter and win over those who have violated the covenant. But the people who know their God will be strong and will resist him. This seems to be a reference to Antiochus IV

Read Ezekiel 11:14-25 vv 16-17. Therefore, tell the exiles, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Although I have scattered you in the countries of the world, I will be a sanctuary to you during your time in exile. I, the Sovereign Lord, will gather

Read Daniel 2:1-23 vv 20-21 Then Daniel praised the God of heaven. He said, “Praise the name of God forever and ever, for he has all wisdom and power.  He controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up

Read 2 Kings 25:27-30 v 27 In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah, Evil-merodach ascended to the Babylonian throne. He was kind toJehoiachin and released him from prison on April 2 of that year. At

Read Jeremiah 40:1-6 v 6   Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, gave Jeremiah some food and money and let him go. So Jeremiah returned to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah, and he lived in Judah with the few who

Read Jeremiah 29:1-14 vv 10-11  This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again.  For

Read Daniel 10 v 19  “Don’t be afraid,” he said, “for you are very precious to God. Peace! Be encouraged! Be strong!” This was a very frightening vision for Daniel. In verse 1 we catch a glimpse of the seriousness

Read Jeremiah 24:1-10 vv 6-7  I will watch over and care for them, and I will bring them back here again. I will build them up and not tear them down. I will plant them and not uproot them. I will

Read Jeremiah 52:12-30 v 30  In his twenty-third year, 745 Jews taken into exile by Nebuzaradan the commander of the imperial guard. There were 4,600 people in all. It is worth remembering that ancient empires were as keen on keeping statistics as

Read 2 Kings 25:1-21 vv 9-10  He burned down the Temple of the Lord, the royal palace, and all the houses of Jerusalem. He destroyed all the important buildings in the city.  Then he supervised the entire Babylonian army as they tore

Read Jeremiah 38:1-18 Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “This is what the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘If you surrender to the Babylonian officers, you and your family will live, and the city will not be burned down. But