Bible Focus                                

Bible Focus started as a brief daily devotion in mid-2012. I found I was soon sharing the thoughts the Lord was giving me, with an increasing number of brethren via sms phone messages. The task and number of messages became too large to pursue every day, which gave rise to this blog of daily devotions linked to  our church website: http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au  

Here, all those who wanted to access the daily portion and make it part of their personal devotional time of prayer and study, could do so at any time it suited them.

Over the past year, 356 plus devotionals on various parts of the Scriptures, have resulted. These offer a full year of daily spiritual servings for contemplation and discipline in the Word. I do not profess to have the greatest or best content, but have prayerfully tried to offer a focus and brief look into portions of God’s Word and verses not usually visited for devotional purposes, or in fact in some cases hardly read at all! While providing some comments and thoughts, the brief messages contained in each entry have been intended as primers or starting points for further personal meditation, study and development, or maybe as seed for sharing and discussion.

Some have suggested that an audio version would be useful and in some cases desirable. As requested, I intend to make this endeavour available in audio format also for those who may prefer or be more inclined or limited to listen rather than actually read.

With God’s help I will in time return to Bible Focus and attempt to produce a second year of brief notes on various scripture passages, so that they may be used either as an am/pm devotional focus in the Bible, or as a means of alternating the daily devotional from one year to the next, so that the material offered may remain fresh to the reader.

I covet the prayers of those who have participated by reading these simple offerings, and pray with all humility of heart that some benefit to the soul, help in the Christian walk and encouragement to study God’s Word further and deeper, may ensue from them. I know I have personally benefited from the prayer, study, research and meditation which have gone in each brief article every day for the past year.

I glorify the Lord Jesus for all He has supplied: all inspiration, understanding, thought and word, for without Him and the help of His Holy Spirit, there would be no spiritual understanding, strength or growth.

May the Lord richly bless every faithful believer who daily builds relationship with Jesus by fervent prayer, and drinking deeply from the everlasting, fresh and restorative fountain of His Holy Word.

July 23

“…they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship;…” Galatians 2:9

God was anointing and blessing the work of Paul and Barnabas, indicating their call and ministry. Based on this perception, James, Peter and John, who were established apostles in the church, extended the ‘right hand’ of fellowship to them. This was a token that Paul and Barnabas were now accepted as God-ordained ministers and admitted into the church and the society of the saints, and given full permission and consent to carry out their work. Their labours of preaching and ministering God’s word, though not limited only to the Gentile people, emphasized reaching those who had not known the truth of the God of Israel to date. It has always been important that ministers form and maintain strong and stable relationships. God’s work thrives when there is unity and singleness of purpose among the brethren. Factions, jealousies and seeking self-recognition, can only impair and hinder the progress of preaching the gospel, reaching to new souls or establishing existing believers. There is room for diversity in the manner and specific influence of the various individuals whom God calls to be ministers. The scriptures describe under general headings the various areas of ministry to which some are called. These include: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.  In many cases, aspects of each of these areas of works overlap and form the overall individual ministry of a man who is called by God. It is a good and encouraging advantage to have a body of believers who will recognise, give place to, pray for and welcome into fellowship a man with the calling of God on his life. The Bible also adds cautions to believers such as to ‘know those who labour among’ us, indicating that we cannot be superficial about our relationship with those we trust in ministry. Clearly evaluating a man’s calling and determining the degree of his sincerity in conducting the work to which he is called, becomes the responsibility of the individual who would sit under the influence of such ministry. How wonderful it is when true, loving and one-minded fellowship exists among the saints of God and especially among those in spiritual authority! The body of Christ, the church, is meant to be a place of refuge, comfort, encouragement and fellowship. This closeness is ‘family-like’ and affords those who participate the best of what the human family is able to offer, by way of love and mutual support, in an environment which stresses and places importance on spiritual, holy and righteous living. Spiritual fellowship therefore, is more than just a ‘club’ getting together, it implies genuine and holy intimacy, belonging to a family, learning and growing in spiritual things, and working for the common purpose of bringing glory to God and seeing His kingdom furthered.  

http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion