Out of the depths

Notes of meeting on 15 March 2011


Picture of a woman in the fires of hell. She cries out to Jesus. His precious blood is poured over the flames and He he pulls her out of the fire.

Psalm 130 (New International Version, ©2011)
A song of ascents.
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, LORD; 2 Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.
3 If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
5 I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. 6 I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.
7 Israel, put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption. 8 He himself will redeem Israel from all their sins.






God the Mighty Creator of the universe love me!

God accepts us as we are even in our weakness and sinfulness, we only need to turn to him and he will save us. He cares for us in all the difficulties, trials and ordinary circumstances (large and small) of our daily life. He gives us his Sprit to strengthen us.






Daily Reflection on First Sunday of Lent (A) Sunday 13 March
Matthew 4:1-11
(From Bible Alive - Alive Publishing Limited)

‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might’ (Deut. 6:5). We are commanded to love God with every aspect of our being – with an undivided heart, with all our life and energies, and to prefer the love of God over the love of power and wealth.

Through Satan’s temptations Jesus’ obedience to the first commandment was tested. Firstly, his heart was tested. Would Jesus find his entire nourishment in the word of God alone, or seek his own satisfaction by assuaging his hunger? Jesus withstood Satan: ‘man does not live by bread alone, but…by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord’ (Deut. 8:3). The Son of God was fed by the word of God, not by bread alone.

Next, Satan invited Jesus to test God’s providential care by risking his life unnecessarily. Jesus’ response was unequivocal: ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test’ (Deut. 6:16). We serve the Lord with all that we have and all that we are, but not by taking reckless risks. The Son of God did not put the Father to foolish tests.

Finally, Satan invited Jesus to choose the way of power and wealth over obeying God. Jesus dismissed Satan: ‘You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve him…You shall not go after other gods’ (Deut. 6:13-14). The Son of God offered worship only to his heavenly Father. For forty days in the desert, Jesus rejected Satan’s temptations.
He loved God above all things.

All Satan’s temptations fall under these three categories of heart, life and wealth. Recognize Satan’s subtle ways of tempting us. He does not want us to love God with an undivided heart or serve him with all our might. He wants us to prefer the love of power and wealth to the love of God. The clearer we are about what God wants for our lives, the more successfully we shall resist Satan’s temptations. Jesus was steeped in the Scriptures and used them to resist Satan. Similarly, we should be familiar with the Scriptures so that we might have ‘the mind of Christ’ (1 Cor. 2:16) and stand against Satan’s wiles.

‘Lord Jesus, you loved your Father perfectly with all your heart, soul and might. By your Spirit give me the wisdom and strength to resist Satan and the grace to imitate your obedience to your Father.’

Come all you who are thirsty

Notes of meeting on 1 March 2011



Isaiah 55:1-13 (New International Version, ©2011)
Invitation to the Thirsty
1 “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. 2 Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. 3 Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. 4 See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a ruler and commander of the peoples. 5 Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations you do not know will come running to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor.”
6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. 12 You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. 13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the LORD’s renown, for an everlasting sign, that will endure forever.”


Ezekiel 47:1-9 (New International Version, ©2011)
The River From the Temple
1 The man brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. 2 He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was trickling from the south side.
3 As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. 4 He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. 5 He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. 6 He asked me, “Son of man, do you see this?”
Then he led me back to the bank of the river. 7 When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. 8 He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh. 9 Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live.


Matthew 13:44-45 (New International Version, ©2011)
The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.