God Is Always Merciful.

Psalm 78

".....They remembered that God was their Rock
that God Most High was their Redeemer.
But then they would flatter him with their mouths,
lying to him with their tongues;
their hearts were not loyal to him,
they were not faithful to his covenant.
Yet he was merciful;
he forgave their iniquities...."(vs. 35-38)

This reflects the cycle that was happening in the period of the judges, when the people would sin and disregard God, they would suffer and then repent and experience the mercy of God until the cycle repeated itself.

We are a little like that aren't we? Let's break the cycle....repent and throw ourselves on the mercy of God.


Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

It Is All God.

On Paul's 3rd missionary journey he arrives at Achaia (Acts 18:27) and is greeted by the followers of Jesus.

We are told that on his arrival Paul was a great help to "those who by grace had believed".

It is good for us to remember where our Christian faith has come from - it's source is God.

It is by grace that we are saved through faith (Ephesians 2:5).

We tend to think that it is all us....but is really all God.

Have a great day,


Peter Clark

God Speaks.

Every now and then - not too often...

God speaks...in different ways.

The last time that happened to me was about three weeks ago, in my new ministry, on the table that I was to occupy was this laminated verse on a small card. I had seen the verse before, but this time there was something special about it.

"For I know the 

plans 

I have for you

declares the Lord,

Plans to prosper you

and not to harm you

plans to give you 

hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

Being "Good" Is No Good.

It is a universal error to think that we have to be good to be right with God.

Paul the Apostle is speaking to the people of Pisidian Antioch and when he finishes he says...

"Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him (Jesus) everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses" (Acts 13:38)

These people were under the misunderstanding that they were right with God just because they were keeping the law of Moses. Wrong.

There is nothing that we can do to make us right with God.

The only way we are going to be right with God is to have our sins forgiven.

When we turn back from our evil/ungodly ways and tell God that we are sorry for rebelling against Him we will be forgiven.

That means that God treats us as if we were pure and clean as the driven snow - justified.

That can't happen by trying to keep the law.

That won't happen by trying to be good.

Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

Repentance Is Required.

In Acts 17 we read this....

"In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead" (vs.30,31)

The call is to all people - no exceptions.

Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

Clear And Simple.

In Acts 16 we see Paul and Silas imprisoned after being severely beaten.

God releases them by an earthquake, their chains falling off and the prison doors opening.

Their gaoler is about to kill himself (saving the Romans the trouble) because he thinks all the prisoners have escaped.

Paul calls out "don't harm yourself, we are all here"(v.28)

That causes the gaoler to ask the question, "What must I do to be saved?" (v.30)

Paul and Silas reply, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved."(v.31)

The greek word for "believe" can equally be translated "trust" or "have faith".

Trust that the Lord Jesus, lived, died and rose again...to take out punishment for our sin.

How good is that? Really?

Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

There Is No Excuse.

It IS hard to turn from evil. I know people who are on an evil path. They know what is right....but they choose not to do what is right.

We see that today in the life of Jeroboam in 1 Kings 13.

God sends a "Man of God" directly to Jeroboam but he doesn't listen, instead we read...

"Even after this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways" (v.33)

We have the "Word of God" informing us of how to live. We also have the Holy Spirit.

There is no excuse.


Have a great day,


Peter Clark

Listening To Good Advice.

In 1 Kings 12 we read of Rehoboam becoming King of Judah at much the same time as Jeroboam was King over Israel. The Kingdom had divided after Solomon.

Rehoboam asks for advice on how to run his new Kingdom. Very wise. Good start. But the only trouble was that he didn't evaluate the advice that he was given. He should not have dismissed the advice of the older people. He should have realised that their advice was wiser than that of his peers.

Easy to say....how do you do it?

What do we need to do? First, we need to ask if the advice is realistic, workable and consistent with Biblical principles.

Then we need work out if the end result (if we follow the advice) will be fair to all, (or at least to as many as possible). Does it make things better? Does it lead to a positive direction being set?

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

The Essence Of The Gospel.

In my daily readings I am up to Acts 15 - The Council of Jerusalem...the first big church dispute.

What was it about? We see that in verse 5, "Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, 'The Gentiles (those who had become Christians under Paul and Barnabas) must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses."

These were Jewish believers in Jesus who were insisting on this.

After much thought and discussion (perhaps prayer, although it is not mentioned - it may be just taken for granted!) the decision is announced that circumcision of the new believers is NOT going to happen.

Why is that? We see it in verse 11.....

"....we believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved...."

This is a VERY important principle - our new life in Christ does not come about by Jesus plus anything else OR Jesus minus anything He has done.

All the major heresies to the Christian faith come about by JESUS PLUS or JESUS MINUS.

Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

The Elements Of Eternal Life.

Acts 13 Verse 48.

"When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honoured the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed."

Do we see here the possession of eternal life  involving both human faith (the Gentiles believed) and divine appointment, or calling (the Gentiles were appointed for eternal life).

Have a great day,

Peter Clark.

Getting Our Priorities Right!

1 Kings 6

"...the foundation of the Temple...laid in the fourth year(v.37)...eleventh year...the Temple was finished...he (Solomon) had spent seven years building it(v.38)."

1 Kings 7

"It took Solomon thirteen years, however, to complete the construction of his palace (v.1)"

Almost twice as long to build his own house as it took him to build the Temple!

Does that sound like good priorities?

How about us? Do you have better priorities than that?

There are 168 hours in each week. Do we even begrudge God 1 or 2 hours on the Lord's Day?

Have a great one.


Peter Clark.

Solomon's Amazing Early Days.

1 Kings 3:28

"When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice."

Don't we all yearn for wisdom? It would be a great thing to have in large doses.

So how did Solomon get it?

Simple....he asked.

"Give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong...." (1 Kings 3:9)

God's answer.....

"The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.....I will do what you have asked" (1 Kings 3:10,12)

Wasn't it Jesus who said that we didn't have because we didn't ask?

Let's pray for the wisdom that can only come from God.


Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

Answering Back.

Proverbs 15:1  "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger"

As a young child I was always reminded not to "answer back". At the time it seemed so unfair but it was probably good training for the future.

There are some good Biblical illustrations of this principle...

See the way Gideon calmed the anger of the men of Ephraim in Judges 8:1-3. He calms them down in a situation he could have inflamed the situation.

In the opposite way do you remember how Nabal's sarcastic response puts David's hackles up and incites him to violence in 1 Samuel 25:10-13.

What more need I say?


Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

The Gospel Has Real Results.

Acts 8:8   "So there was great joy in that city"

The city? It was a city in Samaria. The church was scattered because of the persecution that had broken out after the death of Stephen. The enemies of the Gospel of God must have thought that they were on a roll, and that this was the opportunity to stamp out the Christian faith.

How wrong they were.

Philip goes to this city and proclaims Jesus as the Christ, the long awaited Messiah. The crowds "paid close attention to what he said" - many were healed, and there was "great joy"

How is your joy levels going these days? Are you still rejoicing over the intervention of the Christ in YOUR life?

Have a great day,


Peter Clark.

A Spacious Place

2 Samuel 22:20

"He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me."

David is experiencing God and how good it is!

The ESV translates this "spacious place" as a "broad place". It is the opposite of being "greatly distressed".

David is enjoying a delightful life because God has rescued him.

He has been rescued because God is delighted in Him.

If you come to Christ in faith and trust and live for Him, then you too, will be "delighted" in.

Have a great day,

Peter Clark