Episodios

  • February 5th - Proverbs 3:9-10

    February 5th - Proverbs 3:9-10
    Feb 5 2026
    Proverbs 3:9-10 Honour the LORD with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce. Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine. There are many different ways of giving. Some people give in order to impress. Jesus once spotted rich people placing their gifts in the temple treasury, no doubt giving a significant amount of money which would be a great help to the temple. Then, Jesus noticed a poor widow, who put two very small copper coins into the treasury. Her gift was tiny and unlikely to be much help to the temple’s accounts. However, it was her gift which really impressed Jesus. He commented: “For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has” (Luke 21:4). The writer of Proverbs encourages us to give God our best. It was King David who pointed out that when we give to God, all we are doing is giving what he first gave to us. We will never be able to outgive God. It has been wisely said that you make a life out of what you give, not out of what you get. In our deeply acquisitive society, that is a very important insight. Learning how to give is vital if we are to know the blessings that God wants us to experience. I love the straightforwardness of Proverbs. The writer has a no-nonsense approach to serving God. He tells us how to live our lives to the full but also tells us the outcome. He has learned that if you give generously and put God first in your life, there will be a wonderful result. It will work differently for us all, but we can be confident that if we get our giving right, God will bless us. You will never become poor by giving generously. Question How generous are you in your giving? Prayer Lord God our Father, you have always been generous to me. Help me to learn how to be generous in every aspect of my life. Amen
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    3 m
  • February 4th - Proverbs 3:5-6

    February 4th - Proverbs 3:5-6
    Feb 4 2026
    Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Trusting is something we do all the time. We trust mechanics, electricians, gas engineers, teachers, police, judges, doctors, nurses – the list could go on and on. However, our trust in them can never be complete, because they are human. They will have good days, but they will have some bad ones as well. Occasionally, there are some people who are totally untrustworthy and let us down completely. God is different. When we trust in God, we can rely on him unreservedly. We can trust him with the whole of our heart and be confident that he will never let us down. Proverbs is an amazingly practical book that is concerned with how to live life to the full, and the writer is clear that trusting God is the most crucial issue. Every detail of our lives in our families, work and leisure turns on this, so he encourages us to make sure that God is at the centre of all of our decisions. He will show us the right way to go. This doesn’t mean that God’s guidance comes to us immediately and, at times, that can be very frustrating. We would like guidance to work like a slot machine where we put in our request and get a complete answer instantly. God doesn’t work like that. He wants a dynamic, daily relationship with us that is built on trust. As our relationship with God deepens, our trust in him grows. As a result, we can live with absolute confidence that God will guide us, even when deep fog has descended on us and we can’t see the way to go. Whatever challenge you are facing at the moment, you will never make a better decision than to trust God. Question In what aspect of your life are you seeking God’s guidance at the moment? Prayer Thank you, living Lord, that you are completely trustworthy. Help me to lean more and more heavily on you day by day. Amen
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    3 m
  • February 3rd - Proverbs 3:1-2

    February 3rd - Proverbs 3:1-2
    Feb 3 2026
    Proverbs 3:1-2 My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart. If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying. What’s your memory like? Time and again, I trudge upstairs to get something and haven’t a clue what I’m looking for by the time I get there! Pathetically, I try to find something else useful to do while I’m there to justify the journey. Forgetting things is part of the human condition and always has been, and the writer of Proverbs often addresses the issue. He urges us not to forget what we’ve been taught, whether it was by our parents or our spiritual teachers. This involves planning. We need to pepper our lives with reminders of essential truths. We need to evolve a rhythm to our lives so that we are repeatedly reminded of what matters most. From earliest times, Jews had a variety of articles which gave them a constant reminder of the law. Phylacteries are small leather boxes which contain the Hebrew texts on vellum and are worn by some Jewish men at morning prayer as a reminder to keep the law. On the door frame of their homes, they affix a mezuzah, a decorative case containing the Jewish prayer: “Hear O Israel. The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” It's good for us all to build into our lives reminders of God’s love and faithfulness – prompts that will keep us on track and prevent us from forgetting about God. It doesn’t matter how we do this. Some people have Bible verses on their walls or on fridge magnets or receive verses by email or app. What matters is that we don’t forget. Supremely, we have the communion service or Eucharist, which Jesus gave to us as a way of ensuring that we would not forget his sacrificial death for us on the cross. Question What do you find the most effective way of reminding you of God’s love? Prayer Loving Father, help me never to forget your perfect love for me and for this needy world. Amen
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    3 m
  • February 3rd - Proverbs 3:1-2

    February 3rd - Proverbs 3:1-2
    Feb 3 2026
    Proverbs 3:1-2 My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart. If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying. What’s your memory like? Time and again, I trudge upstairs to get something and haven’t a clue what I’m looking for by the time I get there! Pathetically, I try to find something else useful to do while I’m there to justify the journey. Forgetting things is part of the human condition and always has been, and the writer of Proverbs often addresses the issue. He urges us not to forget what we’ve been taught, whether it was by our parents or our spiritual teachers. This involves planning. We need to pepper our lives with reminders of essential truths. We need to evolve a rhythm to our lives so that we are repeatedly reminded of what matters most. From earliest times, Jews had a variety of articles which gave them a constant reminder of the law. Phylacteries are small leather boxes which contain the Hebrew texts on vellum and are worn by some Jewish men at morning prayer as a reminder to keep the law. On the door frame of their homes, they affix a mezuzah, a decorative case containing the Jewish prayer: “Hear O Israel. The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” It's good for us all to build into our lives reminders of God’s love and faithfulness – prompts that will keep us on track and prevent us from forgetting about God. It doesn’t matter how we do this. Some people have Bible verses on their walls or on fridge magnets or receive verses by email or app. What matters is that we don’t forget. Supremely, we have the communion service or Eucharist, which Jesus gave to us as a way of ensuring that we would not forget his sacrificial death for us on the cross. Question What do you find the most effective way of reminding you of God’s love? Prayer Loving Father, help me never to forget your perfect love for me and for this needy world. Amen
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    3 m
  • February 2nd - Proverbs 1:8-9

    February 2nd - Proverbs 1:8-9
    Feb 2 2026
    Proverbs 1:8-9 My child, listen when your father corrects you. Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction. What you learn from them will crown you with grace and be a chain of honour around your neck. I would be fascinated to know what you remember your parents teaching you. Their words shape the whole of our lives. I clearly remember my father insisting that we show “instant obedience”, presumably because we so often failed to do it! I remember my mother giving us great encouragement when we were kind to others. My parents are no longer with us, but their influence lives on. I can still hear their words of guidance, encouragement and warning. When we became foster parents a few years ago, we were encouraged to spend a lot of time reflecting on parenting skills. Bringing up our own three children we didn’t reflect much on the process – we just did it! Parents are never perfect, and I’ve heard it said that what we need to be is “good enough parents”. I like that expression. We won’t always get it right, but because of our love for our children we will, with God’s help, always seek to be good enough. Parents are referred to repeatedly throughout the book of Proverbs, and the key theme is discipline. This could easily sound harsh, but it is in fact a loving word. No parent who truly loves their child will let them do whatever they wish. The result would inevitably be disastrous. Loving discipline gives security and direction to children and builds firm foundations for the whole of their lives. Families take many shapes and these verses remind us that we need to do everything we can to support family life. The early years are absolutely crucial for the whole of life, and each of us needs to invest in the lives of children in whatever way we can. Question What opportunities do you have to support family life? Prayer Loving Father, give us your strength and grace so that we will be able to have the right influence on the children in our lives, and support those who have the awesome responsibility of being parents. Amen
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    3 m
  • February 2nd - Proverbs 1:8-9

    February 2nd - Proverbs 1:8-9
    Feb 2 2026
    Proverbs 1:8-9 My child, listen when your father corrects you. Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction. What you learn from them will crown you with grace and be a chain of honour around your neck. I would be fascinated to know what you remember your parents teaching you. Their words shape the whole of our lives. I clearly remember my father insisting that we show “instant obedience”, presumably because we so often failed to do it! I remember my mother giving us great encouragement when we were kind to others. My parents are no longer with us, but their influence lives on. I can still hear their words of guidance, encouragement and warning. When we became foster parents a few years ago, we were encouraged to spend a lot of time reflecting on parenting skills. Bringing up our own three children we didn’t reflect much on the process – we just did it! Parents are never perfect, and I’ve heard it said that what we need to be is “good enough parents”. I like that expression. We won’t always get it right, but because of our love for our children we will, with God’s help, always seek to be good enough. Parents are referred to repeatedly throughout the book of Proverbs, and the key theme is discipline. This could easily sound harsh, but it is in fact a loving word. No parent who truly loves their child will let them do whatever they wish. The result would inevitably be disastrous. Loving discipline gives security and direction to children and builds firm foundations for the whole of their lives. Families take many shapes and these verses remind us that we need to do everything we can to support family life. The early years are absolutely crucial for the whole of life, and each of us needs to invest in the lives of children in whatever way we can. Question What opportunities do you have to support family life? Prayer Loving Father, give us your strength and grace so that we will be able to have the right influence on the children in our lives, and support those who have the awesome responsibility of being parents. Amen
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    3 m
  • February 1st - Proverbs 1:7

    February 1st - Proverbs 1:7
    Feb 1 2026
    Proverbs 1:7 Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. You need to be careful with the book of Proverbs. It’s very easy to read too much of it and get indigestion! It’s a book which needs lots of time for careful reflection, and this is the wisest and most crucial verse of all. True knowledge begins with knowing God personally. It’s our relationship with the creator of the universe that enables us to gain access to real knowledge which will help us to live our lives to the full. I wonder what you understand by the expression “fear of the Lord”. I have been brought up to think of God as my friend and my companion, the one who is always looking out for me. Fear might seem to clash with that sort of understanding of God, but it doesn’t have to. We need to remember that the God who offers us his friendship is not like other friends. None of my other friends has created the universe. None of them has all wisdom, power and authority. Our Friend God is awesome in every way, so when we think about him and share our lives with him, there needs to be a tinge of fear – not a fear which oppresses us, but one which means we show him total respect and reverence. He’s a very, very special friend. This verse tells us that if we really want to understand life, we need to worship God. As we open our lives to him, he reveals the truth to us about ourselves and the world around us. He will never impose his knowledge on us. The writer of Proverbs observes that there will always be plenty of people who despise wisdom and discipline, bluntly describing such people as fools – a word of which he makes great use throughout this amazing book. You may choose to live the life of the fool if you wish, or you can sink to your knees in worship and let God be your teacher. That’s the way of true wisdom. Question What does the expression “fear of the Lord” mean to you? Prayer Great God of creation, help me to open my whole self to you so that I may receive your wisdom and knowledge. Amen
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    3 m
  • January 31st - Mark 8:36-37

    January 31st - Mark 8:36-37
    Jan 31 2026
    Mark 8:36-37 What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? Our cynical, materialistic society was well summed up by Oscar Wilde as knowing “the price of everything and the value of nothing”. Like many one-liners, that’s a bit harsh, but he was making an important point. It’s very easy for our money-mad society to overlook the most important things because of its obsession with the temporary things that have a price tag. Jesus pours scorn on this way of thinking. Forget owning a really large house or becoming the exclusive owner of every property in your town – Jesus encourages you to imagine what it would be like to own the whole world. That, he suggests, would be completely pointless if you lost your soul, your very reason for living. Jesus is encouraging us to think about our priorities. What matters most to us? Whether we are conscious of it or not, the answer to that question will shape every day of our lives. It’s an issue to which Jesus returned on many occasions. In his Sermon on the Mount, he observed how people worry about a whole range of issues. He said there was no need for his followers to expend energy on these things because God perfectly understands our needs and can provide for us perfectly. He encouraged his followers to seek first the kingdom of God. When that is our focus, everything else will fall into its proper place. Every day, our society will try to tell us what our priorities should be. It may be that at work we feel a pressure to go for a promotion and to earn more money. That may be right for you, but I have known many people who, in answer to the call of God, have gone as mission partners to other parts of the world where they have earned less and faced far greater challenges than at home. It may be that you are thinking about moving home. It may be right for you to move to a nice area where you will feel comfortable and secure, but I can think of a number of friends who have deliberately moved to tough areas on needy estates in order to be able to serve the Lord there. I don’t know what seeking first the kingdom of God will mean for you, but it will certainly challenge the assumptions which our society tries to thrust upon us. Above all else we need to pray, knowing that the Holy Spirit will love to lead us in God’s way. Question In what way will the command to seek first the kingdom of God affect your decisions today? Prayer Lord God, help me to learn more of what it means to seek first your kingdom in all that I think and do. Amen
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    4 m