The Gathering church

Today's devotion: The Power of Song. Sing praise to the LORD, you saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. Psalm 30:4... Recommended Reading Psalm 30 Before coming to Christ, John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, traveled from England to Georgia as a missionary, but the experience was a failure. As he returned home in frustration, his ship ran headlong into a terrible storm. Wesley was terrified, but he couldn’t help noticing a group of German Christians aboard the ship. They trusted God so completely they held a worship service in the storm. In the middle of their singing, a wave rose over the vessel and bore down like Niagara. But the Christians didn’t miss a note. Wesley realized the German believers had something he didn’t have; and through their influence, he shortly afterward trusted Christ completely and felt his heart strangely warmed. Trusting Christ enables us to sing in the storm. Our Lord gives songs in the night, and He teaches us to sing songs of deliverance as we wait on Him. An old hymn says Singing I go along life’s road, praising the Lord, praising the Lord. Others, noticing the melody of our lives, will be drawn to Christ. Today sing a song of deliverance. Sing a song of praise. To Godthe Father, Son, and SpiritOne in Three, / Be glory; as it was, is now, and shall forever be. John Wesley, in his hymn We Lift Our Hearts to Thee Read-Thru-the-Bible Zechariah 1 5 SHARE THIS DEVOTIONAL: 2016 Turning Point

Today's devotion: How to Prepare for the Future. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Joshua 1:8... Recommended Reading: Psalm 1:2 The notion of preparation is one parents teach their children. We need to study for a big test. We need to practice for a recital or performance. We need to practice healthy habits in order to develop our mind and body. Preparation is focused on the future. But how do we prepare spiritually for the future? When Joshua was preparing to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land, God gave him a principle for preparing for an uncertain future: Meditate, day and night, on the Book of the Law. What was in the Book of the Law? It was a written form of God’s revelation at Sinai to Mosesthe first five books of the Old Testament, in full or in part. Those books were passed on to Joshua by Moses before the latter’s death. And God’s instruction was, Meditate on these books and you’ll have success. That’s what Deuteronomy 28:1-14 says: Obey the covenant I established with Moses and you will be prosperous. You have an unknown future. Prepare for it by meditating on God’s Word. He knows your future and can prepare you for it. Meditate on the Word in the Word. John Owen Read-Thru-the-Bible Hosea 5 9 SHARE THIS DEVOTIONAL: 2016 Turning Point

Today's devotion: Who’s Who: Noah But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. . . . Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God. Genesis 6:8-9, NASB Recommended Reading... Hebrews 11:6-7 We wonder if we live in the most evil age in history given the atrocities that happen around us. But it appears there has been an age when wickedness was even more widespread than in our own: the age described in Genesis 6. That age was so wicked that God was sorry that He had made man on the earth (verse 6). It was the age that prompted the Flood, after which God started over with Noah and his family. Noah was an Adam-type man whom God trusted to be the new head of the human race. Noah wasn’t sinless like Adam, but he was righteous; he was a man who walked with God. Genesis 6:9 suggests that he may have been the only human being of his kind on earth in that age, the only man who sought to follow God’s will and who could be trusted with God’s mission to preserve human and animal life on earth. Noah was faithful. In the face of probable derision and scorn from his community, he built an ark and preserved life on earth. Noah raises this question: If God looked for one person who would be faithful to Him in a specific task, would His eyes rest upon us? I know of nothing which I would choose to have as the subject of my ambition for life than to be kept faithful to my God till death. Charles H. Spurgeon Read-Thru-the-Bible Psalms 1-17

Have a blessed week everyone. Godspeed. Pastor Jun & Gemma