In this devotional we are going to look at just a few verses and one particular aspect of Jesus’ teaching, the devil! In our passage Jesus makes reference to the devil in his challenge to religious leaders who have allowed there dependence on religious tradition to become a stronghold of deception in their lives. He is exposing the fact that when we are deceived to the point of missing the truth about God, it is the father of lies (the devil) who is ultimately behind that deception.  Read More

These are the wonderful words spoken by Jesus, to a woman who moments earlier had stood in abject humiliation and terror, awaiting judgement and probably brutal execution for the charge of adultery that had been brought against her. I encourage you to read the story for yourself – John 8: 1-11. It contains the classic line that has made its way into our popular vocabulary, “let he who is without sin cast the first stone” (John 8:7).  Read More

Jesus makes this incredible invitation to us. We can come and drink from him and rivers of living water will flow from within us. John helpfully clarifies this. He notes that this is the Holy Spirit given to those who believe in him. An amazing invitation which points to a life of satisfaction and eternal significance.  Read More

I count myself incredibly blessed by the church community into which I was saved. I became a Christian just before my 15th birthday (27th February 1983) at a Baptist Church in Bedford. It was a community of faith that was itself rediscovering some of the fullness of the Holy Spirit. This meant that I got saved and worked out the early years of my Christian life in a community that was digging into all that the Bible said about the Holy Spirit.  Read More

In our text today we simply see Jesus in conversation with people, and we've got so much to learn from him through the answers he gives to the different questions he is faced with. I'll be focusing this devotion around only one verse, verse 8b, so I will encourage you to spend some time on your own later, letting Jesus speak to you through the rest of these conversations too.  Read More

When Jesus describes Himself as the Bread of Life, he’s making two very clear connections. The first is that the feeding of the 5,000 is not just about the miraculous act, but about the one who performs it. Remember, in this sermon series we’ve been really pressing into the idea that miracles are signs that don’t point to themselves but are meant to point us to Jesus. The Jews got caught up in the idea that Jesus provided food for them once, and therefore He could be relied on to keep giving them food on demand. While we do experience (and should expect) miraculous provision from God, we must never forget that signs and wonders should always lead us directly to Jesus Himself. Jesus does not allow us to make Him a foodbank or jukebox, but as a God to be worshiped.  Read More