January 12

      "It was necessary to journey by night in order to keep the star in view; but the travellers beguiled the hours by repeating traditional sayings and prophetic utterances concerning the One they sought. At every pause for rest they searched the prophecies; and the conviction deepened that they were divinely guided. While they had the star before them as an outward sign, they had also the inward evidence of the Holy Spirit, which was impressing their hearts, and inspiring them with hope. The journey, though long, was a happy one to them."

                   Desire of Ages, page 60 from the chapter, 'We have seen His star'

      “Are we there yet?” say the children 5 minutes after you start the journey. You try bribery, you invent games. You resort to ‘i-spy’ and work hard trying to find something that your youngest child doesn’t spot in a nano-second. You arrive exhausted at your destination.

     Thankfully the three wise men were just that. Wise. They didn’t waste their time discussing trivia. While the camels were fed and watered the local Premier Holiday Chef catered well for the travellers. Maps, were left to the navigators. The Magi picked up the scrolls and checked out their findings.

     I love the statement that the conviction deepened that they were divinely guided.  Spending extra time watching TV will not help me realise that I am divinely guided. Even watching ‘Songs of Praise’ will not help me realise I am divinely guided. It is quite possible that watching the Hope channel will not deepen the realisation that I am divinely guided.

     The point is the combination of events. The Magi had a purpose, they were confirming their destination and their goal by studying the Scriptures – and the Holy Spirit was impressing their hearts.

     During the 1980’s a theologian called Don Cupitt came to prominence. You would never think that he ever had the conviction of being divinely guided. He knew his Bible well, but what he didn’t have was the connection with God. What, it appears probably, is that he had no contact with the Holy Spirit.

     If you have a mission from God, that you regularly confirm and enrich, and where you have the Holy Spirit involved in your life then you will find yourself with a deepening conviction that your are guided by God.

     If you have a long journey there is a key to successful arrival.

               “….the travellers beguiled the hours by repeating traditional     sayings and prophetic utterances concerning the One they sought. At every pause for rest they searched the prophecies; and the conviction deepened that they were divinely guided."

 

     Housekeeping details for you

     The point of this short blog will become clear if you decide to use this reading in the way we intend it. Netherfield Seventh-day Adventist Church believes in healthy churches. You can see what that means if you head to the relevant Healthy Churches page of the website. We also want other churches to be healthy. That means you can join in our campaign to create healthy churches, with healthy people serving the people in those churches.

     A healthy church is one where Jesus comes first. A healthy church is one where the people work together to put Jesus first. One thing we are doing is to join people together to spread that news. I would like you to look at our prayer partners page. This will explain how we want you to use this short devotional. Very basically we want you to find a like-minded Christian friend who you will join with to : choose to pray together every day, decide together on a way to serve other people together, to help them grow as Christians - and to invite the Holy Spirit into your life every day. This blog that you will receive every day simply gives a common spiritual purpose. If you are a newcomer and want to join the blog with this object in mind click here