God doesn’t just want us to know about him; he calls us to know and be known by him

Jonah, who was running away with God, met him where he least expected to; and when he did, when God rescued him, it was an absolutely life-transforming encounter. We, too, can experience this same life-transforming meeting with the God of the Bible.

God cares - enough to pursue us, hunt us down, when we don’t want to be found, and when we are heading away from him because of all our self-destructive tendencies. The prophet Jonah ran from God, only to find God close behind, and doing good to all those around him.

As we come into the new year, it’s a great time to reflect on how you are drawing on the help and instruction and grace that God offers us in reading the Bible.

Paul’s prayer at the start of the letter to the Colossians is a model for us to learn from in our own prayer, but it also tells us how Christians can grow in maturity, through prayer that leads to wisdom that leads to growth that pleases God. It’s a deeply practical and encouraging passage for every Christian who wants to please God more and see real change in their lives.

The beginning of the little letter to the Colossians tells us the key place that hope, the sure and certain hope that Christ offers us in the gospel, has in growing our faith and our love.

What does it mean when God doesn’t answer our prayers when we long for him to do so? In the experience of Martha, Mary, we see how Jesus loved them even as they grieved, deeply, in response to an unanswered prayer and the death of their beloved brother Lazarus.

Jesus, the good shepherd, does not just call his sheep - he keeps them and he cares for them. He is the one - the only one - who can keep us and give us life forever. And he will accept anyone, anyone at all, to become one of those sheep, even those who hate and oppose him.

God’s people - those who have come to him and been forgiven - aren’t just given many good things. They are given a great purpose, and great help in that purpose - the purpose of spreading the news of forgiveness and life that is available even to those who have done great wrong in a world under Judgement.

After the darkness and difficulty of Joel 1-2:18, we come out into the light - God has been leading us, along with the people of Joel’s time, to face up to our sin, so that we can come, finally, to the joyful confidence of a relationship with him that his marked by his forgiveness and blessing. In that relationship, he never stops pouring good out on us.

This recording is of low quality, due to technical issues, but should be audible throughout.