Author: nickjones2011

In Mark 11 we have a very strange incident of Jesus cursing a fig tree because it didn’t bear fruit. Was Jesus ‘hangry’? That’s unlikely given he went 40 days without food and he was never sinfully angry. Why did he curse the fig tree? It seems that Jesus is using the fig tree as…

Rebekah thought you had to grab God’s blessing or you might miss out. Jacob thought you need to trick and deceive to get it. Isaac thought he could give the blessing to whoever he wanted (Genesis 27). The disciples thought God’s blessing was just for the important people.The rich young man thought he could get…

It would be easy to think that Isaac’s prayer was answered immediately. Rebekah was barren, Isaac prayed, and along came the twins! (Genesis 25:21). However, notice that Isaac is 40 when he gets married (Genesis 25:20) and the twins don’t arrive until he’s near retirement (25:26). The Lord is once again not in a hurry.…

What joy for a couple who had been waiting so long! We don’t know how long they had been trying for, but we do know it was 25 years since God had made the promise! What joy, what laughter. And then God asks Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son (Genesis 22). How can God ask…

Imagine you knew your townland was going to be destroyed today, would you hang around? A man called Lot heard from God that his city was going to be destroyed and yet “he lingered” (Genesis 19:16). Why did he linger? Perhaps he doubted the judgment would come, maybe it was because he loved the place…

Do you ever think God needs a little help to move his plans along? Despite all the amazing promises that God made, Abram and Sarai still think God needs their help with his salvation plan! To be fair, 10 years have passed (Abram is now 86, see Genesis 16:16) and there is still no pitter…

Today is Duchenne Awareness Day. Duchenne is a progressive muscle wasting disease that can make life really hard. We lost my sister-in-law (Elizabeth) to this disease, and our son suffers with it. He has fractured his skull, and broken his leg twice and is now dependent on a wheelchair to get around. It can be…

“We’re just waiting for the wheelchair to get on.” I’m sure the bus driver didn’t mean anything by it, but it upset William, he is a boy and not a wheelchair! I tried explaining that the bus driver didn’t know William’s name, but he could have said the boy. Or as William suggested the boy…

What has happened to gentleness? I think it’s something that today’s world would benefit from greatly! There are plenty of people who are polite on the surface, but cross them and they explode! What has happened to gentleness? We are supposed to be a tolerant society, but try disagreeing with those who say we should…

We’re just over half way through the year, a good time to remember any New Year resolutions you made! How did you get on? Why is change so hard? Why do we keep making the same mistakes? In Titus 2, Paul tells us the secret to self-controlled, godly lives. The secret is not found in…