Quiet Time Coaching: Episode 121

Happy New Year!

I’ve decided on my devotional focus for 2020. 

With all the preparation I’m doing for the sermon on the mount teaching series and the beatitudes teaching day, I’ve been soaked in those scriptures. 

God has laid the beatitudes on my heart as a devotional aid. I’ve been praying through them daily for a few weeks. They thrill me and challenge me!

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” 

(Matthew 5:3–10 NIV11)

I’ve decided to use them as my devotional ‘lens’ for 2020. I did the same with Romans 8.15 for a good portion of 2019. By praying them every day I’m aiming for at least three outcomes:

  1. To see God’s heart through them
  2. To notice opportunities to live them
  3. To allow them to shape my growth in Christlikeness

Do you have a devotional focus for the year? Or the month ahead? Please share it if you do.

I have one other matter to bring to your attention.

You may have noticed short daily quiet time coaching devotionals have been appearing since 30th December. Those podcasts are connected to the teaching series on the sermon on the mount for the Thames Valley church. I’ll be posting these on my own feed in place of the weekly QTC episodes from now to the end of February. Now and again I’ll post a supplementary podcast, but the daily devotionals will replace the weekly episodes for the time being. I hope you enjoy them.

Retreat update

There are still a few places left for the spiritual disciplines retreat, “Wait for the LORD”.  You can find details on the dedicated page of my website.  If you have any questions, please drop me a line: malcolm@malcolmcox.org.  I’m working on the booklet which I will send out in advance. This will contain information about the area, the details of the schedule, some tips on how to make the most of the retreat and an exposition of Psalm 130.

Please add your comments on this week’s topic. We learn best when we learn in community. 

Do you have a question about teaching the Bible? Is it theological, technical, practical? Send me your questions or suggestions. Here’s the email: malcolm@malcolmcox.org.

If you’d like a copy of my free eBook on spiritual disciplines, “How God grows His people”, sign up at my website: http://www.malcolmcox.org.

Please pass the link on, subscribe, leave a review.

God bless, Malcolm

PS: You might also be interested in my book: “An elephant’s swimming pool”, a devotional look at the Gospel of John

Music used:The Temperature of the Air on the Bow of the Kaleetan by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)Source: http://chriszabriskie.com/uvp/ Artist: http://chriszabriskie.com/