His mercy is more – Start The Day

“Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother was Jecoliah from Jerusalem. ⁴He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight, just as his father, Amaziah, had done. ⁵Uzziah sought God during the days of Zechariah, who taught him to fear God. And as long as the king sought guidance from the Lord, God gave him success.” 2 Chronicles 26:3-5 NLT

“But when he had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall. He sinned against the Lord his God by entering the sanctuary of the Lord’s Temple and personally burning incense on the incense altar. ¹⁷Azariah the high priest went in after him with eighty other priests of the Lord, all brave men. ¹⁸They confronted King Uzziah and said, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is the work of the priests alone, the descendants of Aaron who are set apart for this work. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have sinned. The Lord God will not honor you for this!” ¹⁹Uzziah, who was holding an incense burner, became furious. But as he was standing there raging at the priests before the incense altar in the Lord’s Temple, leprosysuddenly broke out on his forehead. ²⁰When Azariah the high priest and all the other priests saw the leprosy, they rushed him out. And the king himself was eager to get out because the Lord had struck him. ²¹So King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in isolation in a separate house, for he was excluded from the Temple of the Lord. His son Jotham was put in charge of the royal palace, and he governed the people of the land.” 2 Chronicles 26:16-21 NLT

Lord God,

Another king who started out well but ended badly. The Chroniclers give us a detailed of the incident that changed his life and led to his death. Whereas 2 Kings 15:5 just tell us he died of leprosy.. I love that You prompted the chronicler to give us the details.

Pride. Solomon was led astray by idol worshipping women and many kings died in their lust for more power or were assassinated by others hungry for it. With Uzziah we are clearly told it was pride. Lord sometimes it is a fine line between being pleased about something that has gone well and being proud. And pride in thinking we have done something all by ourselves . . ..

For me Lord it is the moment I hear Your Spirit whispering, ‘did You do all that all by yourself?’ that makes me stop and rethink. No look at what I can do with Your help. Uzziah did not respect the order You had placed in the service of the Temple. He would not heed the warning of others, the priests, or even stop and consider what they were warning.

Lord help us shake of personal pride in ourselves. We praise You we can repent and continually have a new start (Acts 3:19). We praise You that You are our God (Psalm 117). We come for help because You told us to ask (Matthew 7:7). Keep us from pride in any shape or form and help us to give You the glory..

In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Worship Friday 11th July 2025
I think I am a good person and I do good. Till a still small voice asks me, really? And I am humbled once more.

What love could remember no wrongs we have done
Omniscient, all knowing, He counts not their sum
Thrown into a sea without bottom or shore
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

What patience would wait as we constantly roam
What Father, so tender, is calling us home
He welcomes the weakest, the vilest, the poor
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

Praise the Lord, His mercy is more
Stronger than darkness, new every morn
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more
Praise the Lord, His mercy is more
Stronger than darkness, new every morn
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

What riches of kindness He lavished on us
His blood was the payment, His life was the cost
We stood ‘neath a debt we could never afford
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

Praise the Lord, His mercy is more
Stronger than darkness, new every morn
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more
Praise the Lord, His mercy is more
Stronger than darkness, new every morn
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

Our sins they are many, His mercy is mоre

Lyrics: Matt Boswell / Matt Papa

“By the word of the Lord a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering. ²By the word of the Lord he cried out against the altar: “Altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.’” ³That same day the man of God gave a sign: “This is the sign the Lord has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out.”

⁴When King Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, he stretched out his hand from the altar and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward the man shriveled up, so that he could not pull it back. ⁵Also, the altar was split apart and its ashes poured out according to the sign given by the man of God by the word of the Lord. ⁶Then the king said to the man of God, “Intercede with the Lord your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.” So the man of God interceded with the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored and became as it was before. ⁷The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me for a meal, and I will give you a gift.” ⁸But the man of God answered the king, “Even if you were to give me half your possessions, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water here.” 1 Kings 13:1-8 NIV

God of righteousness and mercy,

I can almost hear Jeroboam saying how dare he! He was a strong ruler but had no fear of the Lord and had let the people into idolatry. He probably didn’t think God would protect His prophets, was not an active God and maybe he thought he was different and had rights as a king?

It was a shock to find God rebuked his hand stretched out in defiance by shrivelling it up! He quickly reassessed God as real and asked the prophet, he was just going to deal with, to pray for him. What an about turn. The man of God did not hesitate but prayed and Jeroboam experienced Your mercy Lord. And the man of God will take nothing because You, God warned him not to. He has just seen what You can do to those who go against Your word.

Do we sometimes forget that You are a God who is jealous and will not tolerate us worshipping any
thing or one other than You. Do we forget that sometimes You do tell us not to do things because You want the best for us and our obedience. Jeroboam shows us Your compassion, and that You do answer the prayers of Your people. Sometimes we need to ensure that what we do is for You and not for any reward.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Worship Saturday 14th June 2025

What love could remember no wrongs we have done?
Omniscient, all knowing, He counts not their sum.
Thrown into a sea without bottom or shore,
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more!

What patience would wait as we constantly roam?
What Father, so tender, is calling us home?
He welcomes the weakest, the vilest, the poor,
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more!

Praise the Lord! His mercy is more!
Stronger than darkness, new every morn,
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more!

What riches of kindness He lavished on us,
His blood was the payment, His life was the cost!
We stood ‘neath a debt we could never afford,
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more!

Praise the Lord! His mercy is more!
Stronger than darkness, new every morn,
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more!
Repeat chorus

Lyrics: Matt Boswell , Matt Papa.