Proclamations
Sunday, March 2nd 2025 (week 100)
Isaiah 40: 1-8
As this is the 100th devotional in this ongoing series, I thought it would be good to track back to the beginning……….
I began writing these columns some years ago but didn`t continue. Since joining Gatehouse Church, I`ve felt very welcomed and sensed a re-awakening of the desire to write more. These early columns are taken from the original collection and have been edited where necessary. But I don`t quite feel I can begin without mention of something that inspired me all those years ago.
At an event to license a new vicar at Christ Church with All Saints in Blackpool, I met Patrick Glover, Bishop of the Free State (formerly Bloemfontein) in South Africa. Upon discovering I was a writer, Patrick took my hand and blessed me for the work ahead. I believe God was at work there and has been working in my life and writing since then. As this collection of devotionals came out Patrick very graciously provided the following introduction.
“There have been a series of advertisements on South African Television promoting a particular make of motor vehicle. They have all had the same catchy slogan, “Life’s a journey, enjoy the ride.” Yes, Life is a journey - it’s a journey to the heart of God. Not one of us has arrived. None of us is a human being, we are all human becomings!
It gives me pleasure to commend this collection of Devotions to you because they offer spiritual companionship and nourishment for the journey towards wholeness. In the Devotion entitled “Direction: A simple revelation”, the writer sensed that God was saying to him, at a particularly low point, “I’m taking you to heaven and nothing else matters.”
This is the overwhelming assurance I have received of God’s gracious companionship after pondering on each of these Devotions and praying its succinct and arrow-like concluding Prayer.
I wish to thank Neil for inviting me to share in his journey. As we have companioned together, I have come to admire his openness and willingness to make himself vulnerable to a fellow traveller by exposing his hurts and fears, as well as his hopes and dreams. It has been a real source of encouragement to me to realize that we are faced with the same challenges and beset by the same weaknesses but that there is no need to lose heart because Christ is with us every step of the way. Yes, “Life’s a journey” and in company with Jesus and with one another, we can indeed, “enjoy the ride.”
May this collection of Devotions sustain you along the way”.
+PATRICK GLOVER
Bishop of the Free State,
South Africa
Week 1
“A voice cries out, “Proclaim a message……”” (v6)
I’ve been thinking of writing devotionals for ages, but as often happens with good intentions something always got in the way. Work, financial issues, family, a busy church life, and perhaps the really big issue of fear all seemed like good reasons for not doing this. However, during the last few years, one word has consistently leaped from the Bible and worship songs and prodded me. Every time I heard it, I thought, “Yes, I really must do that”. The word was “Proclaim”.
God has blessed my life and work as a writer, enabling me to write about people and help them to proclaim their own message in the media. Throughout my adult life, I`ve always been in the middle of writing something; a novel, a play, short story. I’ve taught the craft at colleges and universities. But I still didn’t seem able to do anything about proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ using the one skill I’m convinced God has given me.
I was reading my Bible early one morning, amidst some pretty heavyweight problems, and not being sure of the direction I should take. Isaiah 40 was my reading; “A voice cries out, “Proclaim a message!”. “What message shall I proclaim?” I ask. “Proclaim that all mankind are like grass; they last no longer than wild flowers”. A sobering thought! Thankfully, Isaiah also offers comfort and hope on either side of this warning about our short lives. He begins this chapter by “comforting” and “encouraging” us before telling us of the problems we face. But it`s in the final verses (29-31) that the real encouragement comes. “But those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed. They will rise on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not grow weak”.
It was a question put to me by a Christian friend that finally made me realise I must get on with these writings. “If you knew that Jesus was coming back in six months, what work would you be doing?” I knew instantly that this was the most important work I could do. And so as I begin, I’m relying on Isaiah’s Words of Hope and trusting that this is what God really wants me to do.
Prayer: Lord, we often find it difficult to know exactly what you want us to do. Please help us.
Neil has been a Christian for nearly thirty years and prior to joining Gatehouse Church spent all his Christian life at Christ Church with All Saints Blackpool, where amongst other things he was a leader in their Campaigner Ministries children and youth work.
Neil is an award-winning and widely published writer. Over twenty-five years he has written for a range of mainstream media including The Times, Sunday Times, Telegraph, Daily Mail, and Financial Mail on Sunday as well as Reuters and numerous magazines. How To Books published his first non-fiction title 100 Ways to Make Your Business a Success and he has recently added The Great British Property Scam.
He has also taught Creative Writing extensively for Blackpool and the Fylde College, The WEA, and Lancaster University and launched www.seasiderswrite.com a community-based creative writing project funded by Arts Council England. Writing as C.J.Neill he is also a published novelist.
You can find out more at www.neilbromage.com or drop him an email at neil@neilbromage.com