14th-20th April 2025

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How are you doing? When people ask you that, do they really want to know? But this week, I want us to consider how we are doing in our walk with the Lord. Maybe you feel that your Christian life is going quite well, or maybe you feel you are really struggling. Either way, it is good to take stock and make necessary changes. 

The topics we are going to consider give us strength and grace from God so that He can take us to a place of peace and usefulness.  We often ignore the health of our souls, even though we would not ignore physical worrying symptoms (well, we may ignore them!).  Maybe you know that all is not well and you feel far away from the Lord. Maybe there are some changes to be made. The first step is to have a spiritual check-up – we can measure ourselves against standards set in Scripture by our Creator (who alone knows what genuine health looks like). 

Let God search your heart this week – it may hurt a bit, but the results will be worth the discomfort. Probably you will be encouraged as you find that some aspects of your spiritual life are quite healthy, whilst there may also be a few areas of concern. The Holy Spirit wants to make us more like Jesus, so anything good is a result of His gracious work. Are we truly walking with God as we ought? In today’s culture, we are encouraged to look inward, but usually the mantra is “If it feels good, do it.” Here we are going to examine ourselves in the light of the truths revealed in God’s Word. Indeed, this examination is commanded in Scripture: “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” -  Psalm 139:23-24. You will find failures, but don’t let Satan overwhelm you with those. Keep focussing on God and be determined to grow. Act on what you find. 

[With thanks to David McKay and his book “A spiritual checkup for a healthy life with Christ” (Crown and Covenant 2025).]

Written by Belinda Millar

MONDAY

“I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.” Psalm 116:1

“We will be at home with the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 5:8

“There will be no … more pain.” Revelation 21:4

We start with the biggest issue of all – loving the Lord. Do we love Him because He saved us? Do we know salvation from our sins’ just deserts – eternal death? Do we truly believe in Jesus’ death to pay the price for our sin? He died because He loved us, to bring us into a loving relationship with Himself and to promise that we will go to heaven when we die. We should love Him because He first loved us. And if we don’t, we should ask if we have truly turned to Him. We should also love Him because of all He provides for us – He knows our needs and gives us good gifts. We should delight to receive His gifts. Do we also love Him when He disciplines us, knowing it is for our spiritual good? Do we still love Him when He allows trials (God never promises us an easy life!). We should be looking forward to glory, to life in heaven. That’s what should keep us going through the difficulties of life. Our hope is certain because Jesus bought it for us. We will be with God; we will be without sin and there will be no more pain. Heaven will be a wonderful place. Be excited!

Heavenly Father, we want to thank You so much for loving us enough to send Jesus to die for our sins. Thank You that it’s not about trying harder, because our sin is already dealt with. Thank You, too, for all the good things You give us. Thank You even for difficult times which we know will come and are for our good. Help us especially in those times to glorify You. Thank You most of all for the promise of heaven, when we shall be with You, we shall be like You and there will be no more pain. We worship You. Help us to love You more. Amen.

TUESDAY

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” 2 Timothy 3:16

“Oh how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.” Psalm 119:97

The Word of God changes people as the Holy Spirit brings its message home to our hearts. We are to be shaped by God’s revelation of Himself, and it is not possible to live a healthy Christian life without earnest, regular engagement with Scripture. It is the book God has given us Himself to teach us. We can only grow as Christians by good food, and God has provided this for us. The Bible is God’s words: it changes us in conversion and in making us more like God. Our minds are also transformed as we read it. We should read it eagerly, asking God to help us understand, and with humility, as we seek to find out what God would say to us. And then we are to obey.

Lord God, thank You that You have given us a book to teach us about Yourself and about how we should be. Help us long to read it more so that we may learn and hear what You would teach us. And so change us that we may glorify You. Amen.

WEDNESDAY

“Whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” 

1 John 2:6

“As he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”” 1 Peter 1:15-16

“O you who love the Lord, hate evil!” Psalm 97:10

As God’s children, we are to become more like Him as the Holy Spirit restores us. Jesus showed us exactly what that means. Jesus was fully human as well as fully God and went through everything that we do. Yet He did not sin. He always conformed to God’s law. God is holy and we are called to be so too. Sometimes we will look at our lives and be depressed at how little godliness we show but, as Christians, we should truly long to be more like Jesus. And, of course, we learn how we can do that by reading the Bible. We should grieve over sin – the evil in the world – but also our personal sin that remains in our hearts. Any thought, word or action that is not in keeping with the Word of God is breaking God’s law and we should not rest content about it. We should never ignore, condone or even celebrate sin, as happens so often in the world. Sin is serious. We won’t always succeed in being holy, but it is our heart attitude that is important. We should long for God to transform us bit by bit to be more like Him. We should obey God because we love Him (although of course obedience in and of itself does not prove we love Him). Yet don’t despair – Satan would love us to give up. Seek forgiveness and be thankful that one day we will be sinless.

Lord God, I know that I let You down so often, but I ask again for a heart that loves You and loves holiness. May I know how much You hate sin, may I long to be transformed to be more like Jesus and may I want to live in obedience to You out of love for You. Amen.

THURSDAY

“In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Philippians 4:6

We build relationships by talking, so we should want to talk to the Lord, to chat with our Heavenly Father. How satisfied are you with your prayer life? Prayer is not about techniques or twisting God’s arm. Prayer is a precious blessing and a powerful spiritual weapon, and yet it can be very difficult. God is sovereign and powerful and so can answer our prayers. Nothing we can ask is too great for Him if it is in accordance with His will and character. And He is gracious – He will give us all we need. He wants to answer us. We need His provision – which we can often forget if life seems like it is going well. We pray in the form of adoration, confession, thanksgiving and also asking. God doesn’t always give us what we want, because He knows what is best for us better than we do! Christ-centred prayer is prayer that is according to His nature and purpose. Some things we know are what He wants – people to be saved, His church to grow (for example). But we don’t know if He wants to heal a specific person. We always need to submit to God’s sovereign will. A healthy prayer life includes confession and trusting Him to provide all we need in the way He wants. We need the Holy Spirit to guide us. And we must remember to be thankful.

Thank You, Lord, that You want to talk to me and You want to hear me talk to You. Help me to pray more and help me to pray according to Your will. Thank You that we can come to You through Jesus. Amen.

FRIDAY

“Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another.” Hebrews 10:24-25

Praise acknowledges God’s greatness with our voices and hearts, and we are commanded to do so publicly. Corporate worship is vital to spiritual health and should reflect that which will take place in heaven. What an amazing privilege! We worship God as He is revealed in Scripture as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, because He is worthy of our worship, because He commands it and because we were created to do so. It feeds our heaven worship, God conveys strength and blessing. Of course, we can worship privately and also we can honour God with our lips whilst our hearts are far from Him, but Christians should want to attend public worship. If we don’t delight in worship, public and private, we should ask ourselves why. We come depending on Christ, knowing we don’t deserve access to Him, and we should come with joy.

Heavenly Father, thank You so much that we can come together with other believers to praise and worship You. You are worthy of our praise and we want to honour You. May it be a joy to us week by week to join with others to acknowledge Your greatness and our dependence on You. Amen.

SATURDAY 

“Encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. … Be at peace among yourselves.  … Encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11, 13-15

Our society has become incredibly individualistic and, as a result, we have weaker social bonds and give less attention to family and community life. Yet all the descriptions of the people of God in Scripture are of a community. We should be united to each other and love and serve each other. The Church is not just a social club but a community established by God, people united with Christ through faith. And, therefore, we should be united to each other. We are one body (whether we like it or not!). We are commanded to love each other, in self-giving, seeking each other’s best. This is to be so obvious that outsiders will know we are Christ’s by the love we have for other Christians. Living a solitary Christian life is not an option. Each of us must deliberately consider each other’s needs. This also means we must be willing to receive ministry from other Christians – that’s often harder. 

Thank You, Father, for putting us in a community in which we can love and serve others and also be served by them. Help us to be generous with our love to bless each other. But help us, too, to receive love and blessing from others. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

SUNDAY

“On account of these the wrath of God is coming.” Colossians 3:6

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” Matthew 28:19

“Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.” Romans 12:6

There are two other truths I don’t want to leave out! We should long for the unconverted to be saved, whether they are respectable or wicked in the eyes of the world. All unbelievers face eternal punishment, which will be terrible. It’s what we all deserve but, praise God, there is a way out. Jesus had compassion on the lost, which is how He described people if they didn’t believe in Him. Second, we should use the gifts God has given each of us to serve others in the church. Perhaps we need help to identify our own gifts! We should want to be involved in this way. God gives us each different gifts, through the Holy Spirit (and these are listed in various places in the Bible!). No gift is “better” than another, and we should gratefully use the ones we have been given – both to bless the church and to show just a little of what heaven will be like.

Thank You, Jesus, that You are the sinner’s hope – that in You we are saved from our sin. Help us to reach out to those who don’t know You and to tell them about You. Help us to use the gifts You have given us to bless others and glorify You. We praise You, Lord, that You want to use us in Your purposes, though we let You down so often. Amen.