ANCF Devotional Blog
4 August 2026:
– Faith to move mountains –
It takes a radical type of faith to stand in the midst of despair and holdfast in the peace and joy that only comes through Jesus. This faith is described as mountain-moving, dead-raising, and life-giving. It heals the sick, love the unlovable, and overcomes the world. What faith is required against all odds, when everything and everyone fails, when all seems lost, this radical faith delivers.
Jesus loved this type of faith. When Lazarus had been in the ground for days, even then when the human mind and science declare hopelessness, the faith of a sister moved the hand of God. Today, Jesus still loves this type of faith. When men and women pray, believing, that God is greater than every circumstance, every condition, every diagnosis, every failing, every addiction, every bondage, every fear, every anxiety, and every insecurity, God reveals himself mightily.
We expect the miraculous, because His word tells us, that many are the afflictions of the righteous, but God delivers us out of them all. We expect the miraculous, because His word declares that He knows the plans he has for us, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give us a future and a hope. It is with this radical faith, that we stand, in the midst of the storm, humbly declaring, Jesus as Lord.
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29 July 2026:
– A patient spirit, an enduring faith –
The children of God are patient. They suffer long, and endure the temptation to give up and let go. They holdfast to the promises of God, and when they grow tired of trusting, they call on His name for grace in their time of need. This is an interesting distinction from the world, where the natural flesh desires swift fulfilment, and control over everything.
When Lazarus died, Jesus did not hurry, He did not become anxious, and He did not lose sight of God’s greater plan. In fact, so much so did Jesus display long-suffering, that those around him considered him careless or even foolish.
A wholehearted trust in God doesn’t look like the world. It looks foolish, yet in the heart of the believer, it is a sweet refinement that endures the most difficult news in perfect peace. Holdfast Christian, take a hold of the promises of God and let patience have its perfect work, that you may be complete and lacking nothing.
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21 July 2026:
– Only in the presence of God –
Jesus gave the commandment for the ten lepers to present themselves to the priest. And when they went their way they were healed. We could account it to many things, yet it was their faith that made them well. But there is an important distinction between faith in something, and faith in Jesus.
When we look at the lepers, their physical affliction had separated them from the people, from the temple, and from their families. They even stood afar off from Jesus himself. And crying out, in the presence of Jesus, and in the mercy of His goodness they walk alway healed. Yet only one comes back.
There are many who are healed in this life by the mercy of God. There are many who are made well in this life by the mercy of God.
But there are very few who come back, and fall at the feet of their saviour, because there is nowhere else to be but in the presence of their God.
We can have faith in the books that heal and the seminars that strengthen, yet only those who put their faith in Jesus, only those who seek the face of their God find the peace, the joy and the freedom in the presence of their King.
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14 July 2026:
– To obey is better than sacrifice –
The nature of mankind lends itself to find comfort in the outward appearance. We can so easily become religious in our conversations, our conduct, even our prayers. Naturally we cling to tick boxes and sacrifices that ease our conscience of the good works of true religion. We attend a study faithfully but forget to visit the widow. We use Christian rituals and language to connect with other believers, but hold hidden hate in our heart towards one another. We find comfort in the things we’ve abstained from, but backbite and complain about those we ought to love.
Jesus rebuked the Pharisees, stating they sacrificed various sacrifices, but passed over or rather, neglected judgement and the love of God. As Christians, we are commanded to love one another as Jesus loved us. As Christians, we are guided in scripture with heavenly wisdom, that to obey is better than sacrifice.
Let us not be whitened on the outside, cloaking wicked hearts. Let us not love in word, but not deed. Let us holdfast to the good news of Jesus, without false religion to comfort us. Let us love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our mind, and all our strength.
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8 July 2026:
– I Know but one thing –
When the Pharisees questioned the man, blind from birth whom Jesus healed, they sought to find fault. They pushed and prodded with questions, perplexed by what Jesus had done. From the outside, their words might’ve been considered right, “Give God the praise”, yet their hearts were not willing to be humbled and believe. They even go as far as to become so angry with the man for not answering their questions how they desired, that they belittle him and say, “you were born in yours sins and you want to teach us?”
On the other hand, the blind man, now seeing, had been humbled beyond recognition. He answered their questions in simplicity and truth, “I don’t know if he’s a sinner or not, but one thing I know, I was blind, but now I see.” This testimony is not a claim of self-righteousness, nor knowledge. Not a statement of piety, or a lifting of himself in wisdom. Rather, he lowers himself, humbled by the mercy of God, speaking only what he knows, Jesus changed me.
Christian, the apostle Paul said, “For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” Let us not be found refusing to be taught, judging those who claim to know nothing more than Jesus and His work. There is no knowledge richer, no understanding deeper, and no wisdom wider, than the work of Jesus who saved a wretch like me.
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1 July 2026:
– The Light of Life-
Jesus walked the earth, being the light of the world, and giving light to everyone who comes into the world. He walked in love, seeing who people were, what they were bound to. Yet being in the world, even the world He made, they didn’t know Him. And coming to His own people, they didn’t receive Him. They couldn’t see His heart, they couldn’t see His healing and they couldn’t see love. Although religiously righteous and respected by men, they couldn’t see Jesus for who He was.
On the contrary, the blind man, no longer blind, could see. So much so, that those who knew him were confused about his who he was and why he was now changed. There was a doubt and confusion about who he was from all of his own people. Much like Jesus, they did not know him. This is the power of darkness that holds men captive so much so that they hate the light and anything that it lights up.
The one who comes to Jesus and finds themselves made new are no longer known of the world. They can’t be. Because the world didn’t know Jesus, those who are in the world cannot know and see those who are now called the children of God. What manner of love has the Father bestowed on us that we would be worthy to be called such! When Jesus sees you, when Jesus changes you, it confounds the world. Let us shine our light in such a way, that when the world sees our lives and love, they can do no other thing but glorify God.
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24 June 2026:
– Through Jesus’ eyes –
When the disciples saw a man who was blind from birth, they immediately sought to understand who had sinned against God for such a circumstance to be received. They assumed that they could see beyond the circumstance and beyond the physical. Yet Jesus, in goodness and mercy declared the truth through the eyes of mercy. Neither this man nor his parents had sinned to bring this about. God desired to show himself strong and manifest his glory and light to a man who had never seen it, to a people who couldn’t understand it, and to a world who hated it.
Those who can’t see, for they themselves have been blinded by sin and the promised lies of the world are quickly deemed weak, pitiful, and unworthy. But in the eyes of God, as a father shows compassion on his children, so too does God on those who fear Him. When God looks upon the broken, the hurting and lonely, He has compassion and remembers their frame. Jesus told the people “be ye merciful as your Father in heaven is merciful”. Today, let us pray for the eyes of Christ, to see the souls around us as precious, to see the sin at the door as dangerous, and to shine the light of Jesus in every corner of our lives.
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17 June 2026:
– Despising the shame –
The Scribes and Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery and cast her into the midst of Jesus and the people. Wanting to tempt and find a reason to accuse Jesus, they point to the law, and claim that she ought to be stoned. There is a beautiful thing that occurs in this encounter that separates the wonderful spirit of Jesus from the nature and religiousness of humanity. Jesus kneels, and as though he did not hear them, begins to write with his finger in the ground.
In the Old Testament, when God gave Moses the two tablets of stone, they are described as being written with the finger of God. When the world and the law comes to accuse and bring about death, Jesus reminds those who have eyes to see, that all things were created by him and for him, and that outside of him and his mercy, there are none that can withstand the authority, the majesty, and the hand of God.
The woman, being cast in front of many, including Jesus may have been prepared to die, experiencing the shame that comes with sin. But again, there is one greater than the shame, one who despised it so much that he pressed on towards the cross to ensure such suffering to call the sinners home. And once all your accusers have left, and there is just you, your shame and Jesus, he speaks such merciful words, “Go and sin no more.”
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10 June 2026:
– Cross before the Crown –
When John and James asked Jesus to grant them to sit on His right and left hand, in His glory, Jesus looked beyond their words and challenged the desire of their hearts. He said to them, “You know not what you ask: can you drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”
Like all who come to Christ, there is a cost that must be counted, a vision which must be established, and a life that must be laid down. Although they walked with Jesus, they hadn’t yet seen the fullness and completion of His suffering. Not just the cross, but the willingness to be led like a lamb to the slaughter.
To the one who chooses to follow Jesus, there has to be a cross before a crown, a tomb before a resurrection, and a suffering before glory. To the one who endures knowing this, the apostle Peter writes, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”
Because after we have suffered a little, there is a faith that is perfected, established, strengthened and settled.
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1 June:
– Be Ye merciful –
The love of Jesus was a mysterious and confusing thing to witness and experience to the self-righteous. They would have wondered over and over how Jesus sat with the sinners, ate with the sinners and most baffling, touched the sinners. The Pharisees like many others were judging and condemning his every move. Yet the ones who had received and been touched by this love would have had a very different story. Their lives had been forever changed by the mercy and grace of God. The blind could now see, the lame could now walk, the sinner could be forgiven. And all of this, because of mercy.
When Simon saw who the woman at Jesus feet was, he would’ve felt a judgement that may be familiar to many. He doesn’t just throw into question ‘who’ the woman is, but ’what manner’ of woman she is. It was almost as thought he was thinking, you don’t know what she’s done, and you don’t know where I’ve seen her. The one who lives like this, forgets what they have done, and where they have been. Have you forgot what you have done, and where you have been?
Jesus thinks better things. He remembers the frame of man, he knows that they are but dust without the breath of life. He understands that the motions of sin will bind a person until they are forgiven and free. The message is two fold; judge not, for however you find yourself judging you will receive the same, and be merciful as your father in heaven is merciful, for the one who has been forgiven much, loves much.
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26 May 2026:
– A future Husband –
The alabaster box signified a great deal to the woman in Jesus time. Culturally it represented a part of their dowry, a gifting to their future husband, a token of their worth. It was a symbol of the hope one had to find security in another’s arms, and in their heart.
Not so different to what we would consider our hopes and dreams, or maybe the security we might find in a marriage, in a job, in an investment. Something that we were given that we have worked so hard to protect because of its worth to us…maybe even our very lives could be considered an ‘alabaster box’ of sorts.
But when the woman, weeping breaks this precious vessel and anoints the feet of Jesus, the disciples look on questioning and murmuring. Does she not know hope precious this is? Does she not realise what this will mean for her? How about the rest of her life? Couldn’t she have at least donated it to the poor? That would’ve been more ‘Christian’ per se, the right thing to do.
But for her, there is nothing left to hold on to, nothing more to protect. She herself has surrendered the most precious possession she has, her very future. You see, the Bible talks about a future wedding, one between a patient, loving and long suffering groom, and a spotless bride who endured to see him. This is Jesus and the church.
We all have an alabaster box, and we can hold it and wait for the ‘right time’ or the ‘right moment’ or even the ‘right thing’ but in the end, those who break their lives, surrender their dreams, give up on ‘their’ security at the feet of Jesus, are those who endure to meet their future husband, Jesus.
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20 May 2026:
– He is able –
There would have been little that was worse than being impotent or rather, helpless, in Jerusalem during Roman rule. From the blind to the paralysed, there was not much in the way of support for these ones. But we notice one thing in the pool of Bethesda, a congregation of the helpless, gathered, waiting for a moment of hope to be healed and move on. Not so different to today, where those who are sick in soul and spirit congregate one with another, waiting for something to change or a miracle to show itself before they can move on, never to be seen there again. But Jesus speaks differently. Jesus intervenes with the helpless. Jesus doesn’t wait for a blind man to see the way, or a crippled one to walk to him. He meets the sinner were they are and asks them, “Will you be made whole?” You don’t need to wait for the stirring. You don’t need to wait for one to carry you to the water. All you need is to cry out, “Yes Lord, make me whole.” And He who is faithful and just, is able.
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12 May 2026:
– A Perfect Work –
When Jesus healed the blind man in Bethsaida, He held his hand and took him out of the town. Away from his familiarity, away from the safety of what he knows. And when Jesus heals him, he still can’t seem to see clearly, in fact he sees men as trees walking. But Jesus being perfect in all of His ways, asks the man “do you see anything?” Such a powerful question… This is not so different to how Jesus leads us, by the hand, out of our comfort zone, and into the unknown. But how many Christians find themselves still unable to clearly see? Unable to see their pride, unable to see their nature, unable to see their blindness. How many have been asked the same question, but don’t know what they see, or where they stand. Christian, how can we claim to see the hidden, spiritual things, when we can’t even see the sin that so easily besets us? If today you find yourself stumbling, but you are unsure on what or how?…ask of Him! Cry out to the Lord who is faithful to complete, stablish, strengthen and settle you, that you may see clearly and you shall be well in your soul.
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4 May 2026:
– The God who makes all things new –
Nicodemus sought Jesus in a time when he could cloak himself by night. He left the darkness of the world to seek and enquire the light of the world, but still in safety. When Jesus spoke life to Nicodemus, He gave him a simple and profound truth…unless a man be born again, he CANNOT see the kingdom of God.
To most people, this statement would sound ludicrous, an impossible feat that turns the wisdom of men into nothing. But what of the law? Or what of good deeds? Surely there’s more than just, another birth? These are the thoughts of men and women who love both themselves and their lives.
On the other hand, there’s the broken, the contrite, the weak, the tired, the lonely, the ashamed. To these ones, the thought of being able to start over with new life is freedom. No more chains? No more addictions? No more fear and anxiety of the past and its strongholds? When a person comes to Jesus, through the deep dark of this world, He promises to make all things new. This is His will for His people and He is able.
Can you believe this?
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27 April 2026:
– The God who sees –
Jesus knew the woman at the well in a way that she couldn’t understand. He knew her marital status, he knew her past, and he knew her thirst. The woman on the other hand, did not know Him. Jesus said to her, if she knew who was speaking to her, she would have asked Him, and he would have given her living water. It’s a curious thing that Jesus, knowing the woman’s life, still spoke to her the way He did. “Go, call your husband…” He said, but she had none, married 5 times! and now living with someone not her husband. Never finding love and fulfillment.
In the book of Acts, Paul writes that God created every one within a period of time and a set location so that they should seek God and reach out to find him. In other words, God knows where and who we are. The Samaritan woman was no different. Jesus knew who she was, where she had been, and what she desired. He knew her hopes and her dreams, her fears and her failings. And He met her, in the midst of it all, so that she could reach for Him. Maybe she had been searching for Him for years, marrying in the hopes of saving herself. Often we find ourselves seeking amiss, hoping that we will be filled and have our desires quenched, but it’s not Jesus we want to be quenched with. We drink of the world, and for a time are satisfied, yet no sooner are we left parched and dry, searching for another Well. The scriptures say, “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart,” and “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.” If today Jesus sits beside you at the well, reach out, and ask Him to fill you, so that you may never thirst again.
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21 April 2026:
– Rich, young and in control –
When the young man came before Jesus he came running. Swiftly kneeling before the Lord and seeking what more he could do to inherit eternal life. He told Jesus that he had spent his life keeping the commandments of God from the days of his youth. But Jesus, loving him, wanted to give him more. Jesus wanted him to be complete, lacking nothing. To do this the young man was instructed to sell all that he had and give to the poor. Jesus told him that he will have treasure in heaven. But Jesus didn’t stop there, because it wasn’t just riches the young man had, it was life. Jesus continued by saying come, take up the cross, and follow Me. We may look at this account and think only about the rich in possessions, but how rich are we in life, in our passions, our dreams, our rights, our future. The cross was for men ready to die, not young law abiding citizens with their whole life ahead of them. The scriptures say “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” If we value our lives more than the words of eternal life, we will never take up our cross. If we hold to our possessions, and find security in our them, we will never be able to follow him. How rich is the one who surrenders all for the King of kings! How great is their treasure in heaven.
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15 April 2026:
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6 April 2026:
– Cast your care –
We care for so much. Our work, our families, our friends. The news we see, the rumours we’ve heard, the worries that arise. There is much in this world that can fill us with the concerns of life. The centurion who came to Jesus would have been no different. A leader who managed people, conflict. A man who managed a household, with workers. A Roman who managed an entire nation, captive and oppressed. There was much to worry about, and much to concern himself with. Yet when faced with life and all its cares and challenges-he still helped build the place of prayer and worship. The story of the centurion is a great example of “cast your cares on Him, because he cares for you.” No need to be anxious and worry about the servant he cared for, but only to seek Jesus. There wasn’t pride in his position to fix the problem himself, but humility to seek Jesus. There wasn’t room for doubt in who he was and who he wasn’t, but only faith to seek Jesus. When one seeks Jesus like this, with nothing else taking place, there is no faith found that can rival it in all the world.
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30 March 2026:
– The Sycamore Dresser –
Zacheaus was a seeker. Someone who wanted to see who Jesus was and what he was about. Climbing a sycamore tree to look over the crowd meant that he could get the best view without being too noticeable. Yet when Jesus passed by, not only did he notice Zaccheus, he quickly urged him to come down to stay in his house. Zaccheus gladly receives Christ in his home and immediately states he will give half his goods to the poor, and payback those he’s defrauded fourfold. It was almost as though something had been working in Zaccheus before this interaction even took place. Perhaps the guilt of his wrongdoings? The shame of his life as a tax collector? Maybe even an insecurity about his height? But when faced with the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, he is made glad and and salvation enters his home. Much like the sycamore fig tree, that he himself may have climbed, requires a dresser or carer to create a sharp, precise cut to become sweet and properly ripen, Zaccheus too was cut. Cut to the core of his being, through the tough bitter skin. To become sweet and properly ripen, let the dresser of the sycamore have his way, even if it hurts.
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24 March 2026:
– Cutting through the noise –
Before Jesus heard the desperate plea of a father wanting to save his son, he heard the Scribes arguing with His disciples. There is no record about what was being disputed. Yet, How often do we find ourselves caught up, arguing and questioning, only to neglect the very present need right before us? The father whose son had an unclean spirit had asked the disciples to cast it out, but they were not able. Jesus had given them authority to do this very thing, yet somehow they could not. It can often be more comforting for us to quarrel about the mysteries, and the theological concepts that we read about, but how often do we neglect faith, the True Faith and the plea of the desperate, to save another, or maybe even ourselves? Jesus has given us the same authority that raised Him from the dead, to overcome all things, yet with all this, they had no faith. Let our lives reflect a faith of power and love, rather than that of the quarrelling scribes and disciples.
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