Wednesday 23 May 2012

Wednesday Reading: John 5:24-29

Key Verse: John 5:26
26  For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;

Devotion:
As I study to bring God’s Word to our teenagers I always come across verses that I want to be able to include in devotions – this being one of them. But if I were to bring every verse that I have wanted to I would probably have written a year’s worth of devotions ahead of time! God’s Word is so full of good news and blessings that I will have not scratched the surface by the time I have done a few more years of this.

When we look back on God’s Word as the disciples have written it down we may wonder how they did not immediately know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He is the Messiah which they had been waiting for. You may also argue that they did see this, but the more that we read the more that we find out that there were many doubts going round at this time still. The leaders of the Jews were struggling to get Jesus to openly admit something like this so that they could charge Him with blasphemy – and yet even when He said these words many would still doubt!

We serve a living God. One who has always existed and continues to exist outside this realm of time that we are held within. Jesus, as a man, was trapped within this realm of time as well, but He certainly was not trapped spiritually like we may think we are. The more we try to figure out how God can exist outside of time the more of a stumbling block we build up for ourselves. Instead of trying to figure God out, why can we not just accept that we do serve a living God who is more than we can ever dream of? Why can we not just accept the truth that Christ has been trying to get into our heads from the beginning?

Jesus Christ was given all authority to do what He did because of who He is. He, as a man, fully understood that God the Father had given Him authority and power over everything. That knowledge is what made Him able to do everything that He was able to as a man. Whilst the disciples could no more do anything than we can, they were given the authority by Christ to do so much more; but it was not just the belief but the power of God working through them that made it possible. Our living God gives us the power to take His Word out and tell others of this truth. If we went out and tried to convince people without believing and trusting in Him, we would end up looking every bit as silly as scientists who make assumptions that turn out to be false. God’s Word is the truth and we need to depend on God to allow us to go forward with this truth and share it with others.

Points to Ponder:
Have you ever “built up a story” that was not true?

Are you relying on God’s Truth?