April 14: Acts 1 1-5
Key Verse: Acts 1 3
After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
Devotion:
These first verses are quite important but are often overlooked as in many of the letters written by the Apostles. Why are they important? Because they give a consistent link between different letters written and gives us more of a chance at getting the timeline recognised and understood. The languages used have changed so much over the ages the original scripts have to be read by scholars who do understand the ancient ways of talking. Much like this generation looking at Shakespeare's writings – the words may be beautiful and full of meaning, but it takes study to get to the true meanings behind the words.
Luke was very well educated and I find his writings fascinating to read because they are so factual and matter of fact at times, unlike John’s writings which are so full of love, compassion and feelings. For Luke to write saying Jesus had given them many convincing proofs must mean they were very convincing even though we do not hear about all of them in our bibles. Sometimes we just have to take someone else’s words and believe them for what they are!
So many people try to argue about how Jesus was simply a prophet or a priest and yet the words written by the Apostles and corroborated by others prove otherwise; we have a Saviour in Jesus Christ who came down to earth to live amongst us as a human being so He could take on the punishment for the sins of the world once and for all – a fact which was not fully understood until after it had happened and after it was explained once again to the disciples.
God then sent the Holy Spirit to be amongst us and in us so we could further understand what He wants in our lives. The only thing is we have to listen! Something which does has proved to be a ‘difficult’ thing for humans to do – the past few weeks has shown us how many people think they know better and want to do things their own way instead of following what is right!
Points to Ponder:
Are you a good listener?
Do you obey what you hear?
April 13: Matthew 28 11-15
Key Verse: Matthew 28 12
When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money
Devotion:
As we rest up after all the rush of the Easter celebrations, with a big difference this year with us all being isolated, we can begin to reflect on what was happening behind the scenes. But we have to be very aware there are going to be people who are not telling us the truth and it is our own task to find out what is the truth and what is not.
Was the death, burial and resurrection of Christ really true? Well, if we take a look at our legal system and how we do manage to get to the truth after a while, we can take great comfort in knowing society is doing its best to make sure the truth is what comes out in the end. There have been enough scandals around the world where governments and powerful people have tried to cover up a lie – only to be found out and the truth exposed; all because mankind is quite tenacious in our endeavour to find the truth!
The story of Jesus death is recorded in history, both Christian history and Non-Christian history. So it happened! What about the resurrection? All the disciples and followers of Christ gave an account of what happened and they all were in agreement (within normal human differences.) These people could have all got together secretly and agreed to tell the same story – this is something which happens all the time in society. But they were faced with ridicule, punishment, imprisonment and even death; throughout this all, their story did not waver or change – a very different picture to what happens when people try to cover up the truth!
So I am persuaded this is all true and has been recorded in manuscripts all over the place for us to remember what actually happened. I’m sure we are going to hear all sorts of stories about what caused this virus – we have had a lot of strange stories already – but we will have to sift through all the stories to find the truth in the longer term. Right now, believe what you know is true and keep on going!
Points to Ponder:
What is the most ridiculous story you have heard about the virus?
Will you read over the Easter story again in your bible and find the truth?
April 12: Matthew 28 1-10
Key Verse: Matthew 28 6
He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.
Devotion:
Have you ever wanted to take the punishment for someone else’s misgivings? Have you ever wanted to take on their sickness so they can live? These are feelings we have for people we love, or at least they are the feelings I have for people I love! But let us remember something – these are the type of feelings Jesus had for you and me, just because He loves us so much!
When I was pondering on what verses to use for this devotion, I came across a scribble in my old bible (now over 20 years old) and it struck me; I don’t have to choose anything other than the obvious, but the words I put together around these verses are what can make a difference to you! I can imagine the joy Jesus had when He was able to break free from the tomb and rise up in His new glorious form to accomplish what we thought was not possible – just because He loves us.
Can you imagine the joy the two Mary’s had when they saw Jesus was alive! How much more joy did Jesus have to be able to make this happen? How much more joy we get from something we are able to do which brings joy to someone else! No, it’s not selfish when you focus on the joy you are given them and the joy it spreads to all around you; it’s only selfish if you are doing something just so you can get a kick out of it and not for the joy of the other people involved – it’s hard for me to imagine people can be like that, but they are…
Jesus wanted to spread the joy to all the disciples! I’m sure He could feel how sad they had become because they thought it had all come to an end – but it was only the beginning! This was what God had been waiting for so people would not have to feel like they had to do things just to be safe. I really want others to realise just how important this love is…
So what were the scribbles in my bible!?!?!
Lord, it should be me…
“No it can’t be… I love you...”
Points to Ponder:
What have you done for love?
Are you willing to spread the Good News today?
April 11: Matthew 27 45-46
Key Verse: Matthew 27 45
From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land.
Devotion:
I hear many people asking the questions: “where is God?”, “why is He doing nothing?”, “how can He just sit and watch?”… I do struggle to find the right answers to tell people because each of us think of things in different ways – but the question needs to be answered, not by us but by God through the Holy Spirit. Don’t try to figure things out in your own mind because we cannot! Our minds are not strong enough to figure out things like this and certainly not strong enough to carry the burden which come along with this all!
When Jesus was on the cross and was about to die, a darkness spread all over the land. This was not God closing His eyes so He would not have to watch His Son die on the cross – God the Father never left His side during all of this! I believe it was so the world would not have to watch this moment – a moment we could not comprehend or come to terms with. Jesus’ reaction was to call out and ask God why He had forsaken Him. This was the human side of Jesus calling out to God because He physically felt so left out of everything at that point.
We do feel like we are left alone to struggle by ourselves. We do feel like we are going mad indoors by ourselves. We do feel like God has forsaken us too at times! But one thing I learned when I was in hospital last year was that God never leaves your side. Even when friends and family are not there by your side, even when you do feel so very isolated, God is there with you. Maybe He does not want the world to see each other at their lowest points. Maybe He wants us to think seriously about why Jesus went to the cross!
It really is beyond our comprehension how this can all be happening – but remember this. No matter how bad things get according to you, God is always going to be with you every step of the way and in every moment of our isolation! The lights may go out, the cities may grow eerily quiet, but God is right there by your side and wrapping His arms around you – we just cannot see it because of our grief we are going through!
Points to Ponder:
How are you doing. No, really, how are you doing?
Please remember God is with you every moment of every day!
April 10: Romans 12 9-13
Key Verse: Romans 12 13
Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Devotion:
When someone lays down a list of thing you should be doing, we find it hard to agree to them without question… just because it is a list in writing! At least that is how I run! But I’m sure I’m not alone in my weird thinking like this – we just have to look deeper into what is right, righteous and proper to do. We can go overboard and uphold everything righteous and say we should never mix with others because they are not righteous etc., but that is totally wrong! We do not have the right to judge anyone and hence should only look into what we are doing wrong when compared to Christ’s will in our lives.
I say Christ’s will and not His law because each of us has a different path to follow – God has designed us different from our neighbours and different from our family members. Each of us is unique in the way we are and so we need different ways to follow to get the best out of us. But these are the common goals we should all be looking forward to doing in our lives.
If we start to think about others more than ourselves, we will soon lose site of the failing we think we have and try to uphold and build up those around us; we lose focus on our shortcomings and focus on the light Christ is bringing into the world around us. In times of lock-down and physical restrictions we need to think of new ways in which we can accomplish these goals. Somehow they seemed a whole lot easier when we were able to move around!
The last verse in our passage ends in “Practice hospitality.” Well, we can do this in new ways, we can reach out to others and we can invite them in – it does not have to be physical locations! Think about the disciple Paul. He went out all over the place to reach out to people – but he could not be in different places at the same time. So he wrote letters to people and to churches so they could feel more involved with what he was doing. We now have the Internet (with all its failings) which can be used for good and can be used to reach out to people. I have been writing these devotions for about 15 years and using the Internet to share them. Spread the love!
Points to Ponder:
How do you use the Internet?
Will you reach out to someone in a different way today?