January 9: John 18 15-27
Key Verse: John 18 17
Then the servant girl who kept the door said to Peter, “You are not also one of this Man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.”
Devotion:
How many times a day do you deny something just to stay out of trouble? I know that when I would get into trouble at school I would try and convince others that I had nothing to do with it... but somehow they were able to see right through me! Or how many times have you tried to get yourself out of trouble by telling a lie or two? How many times have you had to continue with that lie just to try and give yourself some credibility?
One thing is for sure, when you do start to lie you are going to try and bury the lies is with even more lies. But the more you lie, the worse a situation you will be in and when the dawn light comes, you will eventually be found out! When someone does see the light, all of those lies will come crashing down on you and flatten you!
Peter saw what Jesus was going through. He saw the trouble Jesus was in. He wanted to be with Him, but somehow could just not bring himself to take up his position by Christ's side. He could not bring himself to admit he was a Christian because he feared he would have to go through what Christ was going through. He had gone weak at the knees. By the time the cock crowed, he had denied Jesus three times, just as Jesus had predicted. At that moment Peter knew exactly what he had done, he knew Christ knew what he had done and his whole world must have seemed like it came crashing down around his ears.
All this time as Peter was standing back and telling lies about his relationship with Christ, Christ was showing His love towards all the people who were with Him. Even though people were denying Him, falsely accusing Him, humiliating Him and even physically hitting Him, He continued to tell the truth, show His love, show His concern and admit to loving and serving God. We may change our love for God according to how we feel, according to our situation and according to the time of the week, but Christ's love for us has never and will never change!
Points to Ponder:
Do you ever hide your true feelings to others just to be cool?
Do you hide your love for Christ during the week?
January 8: Matthew 25 20-23
Key Verse: Matthew 25 21
His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
Devotion:
What sort of a person do you think you are? What sort of a person do you think your boss or your parents think you are? Do the two match up or are they very different? We don’t always give the same picture to our parents as we do to our boss or employers, and visa versa.
This parable gives an insight into the duty of an employee in a way which makes us think a bit more about what we should or should not be doing for God. God should not have to ask us to do things all the time and He should not have to describe what is required from us in exacting details. God has commissioned us to work for Him but He should not have to petition us to carry that work out; we have enough instruction and encouragement written down in our bibles to make sure we know God would like us all to do what we can to forward the Gospel message.
God is pleased with any and all work we do. He does see every bit of work we do or do not do for Him; we should not start to do things just because we think He is watching but rather continue to be faithful and conscientious about the work we do not minding whether God is watching our every step. In this parable each person knew the master would not be watching but had a pretty good idea he would return at some stage to see what had happened.
We do not know when Christ is going to return but that should not dictate whether we go out and do our work for Him or not. Being faithful means doing the work conscientiously no matter when or if Christ is returning. We should not count our reward based on how much work we think we have done either because that is not being faithful, that is simply aiming for as much gain as we can rather than doing what we can for an unknown reward.
Points to Ponder:
Why do you work, be it at school or employed?
Are you doing anything for Christ?
January 7: 1 Corinthians 12 20-26
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 12 22
No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary.
Devotion:
Do you have a prayer list? I mean one actually written out... One that can be kept with your Bible... How many times have you prayed and forgotten something or someone off your list? When Christ prayed for us whilst on earth it was not just for the strong people who stood up and proclaimed His word but also for the weak people and those who still struggled with understanding Him.
Prayer is not just something that you do when you find yourself in a spot of bother. It is not just something to do to appease God. It is not something to do when your friends get in trouble... Prayer is a personal link between you and God. A personal phone call if you like. As Christians we share a love for each other as well as a love for God. That love encompasses many facets in life; not just the love between two people, but the brotherly love between Christians, the care for others, the willingness to forgive, the ability to help, the ability to just be there for someone... The love should not stop when we are away from people, but should continue behind their backs as well. Praying for them when you are away from them will give you comfort as well as the knowledge that Christ is looking out for them whilst you are away from them.
There is no way that we can spread ourselves between all our friends and family, but God can. So long as we continue asking Him to continually be with and look after people when we are not with them, He is Just and Faithful to continue doing that for us.
Christ's wish is clearly given in His Word; that we may all be together with Him in heaven just as a body needs every part, so He wants us to be a whole body in heaven. His love for us runs deeper that we can imagine. Don’t leave people out because you think they are weak or because you think they don’t measure up, ask God who He wants.
Points to Ponder:
what part of the body would you describe yourself as?
God wants a whole and complete body, so you are important!
January 6: Psalms 12 1-8
Key Verse: Psalms 12 6
The words of the Lord are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times.
Devotion:
The Christmas holiday may well be a time when you have had estranged grand-parents, cousins, aunts & uncles and other people over for a visit or even to stay over. Maybe you have seen people you have not seen before, or for a very long time. But because you have been placed together over a great holiday and happy time, you have mixed with them and tried to have a good time. So why is it so hard to go out and tell people about the wonderful gift Christ gave to us by coming to be born as a human... After all, we were celebrating His birthday!
We don't like rejection. We don't like being put down. Maybe we don't like arguments. Maybe we don't think we know enough about the subject. There are so many things we will say so we do not have to tell our friends and relatives about Christ, but then again there are so many things we can do that will show them we have a wonderful life without even having to say anything.
I was amazed at the impact we have as Christians when I visited family a few years ago. I know they do not say grace, but because my parents and I were there (in the minority I must say) and they knew we say grace, everyone was told to wait until grace was said. A simple gesture for something we sometimes take for granted can make a big difference. It can be that gesture which sparks a question from someone which in turn will lead to a conversation. It may be that gesture which makes them think about God and allows them to find out the truth. The truth that is God’s Word.
Don't forget Christ was born as a human and has an insight into our lives we often forget about. He took many opportunities to speak to people about God and show them the truth. Not all of them were Him getting up and preaching. But every one of them was backed up by Him saying God is the one and only God in one way or another. People know the truth when it is spoken, but so many choose not to believe in it. Don't be discouraged by that, encourage them... open up God’s Word.
Points to Ponder:
Did you meet anyone new this holiday?
Do they know you are a Christian now?
January 5: Psalms 30 8-10
Key Verse: Psalms 30 9
What profit is there in my blood, When I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth?
Devotion:
There is no way we can ever say that death is profitable for us; you could now be arguing that death releases us from this earth and gives us eternal life… But for as long as we are on this earth we have potential in our lives through which we can reach out to other people and share God’s love and His gift to us all. As long as we are alive on earth we also have the ability to praise God each moment we are alive; people around us will see the praise we lift up to Him and begin to wonder why, opening up a potential way we can encourage them to find out more about God.
If we do not acknowledge Christ and do not bring Him back into our lives we will not be getting to spend eternity with Him either. That means death has absolutely no gain for us whatsoever! At least when we do believe in Him we can look forward to our lives in Heaven with God. The whole earth does praise Him; we can look around us at the majestic world and realise this all exists because of a wonderful and loving God who was able to create this all.
Don’t get ideas that God needs us so that He may exist as is portrayed by some people or religions. God created us because He wanted to, not because He needed to. God wants us to enjoy our lives on earth. This world He created is a wonderful place to live, one where we are able to thrive when we live right.
But we do need His help in order to survive. There is enough evil in the world to turn us away from the right paths and sink us into the pit without us realising what is going on. We need His love and support to encourage us in those right paths to give us a better life and to allow us to share these lives with others as we live with Him. He has not left us and will never leave us when we invite Him back into our lives!
Points to Ponder:
What are you looking forward to this year?
Are you including God in every step forward?