April 29: Romans 8 12-17
Key Verse: Romans 8 13
For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Devotion:
When we realise Christ has saved us from our sins we are forgiven once and for all! We may find we do not do everything according to how we think a Christians should live, we may find we keep getting things wrong and mess up time and time again, but we should never forget Christ has paid for our sins totally and wholly and forever!
So does that mean that when we sin repeatedly we are not actually saved but living a lie? Far from it! It means we are human and we have fallen short of the mark once again. Our mortal bodies and our old sinful lives may well lead us into many wrong doings and influence the way we do things each and every day, but we are not under the power of sin any more. It is a choice we are actively making and one which may well be damaging our lives and our walks with Christ.
We don’t really know the power of sin until we give in to it and realise how far we have fallen. Whilst we are giving in to it we are living a lie and actively trying to persuade ourselves we are better than it or stronger than it. That is the evil ones ways and how he tries to break us from our relationship with Christ. But my scripture tells me that Christ Himself said that nothing could ever take us away from God once we have been redeemed by Him.
Turning our backs on our old lives may be difficult and may seem like an uphill battle we can see no end to, but that is just the way we see it. Christ has not destroyed our sinful bodies and He has not destroyed our mortal bodies. What He has done is to release us from the power of sin over us and give us back the choice to no longer sin. Whilst we are under the power of sin we think we are all OK and nothing can harm us… Sin will destroy our relationship with God but it will not pluck us out of His hands. Remember that!
Points to Ponder:
What is so great about living a lie?
Did Christ make you to live a lie?
April 28: Luke 15 4-7
Key Verse: Luke 15 4
What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?
Devotion:
Jesus did not have a problem with coming up with things to say about God and about the ways of God, especially when in front of who did not want to believe. It was not so much that He knew everything because He was the Christ but that He depended on the Holy Spirit for His guidance in everything that allowed Him to be such a witness. God alone is the one who knows what each person needs to hear in order to get to know Him and so we need to know what God knows in order to best serve Him.
We cannot go on any quest or read all the books in the world in order to know what people think or what they need; that is the providence of God. But what we can do is to listen to Him when we are confronted by situations where we do not know what to do. That way we have a better chance at getting it right. Jesus knew this and listened to His Father at all times, giving us the guidance we need to serve Him better.
Listening to God is not the easiest thing to do when we have so much noise around us from the world. If we wait until things get too noisy and then try to listen we are going to find it impossible to hear God, but if we start when the world is quiet we will be able to pick up on His voice. Once we get used to the sound of His voice we will be able to hear it when the world is noisy! Draw closer to God when the time is right and He will stay close to you when the world is beating at your door.
So when you find time alone, don’t go out and find the world, go out and find God through His Spirit. Spend time alone with God instead of being crowded by all that is in the world. Stop trying to fill your life, your mind and your eyes and ears with the world because the only reward you will find is the world. Instead open up your life to Christ through His Word. Open up your eyes and ears to what God has given to us and fill your life with Him. Open up your heart and soul to God through His Spirit so we can know Him better.
Points to Ponder:
Are you always seeking the noise?
How often do you seek God?
April 27: John 10 40-42
Key Verse: John 10 41
Then many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.”
Devotion:
What was it that made these people beyond the Jordan believe in Christ? They saw what John was doing, they listened to what John said and they built up their faith on a different way of being instead of on watching miracles and hearing Christ speak. John was not the Christ. He baptised by water as a sign of what people should do. People believed because they understood what he was saying and because they knew their scriptures.
Today we read our bibles and struggle to come to terms with some of the things held between the covers. We put our faith and trust in something unseen and yet we know it is true. How do we know it is true? Because it agrees with what we read and with what the Holy Spirit teaches each one of us from the inside. God does not have to perform miracle after miracle to get people to believe the truth; He opens up our minds to the truth so we can accept it and allow our lives to be built up around that truth.
I know my bible has got mistakes in it. This is because it is written down by people, translated by people, taught by people and I am a person as well. This does not make it untrue. This should allow me to accept the truth more easily as I find out my own weaknesses and find out the strengths of our God. God’s Word is the truth, but sometimes it takes more than just reading to find out that truth!
Putting your trust in something you cannot see or in something you know if flawed can be very difficult. But when you look around and see the chaos and brokenness that surrounds us we should be able to move toward the greater good. Following Christ is my goal. I get it wrong and I make mistakes, but I still press forward toward His high calling in my life because I know God!
Points to Ponder:
Do you struggle in your belief?
Will you trust more in Christ this year?
April 26: John 10 11-16
Key Verse: John 10 12
But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.
Devotion:
Whenever I read this passage it makes me think of a young David looking after his father’s sheep. We have accounts of some of the things he had to protect the flock from and how he was able to protect them despite being a young lad at the time. So when Jesus declares Himself as the Good Shepherd I have a picture of someone who is willing to go that extra mile to make sure His sheep are fully protected at all times.
Just knowing we have a God who is willing to protect us from all evil and all peril if we are willing to have Him as our shepherd is something very special. I know how difficult life can get and I know some of the danger we all have to face at times, and I also know that placing my life in God’s hands is right and works as well! He is listening out for us and hears us when we call. He does what is required to make sure we come out rejoicing in being able to lift His name up in glory.
When we hire in someone to do a job for us who we do not know, we always have a sense of doubt because we are never absolutely sure that they will be able to do the job properly. This is not the case with our God because we have more than enough proof He is able to do all things; but taking the step to place ourselves firmly in His faithful arms can be daunting at first. I’m not going to water this down by saying that we may not get what we ask for because we will get what we ask for when we ask properly!
Don’t go asking for something impossible from God! God is just and will uphold the law so don’t go asking Him to break His own laws! God loves each one of us so don’t go asking Him to destroy something or someone who is able to be saved. Be faithful. Be courageous. Place yourself firmly in His grip and await a positive response. He is always here…
Points to Ponder:
When do you doubt the most?
Are you trusting Christ?
April 25: Ephesians 6 5-8
Key Verse: Ephesians 6 6
not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
Devotion:
How many times have you jumped into action when your boss or teacher watches you but sit and do nothing when they are not watching? I must have been very lazy at school because I can remember many times when I got caught out thinking that my teacher was not watching! There is a very big difference between pretending to do the work to try and pacify your boss or teacher and actually doing the work!
There are many of us who have gone out of our way to try and make sure that the people in charge see us when we rush round and do things and run away from the work when they are not in view. If you were a businessman and you did not do any work until your customers were watching you, you would probably fail from the beginning. God does not want us to sit around doing nothing until we think He is watching! God watches all the time and continues to see when we are slacking or when we go out of our way to help others.
When we wish to do the will of God we need to be sure we are willing to be His servants; in other words we should be willing to be servants to Him and obey Him at all times and not just when we think He is watching! We should especially not go off and do things just so other people can see what we are doing. God would like us to do things because we want to and not because we have to. He would like to see all of us working because we really want to and not because we have to!
Christ is watching to see who does the work because they will be the ones obtaining the rewards – but we have to make sure we are serving from the heart and because we know Christ as God Almighty. If we serve just so other people can see us doing the work, the only reward we will get is the reward we get from other people, earthly rewards!
Points to Ponder:
Do you seek the lost?
Does God see you doing actual work?