April 24: Acts 20 17-21
Key Verse: Acts 20 21
testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
Devotion:
This record of Paul’s shows us a small part of his commitment to God, serving Him wherever he was called to go. Paul was not under any misapprehension that life was going to be cosy or easy; he had already seen life as a Christian from the opposite side of the fence as he ruined many Christians lives in his past. But still he went forward and followed Christ and everything the Holy Spirit told him to do. That part must seem a bit strange for many people until you begin to understand just how much God does talk to each one of us.
We may not hear audible voices calling us to go forward, to drop our work, to pick up disciples or things like that. We should be wary of anything we hear and test it against God’s Word. God is not going to make us go off and do things against His Word. God has already given us His Word and continues to uphold it as the truth. If we think we are being told to do something against that Word, then we should think again because God does not lie or break His promises!
Paul called the elders of the church together to give them instruction. He did not call his best friends or relatives but the people who looked after the church family. He knew what God was telling Him to do and followed as best he could. Going through the church elders showed the others he was keeping in touch with God and His ways. The church elders would not just be the people who had most sway in the community but the people who would be trying their best to follow God and who would have been doing so for some time.
It should not matter what we have to go through for Christ’s sake because it should be about the future we have with Him. This is a hard thing to accept when we are in a good position in life, business or in our communities; but following Christ and making Him first and foremost in our lives should be our aim. And if you are now thinking that following God will destroy your circle of friends or your family, then just maybe you are not hearing God correctly. I have found following Christ brings me closer to friends and family and helps me live a better life!
Points to Ponder:
Are you willing to follow Christ?
Will you make Christ first in your life?
April 23: 1 Thessalonians 5 12-15
Key Verse: 1 Thessalonians 5 14
Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.
Devotion:
This passage starts out reminding us how we do need to hold up those who work for the Lord around us and with us; they may be the ones praying always for you or teaching you or guiding you. Without them in our lives we would quite easily get lost in the woods and not live the lives we are able to. So lift them up in your own prayers and ask God to strengthen them for the work they do, help them, support them and allow them to know they are loved.
But then there are also a lot of people around us who we still need to lift up in prayers as well, but not just prayers but in help and assistance as well. For those who we know get carried away with themselves and their lives and need the help to bring order into their lives. For those who are in need of comfort be it because of physical problems or mental problems, go round and let them know they are loved. For those who dare not ask for help in case they look weak in some way, stand by them and give them courage.
We have places like care homes and hospices that care for the frail, but sometimes it is the visits from the younger generations that make the difference in their lives allowing them to know they are not forgotten. Some may already be bitter because of being treated badly in the past. Give them love and give them time. Love really does help to mend others hearts, but it has to come from outside their hearts before they see what is going wrong in their own.
When Christ gave us instruction to go out and love others, it was not to go and find yourself a new boyfriend or girlfriend but to go and do all of the above for the people around you. Far too often we ignore the small issues because they do not seem to matter much – but add up a bunch of small issues and you have a big issue! Go out today to love and serve the Lord.
Points to Ponder:
Have you had support from others this week?
Will you take God with you to support others?
April 22: 1 John 3 1-3
Key Verse: 1 John 3 1
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
Devotion:
Yesterday we remembered that Christ came to take on our punishment for our sins and today we expand on the love God shows us by remembering that He also calls us His children! Not only does He say we do not have to worry because He took the punishment, but He then says it is because of His great love for us. A Love that goes further than we first imagine. A love that covers it all so we can become His children!
I know we have things like fostering and adoption, but this goes a bit further because that love is already there and we just have to realise it by accepting it is true. He already has invited us in to be His children. He has already paid the price. He has already laid out His love. We just need to stop and realise it!
Much of the world will simply carry on doing things and being busy for the sake of being busy; they will miss out on this love because they don’t stop and think. It is a sad world we live in because of the meaningless way we continue to exist in the physical sense without searching out this great love God has for us. When we find this love and bring it into our lives we change because we now know how wonderful it is – but to the world we are crazy! How do we reach out and show people we are not the crazy ones? Do we simply say that it is better to be safe than sorry? No! Don’t take the defeatist attitude that we are just doing this ‘just in case it is true’. Be positive and be bold!
Christ came to the world and was bold. He stood out from the crowd and shouted out the name of God. He praised God and lifted His name up always. He knew the punishment and yet continued. He did this all because of His love for us. Take on a bit more of that love and share it with people around you. Don’t hide it under the rug! We don’t know all the answers and we will not know them until they are revealed to us by God. But we can show people His love through us. We can share His love.
Points to Ponder:
Are you in love?
Do you share God’s love?
April 21: Psalms 32 1-2
Key Verse: Psalms 32 2
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit.
Devotion:
When you realise what you have done wrong, be it to God or to others, your spirit is weighed down with the guilt. If you are found out then you may well have to face punishment for what you have done. This also adds to the load your spirit has to carry round; and none of this helps with your physical self either! But if we are able to find forgiveness from our wrong-doings, then we can be set free from that guilt and pain we face.
This is what I find so amazing about our awesome God. He is willing to forgive us for whatever we do wrong against Him. It is not a case of saying sorry in a reluctant way just so we can get on with doing wrong but more of an honest admitting to doing what we did and a willingness to turn away from that now and next time we face it. If we just say the words and don’t mean them we are not fooling anyone but ourselves!
When God says that our sins are covered He means it! He allowed Jesus, His Son, to come and to have the debt passed on or transferred from us to Him. In other words Christ came to take the punishment for our sins so we can be set free and not have any blame for what we have done. I don’t know if you realise just how much that means, and I often am so busy getting on with life I do not stop to thank Him enough for what He has done!
We are free. We do not have the blame for what we have done on our shoulders. As long as we have admitted our faults, taken them to God and expressed from our hearts our desire for Him for forgive us and for us to turn away from doing wrong again… we are free! Yes we may well get carried away with things and do things wrong again, but the willingness to try and do what God desires and not what the world wants is what we should aim for.
Points to Ponder:
Stop and think…
Will you thank Christ now?
April 20: Mark 8 11-12
Key Verse: Mark 8 12
But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation.”
Devotion:
Why is it that generation after generation still seek some sort of sign from God to prove Himself? Why can we not trust someone else’s word that God is real and that He is our one true God who continues to exist and live with us all? It was not Thomas who started this trend either, though we look back on Thomas and say he was the one who doubted. Right throughout man’s history with God we continue to see how he has demanded some sort of proof of His existence!
Imagine what it would be like if you continued to demand proof of love from the people that loved you? Do you think they would want to stay round you if you continued to demand proof each day? Yet that is exactly what we do with God at times! It is not just the Scribes and Pharisees who demanded proof so don’t turn round and blame other people when we do it as well.
Our faith and trust may be tested daily through other people’s actions but that does not mean we should turn round to God and demand proof of His existence just because we have begun to doubt. When we start walking away from our God we start to doubt. When we get tied up in other things, we doubt. When we lose sight of Him because we have wandered out of earshot to have a look at things, we doubt. So what do we do when we doubt?
I sit down and have time with God. I get on my knees and talk to God. I open my bible and read. I seek Him. When Jesus came into this world He walked around to find people who needed Him, He did not sit and wait for the world to change but got up and made changes according to God’s will. When we seek God’s will and do it (there’s the important part, doing it) we find out He is with us and helping us all along the way. Don’t doubt, just keep your eyes on Him.
Points to Ponder:
Do you look where you walk?
Do you watch your walk with Christ?