March 5: Mark 8 34-38
Key Verse: Mark 8 34
When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
Devotion:
Have you ever wondered what it must be like to pick up a cross and carry it knowing that it is the one thing that will kill you? The amazing thing is that we go through our lives doing things that may well kill us and we don’t think twice about them – instead we look at some of them as if they are high points in our lives. Christ was under no illusions about what it would be like having to pay the price for our sins and yet He still chose to continue onward and forward.
We don’t have to face anything like what Christ went through and yet when the going gets tough we collapse in a heap and even run the other way! We are given a warning here by Jesus that there are going to be some things in our life that we have got to face up to because they will not go away. He is also giving us the good news that he will take notice of these situations and will not ignore them when we face them for His sake or for the sake of His Word.
What good would it be if we lived a very comfortable life because we have enough money to buy all the luxuries we wanted if we would end up losing it all when we died? We cannot take those riches with us when we die, so why try to build them up now? We need to make sure we face people with the truth and not with some glossed over story that we make up to please ourselves while we live on earth!
Would you really pick an easy life if you knew for certain that you would live a terrible existence after your mortal body dies? There is always going to be doubt in our minds about life after death because it is not something we see and experience until we die! But the more we trust Christ, His Word and accept that things may happen to us that we don’t like, the more our faith will grow and the more willing we will be to stick with God all the way. It may not be easy all the way but it will be well worth it!
Points to Ponder:
Do you look for physical comforts?
Or do you look to God?
March 4: Mark 7 31-37
Key Verse: Mark 7 36
Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it.
Devotion:
Do you think you are listening to God? Do you go out and tell people what you think they ought to hear or what God gives you to say to them? Most of us have to admit to going out and telling others what we think they need to hear because we think we know what God has given us to say. But sometimes we really should be stopping and listening to what God is trying to tell us before we launch off into our next adventure.
When Jesus told the people not to go out and tell of the miracles it was because He was not yet ready for what was coming next; and yet the people thought they were justified in telling others of the miracles because they were exactly that, miracles. Why should we not be able to go and tell people of the miracles? Why should we not encourage others? Sometimes they don’t need to know everything. Sometimes God wants them to grow in faith and not through seeing miracles.
God may hold something back from our lives so we can get to know Him better by depending more on Him. God is not here to make earth like heaven but to lead the way to heaven where we will be able to enjoy a new life with Him. We need to grow with Him and learn to love Him properly before we spend eternity with Him. He is not here to spoil us and get us dependant on His miracles and His hand-outs. We need to grow in faith by trusting Him for our needs and not our wants.
You may like a person very much if they continue to give you wonderful gifts, but those gifts will not be able to buy your real love. Christ did not want to buy people’s following by giving them all manner of gifts; but He was not going to hold back on the gifts for those people who needed them! He healed people because they needed to be healed, not to buy followers. Be humble and accept what God gives you and try to do what He actually wants us to do.
Points to Ponder:
Do you expect to be spoiled?
Why expect God to spoil you?
March 3: Luke 9: 12-17
Key Verse: Luke 9 16
Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude.
Devotion:
Depending on God can be as easy as it can be hard. When our focus is set on the world around us we will find it hard to figure out how God could ever help us because all we can see if the hopelessness of the world around us. But if we are able to focus on God for a spell we will see how He alone can and does help us. It may not be in ways that we expect but in ways which will give Him the glory and not us.
The disciples could see a whole multitude of people and figured on about five thousand men; that is a big crowd to try and feed whether you take that as the figure of everyone or just the men-folk from the families that were present. So don’t get bogged down in trying to over think the situation by looking at the worldly view – it just does not make sense! God wants us to see that this was a situation where man could not do anything, even if he had a millionaire amongst the crowd, he still could not reasonably do anything to help feed that many people.
When we find ourselves in a bit of a hopeless situation, it is not normally in a safe place where we can call out to friends or depend on others; the definition of hopelessness does not include being in a safe place! The only way forward is with Christ and through ways which defy normal logic in some way. If there was a way we could help ourselves we would have tried that already…
Jesus did not panic but took control with the small amount of food that was available to them. He took the food and He lifted it up to God the Father for His blessing. He then broke it and continued dividing it up until all the people had had enough to eat thereby giving God the Father all the glory – pointing the way directly to heaven. Now the people around Jesus would have seen Him giving the food out and would consider Him to be the miracle worker; but Jesus makes sure that what is written down for us to study is pointing straight back to God.
Points to Ponder:
Do you like getting applause?
Do you point back to God?
March 2: Mark 8 31-33
Key Verse: Mark 8 31
But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
Devotion:
Sometimes the road of God’s calling is not going to be smooth and straight, in fact it is less likely to be smooth and straight! Take a look over the lives of people who have been called of God and see just how warped some of their lives have been… Why? Well each of us live a very different life and we have to put up with what goes on in our lives, not because God puts those difficult times in our lives but because they happen and God manages them! Let’s face it, if we are standing next to a person who is caught in a hurricane, then we are going to get caught in it too! But we may be the lucky ones that God allows to survive the hurricane because He is not finished with us yet.
Ours is not to question why bad things happen in our lives but to watch and see how much God does in our lives. When we recognise just how much He does and how much He cares for us, the big things become quite small in comparison. Yes they may well hurt like anything at the time, but they do become smaller as our faith grows.
Jesus did not have an easy life just because He is the Son of God! His life is a life that we simply would not have been able to bare! His life started out in extraordinary circumstances, He grew up on the run, lived a very short life in ministry compared to some… and yet He obeyed God the Father every step of the way.
There is our example. Not just saying we believe God is in charge, but knowing it and trusting Him because we know it. I know it is hard living for God and dedicating your life to serve Him. I know because I fail in so many things that are asked of me. But still I try a little bit more each time and trust a whole lot more each time. Allow your faith to grow by accepting the things that God allows into your life – they are there for a reason as long as we listen…
Points to Ponder:
Do you get tired?
Do you ask God for strength?
March 1: Genesis 17 1-8
Key Verse: Genesis 17 1
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless.
Devotion:
What an awesome thing it is to be called by God to work for Him! It is not a small thing to be called by God and Abraham showed that by falling on his face before God and obeying without question. When the disciples were called they dropped everything and they followed Christ. When Samuel was called he said “Here I am, use me.” Each of these people were called by God and it showed because they lived a life that was purposeful and lifted up God at every opportunity.
If we think we are called of God and rush off to do our own thing to try and praise God as much as we can we may end up falling flat on our faces; not because we are praising Him but because it all falls apart. Make sure that you are being called of God and not just doing something that you really want to do to see if God will be proud of you! Some will try to do as much as they can and wonder why God does not seem to be supporting them… just maybe it is because they are doing their own thing and not what God wants.
It is difficult to know one way or the other at times because of the chaos in our world and the pressure to succeed in so many ways. But when you do listen to God you will find that things do fall into place despite your best intentions! It may also be hard to let God have His own way in your life instead of doing what you think God would like you to do… it is a fine line between your work and God’s calling… but a very definite line!
Abraham seemed to have it easy because this calling seems to be explicit; but have a look over his life and see the ups and downs as he had to struggle with waiting for God. We all get impatient and want God to do things right now! But sometimes God’s calling is not for the right now but for a few years ahead. Being patient and faithful in those cases is hard. God knows the best timing for all of His works. Listen…
Points to Ponder:
Are you patient?
Are you persistent in your prayers?