December 10: 1 John 4 13-16
Key Verse: 1 John 4 14
And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world.
Devotion:
Many people read God’s word with dismay as they think they are not worthy enough to go out and tell others about Jesus or they think they have sinned far too much and therefore cannot speak of such things anymore. To those people I give these verses because of the simplicity of the message they hold. It is not up to us to consider whether we are good enough or whether we are worthy of speaking about Christ. If we know Christ and believe that He came to save us from our sins, then we should start living that same message.
Jesus came into the world to be our Saviour. He came to make sure we are forgiven. He paid the price to redeem us. He has said that we are worthy because He laid His life down for us… just because we believe this truth…
Faith is believing in the unseen. We cannot see the love that Christ has for us, but we know it is there and we believe it. We cannot see many things in our lives and yet we know about them and trust them as the truth; Christ is more sure than most of those things and yet we choose to differ because of our lack of believing in this truth. Admitting that we have doubts does not make us weaker. Admitting our faults gives us better direction and a surer goal to aim for from that point forward.
God’s love for us is beyond question. He demonstrated this to us by giving His life on the cross for us. This gives us something sure to depend on – His love for us. This gives us reason to love Him – because He demonstrated His love to us. This makes a relationship which is bound by stronger feelings than many of our relationships on earth that we hold on to so dear. Realise your relationship with Christ and live it with Him.
Points to Ponder:
How do you know love?
Do you trust God’s love?
December 9: Acts 13 16-25
Key Verse: Acts 13 23
“From this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel the Saviour Jesus, as he promised.”
Devotion:
These verses are quite a good summary of the coming of Jesus starting from Egyptian captivity days right through to Jesus and His ministry! How often do you look for a simple way of telling someone who Jesus was and is? How often do you look for a different way of telling people who Jesus can be in their lives? Paul was no stranger to the scriptures because he had been using them against Christians for much of his life, but now the Holy Spirit was using him to turn the tables and tell people the real truth behind the scriptures.
We need to be ready at all times to allow the Holy Spirit to work through us and use us in ways that we can make a difference to this world and its plight. Yesterday’s devotion was the prophets message that we should be the ones making things move forward in the desert, making roads and preparing for Christ’s return. This message has not changed for us, but we seem to have changed in our urgency, or lack of it, of delivering this message to the people around us. Paul was the one going out on a limb and preaching to the Gentiles; we need to go out on a limb and tell people who don’t get to hear the message.
Christmas is a good time to do this because this is the season we celebrate Christ’s coming as a baby, as our Saviour, as the Messiah. Christmas seem to have gained too much momentum as a feast of money and greed and left behind the real meaning of celebrating the entry into this world of our Saviour Jesus Christ! Let us make a difference this year by making a difference to the story we tell with our lives.
Paul made a huge difference because he turned his back on the state and allowed Christ to use him for God’s glory. If we are serious about our relationship with God then we should be willing to allow Him to use us as well. Don’t panic and run off like Jonah; we all know there are some pretty scary people out there who (it seems) would like to eat us for dinner. God is with us and He will allow us to say the right things at the right time if we allow Him room to be in our lives!
Points to Ponder:
What is your life saying about you?
Will you let Christ change your life?
December 8: Isaiah 40 1-11
Key Verse: Isaiah 40 3
The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Devotion:
When I was a young lad the village was expanding and the builders were looking for suitable places to build houses without it being too far out of town. One of the ways to expand was up onto the hill side behind our house. But in order for them to be able to build houses up there they first had to do some groundwork by clearing paths, the laying foundations and then making the roads. Only then could the builders safely get up the hillside to start building the houses.
In a similar manner we have to do quite a bit of preparing before we can get to see God moving into any place. Now it is certainly not a requirement that we do all the groundwork and pre-building because God does not require anything of us; but if we are willing to do this work then we may well be the ones who get to see the houses being built by God. If we leave the preparatory work to someone else, then just maybe they will get to see the results instead of us.
The people of Israel were stuck I the desert and the whole generation had to die out before God led them over the Jordan River – just because they were not getting on and doing what God had said to do in the first place. If we do not listen to what God has in store for us then we may well miss out on seeing the glory here on earth.
God is a loving and merciful God, but He is also a just God. That means that He will stick to the word that He has given to us in the beginning. If we choose to not listen to that word then we still have to pay the consequences for not listening. Making paths in the wilderness and roads in the desert may sound a bit like hard work to start with – and it certainly will be – but the rewards far outweigh the work that we have to do to get things started. I love the work that I have to do for God because I see very special changes happening in the hearts of the young people we serve for God! And yes, it does take time!
Points to Ponder:
Are you in a rush?
Stop and listen to God!
December 7: Mark 1 1-8
Key Verse: Mark 1 3
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.’”
Devotion:
Have you ever gone into a place or gathering and tried to teach something totally alien to the people there? That was one of the challenges we first had to face when at university, to stand up in front of a few hundred people and talk about something they don’t know about. We each had to pick a subject that was not mainstream and to talk for 5 minutes… Nerve-racking or what!
John had been given the task of going into the people who believed the Torah and who obeyed the rules and regulations written down for the religion and yet were not prepared to trust in this human man coming forward as God. They had built themselves up into such a state that they would not want to believe that a simple man, son of a carpenter, would come to be their Saviour. This was what John had to talk about and what he had to convince the people of – to take away their prejudices and move forward with the truth.
How would you go about trying to convince the people in authority they had actually got things wrong and they needed to repent! They were the ones telling people what was right and wrong at the time! You see, we get caught up in our own ways and in our own ideas. We bury the truth behind years of talk and no action. When the action should be starting we find we have a huge hill of junk that needs to be shifted out the way before we can start doing anything. John had to start that movement!
This Gospel starts by telling it how it is and not by trying to pacify anyone or give a history of events or anything – just tell it like it is. This is what God wants us to be doing; telling it like it is and not trying to give the best story we can to make people happen and content. God will be the one to bring Joy and peace into their lives when they accept the truth and walk with Him. Trust God and fall in line.
Points to Ponder:
Are you telling it like it is?
Does God see the truth through you?
December 6: 1 John 2 3-6
Key Verse: 1 John 2 3
Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
Devotion:
What would you do if someone told you that God wanted to know you better? Would you simply dismiss it and say they did not know what they were talking about because God knows everything, or would you at least think about what is being said? Well I am the odd one out here because I got excited at the idea and then had to spend a while trying to think how it could be possible!
If you wanted to get to know someone better, how would you go about it? The obvious answer is that you spend more time with them, make sure the time you spend with them is quality time and open yourself up to them first of all. If they are willing to get to know you better as well, then they will probably do the same back to you. The result will be a deeper trust between you both as well as a deeper understanding of each other. In other words this is not a one way task but a two way task with both partners being willing to do the sharing.
If you want to get to know God better, then you had better be willing to allow Him to get to know you better by opening up your life to Him first of all. So if someone ever tells you that God wants to get to know you better, think about how your relationship is currently running with God. Are you open and willing to listen to Him? Are you trying to get to know Him better? Are you willing to listen to His will and be willing to change your life to be more in line with His will?
Not the easiest of questions to ask yourself I know, but they are important aspects of your life with God and you need to see the truth of your own relationship with God before you can look at the relationship others have with Him. Don’t go judging others by the way you live; rather look inwardly to your own life and then work on making your life an open book for others to learn from. Let God’s Light shine through you!
Points to Ponder:
Do you know God?
Do God and people see the same you?