April 24: Acts 3 11-16
Key Verse: Acts 3 14
But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,
Devotion:
After Peter had told the lame man to get up and walk, that lame man went about telling people how he was healed by the disciple. No coincidence then that many people came to see if this was all true! But what they did not expect was for Peter to tell them that their own God had healed this man and not and man. Peter’s reminder to them was that the same God who Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had followed, the same God that was written about in scripture was the one who was doing the healing!
How we do forget that God is all powerful and that He is the same God today as He was so many years ago to Abraham and company. That same God that Moses followed and that same God that performed all the miracles written about is the same God that can still do miracles! That is one and the same God that glorified Jesus Christ in front of some of the disciples and the same God that we serve.
But we, like the Jews at that time, have put up so many barriers, rules, regulations and now political correctness, we have forgotten how much God stands for. He is the God of love that has stood by so many people of faith that we should recognise Him when people talk of Him; and yet we hide Him in a box and try to make sure we keep everyone happy instead.
Well guess what. Not everyone is going to be happy that we serve a God first of all. They would rather that we serve men, rules and regulations than serving God. They would rather have us under their authority because they have made the rules. They want us to be servants of theirs rather than servants of our Living God. Remember that it is God that we serve and not man. Remember that nothing is too difficult for God. Remember that God is real!
Points to Ponder:
How many of man’s rules do you follow without question?
How many of God’s rules do you question?
April 23: Luke 24 13-26
Key Verse: Luke 24 26
And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
Devotion:
Just because these two disciples were walking off to Emmaus in a confused state, Christ came to them and spent time getting them to understand the truth. Jesus does not want any of us to have to go through life in a state of confusion or a state of despair so He provides ways in which we can get to know Him better. What a wonderful thing it is that we have our bibles and are free to be able to read them! Jesus had to explain things to these two because they did not have access to all we know now.
And yet, despite us having all this knowledge, man still chooses to ignore the truth and to go about things in his own ways. God wants us to know the truth and wants us to grow in that truth. He has made sure that the Holy Spirit will be always present with us explaining things as we read. It is not the words on the paper that give us the true understanding but God explaining those words to us through the Holy Spirit – or through Jesus Christ Himself in this case.
We need to be willing to listen and learn though because without that willingness we will be fighting against God’s word all the way. These two did not fight against Christ as He taught them but were willing to listen every step of the way. They did not know who it was that was giving them this very personal advice at the time because they were still caught up in the events of the previous days. But when they understood, they had no problem telling others about this event.
God gives us all we need to be able to follow Him. It starts with the world that we live in, continues with His Word and is expanded on by Him to give us that truth we need. Without God His words would seem hollow. But as we see Him working in our lives we can have that word brought to life by Him so that we can love Him for who He is!
Points to Ponder:
Do you read God’s Word?
Are you listening to His explanations?
April 22: Genesis 2 7
Key Verse: Genesis 2 7
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Devotion:
God was purposeful in His creation. He created order. He then created man and placed us in this order giving us the freedom to exercise our choice. He did not just create things and shove us in the middle and see what happened; His purpose was to create things in a specific order and to have it all sorted out so that we would have the best of everything. Just because we have broken things and let Him down does not mean that we are now left to our own devices.
God continues to reach out to us, to guide and to keep us. When we fall down He sets us back up again and gives us a new start. If we run off in the other direction He shows us the way home. If we run into His arms He holds us tight. We are never alone!
God continues to give us what we need and we need to know and remember that. If we start to have ideas that we are the ones who are doing it all then we will fall short and we will fail; our disappointment will be focused on our own selves and our own abilities. But when we allow God to work properly in our lives we are shown direction, strengthened on the journey and when we fail, given comfort. It is God who is the one close by our sides and He is the one who has been there from the very beginning of our existence.
Without God we are just humans and we will act like the mammals that we are; many would call us animals. We can try to emulate others as much as we like but until that moment when God gives us a new life we may as well be the same as those animals. God has set man apart and continues to set us apart. We still have to be the ones to choose to believe in Him and choose to follow Him. When we take those steps He never leaves our sides.
Points to Ponder:
What made you take that first breath in life?
Who is with you every breath you take?
April 21: John 20 19-23
Key Verse: John 20 21
So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
Devotion:
To many the day after a big feast or celebration is a big let-down because everything seems to have come to an end and the following day is going to be ‘back to normal’! But for me it is the day of reflection when we can look forward to what lies ahead and what we can look forward to because of the feast we have just had. As a young Christian I always struggled with sharing the Gospel because I was shy and did not know enough and… well I came up with loads of excuses back then anyways!
Jesus waited until the disciples were alone and closed into a room where they would not be able to hide from Him. He then appeared to them in that room and gave them this great commission – to go out and tell people of what had happened so they too could believe the truth. But to these disciples He gave much more than just words; He breathed on them and told them to receive the Holy Spirit. This was not Christ telling them they had no choice about whether they got the Spirit or not, He gave them the choice to accept it there and then.
We have that choice as to whether we accept the Holy Spirit into our lives so that He can enable us to go out and teach others. It is not any formal education that is going to give us the ability to teach others but rather the Holy Spirit who will enable us. The formal education will give us the confidence and will help to quell the doubts that we will have. The Holy Spirit gives us what we need to tell others the truth; He will place the words in our mouths as we need them – so long as we ask Him in to do that.
From this moment on, the disciples had the Holy Spirit dwelling with them and they had all they needed to do God’s work. We should have the same confidence that the disciples displayed from that point on. Just because Christ is not bodily standing in front of us to tell us what to do does not mean that He has not enabled us to do the same. God wants us to have the same courage because He has promised this to us too; allow Him to work fully in your life too.
Points to Ponder:
Do you know what He has done for you?
Will you come forward today?
April 20: John 20 11-18
Key Verse: John 20 16
Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).
Devotion:
This is one of the sections in my bible that I can relate to because of the love that Mary must have had for Jesus. When someone whom you love so deeply is taken from you it is life changing; but to have them come back and see you face to face again must be earth-shattering! I do tend to love people from deep within me rather than any superficial love that the world talks about because for me love is real and must be shared through your soul and spirit and not just through your body.
Jesus showed us bodily how much we meant to Him by going through what He did, but the way in which He did it displays how much that love came from deep within and not just bodily. To be able to apply that sort of love in your own life is very special and something that I think everyone needs to experience, not just with God but with other people as well.
Mary was very honest in what she said to the angel displaying her emotions and wanting to know where they had taken Jesus’ body. What she did not realise is that this was the scripture coming to life as Jesus had been raised from the dead and was now ready to ascend to heaven to be with God the Father once again. Again her words to what she thought was the gardener were pleading for knowledge of where the body was so she could finish the burial properly.
Jesus’ word were simple but demonstrated the promise that we all have – we will go to be with God in heaven and when we do go, we are going as lambs without a blemish. No more sin will be with us when we go to heaven; just as Jesus did not want to be touched so that He would not take any sin with Him, we too will know what it is finally like to have no more sin on our shoulders.
Jesus has paid it all for us and He has demonstrated His love toward us. Let us be more like Mary and be willing to love Him and others with our whole selves.
Points to Ponder:
How do you show your love?
Do you limit your love?