Wednesday Reading: John 17 9-17
Key Verse: John 17 12
12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Devotion:
When we read the words that Christ prayed on our behalf we should be humbled into knowing just how much He does love us and how much He has done for us. Even though Jesus Christ is the Son of God He prays with all acknowledgements that we belong to God the Father and not to Him. He is the one that came to die in our stead but He knows it is because of the Godhead that we exist and now just because of Jesus the man. He knows that we are nothing without God and that we need Him, but just as we need Him He also knows that He needs God the Father – which in itself may cause us a bit of a moment because we know that He is God as well…
But the fact that Jesus was willing to allow us to know that He alone has not done this but as part of the Trinity should speak volumes to us as to how much we actually need Him in our lives. We cannot have any joy in knowing that we are good enough for anything but we certainly can have all the Joy we deserve by knowing that we need Christ in our lives.
Jesus also acknowledges that we need God’s Word. It is the Word that He taught to the disciples and the same Word that He wants us to teach to those around us. It is that same Word that has been fulfilled. It is the same Word that has made the world hate us as it hated Him – because it is that same Word that shows us that we are sinners; something none of us want to admit!
And then Jesus prayed that we should be kept safe and secure from the evil of this world and the evil of those fallen angels as well. It is for strength and wisdom that He prays on our behalf. It is to ensure that we are safe that He makes His plea to God the Father. It is with love that He secures us a very important place in God’s heart.
The most important part here is that Christ shows us where the truth is and that is plainly in God’s Word. It is that same Word that Christ taught that we have received. It is that same Word that Christ wants us to go out and teach about. It is the same truth that Jesus used to rebuke Satan. That Truth is God’s Word and we need it with us always – Thank you Holy Spirit!
Points to Ponder:
Do you know God’s Word?
Do you take God’s Word with you?
Tuesday Reading: John 15 26-27
Key Verse: John 15 26
26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
Devotion:
When Jesus spoke of leaving a Comforter to be with us, it was not just on one occasion but a few times and each time He made sure that we knew just what sort of role He would fulfil. Yesterday we were reminded that the Comforter would be ever-lasting and that He would never leave us. Today we are reminded that the Comforter would be an advocate for Christ. In other words, just because Christ would no longer be physically walking with the disciples on the earth, it did not mean that God would not be walking with them or us. The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, is here to stay with us and comes directly from God because of what Jesus did.
Just as Jesus Himself came from God the Father as being His Son, The Holy Spirit comes from God the Father as being our comforter and daily guide. It is The Holy Spirit who continually reminds us that Jesus was here on earth and that Jesus is the Son of God and that He will return. Yes we have the bible and it reminds us in words, but the Spirit reminds us spiritually, from the inside, that we have God with us. The Spirit upholds the deity of Christ and reminds us daily of all that Jesus has accomplished on our behalf.
The disciples were there with Christ and have written all the words that we have in our bibles to remind us of much that Christ did whilst on earth. They were the ones who had to do as much preaching and sharing of the truth as they could before they too were taken to be with God; they were the eye-witnesses. Just as it is important in law nowadays to have reliable witnesses that will stand up to cross-examination, the disciples were taught what they needed by God so that they would stand up to any questions that they may be asked.
Even though Christ knew that the disciples would have their moments of doubt and denial, such as Thomas and Peter, He continued to make sure that they knew the truth so that they could be our witnesses – witnesses to the rest of the world. Just the same, we will have our moments of doubt but we must also remain as witnesses to God’s Truth through Jesus and with the help of The Holy Spirit within us. Christ had disciples with Him as witnesses from the beginning of His ministry. The people around us should be able to be witnesses of our dedication to our Lord.
Points to Ponder:
What do you think others think of you?
Do you think they think of you as a good witness for God?
Monday Reading: John 14 16-18
Key Verse: John 14 16
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Devotion:
It is only really now, after the event, that we see just how special Jesus’ words were when we read them knowing what He has done and what He has achieved. Jesus is here speaking not as a prophet as some would have it but as Mediator, promising the disciples that He would step in and make sure that God would not leave them comfortless when it was His time to give up His life for us. He is speaking here as the man Jesus saying that He would ensure that we have the Holy Spirit with us after He, the man, no longer walks the earth. I like the choice of His words “another comforter” and not just “a comforter” after all He was a great comforter Himself.
The Holy Spirit is essentially a gift from God the Father to us because Jesus asked for it to be so. He was able to experience just how much we do need a constant companion, guide and comforter and He was willing to make sure that we got the very best! But these verses should not be taken by themselves but rather in context with those around because the Holy Spirit may be available to all but will only indwell those that firstly accept that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and all that He has done for us. The world cannot receive such a gift by itself because it is bound by sin and only released from that sin once we accept Christ as our Lord and Saviour, whom alone is able to release us from that burden of sin.
There are going to be times when we tell some people about Christ and talk about Him until we are blue in the face and yet they will just not get it because they do not apply that knowledge directly into their own lives. We may be able to teach them everything that we know about Christ and they may learn more besides, but until each person accepts that truth into their own hearts, they will never know the Holy Spirit personally and Christ will be forced to say “I never knew you” in the end.
What an amazing comfort it is in itself to know that truth in our hearts. What an amazing peace we have just by knowing what Christ has done for us. Even if our earthly parents should die and be out of our lives, we still have our Father in Heaven, above all things, Jesus Christ our Mediator sitting by His right side and the Holy Spirit here with us keeping us company until that great day that we shall join then in Heaven! What a glorious day that will be…
Points to Ponder:
Do you get lonely?
Are you depending on the Holy Spirit?
Sunday Reading: Acts 5 1-10
Key Verse: Acts 5 5
5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.
Devotion:
No matter how many times you try to convince some people that God is watching their every step, they will just not get it! There is no place that we can sweep things under the carpet no matter how much we think that God may not be watching. If you could imagine what it would be like to have a camera crew following your every move for a year you may be getting close to what it may be like to know that God is watching; but then you could always hide at some point in time from the crew whereas with God that is just not possible.
When Jesus told us that He would make sure that we had the Holy Spirit with us continually it was not as a threat to say that we will have to watch out but rather as a promise of a comforter and friend that would always be there. But it is because of that difference between a threat and a treat, we go all soft on the idea that God is with us! Much the same as we act very differently when we know we are being watched over by someone soft as opposed to when someone very stern is watching over us, we have this idea that somehow God is different.
We lose track on the fact that it is God who has created everything. We lose track on the fact that it is God who judged the earth in the days of Noah. We lose track of the fact that God is Holy and will not abide sin in any form. But just because we lose track on those facts does not mean that God is losing track of anything whatsoever. He is not limited by time and place as we are and so when we think of Him watching over us we think of Him being at a particular place at a particular time, so we build up this idea that He cannot possibly be everywhere always!
It is God’s Word itself that must remind us continually that He is ever watchful. Times like this where Ananias and Sapphira are caught in the act, or when people have been singled out and reminded that God is watching them that should keep us on our toes. But no matter how we look at it, it is because of His love for us that God promised us a Comforter and not an ogre! Christ had reminded us this fact and wanted us to know not just that we would have someone watching our every move, but that He would be there to comfort and guide us always.
Points to Ponder:
Do you act differently when people are watching?
Do you ever remember that God is actually there too?
Saturday Reading: Psalms 148 1-13
Key Verse: Psalms 148 5
5 Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.
Devotion:
Is it such a strange thing that man can come up with so many gods when he sees the splendour and magnificence of everything around him? We may look at everything around us and marvel at the intricate details within so many things and then wonder how they could ever come into being by a mistake or by a random event; but that is what many people will want to believe because they cannot fathom how there could be one God over all who has created every such thing. But that is what each of us has in our hearts – whether we want to believe on it and build on it or cast it aside and make our own more complex scenarios is our choice to make.
God has given us the knowledge through His Word and has given us the explanations for what has happened and how we can know that He alone is our One True God. We have the choice as to whether we want to believe that truth or make up our own stories. But what would you feel like if you were the one who had made something rather special and someone else came along and said that they had made it instead? How would you feel if they tried to take your place? How little we tend to think of God in those ways, as the recipient of our misgivings or our lies…
No matter how much we try to think up some fantastic story about how the world began or how much we learn about the science behind it all, we still continue to learn and find out more. God, on the other hand, is the one who created it all. Don’t you think that He would know exactly how things happened? And yet, here we are, trying to come up with more complex and random ideas about how things could possibly have happened by chance. I guess we must look a bit silly at times when looked at from the outside, from God’s perspective!
As a programmer I could write a program that looked right and that sounded great but would not run because it is not logically correct. I could also write a program that was logically correct but one that would not run because of spelling mistakes. Just because I could come up with those two scenarios that sounded great, does not mean that they were correct. We have to follow God’s rules and God’s Word in order to find out the real truth. As we do find out that truth we can then glory in everything that He has done and learn to rightly praise His name!
Points to Ponder:
Do you like to look intelligent?
How does your intellect compare with God’s?