Sunday 28 Mar 2010

Sunday Reading: Matthew 21 8-9
 
Key Verse: Matthew 21 9
9  And the crowds who went before, and those who followed, cried out, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!

Devotion:
We have all probably seen the pictures of a royal dignitary riding through their home capital in some sort of carriage or vehicle with the crowds standing by cheering and waving flags but I don’t think that would have compared to this day almost 2000 years ago. Today the events are staged with many security guards and the like spreading forward to make sure that people can only do the right thing. Here Jesus was coming in to town riding on a donkey with people being able to get up close and lay down their garments and palm leaves for this dignitary to be presented on. They knew who He was and they wanted the world to know!

If the modern security agents had their way their protection would hide their client away from view and silently sneak in through a back door. Here Christ made sure that His people were allowed to lift His name up and to make sure that everyone knew what was happening. Christ was not concerned about His own protection because He knew what lay ahead from this point on and He was still willingly coming forward to accept the inevitable. What love He displayed for His people. What love He displayed for us all.

What would you be willing to do for your Saviour if you knew He was going to be riding in to town today? Would you be one of the people out there showing your love for Him knowing that there would be a chance that you would be counted as one of those rebelling against the state? Would you be willing to show everyone else that you upheld Christ above the religious people of this time? Christ is the one who started this first by showing us His love for us. He continues to show His love through things He does each and every day. He continues to make sure that we can see that His love goes past our own religions and past our faults and past our mistakes; His love is beyond question... What is in question is our response to that love today.

Points to Ponder:
What do you do for people you love?

What will you do for Christ?

Saturday 27 Mar 2010

Saturday Reading: Acts 3 19-21
 
Key Verse: Acts 3 19
19  Therefore repent and convert so that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.

Devotion:
If you were asked “what is the bible all about?” how would you respond? Would you try and summarise the bible from the beginning of time to the end times or would you look at it from another angle? Why do we have our bibles? I think there are a few verses that can be used to tell us what the bible is all about and these are some of them. The bible is a collection of books, letters and scriptures that have been put together. These books have been put together so that we can see the whole picture and the whole picture is that Christ wants us to all be Christians!

I’m not talking about the person who calls themselves a Christian because they live in a part of the world that is seen as predominantly Christian, nor am I talking about the one who believes that there is a God but will not accept the bible as His Word. I am talking about the ones who have had their sins forgiven. Many believe that verses like John 3 17 state that Christ came to save all of mankind and that because He did we are all safe; but unless words like that are taken along with the verses around them we do not find the true meaning. The gift of Salvation is there for everyone, but that does not make everyone a Christian – that may be so in the worlds eyes but not in Christ’s view.

We need to believe in God, His Son Jesus Christ and The Holy Spirit. We need to believe in the bible as being the whole truth and nothing but the truth (how can you take one verse and not the next?) We need to follow what is written and “therefore repent and convert”. Christ wants us all to be forgiven but only those who choose to believe that fact, trust in Him and ask for forgiveness are the ones worthy of being called followers of Christ. Our bibles are God’s instructions for us that we need to follow. They show us that Christ is the only way to get to heaven. They show us what a true Christian is. They show us the truth as God has given it to us.

Points to Ponder:
What is Easter all about for you?
 
Are you trusting the whole bible?

Friday 26 Mar 2010

Friday Reading: Matthew 17 10-13

Key Verse: Matthew 17 12
12  But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him, but have done to him whatever they desired. Likewise also the Son of Man shall suffer from them.

Devotion:
Have you ever been so caught up in things that you just did not see the obvious? We get like that in so many things in our lives where we are so caught up in the rules or ways that we have built up around ourselves that we do not see what is actually happening around us. Man has been like that for many centuries and am sure we will not be changing our ways too soon until it is too late!

Just as the Scribes and Pharisees continued to be faithful to their teachings that Elijah would have to come back before Christ would return, we get caught up in things that we think should happen and we don’t see what actually does happen. They were too caught up in their own rules, ways of life and regulations to see the simple truth that Elijah had come already; not Elijah in name but the person who came in the power and spirit of Elijah – John the Baptist. Just because things don’t happen that way that we think they should, does not mean that they are not going to happen or have not already happened. We need to open our eyes to the truth and not to have them blinkered into only watching for what we expect!

There is no way that we can truly understand the second coming of Christ until after it has happened. But that does not mean that we should not be ready for it! Christ has given us His word that that will come to pass and He has given us all that we need to know before it does happen. Why then is man so slow in believing that truth and accepting it for what it is instead of building things up into something that they are not. Too many people expand on the truth until it is blow out of all proportions and is no longer the truth. We need to accept God’s Word as the truth because it is exactly that. God’s Word first...

Points to Ponder:
What are you caught up in now?

Are you still depending on God’s truth?

Thursday 25 Mar 2010

Thursday Reading: Isaiah 35 1-4
 
Key Verse: Isaiah 35 4
4  Say to those of a hasty heart, Be strong, fear not; behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the full dealing of God. He will come and save you.

Devotion:
No matter how good it gets here on earth better things await us in Heaven. The prophet wrote of the good times when the land was blossoming like a crocus and people were happy but told of even better times ahead when Christ would come to save people, not just His people but the gentiles as well. The more that we live the more that we realise just how much of a burden we do carry around with us with all the sin that we had in our lives. It is Christ and what He has done for us that allows us to have that burden lifted from our shoulders once and for all.

The closer we get to the end of the week, the more we look forward to the weekend thinking that things are going to get better, possibly quieter and hopefully more restful. The things that we have had to do during the week may well be hanging heavy on our minds but it is to Christ that we should be giving these burdens and not finding earthly ways to try and cover them for a little while. The weekend is short and the week ahead much longer. How can we expect to cover a weeks work of hassle with only two short days? But if we had someone who would come along and help to take those weekday burdens away from us and to leave us free for our weekends we would look forward to them even more!

Christ wants us to be able to stand against the rigours of the week by being strengthened through Him. He wants us to be able to stand sure in His name and to show others that we are supported by Him always. He wants us to know that we can have rest, not just in heaven after we die, but here on earth too. He wants us to bring our burdens to Him and be raised up with a new strength that comes from Him. Nothing the earth can do can ever take our Christ from us!

Points to Ponder:
Do you look forward to weekends?

Do you give your burdens to Christ?

Wednesday 24 Mar 2010

Wednesday Reading: 2 Corinthians 12 6-10
 
Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 12 9
9  And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may overshadow me.

Devotion:
When was the last time that someone reached out to help you? Maybe it was something physical like trying to get up onto a high place and you needed a hand to be lifted up, or maybe it was something spiritual when you needed someone to lift you up so that you could smile again. Did you notice how much better you felt when you were lifted up? I’m sure that you would have thanked the person doing the lifting as well... Christ is our helper waiting patiently to lift us up in all circumstances!

None of us like to be down, physically, emotionally or spiritually. None of us like to be under par. Why then does it happen? Why should we be allowed to suffer in any form if our God loves us? Therein lies the truth! If God were to make sure that we never hit the ground, never fell, never faltered then we would automatically be depending on Him for everything. But us being what we are would also automatically think that we are doing things right and think that we are invincible! Just like a drunk person suddenly gets all manner of courage to do stupid things, we get those same thoughts in our heads and think that we can do all things without Christ. Problem...

It is not us that we get that strength from because we cannot hope to be able to lift ourselves up. If you were not able to climb up onto a tall pedestal, how could you lift yourself up onto that pedestal? We need someone to give us a hand up so that we can stand up there. God is that hand reaching out for us to lift us up when we need Him. If we never needed a hand we would not realise just how much He does for us and just how much we do need Him in our lives! Let us therefore glory in the fact that we are weak so that we can know the strength and love of our Saviour who is willing to reach out and carry us when we need Him most!

Points to Ponder:
What is the last tight spot you got into?
 
Christ is always close enough to call to...