Monday Reading: John 12 1-8
 
Key Verse: John 12 8
8  For you have the poor with you always; but you do not always have Me.
 
Devotion:
How many things have you done so far this Christmas that you did not want to do or have had to do things in a different way to the way that you wanted things done? None of us will always get our own way because our ways are not always the same as other people’s ways. Do you get upset when others do things differently? Are you comparing your ways (and their ways) with God’s ways? Too often we leave God out of things and we find that our ways suddenly mean too much and we do get upset when people do not do things our way...

When Jesus was in Bethany and having fellowship with the disciples at Mary and Martha’s house, Mary and Martha showed their love for Christ in very different ways. Martha did all she could to serve up the best she could for Christ and had been upset that Mary had wanted to sit and Jesus feet and simply hear His Word. Now Mary was anointing Jesus feet with a very expensive ointment of pure spikenard. Even Judas Iscariot was upset that this was not being sold for provisions instead of being used to wash Jesus feet! Martha was showing her love by serving Christ in one way and Mary was showing her love by serving Christ in another way. Both ways were fully warranted and both ways were needed. Each had their opportunity to do something for Christ and each did exactly that!

Too many times in our lives we get carried away with our own things and forget about what we should be doing for Christ. We put aside His Word and follow our own ideas; pretty soon we have lost our direction with Him and are following our own directions. Where can our directions lead us? Nowhere but an earthly destination... If we are seeking a spiritual destination then we have to seek spiritual directions and follow them. Christ will use us in very different ways, some ways that others will not like, but as long as we are doing things for God’s glory, then we are at least going in the right direction! God’s love and the love He wants us to share is far more important than money or belongings. Show some love where it is due...

Points to Ponder:
Do you get upset when people do things that you don’t agree with?

How often do you do things God’s way?

Sunday Reading: John 6 47-51
 
Key Verse: John 6 48
48  I am the Bread of life.

Devotion:
How much have you eaten so far in the last few days? I know that I have eaten far too much and that I could probably go for the rest of the week without actually having to eat any more! But, we do need food in order to stay alive. Our diets cannot solely consist of the junk food in life, nor can it exist of just the nice vegetables, nor just the juicy steaks... Our diets have to be varied so that we get all of the nutrients that our bodies need. Back in the wilderness, the Israelites were given manna from God. This manna contained everything in a balanced diet for them to survive – oh for something plain like that to balance the rich food from the past few days!

But our food can only take us so far... Our food will allow us to live out our natural lives – and that is it. Our food will not extend our lives beyond the physical because it is here to sustain our physical bodies. Yes we do have the pleasures of various foods that give us great joy, but we also need to food that balances that out to give us all the nutrients that we need. With good food, we can live a long life... but still we will die when we get too old. I used to laugh at the sci-fi films that would portray humans as eating nothing but pills – how could anyone enjoy an existence like that!

Christ, on the other hand, gives us something even more than the best food we can muster. He has given us our bibles, His Word, so that we can know the truth and follow it. That truth shows us what we have to do in order to obtain our living Bread from Him. With that living Bread we obtain even more than a healthy physical life; we obtain eternal life with Him. In other words, if we accept that living Bread, we will live forever – even better than the sci-fi pills! We still need our spiritual food to allow us to grow in His Word, but we know that once we have accepted Him as our Saviour, we no longer need to fear what will become of us after our physical death. Christ came into this world for one purpose, so that He could pay our sin debt. Accept the truth and live on that truth forever more.

Points to Ponder:
What was your favourite food this Christmas?
 
How long can you survive without the living Bread?

Saturday Reading: John 7 14-18
 
Key Verse: John 7 18
18  He who speaks of himself seeks his own glory, but he who seeks the glory of Him who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.

Devotion:
How many times have you seen or heard people telling you of how great they are or how you should listen to them because they know everything? Maybe they have spent their lives learning something and when you ask they anything to do with that subject they cannot but help tell you how good they are at that subject! I’m sure we have all met people like that at some stage... and do you find it hard to believe them – even though they may well have learned a lot!

We seem to have our own preconceived ideas about how much knowledge each one of us should have, and anyone who is outside of those bounds is either stupid or is in some way pulling the wool over your eyes; that is just the way we see it! We expect people who have spent a long time in universities to be intelligent. We expect people who drop out of school to not be intelligent. But even though we may think of someone as intelligent, what they say may well make us think that they are telling us something other than the truth – we need some sort of easy reference to be able to check up on their stories! Well, we do have the internet now which allows us to validate almost anything, but it’s not always to hand.

So what happens when someone starts to tell you about God? Should be believe everything they say and go along with it or should we validate that as well? This is one area where we certainly do need to validate what people tell us because there are people out there pretending to be Christians and pretending to support God. If what they say does not to agree with God’s Word, then surely they have made their own word up and are following that instead of God’s teaching. When Jesus was teaching others, He taught them what God wanted them to hear and not what He wanted to say or what they wanted to hear. If we stick to God’s Word we will not go against Him and we will always find the truth! We need to seek His Word so that He can get the glory instead of ourselves taking that glory away from God. Far too many people think they can do it better than God! It is not our word but His that we need to teach!

Points to Ponder:
How often do you try showing people how clever you are?
 
How often do you show people God’s Word?

Friday Reading: Matthew 2 9-11

Key Verse: Matthew 2 11
11  And coming into the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother. And they fell down and worshiped Him. And opening their treasures, they presented gifts to Him, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

Devotion:
Isn’t Christmas wonderful! If you are looking back on yesterday and thinking about how bad it was or how stressful it was, then I fear you have not had the right sort of Christmas! It’s not about how much of a show you can put on, nor how much of a meal you can lay on the table... it’s about celebrating a very special gift from God. When you come together in that spirit, then you find that all other things become a blessing and you enjoy the whole day! Having family and friends gather together knowing that on this day (roughly) many years ago, a Saviour was born who would give us an incredible gift.

Back a few hundred years ago the day after Christmas became a day when the people that were better off would box up some of their wealth, food and belongings and give them to those that were not so well off (hence Boxing Day was born). God gave us His wonderful gift on Christmas day so that we would forever be safe in His arms; we need to take that knowledge that we have and give the gift of Christ to those who do not yet know Him. Left us take the blessing that we have been given from God and give some of them to those who are still looking, those who are wanting, those who are yet to have.

The wise men came to give some pretty amazing gifts to a family who did not have much because of the King who had been born. God was already providing for His Son before His Son could provide for the family taking care of Him. It’s not about how much we can give, or how much we can show we have... it’s about sharing the blessings that we have so that all people may know about Christ. The wise men wanted to make sure that they worshipped the new King and that many more people would get to know about that new King too. For that, they were willing to give so much. Are you willing to give so that others may know Christ too?

Points to Ponder:
Have you had a wonderful Christmas?
 
Have you kept Christ in Christmas this year?