Monday Reading: John 6 44-51
 
Key Verse: John 6 44
44  No one can come to Me unless the Father who has sent Me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
 
Devotion:
No matter how eloquently we can speak or write, it is not us that will draw true believers in. We may be able to attract people in by our eloquence, but it is the Holy Spirit that will do the drawing in. People are attracted by what others say or describe and even by invitation. They may well like what we have to say or they could even find it offends them; but it is our position to tell the truth to others. It is going to be that truth that will either allow them to open up their eyes or turn away; and it is that truth that will allow them to either allow the Holy Spirit to convict them or they are the ones that will reject Him.

God already knows the ones that will be willing to come to Him and He will continue to give them opportunities to come to hear His Word so that they can allow Him in. He will not force Himself on anyone but can make them willing to believe and it is that belief that will secure our position with Christ in heaven. He is the Bread of Life. If we allow ourselves to be filled with the Bread of Life then we will be more willing to do His will. If we make sure that we do feed on His bread then we will make sure that we have the opportunity to see the truth as it is. The Holy Spirit will then do the convicting and the guiding to cement our belief, securing our faith so that we can stand firm on it.

Jesus Christ is the one that came down from heaven to be with us and to teach us. He continued to do so right up until the time was right for Him to lay down His own life to pay for our sins. He took all of the sins of the whole world on His shoulders so that every one of us would have the opportunity to be saved by Him and go back with Him to heaven. Let us remember each time we eat of His Spiritual bread that we have a wonderful, loving Saviour who has already given His life just because He loves us!

Points to Ponder:
How often do you have to eat to stop being hungry?

How often do you take you fill of spiritual food?
 

Sunday Reading: John 3 25-36
 
Key Verse: John 3 36
36  He who believes on the Son has everlasting life, and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides upon him.

Devotion:
One of the things we need to be very aware of is our position in Christ’s church. None of us is in any sort of position without Him placing us there and giving us the grace and wisdom to continue there in His name. If we overstep that mark then we only have Christ to face! John knew exactly what he was doing and he knew exactly who Jesus was. He had always told the disciples that followed him that he was not the Christ but that Jesus was and he stood by that. He also reminded those same disciples that although many would hear God’s Word, not many would receive it and believe it; but those that did receive it and believe it would be the ones to get everlasting life.

How true these things are still today. Many people follow some preachers simply because they sound so good and they will go out of their way to be with that preacher; but are they truly following Christ or following the teaching of their preacher? That is something that only they and Christ can answer. No preacher has ever got a position without God allowing him to have that position. If that preacher or teacher does not submit to God then they are teaching others about man and not about God. This is why we bow down before God and teach His Word and not our own; we live for Christ who is in us and teaches us every day too.

If we want to be able to teach others, we have to acknowledge just who is our teacher and make sure that others know that fact too. We cannot stand without Christ. We cannot live without Him. Our promise of everlasting life comes from Him and through Him; if we try to grasp it in any other way we will soon see the folly of our ways and fall by the wayside because we have not believed in and upheld the true. By giving witness of Christ we are confirming our belief in Him and showing others that He alone is our Saviour and King.

Points to Ponder:
Whom in your life do you look up to?
 
Who in your life looks up to Christ?
 

Saturday Reading: 1 Timothy 1 12-17
 
Key Verse: 1 Timothy 1 15
15  Faithful is the Word and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

Devotion:
It’s not until you have lived a while before you can look back on your life and see just what has gone on. Whilst you are young you do not have much thought for things that you do do wrong, but as the years climb you begin to see the vanity of so many things in your life and realise just how much you have done against God. Whilst you can see what you have done wrong against God at almost any age and can then come to Him for forgiveness, it is not until later that you put together everything that you continue to do even as a Christian. I can look back in my life and see so many things that I have done wrong and I don’t have to look far back! But in my years that I have grown in strength in my relationship with Christ I can see just how much He has helped me to straighten out my life.

I can see what a huge difference the bible has made in my life too. Without it I used to flounder and would so easily be discouraged and tempted by so little a distraction too. But as I grow in my knowledge from reading God’s Word I can see how He helps me when I listen to His Word. Reading our bibles is such an important part of our lives and yet we put it aside so many time just because we think we are too busy or because we think we are too tired. We need to read His Word every day and depend on it, standing firm in every word in our bibles knowing it to be true. Through it we can learn just who we are and just how much Jesus Christ has already done for us.

When we begin to realise just how much Christ loves us through what He has done for us, we can then know just how much we can depend on Him. We learn that through His Word and we can depend on it too. The more that we learn, the more we can depend because the more we see the truth. He died so that we may be forgiven. He died so that we may have life eternal. He died because we have sinned and could not find our own way out. He died because He loves you too!

Points to Ponder:
How much do you read?
 
How much reading time is given to the one who gave His life for you?
 

Thursday Reading: 1 Corinthians 15 51-58
 
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 15 52
52  in a moment, in a glance of an eye, at the last trumpet. For a trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed.

Devotion:
There were many things that Christ would teach the disciples whilst He was with them in human form, but there were many things that they would not fully understand until after His death; once such thing being His resurrection and what will eventually become of us too. For this reason the disciples would learn many things from the Holy Spirit after Christ returned to heaven. One of those things that they came to realise was that not all Christians will die, but we will all be changed. Just as Jesus was changed from human form to the form He had when He returned to face the disciples again after His death, we too will face Him with a changed body, one that is no longer corruptible!

There should not be any horrors for us in death because to die in this world means that we get to live forever in the next. As soon as we die our souls go to be with Jesus even though our bodies may be burned or placed in the ground. But when it is time for Him to return there will be a glorious time when all those who have died before us will have their bodies raised and changed as quickly as we can blink. Immediately after that instant another instant will follow in which we who are still alive will be raised and changed too. No longer will the sting of death be over us because we will be alive with Christ forever more!

We need to stand firm in our faith knowing that what Christ has promised us will come to pass. We need to stand firm in our beliefs that what the Holy Spirit taught the disciples and what they have written down is for our consumption to explain and comfort us. Before we had our faith we had that curse of death hanging over us with the horrors of the tomb. But after Christ’s death and resurrection for our sakes we no longer have to have that fear; knowing that Christ is our Saviour but also our Redeemer.

Points to Ponder:
Do you still fear death?

Lord increase our faith until we meet you in the air for life eternal.