May 14: John 14 1-5
Key Verse: John 14 5
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Devotion:
How often does God speak to you and you either ignore it or you don’t understand it? Maybe I’m just thick because I struggle with what God tells me… It often needs further explanations and follow up calls and so we continue! But God definitely does know what is best for me in my life and He tries very hard to get that through to me on a daily basis despite the brick wall He has to try and get through daily!
We often think of the disciples as being like sponges where they would soak up everything Jesus told them and remember it from that moment onward – I’m sure they remembered those first few miracles they saw and could probably tell you everything in great detail; but as time goes on we get less descriptions and more about what it meant to be with Jesus. This, to me, is one of those turning points in their lives where Thomas pipes up about not knowing where Jesus was going, almost as if he said it before Jesus could finish speaking.
There-in is another problem we face with ourselves, not listening to the end but rushing off and trying to get things done before we understand the full context of the task in hand. You may notice that these devotions are more of a brain dump than a scholastic study of God’s word. This is what God impresses on me each day as I draw close to Him in my time of dedication to Him.
Christ is trying to guide each one of us in the path which He has laid out before us and unless we are willing to listen to everything He has to say to us, we are going to go off with half the information we need. It took me quite a while before I listened to God about coming to London to work on estates, but when I look back over my time with Him, I can see how I was prepared for the task before me. He gave me party times, hard times, dry times, times where I struggled… and all to prepare me for the type of work I would be called to do here!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you really listen to advice?
Are you willing to stop and listen for 5 minutes each day?
May 13: 1 Peter 2 2-5
Key Verse: 1 Peter 2 3
now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Devotion:
I thought it quite fitting to go back to these verses today to remember just how we should be going back to Christ and His ways. If you, like me, want physical proof for just about everything in life, then you may well find it difficult to come to terms with an unseen God who can do anything… Especially when we see people who think they know more than others trying to sort out issues which are totally out of their control!
I did something foolish yesterday and started listening to the news to try and catch up on what’s happening out there in the open world – only to be greeted by leaders around the world saying the most stupid things on Television to unknowing, trusting country people who now should be very worried about what they have said! I know it is a difficult time and I know not everyone is a scientist or micro-biologist… but certain things in life are just plain common sense!
One of the things which is common sense to me is how we should approach God as children and not as ‘all knowing’ adults! As adults we don’t like other people telling us what to do or how to run our lives – but if we go ahead and ignore common sense, we will fall down and hurt ourselves. God continues to try and impress on us the urgency of getting to know Him, getting to trust Him and telling other people about Him – yet we continue to try and do things our old selfish ways because that is how we have been all our lives!
The time I needed God most in my life I simply got down on my knees and told God I could do nothing without Him and His protection; I was scared and had nothing left to trust in, but God was there and came through for me. That was my time when I came to Him like a child, depending totally on Him and giving my whole situation to Him without limit. Now I know God is good and I know God answered my prayers on that day… in a way which did not make sense to me as an adult, but made perfect sense when I look at it as a child should...
Points to Ponder:
Do you want God to work to your rules?
Or will you finally submit to His ways?
May 12: Psalms 31 14-16
Key Verse: Psalms 31 15
My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me.
Devotion:
Hands up anyone who thinks they have got this virus sussed out and knows how to control it! None of us know for certainty what this virus is going to do to the world over the next six months and this verse today reminds us how our lives are in God’s hands. The more we try to take control of things and work things out to our own ability, the more things go wrong. We don’t know how to control our mouths properly, never mind our bodies or communities!
Can you imagine what it would be like to try and control the flow of a river give a bucket and spade as the only tools you have to control it with? I used to rush out into the rain back in Africa so I could build temporary dams with mud and stones and even sticks just to have fun; it gave us a sense of power over nature… but along comes a single car, a bit more rain or any small external force and the dam collapses and the water course returns back to its normal flow.
To a large extent this is probably what our leaders feel like as they try and manage the country – some of them seem to know what they are doing, whilst others make a lot of noise and say they know what they are doing. The truth will come out, unfortunately, in a week or so rather than right now. That is what it may seem like in our spiritual world as well; we have some leaders who are giving out good advice and others who shout a lot and say they are right! God will expose those who are shouting out things from their own minds because He knows what the rest of us need in our lives.
As long as we are willing to stop and listen and try to compare what people are saying with what God’s Word has told us all along, then we will also be able to ascertain the truth and follow those leaders who are giving us the truth. It is heartening to know it is because of God’s love for us that we are being looked after and not because we are following the latest rules or figuring things out for ourselves. Be patient and listen to God, wait on His word and obey His commandments; but above all maintain your right and proper relationship with Christ!
Points to Ponder:
Do you trust your leaders more than you trust God?
Do you know God allowed them to be in power?
May 11: Psalms 31 1-5
Key Verse: Psalms 31 5
Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.
Devotion:
What an awesome reminder of how prayer and faith must always go hand in hand. Here David is in distress of some description and so lifts up his prayers to God, not just to plead with God and ask for deliverance, but to depend on God to answer his prayers – that is faith; believing your prayers will be answered, not because it’s the right prayer at the right time, but because God is faithful!
Each time I hear someone say God has not answered a prayer because it was not the right prayer to pray I cringe and want to ask God to forgive them – but I know I am guilty of doing this too! It is not up to us to question whether we are asking the right thing at the right time, but simply up to us to lift up our prayers to God and wait patiently for His answer. You may well be surprised at His answers!
I know the feeling of someone wrapping their arms around you to show you they care or to help you see things are going to be OK. I love the feeling of a good honest hug and I miss not being able to hug people while this virus remains rampant in our world; but I know God continues to hug me and to comfort me because I know He is faithful and loving beyond anything we can imagine! David knew this too and pleads with God to come quickly and wrap His loving arms around him – because God is his rock and fortress, the safest of places he has ever known!
I marvel at the thickness of the walls of some of the castles I have visited here in the UK and know they have protected so many people in the past just because they are so strong. They have nothing in comparison to the love and security we can have from God – if we come to the fortress which is His love and faithfulness. But it may well test our faith because we cannot see the fortress like we can see a castle; and we cannot see the traps which are before us that the evil one has placed in our way… we simply have to trust in God!
Points to Ponder:
Do you find it hard trusting in the unseen?
Can you think of God as being the biggest and strongest fortress you can imagine?
May 10: Acts 7 54-60
Key Verse: Acts 7 56
“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
Devotion:
I had to sit and read this through a few times before bringing it to you today; I just cannot imagine what it would be like to have been in Stephens place! We don’t like to think too much about the persecutions which many Christians face around the world – I think the most I have had to face is the name calling and on a couple of times people being ‘in your face’ shouting at you with various fluids coming from their mouths as they shouted! Not something we would like to face during this pandemic!
But Stephen here did not relent in his support for Christ and in his telling of the truth about Christ. God looked down on him and reached out with a hand of support which we don’t often get to see in our lives. God opened up Stephen’s sight and allowed him to see Christ together with God – the place of peace and rest where he would shortly be! I think the joy of such a sight would overcome me!
What did the people around him do? They covered up their ears just in case they heard the truth and were convinced by it, and they laid their hands on him, dragging him out of the city so they could stone him! Now as children we used to go off into the bush and get lumps of soft clay which we would put on the end of sticks and throw the clay at others. It hurt when one of those lumps hit you – and they were soft clay! I cannot imagine what it would be like to have loads of stones thrown at you…
But because of the love God reached out with toward Stephen and the peace which that brought to him, he was willing and able to ask God to forgive them because they did not understand the truth. I know what it is like to have God’s protection and I know the strength it gives you to carry on doing His work. I just pray we would not have to face such a time as Stephen faced here; I pray the world will see what is right and turn to God instead of standing on its pride and rejecting Christ like many do!
Points to Ponder:
Have you asked God for protection?
Will you trust Him to protect you as you step forward in His name?