May 18: John 14 1-6
Key Verse: John 14 2
In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Devotion:
After referencing these verses, I thought it about time to go through them again because they are a real source of encouragement to us all! Not only do we have an amazing promise carried in these verses, but we have all the comfort and encouragement we need! We could discuss and think about the very first phrase “Let not your heart be troubled” and still not cover all of the meaning Christ has given. When He promised this to the disciples, these same words were meant to comfort and encourage man for the rest of time, not just at that moment whilst He was talking to them, but for us today as well.
So many people do come to the conclusion there must be a God, but never make the breakthrough of acknowledging Jesus Christ is God’s only begotten Son and that He is our Saviour. He is the one promising us He is going to prepare places for each of us. He is the one who promises there are many mansions just waiting for us. No more living in a small house or flat! He is the one who has promised us the Joy and He is the one who is delivering on His promises. All of this is done so we can enjoy our eternal life with Him in heaven. He is the Way. He is the Truth. He is the Life.
Jesus gave His own life on the cross just so we would not have to pay for our sins. He willingly laid down His life because of His love for us. He rose from the dead so He could conquer Satan. He is the resurrection. None other can claim this. He is the only truth. And once we get to know that, He is our comforter, guide and King. We must never forget what Christ has done for us because that is our only way to heaven!
Points to Ponder:
Who do you turn to in your family for comfort?
How often do you take your burdens to Christ?
May 17: Revelation 21 10-21
Key Verse: Revelation 21 16
The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long.
Devotion:
When anyone asks me “how big is heaven going to be” my answer is not first to look in Revelation 21 and show them but to say that it is going to be large enough for every born again Christian to have the mansion that Christ has promised us! We are given the measurements of the space that it fills, roughly 1500 miles wide, long and high. That in itself is an awfully large space since we live on an earth that has an atmosphere of less than 1% of that! Our tallest buildings may seem huge to us, but this will be more than 3000 times the height! We are also talking about something covering Western Europe, but half the depth of the earth itself!
The single fact that the walls are 144 cubits thick (roughly 200 foot thick, or 70 meters) should be enough to give us confidence it is going to be a very safe place. Not only that, but we will have our God living with us, protecting us! There will be no evil, there will be no more sin, there will only be perfect peace... Something we will struggle to think of since we have been brought up in a world which is based on sin! Just as we struggle to think of the size of heaven, the state of heaven is something we can only imagine.
The descriptions we are given are based on an earthly man's views of something which is not earthly! I don't think we will fully realise just how much of a wonderful place heaven will be until we are there! Each of the elements described are picked for beauty, strength or purity. The fact that much of these are based on our Christian history shows how God has created us a perfect place, fulfilling His promises to His promised people! Nothing has been left to chance. Nothing has been left out. All His promised are fulfilled. That fact our Awesome God has created the perfect place for us to live knowing what we are going to be like when we do meet Him. We are not going to be in our worn-out and tired bodies! We are going to be given perfect bodies to live in our perfect new world. We should be in no doubt about how big or small heaven is! It's the perfect size!
Points to Ponder:
What is the biggest place you have ever been to?
God's place will be perfect!
May 16: Numbers 22 15-21
Key Verse: Numbers 22 18
But Balaam answered them, “Even if Balak gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the LORD my God.
Devotion:
Whilst we often look at this chapter in Numbers as being a funny part of God's Word, there is a serious side of it that we should never forget. Balak was the king of Moab at the time and he did not like the sight of all of Israel descending upon his kingdom. He wanted to get God to curse the children of Israel before they had a chance to come too close. He had this notion that he could get a prophet to pray for evil upon God's chosen people; and he wanted a blessing upon himself so he may continue to prosper.
Balak was obviously impressed with what Balaam (the prophet) was doing and knew he had a God behind him who was very powerful. Somehow, he thought God would be like any other god he had worshipped and would bow to him requests. Obviously the so-called prophets of Baal had done exactly that before and he was used to it. What he did not count on was our God being a just and faithful God.
Balak was under such conviction that he was able to do anything he continued to bother Balaam every day to get his own way. Balaam’s first answer was the only answer he should ever have had to give: I cannot do anything against God. God is all I listen to! Each one of us has our weaknesses, each one of us has our strengths. But like everyone, we think our strengths are far greater than our weaknesses. We believe we are able to stand up to temptation. We believe we are able to stand up to anything... But unless we are willing to listen to God, listen to exactly what He wants us to do, then we will fall into that temptation.
Balaam knew God’s power. He knew God's will... but he bent the rules albeit ever so slightly. We cannot afford to do any bending from God's laws...
Points to Ponder:
How often do you bend the rules at home?
How often do you bend God's rules to suit yourself?
May 15: Revelation 21 6-8
Key Verse: Revelation 21 6
He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.
Devotion:
Probably the most important words to me in this passage are simply “It is done.” It is not a statement saying that God is still trying to figure things out so that He can do things in the future, nor that we have an uncertain future. Rather, it is the fact... It is done... He has accomplished things. We just have to wait until His appointed time... God is the Alpha, the beginning, before time. God is the Omega, the ending, after time. We may have no concept of being able to exist without time constraints, but that is where God is.
No matter when in time we live, we all have the same opportunity to accept that God is the one true God and He alone is all powerful and all loving and just plain everything to us! He is the only one who is able to give us everlasting life in heaven. He is the only one who will show us our new heaven and new earth. He is absolutely faithful to take us on as His children as soon as we ask Him into our lives. He is absolutely faithful to stick by our sides from then on. We may not remember the promises all the time, but He does. We may not act like we love Him all the time, but He does.
But those who refuse to believe in Him will not be able to have any of the comforts He will give to us in heaven. Those who refuse, no matter how good a person they are, will be side by side with the worst unbelieving murderers and gangsters in a place where they will forever be in extreme discomfort.
Nobody likes to be told they will be ending up in hell, but we do need to remind them of just what a place it is and that we can avoid it quite simply by believing in God. Reminding them of what they will be missing out on is one way of encouraging them to think about their futures.
Points to Ponder:
How long do you keep friends with people?
Gods relationship with you can be forever – as long as you start it!
May 14: Mark 10 17-22
Key Verse: Mark 10 20
And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.”
Devotion:
All of us like to think we are good people and we will freely admit to all the good things we do; but owning up to the bad things we do is not on our list of things we want to share! The rich young ruler who came to Jesus to find out how he could gain access to heaven was looking for a promoted way of getting there. I’m sure he was used to having his own way because of the wealth and position he held in society.
When we are in an elevated position of our own making, we exercise a certain amount of pride in getting to that position. We want others to know just how we have managed to get there and boast about those facts. Jesus knew full well the young ruler would probably tell everyone just how good he was and how he was destined for heaven; but what Jesus did was confront Him will his own pride and told him to sell up everything and give the proceeds to the poor!
Was this Jesus’ way of saying that money is evil? No! Far from it. What He was saying was the young ruler was holding up the money as being more important than God. Anyone who is willing to hold up anything above God is not following the commandments given to us by God Himself! God requires we do not lift anything above Him otherwise we will be tempted to continue lifting that up instead of giving God the glory. How can we say we love God more than anything if we are showing the world we love our property more than God?
Jesus did not rebuke the man directly for loving money but rather gave the man a chance to turn away from the love of money and turn back to Him. It is only when we are willing to give up everything for God that we can move forward in our relationship with Him. Give God the glory for everything, including your money and other possessions. God wants us to be able to bless others with what He gives us; don’t hold back and don’t assume God will bow to your expectations!
Points to Ponder:
What do you love most in your life?
Will you give it up for God?