March 26: Jeremiah 20:7-9
 
Key Verse: Jeremiah 20:9
But if I say, ‘I will not mention his word or speak any more in his name,’ his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.
 
Devotion:
Sometimes, as a Christian, we are called to do something which will upset others – not because God wants us to upset others, but because we have to do what is right! When Jeremiah was called to prophesy things about the future and the land, the priests got very upset when they heard things would not go their way. They were upset things would not longer be in their control but in the hands of someone else!
 
After he was beaten up and clamped in stocks for the night, the priest called Jeremiah to hear him again – expecting that Jeremiah would have changed his story to be more amenable. Instead, Jeremiah told how all of Judah would fall to the Babylonians and they would be taken off into exile to Babylon. Not what they wanted to hear at all!
 
Jeremiah complained to God saying it was not nice to have to tell the people they would be over-run, exiled and be in a horrible place for a while. But even though the words were difficult to say to the priests, Jeremiah said he would not be able to keep them in – he would have to tell the people the truth!
 
God wants us to tell people the truth so they can be prepared for what is ahead and also give them time to think about their lives and hopefully turn to God instead. When we have God’s Word in our hearts, it will burn like a fire and want to expand and be free. It is hard to hold a fire back when there is so much fuel around it. This is the picture Jeremiah is painting for us. Allow God’s word to be spread as quickly as it can be, no matter how much it may cost.
 
Points to Ponder:
Do you get scared when you are called to tell someone about God?
 
Imagine it like a fire and them the fuel – simply give it to them and God will do the rest!

March 25: Hebrews 10:1-4
 
Key Verse: Hebrews 10:3
But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins.
 
Devotion:
Have you ever wondered why we do the things we do in our churches? Most of the things we do, we do because it is traditional or habitual to do so. The church and religious organisations have imposed many things onto us and you may object to some... so why do we do them?
 
I have been to quite a few places of worship where I have wondered where they have got the idea for doing what they do and almost always get the answer of something like “they have always done it this way.”  Let’s face it, people do not like change because they become comfortable in the habitual ways because they know what is coming and they can cope with that better than the unknown.
 
When God was preparing for Jesus to come and be amongst us, it was not going to be the same old thing – it was going to be something entirely new and unheard of. People were going to be upset and object and all sorts of things – just because it was different. God imposed strict ways on the Israelites so they would get used to the idea of living their lives for God instead of for themselves. Over time, they grew comfortable with the way things were and imposed stricter laws to prevent people from rocking the boat.
 
This is not what God was interested in. He wanted people to focus on Him and not on habits or traditions. He wanted to free the people from their own entrapment! We get trapped in the ways we invent – we become obsessed with those ways and we lose focus on what is real – on whom we should be worshipping. There is nothing new here because mankind has done this over and over again throughout history! But it is not God’s ways – they may well be ways in which we can remember God or draw closer to Him, so some of them we look at as being good or even righteous. But God is doing new things...
 
Points to Ponder:
Do you like traditional church?
 
Will you embrace what God asks of you instead of what tradition asks of you?

March 24: John 8:31-38
 
Key Verse: John 8:36
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
 
Devotion:
I always find the language fascinating as used by the people at the time this was happening. To be able to wonder where they were in their hearts and where they were spiritually gives the gospels so much more body! We could look at this and wonder why they could not see their history as we see it. You could look at this and think why they could not recognise Jesus as the Messiah. Or you could look at this and wonder what God wants you to gain from it!
 
If you are not wondering what God wants you to learn, then, just maybe, you are trying to lay the blame on someone else’s shoulders. This is the stance we take too many times in our lives – we want to apportion some blame on someone else or make it so there is a defined reason for everything which happened... Maybe what we should be doing more often is stopping what we are doing and thinking about what we can learn from these words!
 
God gave us the bible so we could learn more, draw closer to Him and apportion praise and worship where it should be sent rather than blaming others for things we do not have control over. God wants us to grow in our lives with Him and not to be strangled by pit holes and trappings we cannot avoid because of our nature.
 
When we accept Christ’s ways into our lives we are going to find a new freedom in our lives which when have never had before. Before, when we felt trapped by unseen forces and circumstance, we can step back and see a new way forward offering us hope and freedom with God at the middle! Aim for what Christ is trying to teach us and not for how we can blame others for things wrong in our lives.
 
Points to Ponder:
Do you like blaming others?
 
Will you accept the path Christ lays before you?