March 20: John 7:37-44
Key Verse: John 7:43
Thus the people were divided because of Jesus.
Devotion:
Have you noticed how you always get opposition from people who don’t want to believe in what you believe in? No matter how much we expect things, we always seem to be surprised when we get opposition from people who say they believe or are part of a church or even say they are Christians. And there is nothing new about these conflicts!
What Jesus wants for us is to come to Him with an open heart, to listen to His teaching and to obey it. Only when we start to reflect our Saviour can we pass on this teaching to the people around us. If we try to do things our own way, we will falter and stumble because we cannot see the pitfalls like Christ can. God has seen it all before as mankind has tried and failed so many times before. So why do we insist on giving it another go by ourselves if we have failed so many times before?
The answer to that is probably because we do not listen to Christ enough, and we certainly do not listen to the Holy Spirit enough! Jesus tried to tell people how much better things would be if they listened to the Holy Spirit because they would be able to share so much more with others. And this is where we seem to differ from others – some want a quiet life just doing what the old church did, others want to just be good people whilst some want to jump up and down and shout to the world about God!
We are going to have differing opinions as we move forward because not all people have been taught by the same teachers. God saw this and knew people would always be in conflict because of the differences in what has gone before. This is why He wanted people to listen more to the Holy Spirit because that teaching is coming straight from God!
Points to Ponder:
Do you have arguments with others in church?
Will you try to listen to the Holy Spirit more today?
March 19: Romans 4:13-18
Key Verse: Romans 4:18
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’
Devotion:
It is reminders like these which not just give us hope, but give us encouragement and strengthen our belief in a God who keeps His promises. Abraham did not inherit anything because he kept the laws or because he was a good man – he got his inheritance from a God who promised it to him if he kept his faith!
Was it a requirement to have demonstrate his faith in some way? No, it was the act of having faith in the promise God had given him. We all fall over at times because we stumble or lose our footing. But if we keep on believing we can continue to get up and walk even after we fall over, then we have faith in something! God wants us to have that belief in His promises for and to us. God wants us to know we can depend on His promises!
If we relied on the law, then we would all be in for a big disappointment – the only thing we would gain is the wrath of God when we broke the law! If we make our hope in laws, then the only thing we will definitely see is how we falter and break the law! But we know how Jesus came to earth and gave us hope because He took on the debt we owe for our sins – He gave us a way of ensuring we have hope!
We need to step up and believe in that hope Christ has given us. We need to remain strong in our belief God allowed this to happen so we could join Him in Heaven! It is our faith, no matter how small and insignificant, which will allow us to join Him in Heaven!
Points to Ponder:
Do you think you have enough faith?
If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you have enough!
March 18: Exodus 32:7–14
Key Verse: Exodus 32:14
Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.
Devotion:
How many times have you given into temptation because it looked so much better than what you were going through at the time? The English saying “the grass is always greener on the other side” comes to mind – we see what we don’t have as being better than what we do have because we don’t actually know what we don’t have! We look for a fast and easy solution!
When the people of Israel were at the bottom of the mountain and Moses was at the top with God, they became restless and wanted some sort of comfort and gratification there and then... why should they have to wait for Moses to come down the mountain after days or weeks when they could go back to their old ways and their old gods right then and there!
God was trying to educate Moses by showing him what was needed and how the people could draw closer to Him; but the people chose to follow their own ideas instead of waiting patiently on God. Sometimes we are called to wait while we learn more and those are the hard times for us because we want instant gratification instead.
God wants us to learn the right way so we will remember those ways He wants us to learn. God wants us to have the choice of doing the right thing and that is why He allows us to make our own decisions – even when they are the wrong ones. It’s not too surprising this makes God cross! But as we see here, He is willing to forgive no matter what the crime; as long as we are willing to come before Him with humility!
Points to Ponder:
Do you take decisions based on what you want to need?
Will you allow God to show you what you need?
March 17: John 5:19-23
Key Verse: John 5:20
For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.
Devotion:
This is one of those sections of verse which speak deeply to me as a father. I can look back at my life as a child and relate to this in my relationship with my Father, but I can also look back as a father and view my relationship with my son... and I can even look at my relationship with my grandchildren too now! How time passes!
When we do love and respect our parents, we tend to listen to them and try to obey them – yes, I know we get it wrong and we go off and do bad things, but in large we try to obey our parents in a loving relationship. The same has to be said with our relationship with Christ – when we do love Him, we try to obey Him. We still get things wrong and make mistakes, but as long as we are trying to do what He wishes, our relationship will continue to grow deeper.
Now the relationship between Jesus and God is something more difficult to get our heads round – but we have the ultimate example through Him because He obeyed His Father at all times and because of His closeness to Him, was able to do so much more during His life on earth. Because of this closeness, when He asked something of God, the requests were granted; something we can relate to in our relationships with our parents – if we are in a good relationship with them, they are more likely to say yes when we ask...
As a parent I can say I am very defensive when anyone does anything to my children or my grandchildren. There are times when we do have to stand by and just watch because it is the right thing to do. This is how love looks...
Points to Ponder:
Do you try to do what God asks?
Do you try to help God’s other children?