August 3: John 4:46-54
Key Verse: John 4:48
‘Unless you people see signs and wonders,’ Jesus told him, ‘you will never believe.’
Devotion:
What does it take before you really believe something? Will it take an earth-shattering event or will you believe something God tells you through another person? I have learned God speaks to us through other people and not just through the big events of this world. Yes it may well have been a big event which cemented my belief God is my protector, but each day I continue to realise just how much He does on a day-by-day basis!
Don’t wait until you have an earth-shattering event happen because you may find it is the most difficult thing you have ever been through, or the worst imaginable thing! God wants us to believe Him because we want to and because we trust Him, not because it is the last thing on earth left before we collapse into a big heap.
This royal official must have been at the end of his tether with the looming death of his son – not something I ever want to have to live through. And what was the response from Jesus? A seemingly uncaring “go away your son will live” How was he supposed to believe this when his whole being was telling him his son was near to death? Why else would he have come to Jesus as a last resort?
Don’t wait for a last resort but place your faith and trust in the one true God is is willing and able to do so much more than we can imagine. Remember the little things which He is telling you through other people. Remember the chances He gives you. Add up all of those little things and see just how big the picture really is. He has got your back whether you realise it or not!
Points to Ponder:
What makes you stop and listen?
Will you listen to the small voice of someone else God is speaking through?
August 2: John 4:7-9
Key Verse: John 4:9
The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?’ (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
Devotion:
Who did Jesus include in His group of people He wanted to live with… everyone! So many times in our culture we don’t include some people just because they live on the wrong side of the street or they don’t belong to a particular group we associate with… We exclude people just because they are different...
When Jesus came to Sychar He knew it was time to meet with the Samaritan woman who was being shunned by the community she lived in. He knew it was time to include the person others were rejecting just because she was different. To Him, it did not matter whether she was a Jew, believer, Samaritan, non-believer, whatever! He wants every one of us to be included in His family and in His church. He wants every one of us, no matter what race, colour, position, society, past, present or future; He wants very one of us to be included!
This is the task set before us when He said He wants us to love our neighbour. Jesus wants us to include the excluded. He wants us to meet with the people who are shunned. He wants us to greet the people ignored by society. He wants us to help those who are stepped on by others. Jesus wants us to act like the Christians we say we are!
I know I have been guilty of this in the past, and for those times I am truly sorry, but joining Eden (#joineden) and becoming part of a community which had been sidelined by society, I have been able to do so much more of the things Jesus asked of me in the beginning. The place I live and love may well change over time, but the people always remain the same – those chosen by God! (that means everyone by the way!)
Points to Ponder:
What do you do in your community?
What would Jesus do in your position?
August 1: Luke 5:27-31
Key Verse: Luke 5:31
Jesus answered them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but those who are ill.’
Devotion:
I could just imagine the faces of the Pharisees and teachers as they watched Jesus go to the tax collector’s house and have a banquet with them instead of a humble occasion with a few of the people they thought should deserve it… What would you think if your vicar went to have a meal with a local drug dealer instead of coming round to your house and having a light salad!
OK, that may not be a good comparison, but it has got you thinking… Just what do we expect in our lives and how much do we judge others according to our own rules and our own wants? If we are honest we will admit to having some jealous thoughts in our lives which are not really justifiable!
Jesus quite clearly stated He was not here to appease the people who thought they made up the best synagogues or supported the best temples… He came to reach out to the people who needed God most in their lives. He came to allow the people who were shunned from the temples to meet with God and see a new hope in their own lives. God calls us to do similar things – and it can be very scary!
I cannot compare my life to that of Christ, but I can see so many places where God has placed me in a difficult situation to allow me o be used in a way which reaches out to people who can’t face coming to church for one reason or another. God uses us in ways which we cannot or do not perceive. He uses us where we just don’t know how to reach people – because He is God and He can do these things! Trust and obey is ringing in my head as I write this down...
Points to Ponder:
Where do you aim your “God Work?”
Will you stop and allow Him to do work through you?
July 31: Luke 5:22-26
Key Verse: Luke 5:23
Which is easier: to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Get up and walk”?
Devotion:
Firstly yesterday things went a bit awry! I have been receiving continued check-ups as I have recovered from my bout of necrotising pancreatitis, cystitis and a whole lot of other complications and big medical words! I had a scan a few weeks back and a call from the surgeon to say the cystitis had finally cleared and I should get booked in to have the stents removed at some stage. The next day I got a call asking if I could come in the following day (yesterday) to have “endoscopic stent removal!” So I was under the influence of the sedation drugs yesterday and did not get round to this devotion – so today you get two for one!
In our verses today, the Pharisees and teachers were not impressed anyone could come into their “territory” and do things which they could not do. It made them look like they were not as good as they had made things out to be… the truth was being told!
Sometimes in our lives we get used to doing the same old thing over and over again and we get used to taking short-cuts and even telling people how we are doing more than we actually do! We are all guilty of this at some stage in our lives and we should all take note of how Jesus handled this. The first thing He did was to pick out the people who were living in their own pride. He stopped and made them think about what they were doing. God is going to do the same to us if we continue to walk off in opposition to His will in our lives.
But it is going to be up to us as to whether we act like these Pharisees and make even more excuses playing the blame game, or whether we stop and make a U-turn to follow God’s will in our lives. I am always amazed at how He is able to do so much in our lives when we do follow His will and that includes placing some incredible surgeons and consultants in your path who are able to do some pretty amazing things to keep us alive! I know it was God who was behind this all because my life has not fallen apart as I thought it must do when it all went belly up in hospital back in February last year! God is good! Listen and obey!
Points to Ponder:
Do you keep on making excuses?
Will you put aside your pride and try to do what God wants you to do?