December 11: Isaiah 35:1-7

Key Verse: Isaiah 35:3
Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way;

Devotion:
Can you imagine being told by God you have to go and tell people they are going to face hardships they never dreamed of and lose almost everything they had worked for? I don’t think Isaiah liked having to tell the people of Israel that someone was coming to break down their holy city, but equally telling the Gentiles they would gain everything must have hurt.

We may look on these words in various ways like above, but really they were telling of a change in the church, from the reign of the Pharisees to a time when the Gospel message would bring a new season for the church. Isaiah knew someone would come to overthrow Jerusalem – a few hundred years later the Babylonians did that. But he also knew a Saviour was coming who would overturn all the old ways and bring in something which would mean more to all people than before.

With hindsight we can look back on these words and figure out what was coming and what would happen after the initial destruction and enslavement of the people. Isaiah had the unenviable task of tell all of this news to the people of Israel.

We have been given these words, our history and all manner of things to show us how truthful and serious God was and is. If we can stop from our busy lives and read over what happened, reconcile that with the message from God and look to what is still to come, we can be encourage and filled with hope. We have to change our lives and fill them more with God’s presence and His promises...

Points to Ponder:
Do you like giving out bad news?

Don’t forget the good news of the gospel!

December 10: Mark 1:1-8

Key Verse: Mark 1:4
And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Devotion:
Sometimes I wish people would not create names for everything – like being “saved” as a mark of becoming a Christian. Some people find it very hard to accept words like this which can be used for good or for boasting and even ridicule. Jesus did not place people in pigeon holes just so they could be named; instead He invited all to come forward and change their lives.

John was not called to forgive anyone or to heal or bless. He was called to prepare the way for Jesus to come and bring people hope, a hope of being able to be forgiven and accepted into Heaven alongside Him. John taught people about baptism being a sign of repentance and forgiveness of sins.

The repentance had to come from the people themselves. The forgiveness had to come from God through the promise Jesus gave us when He went to the cross. The people came forward to confess their sins in front of John, the people and most importantly in front of God. They then took a plunge into the river to signify the old lives coming to and end and a new life living in forgiveness beginning.

John knew the limits of what he was doing, but also knew there would be no limits to what Christ would do. John did not dress up for any occasion but wore clothing made from camel’s hair and a leather belt. He was just a strange person called by God to do something very important for all the people of Judea. He answered that calling and dedicated his life to that calling.

Points to Ponder:
Do you get caught up in the religion and pomp and ceremony?

Why not just focus on what God is asking of you?

December 9: Matthew 9:35-38

Key Verse: Matthew 9:38
Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

Devotion:
One of the greatest problems we have is not having enough people who are willing to share their faith with others. Jesus highlighted the problem back then just as it is today, His response being we must ask God to send out more people willing to share the gospel message. The next chapter in Matthew starts off by saying Jesus called His disciples together and gave them authority to go out and do miracles just as He was.

And this leads us to another issue we seem to have in modern times: who now has the authority to drive out spirits and cure diseases nowadays? We are not told by written law who gives authority to anyone other than by the words written down by the disciples and told us here in these verses.

We should not judge people about their authority to do anything unless it goes against God’s words in our bibles, after all we know the Spirit enables us to have different gifts from God which we can do. There is not a chain of command here where we get elected things by church elders, but gifts given us from God.

One thing we do know is the disciples would fail in some cases because they wrote about that too. In these cases they brought the people to Jesus to ask why, to which Jesus replied they did not have enough faith or they did not pray… which leads us to be reminded we should ask everything through the name of Jesus. Take everything to God in prayer!

Points to Ponder:
Are you listening to God?

Are you continually asking God for support?