June 20: John 6:30-33
Key Verse: John 6:30
So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?
Devotion:
What does it take for you to believe something? Do you have to see it in action or do you trust what other people tell you? What then has brought you to the stage where you sought out the great questions of life and of God?
For some it has been a traumatic event in their lives which has made them question their own lives and turn to find comfort in God. For some it is the mundane existence of their lives which has led to them seeking something more from life and found themselves looking at God. But, whatever has happened in your life to get you to this stage where you are seeking God, just remember one thing: It is what comes down from God in Heaven which makes all the sense and what we should be seeking.
We like to try and justify things through earthly events and like to make sense of things according to our own rules or expectations – but sometimes it is beyond our comprehension and we just have to accept there is more to life than our existence. God continues to try and allow people to see how much more to life there is than what we see. He tries to open our hearts to allow true love to come in. He allows many things in our lives so we can try and identify what parts come from Him.
But all through this, He is continuing to pour out His love to us and continues to lift us up when we trip up and stumble. As long as we are willing listen to what we are hearing from God, we are going to be able to achieve what He would like us to do. But when we turn up the volume of the world instead, we lose focus on Him and allow our minds to go off for a wander into the pitfalls the evil one has laid down before us. It is the bread from Heaven which will feed us and allow us to grow stronger each day.
Points to Ponder:
Do you try to survive on whatever food you can get hold of?
Do you continue to look after your spiritual life with bread from Heaven?
June 19: Mark 6:14-16
Key Verse: Mark 6:16
But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”
Devotion:
How far are you willing to go to have your own way or to cover up a lie you have told? I know I have gone pretty far in the past, but most of the time I was found out pretty quickly and things always went South after that! I was raised in a country where racism was a way of life, not one I liked and as I grew older, not one I supported. Some of the people around me were going to extraordinary lengths to do very racist things and many times they would not even bother to cover them up – that was what they had been conditioned to believe!
After years of being away from that environment and living amongst the people in England I started to think things were so much better here, but even here I started to realise there was still racism in society. It is not something we can just switch off or run away from, it is something we have to live with and change from the inside out.
Because Herod was in a position of power, he thought he could get away with anything he wanted to do; something we still see in our leaders all around the world. There is nothing new about people abusing their positions of power to suit their own wants and desires! Unfortunately there are always people on the receiving end who get abused because of this greed and we, as Christians, need to stand up for all of us and promote the way Jesus wants us to live – by loving our neighbours!
I love living on the estate I currently live in because there is such a diverse group of people who live together; many live at or below what is considered as the poverty line on our estates here in London. We try to show people there is hope through Jesus Christ and allow them to experience a bit of God’s love where the country seems to be leaving them behind. This is just as bad as racism, yet so many countries ignore these situations just as they ignore racism. Now it the time to change. Now is the time to love your neighbour – no matter who they are!
Points to Ponder:
Do you love living where you live?
Are you sharing God’s love with your neighbours?
June 18: Mark 6:7-11
Key Verse: Mark 6:9
Wear sandals but not an extra shirt.
Devotion:
Now, this was not a literal command for all Christians to wear sandals and not an extra shirt, but rather a command for us to get out there into the world without having to lug round all our creature comforts. Life is not all about being as comfortable as you can make it without regard to others. Life is all about living with others and being part of their lives. Life is about including everyone who is willing to be included and sharing life together.
How many things do you pack before you go on holiday? Do you make sure you have all of your comforts met by the amount of stuff you take with you, or do you take the bare basics and make do with what you have? Well, Jesus was telling these disciples to not pack bags but to just get out there and spread the gospel. If people do want to hear about God then they will be willing to open up their lives a little to allow you to work with them. It’s not about enforcing your way on others to prove them wrong!
I see what is happening in society at the moment and I am dismayed there are people out there who refuse to believe there is a crisis happening right now, one which has been brewing for hundreds of years and has had far too many people turn a blind eye or even support the wrongful suppression of a human beings right to live as equals. Far too often people hang on to the riches they have gained and refuse to let them go in fear of not having those luxuries to live with.
Jesus wants us to live a life which is similar to the one chosen for the disciples to live, one where they could go out and share their lives without worry or shame for what they were doing. A life where Jesus Christ is at the centre and is the cornerstone upon which everything should be built. It is not our job to build up enough resources to carry others or to make others successful. It is our task to share Christ with everyone who is willing to listen and to live a life which simply gives glory to Him at all times.
Points to Ponder:
Are you worried about your bank balance?
Will you willingly share your bank balance with Christ?
June 17: Mark 6:1-6
Key Verse: Mark 6:5
He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.
Devotion:
What is it which would prevent you from believing in Jesus? We all have our own things we believe because of what we have seen in our lives, or at least what we believe we have seen. But, as you go through life, you begin to realise things are not always what they seem. If you are willing to find out the truth and change your perceptions then you will be able move on further than if you stick to what you think are the right ways.
When Jesus went back to His home town, the people there knew Him as Jesus the Son of Mary and Joseph, not as Jesus Christ our Saviour. Their imaginations and faith were clouded by the fact they knew Him as a mere human being and not as the Son of God! Some of them accepted He was some kind of prophet because of the knowledge He had about God, but that was also their limiting factor, they did not want to believe further than that.
Sometimes we have things in our lives which are preventing us from seeing the truth about God and fully realising our faith in Him. This was a clear statement about how our faith was able to make things possible with Jesus being the catalyst and not the doer of all things. Jesus wants us to know it is our faith in God which will make things possible – things beyond our normal understanding.
When He tried to get people to be the doers instead of just being hearers of the word, things went south because of the lack of belief from the local people. When we go out into our communities we need to believe that Christ is going to work through us and not just us doing what we can. If we do what we can, we can help the people we touch, but if we have faith, God can do so much more in our communities than we can by ourselves!
Points to Ponder:
Do you like working alone?
Will you invite Christ to join with you in reaching your community?