March 8: Acts 2:36-39
Key Verse: Acts 2:38
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Devotion:
How many times have you got yourself into trouble? How many of those times was the punishment for you actions harsh in your eyes? … and yet you still did it … We have laws and rules about how we should behave and when we break those rules and laws, we have to face the punishment which has been described for breaking them.
We have a problem in how we live and how we behave; it is not according to God’s ways and His wishes. He has also given us rules about how we should live our lives and has laid down the punishment we should face if we choose to break those rules! Just the same as we have our rules and regulations in our earthly lives, we have rules and regulation about our lives with God. The problem being we don’t really have a hope of not breaking God’s rules and regulations; not because they are too strict but because we have a nature which is against those rules and regulations!
Now imagine being a person who has to face a judge who declares how you have been an accomplice to a murder and we have to face the punishment for that murder. We may not have been the ones who killed the person in question, we may have just stood by while it happened because we were too scared to do anything else – but the fact remains, we are still accomplices!
The Jews were faced with this decision with Peter telling them how they were accomplices to the murder of Jesus and now they were being faced with the punishment which was written down for that. The punishment was death! When they realised what they had done, they thought there was no way out and wanted to know what they could do to try and get out of paying the due punishment. Peter’s answer may well have surprised them – all they would have to do was to admit to what they had done, say they were sorry and show others how sorry they were by being baptised. The same is open for us as well – we just have to say we are sorry and mean it. We don’t have to be baptised, but it can be seen as a public acknowledgement of our admission of guilt.
Points to Ponder:
Do you know what punishment you face?
Are you willing to go public and say sorry to God?
March 7: Zechariah 9:9-11
Key Verse: Zechariah 9:9
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Devotion:
It really is amazing to look back at the things which were written down for/by the prophets hundreds of years before Jesus came to live amongst us; each one of them ringing true and surprisingly detailed in cases! This is because these prophets really did listen to God and tried to make sure what they heard was given out to the people as accurately as they could remember. We all do have our limits on what we can remember and this is why some of the stories in the bible seem to be different…
First and foremost Jesus came to be King! This was going to upset all the kings and people in authority because a mere man was going to come forward as the new King without all the celebrations and things society was used to. He was going to ride into Jerusalem on a donkey instead of a white stallion as royalty was used to. But what was setting Him apart from the rest of the kings was the fact He was going to be righteous and nothing was going to stop Him!
He was not going to come in with a great army to overthrow the local forces because He is coming in as a Priest who is going to speak the truth and remind people about God. He was going to give hope to those who had no hope at the time; the poor underclass who had no say in what happened in society. They were the ones who would get the greatest gift of all, and the ones for whom Jesus was going to pay the price with His own blood!
This all happened and yet people still do not want to believe this could be true. They do not want to believe God could come down to our level, offer Himself up as a servant for all, and ensure He was our Saviour and our King! They probably wanted a grander instance, one where a great army of angels came in to beat up the rulers, one where a new king would arrive in a huge golden carriage pulled by white horses and riches beyond measure on display. God chose a human form to show us how much is possible through Him!
Points to Ponder:
Do you wonder why God chooses the little things in life to make a difference?
Are you watching for the small changes God makes in your life?
March 6: Acts 3:11-16
Key Verse: Acts 3:14
You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.
Devotion:
People often ask what the difference is between being religious, going to church and this relationship we say we have with Christ. This was prophesied before Jesus came to live amongst man as a human, was lived out when He did come and continues to be a reminder of how mankind turned their back on Him despite seeing what happened in front of their eyes! Jesus wanted people to focus more on having a healthy relationship with God through Him rather than continuing to focus on the religious acts they were used to doing.
Once again the disciples honed in on the fact the people of Israel were more concerned with following the Torah than following the will of God. They had focused too much on doing the acts rather than maintaining their relationship with God. Once Jesus paid the ultimate price on the cross, all the sacrificing and acts of man became useless in comparison to what Christ did! Why then did they continue to focus on their acts? The answer is surprisingly simple in my view – we like to keep things the same and not introduce too much change into our lives… and something like this is a big change for us to cater with!
Imagine being reminded about how you, as a society or personally, contributed to the horrible death faced by Jesus on the cross! Imagine being blamed for someone else’s death in such a terrible way! That is exactly what Peter and John were reminding the people about – how their acts had contributed to the death of an innocent man on the cross!
But the amazing thing they closed off this bit of the passage with was the fact Jesus is willing to give us eternal life after forgiving us – even though we contributed to that death on the cross! It is because of His faith this is possible. It is through your faith you can depend on this being so. It is no longer a requirement to do all the religious acts people have done in the past because Jesus paid for everything with His death on the cross. Have faith He will deliver you from the punishment you deserve...
Points to Ponder:
Do you go to church to prove something?
Or do you go to church to expand your relationship with God?
March 5: Mark 14:1-9
Key Verse: Mark 14:5
It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.
Devotion:
Can you name a big step you have made in your life for Christ? Can you pinpoint a single act which others have questioned? I can name a few cases where people around me have questioned what I am doing because they have looked at the worldly cost of my act rather than what it is doing for God – and some of those were Christians! We all look at the acts we do as very different from each other. Each year there is now a campaign run during lent called 40Acts where people are challenged to do an act of generosity each day for 40 days.
Jesus supported anyone who was willing to carry out an act of generosity in God’s name; anyone who was willing to promote God through an act which may well seem counter intuitive by the rest of the world! In this case when a woman came forward with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume and committed to use the jar on Jesus despite the physical cost of the perfume. Jesus supported her and her act. He did not focus on the worldly cost of the perfume but on the heart-felt meaning of the act.
We need to follow Jesus’ example and look for the spiritual and heart-felt meanings behind what people do rather than focusing on the worldly view of said tasks. Too often we do look at the physical cost rather than what it means to God and to giving God the glory. Jesus knew what lay ahead of Him and He was willing to accept this act as a very special act toward Him.
If we are able to put aside our earthly views and focus on what things mean to God, we will not only go further with what we do but we will promoted the gospel more than we can imagine. Our selfless acts are seen by worldly people as acts which go above and beyond what is reasonable or common sense. These acts will stick in their minds and allow God to break through to their hearts when the time is right!
Points to Ponder:
Do you put a cost on everything you do?
How much are you willing to do for God?