May 23: John 17:6-11
Key Verse: John 17:9
I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.
Devotion:
I find the way Jesus prayed here for the disciples fascinating. Jesus stands up to say to His Father in Heaven He is witness to the fact the disciples believe in Him as being the Son of God. Jesus is standing up on their behalf and saying to God the disciples’ lives have been redeemed through what they have done. What have they done? Simply believed in Him as being the Son of God. In other words, nothing they have done – even though they were trying their best to keep the laws – accounted for their entry into Heaven but their belief!
This is why we see the gospels and letters in our bibles proclaiming the only way to Heaven is to believe Jesus is the Son of God and came down to give His life for our sakes. They do not say we have to make sure we keep every single law of the Old Testament or that we have to sacrifice innocent animals in stead of us paying for our sins – they are saying the new order dictates we simply believe in Jesus Christ!
Jesus says here not everyone is being counted innocent. He is saying those people who believe in Him are being counted as innocent and Jesus asks God to make sure they can join them in Heaven. Whatever Jesus asked of His Father was granted! In other words, Jesus has already asked for us to get to Heaven if we believe! Simple!
All this time Jesus is acknowledging God as Holy Father, sitting on His throne in Heaven. This is the title He wants us to call God too – Holy Father. He declares us innocent because He gave His innocent life in our stead. He personally asks God for us to join Him in Heaven, to be as one!
Points to Ponder:
Do you doubt your position in Heaven?
Will you simply trust Christ because He has already asked God!
May 22: Psalm 68:4-6
Key Verse: Psalm 68:7
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.
Devotion:
This is one of the things I love about God – He is not only always there for me but He looks after me in ways I cannot understand! I have done some pretty stupid things in my lifetime, not all of them within the law, and despite all of that I am still here and still able to share the gospel. I have not intentionally tempted the Lord nor have I gone out of my way to do something silly, but there have been times when I have asked myself “WHY!” after the fact!
It is only when you look back on life you begin to see how God has been looking after you. It is those moments when the unexpected happens such as falling ill and spending time in hospital when you do realise God is looking after you because He still has plans for you!
I have a friend who has recently spent time in hospital too and they came out with this new realisation of how much God looks after you too. They are musically capable and so wants to be able to sing praise to His name. I can’t sing much nowadays so I will be supporting them in different ways when they want to be able to sing!
I know He looks after people in many ways, most often seen in support of the lonely, orphans and others who do not have what we think of as a normal life. He is able to comfort the people who have no way to turn and who have not got the support many of us enjoy in life. That is what sets my God apart from anything on this earth and that is why I love Him so!
Points to Ponder:
What keeps you going when the going gets tough?
When will you call on Him next?
May 21: 1 Peter 5:6-11
Key Verse: 1 Peter 5:9
Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
Devotion:
How many times have you thought “why me” or “how car I bare this” when you are faced with things going bad? What we do in times of trouble, anxiety and depression will factor how best we can face the obstacles in front of us. I know it seems easy to say that, especially when you do not have these feelings but someone you love is struggling with them, but the answer should always be similar – take God with you on the journey.
When we face things which seem insurmountable, we should have someone with us who understands the problem and knows a way to help you out. Whilst many of our friends may fit one particular problem or be able to help out in one particular case or at one particular time, it is only God who can help out in all cases and all the time.
Christ wants us to know we are going to face trials and tribulations in our lives and He wants to be with us and helping us to get through those times; which means we must invite Him along for the journey. It is hard to call out for help from a friend sometimes because we can see them, see their reaction, see the reaction of people around us and that in itself brings fear and anxiety. But when we call out to God we can rest assured He will never turn us down or ignore us!
That calls on us to have faith in our unseen God. Faith in a God who is willing to stop and listen, willing to walk with you and willing to guide you and help you. We have to be ready to call on Him when we need to and not continue putting things off until it has gone too far. We are not the only ones to suffer in the ways we do; we may not know anyone ourselves who is in the same boat as us, but God knows plenty of people all around the world and all over time who are. Allow Him to help you by calling out to Him!
Points to Ponder:
Who do you call to when things get tough?
Will you try calling out to God before things get out of hand?
May 20: Acts 18:22-28
Key Verse: Acts 18:28
For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.
Devotion:
If you, like I did once, think people can only preach the gospel if they have had years of experience and went to big colleges, then you are mistaken; it takes all sorts of people in all manner of positions to effectively convey the truth of the gospel to others. Here we have a brief account of how Apollos came to be a very useful person in teaching the gospel, especially when it came to teaching the Jews.
Apollos was a Jew who had studied the scriptures and would normally have upheld the Jewish laws and religion, but he had learned how John had taught the gospel. He must have studied it all further because he was able to link the scriptures to the gospel to prove Jesus was their Messiah – something many Jews did not want to believe because Jesus was a simple man.
When we want to tell other about the gospel we will probably find it more comfortable to tell people who have a similar outlook in life to what we had before getting to know Christ – because we can guide them in the way we asked Christ into our lives. Similarly we need people like Apollos who are very learned to be able to reach the other learned people in society.
The community you live in probably has a wide range of people from different backgrounds. This surely means we need a team of people from a wide range of backgrounds to teach people in our communities. Don’t give up because you think you have not got the qualifications to share the gospel with others. Jesus chose a variety of people to be His disciples!
Points to Ponder:
What is stopping you from sharing the gospel?
Will you try to share what you know as a start?