May 19: Acts 18:9-17
Key Verse: Acts 18:10
For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.
Devotion:
Paul went through many trials as he continued to tell people the gospel truth and this is just one of many he had to face. Every time you step out and tell people the truth you will get people who stop and listen, people who ignore you and people who object and try to stop you. Listening to God to find out where He wants you to be is the first step in your journey as a disciple. He wants to protect you and care for you so as long as you continue to stay close to where God wants you to be, you will get the best protection possible.
I think of this like going into a game reserve where the animals are able to roam wild. If you stay on the roads and keep in your car you will be as safe as possible on your journey. Once you start straying off the road you will find out there are more obstacles you have to overcome; some of them may well stop you in your tracks and force you to get out of the car. Once out of the car you are no longer protected and may end up face to face with a dangerous animal.
The world revolves around laws and rules. Without them we would be in chaos as each person wanted to do their own thing. The chaos would make for very uncomfortable times as well as very exciting time, much more of a roller-coaster ride through life than in a normal semi-controlled society.
God does not want you to be so limited by human rules and regulations that you cannot follow Him; but He does want you to obey the local rules so you are kept relatively safe. It is the greed and pride of some people which spoil life for the rest of us, the ones who corrupt the laws and force new rules on people just because they are in a position of power or have the money to do so. God wants you to find and follow the truth.
Points to Ponder:
Do you find people stop you talking about God?
Are you sure you are where God wants you to be?
May 18: Luke 24:44-53
Key Verse: Luke 24:52
Then they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.
Devotion:
Today we celebrate the ascension of Jesus! As much as He had taught the disciples about what would happen to Him, how He would die, be buried, rise again and ascend into Heaven, I think this would have been the moment when it all started to make sense to the disciples! As much as we read about what Christ has done for us and what our future holds with Him, we too have to get over our doubts and listen to what Jesus is saying to each one of us!
All this has happened because of God’s great love toward all of us and when we get our heads around this, around the human limitations and look at the possibilities which are before us, then we too will be able to continue celebrating and worshipping Christ all the time.
We come together on our appointed days to worship Christ together in our churches and we feel refreshed and ready to face the world again. How long that refreshed feeling lasts will be entirely on how much you continue to trust Christ outside of your church meetings!
Just because Jesus is in Heaven does not mean we are not in touch with Him or He not in touch with us. We have the Holy Spirit who is ever present who has taken on the task of continuing to teach us and allow our minds to be opened just as the disciples minds were on this day many years ago. What I love about our local church is how people always spend time after our services to talk and be with each other – that goes a long way to building us up to be ready for the week ahead!
Points to Ponder:
How much time do you spend worshipping Christ?
How much time do you spend being a disciple?
May 17: John 16:12-15
Key Verse: John 16:12
I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.
Devotion:
When was the last time you had so much good news to tell someone and not enough time to say what you wanted – or maybe you were cut off before you got to the interesting part because they did not want to listen? When people start talking and they have things to say they will try to talk as much as possible even if it means they talk over someone else speaking...
Why! Well this seems to be the way we have been brought up because I can remember times when I was a small child and people would stop what they were doing to listen to others! The more society bloats peoples’ egos, the less people are going to listen and the more they will want to talk instead.
When Jesus was with the disciples they wanted to listen to what He was teaching them, but they were also stuck between listening and living in this world even at that stage. Jesus knew He had so much to teach them and knew there was not enough time to teach them everything while He was with them. So He made plans for the Holy Spirit to be with them and us after He went back to Heaven. His words here are chosen carefully to encourage the disciples to listen to the Holy Spirit.
I fear we do not do that enough in our modern lives because of all the distractions and the encouragement by others to move on and gain ground in whatever manner is current at the time. Jesus wants us to stop and listen. Take time out from our busy schedules and listen. It may be hard to do that where you are but after a short while of making time to listen, you will get to hear more from God through the Holy Spirit.
Points to Ponder:
How often do you stop and listen to others?
How often do you stop and listen to God?
May 16: John 16:5-11
Key Verse: John 16:8
When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgement:
Devotion:
I’m not quite sure what I would have been thinking if I were in the place of the disciples when Jesus first said this. When Jesus first told them He was going to be betrayed, taken away and then leave them, they must have thought all manner of things. Why would their Messiah have to leave them! But when they thought about what the scriptures had been telling them for so long already, their minds must have been in turmoil!
Ours is not to wander why Jesus left the disciples, but to wander why this had to be done in the first place. That is when we should be looking back on ourselves and this world we live in. The three points Jesus raises need to be remembered by us to make sense of what happened so many years ago with the disciples.
The outcome of this all was to make people see the real sin is not believing in Christ. Because of what He has already done for us, there is no other sin which is too great to be forgiven by Him! As much as people tried to be righteous, they failed and changed the rules to suit themselves. God does not change the rules and only righteous people get to go to heaven. And finally, the god of this world, Satan, has already been defeated!
When we put that all together we begin to realise we have to believe in Christ because that is the only way we will be permanently forgive of our sins. When we are forgiven, we are counted as righteous. The judgement for our righteousness comes from Christ alone, the one who stands as judge over us all from the beginning of time to the end!
Points to Ponder:
Do you share your beliefs with others?
How will others get to heaven without knowing these things?