January 30: Mark 5:1-13
Key Verse: Mark 5:13
He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
Devotion:
This is one of those stories from the bible which makes me feel uncomfortable in many ways. We do face many things in our lives which can make us feel very uncomfortable but when we know they are the truth we need to accept them and move on by trying to understand them. My heart goes out to the man because he had not been in control of his own life for a long time now; the spirits or demons had controlled his life and made it quite miserable.
When Jesus saw the state the man was in, He had compassion over him and did what was right. The first things was to tell the impure spirit to leave the man alone. That, I actually find comforting. No matter what state we are in and no matter how far we seem to be away from God, He is always willing to come and meet with us in the state we are in.
When Jesus confronted the spirit He found there was not one spirit but many spirit who were controlling the man; they were probably fighting amongst themselves all of his life and making him do all manner of things. That is the first an most upsetting thing which bothers me. How can anything or anyone be so mean as to take over a persons life and not allow them to live it. God gives us a free choice to live the life we want to, even if it goes against what He knows is best!
After that, the spirits knew they were in a spot of bother because they had been found out. The last thing they wanted was to be tortured like they were torturing the man… in this modern age we would probably find a lot of people who would be willing to place the blame on the spirits and condemn them to a life of torture – that is what gets me the most… that is the age in which we live!
Points to Ponder:
Are you quick to judge others and blame them for things going wrong?
Would you be willing to allow Jesus to have control in your life?
January 29: John 2:1-11
Key Verse: John 2:11
What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
Devotion:
I think this is one of the miracles which does not get enough attention – probably because Jesus did not want attention drawn to it at the time. The wedding feast He was attending did not go to plan because someone had not accounted for the amount the guests would drink – I’ve been to a few parties like that where the guests have drank a whole lot more than they should have!
But Jesus was not there to point fingers, judge people or anything like that. He was there to talk to people and try to get them to seek the truth in their hearts; but when His mother heard of the shortage of wine, she stepped up and got Jesus to make all the difference…
Jesus chose the simplest of things to turn into the most complex of things. Water is about as simple as it gets. Wine is more complex, but a fine wine is so much more complex because of the chemical reactions and releases of the sugars and tannin which makes a fine wine taste like it does. Nothing is impossible for God to achieve, and He was not about to show anything different here.
This was the first miracle the disciples recorded and so is know as Jesus’ first miracle. But the fact Mary was willing to tell the servants to do exactly what Jesus said suggests she knew what he could do already. Now it was the disciples turn to believe because of the miracle. When we have our prayers answered by God, we become believers with a reason for believing...
Points to Ponder:
Have you had prayers answered?
Do you have a reason to believe?
January 28: Hebrews 11:13-16
Key Verse: Hebrews 11:16
Instead, they were longing for a better country – a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Devotion:
How do you feel about “get togethers” where a group of people get together to reminisce about old times when they used to be together, be it from school days or work days or camp days? We like to get together with people who are alike in some manner so we can reminisce about what happened… however, why we get together could be in question...
Do we get together because we genuinely miss the people we used to see? Do we get together to find out all the gossip? Do we get together to make sure we are not missing out on something? And then when we get together, what do we get up to?
All pressing questions which some would not like to be confronted about – but it brings up a point about our lives with Christ; well, a couple of points… Are we willing to sit down with Christ and talk about what we got up to and answer why we did what we did? Are we willing to look Him in the face when He asks us? Are we coming to Christ to find out the gossip or are we coming to Him because we want to be with Him?
God already knows the answers to these questions and He would like us to know the answers before it is too late too. If we have not admitted to ourselves what we get up to, then how are we going to admit to Christ what we have been up to? If we are not willing to come together with Him and discuss all the things we should or should not have done, then are we really ready to face Him. Now is the time to come to Him and admit to all we are...
Points to Ponder:
Do you know what you would say to Jesus face to face?
Are you ready to anything?
January 27: Hebrews 10:32-39
Key Verse: Hebrews 10:35
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
Devotion:
How long do you tend to hold on to something before you get weary and give in to the world around you? I’m not talking about hanging onto the end of a tug-of-war rope to see how long you can last, but the the spiritual and mental tug-of-war we have to endure every day.
Life is not just about physical labour and seeing how fit you are to keep on going; we have to face all manner of things which are spiritually and mentally challenging – those are often the hardest things to overcome because you cannot see and end to any of them. For something physical you can see and end and you can prepare yourself for how long it will take. Not so for mental and spiritual battles.
Here the disciple reminds the Hebrew people they are going to face battle and they have already done so on some fronts. They have managed to get through some of those battles already, so the disciple reminds them they have managed to get through and if they persist in a similar manner, they will be able to get through more.
God does not want us to give up but rather to persist in our battles because He is standing by our sides and He will give us the strength to endure what we will face. If you are in a battle of tug-of-war, you trust the people behind you are not going to let go and you concentrate on what is immediately in front of you. Why not try to do something similar to the internal challenges you face – just concentrate on what is immediately in front of you and trust God is backing you up all the way!
Points to Ponder:
Do you rely on God as your back-stop?
Will you give Him a bit more credit?