January 10: Hebrews 2:5-12
Key Verse: Hebrews 2:9
But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honour because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
Devotion:
When I read these verses I am reminded of the marked differences between people from around the world. We often try to call people as being from the East or West, and we have seen how the Magi came from the East – but differences come in all shapes and sizes and not just cultural differences!
Just yesterday I was in a church attending a funeral where the majority of the people were Baptists with a few Church of England people, and I supposes a few others. The differences between the way they greeted each other were surprising even though the majority (if not all) were Christians. The way they spoke was different again being from different places in the UK. But we were all there to remember the life of a friend.
When Jesus came to be amongst us He was born as a Human baby, introduced as the Messiah and King of Kings. Brought up in Nazareth as part of a loving family and then a minister and teacher to many who would listen. The church leaders rejected Him because they felt insecure in the world they had built up around themselves. The country lowered Him to be amongst murderers and thieves. But God raised Him up into glory to sit by His side once again!
This is our Saviour in whom we believe. Our shepherd who willingly leads us. Our rock who gives us refuge and strength. This is Jesus Christ and we can make of Him what we choose – but He is still recognised as the King of Kings by our Father in Heaven!
It is by His grace we can be lifted up to join Him in Heaven!
Points to Ponder:
Do you lift Jesus up to His rightful position?
Are you looking forward to joining Him in Heaven?
January 9: Hebrews 1:1-6
Key Verse: Hebrews 1:5
For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father’? Or again, ‘I will be his Father, and he will be my Son’?
Devotion:
Have you ever really thought about what it means to be called a child of God? During the Old Testament days God spoke to the people via a select few prophets whose task it was to tell the people what God was saying and wanting. But then God chose to bring His own Son to live amongst us and to teach mankind directly… who do you think has listened more intently, the people of the Old Testament, The people of the New Testament or people nowadays?
It is a sad thing people continue to be stubborn and not listen to God. It is also a sad thing people do not believe others who are trying to tell them the truth about God! How many of the prophets were talked ill of, judged by others or set upon by the crowds? We see and read the words of the major prophets because we have those words written down for us in our Bibles – but we don’t always listen to all of Gods people…
God spoke audibly to make sure people knew that Jesus was His Son; and yet many of the leaders of the church at that time rejected Him because they did not personally hear those words spoken in front of others. It was their choice to not believe in Jesus and theirs alone.
We have the same choice for ourselves. We can believe the Old Testament Scriptures. We can believe the New Testament Gospels and letters. We can believe other people of God as they speak to us. Or we can reject these things and so reject God. It is our choice and we need to make it, one way or the other.
Points to Ponder:
Have you made your choices?
Will you believe in Jesus the Son of God?
January 8: Act 10:34-43
Key Verse: Acts 10:41
He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen – by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
Devotion:
When was the last time you won a raffle or other prize? Was it because you bought up all the tickets, or because you just bought one? Most of the time when someone wins a prize, it is because they bought a ticket, not a whole bunch of tickets! Whilst we can improve our odds of winning a prize by buying more and more tickets, it is not a guarantee because there is always a portion of chance in the raffles.
This is not how things work with God and certainly not how God sees it! Despite God choosing the people of Israel as His own, they were not always seen in a great light; often they would go off and do worldly things and ended up having to face the wrath of God rather than His love. When Jesus came to share the Gospel with them, they are the ones (talking about the majority here) who got Jesus placed on the cross for something He had not done!
We are not entering a lottery with Christ. When we accept Him as our Saviour, it is a sure thing; there is no chance involved, no matter what we have done in the past! Jesus did not skirt round the rough places in town. He did not avoid the sinners. He did not focus solely on the best synagogues or temples. Jesus met with anyone who was searching in their hearts!
This is the God we follow and the one who I accepted as my Saviour – Jesus Christ. He is the one who worked in my heart so I could see the error of my own ways, not the errors of the people around me or even my parents, but my own issues. He is the one who forgave me, personally!
Points to Ponder:
Do you seek to find a way out?
Have you asked God where to go yet?
January 7: 1 John 3:19-24
Key Verse: 1 John 3:23
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
Devotion:
How many times have you used the excuse “but I didn’t know it…” or something similar, blaming what has gone wrong on nothing more than ignorance along the line! God has given us the wherewithal to differentiate between right and wrong; He has buried this deep in our souls so we will always know. As we grow and live our lives we change and we take on new thoughts and new ways of doing stuff. You could say we change the rules as we go along.
This can be seen when we read through the bible as we see how the people of Israel started out getting to know God and trying their best to please God. As time went by they grew tired of having to do things for God because they grew spiritually lazy. This spiritual laziness encourage them to change the rules so they would not have to continue doing the things which they knew they ought to do…
God knows we grow weary and He know we will try change the rules, but he still loves us and He continues to try and support us because of this great love. That same love is what He wants each of us to expand on. That same love is what will allow us to keep doing the right things instead of giving in to the ways of the world.
At the centre of this God simply asks us to love one another just as Christ came to love each one of us. He was willing to lay down His life for us to demonstrate that love. We should be willing to go the extra mile to show our love for one another because we are all God’s children and sharing that love means sharing love with God’s family!
Points to Ponder:
Do you believe Jesus loves you?
Will you try to show someone you can love them?