January 3: John 1:43-51
Key Verse: John 1:46
‘Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?’ Nathanael asked. ‘Come and see,’ said Philip.
Devotion:
These days around Jesus’ baptism mark the beginning of His ministry to so many people and the fulfilling of the scriptures – and yet so many people chose to not believe, and many still choose to not believe. Nathanael was sitting under a fig tree doing whatever he used to do when Philip came up to him and said about finding the Messiah emphasizing it was Jesus of Nazareth.
Whether Nathanael was bias or because of how he was brought up, he did not want to believe any Nazarite could be good, let alone be the Messiah! It only took a few words with Jesus for him to become a believer… he must have know the scriptures and known what the Messiah would be capable of. For Jesus to acknowledge him despite the words he had said about Jesus, must have made all the difference!
What did Jesus do? He invited Philip to come and follow Him, to join in the teachings and learning and to be a disciple. What did Philip do? He did what a disciple should do and approached someone else with the truth to get them to come and discover Jesus for himself.
Our task as disciples of Christ is not to go round converting the whole world because if we think we can do that, we have made a very bold and invalid assumption to start with. Philip was correct in telling Nathanael the truth and inviting him to come and meet with Jesus for himself. It is Jesus who does the converting!
Points to Ponder:
Do you think you would make a good disciple?
Will you invite someone to meet with Jesus?
January 2: John 1:19-23
Key Verse: John 1:23
John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, ‘I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, “Make straight the way for the Lord.”’
Devotion:
How many times have you been told to do something and you have followed the instructions exactly as told? If you are like me then you find it hard to blindly follow instructions because you want to be able to do what is good for more people and not just for a single person asking things of you. Things were a bit different for John because He knew he had been asked by God to do something special!
We may look back on things and wonder why John was out in the dessert talking to people about God and baptising them in the river. We may look at his like and wonder what possessed him to live a life where he was dressed in a shabby manner and eating strange foods when he may have been able to choose a better career instead.
God has a plan for each of us but it is not always easy to follow the plan He has for us. We may think we know better and go off and do something similar to what He is asking only to find out it was not right and you end up having to restart things. I have tried to listen to God in my life for the past twenty years and have found it hard… life keeps on getting in the way!
It is sometimes hard to focus on the little things He is asking when we have big, loud things surrounding us and taking all our attention! John’s task was simply to open the way for Jesus to do His ministry. Sometimes we get too involved with what we think we can do, get sidetracked and go off doing some pretty good things – but is it what God asked of you in the beginning?
Points to Ponder:
Do you think you are listening to God?
Have you tried to make things better by yourself?
January 1: Luke 2:8-21
Key Verse: Luke 2:15
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’
Devotion:
Have you ever wondered why God chose the shepherds to be the ones who heard the news first? I believe it was because they had the noble profession of looking after others. This is top of the list in God’s eyes and reflected by what Jesus told us during His ministry too!
God did not choose the Kings and Queens of the land; they heard the news via other people and through watching the stars. Instead, God sent angels to the shepherds who were patiently and faithfully watching over the animals. These people were probably not the wealthy owners of the sheep but the hired hands who were tasked with looking after the flock.
This is what God has tasked of us too – to look after the flock. Wherever God has sent you, be it to the richest neighbourhood of the land or to the poorest places on earth, He has sent you there to reach out to the people there and allow them to know of the hope we have through what Christ has done for all of us!
The shepherds were not high society people but people who were passionate about their jobs – looking after others. They spent their days and nights away from home to make sure others were kept safe and well.
Points to Ponder:
Where are you?
Happy New Year!
December 31: John 1:29-34
Key Verse: John 1:33
And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptise with water told me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptise with the Holy Spirit.”
Devotion:
How well do you try to listen to God? Notice I said how well do you TRY to listen to God… None of us is perfect, each of us has our own unique faults which we live with, some of which we try to keep in check and others which we just accept as being the way we are… If you are at the stage where you have not yet started to accept you are different and you have faults, then maybe now is the time to start trying to accept this fact!
God tries to speak to us in many ways in our lives, through what others say and do with us, through His Word, the Bible and sometimes we even hear from Him in our dreams or visions. How we react to these events is how we are listening to God. We could say we are very scientific and need proof of everything in our lives. We could say we are like lawyers and need written testimony.
Let’s face it, we could come up with a whole lot of excuses to not listen to God – and some of those may simply be because we are scared to listen! What if He asks us to do something different? What if He wants us to go and tell others about Him? We get worried when we hear things which are different to our normal lives!
John was told, through a vision, the Messiah would come to him and he would be able to identify Jesus by seeing the Spirit Descend on Him! This was also the one who would baptise people through the Spirit and not just with water! John listened, waited and then obeyed!
Points to Ponder:
Are you listening? Are you waiting?
Will you obey?