May 29: Revelation 22:12-13
Key Verse: Revelation 22:13
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
Devotion:
When the apostle was shown visions of heaven and all that is still to come, he was told the Lord would be coming again – soon. We get upset when things do not go according to our plans. We get cross when we are told something will happen and it takes longer than we thought. Jesus had already told the disciples they would not know when He was going to return; they were told only God the Father knew the time when Jesus would return.
That must have been a bit of a hard pill to swallow because they would have been used to knowing when things would happen. But now they were working with no time frame and no certainty like they may have ben used to!
Jesus wanted them to know they would receive their just rewards upon His return. These rewards would be based on what they had achieved in their lives, not a reward for being able to do good deeds or righteous acts but rewards for how much they had been able to do for God while they lived on earth!
Jesus declares Himself to be the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end! Jesus was with God in the beginning when the earth was created. He spoke the words which brought everything into place. He came to be with us and He came to lay down His life for our sin debt. He rose from the dead to overcome that sin debt on our behalf. Jesus is going to be here in the end too because He promised to come back to us!
Points to Ponder:
How do you see Jesus?
Will you trust Him with everything He has said?
May 28: John 16:23-28
Key Verse: John 16:26
In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf.
Devotion:
As Jesus started to open up about being the Son of God, He started to tell the disciples these things figuratively; He knew if He told the the truth outright they would have trouble understanding and believing, but if He continue to drip-feed them until they could understand the truth, they would be able to accept it. Until now Jesus had told the disciples God would always listen to them when they lifted their prayers up to Him. Now He was telling them to ask Him for things...
This must have been a bit strange to the disciples then, but we can look back and understand what he was saying. They would have to take a leap of faith right there and then to accept Jesus as being their Messiah. I love the way the disciples are told not to ask Jesus for things hoping He will forward those prayers on to God, but to just ask in Jesus name!
Jesus is our advocate, but He is not a simple messenger! He is not there to ferry our prayers on to God but to answer our prayers in His position of the Son of God. Jesus wants us to know we can depend on Him and ask Him for anything, just as we ask God the Father for things.
With this and what we know about the Holy Spirit and Him being sent by Jesus to live with us, we can now ask the Holy Spirit things knowing He is God too. What a wonderful position to be in, being able to ask God, Christ or the Holy Spirit knowing He is going to answer our prayers. If you feel like God and Jesus are too far away because they are in Heaven, then ask the Holy Spirit because He lives with and in us here on earth!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you pray?
Will you ask for things from God in person?
May 27: John 16:20-23
Key Verse: John 16:21
A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.
Devotion:
I always try not to laugh when I read this verse because I really don’t think men know what it feels like to go through child birth. Why would a man write such an example when he does not know what it really feels like! I think maybe something was lost in translation, or it is an imagined feeling because the writer did not know what else to write!
These are the words which ring through my head when people say that being a Christian is going to be good and fun and a life without pain! The more we get to see how much opposition we get being a Christian in this world, the more we will begin to understand what it takes to stand up against the crowd. We will face a barrage of things which will make us hurt, fell uncomfortable and even want to give up – but we need to continue on forwards just like Jesus did.
We will never know the true pain and anguish Jesus went through because we do not have to carry the weight of the whole world on our shoulders like Jesus did. We will face people who want to shout at us. We will face people who will say we are weak and feeble. We will face people who treat us like we belong in a gutter… But if we can stand up and continue to say we are Christians and continue to show people we will not give up on Christ, then, just maybe they will take notice!
These harsh times are not going to last forever – they may feel like they are never-ending at times, but they will end when it is time for us to join Christ in heaven. We will not have to face any more of this grief when we get to heaven and the rewards will far out-weigh the punishment we went through… it just won’t seem like it at the time!
Points to Ponder:
How easy do you give up against hardships?
Will you make a stand for Christ?
May 26: Acts 1:7-8
Key Verse: Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Devotion:
After Jesus had died and rose again, He appeared to the disciples on a few more occasions. On this occasion they asked Him if He was going to restore the kingdom of Israel because He had talked about the building of a kingdom. What they did not yet understand was this was the beginning of the new kingdom – a church which would grow and cover the world before Christ would return.
Here Jesus reminds them they are not going to know the date and time of His return because only God the Father knows that moment; we all have to remain prepared as if we expect this time to be the next moment in our lives.
Jesus did not leave us alone but sent the Holy Spirit to be with us and to guide, protect and teach us. We are to be the witnesses for the next generation. We are to be the disciples who go out and teach more people to be disciples. We are the next generation, but probably not the last generation – only God knows that.
I do like people knowing I am a Christian and I do like people knowing I am a human being! Sometimes we think if we are labelled as Christians then we will somehow lose our identity and struggle in some way. Jesus did not promise a fool-proof and gold covered path to walk; but He did promise to leave us the Holy Spirit who can look after us and guide us. With God’s help through the Holy Spirit we can reach out to more people and show them being a Christian is probably the best thing in our lives! Spread the news!
Points to Ponder:
Do people know you are a believer?
How many people will you encourage today?