May 25: John 16:12-15
Key Verse: John 16:14
He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.
Devotion:
When Jesus was here on earth as a human being, He wanted to tell the disciples everything! But that was a physical impossibility, so He made sure we have ready and permanent access to what He needs to tell us through the Holy Spirit… all we need do is listen!
One of our big issues in life is our inability to listen to God all the time. We know we ought to, we think we can, but we fall short when we try. Jesus knew this would be so and that is why we have been given access to Him through the Holy Spirit at all times. This means that when we do fail, we can stop and think about what we have done and come back to Him where He will be waiting with open arms to tell us more of the truths we need to know.
The Holy Spirit does not hold anything back – it is normally our minds and hearts which cannot absorb everything because we assume we cannot do so much because we see the world through physical eyes instead of through spiritual eyes. If we were able to stop seeing it all with our physical eyes, our hearts would be open to a whole lot more!
God sent His Son to us so we would be given something physical to believe in. Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit so we would not be limited to the physical. God wants us to know more about Him and more about what our lives are going to be like – or can be like. If we listen to Him through the Spirit, we will be able to learn more about how we can live a better and fuller life with Him.
Points to Ponder:
How often do you bless the Lord?
Do you know He wants to bless you always?
May 24: Acts 16:22-34
Key Verse: Acts 16:25
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them
Devotion:
Paul and Silas did what they believed was right; they were being mocked by a spirit within a woman who continually made her shout out things about them. Paul got so annoyed with her constant shouting he turn round and commanded the spirit to leave the woman – which it did! The problem being this spirit was how the woman made her living by fortune telling. When her owners heard she had the spirit removed they were annoyed because they would no longer be making a load of money from her!
The owners of the woman seized Paul and Silas and took them to court because they were reportedly doing things against the Roman laws! Well, the Roman laws demanded people would not worship anyone save their emperor. They even convinced the crowd to side with them and the magistrates caved in, ordering them to be flogged and thrown into prison!
Even after all that, Paul and Silas did not stop praying and singing hymns. They were not about to give up worshipping God, even in the face of danger and torture! God saw this and knew they were doing this because they loved God above all else. God did not sit back and do nothing. He caused a mighty earthquake to rock the prison and break them free.
The guards were very afraid because of the earthquake, but also very afraid because they knew they would be in deep trouble if the prisoners escaped! This put the jailer in a very awkward position and he was about to take his own life knowing he had no hope. Paul and Silas stopped him from harming himself and spent time talking to the jailer instead of trying to escape. Getting one more soul to come back to God was more important that their freedom!
Points to Ponder:
What do you do when people mock you about being a Christian?
Will you be more like Paul and Silas by worshipping God in the face of evil?
May 23: Luke 6:27-31
Key Verse: Luke 6:29
If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them.
Devotion:
I wonder how you were brought up to treat people who did not treat you properly… how about how to treat thieves? We live in a world where we call for justice in many ways, one of those being to try and stop people from doing terrible things like taking stuff which does not belong to them… So why do these words encourage us to not punish thieves?
We could argue these words do not apply to criminals, but that would not get us very far! Jesus wants us to have open minds and hearts to the many things which we will face in our lives. One of those things is going to be facing thieves. I would argue we have to take every case separately and to try and find out what Jesus said and not our English loose translation… The direct translation is probably not “pinch!”
If someone is in desperate need of something you have, then why not allow them to have it, and whilst we are there, why not see if they are in need of anything else. This is much more likely to be the intended translation of these words. Jesus did not withhold things from those who were in need, but rather gave them what they needed and sent them away with a blessing – most commonly seen when Jesus healed people!
When people come asking for a favour or asking for help – what do you do? Do you add that help to “the tab” and remember how many things they now awe you, or do you willingly give and not expect anything in return. If the recipient does have the means to give back what they have taken or borrowed, then they will do so… If, however, they are taking things with the intent of never returning anything, they will have to live with the consequences which continue to build up each time they take...
Points to Ponder:
Do you keep tally of what people owe you?
How much less stressful would it be to forgive the debt?
May 22: Revelation 21:22-27
Key Verse: Revelation 21:23
The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.
Devotion:
Have you ever seen something which seems to be impossible, or too lovely to describe with words? Have you ever tasted something which was so different you could not explain the taste in words? I guess John must have felt a bit like this when he got to see a glimpse into heaven!
We don’t quite know how to describe Heaven to others because we don’t know what it is like to live in a place where there is no guile or evil, where there is no darkness to hide inside… Heaven is going to be something we cannot describe in words to our friends because it will be something totally different from everything else in our lives. It is not going to be able to be described as a mansion or palace because it will be so much more than a mere physical place!
God wants us to have faith there will be a place where we can be with Him forever and not have to worry about all the things we worry about here on earth. No more bills. No more rent. No more electricity cuts. No more water shortages. No more food shortages. Heaven is going to be a place where we no longer have to live without anything.
We will never be cut off from God, Christ or the Holy Spirit. We will never be cut off from all the Christians who have gone before us. We will never have to worry about anything bad, evil or impure getting at us when we are in Heaven…. I find it easier to describe what we will not have to worry about than trying to depict what it could look like or be like – because that is currently beyond our level of understanding or imagination!
Points to Ponder:
Do you trust God has a place for you?
Will you trust Him more on earth because you have a sure place after life?