April 7: Psalm 105:5-11
Key Verse: Psalm 105:10
He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant:
Devotion:
There are so many places in the bible where we can ready about the promises made to the people of Israel including the one made to Abraham confirming he would be the father of a great nation. These stories had been told from generation to generation before we had books and computers and everything else we have nowadays; they were faithfully retold.
Some of this seem to have been lost by our modern society where we have computers and smart phones which remember everything for us; but what they don’t remember for us is the stories. Yes we can read the stories in our books and on our computers or phones, but that is not quite the same as telling those stories to someone else. When I started Christian youth work I began to see how amazing it is to be able to tell these stories to the next generation. Something I have missed over the last few years from being in hospital and recovery and then Covid lockdowns…
But God always seems to find a way we can tell His stories to others. I have grown to love writing these schisms knowing that there are people our there who do not agree with what I write, nevertheless I continue to write what I believe. The joy I get when someone responds to the words I have written or the passages I have referred to is something special.
We do need to remember the stories we read in the bible because God wants us to be able to pass these stories on to others – not just telling them they can read about it in the bible or passing on the words, but giving them to others with love and an open heart. I pass on these words because I know people read them and I pray they will get the same joy out of them as I get from writing them!
Points to Ponder:
Do you like telling stories?
When was the last time you told a bible story?
April 6: Daniel 3:24-28
Key Verse: Daniel 3:28
Then Nebuchadnezzar said, ‘Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.
Devotion:
Have you ever sat around a camp fire and had to move away because the flames were getting too hot to sit next to? I can remember on particular fire where a lot of rubbish was being burned, including one office chair which had a aluminium stand. The chair material and cushions burned quickly, but the stand stood for a while until the flames got too hot, then it started to melt and dripped down deeper into the fire.
Watching metal melt like that makes you realise just how hot flames can be. A furnace normally burns at a very high temperature – let alone one which the king had commanded to be burned hotter than it had ever been before. And yet, when the three men were tied up and thrown into the fire, there were not consumed by the flame as everything else was being consumed!
Indeed there was a forth person standing in the fire with them, one whom apparently looked like a son of the gods. Quite how the could identify him as being a son of the gods is not described; but what we can know is the only one who could save them from a fire that hot would have to be someone whom God was looking after, just as He was looking out for the three men!
When we are willing to place our faith and trust in God, He will always surprise us by how much He is willing to do for us. No matter what we have done in our past or how much we think we don’t deserve anything, God is going to go above and beyond our imaginations to make sure our faith and trust in Him are rewarded, be it now or later, we will know He is watching over us!
Points to Ponder:
How many time have you been let down by people?
Will you put your trust in God who does not lie?
April 5: Numbers 21:1-3
Key Verse: Numbers 21:3
The Lord listened to Israel’s plea and gave the Canaanites over to them. They completely destroyed them and their towns; so the place was named Hormah.
Devotion:
When you read verses like these in your bible, what goes through your head? Do you think “how barbaric!” Do you think “how can they ask God to wipe out other people?” By modern standards we may well think of things like this, but we only have to look on our doorsteps to see how the world is continuing to act in these ways; take the war between Russia and Ukraine… In the West we may be thinking we are safe being away from everything, but we can see the repercussions hitting our economy and our lifestyles all around the world!
It is humankind who gets it all wrong and starts the wars. It is humankind who takes out their frustrations and hatred on other humans! It is not God who is doing this! We lift up our prayers to Him and He answers in the best way possible. We plead for safety; and the only safety may be retaliation. We plead for peace and the only peace may come after a full-blown war which shows the people the horrific side of hatred!
When we say we want to make a deal with God, He is going to keep us at our word. We have to be willing to carry out our promises or deals with Him. He is answering our prayers because we are the ones asking for these things. I have learned not to be over-zealous with my requests from God because I know He listen to me and I know He answers me. If I go ahead and ask for something terrible, I will have to live with the consequences of everything I have asked for.
God wants us to be aware of what we ask for and to always keep our hearts open to the people around us and not just ourselves. When Jesus reminded us to love one another, it did not mean love some people because they are nice to us – that does not spread peace, that causes wars!
Points to Ponder:
What do you ask from God?
Are you really willing to put up with the consequences?
April 4: John 11:38-44
Key Verse: John 11:40
Then Jesus said, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?’
Devotion:
Can you imagine what was going through the people’s minds when Jesus told them to remove the stone which was laid across the tomb entrance? For them to act like they did, they must have known the smell of rotting flesh – something which does not leave you; much worse still when it is human flesh!
But it’s not about the morbid side of things I want us to think about now; the faith and belief in Christ is what I want us to remember. Before this moment, people were believing Jesus could heal them and do other miracles, but to bring a body back from the early stage of decomposition was something else – something they could not get their heads around.
When we see an obstacle in front of us which we can’t get our heads round, all belief crumbles and we start looking back to the physical word and science in general. What Jesus wanted everyone to see was the real power of God – power which could do the impossible, power which could go against what they though was scientifically impossible.
It does take a big step of faith on our behalf to believe in something like this. It takes a lot of faith because it is something we have never seen before. Jesus knew the limits of the hearts and minds of the people around Him, so He wanted them to see what true faith and belief could do. His faith in God the Father was absolute and He wants our faith to start to aim at heights like that too!
Points to Ponder:
What are the limits of your faith?
Are you willing to take an extra step of faith today?