April 8: John 10:31-42
Key Verse: John 10:38
But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.’
Devotion:
What does it take for you to believe what someone else is saying? Do they have to be your friend before you believe them or do they have to prove themselves before you believe? It is sad we live in a world where we feel like we do have to prove we are reliable before people will believe us. Long gone are the days when most people told the truth and most people believed them!
We see far too many lies and gossip being told in the news media and other publications around us to continue believing first of all. Now we are at the stage where we do not believe until we have proof! This goes against all Christ is trying to teach us – He knew He would not be with us all the time in human form, so He asks us to believe in Him even though we do not see Him any more. Some people will find this very difficult to do!
Once you start believing and you see the world changing all around you, it is very easy to continue believing as we can see the proof. But there are some who will stop believing because they do not get their prayers answered on time, or because they do not think God is listening to them – hence they don’t believe He is there.
Even the Pharisees and the Sadducees were doubting Jesus because He was saying things they did not want to hear. They had grown too used to the power they had over people and they did not want to give that us to server the people as servants – rather they wanted to be in control of the people and not the other way round! Jesus came as our servant King; He is King, but He came as a servant to us!
Points to Ponder:
What does it take for you to believe?
Will you take God’s written word as the truth?
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?