January 2: John 1:6-8
Key Verse: John 1:8
He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
Devotion:
God did not send the most important, richest, most powerful or most intelligent people to spread word of Jesus’ coming. He used the prophets many years before, whom many chose to ignore in the end. He chose the right people at the right time to make sure the right people got to hear the truth when they needed it most.
When God chose John, it was not a choice of a wise man who everybody looked up to, but a man who would choose to live outside the city in squalid conditions; but a man who was willing to tell the truth about the Messiah who had arrived. John was only a few months older than Jesus, so grew up at the same time as Jesus was growing up. This was a man who chose to obey God and not man.
Many well known preachers, priests and other church leaders tend to become well known for what they are doing (or, sometimes for what they do not do) When they become well known, they do what they can to become even more well known. The churches they build up grow in size and prosperity and make them even more well known.
These words remind us we should not seek to become the most well known person who can lead a church, but to simply obey God and be a witness for Christ. What do we gain is we build up a church containing hundreds of people unless we are effective at telling them about God. What does God gain is we are standing in the spotlight? Who are we getting the people to praise. John came to be a man who always pointed people to Christ and to Christ’s ways. John looked not for personal gain but for glory for God through Christ!
Points to Ponder:
How do you see yourself in the church?
How does God see you in the church?
January 1: Numbers 6:22-27
Key Verse: Number 6:25
the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
Devotion:
Many people will go to extraordinary lengths to get a blessing from a priest – just take the gatherings in the Vatican or other religious places where people gather. So why don’t we see the same sort of crowds in each of our churches all around the world? We don’t because many people have a very shallow belief which does not inspire them or others to worship God as He should be worshipped!
If you have not yet set a New Year’s resolution, maybe you should be willing to promise to share God’s Word with one other person (minimum!) God gave direction to Moses to do many things – here we have a simple command to tell the young priests (Aaron and his sons) to bless the people openly when they came to worship.
If you go to a church where the priest or other leader is going to ask for a blessing or to say a blessing over you, then you are going somewhere where they at least keep one commandment going! We really should be sharing God’s Word with others and showing them how much God thinks of them and how He is willing to bless them no matter what they have done in their pasts.
God made this promise to Moses a very long time ago and continues to uphold this promise for us to be His people and for us to receive a blessing from God when someone says so! God came to show us how this happens by giving us a blessing in the shape of His Son which is going to stand for as long as God says so. Since He is not bound by time, but only by when He says He will return – we can depend on these blessings every day!
Points to Ponder:
Do you long for God to bless you?
How often do you praise and worship Him?
December 31: 1 John 2:18-21
Key Verse: 1 John 2:21
I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.
Devotion:
It is always disturbing to hear things like this – that many antichrists have come and more will probably still come! How do we deal with a statement like that in our lives. Well, first we have to accept this is the truth. This tells us there is evil in this world, evil which lives with us daily. It does not mean we are consumed by it, or that it controls us, or that it fills our lives. This may be hard to believe when we hear of the horrible things which go on in the world through the news we hear!
God wants us to live in the truth. This means He came to share the truth with us so we have a background of truth we can cling to. Evil does not live where the truth lives, because God lives in the truth. Jesus came to share the truth with us in a personal way. He then changed the world by giving His life for the truth He stood for.
If we ignore God and push Him out of our lives, we are leaving a void. The evil in the world will work very quickly to try and fill that void – that is how we get evil in our lives, by rejecting God and allowing anything else in instead! But here we are reminded the evil is not us and it does not belong to us. The devil works to keep the evil in our lives and will fill any gaps we have without though for us.
If we cling to the truth and make sure our lives are filled with Christ, then there is not going to be room in them for the evil. The evil flees from the truth because it does not want to be found out. Christ wants to remain with us so we don’t have room for evil.
Points to Ponder:
What is your last prayer for 2021?
Will you ask Christ to fill your life so there is no room for evil anymore?
December 30: 1 John 2:12-17
Key Verse: 1 John 2:16
For everything in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – comes not from the Father but from the world.
Devotion:
It is so interesting to me to find out the reasons for letters to be written. Often we try to understand what is going on in the writers head or what is going on in the life of the recipient; here we are given the clear reasons for this letter being written.
We do need to remember our sins are forgiven on account of the name of Jesus Christ. We have to remember the scriptures we have witness to and keep them in our hearts. We have to be reminded we have overcome evil by accepting Christ into our lives – that is the astonishing one to me! We have to remember God is eternal and has been here from the beginning and will be here forever – something we can struggle to get to grips with because we are bound by time here on earth.
God is our Father. He has invited us to be His children and has given us the method by which we can be His children – through Jesus Christ our Saviour! The more we remember these things, the more we will be able to read God’s Word and accept it into our hearts. The closer we get to God through His Word, the more He is able to explain the words through the Holy Spirit whom Christ sent to help us.
Our love for earthly things is hard to let go of, especially if we have many thing from this world in our lives. The more we cling to those things, the harder it is for us to draw close to God. These things are only in this world and will not be with us in heaven; our heavenly experience will be more than we can imagine. We will no longer be held back by simple earthly desires.
Points to Ponder:
What do you treasure in your life?
Have you tried to treasure Christ above all?