October 21: Luke 4:24-27
Key Verse: Luke 4:24
‘Truly I tell you,’ he continued, ‘no prophet is accepted in his home town.
Devotion:
We don’t know what was going through Jesus’ head during this visit to the synagogue, but as we read through the words we can imagine how He must have felt having to face these people in the temple who were supposed to be the people tasked with giving out the Word of God! Here they were being quite insular in their dealings and not spreading the word to the people who needed it most!
Wait, haven’t we heard this before? Yes, and we continue to hear it in our so called caring modern world. We even see it in our modern churches and gatherings of people who proclaim themselves to be God’s people! God wants the truth to be touching every person’s heart. He wants us all to come to know the truth in our minds and to know it in our hearts.
It is no good just knowing the words unless we act on those words and live by them. Christ continued to show people how important it was to live by God’s Word and not just to say you know it or teach it! Living by His word means reaching out to the people who need it most – and most often those are the people who are poor and forgotten.
When Elijah was sent to go and make a difference, it was not to the most influential people, not to the people in charge of churches or temples, but to a widow who had been forgotten about by the people. God wants all of us to know His love, joy and peace... not just the people who can afford things, or afford to go to church or have cars to get there... God wants all of us to have the chance at getting to know Him personally no matter what our circumstances!
Points to Ponder:
Are you always able to go to church meetings where Christ is preached?
Will you help someone who you know is missing out today?
October 20: Luke 4:1-12
Key Verse: Luke 4:8
Jesus answered, ‘It is written: “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”’
Devotion:
We all like to think we will do the right things when we get cornered by some bad thing, but most often we give in to doubt or temptation and we end up doing something we shouldn't be doing – just because it seems easier at the time. These verses remind us of what we should be doing and how we should go about things!
The first thing we see here is how Jesus was tempted just as we are. We must not forget He was perfectly human when He was on earth which meant He would face things as we do... the difference being He stuck by His Father at all times and never gave in. What an example for us to try to live up to!
Jesus knows we give in to many things and He knows our strengths and weaknesses. He is not going to put us in positions where our weaknesses will get the better of us... but Satan will! The evil one will try to trip us up at ever chance and will try to break our resolve by playing on our weaknesses. Here he tries to play on the human weaknesses of Jesus, but fails because Jesus rests firmly in God's arms!
Verse 8 says it all. Worship God alone and server Him alone! It may be easy for focus on God when the going is easy, but when we face difficult times, it gets tough to stay relying on God for everything. We look at the world around us and we give in to the things we know and put aside the things we don't... like faith... Jesus reminds us here how important it is to have faith and stick to it no matter what!
Points to Ponder:
What are your weaknesses?
Will you ask God to help you with those weaknesses?
October 19: 2 Timothy 4:5-8
Key Verse: 2 Timothy 4:5
But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
Devotion:
One thing God asks of us, no matter where we are in life, is to try our best for Him. This is going to include good and bad times because we live in a world which is so diverse and complex. Because not all people are the same, we are going to agree with some and disagree with others – just because we are different and our hearts and minds focus on different things.
What God asks is for us to try to focus on the right things as much as possible. He has given us His word and continues to point us toward it at all times. We may be different from others, but God's Word is the same when read by them as by us. We may get different things from the bible than others, but we are still reading the same word.
God would like all of us to spread His Word to others; we are different and so when we tell others about God they may hear something different from when others tell them about God. Diversity here is the key. Just as the gospels give us different aspects from the same story of Christ, so our own ministries will give others a different picture of Christ.
And another thing... it is never too late to tell someone about God (so long as they are alive and we are alive, we can say something!) God wants people to get a great overall picture about Him, not just to focus on a single part of Him. When people only talk to me about the love of Jesus I want to remind them of the rest of the bible! When people only look into the Old Testament, I want to remind them about Jesus' life... We need to be diverse and encompass all aspects of God.
Points to Ponder:
Do you prefer the Old or New Testament?
Will you take them both together today?
October 18: Hebrew 5:1-4
Key Verse: Hebrew 5:4
And no one takes this honour on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was.
Devotion:
How many times do you go over the readings you heard in church and get a very different idea from the passage than what was talked about in church? Well, this is not entirely different because the words are still the same, but I want to focus on something different which struck me when re-reading the passage (yes, I sometimes get a bit side-tracked doing the sound desk and miss things in church, so re-reading is a good idea!)
When I was doing in-depth studying of the bible I would do a lot of reading and listening to what other people thought about the passages; sometimes I would agree with what was being said, but sometimes I just got a very strong feeling they may be barking up the wrong tree... You see, this is what happens when two different people read the same piece of text. Because we have lived very different lives, we focus on different things in the text.
That being said, the Word of God does not change, we change. God chooses people whom He knows will be diligent with the studying and will be able to impart what they learn to others. A lot of people came to ask me questions because I like to try and explain things in plain English rather than 'Christian talk' or 'Christianese' as I like to call it! God will call you into the right place at the right time in order ti help other people understand His Word.
Priests and normal people! Yes, normal people! They are tempted just as we are and they make mistakes like we do. I am no different. I like to rattle on about God's Word and how it affects me, but I am still human and still do stupid things at times! This is why I try to do what I say and not do what I say not to. Living your life in the open will do more to convince people God is real than trying to hide from everyone. Be honest and open and share what you love about God!
Points to Ponder:
Do you try to live by God's Word?
Will you try to share by example instead of by words today?