December 10: Mark 1:1-8

Key Verse: Mark 1:4
And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Devotion:
Sometimes I wish people would not create names for everything – like being “saved” as a mark of becoming a Christian. Some people find it very hard to accept words like this which can be used for good or for boasting and even ridicule. Jesus did not place people in pigeon holes just so they could be named; instead He invited all to come forward and change their lives.

John was not called to forgive anyone or to heal or bless. He was called to prepare the way for Jesus to come and bring people hope, a hope of being able to be forgiven and accepted into Heaven alongside Him. John taught people about baptism being a sign of repentance and forgiveness of sins.

The repentance had to come from the people themselves. The forgiveness had to come from God through the promise Jesus gave us when He went to the cross. The people came forward to confess their sins in front of John, the people and most importantly in front of God. They then took a plunge into the river to signify the old lives coming to and end and a new life living in forgiveness beginning.

John knew the limits of what he was doing, but also knew there would be no limits to what Christ would do. John did not dress up for any occasion but wore clothing made from camel’s hair and a leather belt. He was just a strange person called by God to do something very important for all the people of Judea. He answered that calling and dedicated his life to that calling.

Points to Ponder:
Do you get caught up in the religion and pomp and ceremony?

Why not just focus on what God is asking of you?

December 9: Matthew 9:35-38

Key Verse: Matthew 9:38
Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

Devotion:
One of the greatest problems we have is not having enough people who are willing to share their faith with others. Jesus highlighted the problem back then just as it is today, His response being we must ask God to send out more people willing to share the gospel message. The next chapter in Matthew starts off by saying Jesus called His disciples together and gave them authority to go out and do miracles just as He was.

And this leads us to another issue we seem to have in modern times: who now has the authority to drive out spirits and cure diseases nowadays? We are not told by written law who gives authority to anyone other than by the words written down by the disciples and told us here in these verses.

We should not judge people about their authority to do anything unless it goes against God’s words in our bibles, after all we know the Spirit enables us to have different gifts from God which we can do. There is not a chain of command here where we get elected things by church elders, but gifts given us from God.

One thing we do know is the disciples would fail in some cases because they wrote about that too. In these cases they brought the people to Jesus to ask why, to which Jesus replied they did not have enough faith or they did not pray… which leads us to be reminded we should ask everything through the name of Jesus. Take everything to God in prayer!

Points to Ponder:
Are you listening to God?

Are you continually asking God for support?

December 8: Matthew 9:27-31

Key Verse: Matthew 9:31
But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.

Devotion:
One of the things Jesus did on many occasions when He healed people was to tell them not to publicise the events. But, as we see here on this occasion the people who were blind and given sight by Christ went out and told everyone they could. Jesus was in the height of His ministry and did not want people to go and brag about His miracles to the Pharisees and the leaders of the church at the time otherwise they would seek to kill Him quicker than expected.

Even though Jesus knew the people He healed would go and spread the news to everyone, He also had so much love and compassion for the people He would not stop healing the poorly. The disciples may well have continued to write about all the things Jesus did had these people kept quiet, but on the other hand those people who needed healing the most may not have had the courage to come forward and be healed had they not heard from so many.

The more we show people how much God does in our lives the more likely they will come forward and try find out more about Him. The more people get to know about Jesus the more the good news will continue to spread. Jesus has already paid the price so we should be more than willing to tell of the good news nowadays.

But one thing we do need to do more of is to listen to Him and not to the people around us. I still do get persuaded at times by people around me to stop doing things and some of those people are church leaders. I continue to pray I will hear God’s words louder than the people’s voices so I can do His will!

Points to Ponder:
Who do you listen to most in your life?

How much do you really listen to God?