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June 28: Mark 5:25-31
Key Verse: Mark 5:31
‘You see the people crowding against you,’ his disciples answered, ‘and yet you can ask, “Who touched me?”’
Devotion:
In the gospel reading at church yesterday we heard about Jesus being begged by Jairus to come and heal his daughter who was very ill. Jairus was one of the synagogues leaders. Did this stop Jesus from going to help him? Not at all. Jesus wanted to show people He thought of everyone, from the poorest to the richest, from the most insignificant to the most well-known – Jesus did not choose people according to their positions in society or even in the church.
But in amongst this time when He was being called to go and help Jairus, a woman who had an issue with constantly bleeding for twelve years takes centre stage for a few seconds! She was a complete unknown other than being known by some as the woman with the issue... She was able to move around the crowd without causing mayhem like someone with leprosy would – instead she slowly made her way close enough so she could reach out and touch the tip of Jesus clothes!
It was her firm belief which gave her the strength to make it through the crowd and touch the gown. Ordinarily nobody would have noticed her, seen her reaching out to touch Jesus or even bothered she was not well – they were all too busy trying to either defend Jesus against the push of the crowd, or crowd in so they could see Jesus! But as soon as she touched His clothes, she knew she had and Jesus knew it too!
It was her belief which caused Jesus to notice. Jesus was looking into the hearts of the people around Him all the time and feeling what people felt; I’m sure His heart was going out to many people in that crowd – but His focus was on this single woman for a few seconds. He called her out and she had the courage to say “here I am!”
Points to Ponder:
Do you have enough faith to call out to Jesus?
Will you answer Him if He asks for you?
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June 27: Psalm 30:8-10
Key Verse: Psalm 30:9
What is gained if I am silenced, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness?
Devotion:
Have you ever wondered why God made us; I mean, not just because He loves us, but why did He create us the way we are? We could come up with things like, He was lonely, or He wanted company, but we don’t really know enough about God to make assumptions like that. But, after people God to know Jesus personally, they wrote about things and through those words we have a better understanding of God through His Son Jesus.
When we read back over what God has done and the timing of various things, we can come to the conclusion He made the world so we would have a place to live – His creating us being the initial point and not just the creating of everything first!
As God got to know man, He was coming and spending time with man. Yes, He did enjoy the company, enjoy what he had done etc etc. Isn’t that the point of making something in the first place – so we can enjoy it. I have on many occasions wondered what I would create if I were to try to make a robot of some kind – how much artificial intelligence would I give it?
God wants us to continue communing (or meeting) with Him. He wants us to spend time with Him. If we did not, would the dirt around us praise God? I fear not, because we are the ones who have been created in His image, not dirt! God wants us to be open and enjoy our spending time with Him and not to hide it in a cellar or behind a bush!
Points to Ponder:
How much time do you spend speaking with God?
Will you spend a little more time today with God?
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June 26: Isaiah 40:1-5
Key Verse: Isaiah 40:4
Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
Devotion:
I love the way God spoke to Isaiah so he would be able to encourage the people of Israel. They had been through so much, from being in captivity in Egypt, to searching through the desert, having a great place to live and then losing it all again. Some may well have thought God was not with them because of what they had been through – but they had turned away from God and done their own thing even after being warned by God!
After all this had happened, and they had more taken away from them that they could understand, God had promised to bring them back together and never to leave them. Throughout their troubles, God was close by and waiting for them to repent of their ways to come back to Him. His promises were to do so, and He was going to keep to those promises.
We can now look back over time and see how this promise came true through Jesus coming to live amongst them and to make a way where they would never have to seek sacrifices to cover their sins again. John came just before Jesus to make that way in the wilderness for people to look toward Christ and to find out what He was going to do for us all.
Jesus wanted to level the playing field so the rich would no longer be kept on platforms just because they had money, and the poor would be able to achieve things even though they are poor. Christ continues to make sure we still remember this and practice this when we can!
Points to Ponder:
Do you ever try to level the playing field?
Will you help someone today who is less fortunate than you?
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June 25: Luke 3:10-14
Key Verse: Luke 3:14
Then some soldiers asked him, ‘And what should we do?’ He replied, ‘Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely – be content with your pay.’
Devotion:
When Jesus started teaching the people about how to live as Christians, He upset quite a few people because He was adamant about how we should be living. When the people heard His instructions about how they should behave when dealing with possessions, the rich people were put off because they did not want to lose money, and some of the poorer people were put off because they did not want to have to rely on others.
But when it came down to sharing what we have with others – many people did not know how to handle that! It was well known in their society tax collectors would take more than people owed and skim some of the money off for themselves. We think of things like this nowadays and call it a service charge – but it amounts to much the same thing! The same went for the soldiers who would ‘uphold’ the law for anyone who was willing to pay them extra!
God wants us to be honest about our lives and honest about our dealings with others. If we are honest then we must look to be happy with what we have and not desire more than we have contracted for. If we have agreed a certain salary, then we should not expect more just because we could get more if we did something else... This idea tends to break down society because some people want more than others and they end up getting more than others because of how they behave.
The less strife we have between us and our neighbours, the less we will have to strive to get over and above what we have – in others words, the less we will want and the more satisfied we will be with what we have already. God wants us to aim for the best – but not to be greedy about getting it!
Points to Ponder:
Do you think your business life is honest?
Will you try to work to what you have agreed rather than what you think you want?
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June 24: Luke 1:57-66
Key Verse: Luke 1:63
He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, ‘His name is John.’
Devotion:
When God asks you do to something, how long do you do it? Do you carry on doing it even when the world turns against you? Do you carry on even though you have doubts? Do you stop when you have had enough? If we look back in our lives, when we were younger we probably had some ideas about what we would like to do. When I was very young, I wanted to be a train driver! Then I wanted to be a pilot, then an engineer, and then I got into computers... My life as a youngster changed quite a bit!
When we are youngsters with God, we may well let our lives chop and change as well, just like we do when we are inexperienced in life. We gain experience and we take on new knowledge and wisdom – with that we grow and change our ways to try and keep up... But if you were told to do something by God – where do you draw the line?
God has ultimate knowledge about what is best for us and where we should be going in our lives. If we trust Him, depend on Him and obey Him, we should be able to get closer to the ideal position we should have in our lives. But there are all manner of things along the way which prevent us from getting things right! Temptations, lack of willpower, stupidity, pride and greed to name a few...
When God told Zechariah he was going to have a son, he doubted it and doubted what God could do. Because of this he was not allowed to speak until he had named his son John. After that point, Zechariah knew exactly why things happened the way they did and knew what had to be done with his life – he had to worship God in a new way!
Points to Ponder:
Do you listen to God’s call in your life?
How far would you go for God?
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June 23: Psalm 107:23-32
Key Verse: Psalm 107:29
He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.
Devotion:
I wonder how many of the disciples heard of this part of scripture and recalled it after they had seen Jesus calm the storm at sea. We often think Jesus did so many new things, but when we go back and read our bibles which show us what God has been trying to get us to understand for so long, we see a whole different side of things.
Jesus came to fulfil the scriptures. He came to show us they are real and they are the promises of God. He came to bring them to life so we would no longer have to have what we may think of as blind faith! God has tried to show us so many things through scripture, prophecies and through miracles too. Jesus came to bring them to life so we would have something tangible to look back on... Yet we still have doubts!
This passage from the book of Psalms show us God had tried to encourage many people before Jesus came to live amongst us. God showed the fishermen the secrets of the deep, the storms and even how He was able to protect them at sea when they put their trust in Him. God continues to try and encourage us to have this sort of faith, placing our trust in Him...
It is the love of God which has been demonstrated to us since the beginning of time. It is God’s love which has brought us peace, happiness and joy. It is God’s love which has given our lives meaning and direction; but we have to see the directions, trust in them and do them! What use is reading an instruction manual unless you are going to follow the directions!
Points to Ponder:
Do you read the scriptures?
Do you apply them in your life?
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June 22: Luke 15:1-7
Key Verse: Luke 15:2
But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, ‘This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.’
Devotion:
Jesus was like no other man! We speak of Christ as being the Son of God and we praise Him for all the things He has done and has promised to do. We sing of His miracles and want to tell people about all the things we have learned from our bibles... but Jesus the man was not like any men of that time.
The Western World paints a picture of Jesus as being a tall white man with a big beard and wearing white robes. Well, that certainly would have made Him different from any other man at the time! But Jesus was a local man, born of a local woman – which means He probably looked like one of the local men. But that is where the similarities ended.
Jesus did not act like the men of the time because so many of them had become corrupted by pride, greed and general lack of respect for God. They thought more of their own rules and ways of living than of God’s ways. When Jesus stepped out and visited the sinners around Him, it was not to become a sinner but to show them God loved them just as much as He loves those who were trying to follow God’s will in their lives.
God wants us to love our neighbours. That may mean stopping what we are doing and stepping forward to do something for someone else who others are turning away from. God wants us to step out and reach for the one person who is lost. Jesus wants us to break with our safe ways and step into the unknown with Him. He loves us all. He wants us all to love one another. Sometimes it will look like we are mixing with the wrong people...
Points to Ponder:
Do you try to help everyone?
Will you step out of your comfort zone and help someone in need today?
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June 21: Mark 4:35-41
Key Verse: Mark 4:38
Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
Devotion:
I loved the story we were told in our local church today where our elder compared this to a story of a child learning to ride a bike. When they first start, they wobble all over the place, but as they get more confident and can balance, they need less and less support... but the first time they realise they were riding by themselves, they probably wobble even more and fall off!
When we first learn to be Christians, we wobble all over the place and get things wrong. As we become more confident and learn more, we can do things and even act like Christians – but the first time we get challenged by someone or something, we fall flat on our faces because we don’t yet have the full confidence we need to continue alone.
Christ is like the father running alongside the child, supporting, then less so and finally not holding us up as we move ahead with Him; but as soon as we realise we don’t have Him holing firmly onto our hands, we fall flat and get things in a right mess again!
The disciples were still learning to put their trust in Christ and when they thought He was not looking out for them – they were in the middle of a storm whilst He slept – their faith, or lack of it, let them down and they called out to Christ for help!
Christ is always there by our sides and continues to support us in many ways while we learn more; but there will come a time when we will be the ones running alongside someone else as they learn and we should have the confidence to support them as they learn.
Points to Ponder:
Are you still learning to ‘ride you bike’?
Will you try to believe and trust in what Christ has already taught you?
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June 20: 1 Samuel 17:32-37
Key Verse: 1 Samuel 17:32
David said to Saul, ‘Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.’
Devotion:
How many times have you been stuck in a certain situation and have thought about it so much there does not seem to be a way out of it – but along comes a friend and asks ‘have you tried this yet?’ A fresh pair of eyes on the situation can often see a way through when you are lost in your own issues!
God has promised to continue looking out for us and watching over us. He continues to support and love us just as He has promised. We can see this happening every day when we look for it; but if we focus too much on the world we lose sight of what God is trying to do to help us out and we lose out on that help because we discard it because we can only see the problems ahead and no solution!
God has given each of us unique abilities which we can use to either do things for ourselves, or to help everyone with. David was unique in how He trusted God. If he had simply stayed with his father's sheep, he would have continued fighting off predators without anyone getting to know what he was doing. But God opened up a door where he would be able to step up in front of the world and show them what God had been doing behind the scenes for so long – to open their eyes to what God can do once again.
Sometimes we have to step forward and put our faith and trust in God once again to allow people to see what He is capable; not to see what we can do, but to see what God can do through us. If we are willing to show people it is God who does these things through us, we will be able to do anything God has in mind for us!
Points to Ponder:
Do you limit yourself to what you think you can do?
Have you tried stepping forward and allowing God to show you more?
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June 19: 1 Samuel 17:4-11
Key Verse: 1 Samuel 17:4
A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span.
Devotion:
There are going to be times in your life when you think you are facing a giant who is impassable – someone or something which you cannot see a way round; we give in to these situations because we cannot see any way round. When we focus on the world or situations in the world, all we will see are those things and we will lose sight of what God can do in our lives!
Mankind spends so much time looking into the minutia of the world and not enough time spent on meditating on what God can do in our lives. I do think we have the most amazing programs about nature and history – things like that fascinate me and I love watching them. But I also see how the people making these productions have lost sight on what God could do in their lives.
It is great to learn about history so we can do the things which have worked in the past and avoid the things which have not. We limit ourselves and our lives to what other people have learned because we are learning from them. This sometimes allows us to fall into the same trap and believe everything we hear rather than trusting in God.
God has tried to teach us through His word by having it all written down. He has shown us what has and has not worked and even expects us to find out more about the world as we go on. But He also expects us to continue trusting in Him like the people in the bible did. We have so many examples of how people have lost sight of God’s power and might and given in to the fears the world shows us. Sometimes we have to stop and look back on what God has done in the past to see how we can go forward in life with God.
Points to Ponder:
How well do you know your history in the bible?
Will you read a bit more history today and be encouraged by it?