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April 19: John 21:1-6
Key Verse: John 21:5
He called out to them, ‘Friends, haven’t you any fish?’ ‘No,’ they answered.
Devotion:
How many things have frustrated you during these pandemic times? How many things have you been stopped from doing or have not been able to succeed because of Covid-19? I know I have felt very frustrated by not being able to do things with the young people, not being able to meet up and just talk things through or to have fun... But there are always going to be times during our lives when the harvest seems to be non-existent!
Over the years I have seen the ebb and flow of youth work and even adult church work. I have seen the lean times and have experienced the abundant times. This is the way of the world – nothing is permanent, and nothing lasts forever. But we do have a Saviour who has promised us many good times and continues to look out for us all the time. Our issue seems to be listening when we need to listen!
One of the biggest parts of youth work is listening to the youth and finding out where they are both mentally and spiritually. Without that listening we do not have much hope of being able to reach them with the gospel. God wants us to listen to others all the time and to be willing to change what we are doing in order to gain the most from every situation.
In this story Jesus was waiting on the shore and shouting instructions to the disciples on the boat. They did not think it would be Jesus and so were not prepared... but something made them stop and listen. Because of that step, they found a whole different approach to their fishing – not just because it was the other side of the boat but because it was a haul which could have sunk their boat if they were not careful!
Points to Ponder:
Do you listen to the world?
Do you listen to God?
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April 18: Luke 24:44-49
Key Verse: Luke 24:45
Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.
Devotion:
One of the great things about our bibles is how they span such a vast time range and allow us to come to terms with what has already happened and what Jesus did for us. They also have explanations by Jesus of what the Old Testament meant, expanded history of His own life and a whole lot of promises of things to come!
For us to be able to understand half of what is written down, we need a special person to give us the insight we need and comprehension which would otherwise be impossible! God allowed Jesus to come and show us many things, but it is not Jesus who gives us a full understanding of what has happened and what is still to come – it is the Holy Spirit who God promised would come to support us when Jesus went back to Heaven!
Far too often we ignore the words the Holy Spirit tries to give us because we don’t like to listen to anything we can’t see! Jesus had to plainly tell the disciples what was going t happen to prepare them, and us, for what was going to come. This has all been written down for us to study, but because we like to see things to believe them we struggle with our own understanding.
God saw this in us and has given us so much to lay the foundation for what is to happen, what is to come. It is words like these from Jesus which help us now to be prepared to listen to the unseen – to listen to the Holy Spirit. This is something the world will always struggle with because they do not yet know these simple words from Christ. It takes time and it takes faith.
Points to Ponder:
How much faith do you have in the bible?
Will you try to listen to the Holy Spirit more?
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April 17: 1 John 3:1-6
Key Verse: 1 John 3:1
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Devotion:
The more you work and live as a Christian, the more you begin to realise there is a large gap between people who know Christ and those who don’t. I used to think there was a very large gap between the religious people and everyone else, but it goes a lot deeper than just religion!
To be able to be called a child of God is pretty amazing and something which I treasure deeply – but also something the world does not seem to comprehend! We may as well be talking a different language when we say things like this! This gap is the understanding Christ gives to us when we get to know Him. It is not something magical which we gain because of all the religious things we do or say, it is an understanding we get to know through knowing Christ personally.
There are some questions we get asked to which we don’t know the answers, questions for which the answers are known by God and not yet by mankind. When we get to be with Jesus on His return, we will get to know the answers. Until then, we should be content with knowing Christ and having faith He knows what is best for us. This is part of our faith in Christ – we don’t know the answers, but because we know He does, we can depend on Him!
For as long as we have this hope in Christ, and depend on it, we can live as forgiven children of God. We don’t have to wait until we get to heaven or until we die, we are now Children of God because of our faith in Him. We live with sin and we continue to sin, but because of our relationship with Christ, we can know we are forgiven and redeemed already!
Points to Ponder:
Do you know you are a child of God?
Will you depend on Him for your parental guidance?
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April 16: Isaiah 59:9-11
Key Verse: Isaiah 59:11
We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but it is far away.
Devotion:
Sometimes, when things go wrong we lose sight of the real things in life and all we see is what has, is and can go wrong! We assume there is no way out because we did something wrong and have to face up to what we think is the punishment. But, as is the case in so many things in life, there is always a life-line which can be reached out to.
These words describe the hopelessness we feel when we think the world around us is closing in on us. We are like blind people in a surrounding we don’t know. We have to feel our way round because we ‘see’ nothing; like we are lost in the world when others seem to be doing fine and we are not. In the middle of the day, when everyone else is seeing things just fine, we still cannot see anything – the hopelessness of it all!
We groan and moan because we are stuck in a position where we see no way out; we cannot keep quiet because it is overwhelming in every way. This is the hopelessness of the world! Christ has seen this and knows what we face. He came to change this for us so, despite everything we think is blocking us from a life of peace and joy, He opened the door so we can find our way to Him.
God send Jesus to make a difference, to switch on the lights, to open the locked doors, to remove the scales from our eyes which blind us. Christ took on the debt for all we have done wrong and frees us... but we must make the choice to open our eyes and see the truth He brings. To do this we only have to repent of our sins and Christ has promised to forgive us and give us a peace only He can give!
Points to Ponder:
Do you feel lost and bound up?
Will you turn to the truth and allow Christ to free you?
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April 15: 1 Corinthians 4:1-5
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 4:4
My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me.
Devotion:
The more Paul went round teaching people about Jesus, the more he would have been exposed to the pride and deceit which was running through the religious organisations at the time. I hesitate to call it the church because Paul was trying to open their eyes to what was going on without judging them – they had become puffed up in their ways instead of the ways God had declared.
The more we get caught up in what we think God wants, the more we try to build it up and the more puffed up we will become. This takes us away from God’s word because we are now focusing on what we think God needs instead of what He has actually asked us to do, both through His word and through what He tells us.
Paul was very quick to respond to questions about judging others because he knew he was not innocent even though people may have looked at him as being innocent because of the work he was doing. Let us never forget that! We are just as guilty doing God’s Work as doing our earthly work. We are only forgiven by Christ because He has chosen to forgive us after we admit the truth...
Paul’s conscience was clear because he knew Christ had promised to forgive him for the things he had done wrong. He knew he could stand on those promises no matter how bad things had been in the past. He knew the only one who had the right to judge him was the One who stepped forward and took his debt!
Points to Ponder:
Do you still worry about what you have done wrong?
Will you remember Christ stepped forward and took on your debt?
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April 14: Romans 1:14-17
Key Verse: Romans 1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.
Devotion:
Ok, so now we know God wants us to go out and tell people the truth about Jesus and to help others to get to know Him better, what are we going to do about it? How many of you slipped lower into your seats as you read that line? Many of us are certainly not ready to tell the world about Jesus because we are not all disposed to being some sort of evangelist!
Paul had no issues with going out to tell others about Jesus because He knew that is what Jesus had told him to do – to go out and tell others about Jesus, not just the Jews. Each one of us are given someone to tell about Jesus – whether it is standing up in front of some people and talking about what you know about Jesus, or whether it is simply sitting and talking to a single friend... we have our tasks to do.
Paul knew he had to go out to all the people where he was before going on a round trip of the Mediterranean! He knew God was calling him to spread the Good News to many more people who had not been focused on by the disciples. The disciples themselves had been given the difficult task of talking to the Jews to try and bring them round to knowing the full truth about Jesus.
Paul had a fairly clean sheet of going out to other people to tell them of all the things which had been happening over the past few years in and around Jerusalem. There were many witnesses to what Jesus did and a whole lot of opposition from the Jews... But, the Gentiles, on the other hand did not have these pre-conceived ideas and they could listen to this fresh Good News and be encouraged by it. It’s always easier to learn from the mistakes of others rather than your own mistakes!
Points to Ponder:
Are you ready to talk to someone about Jesus?
How about just telling someone why you love Jesus?
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April 13: Acts 7:39-41
Key Verse: Acts 7:40
They told Aaron, “Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt – we don’t know what has happened to him!”
Devotion:
When Stephen was pulled up in front of the Sanhedrin, it was because some thought he was taking away from the words they had learned all their lives. They had the written words of Moses which had been passed down over centuries, and they were not going to let them get changed by any man.
What Stephen reminded them of was their own history and how mankind had continued to want to live according to their own rules rather than by being guided by God. He reminded them of the time Moses was at the top of the mountain with God and how the people lost faith and patience in waiting. They wanted a god they could see which could lead them to their new home – so they assumed the only way would be to build their own!
It may sound silly when we look at it afterward, but this is the type of thing we continue to get involved with every day in our modern lives. We like to get technology and use it to produce something special (or at least that is what we look at it as being) which can be used to promote God and spread the word. Yes, it is helpful to have aids which help us to see and remember God, but nothing should ever replace God!
This is the mistake they made – they wanted something to replace the unseen God! That is taking God completely out of the equation and saying we have no faith in Him. So, instead of trying to make something to follow, let's use technology to highlight where God is and to allow people to follow God and not technology itself.
Points to Ponder:
Do you like old fashioned churched or new churches?
Where is God in your church?
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April 12: Acts 6:1-7
Key Verse: Acts 6:3
Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them
Devotion:
I think one of the most important things in ministry is to not try and do everything yourself. The temptation is always there to go and do things yourself because it is easier to just do something rather than teach someone else – and you know you can do it better... Well, how is anyone else going to grow in Christ if you are taking things away from them all the time?
The disciples faced this as their numbers grew, and more people wanted to focus on spreading the gospel... It appears the work which was being carried out previously dwindled as people wanted to do different things... This is always a problem as the church grows, because everyone is tempted to seek the top positions, the positions where they seem to get the greatest glory for themselves... Yes, that is a big problem in modern churches, but seems like it has always been a problem!
God has given each of us different skills and attributes which He knows we are going to excel with. If we are willing to use those skills instead of focusing on skills which get all the glory, the whole church will be better off! We are working as a team of people trying to spread the gospel. But, just because we are trying to spread the gospel, does not mean we can ignore the people who need help and support. It does not mean we can ignore the hard work which goes on behind the scenes and gets no glory...
God wants us to be willing to trust Him and live according to His will. This is going to be the best outlook for the church as a whole – if we are willing to trust and obey our God!
Points to Ponder:
What do you do in church?
Are you neglecting the less glamorous jobs?
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April 11: Acts 4:32-35
Key Verse: Acts 4:32
All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.
Devotion:
As our country continues to mourn the passing of our Queen’s Husband, His Royal Highness The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, we can take away the great support his role within the Royal Family played. A role which not just defined him as a man but defined how one person can do so much from a position of support. No greater role model of support has this country had than His Royal Highness The Prince Philip.
As the disciples and followers of Jesus grew in faith and in number in the early days after Jesus’ resurrection, they too learned they could do so much in their roles as humble servants of Christ. They set aside their differences and lived as a common people, all serving Christ and sharing the gospel. Through this new-found strength of working as humble people, they expanded in numbers and no person was left in need amongst them.
As God’s children, we all need to take account of the things we have in our lives and how we can use our qualities to the betterment of others. It is not our task to do all we can to become “top dog” in society or wealth, but our task to look out for God’s children in all ways we can. The more we live as one people, the more we will be able to achieve.
Yes, we do need people who are in charge, people who stand up for we are, people who are ambassadors, but we also need to remember we are one people under God. I salute the Queen and Price Philip for all they did to ensure we remember we live under one God, no matter our stature in life.
Points to Ponder:
Are you a willing and humble servant?
Lord, please take great care of our Queen and her family.
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April 10: Mark 16:9-15
Key Verse: Mark 16:15
He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
Devotion:
When you read of all the occurrences of Jesus being seen by people and interacting with them after His death and resurrection, we see a common theme developing. The people who got to know Jesus wanted to talk about Him and tell others about Him. This is exactly what Christ wants us to do – not to keep it quiet, but to tell more people so they too can believe in what has happened.
The Apostles knew Him well and knew what they had to do – to go out into the rest of the world and preach the gospel... to tell people the truth. The Apostles were confronted by priests and scribes who told them not to go round speaking of Jesus as being anything more than a man; but they could not hold back the truth and told the people in charge this is what they would continue to do – because they had witnessed the truth and had to tell people the truth!
When we get to know Jesus nowadays, we get to know the love and mercy He has for each of us. This is a very tangible truth we get to know! It is something we could just say, but people would be sceptical of what we say. But when they too get to know Christ personally, they too want to share this love, peace and mercy with others.
We will all have our doubts about what has happened and even why it happened, but the more we open our hearts and minds to the truth, the more we will recognise it as the truth and the more we will want to share this truth as well. God wants us to share this love, not just with our friends and families, but with everyone we meet, and everything we see too. God is the God of everything, not just people!
Points to Ponder:
What do you do with good news?
Will you share God’s Good News with everything?