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January 28: Matthew 26:36-41
Key Verse: Matthew 26:38
Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
Devotion:
As we see so many people dying from this pandemic, we are allowed to lament and grieve and mourn. God does not say we must keep a stiff upper lip and not show our emotions. Jesus Himself went to Gethsemane to grieve over what was happening and what was about to happen. It is allowed.
What God does say is that we should comfort those who do mourn, even mourn with them – allow them to come to terms with their losses and just be there for them. The disciples were very tired and fell asleep when Jesus went ahead to pray alone. When Jesus returned He questioned their falling asleep – not because He was cross with them daring to fall asleep whilst He was grieving, but to draw light to their purpose.
I have had several people in my immediate family catch the virus and thankfully they have and are making a good recovery. My heart goes out to those who are less fortunate and lose their loved ones or their own lives to this terrible virus. I have now, like almost everyone will do, lost both my birth parents and that was hard; but losing a loved one to anything other than natural causes brings on new depths of grief.
Why not try and make a difference by being “awake” for someone who is mourning, being there as a shoulder to cry on. Why not make a difference by calling someone who is going through a rough patch (that opens up so many calls we can make at this time!) Being there to support someone can make all the difference to them.
Points to Ponder:
Do you know someone who is struggling?
Will you give them a call and offer them help?
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January 27: Isaiah 49:14-17
Key Verse: Isaiah 49:16
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.
Devotion:
It’s horrible to feel alone. The feeling of being alone when you know there is a crowd ‘out there’ cannot be expressed in words – it's something which dwells deep inside you and only comes out when you do feel singled or left out. I have been to large gatherings of Christians and felt alone in the crowd, not because I am surrounded by people who don’t care but because I am missing something...
I love these words penned by Isaiah so many years ago – they are so valid and so meant for times like these we find ourselves in now. We are separated from our loved ones to try and keep others (and ourselves) safe from spreading or catching this virus and that makes us feel alone. But one thing we can always count on is God being with us, every minute of every day!
We do feel left behind by God at times. We do feel like He may have forgotten us... because we start to think we are or should be the centre of attention; as soon as the focus goes off of us, we feel left out. Well, just maybe God is so comfortable with the way we are He is silently sitting on the sofa with us watching the movie we are! Just maybe He is walking beside us in the forest as we try to get a bit of fresh air.
Just as we don’t always talk to our best friends, so God is with us. It’s not a case of God is so busy with so many other people He doesn’t have time for me... He always has time for everyone, but sometimes we are so engrossed with the movie or the trees around us that we forget He is right next to us! Reach out your hand and hold His hand – it's there!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you feel alone?
How often do you reach out to hold God’s hand?
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January 26: Matthew 20:20-28
Key Verse: Matthew 20:28
just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Devotion:
Zebedee was a prosperous fisherman whose sons, James and John, were called to be disciples by Jesus. We surmise Zebedee believed in Jesus because he made no attempt to stop his sons from following Jesus when they were called. His wife approached Jesus and asked for her sons to be given prominent positions in Heaven, to be sat either side of Jesus!
I think they must have been looked up at in society for her to approach Jesus and ask such things, but Jesus told her He could not give them such positions in heaven because it was not His position to do this. This is God’s realm we are talking about and only God, the Father of Jesus should make such decisions; Jesus was already in His role as the Messiah, the human man living amongst us.
God looks at the work we do here on earth, not the results of the work we do... This seems like a small difference because we view a successful disciple as one who has shared the gospel with many and brought many to believe in Christ... But it is not all about the numbers or who we bring to Christ, it’s about how we measure up to the task given us by God!
God may be calling us to simply bring the gospel to one other person in our lives. He may we calling us to build a community which will in turn bring people to Him. He may be calling us to reach out to a single person who will make a difference in our community. He will judge us according to what He has called us to and not the numbers affected by us!
Points to Ponder:
What is God calling you to do?
Are you really listening to God’s instructions?
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January 25: Proverbs 23:15-16
Key Verse: Proverbs 23:16
my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
Devotion:
I am very proud of my children. They continue to show wisdom in their lives! I know we have all had our rough times and I know they do go through terrible times too – but they continue to uphold righteousness even when I have not shown them the right way! I really do love them and probably don’t tell them enough!
But this is not about me and my children, or about you and your children; this is about God and His children... and not just God and Jesus. We are all called to be children of God, so this applies to all of us! If you have children, then you know the feelings of joy you have when they do something right! Somehow, even though you think it not possible, your love continues to grow for them each day.
We cannot express how much God loves us because we don’t have the words to do so, and yet He continues to love us more each day just as we continue to love our children more each day. So what do you think you do to try and show some of that love back to Him? What sort of things do you do for your parents to show them love?
God should never be taken for granted, though we do from time to time. God continues to love us and we need to love Him back for all He does for and with us. We shouldn’t be doing this out of a sense of duty, but as a child loving their parent because they first loved us. Sometimes it is a phone call at the right time which makes the difference. Sometimes it is a quiet word which makes all the difference...
Points to Ponder:
What do you do to show God you love Him?
Will you take time out today to talk to God and open your heart?
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January 24: Proverbs 8:1-5
Key Verse: Proverbs 8:4
To you, O people, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind.
Devotion:
I can remember my son coming home and inviting me to church – somewhere I had not been for more than a decade! I can remember the pastor knocking on my door on Saturday to invite me to church after I had ignored the call from my son for a few more weeks. I can remember the feeling of being back in church after such a long time away...
God continues to call out to us and to invite us to join in the call for wisdom to flood into our lives. I know there are many reasons we can come up with not to go to church, even more now we are in pandemic times... But when it comes down to it, we are the ones making the choice to ignore the wisdom God has on offer to us.
We really should be listening to anyone who is willing to share wisdom with us... We do have to step forward and make the choice to follow wisdom and to share in the truth. We must make a stand against evil and against lies. We must stop the spread of the rot in our communities and in our countries.
It must start somewhere and that could be a simple invite to a friend – maybe not to come to a physical church service but to listen to one online. Share a devotion with a friend. Play a worship song instead of something else. Read a bit of the bible instead burying yourself in the newspaper. Spread the Good News instead of helping with the gossip.
Points to Ponder:
What do you talk about with your friends?
Do you uphold God’s ways in your life?
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January 23: Proverbs 4:1-9
Key Verse: Proverbs 4:2
I give you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching.
Devotion:
I do continue to try and learn all I can from God’s Word, and even though I have read through my bible, I continue to learn from those same words. So how do I continue to learn new things if the words do not change? My life changes, and as my life changes, the words take on a new meaning in many cases; not that the mean changes but deepens.
I continue to gain wisdom from the words God has made sure we get to hear. God’s word does not change, but our understanding changes as we grow in wisdom and understanding. Just as Jesus did not know everything in the beginning, so we do not know it. But we can learn more and more with every day if we are willing to listen and learn as much as Jesus did!
As we go through school, we learn to read and write, then we get further understanding and then, if we are lucky, we continue on to college and university where we can explore more and try to further our own understanding by discovering new things. We must be willing and want to do the same with our Christian understanding too – the more we can learn, the closer we become to how Jesus was able to live.
As with any learning, we need to remember things we read and hear. We need to take what we learn and hold it in our hearts because that is where God is trying to reach us – in our hearts. He knows we have to accept these things in our hearts to further deepen our relationship with Him, so He tries to speak to us through our hearts!
Points to Ponder:
How much do/did learn from school?
How much do you learn from God’s Word?
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January 22: Proverb 3:19-20
Key Verse: Proverbs 3:19
By wisdom the Lord laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place;
Devotion:
I loved doing science experiments when I was younger – especially those chemical types which made new things. What I could not get my head round was the chemical reactions and formulas which were happening behind the scenes. I marvelled at the chemistry teachers as they went about showing us experiments as if it was something they “just did!”
Now, we could look at God as being someone who just does the experiments which give us many of the things we take for granted, or we could try and understand how He does things... But, in the end we have to accept He is able to do things which we may never be able to understand or grasp; but because we do see it happening, we should believe it!
God created this world because He could and because He wanted something special for us. His abilities are far beyond our normal understanding it terms of science and physics, but we should still accept it as the truth because He has already done it. It may be hard to accept something we cannot see – but accepting something we see should be ‘normal.’
We probably don’t deserve what God has created for us and given us, but He has, because He loves us. We don’t have to return it when we mess it up! We don’t have to try and fix everything we break... God gave this all to us as a gift and continues to support us with this gift every day of our lives. Accept all God is doing and thank Him for it, daily.
Points to Ponder:
Have you looked at the natural world around you?
Do you see the design God has planned for everything?
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January 21: Proverbs 3:5-6
Key Verse: Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
Devotion:
How much do you trust your family? How much do you trust your friends? How much do you trust other people? Your answers to any or all of these is probably to trust those who have given you reason to trust them and not to trust those who have given you reason not to trust them... But we cannot always live in the past where we judge people according to what they have done in the past!
If we lived by that idiom, we would probably trust very few people in our lives and find it very difficult to trust new people who came into our lives. Contrast that with the way God sent His Son to make a way for us to trust Him even when He knew we could not be trusted!
Someone has to start the trust relationship; and it may well be difficult for you to try and start that trust because of what has happened to you in your past. God wants us to be able to trust others and for them to trust us. This means we have to be trust-worthy and show others we can be trusted.
God has already shown us He can be trusted in everything and continues to uphold the truth and that trust. If we are willing to place our trust in His hands, He is faithful and just to continue keeping His word and continue showing us how much we can trust Him with everything and always.
Points to Ponder:
Do you trust God’s Word?
Will you place a bit more trust in God’s hands today?
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January 20: Psalm 34:19-20
Key Verse: Psalm 34:20
he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.
Devotion:
One of the most surprising things is that I have not broken any bones yet! When I think back of all the stupid things I have done in my past from jumping off roofs and rock climbing without any protection, the odds were clearly stacked against me – but I still came out relatively unscathed from all my doings... Now I am not saying we should all go out and jump off roofs! There is no way we should be knowingly tempting God!
But these words are so very comforting to us – not that God will always protect us from breaking our bones, because we still do stupid things and we probably deserve to have a broken bone or two! But God continue to watch over us in everything we do and will try to make sure we are safe at all times.
The most comfort I get from these verses is not the broken bones part, but that God gives us a peace which really does go beyond all our own understanding. That peace is able to cover all our worries and self-doubts. That peace lifts us up from our mourning and gives us an understanding of how God continues to love and protect us.
I pray each one of you who are reading this (or listening to it) are blessed by God’s peace and continue to trust Him in many more things in your lives. I know I have always been surprised by the depth of the peace He gives me and continue to accept it in bundles. He really does look after me and protect me in so many ways, especially with my heart and mind!
Points to Ponder:
How much do you trust God with?
Will you give God your heart for safe keeping today?
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January 19: Acts 4:32-35
Key Verse: Acts 4:35
and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.
Devotion:
If you wanted to start changing your community from the inside, what would you start out by doing? One of the best things to start with is blessing others... I’m not talking about the crass way some people go about giving things to others just so they can get loads of views on social media, but the true servant hearted giving Christ calls us to. These people talked about in this section of passage were all now living as one community and were sharing everything they had with one another.
I can feel the cries of socialism and various other things... but when it comes down to it, this is what Christ was teaching – not the rule based “you will share everything with everyone” but the servant hearted “I am willing to share with anyone who is in need!” There is a huge difference in the two!
God does not call us to be a regimented society who are all too scared to do anything else but follow the rules. God calls us to be willing to share with people who are in need... So who is in need? It may surprise you to find out who the ones are who are in need.
It could be the company director just down the road who is now facing bankruptcy because their bills far outweigh the family income, or it could be the factory worker who had hardly anything to start with. We are not here to judge people on what they have done but to stand by people because of the situation they are in now! God bless you Dad for always being willing to help anyone.
Points to Ponder:
Are you willing to open your eyes to people in need?
Would you help someone who has not helped you before?