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January 3: John 1:29-34
Key Verse: John 1:31
I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptising with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.
Devotion:
We all get to do something for God because of what Christ has done for us all. None of us are excluded from being able to do something for God! We may get to talk to thousands of people about Jesus, or we may only get to plant a seed in someone’s heart which Christ will germinate and cultivate; but we all get to do something somewhere.
For John it was the thing He was raised to be – the person who would make sure people got to hear more about the Messiah and even to introduce Him to the people who were there on that day. John did not take the credit for anything he had done, nor did he brag about things he was doing – he simply told the people the truth and allowed Jesus to do the rest.
I hope we all have a wonderful relationship with Christ whereby we can feel comfortable about talking to others and telling them how wonderful our relationship is. You see, when you tell someone you have a good life with Christ, they want to know more about this ‘good life’ because they may be lacking something in their lives.
For all the things he had done before Jesus came to be baptised, God blessed John with a vision which he fully understood and allowed him to grow even closer to God. When we do things for God, no matter how small, God will always reward us in some way so we can become stronger and do more each day. I love being a Christian!
Points to Ponder:
Are you ready to start the ball rolling with God?
Do you know nothing is impossible with Christ?
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January 2: John 1:19-28
Key Verse: John 1:23
John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, ‘I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, “Make straight the way for the Lord.”’
Devotion:
One of the things we should never be afraid of is telling people who we are – we are believers in Christ who want to be able to share the gospel of Christ wherever we go! When my dad was alive and we were out visiting, if he ever heard someone had any sort of issue in their lives he would always volunteer to pray for them should they wish. Many people said yes, and there began his witness!
We don’t have to be like John the baptist staying out in the desert near the river Jordan, teaching people about baptism. He gave up all of his time to do this because that is what God had asked of him. He did not shy away from it and when faced with Pharisees or other teachers of the law, he freely answered whatever questions they had.
They wanted to try and get him to stop baptising because people were beginning to see a truth the Pharisees could not see. They then wanted to know if he was connected to the Messiah, Elijah or any other prophet. Anything like that and they would try everything to disprove him and what he was saying. Instead he told them the truth, he had come to prepare the way for one who was much more important than him!
When God asks something of us, we should not build it up into anything more than it is. We should open up about the truth and tell it to people as plainly as we can. Jesus just wants us to spread the truth...
Points to Ponder:
Do you get defensive when people ask you about your life?
Have you tried simplifying things and telling the truth?
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January 1: Isaiah 43:16-21
Key Verse: Isaiah 43:19
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
Devotion:
What other verse could I use for the start of a New Year! Happy New Year! The last few years after my Dad died I have just been getting on with life and seeing what happens, but after going over these verses which actually mean a lot to me, I am aiming at getting to grips with a lot more this year!
These are the Words given to Isaiah from The Lord. They are special and we need to take note of things God says to us like this! He is our Creator God who has made everything and the one who opened the doors for Israel to do so much… so long as they continue to follow Him and to obey His commands.
I fear we have seen a side of the country of Israel which does not look like the people of Israel from the bible; but I’m not here to be political and to set blame anywhere but at my own feet. These words should be guided toward what He is asking of your own life and not used to judge others with!
God is the one who started doing something new in the hopes we will pick up the banner and continue this new thing He has started. We should not be looking for anything other than what God placed in our hearts about the work He wants us to do. He has already opened the doors and continues to hold them open for us to see and use!
Points to Ponder:
What doors has God opened lately?
Are you willing to go through them and complete His work?
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December 25: Luke 2:1-14
Key Verse: Luke 2:14
‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.’
Devotion:
Did you wonder why we looked at corruption and evil on Christmas Eve? Well, the corruption and evil in our world was personified by a certain Caesar Augustus when he called for a complete census of the entire Romans world! This census was not really to see how many people should pay him tax, but to try and find out who this person was would people said would be born as king!
Joseph and Mary (who was heavily pregnant at this time) went up to Bethlehem because that is where his family had to go to register. We all have heard of the trouble they had trying to find a place to stay, ending up in a stable, and how Mary gave birth to a boy. We have heard of the story of the shepherds coming to find the baby because they were told to by angels.
We hear stories about wise men coming from the East who wanted to find out what the stars were telling them; and their wonderful gifts for the baby Jesus. When the shepherds got there they found a baby, born in a stable and now lying in a manger. The most humble sight to see for someone the angels had said is the Messiah, the Lord!
Let us join these angels and praise God for allowing His Son to be born to a virgin just as He promised, and to know God ordained this a long time ago because of His great love for us all!
Points to Ponder:
Are you celebrating the right reason for the season today?
Happy Christmas and God bless you all!
Signing off for a few days of needed rest x
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December 24: Psalm 89:46-51
Key Verse: Psalm 89:46
How long, Lord? Will you hide yourself for ever? How long will your wrath burn like fire?
Devotion:
One thing we see time and time again is people, churches and societies complaining about God punishing them in one way or another. Many people complain when God does not do anything, or they complain God stopped doing things, or they complain God is punishing them… But what is actually happening?
I know whatever I say, people will object to the message and people will disagree one way or another. I can’t see how God can say on one hand He will look out for us and keep us safe and on the other hand will choose to punish us in any way! So that theory is out the window before we even start the discussion!
Who are the people who make it difficult for us to live? Who are the people who make living a hardship? Who are the people to kill others? When we are honest we will begin to see the truth and our complaints may then take on a new light. Is it not other people who cause so many of the things in our lives, maybe even governments and leaders… but not God. God promised He would allow us to choose our own paths; so how can He stop us from choosing?
If we choose to have people who are corrupt and lie as our leaders, should we not expect to have them corrupt our lives and lie to us too! None of us can live without death because we all face death in the end. None of us can expect everyone else to be good is we are not good. This is a problem of corrupt and evil people making our lives harder to live, not God making it hard!
Points to Ponder:
Do you live a blame free life?
Do you expect everyone to be truthful if you are not?
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December 23: Luke 1:57-66
Key Verse: Luke 1:64
Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.
Devotion:
Remember Elizabeth’s husband, the priest Zechariah, how he was no longer able to speak after the angel of the Lord came and told him about this son who was going to be born even though they were old! Well this was the moment after Zechariah wrote down on a tablet that his son was to be named John!
Just as the angel had said, Zechariah would not be able to speak until everything had come to pass; and that last step was him naming his son John! These are the promises of God – they do come true and they will astound us. This is the hope we have in God, these promises He has made will all come true some day.
We can look back and see how John was born to prepare the way for Jesus. How Jesus followed him about 6 months or so later. How they both learned so much about God. How John started preaching to make sure people were ready. How Jesus came to finish the task and free us from our sin debt… This means we can look forward to the other things God has said will come true!
What is the biggest thing which keeps those doubts running round your head? Will you speak with God through Christ to ask Him to give you faith to continue believing? Will you wait on the Holy Spirit for His guidance and strength so you can have that faith? Just as you may have taken the chance to believe in many things in your past, maybe you can make room for Christ to work in your heart and show you how real He is!
Points to Ponder:
Are you ready?
Will you allow Christ to work in your heart?
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December 22: 1 Samuel 1:24-28
Key Verse: 1 Samuel 1:27
I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him.
Devotion:
What has the birth of Samuel got to do with Christmas? Well, it’s not the birth but the actions of his mother we are looking at here. This is the same women who was crying in the temple begging God to give her a son and promising she would bring him to the temple to serve with the priests if God allowed her to become pregnant.
God answered Hannah’s prayers and she delivered on her promise to God. This is what we are looking at today. Elizabeth brought up her son to be the one who would prepare the way for Jesus. Mary brought up her son knowing he was the Messiah, and did her best to make sure he was ready for his ministry. Each of these woman had no issue with submitting to God!
I don’t know about you, but I have asked God to do things for me in the past and said I would do my best to remain loyal to Him. I know He has answered my prayers and I know I have done what I can to remain loyal; but I have fallen short because I was not strong enough at certain times. Samuel remained strong. John remained strong. Jesus was the episteme of strength!
We should be more than willing to stand firm and praise God all the time. We should be more than willing to stand by our bibles and continue to share the gospel. Jesus has done so much for us and because of that we should be more than willing to do more for Him. This Christmas why not try and do something to show people you love God & all of His people!
Points to Ponder:
Do you ask things of God?
Is He asking something of you?
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December 21: Luke 1:39-45
Key Verse: Luke 1:44
As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
Devotion:
As we draw closer to celebrating Christmas, how are you going to mark the memory of the time of our Saviour’s birth? I have done different things over the years from doing absolutely nothing to spending most of the day with other like-minded people enjoying worship and prayers and feasts… but none of this is any good unless we do know this is all about celebrating the birth of our Saviour!
When a pregnant Mary visited Elizabeth, the baby in Elizabeth’s womb kicked with excitement when she heard Mary’s greeting! I can remember watching my wife’s belly as the baby (my son) kicked when I talked to him; the joy that brings you is incredible. Elizabeth must have been very happy to hear the voice of Mary, but the baby was even more thrilled!
What am I getting at here – we really do need to remember Christmas is all about the birth of Christ as well as being with family. Some of us do not have family to go to, or we are separated from family by great distances, but we can still be with them in thought and love. We have the luxury of being able to call people far away using telephones with cameras! Back then you jumped on a mule (if you were lucky) and road for a full day to see someone!
But remember Christ in all of this and give Him thanks for starting this all off in the beginning. He knew we were going to mess things up so He came in person to make sure we could be forgiven by God the Father despite all we have done in our lives!
Points to Ponder:
How are you celebrating Christmas?
Will you stop and thank Christ for being here for you?
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December 20: Isaiah 7:10-14
Key Verse: Isaiah 7:13
Then Isaiah said, ‘Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also?
Devotion:
How full of faith do you think you are? How many times have you asked God to do something? How many times have you continued to ask God to do that same thing? How many times have you given up? How many times have you asked God to show you a sign to prove He is there?
If we are honest then I think we will find the answers to these question can be a little concerning when we look back on our prayer life. When the Lord spoke to Ahaz and told him to ask God for a sign he refused to do so because he did not want to put God to the test – he knew his faith had to be strong enough for him to trust God and not to tempt God into proving Himself!
Often we do ask people to prove themselves before we will trust them – unfortunately this comes from a long history of asking people to do things and them never getting round to doing anything! This is a human trait and not one which God subscribes to! When He says something we can take it as a promise and the truth, no matter what!
Many years before Jesus was born, the prophets foretold of His coming and how He would be born to a virgin and how He would overcome all sin debt on earth. These are now things we can look back on as happening a couple of thousand years ago… but we still have to have faith these facts are real and have faith to continue to rely on Christ because of all He has done for us – even though it is all historical...
Points to Ponder:
How do you describe your faith?
How often do you hide you faith?
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December 19: Luke 1:5-25
Key Verse: Luke 1:7
But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.
Devotion:
One of the things which encourages me most is reading about all the people in our bibles who never gave up hope; yes it is hard to keep on hoping when it seems like the world is falling apart and your life with it… But here, Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth still continued to show everyone that God was the centre of their lives even though they were old and had not had any children.
But far beyond the point where most of us would have given up and retired, the Lord sent an angel to come to Zechariah and tell him of some astonishing news: his prayers were going to be answered and they would finally have a son! The angel gave instructions to Zechariah and, like us, Zechariah had to ask…
So the angel Gabriel told him he would not be able to speak until the day Elizabeth gave birth and he was going to say the name of his son which the angel had told of! So, not only do we have a Zechariah who is utterly human and doubts, but we have an angel who gave specific instructions for him to follow from that moment onward!
God made sure everything went according to the way the angel spoke and both Zechariah and Elizabeth knew it came directly from God; they continued to wait patiently, now filled with even more hope that before!
Points to Ponder:
How soon do you give up waiting for God?
What do you do when God answers your prayers?