- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 1145
June 12: Mark 3:20-29
Key Verse: Mark 3:23
So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan?
Devotion:
Sometimes I despair at the way people go about trying to make change in society. Sometimes people can be seen as going too far. But, sometimes, when we stop and actually think about the oppression which has gone on for too long, we can forgive people for what they are doing right now. But, the question I want to look at today is along the lines of “How can Satan drive out Satan?”
When Jesus was doing something different, many leaders were upset because He was not following their rules, not because He was doing things which were not good, but because He refused to continue following the unjust rules set up in society. What was the reaction from some – to say that He had lost His mind! His own family were trying to diffuse the situation by saying Jesus had lost the plot somewhere along the line!
But it was the leaders who were inciting more unrest by saying things which could not be true just so they could take Jesus away; they could if He would be seen as breaking the law. The leaders had built up their own rules to uphold their own societies and nobody was allowed to say otherwise. But when Jesus came along and started to tell people the truth about what was going on, the leaders objected because it would show them up in the light of truth.
But one thing which could never be true was that Jesus was using the ways of the devil, and yet, the leaders wanted others to believe that. If we want to see the kingdom of Christ be enlarged, then the only things we can use are Jesus’ ways and not any unjust ways. Injustice cannot drive out the unjust and injustice cannot uphold the law; the truth has to be seen and the truth has to come out so people can forgive and move on.
Points to Ponder:
Do you get worked up about the way some people uphold lies?
Are you willing to stand up and uphold the truth as Jesus did?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 1069
June 11: Mark 2:13-17
Key Verse: Mark 2:17
On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Devotion:
When Jesus went round trying to open people’s eyes and hearts to the gospel message, He did not just go to people who went to the temple regularly or just to people who professed to follow God, He went to people who He knew needed to hear the gospel – especially if it was going to be for the first time! This meant He would meet with people who had little or nothing in common with what would normally be seen as His normal circle of followers!
Jesus reached out the the people He knew needed God most of all in their lives – these were typically the people who had turned their backs on Godly ways and embraced the corrupt and deceitful ways of the world. The backlash from this came from the people we would probably look at as being the ones we should trust from the church; although this was what we now know as the religious leaders and not what we now call church leaders.
I can imagine the tax collectors all flocking to this dinner at Levi’s house because they wanted to be seen as the main people in society. I really don’t think they went there to listen to Jesus or to learn about following Christ; but I may stand corrected if I meet them face to face in Heaven! Christ often calls us to places where we will have to be part of the local community where He has not been invited in before. How else can He be accepted in unless He is invited in?
We are the people on the front line who God is asking to open the ears of eyes of the blind and open the ears of the deaf. I’m not talking physically but metaphorically. Jesus wants them to open their hearts just a little so He can work in their lives. But as long as they remain firmly closed and behind locked door of greed and corruption, He cannot hope to come in. The last thing these people need is someone coming in a switching on the light full blast to bring shame to them. Jesus wants us to come in with open eyes, ears and hearts; to become part of the community so they can see there is hope if they are willing to look for it. That hope is Christ Jesus!
Points to Ponder:
Do you only stick with your own friends?
Are you willing to step out into a new community for God?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 1205
June 10: Matthew 4:18-22
Key Verse: Matthew 4:19
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
Devotion:
What is your first reaction when someone asks you to join them for an event? I suppose the answers would range from “depends who asks” to “depends what for” or even “depends what mood I’m in.” We would all react differently to being asked to do something. But what if it was someone of great importance who did the asking? What if it was your best friend who asked? When it is someone whom you trust and rely on, you are more likely to take notice. When it is something you want to do, even more so.
But what happens when someone asks you to do something because they believe God wants you to do it? What is your reaction to it then? I must admit to being sceptical about some of the things I have been asked to do in God’s name, but ask time has gone on I have also began to realise God uses people to talk to you – He doesn’t always rely on you listening and obeying like these disciples did…
The world seems to be rather a chaotic environment for all of us, especially over the first half of this year; and when the world is noisy and chaotic, we don’t tend to hear God when He is trying to speak to us. Many people have commented on being able to hear the birds chirping away during this time of lock-down, even in the cities. It’s not because they are shouting out louder than usual but because there is much less background noise for us to be distracted by.
This is why God uses other people to talk to us. This is why we are placed in the right place at the right time to hear a message from God – just because we cannot hear it through the hustle and bustle of our normal lives! These disciples were ready to go with Jesus. They were expectant. They wanted to go. They left their livelihoods and followed Jesus. To do what God wants in our lives we need to be more like these disciples and less like the rest of the world around us.
Points to Ponder:
Are you ready, willing and able?
Are you expectant and listening?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 1154
June 9: Isaiah 11:6-9
Key Verse: Isaiah 11:6
The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.
Devotion:
This morning as I lay in bed for a while trying to get my eyes to focus and my brain to get into gear, I stumbled through my early morning social media catch-up and happened upon a video rant from a young black woman highlighting just a few of the wrongs of this world against black people in America. By the end of the clip I was in tears, literally! My mind is still reeling from the truths she said and the burden the rest of the world has placed upon their shoulders. It reminded me of my time spent in Africa and the social injustice I lived with and was glad to turn my back on.
This picture painted here of a place where we shall all be able to live in harmony seems but a distant dream we can all think of but one which we cannot really imagine because of the world we have been brought up in. And then just as I was about to get out of bed for my shower I happened on a video of a young child playing with the most enormous snake I have ever seen – playing as if it was normal to do so!
Nothing is impossible. Nothing is too far out of our reach. But we have to be the ones who make the change here and now so others after us will begin to see this new way of living as normal!
I would like each of you to sit down and pray for 5 minutes about this social injustice we are living in and being a part of. I know 5 minutes is a very long time to pray for some of us, but what is 5 minutes compared to the life you have lived so far? What is five minutes of prayer which may just change your world? Are you willing to give just an inch and make it stick? Too many times in the past we have seen promises made which are broken because the unrest has died down or because the news people have found something else to latch on to. 5 minutes...
Points to Ponder:
What social injustice do you see in your community?
Are you really looking at your community or just your life in it?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 1160
June 8: Isaiah 11:1-5
Key Verse: Isaiah 11:3
and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;
Devotion:
Far too often we use what we see or what we hear against other people just because we have made a judgment based on those things. Unfortunately what we see and what we hear are not always the truth because we see and hear from other people who may well be showing us or telling us a lie. But Jesus came to this earth as a human and was able to step aside from the judgmental attitude of human beings and uphold God’s righteousness!
How was He able to do this when we fall so far short of the mark? How was Jesus, born as a human, able to step out of the judgmental life we all lead? He did so by always focusing on what God wanted and always listening to God before others!
If we are able to just sit still and listen out for God’s instruction and His teaching for one minute each day, I’m sure we will start to walk forward in God’s light and not in the darkness of this world! We need to switch on the light that is Christ in our lives and allow Him to convert us. We need to listen out for the Holy Spirit and allow Him to teach us and to guide us in everything. We need to focus on God almighty and make sure we have a life with Him set as our goal in this life!
We have so many people around us who are in desperate need. We have so many people who we don’t hear about in the news who are simply trying to stay alive in this so-called caring world we live in. The problem is too many people are focusing on the false media drowning our societies instead of upholding what is righteous in God’s eyes. If God wanted to, He could wipe us out in one breath, but He chooses to love us and to try and encourage us to live in His righteous ways instead of being consumed by the worldly ways. Do what is right!
Points to Ponder:
How often do we turn a blind eye to something just because it is hard?
Will you say ‘Here I am, use me’ to God today?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 1071
June 7: John 7:45-52
Key Verse: John 7:51
“Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?”
Devotion:
To me this just sounds like a set from a movie depicting a country which has lost it’s way and the leadership has become an unspoken about tyranny! But that is what Jesus was fighting again – people who had risen into power and were now taking on more power than God was giving them; people who had lost their way and greed had taken over without some of them realising just how far they had gone! Isn’t that always the case though – we allow the power to go to our heads and we just don’t see what damage we are doing until it has gone too far!
Jesus wants each of us to step back from time to time and double check what we are doing is what God has asked of us. We all get carried away with our jobs and lose focus on the goal; we need that gentle reminder time and time again to keep us on track. This is our Bible. We have all the important stuff written down to allow us to stop and compare what we are doing with God’s ways – but how often do we actually stop?
The Jewish Leaders were so convinced Jesus could not be their Messiah simply because He came from Galilee! They had not bothered to find out the truth behind the story and spread that truth! Oooo, that sounds a bit like the world’s media at the moment where people shout out about the things they want to hear and not the truth behind the scenes.
Jesus was crucified and died because of the lack of due diligence of the Jewish Leaders at that time. I see this sort of thing happening in so many places in churches, charities and other organisation where people would rather stick to what they want to her rather than digging a bit deeper and finding out the actual truth...
Points to Ponder:
Do you ever stop and think?
Are you going to try stopping and thinking for today?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 1110
June 6: John 7:21-24
Key Verse: John 7:24
Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.
Devotion:
Don’t you just love and hate the press for all they do!?!? It is good to be able to hear about what is going on, but it is also disastrous when lies are spread instead of the truth! Each one of us has a responsibility to give out the truth – but it is so easy to latch onto something you hear and spread that instead.
There is nothing new about this because it has been going on for years where people talk of the things they want to be true instead of what is actually true. Unfortunately we have people now who’s job it is to spread the news and when they spread things which are not true, the whole society has to suffer. Jesus came to try and open people’s eyes to the depths they had sunk to in the spreading of things which did not line up with God’s wishes.
We like to think we are allowed to say things because that is what the law says, but if they do not line up with God’s law, then are we actually upholding any laws or are we introducing lies into our society – those lies which make the whole community suffer? God had said the Jews should be circumcised, not as something which was required for them to enter Heaven but as a mark of their complete obedience to God. When they turned round and tried to blame Jesus for doing something physical on the Sabbath when they would circumcise their children on the Sabbath, Jesus pulled them up on their actions.
As Children of God, we need to stop the spread of white lies, occasional truths and half-baked ‘christians!’ We need to show others we are committed to doing what God has asked of us and to do it according to His wishes and not according to our wants! We need to stop blaming people just because it looks wrong and find out the truth behind what is happening before we open our mouths. Unfortunately our world has grown up into being a blame place instead of a God Glorifying place.
Points to Ponder:
How often do you blame people just because you don’t agree with things?
How often do you pull yourself up for bending the rules?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 1164
June 5: John 4:21-26
Key Verse: John 4:24
God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.
Devotion:
Can you imagine the sort of conversations Jesus had whilst He was here on earth, something like this one with a woman who knew the law but did not quite get how the Messiah would come to the people. She was a Samaritan and had her own way of worshipping what she thought was God, but she could not quite connect with God in the way we love and know. Why? Probably because nobody had explained it to her, but she knew the Messiah would be able to explain everything!
Can you imagine what went through her mind when she realised she was talking to the Messiah! Here she was seeking God and not knowing where to look, but she did know someone would be able to explain it to her. That is our task as Children of God. We need to be able to explain God to people in such a way as to invite them in to seek God more in their own lives.
Our task is not to try and convert people but to invite them into a meeting with God where He can change their hearts and allow them to enter into their own relationship with Him. Forcing someone to do something is one way of making them rebel against the very thing you are trying to convince them of. Some will give in a go with the flow, but many will have questions in their heart for which they need answers.
We need to open the Word of God to these people and allow them to see the truth for themselves so God can work in their lives. This is how we worship our God; not just be singing our hearts out to Him, but by doing what He asks of us to bring them in. When we want to worship God fully, we need to be willing to listen to Him and do His bidding in our lives.
Points to Ponder:
Do you find it hard to share the Gospel?
Have you tried just showing people how much you love God?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 1215
June 4: John 20:30-31
Key Verse: John 20:31
But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Devotion:
What is the right level of getting out there and letting others know about Christ? How far do you go before you lose people in the abundance of words… Let’s face it, there is so much to tell people about Jesus and so much we still have to learn. There just does not seem to be enough time to sit down and talk about it! If we were to sit down and tell people everything we know about Jesus, it may well take us the rest of our lifetime to say the words out loud...
So how much is too little and how much is too much? The disciples wrote down things which they thought were important for us to hear about. They did not have time to write everything down so they had to get others to write it down while they talked or told others who then wrote it down… But they did this because they knew it as the truth and they knew it would count for something. They also spoke out loud to many people around the area, trying to get more people involved so more could learn the truth.
Let’s look at it another way… the disciples still had to face the Jewish authorities who insisted Jesus was not the Messiah and would do anything to stop people from spreading this gospel message. They could not simply walk down the street and preach to everyone at any time, just as we are not allowed to do that either because there are rules about not interfering with other people’s lives… even though we know it as the truth!
It is a fine balance each of us has to find in order to keep people informed without prejudicing our case and without upsetting people who just don’t want to know. To them we have to show them what we are and what we stand for; words will not suffice and words may even land us in trouble. We are the disciples of this world now. We need to allow other people to know the truth, but we have to do it without using worldly ways otherwise we will just be seen as being worldly!
Points to Ponder:
What do you do to allow other to see you are Christian?
Will you allow the Holy Spirit to guide you next?
- Details
- Written by: DJ Dave
- Hits: 1151
June 3: John 20:19-23
Key Verse: John 20:21
Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
Devotion:
I love the simplicity in which the author relates this story of Jesus visiting them after His death and resurrection. First he makes sure you understand there is no way Jesus could have broken into the place – they were on lock-down and secured in a way which prevented the Jewish leaders from even coming into the building. Yet, Jesus was able to just be there, without setting off any alarms or anyone witnessing Him coming in.
And what was Jesus reaction to seeing them? To give them the peace only He can give. To calm the storm and allow them to walk on water again. He stood there and wished the Holy Spirit into each one of their lives in such a way they would be able to go out and help people in the same way Jesus was, even to the forgiving of sins! But it is not the disciples who were given the authority to forgive sins, just the act of them saying people’s sins would be forgiven which would make it so!
Christ made this possible for all of us through us accepting the Holy Spirit into our lives. We do not have the authority to forgive sins, but we do have the authority to tell people their sins will be forgiven by God because of what Jesus has already done! Jesus shared His love again and again, even after His death and resurrection, Jesus was able to share His love and mercy.
Now He has given us all the authority to take these words He has given us and spread them around the whole world just as a virus spreads – but this is the virus of truth, the gospel truth. With the Holy Spirit within us, we are able to give out this truth in the knowledge it is not just the truth, but the way in which we can join Jesus in Heaven when that day comes! Jesus asks us to move forward with Him and forgive people, telling them they are forgiven and moving on with the Holy Spirit.
Points to Ponder:
Do you wonder how you can forgive some people?
Have you asked the Holy Spirit your direction through which you can do this today?