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March 14: Matthew 5:3-10
Key Verse: Matthew 5:5
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Devotion:
Over the years of reading these verses I think I have imagined myself to be in different places at different times in my life; but being meek is a little hard at times! We are not just called to be believers but to also reflect the different aspects of our awesome Saviour – and these verses do describe most aspects of Christ which we can hope to attain in our lives. We cannot be pure and holy as He is, but we can hope to be in a position where we can receive His blessings more often!
If we are willing to change our lives a bit each day and listen to what God would like in our lives, we will not just see ourselves drawing closer to Him but also see the blessings He sends our way. It may not seem like it at times when we fall into the category of the ‘persecuted’ people, but through everything in our lives we can always see the blessings. Yesterday in our staff meeting we had to write down a few reasons to be cheerful – and as the suggestions went round the room, it was clear we all had different things to be cheerful for! What an awesome God we serve!
When we fall short of the perfect life we probably wish we could have, God is standing by ready to give us the blessings we deserve. If we are going to do nothing but complain about our circumstances, then our blessings are going to fall very short of the ones we want in our lives. But when we lower our focus and accept our circumstances, we can then see more of the blessings we do receive and be more cheerful we do have something!
God does not want us to be inward focused but to be outward looking. If we are too inward focused, we will not see the world God has given for us and certainly not notice the blessings which come our way. It is not always about looking for the blessing you can get out of life or from God but also the blessing you can be to others around you. When we someone who is in need, we should be trying to fulfil their need in some way – this is what Jesus would do!
Points to Ponder:
Do you look out for your own blessings?
Do you help to bless others around you?
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March 13: Micah 6:6-8
Key Verse: Micah 6:8
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Devotion:
I don’t know if I would have been able to cope with the sacrifices and ways people were called to live by thousands of years ago – but God wanted people to stop and think about what they were doing and what the implications of their actions could be. If we were faced with death because of the small things we do wrong, then we may well stop doing those little things wrong and fall in line with the law!
But was it the sacrifices and burnt offerings God wanted – I fear not. I believe He was trying to make a point for us to see what we are doing wrong and the only way He could do that was to be quite extreme with His dealings with mankind! We face the same sort of things in our lives – when we fall out of line and start getting carried away with ourselves, the people around us may well take a drastic step to try and make us realise what we are doing wrong. Sometimes it takes that big step for us to wake up!
I wonder what it would have smelt like when a king like David was making a very large sacrifice of hundreds of animals to dedicate things to God. When I was in high school I was able to visit a slaughter house where animals were being killed for food and the smell of that took a few days to wear off – I kept thinking I smelt the blood and the burning of various things… When the kings of old performed large sacrifices, they would have been in the open and the smell would have permeated everything!
This is not what God requires. He does not require us to do all the sacrificing and carry on trying to show we are sorry through horrible acts like that. He wants to see the change in our hearts where we want to be good and we want to act justly, the love mercy (both to us and to others) and to walk humbly with Him. That means just getting on and doing the stuff He wants you to do and not shouting and boasting about it – a fine line we often step over in our lives nowadays.
Points to Ponder:
Do you act justly?
Will you live with mercy?
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March 12: Luke 8:11-15
Key Verse: Luke 8:13
Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.
Devotion:
Do you know someone who used to come to church but has either been struggling with things or just seems to have lost interest? I think we can all think of someone who falls into one of those categories – and, if you are like me, you long for them to be released from the thing which is trapping them so they can get back to a loving relationship with Christ!
That is where we come in… How consistent are you with your Christian life? I’m not talking about the religious content, the fact you always go to church or the way people know you as the local God person! I’m talking about your own relationship with Christ! How much do you live your relationship with Christ rather than just talking about it? It may seem like hard work to keep being a Christian in a community which does not follow God or in a friendship where others just don’t want to know – but we do need to keep going and keep that relationship alive and in good health.
In this instance we should look at our relationship as being the job of the farmer. No matter what the weather and the forecast, we need to do our best to keep our crops going, not just for ourselves, but all the people around us too. We need to keep sowing our seeds over all the land around us… yes, some of it may well fall on the path and get trodden on and not germinate at all, but what about the others? For those which fall amongst the rocks, the seeds may well germinate and grow for a season and then die off. If we give up sowing our seeds, those little gems will stop being given a tiny chance as well.
It may well be one of those seeds which is able to survive a short season now which will then be remembered and germinate into a full plant which will in itself bare much fruit. We are not given the task of deciding who or who should not be given the gospel – our task is to give the gospel out and allow God to work in their hearts. Stop trying to make sense of the world and the people around you and give them all the same chance at getting to know Christ!
Points to Ponder:
Do you pick and choose who you talk to about God?
Will you step forward and sow your seeds liberally?
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March 11: John 3:19-21
Key Verse: John 3:21
But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
Devotion:
Back to these verses with a slightly different look on things based on a question I am asking: “What makes you do the things you do?”
I know that is a deep question, but I’m looking for the obvious answer and not some long philosophical discussion about how we do things based on the society we are in and our minds at the time we are faced with decisions! We do the things we do because, deep down, we believe in our hearts we can do those things – whether we are doing them for the right or wrong reason is then the next question to face…
If we do not have that belief in our hearts we can do the things we are about to embark on, we will be faced with indecision and delays all along the way because we have those doubts which make us falter in our decision making process. This is normal human behaviour – so lets extend this to your faith beliefs… If we do not have faith in the things we believe, then we are going to falter all through our spiritual lives. If we do not trust in that faith, we are faced with indecision every day which will weaken our resolve every day!
I know so many people who do struggle with their faith because they have a little doubt over some of the things they have heard , been taught or believe themselves. If we are not willing to follow up on those doubts and read the bible for ourselves to seek out the truth, then we are either jumping on the bandwagon of someone else's beliefs, or we are putting aside a decision which could well consolidate our faith!
Jesus wants us to have this firm relationship with Him – a relationship which is based on faith, the belief He came forward willingly to show His love for us through an extraordinary chain of events. He wants us to read our bibles and learn what has happened, what is happening and what will happen. He wants us to feel secure in our faith; a faith based on truths which have happened, but also a belief on what will happen because God has promised us it will!
Points to Ponder:
What makes you do what you do?
Have you backed up your faith in God’s Word?
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March 9: Romans 10:6-13
Key Verse: Romans 10:10
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
Devotion:
How often do you get frustrated with trying to get people to believe in God and to trust Christ as their Saviour? We may not have the task of looking after a whole congregation, but God still wants us to be able to share the gospel with the people He has given us in our lives – how we go about that may well do the exact opposite of what we are trying to do!
Paul was stuck between the rock (which was the Roman way) and a hard place (which was the Jewish way) and must have found it most frustrating trying to tell them the gospel, that is, both sides! That is why I find these words so fascinating and to me gives me hope that the Holy Spirit can give me the words to tell my friends and families which will make the biggest difference in their lives. If you are like me, you may well struggle with that sometimes…
The Romans wanted a clear set of rules which would show them who is going to Heaven and who is going to hell – their way of life was based around rules and everyone was expected to stick to those rules. The Jews were entrenched in their rules from the Torah which gave them an impossible task to live up to and one which they would have to continue sacrificing in order to hope that God would forgive them!
What Christ did was to bridge that gap by giving up His own sinless life in our stead. He was the ultimate sacrifice and covered all of our sins in a single act on our behalf. We don’t have to have Him go through all of that again, just in case! We don’t have to argue about who is getting to Heaven and who has failed to follow the right rules. It is a personal thing between each one of us and God where we step forward and ask Him, personally, for forgiveness for the things we have done wrong… Our belief (our trust or the faith we have) gives us the answer based on His promise to us all. We believe in our hearts and profess with our mouths. We have one God who has done this for us all!
Points to Ponder:
Do you find it hard to not judge people?
Will you give someone the gospel and allow them to come to Christ by themselves?
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March 8: Psalms 45:6-7
Key Verse: Psalms 45:7
You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.
Devotion:
When Jesus came to earth to be our King of Kings, He did not come to be a temporary king who would be forgotten once his life was over. Jesus came to be King over us all forever and accomplished this through what He did for us on that cross in the name of God, His Father in Heaven. There is no end to Heaven and there is no time limit on it; this comes down to Jesus being our King without end and without limit.
What is meant by the sceptre of the kingdom could be debated – but lets imagine a king or queen on a throne. They have some sort of sceptre which is a symbol of the power they have and is therefore of great importance. What could be of more importance to us than the Gospel, or have more power than the gospel? Jesus wanted to make sure people knew just how important the gospel is and how powerful it can be when it is used to introduce others to the kingdom of God.
We know God loves righteousness and hates wickedness of any kind; the love for us goes beyond our understanding of righteousness and wickedness because of the mercy He shows to us and the grace we are given to be able to live in this world. He has anointed each of us with this love so we can share that love with those around us. But imagine the amount of love God the Father shared with Jesus so He could accept the way we are and help us toward a loving and lasting relationship with Him.
God set Jesus above everyone and everything to show us what can be achieved when we place our faith firmly and totally in His hands. We still struggle with this and we struggle to keep our heads when everything seems to be in chaos; we see so many things we cannot cope with or cannot hope for. In doing so we sink into a pit of despair and that traps us into worrying more about the things we have no control over. What we should be doing is lifting up our situations to God before we fall into that pit so He can show us how to avoid it in the beginning.
Points to Ponder:
How much do you actually trust God?
Are you willing to entrust more to God today?
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March 8: Acts 2:36-39
Key Verse: Acts 2:38
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Devotion:
How many times have you got yourself into trouble? How many of those times was the punishment for you actions harsh in your eyes? … and yet you still did it … We have laws and rules about how we should behave and when we break those rules and laws, we have to face the punishment which has been described for breaking them.
We have a problem in how we live and how we behave; it is not according to God’s ways and His wishes. He has also given us rules about how we should live our lives and has laid down the punishment we should face if we choose to break those rules! Just the same as we have our rules and regulations in our earthly lives, we have rules and regulation about our lives with God. The problem being we don’t really have a hope of not breaking God’s rules and regulations; not because they are too strict but because we have a nature which is against those rules and regulations!
Now imagine being a person who has to face a judge who declares how you have been an accomplice to a murder and we have to face the punishment for that murder. We may not have been the ones who killed the person in question, we may have just stood by while it happened because we were too scared to do anything else – but the fact remains, we are still accomplices!
The Jews were faced with this decision with Peter telling them how they were accomplices to the murder of Jesus and now they were being faced with the punishment which was written down for that. The punishment was death! When they realised what they had done, they thought there was no way out and wanted to know what they could do to try and get out of paying the due punishment. Peter’s answer may well have surprised them – all they would have to do was to admit to what they had done, say they were sorry and show others how sorry they were by being baptised. The same is open for us as well – we just have to say we are sorry and mean it. We don’t have to be baptised, but it can be seen as a public acknowledgement of our admission of guilt.
Points to Ponder:
Do you know what punishment you face?
Are you willing to go public and say sorry to God?
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March 7: Zechariah 9:9-11
Key Verse: Zechariah 9:9
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Devotion:
It really is amazing to look back at the things which were written down for/by the prophets hundreds of years before Jesus came to live amongst us; each one of them ringing true and surprisingly detailed in cases! This is because these prophets really did listen to God and tried to make sure what they heard was given out to the people as accurately as they could remember. We all do have our limits on what we can remember and this is why some of the stories in the bible seem to be different…
First and foremost Jesus came to be King! This was going to upset all the kings and people in authority because a mere man was going to come forward as the new King without all the celebrations and things society was used to. He was going to ride into Jerusalem on a donkey instead of a white stallion as royalty was used to. But what was setting Him apart from the rest of the kings was the fact He was going to be righteous and nothing was going to stop Him!
He was not going to come in with a great army to overthrow the local forces because He is coming in as a Priest who is going to speak the truth and remind people about God. He was going to give hope to those who had no hope at the time; the poor underclass who had no say in what happened in society. They were the ones who would get the greatest gift of all, and the ones for whom Jesus was going to pay the price with His own blood!
This all happened and yet people still do not want to believe this could be true. They do not want to believe God could come down to our level, offer Himself up as a servant for all, and ensure He was our Saviour and our King! They probably wanted a grander instance, one where a great army of angels came in to beat up the rulers, one where a new king would arrive in a huge golden carriage pulled by white horses and riches beyond measure on display. God chose a human form to show us how much is possible through Him!
Points to Ponder:
Do you wonder why God chooses the little things in life to make a difference?
Are you watching for the small changes God makes in your life?
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March 6: Acts 3:11-16
Key Verse: Acts 3:14
You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.
Devotion:
People often ask what the difference is between being religious, going to church and this relationship we say we have with Christ. This was prophesied before Jesus came to live amongst man as a human, was lived out when He did come and continues to be a reminder of how mankind turned their back on Him despite seeing what happened in front of their eyes! Jesus wanted people to focus more on having a healthy relationship with God through Him rather than continuing to focus on the religious acts they were used to doing.
Once again the disciples honed in on the fact the people of Israel were more concerned with following the Torah than following the will of God. They had focused too much on doing the acts rather than maintaining their relationship with God. Once Jesus paid the ultimate price on the cross, all the sacrificing and acts of man became useless in comparison to what Christ did! Why then did they continue to focus on their acts? The answer is surprisingly simple in my view – we like to keep things the same and not introduce too much change into our lives… and something like this is a big change for us to cater with!
Imagine being reminded about how you, as a society or personally, contributed to the horrible death faced by Jesus on the cross! Imagine being blamed for someone else’s death in such a terrible way! That is exactly what Peter and John were reminding the people about – how their acts had contributed to the death of an innocent man on the cross!
But the amazing thing they closed off this bit of the passage with was the fact Jesus is willing to give us eternal life after forgiving us – even though we contributed to that death on the cross! It is because of His faith this is possible. It is through your faith you can depend on this being so. It is no longer a requirement to do all the religious acts people have done in the past because Jesus paid for everything with His death on the cross. Have faith He will deliver you from the punishment you deserve...
Points to Ponder:
Do you go to church to prove something?
Or do you go to church to expand your relationship with God?
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March 5: Mark 14:1-9
Key Verse: Mark 14:5
It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.
Devotion:
Can you name a big step you have made in your life for Christ? Can you pinpoint a single act which others have questioned? I can name a few cases where people around me have questioned what I am doing because they have looked at the worldly cost of my act rather than what it is doing for God – and some of those were Christians! We all look at the acts we do as very different from each other. Each year there is now a campaign run during lent called 40Acts where people are challenged to do an act of generosity each day for 40 days.
Jesus supported anyone who was willing to carry out an act of generosity in God’s name; anyone who was willing to promote God through an act which may well seem counter intuitive by the rest of the world! In this case when a woman came forward with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume and committed to use the jar on Jesus despite the physical cost of the perfume. Jesus supported her and her act. He did not focus on the worldly cost of the perfume but on the heart-felt meaning of the act.
We need to follow Jesus’ example and look for the spiritual and heart-felt meanings behind what people do rather than focusing on the worldly view of said tasks. Too often we do look at the physical cost rather than what it means to God and to giving God the glory. Jesus knew what lay ahead of Him and He was willing to accept this act as a very special act toward Him.
If we are able to put aside our earthly views and focus on what things mean to God, we will not only go further with what we do but we will promoted the gospel more than we can imagine. Our selfless acts are seen by worldly people as acts which go above and beyond what is reasonable or common sense. These acts will stick in their minds and allow God to break through to their hearts when the time is right!
Points to Ponder:
Do you put a cost on everything you do?
How much are you willing to do for God?