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April 30: John 10:1-10
Key Verse: John 10:5
But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognise a stranger’s voice.
Devotion:
One of the difficult questions in life we always have to face is “are they telling me the truth?” Sometimes it is all too easy to go along with what others are saying because it is easier to do that rather than to find out what should be happening; and when we find we have gone far down that road, it is very difficult to leave that path and go back to the truth. This happens in all walks of life and is certainly not limited to people who are following – sometimes it is the leaders who get it wrong!
Jesus was talking to the Pharisees here because He knew where they were headed if they continued on with the ways they were living. He did not want them to be left out of the kingdom of heaven just because they got something wrong a long time ago. When Jesus went to the cross it was not just for the things people were doing wrong there and then, it was for all mankind's sins!
It does take time to get back to the truth when you wander away from it, and it is not always a clear path. But the one thing we do have now is our bibles to guide and direct us. Imagine wandering off into a jungle and getting lost. It is going to be very hard to see where you are going and find out which direction you are going because there is so much undergrowth around you. But if you had a still small voice inside (like a compass) telling you which direction to go it would be a lot easier – even when you do not know exactly where you are!
Our bibles may seem a bit like a compass with no indications as to which way is north and which is south, but it does not take too long to figure out the truth from them when we start reading. It is not because we have to blindly follow it, but because it will open up more truths for us to follow...
Points to Ponder:
Do you feel lost at times?
Will you listen to God’s voice through your bible?
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April 29: John 6:60-69
Key Verse: John 6:66
From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
Devotion:
Not all things God asks of you are going to be easy or plain sailing; I would say most things are not going to be! There were a lot of people who were following Jesus around because of the things He was doing, the love He was showing and the general feeling of things being great when He was involved. But as soon as those happy feeling were put to the test, many people gave up and went on their own way again.
Jesus does not call us to do something and then go back to our old ways of life, He calls us to change our ways so others will be encouraged to do the same. When He started to tell the people He was the Son of God, many people were put off by this because of the teachings of the Sanhedrin and other governing bodies. I hesitate to use the word church because I like to think of church as being followers of Jesus.
The Holy Spirit will encourage you in many ways of your are willing to listen. What you hear may well challenge your ways or what you are used to. But if we can go back to our scriptures and see how the Spirit is guiding us toward Godly things, then we can be sure this is the Holy Spirit and not any other random spirit trying to get in on the action.
God will try to get our attention in many ways and if we are willing to listen and obey, we will be able to do many things for and with Him. But if we continue to shut ourselves off from the voice of the Spirit just because we think things should be done another way, then we may well miss out on the most important parts God has to say to us. God will always work through the Spirit, through Jesus and directly; they will always agree with what is to be done – God will not fight Himself...
Points to Ponder:
Have you got very strict rules in your life?
Are you willing to hear the Spirit?
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April 28: Acts 9:10-20
Key Verse: Acts 9:20
At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.
Devotion:
Sometimes God chooses the most unimaginable people to do His work; and He chooses them for good reason. We may look at some people and judge them because of the people we see them to be but God is able to see what each of us is capable of doing and how it would turn out. That is what He looks at when He chooses someone, unlike us!
God had to wait for the right moment to come to Saul because he was so worked up with a rage against the church. Saul was going out of his way to get to Christians and to disrupt their work at every opportunity. So when he asked for letter to go to Damascus he had to make a journey which is where God chose to meet him. Not in a public place with everyone watching but when he would be alone with no rabble to support his actions.
God chose to confront him and then to send a man of God to meet with him and explain the truth. Up to this point nobody had been able to get Saul to listen to the truth because of his anger against the apostles and what they were doing. H e actually thought he was doing the right thing up until that point.
We need to take time to compare the things we do with what God asks us to do. We can find out what sort of people God used to spread the gospel and how they did it. Is what we are doing falling in line with that work? Sometimes we get too carried away with doing what people want instead of actually listening to God. We do what we think the institution needs instead of what God actually wishes.
Points to Ponder:
Do you count yourself a good person?
How well do you listen to God’s will in your life?
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April 27: Acts 8:32-35
Key Verse: Acts 8:35
Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
Devotion:
When Philip was led by the Spirit to talk to the Ethiopian eunuch, it was not a chance meeting but a meeting set up by God. The eunuch may have been going about his duties in his normal way, but something different was happening. He was searching for meaning in something he had heard and witnessed – he was searching for God and God knew if he continued to search but stuck to his normal way of life, he would not get to hear the gospel!
The Holy Spirit led Philip to the right time and place to meet up with the eunuch at the time he was trying to make sense of a part of the scripture he was trying to read. Now the scripture was not available to everyone as it is today – it was not the top selling book of all time! God had already made a copy of that part of the scripture available to him and now he was sending someone who understood that scripture to him to explain it!
God is not limited by our normal ways of life, instead He is willing and able to make sure we can get to the thing in life which will allow us to make sense of the scriptures so we can have a closer relationship with Him. Even nowadays He continues to send the right people at the right time to meet up with people who are searching for the truth.
Sometimes people don’t know what they are searching for and they don’t even know where to go to ask the right questions. This is where God comes in because He has a whole army of people whom He can call on – and He does! If we are willing to listen to His prompting and obey His requests, we too can be used for a special moment in someone else’s life!
Points to Ponder:
Do you like helping others?
Are you willing to trust a prompt from God?
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April 26: Acts 8:1-8
Key Verse: Acts 8:6
When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said.
Devotion:
It is hard to stop a crowd of people who have been worked up to do something; whether they are right or wrong, it is hard to stop them once they get going. The people of the Sanhedrin were doing their uttermost to stop the apostles from preaching about Jesus because it was seemingly undermining their power and control of the people. What they could not control, in the end, was the spreading of the truth!
A young man got involved with this and turned vigilante to work with the Sanhedrin to try and quash the work the apostles were doing. The followers of Jesus began to spread far and wide to avoid being caught up in the things which were happening so they could continue to tell people the truth and show them God was more powerful than the people in the Sanhedrin. No longer were the Sanhedrin acting in God’s interest!
Philip went to Samaria where he was able to tell people the gospel story and through prayer, faith and trust in God, he was able to do many things which caught people’s eyes. His prayers were being answered by God because of his faith in Christ. Through him God was able to do many things. He became a light in these dark times, a light which people could look to and be encouraged by. A light which was opening up the truth!
Jesus taught the disciples to go out and make disciples by showing them what God can do when people believe and trust in Him. It is hard to do this when you are being shouted down and persecuted – sometimes it is best to walk away from the persecution and try some place else. To find out where God wants us to be we need to be willing to make changes according to His will in our lives.
Points to Ponder:
Are you stuck trying to do what you think is right?
Are you listening to what God is telling you?
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April 25: Proverbs 15:28-30
Key Verse: Proverbs 15:29
The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
Devotion:
If only there was a book or other reference we could turn to which would bring joy and peace to us every day… if you haven’t realised that reference is the bible then you need to have a proper sit down and think about what you are reading! These few verses from the book of proverbs remind us of the relationship we have with God.
We do not have a long-distance relationship where we get to see Him on very rare occasions, nor one where we are not on each others minds all the time; and it’s catching! When we are in a close relationship with Christ we tend to think about our actions and how we live because we know He is with us. Other people see this because we are different to how they may expect us to be if they are not in this same relationship too.
It is not that God does not want to be with the wicked people, rather the wicked people tend to stay away from God. He is waiting patiently for all people because Jesus died on that cross for all people. The more we realise how close He is, the more we tend to talk to Him and commune with Him through our daily living. This will not go unnoticed by others!
The more we act like Christ is with us the more other people notice and the more likely they are going to want to know why we live like we do. This supposes we are living a different life to the rest of the world! If we are living the same way as the rest of the world, then how are people every going to be introduced to the one who changed our lives!
Points to Ponder:
Do you live a different life to others?
Will you commune closer with God today?
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April 24: Psalm 126:1-6
Key Verse: Psalm 126:1
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed.
Devotion:
Can you remember your dreams when you wake up? I can remember some but not others and its a varied mixture of good and bad dreams; but the dreams being talking about here are not dreams we have when we sleep, but the dreams and aspirations of people. When we think about the lives we could have if everything went right, those are our dreams and aspirations...
God looked after the people of Israel in many ways and restored them to the position of their dreams. They became a happy and content people who were living in a land of plenty just as God had promised. But it was not always so because they gave in to the temptations and walked away from living with God: How could He keep looking after them if they would not listen to them!
The same can be said about our modern lifestyles – as long as we are willing to listen to God and to obey Him, He can continue to give us all our needs and even spoil us with plenty things just like a parent would. But when we walk away from living wit God, then we make it more and more difficult for Him to help us. Yes, anything is possible for God, but why make it as difficult as possible!
When God can help us and spoil us, people notice and they want to know why we have what we have – the appearance of living in Hope, Joy and Peace is rather appealing to those who do not have it! God wants to reach out to everyone and we are the key to Him being able to reach out.
Points to Ponder:
What would you ideal lifestyle be?
How close would God be?
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April 23: 1 Peter 1:13-23
Key Verse: 1 Peter 1:14
As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.
Devotion:
Sometimes I wonder what the world would be like if my generation was brought up in the same manner as children are nowadays. I see a very different culture but there is still the same undertones now as there were then – some children are obedient and others are not! I try not to judge people in how they bring up their children because I am not them and I do not know what life they lead behind closed doors – how can I make any decision on their behalf!
I have vivid memories of going for a walk in the evening with my parents and my grandmother and being told in no uncertain terms that children should be seen and not heard! This was not because they did not love us but because of peer pressure from society – this was the time of the day when people would sit out on their verandas and have a quiet drink…
Jesus was quite different in how He handled things because He did not give in to peer pressure but tried to make a difference wherever He went; not a bad influence but righteous acts which would please most people. I say most because there are some people who are inherently evil because they do not know any better – of course they will object!
Jesus wants us to be more accepting in our interactions with others, but also to uphold the truth and peace. He wants us to be more holy and less judgmental in everything we do… which can be very difficult at times! We need to be in constant memory of the lengths Christ went to bring that peace and truth and know we should be willing to go the extra mile to do the same!
Points to Ponder:
Do you think you are good?
What do you think God thinks of you – knowing He sees everything?
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April 22: John 6:16-21
Key Verse: John 6:20
But he said to them, ‘It is I; don’t be afraid.’
Devotion:
How many times have you heard something or read something and wondered, what have I missed, shouldn’t there be something more to this that what I have just witnessed? Too many times in our lives we look for the extraordinary instead of seeming the beauty and majesty in the ordinary!
Yes this was extraordinary that Jesus was walking toward them on the water in the middle of a storm – which in itself raises all manner of questions in my mind… But I want to focus on the ordinary here and not the extraordinary. The disciples were in this boat after a long day, probably very tired and just wanted to get where they were headed. They didn’t think too much about the weather to begin with because they were used to all weather!
What they missed was having Jesus with them when they got scared. The moment when they realised all was not well, they felt most alone. They wanted their protector, their Saviour to be with them to make it all alright again. And at that moment Jesus appeared across the water walking toward them. He knew the right moment to come to them and He did not leave them alone!
It is in our lives when we feel most alone or the moments when we realise we have nobody by our sides that Jesus is standing there. It is the moments when we cannot see a way out. It is when we think this could be the end. Those are the moments when we can depend on Christ – because He promised to be here with us, always. It’s that moment when you are alone in the house, everything is quiet; but Jesus is still there!
Points to Ponder:
When do you feel most vulnerable?
Do you know Christ is still there?
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April 21: John 6:5-13
Key Verse: John 6:7
Philip answered him, ‘It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!’
Devotion:
What do you expect when God asks you to do something? Do you expect Him to give you a detailed itinerary of all the things you have to do to get to the place where He wants you to be or do you sit and wait? On this occasion when Jesus sat down with the disciples for a bit of a rest a large crowd of people saw where they went and followed them. What was Jesus’ reaction? He asked Philip where they should get food to feed all these people...
When God asks you do do something it may not be what you are expecting and what happens may well go against what you think you should be doing. If God wants you to help people out it may not be to step forward and donate money to the latest appeal – it probably will not be anything like that! God will want to see you give from your heart which may not be in a physical way.
Jesus challenged the disciples to think in a different way – not the normal earthly ways they were used to but in a way where they would depend more on God to supply the need to others instead of relying on their own selves. The disciples immediately thought of the cost of supplying food and they even looked around to see if anyone had any food close by to share.
What Jesus wanted them to do was to do things in a methodical manner but at the same time relying fully on Jesus to supply the need He was asking them to fill. God is not going to ask you to fulfil a need if He knows you cannot do it. If you turn round and say you cannot do it then you are not depending on God to come up with the answer to how. Sometimes it is a case of waiting for further guidance while you tell others it will be ok.
Points to Ponder:
How often do you donate to charities?
How often do you ask God for help for those people?