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January 29: John 2:1-11
Key Verse: John 2:11
What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
Devotion:
I think this is one of the miracles which does not get enough attention – probably because Jesus did not want attention drawn to it at the time. The wedding feast He was attending did not go to plan because someone had not accounted for the amount the guests would drink – I’ve been to a few parties like that where the guests have drank a whole lot more than they should have!
But Jesus was not there to point fingers, judge people or anything like that. He was there to talk to people and try to get them to seek the truth in their hearts; but when His mother heard of the shortage of wine, she stepped up and got Jesus to make all the difference…
Jesus chose the simplest of things to turn into the most complex of things. Water is about as simple as it gets. Wine is more complex, but a fine wine is so much more complex because of the chemical reactions and releases of the sugars and tannin which makes a fine wine taste like it does. Nothing is impossible for God to achieve, and He was not about to show anything different here.
This was the first miracle the disciples recorded and so is know as Jesus’ first miracle. But the fact Mary was willing to tell the servants to do exactly what Jesus said suggests she knew what he could do already. Now it was the disciples turn to believe because of the miracle. When we have our prayers answered by God, we become believers with a reason for believing...
Points to Ponder:
Have you had prayers answered?
Do you have a reason to believe?
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January 28: Hebrews 11:13-16
Key Verse: Hebrews 11:16
Instead, they were longing for a better country – a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Devotion:
How do you feel about “get togethers” where a group of people get together to reminisce about old times when they used to be together, be it from school days or work days or camp days? We like to get together with people who are alike in some manner so we can reminisce about what happened… however, why we get together could be in question...
Do we get together because we genuinely miss the people we used to see? Do we get together to find out all the gossip? Do we get together to make sure we are not missing out on something? And then when we get together, what do we get up to?
All pressing questions which some would not like to be confronted about – but it brings up a point about our lives with Christ; well, a couple of points… Are we willing to sit down with Christ and talk about what we got up to and answer why we did what we did? Are we willing to look Him in the face when He asks us? Are we coming to Christ to find out the gossip or are we coming to Him because we want to be with Him?
God already knows the answers to these questions and He would like us to know the answers before it is too late too. If we have not admitted to ourselves what we get up to, then how are we going to admit to Christ what we have been up to? If we are not willing to come together with Him and discuss all the things we should or should not have done, then are we really ready to face Him. Now is the time to come to Him and admit to all we are...
Points to Ponder:
Do you know what you would say to Jesus face to face?
Are you ready to anything?
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January 27: Hebrews 10:32-39
Key Verse: Hebrews 10:35
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
Devotion:
How long do you tend to hold on to something before you get weary and give in to the world around you? I’m not talking about hanging onto the end of a tug-of-war rope to see how long you can last, but the the spiritual and mental tug-of-war we have to endure every day.
Life is not just about physical labour and seeing how fit you are to keep on going; we have to face all manner of things which are spiritually and mentally challenging – those are often the hardest things to overcome because you cannot see and end to any of them. For something physical you can see and end and you can prepare yourself for how long it will take. Not so for mental and spiritual battles.
Here the disciple reminds the Hebrew people they are going to face battle and they have already done so on some fronts. They have managed to get through some of those battles already, so the disciple reminds them they have managed to get through and if they persist in a similar manner, they will be able to get through more.
God does not want us to give up but rather to persist in our battles because He is standing by our sides and He will give us the strength to endure what we will face. If you are in a battle of tug-of-war, you trust the people behind you are not going to let go and you concentrate on what is immediately in front of you. Why not try to do something similar to the internal challenges you face – just concentrate on what is immediately in front of you and trust God is backing you up all the way!
Points to Ponder:
Do you rely on God as your back-stop?
Will you give Him a bit more credit?
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January 26: Hebrews 10:19-25
Key Verse: Hebrews 10:23
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
Devotion:
What are the things which give you hope in your life? Do you base your hopes on dreams and wishes, or is your hope bound by a deep seated truth? If we go about setting our hopes on dreams which are intangible, or on what other people say, then we may just find out those are nothing more than dreams. But if we base our hopes on a truth, no matter how deep and buried that truth is, we can be sure our hope has a foundation!
Christ came into this world to allow mankind to realise the dream of being with God in heaven. He made the firm foundation which we can base all of our hopes on. He continues to uphold the truth upon which this was all built and wants us to know our hope can be held firmly in His grip.
What does He ask of us? He does not demand money or sacrifices or any other worldly position or possession. He simply asks we have faith in this truth which He has opened up for us. He asks we place our trust in His hands. He asks us to do this with our hearts and souls and not just to say we will do it one day! We don’t have to feel guilty about accepting this hope. We don’t have to feel guilty about what he has done for us. He did this out of love and wants us to love Him too.
The best way forward is to continue encouraging one another to seek out the truth, to base our hopes and dreams on this truth and to trust Him for whatever is ahead of us. This is not an onerous task to do – but the world may well make it feel onerous because the world does not want to allow us to have a firm foundation for our faith; but we have!
Points to Ponder:
Do you have dreams?
Will you allow your dreams to be based of Christ’s promises?
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January 25: Galatians 1:11-16
Key Verse: Galatians 1:12
I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
Devotion:
The more we get to know God’s Word the more we are able to understand just how special it is. All the books I have read (not many though) have all had their faults in them. I have never been very good at reading or English language and literature; instead I have muddled my way through by understanding the world around me instead of the language. I can understand drawings and pictures, shapes, mechanics and electrics, but languages mess with my brain...
But when I read the Bible I am always pleasantly surprised to be able to understand it, not through being taught what I should think about it, but by revelation through Christ and the Holy Spirit. I enjoy finding out what God has in store for me each day and I read through passages to find out what he wants me to pass on to others. I enjoy the journey travelling with you all.
I grew up in a Christian family, but one which did not always go to church and did not always get things right. I was horrified at some of the things I faced; but we went through those times as a family who loved each other. My school days were always short of the mark as I got into trouble much of the time for the most mundane things (at least I thought they were mundane!)
But when I spent time to sit down with God and go through His Word with Him, my life changed in many ways. I was challenged in new ways, got to do things I never dreamed of doing and because a disciples of Christ. My task now is to stretch out and invite others to do the same as I did and get to know what living with God is all about – and it’s not about going to the right church or living in the right place… it’s loving people like Jesus wants us to!
Points to Ponder:
Do you spend time with God in the Bible?
How has He shaped your life?
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January 24: Psalm 40:6-10
Key Verse: Psalm 40:6
Sacrifice and offering you did not desire – but my ears you have opened; – burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require.
Devotion:
These are the words the disciple spoke of when he was writing to the Hebrew people about what Jesus had said. This was a reminder they had had the truth written down for all these years – the truth given to them by God through the prophets. Yet we choose to ignore words like these when it does not seem to fit in our current situations...
God has given us His word and made sure these words were written down, we saved, were foretold and retold to try and bring it home they are the truth. Yet mankind continues to choose his own words and his own interpretations of the words he reads. God wants us to know the truth and to believe the truth as He has given it to us. I’m not going to get into an argument about which version of the bible is more accurate or which one we should us because mankind is still studying God’s Word!
Until mankind believes the words and writes them down as law, we are all still going to argue about what is right and wrong. It is a choice we have to make and one which will change our lives when we make the choice. Once you make the choice you will strive to learn more and understand more in whatever language or style or writing you choose to do so – you should try to find the truth plain and simple.
God does not want us to get hung up in arguing with each other because that has all been done and mankind argued so much they made up their own rules about what people should do for God. This is one of the reasons why Jesus came – to get rid of all the rules mankind has created and to try and go back to the simple truth from God!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you think about what you read in the bible?
Are you willing to allow God to explain it to you?
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January 23: Hebrews 9:24-28
Key Verse: Hebrews 9:28
so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
Devotion:
When I look back at the history of Israel in the Old Testament I wonder how people could make sacrifices like they did and think that was normal in any way; yet that is what life was like back then. As history goes by societies change and people make new rule and laws to live by. The more mankind lives on, the more we should be making life better for all – at least that should be our collective goal.
Unfortunately life does not always go that simply because we have bad things in our history. A couple of the things which continue to be in the news are racism and sexism; both of which segregate people from others based on their physical differences. This is not how God wants us to live. He wants us to love our neighbours and that means living together in harmony and not fighting each other.
What these verses boil down to are the things which separate us from God, our sins. God cannot abide sin and so we cannot take it with us when we want to be with Him. He wants us to leave it behind and to come before Him and people who have not sinned. This makes our lives a bit difficult because we have so much sin behind us.
So, God gave us a way we can come to Him as if we have never sinned before. The only way was for someone who has not sinned to take out place when it comes to receiving the punishment. Jesus willingly stepped forward to be in our place because He loves us so much. He does not have to do this over and over again for each person or for each of the things we do wrong, He did it once and for all as a perfect way of cancelling all of our sins.
Points to Ponder:
Do you carry the burden of sin around with you?
Will you ask Jesus to take your sin debt away?
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January 22: 1 Corinthians 1:10-18
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 1:12
What I mean is this: one of you says, ‘I follow Paul’; another, ‘I follow Apollos’; another, ‘I follow Cephas’; still another, ‘I follow Christ.’
Devotion:
How do you define your position in church? Which church do you go to? Who do you most relate to in church? How did you get to know Christ? Are you baptised, christened, confirmed, saved, and any other terms you may describe yourself by...
Modern Christians seem to try and defined themselves by some of the things listed above by saying the belong to a particular church or religion. We like to say we go to a church which is popular, big or exciting in some way… but how many of us will simply say we have a relationship with Christ and not care about any of the other details. I know I have been entrapped in some of those arguments before and even had arguments with family members about what made me different…
God does not want us to be separated by definitions which do not include Him in the middle. He does not want us to be separated from the rest of the church body just because we relate to a particular religion as defined by the populace at large! God wants us to be close to Christ and that is all. Why should we allow the world to dictate our relationship with Him when the world at large doesn’t want to know Him to begin with!
Arguments can be said about christening, baptising, confirmation and other religious rights both for and against – but I think it should be something between the person who is going through the right and Christ Himself. If someone wants to be able to demonstrate their love for Christ by doing something about it, then they should be able to do so. If someone wants a quite and personal relationship with Christ and nothing more, then let them do it… Don’t be defined by the world; allow Christ to define who you are!
Points to Ponder:
Who do you follow?
Not on social media… who do you follow with your heart and soul?
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January 21: Mark 3:20-21
Key Verse: Mark 3:20
Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat.
Devotion:
How far do you go to allow people to commune with God? How far are you willing to change so that the people around you can be closer to God?
When we go through the New Testament, especially the Gospels, we find a whole new way of allowing people to meet with God. Jesus allowed people to get closer to God even when the authorities would frown at what He was doing. The teachers of the law would get very upset with Him because He was allowing some very strange people to get close to God; they, on the other hand, ran a very closed society in which they did not want anyone who did not fit in their description to get close to God! How are we supposed to get people to know God unless we open our doors to them!
In this passage, the crowd was essentially trapping them in the house they entered. They could not get out and did not even have enough room to have a meal. I don’t like crowds at the best of time nowadays – I didn’t mind them in my university days, but not now. I prefer to have some room to do my own thing… but in doing that I will inadvertently exclude some people from getting to know God, so I have to continually think about what I am doing…
The more we act like a disciple, the more we are going to face the wrath of the world! There are people out there who will be upset because we dare to tell them God exists. There are people out there who will be upset because we dare to invite sinners into our lives. We will not be able to please man and God at the same time – so stick with trying to please God and allow Him to work things out for you in other ways!
Points to Ponder:
Do you aim to please others?
Do you aim to please God?
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January 20: Mark 3:13-19
Key Verse: Mark 3:19
and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Devotion:
What sprung to mind when I thought about these words was the picking of teams when I was a youngster in junior school. I was never one of the first ones to be picked for some games because I was certainly not good with some sports or games! So being picked as one of the “best of the worst” came as normal sometimes. We could look at this point in our bibles and wonder if Jesus ended up picking the “best of the worst” but this was not the case.
God had already made up His mind about who should be picked and who was going to betray Jesus in the end. This all needed to happen according to God’s plan in order for His love to be shown to us all; and that included picking someone who was going to betray His only Son!
When God asks us to do something for Him, it may not always sound like the best plan in our minds or even a good plan at all, but we should be willing to listen and obey at all times. I know I have answered His call on some occasions when I was quite sure I would not be able to handle the situation or whether it was a good idea at all – but when we look back on all the things which happened at that time and see why He asked us to do things, we will always be able to see the good which came out of it in the end.
God knows what is best for us all and He alone has to make the difficult decisions to pick the best team to do the job. This may not seem like the best team from our point of view and it may not seem like it is right sometimes, but we must listen carefully to God and obey Him when He asks!
Points to Ponder:
Do you find it difficult to obey God?
Have you tried simply listening to Him?