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January 9: Hebrews 1:1-6
Key Verse: Hebrews 1:5
For to which of the angels did God ever say, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father’? Or again, ‘I will be his Father, and he will be my Son’?
Devotion:
Have you ever really thought about what it means to be called a child of God? During the Old Testament days God spoke to the people via a select few prophets whose task it was to tell the people what God was saying and wanting. But then God chose to bring His own Son to live amongst us and to teach mankind directly… who do you think has listened more intently, the people of the Old Testament, The people of the New Testament or people nowadays?
It is a sad thing people continue to be stubborn and not listen to God. It is also a sad thing people do not believe others who are trying to tell them the truth about God! How many of the prophets were talked ill of, judged by others or set upon by the crowds? We see and read the words of the major prophets because we have those words written down for us in our Bibles – but we don’t always listen to all of Gods people…
God spoke audibly to make sure people knew that Jesus was His Son; and yet many of the leaders of the church at that time rejected Him because they did not personally hear those words spoken in front of others. It was their choice to not believe in Jesus and theirs alone.
We have the same choice for ourselves. We can believe the Old Testament Scriptures. We can believe the New Testament Gospels and letters. We can believe other people of God as they speak to us. Or we can reject these things and so reject God. It is our choice and we need to make it, one way or the other.
Points to Ponder:
Have you made your choices?
Will you believe in Jesus the Son of God?
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January 8: Act 10:34-43
Key Verse: Acts 10:41
He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen – by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
Devotion:
When was the last time you won a raffle or other prize? Was it because you bought up all the tickets, or because you just bought one? Most of the time when someone wins a prize, it is because they bought a ticket, not a whole bunch of tickets! Whilst we can improve our odds of winning a prize by buying more and more tickets, it is not a guarantee because there is always a portion of chance in the raffles.
This is not how things work with God and certainly not how God sees it! Despite God choosing the people of Israel as His own, they were not always seen in a great light; often they would go off and do worldly things and ended up having to face the wrath of God rather than His love. When Jesus came to share the Gospel with them, they are the ones (talking about the majority here) who got Jesus placed on the cross for something He had not done!
We are not entering a lottery with Christ. When we accept Him as our Saviour, it is a sure thing; there is no chance involved, no matter what we have done in the past! Jesus did not skirt round the rough places in town. He did not avoid the sinners. He did not focus solely on the best synagogues or temples. Jesus met with anyone who was searching in their hearts!
This is the God we follow and the one who I accepted as my Saviour – Jesus Christ. He is the one who worked in my heart so I could see the error of my own ways, not the errors of the people around me or even my parents, but my own issues. He is the one who forgave me, personally!
Points to Ponder:
Do you seek to find a way out?
Have you asked God where to go yet?
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January 7: 1 John 3:19-24
Key Verse: 1 John 3:23
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
Devotion:
How many times have you used the excuse “but I didn’t know it…” or something similar, blaming what has gone wrong on nothing more than ignorance along the line! God has given us the wherewithal to differentiate between right and wrong; He has buried this deep in our souls so we will always know. As we grow and live our lives we change and we take on new thoughts and new ways of doing stuff. You could say we change the rules as we go along.
This can be seen when we read through the bible as we see how the people of Israel started out getting to know God and trying their best to please God. As time went by they grew tired of having to do things for God because they grew spiritually lazy. This spiritual laziness encourage them to change the rules so they would not have to continue doing the things which they knew they ought to do…
God knows we grow weary and He know we will try change the rules, but he still loves us and He continues to try and support us because of this great love. That same love is what He wants each of us to expand on. That same love is what will allow us to keep doing the right things instead of giving in to the ways of the world.
At the centre of this God simply asks us to love one another just as Christ came to love each one of us. He was willing to lay down His life for us to demonstrate that love. We should be willing to go the extra mile to show our love for one another because we are all God’s children and sharing that love means sharing love with God’s family!
Points to Ponder:
Do you believe Jesus loves you?
Will you try to show someone you can love them?
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January 6: Psalm 72:10-14
Key Verse: Psalm 72:11
May all kings bow down to him and all nations serve him.
Devotion:
Today we celebrate the revelation of God incarnate as Jesus Christ, the feast of Epiphany. Traditionally this is when the Magi arrived to visit the baby born in a stable and laid in a manger. God had already shown the Messiah to the shepherds and now it was time for a bit of pomp and ceremony.
Often we get tied up in making Christianity a solemn string of events and services and we neglect the remember the great feasts which were initiated so long ago and which have very deep meanings. Epiphany if the time when the Magi came into town to find the Messiah having been guided by a star and persuaded to bring the gifts of Gold, frankincense and myrrh. These were the special gifts brought to a new family who were in need; a need only met by God and not by man.
Far too often it is God who steps forward to care for the needy and spare the afflicted when mankind is the one who is here and now. We need to remember what God has done and apply these things into our lives. Just talking about them is not good enough; God wants us to do things!
Christ has shown us the example to follow, how to care for the needy who cry out, how to take pity on the weak, how to make the difference which will save them from death, how to rescue those from oppression and violence. We are all precious in Gods sight. We are here with our fellow humans. We can take care of them here and now.
Points to Ponder:
How often do you step up to help?
Will you step forward to help someone new today?
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January 5: 1 John 3:16-21
Key Verse: 1 John 3:17
If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?
Devotion:
When was the last time you really sat down and meditated on God’s Word? I would like us to just read the words of these verses over a few times and think about what they say to us...
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
This is a measure of the love Christ has for us; He was willing to lay down His own life just for us even though we have done things wrong in our lives and even worked against Him!
If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?
How often do you give to people in need? I’m not talking about the weekly or monthly bank draft for a charity but for the time when you stopped what you were doing just to go and help someone in need…
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
And then there is the stepping forward and actually doing something instead of just talking about it or saying you will do it…. Just when….
Points to Ponder:
How often do you display your love for others?
Will you stop and show love to someone today?
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January 4: John 2:1-5
Key Verse: John 2:4
‘Woman, why do you involve me?’ Jesus replied. ‘My hour has not yet come.’
Devotion:
I wonder if you have asked God to do something for you which is not quite right? Mary asked Jesus to perform a miracle here – I’m sure she knew full well He was able to do anything and I wonder whether this had happened before, but in private… With all the people around, the disciples and all the wedding guests, Jesus could not really make this one go unnoticed...
But, at the same time, Mary knew it was not what she was able to do but what Jesus was able to do because God was supporting everything around Jesus the man. Because of the way her life had panned out, Mary knew God was with them every step of the way. She knew God always answered prayers and knew Jesus was in a special place to get them answered quickly.
Jesus’ reaction was to say it should not have been the time to show everyone what miracles God was able to do through prayer, but He also knew of the special relationship between God and Mary. He continued to answer prayers, even when it meant coming out!
Mary’s reaction was to tell the servants to listen very carefully to what Jesus would tell them to do and to do it no matter how silly it may sound. She knew God would be able to do anything with the most mundane physical things around them – in this case the empty jars and the water were going to become the choicest wine of the evening.
Points to Ponder:
Do you back down from prayers because you think God will not answer?
Will you go ahead and ask Him what is on your heart?
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January 3: John 1:43-51
Key Verse: John 1:46
‘Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?’ Nathanael asked. ‘Come and see,’ said Philip.
Devotion:
These days around Jesus’ baptism mark the beginning of His ministry to so many people and the fulfilling of the scriptures – and yet so many people chose to not believe, and many still choose to not believe. Nathanael was sitting under a fig tree doing whatever he used to do when Philip came up to him and said about finding the Messiah emphasizing it was Jesus of Nazareth.
Whether Nathanael was bias or because of how he was brought up, he did not want to believe any Nazarite could be good, let alone be the Messiah! It only took a few words with Jesus for him to become a believer… he must have know the scriptures and known what the Messiah would be capable of. For Jesus to acknowledge him despite the words he had said about Jesus, must have made all the difference!
What did Jesus do? He invited Philip to come and follow Him, to join in the teachings and learning and to be a disciple. What did Philip do? He did what a disciple should do and approached someone else with the truth to get them to come and discover Jesus for himself.
Our task as disciples of Christ is not to go round converting the whole world because if we think we can do that, we have made a very bold and invalid assumption to start with. Philip was correct in telling Nathanael the truth and inviting him to come and meet with Jesus for himself. It is Jesus who does the converting!
Points to Ponder:
Do you think you would make a good disciple?
Will you invite someone to meet with Jesus?
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January 2: John 1:19-23
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:
How many times have you been told to do something and you have followed the instructions exactly as told? If you are like me then you find it hard to blindly follow instructions because you want to be able to do what is good for more people and not just for a single person asking things of you. Things were a bit different for John because He knew he had been asked by God to do something special!
We may look back on things and wonder why John was out in the dessert talking to people about God and baptising them in the river. We may look at his like and wonder what possessed him to live a life where he was dressed in a shabby manner and eating strange foods when he may have been able to choose a better career instead.
God has a plan for each of us but it is not always easy to follow the plan He has for us. We may think we know better and go off and do something similar to what He is asking only to find out it was not right and you end up having to restart things. I have tried to listen to God in my life for the past twenty years and have found it hard… life keeps on getting in the way!
It is sometimes hard to focus on the little things He is asking when we have big, loud things surrounding us and taking all our attention! John’s task was simply to open the way for Jesus to do His ministry. Sometimes we get too involved with what we think we can do, get sidetracked and go off doing some pretty good things – but is it what God asked of you in the beginning?
Points to Ponder:
Do you think you are listening to God?
Have you tried to make things better by yourself?
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January 1: Luke 2:8-21
Key Verse: Luke 2:15
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’
Devotion:
Have you ever wondered why God chose the shepherds to be the ones who heard the news first? I believe it was because they had the noble profession of looking after others. This is top of the list in God’s eyes and reflected by what Jesus told us during His ministry too!
God did not choose the Kings and Queens of the land; they heard the news via other people and through watching the stars. Instead, God sent angels to the shepherds who were patiently and faithfully watching over the animals. These people were probably not the wealthy owners of the sheep but the hired hands who were tasked with looking after the flock.
This is what God has tasked of us too – to look after the flock. Wherever God has sent you, be it to the richest neighbourhood of the land or to the poorest places on earth, He has sent you there to reach out to the people there and allow them to know of the hope we have through what Christ has done for all of us!
The shepherds were not high society people but people who were passionate about their jobs – looking after others. They spent their days and nights away from home to make sure others were kept safe and well.
Points to Ponder:
Where are you?
Happy New Year!
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December 31: John 1:29-34
Key Verse: John 1:33
And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptise with water told me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptise with the Holy Spirit.”
Devotion:
How well do you try to listen to God? Notice I said how well do you TRY to listen to God… None of us is perfect, each of us has our own unique faults which we live with, some of which we try to keep in check and others which we just accept as being the way we are… If you are at the stage where you have not yet started to accept you are different and you have faults, then maybe now is the time to start trying to accept this fact!
God tries to speak to us in many ways in our lives, through what others say and do with us, through His Word, the Bible and sometimes we even hear from Him in our dreams or visions. How we react to these events is how we are listening to God. We could say we are very scientific and need proof of everything in our lives. We could say we are like lawyers and need written testimony.
Let’s face it, we could come up with a whole lot of excuses to not listen to God – and some of those may simply be because we are scared to listen! What if He asks us to do something different? What if He wants us to go and tell others about Him? We get worried when we hear things which are different to our normal lives!
John was told, through a vision, the Messiah would come to him and he would be able to identify Jesus by seeing the Spirit Descend on Him! This was also the one who would baptise people through the Spirit and not just with water! John listened, waited and then obeyed!
Points to Ponder:
Are you listening? Are you waiting?
Will you obey?