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February 13: Luke 6:20-22
Key Verse: Luke 6:20
Looking at his disciples, he said: ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Devotion:
Can you imagine the scene, Jesus and His disciples trying to do something with a huge crowd of people… Many of them would have been behaving because they came to see and hear Jesus, but there would have been some who were desperate and pushing forward to try and get healed. There would have been some who had not eaten for a while because they were following Jesus, and there would have been some who had lost everything and were now coming to see some sort of justice or hope at the very least.
The disciples had learned to trust Jesus and to allow people to come to Him. They had seen the miracles and they believed Jesus could continue to do many more; but they were probably wary of the fact Jesus was doing so much, probably scared He would wear Himself out and not be able to cope… That is where Jesus was different! He continued to rely on God the Father throughout everything and continued to ask God to allow Him to do more because of His love for the people.
When Jesus turned to the disciples, His words were very poignant : These people around Him were the ones coming forward to ask for help. Who were they? The poor, the hungry, the desperate, the hated and the rejected. These are the people Jesus wanted to be around because these are the people who would depend on Him and not on the world.
Jesus wants us to be more like these people and leave the riches and ways of the world in preference for His ways and follow God in our lives. God is the one who wants to reach out to us and give us the comfort we need and deserve, not because we have done things right, but because He loves us!
Points to Ponder:
Do you try to get comfort from the world?
Do you ask God for comfort in your time of need?
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February 12: 1 Kings 12:26-32
Key Verse: 1 Kings 12:28
After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, ‘It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’
Devotion:
I used to wonder how people could be persuaded to worship statues of animals… but then you see people worshipping statues of people, and then you see people worshipping animals… it all seems to come down to who has the best, easiest or most unique things going!
Jeroboam did not want the people to go back to following the king of Judah which was Rehoboam. He took counsel from others to see what the people were most likely to follow or believe – probably the only wise thing he did! The advice he got back seems to make me think the people he asked had no real grasp of what people were like! The same can be said for our modern world too; we have some people in government who have no idea how others live because they are from such a privileged society they believe everyone must be like they are!
So, Jeroboam went overboard and built shrines on high places. The builders of these shrines were not the Levites as God had ordered; they were ordinary people. They were not building something to worship God through or with but shrines dedicated to the golden calves he had made and placed in recognised places. They even had a big feast and sacrificed to these so called gods. This is when I question what the people must have been thinking…
But when you look at the society at those times, they had been brought up to follow and trust their kings because it was God who had first instituted them having kings, not because He wanted them but because the people had demanded them as a way of having something tangible to follow. They had trusted God and now were trusting their kings without question… When Jesus came, He informed the people they should question things and make sure what they were being asked to do followed the scriptures – which is what we need to do with everything we are asked to do in our lives!
Points to Ponder:
Do you simply obey your leaders?
Do you see if they are following God’s examples and requests?
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February 11: Mark 7:31-37
Key Verse: Mark 7:33
After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spat and touched the man’s tongue.
Devotion:
This is one of those stories which has been taken every which way by us, but it still is remembered by many because of what Jesus did; similarly when Jesus healed the blind man by spitting to make mud and putting it in his eyes! These are not stories to make you comfortable but to make you stop and think! Jesus did not stick to the way normal people acted and He certainly would not stop because things got a bit uncomfortable!
Many of the miracles of Jesus are remembered because they stood out from the other stories. As the apostle said, the things Jesus did are far too numerous to be written down in a single book! The ones we remember are the ones which were different and the ones which were written about – not the many many more Jesus did all the time!
We may not be comfortable with the way Jesus worked, and we certainly will get uncomfortable when He asks us to do something for Him. We may not like it because it is different from the normal, but Jesus asks us to do things He knows we can do (not that we want to do)
God tried giving us all the comforts we could want, but each time we (mankind) went too far and left God out of everything; each time God had to stop the times of comfort before we corrupted things too much. Jesus came to show us God’s love for us has never stopped, no matter what we have done, but He also showed us things can get uncomfortable. Mankind has a habit of corrupting things after which we have to put up with the consequences – but God’s love continues throughout and forever!
Points to Ponder:
Do you get uncomfortable with what God asks of you?
Will you trust Him fully and obey Him knowing He does know what is best?
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February 10: Mark 7:24-30
Key Verse: Mark 7:27
‘First let the children eat all they want,’ he told her, ‘for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.’
Devotion:
This sounds like a strange story when you hear it the first time, and I must admit it confused me the first time I heard it. But, if we take the time to learn what Jesus meant in the stories and parables, we get to learn about a new side of Jesus which was not ‘advertised’ too much during this time.
Jesus came to be amongst the children of Israel because God chose them as the favoured people at that time. God continued to watch over the people of Israel for many years and continues today; but He does not turn His back on anyone who is willing to have faith in Him.
This woman had a daughter who was possessed by an impure spirit – it must have been causing her a lot of anguish and torment seeing her daughter caught up by this wicked spirit. She came to Jesus and begged Him to cleanse her daughter but Jesus told her He was here to serve the people of Israel, God’s chosen race. Her response was to remind Jesus that even the dogs under the table scramble for any crumbs of food which should fall from the table.
She was saying her and her daughter may not be from the chosen people, they may even be classed as dogs in comparison, but they were faithfully sticking with the people of Israel because they knew their God was greater than anything or anyone in their own world. The Greeks, after all, had many gods who were supposed to look out for them! That faith struck a chord with Jesus and He released her daughter from the spirit there and then!
Points to Ponder:
Do you ever think you are not worthy of God’s love?
Are you willing to show God your faith?
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February 9: Mark 7:14-23
Key Verse: Mark 7:15
Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.
Devotion:
I wonder how many things mankind has not understood about God and how many times we have gone off and done the wrong thing because we thought it was right rather than actually hearing correctly! When Jesus was faced with people trying to tell Him what His disciples or Him could or couldn’t eat, He told them a truth...
We get annoyed when people eat things we don’t agree with, or when they drink things they should not – because we expect people to act in a certain way and when they don’t we get upset because they are different. I know there are a few foods I will not eat because I either don’t like the thought of eating them, or I don’t like the taste or smell; but I also know there are others out there who think those foods are delicacies or they actually like them… Who am I to judge!
Some people may use this verse as an excuse to drink too much or eat things they know will upset others. What Jesus is reminding us of here is we are not defiled by what we eat or drink but by what we say or do! If we drink too much we are very likely to say or do something which will upset others. If we eat certain foods on purpose in front of others, we are intentionally upsetting them by doing so!
God wants us to love our neighbours. This means watching out for other people’s likes and dislikes and not going against them on purpose; even if we only do so because we are drunk! We have gone out of our way to do so and when we upset others we have already used the drink as an excuse to do wrong to others...
Points to Ponder:
Do you eat or drink things you know others don’t like you doing?
Have you ever thought about their feelings instead of your own?
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February 8: Mark 7:8-13
Key Verse: Mark 7:8
You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.’
Devotion:
How many times have you gone along with what other people are doing or saying rather than sticking to the rules? I’m sure we have all done it at some stage, but how far do you go? When we read our bibles, they are not a set of suggestions you may or may not want to believe in – why would God give us His Word if it were not exactly what He wanted us to hear!
The disciples learned quite quickly how the Jewish laws had been changed over time to accommodate more modern practices; and this still goes on today. We change the laws to suit our modern world, but if we are not careful we let go of the meaning of God’s word because we are focusing too much on the wants and desires of mankind instead.
Jesus pulled up the Pharisees here because they had changed the wording of the laws. The original Torah (scriptures as given to Moses) focused on saying we should honour our parents and if we don’t we should expect bad things to happen! What they had changed it to was to say we could receive blessings if we did good things to our parents. It may not seem much when we think of what we do in our own families, but these new words could quite easily be twisted in our modern world.
Jesus gave us the bible the way it was because He wanted us to learn the truth up front and not have to try and filter out all of the modern sayings before we could get to the truth. God have us the scriptures so we could know the truth. What we do with the truth shows Him how much we love and respect Him… or not!
Points to Ponder:
Do you try to take the bible the way it was written?
How many things do you change to suit yourself instead of glorifying God?
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February 7: Psalm 132:2-5
Key Verse: Psalm 132:5
till I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.’
Devotion:
How many temples, cathedrals, churches and other religious buildings have you been in? Have you ever wondered at what the architects, sponsors and builders thought about when they designed and built them? When you get to discover what thoughts went into these buildings, you get to see a bit of what these people thought about their gods. When you go into a church you get to see an insight into the heart of the congregation...
God does not need a grand building to live in or to visit! He wants to be able to live in your hearts and in your lives. When we build something for God, it is an outpouring of our hearts to give something worldly we think is going to please God. He does not require it, but what we do does please Him because it is a measure of our love for God which everyone can see, not just Him.
When we do things like that in our lives, we get to witness to a whole lot of people; we get to show them how much God means to us. Oh there are all sorts of reasons why we should not do things which are grand by earthly standards: we cannot take anything with us to the afterlife, they become a worldly icon which people may get more excited about than God, God does not need worldly possessions… and so on.
It is more our actions than our intentions which speak loudly to others; so we should never rush in and do things classed as rich by worldly standards when we know God is looking for faithful servants who are willing to love and obey Him. Think about what you are going to do and try to do it for the glory of God.
Points to Ponder:
What do you do for God?
Do you look for worldly recognition or God’s recognition?
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February 6: 1 Corinthians 15:1-2
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 15:2
By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
Devotion:
What is faith? Some describe it as believing in the unseen. Others as trusting in a deity. Others may try to give a longer explanation so they feel like it is more worth while… But I think these couple of verses sum up what faith is all about – but don’t read these verses incorrectly! This is not a warning telling us if we don’t believe it’s all a waste of time!
When the apostle wrote this letter to the churches in Corinth, he wanted them to be encouraged by what they were doing and he wanted them to continue their walk of faith in Christ. He had taught them about Jesus and how they too could be freed from their own sin debt by believing Jesus died for them too. He wanted them to trust entirely in the truth as he had given it to them.
The people in the churches believed what the apostle had taught them. They trusted it as the whole truth and they stood firmly by that truth. I wonder whether there had been a person casting doubt and this was to dispel that doubt. It is by the gospel story these people were saved – in other words by what had happened, how Jesus had given His own life in their stead. This is the gospel they heard and believed.
The call was not to continue believing in this truth, because if they turned their backs on this truth, they would be saying their own journey of belief had all be for nothing! But the more they trusted in Christ, the more they knew this truth was definite and worthy of holding on fast to. This is the same call to us – we need to continue believing in the gospel truth and share it with others so they too can get to have hope in God!
Points to Ponder:
Do you continue to firmly believe the gospel?
Will you trust your belief to be exercised?
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February 5: 1 Kings 3:4-13
Key Verse: 1 Kings 3:10
The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.
Devotion:
When you pray for help or pray for something you need, what is the motive behind your prayers? We often hear the verses which remind us how God will always answer our prayers – but if we are going to be selfish or greedy with our prayers, should we really expect God to answer them!
When I was in hospital (OK, I won’t mention it for a while again) I did pray for many things, but my health was always secondary to my prayers. I knew God was looking out for me and I did ask for healing and comfort, but it was always after praying for someone else or for something else for someone else. My thoughts were something along the lines of, I know God is watching over me because the doctors though I was not going to make it several times, so why should I harp on about it!
Solomon was given everything on a plate. His father, David, had done so much for Israel and had built up everything anyone could want for so Solomon did not have to ask for anything worldly. Instead, He asked God to give him the wisdom he needed to effectively and faithfully rule over God’s people!
When God heard what Solomon was asking for, He gave him the wisdom he needed as well as great wealth and honour – things he had not asked for! God does actually know what is best for us; and God knew that for Solomon to be an effective ruler of Israel, he would need the wealth and power which came with being a great king (or at least that is how the people would see it) Trust in God for your answers to prayers for what you need, not what you want!
Points to Ponder:
Do you pray for what you need or what you want?
Will you lift up others in prayer first?
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February 4: Genesis 22:2-8
Key Verse: Genesis 22:8
Abraham answered, ‘God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.’ And the two of them went on together.
Devotion:
When you read a story like this, what feelings are invoked by these words? Are you wonder how Abraham could have even considered taking his only son to be a sacrifice? Do you wonder at the barbaric suggestion to sacrifice your son? Or do you see a man who is torn between the love for his family and the love for God...
What you need to do is to remember what Abraham was doing here. He was not blindly taking his son to be sacrificed. He was, instead, listening to what God was telling him and obeying! He had no idea what God was going to do, but he did have a firm belief God would not let his son die because of the promise God had made to him earlier.
What we see is a man taking his son to be killed. What we should be seeing is a man obeying God and trusting fully that God would make a way for this all to be possible without letting his son perish – after all, how would God keep his promise to be a father of many generations if this one was cut short before it started!
Sometimes we look at what God is asking and we compare it to what we think we know and how the world can fulfil the request. But what God is asking is for us to obey and trust He will make all things possible!
Points to Ponder:
When God asks you something difficult, what do you do?
Will you trust Him to make the impossible possible?