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October 26: Hebrews 7:23-28
Key Verse: Hebrews 7:27
Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.
Devotion:
What is the longest you have stayed at a particular church? There are many things which necessitate us moving between churches, not just moving home to a different area, but deaths within the church sometimes mean they close down. We don’t live forever and nor do building stand forever for that matter!
When we imagine being called by God to do something, we like to think God is going to keep us doing that job for as long as we live; in reality it can be quite different. We may be called to start the ball rolling and train others to take over the day to day running... Paul was called to go out and spread the word, teaching people and opening churches along the way. He was not called to stay in one place and grow a huge church...
God calls us to reach out to others with His word, sharing Christ’s love and giving people hope for what we know lies ahead. We may not get to see the culmination of what we are initially called to do. We probably will not be around when Christ comes again – I know the world is getting close to when Christ will return, but there is still so much sharing of the Word to do before then.
Teaching others to share God’s Word is paramount in what we do. It is no good teaching the people we see and leaving out the rest because we are going to die one day. But if we can teach people to share God’s Word like we should be doing, then we build a legacy which will continue even after we have gone. God allowed Jesus to pay the ultimate price to nullify the sin debt we owe. We need to tell others of this wonderful news!
Points to Ponder:
How long do you think you can talk about Jesus for?
Will you try to show someone how to share Jesus’ good news?
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October 25: Jeremiah 31:7-9
Key Verse: Jeremiah 31:8
See, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. Among them will be the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labour; a great throng will return.
Devotion:
How often do you cry out to God for help in your circumstances? I want you to stop and think today. Not all of us are blessed with a home, health, wealth or whatever else; many people do struggle with life and it is not their fault. Yes there are people who squander everything they have and end up with nothing, but there are also those who have been struggling just to make a living for a long time.
As the state of many countries gets worse with the continued struggle of coronavirus, there are going to be people who are figuratively pushed over the edge and they finally reach the point where they can no longer continue. There are going to be people who have given everything and now have nothing more to give. There are going to be people who have faced all manner of issues and now they cannot cope mentally with the pressure... Think of these people.
As the wealth of some countries continues to grow, the depravation of other countries will continue to tumble. As the rich get more money, the poor become the victims because they can no longer pay their taxes or even for their food. The rich may find ways of getting more money, but it does come at the expense of many who continue to lose... Think of these people.
God made a promise to be here for us all and He will continue to uphold that promise. It is not a promise to level the playing field so everyone gets to eat superb meals. It is not a promise to give wealth to all so we can all buy electric cars. It is a promise to be there for us in ways which we cannot understand until we are in times of dire need. Trust in God when the going gets tough!
Points to Ponder:
Do you find the going getting tougher?
Will you try to place a lot more trust in Christ?
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October 24: Mark 10:46-52
Key Verse: Mark 10:48
Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’
Devotion:
What does it take before you listen? Do you have to get into trouble? Do you have to get to the end of your tether? Do you have to hit rock bottom? Sometimes we get so tangled up in the world we lose sight of what God is asking us to do and the only way to get back on track is to lose our way...
Bartimaeus was a blind man who was sitting by the roadside. He had probably been there a while and when he heard it was Jesus coming by, he shouted out for help. His help was not like the other people who may have been in crowds, but rather it had a desperation which went beyond that. He was being open and honest with Christ!
We need it stop with being caught up in ourselves and in the world. We need to open up our lives to Christ, not just by asking Him into our lives, but by giving Him control. Bartimaeus had nothing to lose so gave what little he had left to Christ. He humbled himself before Jesus.
God does not want a bunch of charismatic people who can turn the world upside down with their chatting, singing, performing or even money; God wants people who are willing to give whatever they have to Him and be willing to obey Him. When Jesus saw this in the blind man, He changed his life by giving him his sight back – the only condition being he should continue to give everything to Christ by following Him!
Points to Ponder:
Do you work hard to be a good missionary?
Will you give up what you have to obey God?
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October 23: John 16:1-6
Key Verse: John 16:6
Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things.
Devotion:
How many times have you asked someone to tell you the truth over and over again, and then been disappointed when they did tell you the truth? We do often build up stories and pictures in our heads which are not real, but we build them up because they make us feel better than the real world does! We even go out of our way to tell others about these stories so we can feel good about telling someone something which sounds like good news...
What we should be doing is trying to tell the truth to people; this way they will not be disappointed when the truth does come out. Jesus was sure to tell people the truth all the time. People knew they could trust everything He said – just as we know we can depend on Jesus’ Words, our Bibles...
Sometimes the truth is going to be hard to tell because you know it is going to hurt someone in the short term. Can you imagine how much anguish Jesus went through as He went around telling people the truth about themselves and about what was going to happen! No matter what, He told them the truth!
This was one of those times when Jesus was trying to tell the disciples the truth and trying not to hurt them in the process. He told them He was going to be with the Father and they could not follow Him when He went back to Heaven – at least not yet! He had to do this so He could, and can, be our Advocate; the person who stands up in front of God and says we are no longer guilty because He paid for our sins!
Points to Ponder:
How many of your lies have been found out?
Will you try sharing Jesus’ truth with others today?
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October 22: John 15:18-21
Key Verse: John 5:19
If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.
Devotion:
Do you have a fear of people finding out you are a Christian and mocking you, or worse, doing something horrible to you? Because we are different, we are Christians, the world will look at us as being odd in some way! Anyone who is different is treated differently, but the more people cannot understand us or cannot relate to the way we live, the more they may reject us as being too different.
This sometimes causes people to act like they are still of this world instead of being different. The world sees these people as nothing different and may not even take notice of them. As Christians we should be standing up to show we are different and give people something to think about. This does mean we may face rejection by some people. This is to be expected!
Jesus was rejected by many people, including what was seen as the ‘church’ back them. Unfortunately, this was not the church but a religion which had grown up because people did not want to be seen as being too different... they were doing things like ‘normal’ people by keeping laws which they had made up rather than obeying what God was asking of them.
We need to stop acting like others and start acting a bit more like Jesus. I have a T-Shirt which says “Jesus was a rebel too!” Jesus stood out from the crowd because He did not give in to the worldly ways but stood up for God (and not the religion) by obeying God. Because of our fear of the world and people, we tend to give in to something instead of standing firm in God’s Word and being more like Jesus.
Points to Ponder:
Do you fear what people say about you?
Why not give people something to talk about by being more like Jesus?
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October 21: Luke 4:24-27
Key Verse: Luke 4:24
‘Truly I tell you,’ he continued, ‘no prophet is accepted in his home town.
Devotion:
We don’t know what was going through Jesus’ head during this visit to the synagogue, but as we read through the words we can imagine how He must have felt having to face these people in the temple who were supposed to be the people tasked with giving out the Word of God! Here they were being quite insular in their dealings and not spreading the word to the people who needed it most!
Wait, haven’t we heard this before? Yes, and we continue to hear it in our so called caring modern world. We even see it in our modern churches and gatherings of people who proclaim themselves to be God’s people! God wants the truth to be touching every person’s heart. He wants us all to come to know the truth in our minds and to know it in our hearts.
It is no good just knowing the words unless we act on those words and live by them. Christ continued to show people how important it was to live by God’s Word and not just to say you know it or teach it! Living by His word means reaching out to the people who need it most – and most often those are the people who are poor and forgotten.
When Elijah was sent to go and make a difference, it was not to the most influential people, not to the people in charge of churches or temples, but to a widow who had been forgotten about by the people. God wants all of us to know His love, joy and peace... not just the people who can afford things, or afford to go to church or have cars to get there... God wants all of us to have the chance at getting to know Him personally no matter what our circumstances!
Points to Ponder:
Are you always able to go to church meetings where Christ is preached?
Will you help someone who you know is missing out today?
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October 20: Luke 4:1-12
Key Verse: Luke 4:8
Jesus answered, ‘It is written: “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”’
Devotion:
We all like to think we will do the right things when we get cornered by some bad thing, but most often we give in to doubt or temptation and we end up doing something we shouldn't be doing – just because it seems easier at the time. These verses remind us of what we should be doing and how we should go about things!
The first thing we see here is how Jesus was tempted just as we are. We must not forget He was perfectly human when He was on earth which meant He would face things as we do... the difference being He stuck by His Father at all times and never gave in. What an example for us to try to live up to!
Jesus knows we give in to many things and He knows our strengths and weaknesses. He is not going to put us in positions where our weaknesses will get the better of us... but Satan will! The evil one will try to trip us up at ever chance and will try to break our resolve by playing on our weaknesses. Here he tries to play on the human weaknesses of Jesus, but fails because Jesus rests firmly in God's arms!
Verse 8 says it all. Worship God alone and server Him alone! It may be easy for focus on God when the going is easy, but when we face difficult times, it gets tough to stay relying on God for everything. We look at the world around us and we give in to the things we know and put aside the things we don't... like faith... Jesus reminds us here how important it is to have faith and stick to it no matter what!
Points to Ponder:
What are your weaknesses?
Will you ask God to help you with those weaknesses?
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October 19: 2 Timothy 4:5-8
Key Verse: 2 Timothy 4:5
But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
Devotion:
One thing God asks of us, no matter where we are in life, is to try our best for Him. This is going to include good and bad times because we live in a world which is so diverse and complex. Because not all people are the same, we are going to agree with some and disagree with others – just because we are different and our hearts and minds focus on different things.
What God asks is for us to try to focus on the right things as much as possible. He has given us His word and continues to point us toward it at all times. We may be different from others, but God's Word is the same when read by them as by us. We may get different things from the bible than others, but we are still reading the same word.
God would like all of us to spread His Word to others; we are different and so when we tell others about God they may hear something different from when others tell them about God. Diversity here is the key. Just as the gospels give us different aspects from the same story of Christ, so our own ministries will give others a different picture of Christ.
And another thing... it is never too late to tell someone about God (so long as they are alive and we are alive, we can say something!) God wants people to get a great overall picture about Him, not just to focus on a single part of Him. When people only talk to me about the love of Jesus I want to remind them of the rest of the bible! When people only look into the Old Testament, I want to remind them about Jesus' life... We need to be diverse and encompass all aspects of God.
Points to Ponder:
Do you prefer the Old or New Testament?
Will you take them both together today?
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October 18: Hebrew 5:1-4
Key Verse: Hebrew 5:4
And no one takes this honour on himself, but he receives it when called by God, just as Aaron was.
Devotion:
How many times do you go over the readings you heard in church and get a very different idea from the passage than what was talked about in church? Well, this is not entirely different because the words are still the same, but I want to focus on something different which struck me when re-reading the passage (yes, I sometimes get a bit side-tracked doing the sound desk and miss things in church, so re-reading is a good idea!)
When I was doing in-depth studying of the bible I would do a lot of reading and listening to what other people thought about the passages; sometimes I would agree with what was being said, but sometimes I just got a very strong feeling they may be barking up the wrong tree... You see, this is what happens when two different people read the same piece of text. Because we have lived very different lives, we focus on different things in the text.
That being said, the Word of God does not change, we change. God chooses people whom He knows will be diligent with the studying and will be able to impart what they learn to others. A lot of people came to ask me questions because I like to try and explain things in plain English rather than 'Christian talk' or 'Christianese' as I like to call it! God will call you into the right place at the right time in order ti help other people understand His Word.
Priests and normal people! Yes, normal people! They are tempted just as we are and they make mistakes like we do. I am no different. I like to rattle on about God's Word and how it affects me, but I am still human and still do stupid things at times! This is why I try to do what I say and not do what I say not to. Living your life in the open will do more to convince people God is real than trying to hide from everyone. Be honest and open and share what you love about God!
Points to Ponder:
Do you try to live by God's Word?
Will you try to share by example instead of by words today?
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October 17: Isaiah 53:4-6
Key Verse: Isaiah 53:6
We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Devotion:
How many times have you stopped to think about why Jesus went to the cross? And who made Him do it? Well, as these verses state, we sometimes think it was God who put Jesus on the cross and God who was punishing Jesus because of our sins... but that is just the way we think and is not what happened!
Despite what we think, Jesus went to the cross because He wanted to be able to be our sacrifice. He wanted to take on the burden of our sins. Before He was taken to be on the cross, He pleaded with God His Father, not to let Him off, but to see if there was any other way. Does this mean God said it had to be done? I believe Jesus was pleading with God because He knew the pain and anguish we would feel when we realised the truth!
I believe Jesus knew exactly what He was doing when He took Himself to the cross and gave up His own life for our sakes. I believe He knew what was going to happen to Him, but He also continued to step forward, knowing the pain and anguish He would go through so we would not have to! He did this so we could have peace in our hearts!
We are the ones who have done silly things. We are the ones who have sinned against God, against His people and against ourselves. We are the ones who should be facing the desperate things Jesus went through on the cross – but Jesus made the choice to take on the punishment for everything we are going to do. Because He loves us!
Points to Ponder:
Have you asked Christ to forgive you today?
Will you step forward to help someone else out today?