August 1: Luke 24:36-43
Key Verse: Luke 24:36
While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."
Devotion:
Can you imagine talking about someone whom you miss and they suddenly appear next to you? Now, while I am sure we have all experienced the joy of seeing someone for the first timew after a long period of time without them, we are seeing something very different here... they all believed Jesus was dead because they saw he had died! Can you now imagine the shock of Jesus appearing in their midst.
Whilst we can think of the many ways in which we can gain encouragement from these verses, I would like you to think of why Jesus chose this time to appear amongst his disciples again after his ressurection. I can imagine the love Jesus had experienced when he appeared to walk with the two disciples on the way to Emmaus. Now he knew they would all be gathered together in one place, out of sight from the general public... how could he not chose this moment!
Jesus' love for us is far greater and deeper than we realise. The more we think about it and the more we find out about it, the more we begin to see how much deeper it is than what we first thought.
Each day we think about it we may start to wonder why he would ever love us because of the things we do; but we should also look into his word to see just how much he does think of us all the time. That should change our lives and allow us to try to do more for and with him - always!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you consider God's love for you?
What are you going to do with this knowledge that he loves you?