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April 1: 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 11:26
For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Devotion:
Jesus tried to remind the disciples about the poor and needy whenever He could, and on this occasion, He wanted them to think about what it means when they sit down to a meal in remembrance of God. When we do ask for God’s blessing on the meal, are we doing it out of habit, or are we really remembering what it all means.
As we come up to Easter we remember all Christ did for us and all the history which lead to this – I think modern Christians have got pretty good at setting up reminders of all things which have happened – but some of us may not be thinking about the right stuff in our hearts!
When we remember how Jesus’ body was broken for us and how He shed blood for us, we also need to remember who He did this for and why. How can we sit at a nice big family table and enjoy a great meal, saying all the right things about how Jesus died for us when we are not doing what we can to show love and support for the people Jesus wanted to show love and support for?
Jesus showed His love, mercy, support, forgiveness and so much more for every one of us, from the richest to the poorest, from the healthiest to the sick and infirm. Jesus wants us to remember these same people when we sit at the table to remember Him. Jesus wants us to know what was going through Jesus’ heart by remembering these same people as He did all those years ago. Jesus reached out to us, sinners. We should be reaching out to others – not just because they are part of our family circle, but because they are loved by God!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you thank God for your food and drink?
How often do you share your food and drink?
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March 31: John 13:21-30
Key Verse: John 13:21
After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.”
Devotion:
We all like to think we will never let God down, how we will always listen to Him and obey when He asks or directs, but the truth is we all fall short of the mark and we all let Him down every day! Every day? Yes, every day! No matter how small the infraction, we all do something wrong against God’s will every day just because we have free choice and are surrounded by temptation all the time.
God knew this and knew not matter how much His chosen people said they would follow Him, they, and us, would falter at some stage. This has been shown to us time and time again in the Old Testament as the people went after their own beliefs when they grew tired of waiting for God or when they got side-tracked by things and people around them.
We live in similar times nowadays too; we get side-tracked by all manner of things and people. We let God down because we are weak and we fall for the many temptations which surround us. But God still loves us! That is the key thing here! The love of God goes far beyond our failing and our strengths. God’s love went all the way to the cross and beyond. Jesus knew what he had to do and He even understood how one of His disciples would betray Him in the final days – just because they wanted a bit of money!
Even though we face temptations, trials and sinful ways, we do still have a choice as to what we do before the case, during the case and after the case! We have the choice to try and avoid bad situations. We have the choice to leave bad places. We have the choice to ask for forgiveness when we know we have done wrong. This is why Christ went through this all – so we have that final choice, the one which can save us!
Points to Ponder:
How many things have you done wrong already today?
Will you ask Christ to forgive you?
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March 30: John 12:20-26
Key Verse: John 12:24
Very truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
Devotion:
I love the way Jesus told the disciples the truth no matter how bad things seemed to be; but He always made sure they still had hope – a hope for a future with Him in Heaven for eternity! The passage starts out by telling us how other people wanted to come and worship at the temple, not just the Jews.
Jesus came to open the doors for everyone to be able to come to join Him, not just the Israelites but the Greeks as well. Jesus opens the door for us all which was seen by the kinds of people He met with and even socialised with. Just because we are not of the tribe of Judah, or any other Israeli tribe, does not mean we will be excluded. We are all included as God’s children, part of His family.
What Jesus wanted people to start seeing here is how we all have to sacrifice something in our lives to do the right thing. We may have a wonderful life, home, car, whatever, but if we are not willing to open our lives and homes to others, we are excluding God’s people! Jesus highlights this by reminding us of the simplicity of nature – unless a seed is planted and allowed to change, it will not grow into another plant.
Christ wants us all to know we do have to change in order to grow in our lives with Him; turning our backs on the ways of the world and embracing God’s ways. This does not mean we have to turn our backs on the people of the world – far from it. God wants us to embrace the people and be the example of a seed being planted, dying and coming back to life as something new and special.
Points to Ponder:
How comfortable are you in your life?
Will you try to share your life with someone else (as we start to come out of lockdown)
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March 29: Isaiah 42:1-4
Key Verse: Isaiah 42:1
Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.
Devotion:
This was God’s promise to the people, given through Isaiah so many years before Christ came to earth in human form. This is the promise we read about in history books and revel in through our bibles. This is the promise we know which shows us the mercy and love God has for all of His people – that's you and I!
God still looks for willing servants to step forward and to be ambassadors for His Word in this modern world; a world which seems hell bent on living in sin and shame. We don’t have to look too far to see just how many people still break God’s laws, and the best place to start is by looking in the mirror! We cannot hope be to able to judge others because we are guilty to start with...
But, because Jesus stepped forward almost 2000 years ago, we have a firm way of being able to join God in heaven for our eternal life. The choice remains ours. We can choose whether we want to join Christ in Heaven or whether we want to spend eternity floundering in a place whose description of is beyond words in our bibles.
God calls us to step forward, not as judges willing to blame everyone for doing things wrong, but as ambassadors, willing to lift up the truth, admit we are the same as other people, but still encourage them to do what we can do – look to Christ for forgiveness and for redemption. This most Holy Week, think about what you can do for God, not what others are doing wrong, but what you can do right!
Points to Ponder:
Do you see many people doing wrong around you?
Are you really trying to do your best for God?
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March 27: John 11:45-53
Key Verse: John 11:51
He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation
Devotion:
Here we go again – more people being put out by the fact Jesus was doing many wonders when they could not. Jesus was being open about it and encouraging people to seek the truth first of all. The chief priests and Pharisees were trying to keep order through fear and through sacrifices and keeping of the ancient laws (as well as the new laws they had added to the raft of laws)
Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year, knew God was going to allow a Messiah to come a die for the nation so they could be set free. Quite how it should happen seemed to confuse him somewhat as he encouraged the people to seek out this Jesus and to take His life so the prophesy would come true for them.
When we start doing our own things to try and hasten what Jesus has already promised, we will fall short of the mark and we may find out life becomes more difficult than it should. Our task is not to invent the work God should do, but to follow His instruction and do what He has said should happen and to allow it to happen according to God’s timing and not ours!
If we stand up for what God says we should, things will go a lot better than if we stand up and do what we think God wants. Following instruction can be difficult sometimes when we want things to happen quickly. We should not be put off by what others are saying and how others are saying it should happen – trust God and obey God!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you make things happen when it looks like they are taking too long?
Are you ready to wait on God and trust Him fully?
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March 26: Jeremiah 20:7-9
Key Verse: Jeremiah 20:9
But if I say, ‘I will not mention his word or speak any more in his name,’ his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.
Devotion:
Sometimes, as a Christian, we are called to do something which will upset others – not because God wants us to upset others, but because we have to do what is right! When Jeremiah was called to prophesy things about the future and the land, the priests got very upset when they heard things would not go their way. They were upset things would not longer be in their control but in the hands of someone else!
After he was beaten up and clamped in stocks for the night, the priest called Jeremiah to hear him again – expecting that Jeremiah would have changed his story to be more amenable. Instead, Jeremiah told how all of Judah would fall to the Babylonians and they would be taken off into exile to Babylon. Not what they wanted to hear at all!
Jeremiah complained to God saying it was not nice to have to tell the people they would be over-run, exiled and be in a horrible place for a while. But even though the words were difficult to say to the priests, Jeremiah said he would not be able to keep them in – he would have to tell the people the truth!
God wants us to tell people the truth so they can be prepared for what is ahead and also give them time to think about their lives and hopefully turn to God instead. When we have God’s Word in our hearts, it will burn like a fire and want to expand and be free. It is hard to hold a fire back when there is so much fuel around it. This is the picture Jeremiah is painting for us. Allow God’s word to be spread as quickly as it can be, no matter how much it may cost.
Points to Ponder:
Do you get scared when you are called to tell someone about God?
Imagine it like a fire and them the fuel – simply give it to them and God will do the rest!
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March 25: Hebrews 10:1-4
Key Verse: Hebrews 10:3
But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins.
Devotion:
Have you ever wondered why we do the things we do in our churches? Most of the things we do, we do because it is traditional or habitual to do so. The church and religious organisations have imposed many things onto us and you may object to some... so why do we do them?
I have been to quite a few places of worship where I have wondered where they have got the idea for doing what they do and almost always get the answer of something like “they have always done it this way.” Let’s face it, people do not like change because they become comfortable in the habitual ways because they know what is coming and they can cope with that better than the unknown.
When God was preparing for Jesus to come and be amongst us, it was not going to be the same old thing – it was going to be something entirely new and unheard of. People were going to be upset and object and all sorts of things – just because it was different. God imposed strict ways on the Israelites so they would get used to the idea of living their lives for God instead of for themselves. Over time, they grew comfortable with the way things were and imposed stricter laws to prevent people from rocking the boat.
This is not what God was interested in. He wanted people to focus on Him and not on habits or traditions. He wanted to free the people from their own entrapment! We get trapped in the ways we invent – we become obsessed with those ways and we lose focus on what is real – on whom we should be worshipping. There is nothing new here because mankind has done this over and over again throughout history! But it is not God’s ways – they may well be ways in which we can remember God or draw closer to Him, so some of them we look at as being good or even righteous. But God is doing new things...
Points to Ponder:
Do you like traditional church?
Will you embrace what God asks of you instead of what tradition asks of you?
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March 24: John 8:31-38
Key Verse: John 8:36
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Devotion:
I always find the language fascinating as used by the people at the time this was happening. To be able to wonder where they were in their hearts and where they were spiritually gives the gospels so much more body! We could look at this and wonder why they could not see their history as we see it. You could look at this and think why they could not recognise Jesus as the Messiah. Or you could look at this and wonder what God wants you to gain from it!
If you are not wondering what God wants you to learn, then, just maybe, you are trying to lay the blame on someone else’s shoulders. This is the stance we take too many times in our lives – we want to apportion some blame on someone else or make it so there is a defined reason for everything which happened... Maybe what we should be doing more often is stopping what we are doing and thinking about what we can learn from these words!
God gave us the bible so we could learn more, draw closer to Him and apportion praise and worship where it should be sent rather than blaming others for things we do not have control over. God wants us to grow in our lives with Him and not to be strangled by pit holes and trappings we cannot avoid because of our nature.
When we accept Christ’s ways into our lives we are going to find a new freedom in our lives which when have never had before. Before, when we felt trapped by unseen forces and circumstance, we can step back and see a new way forward offering us hope and freedom with God at the middle! Aim for what Christ is trying to teach us and not for how we can blame others for things wrong in our lives.
Points to Ponder:
Do you like blaming others?
Will you accept the path Christ lays before you?
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March 23: John 8:27-30
Key Verse: John 8:28
So Jesus said, ‘When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.
Devotion:
How many times have you not believed something until it was too late? I know I have been in that boat many times before and so, now, I tend to believe my friends and family and I have not missed out in so much anymore; but it also means I have to spend more time supporting friends and family too. That has made me a much better person!
I believe this is one of the main reasons why Jesus wants us to love and support our neighbours so much. If we can all draw closer and spend more time together, Covid depending, then I believe our communities will grow into much better places to live. When I first moved onto an estate in London, I was very surprised by the amount of people who were willing to take a chance and make a difference. Don’t be put off by the look of a problem or by the statistics the government or other authorities put on different places – God knows what is in people’s hearts much more than we do. Trust Him.
Jesus knew what lay ahead for Him and He knew how much He was going to have to do in order for us to know Him as the Son of God. He was willing to do this all despite the horror which lay ahead. If He was willing to do this for us even before we knew Him, then how much more should we be willing to do this for the people we are getting to know in our communities!
God has spent a lot of time preparing the ground – we need to come in and tend to the ground so His long-standing work is not in vain! Just as you love and support your God, love and support your community because God has put the people into your community for a reason!
Points to Ponder:
How many opportunities do you see in your community?
What are you going to do about it?
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March 22: John 8:2-11
Key Verse: John 8:11
‘No one, sir,’ she said. ‘Then neither do I condemn you,’ Jesus declared. ‘Go now and leave your life of sin.’
Devotion:
How quick are you to blame someone for doing something wrong? Do you talk about people and say how many bad things they have done? Do you use the law of the land or ‘righteousness’ to say how some people are bad people? We all do this to a certain extent because we live in a land where we have to uphold the law.
When the teachers of the law had Jesus in front of them, they brought in a person who had been caught in the act of adultery. Now, according to the laws handed down via Moses, someone who was caught in the act of adultery should be stoned to death! Not nice, but those were the laws to try and prevent people from causing so much pain and hurt in other peoples’ lives.
When they confronted Jesus, He asked which one of them had not done something wrong in their lives... and none of them could answer because, just like you and I, they had done something wrong. Let’s face facts – we are all guilty of something or other and because of that, we don’t really have the right to bring judgement upon others!
God has taught us we need to have witnesses and trials to make sure people who are accused of doing wrong get what they deserve – but when it comes to taking a life, do we really have the right if we have done things wrong in our lives which can be just as damaging as what they have done wrong. This is a debatable topic and one which has caused many countries to stop the death penalty all together. Jesus is willing to forgive anything we have done is we are willing to try and change after admitting what we have done is wrong in God’s eyes.
Points to Ponder:
Do you blame others for what is wrong in your community?
Have you tried changing your community through love?