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December 4: Matthew 5:3-10
Key Verse: Matthew 5:4
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Devotion:
Today we say a fond farewell to my father who has fought a long battle with cancer; to us it is an “au revoir pour le moment” and not a final goodbye. We know he loved Jesus and lived his life for Christ, always caring for others.
As a child, I often though he was strict, but as an adult I look back and see how he was keeping me on track with the way God wanted us to live. He never forced God or religion on me, allowing me to make my own choices and live the life I thought was best; but always trying to show me a way of hope he knew inside.
I do pray each of you will meet someone in your life who has a hidden agenda, one which wants you to know about Jesus whilst not bashing you on the head with words which seem meaningless at the time. After living on an estate in London for a few years, I can honestly say I have learned how people need each other and need the love and support of a whole community in order to grow.
If that community has God at its centre, then that community will prosper in the long run. It may have aches and pains in the beginning as the old self is put aside and the new life in Christ is embraced, but the long-term gains of peace and love far outweigh any grumbles in the beginning.
Just like my dad looked at these words and accepted them in his heart for others, so our Father in Heaven looks to us to lift up these words to others and give them hope in this crazy world.
Points to Ponder:
Do you know someone who needs a virtual hug today?
Will you ask God how you can bless someone today?
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December 3: Isaiah 7:13-17
Key Verse: Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Devotion:
I wonder how many people took notice of these prophecies from Isaiah at the time. It could not have been too many people otherwise this would not be a message which carried good and bad news. The good news being a Saviour was going to be born who would come to be amongst us. The bad news being some rough times lay ahead... and this was about 700 years before Christ was to come!
We can look back on prophecies like these and do all the wondering we can think of, but the truth is still there. The more we walk away from God and His ways, the more we invite rough times into our lives. This goes for everyone in the world and not just a few select Christians!
But, let’s not focus on the rough times – we seem to have our fair share of them all around the world now; but things are looking positive for next year! Let us, instead, focus on the promise God gave to us – a promise of a Saviour! Jesus came to fulfil that promise and to give us a new hope to look forward with and the certainty via a promise fulfilled!
When we focus our lives on Christ, we get to learn more about Him in a shorter time than just trying to live righteously. We bring Him into our lives where He can do more with us and fill our lives with the peace and joy He has also promised. These are things we can look back on and know the promises were made but and kept. God has not changed and will not change – His promises still stand firm!
Points to Ponder:
What part of Christmas are you looking forward to?
Will you make sure Christ is in Christmas this year?
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December 2: Zechariah 9:9
Key Verse: Zechariah 9:9
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Devotion:
Can you imagine what we would do with someone who came and said they knew a new king was coming into town, one who would bring peace through his actions; and he was going to ride into town on a bicycle instead of in a great big limousine! I think we would ridicule this person for saying something too outrageous for us to believe...
But Zechariah was talking here about Jesus coming to Jerusalem, the capital city where everything important was always held. The fortress where people could feel safe if they were to be attacked. A place where God was proclaimed and where He was worshipped in the biggest and best temples...
We tend to focus too much on the power or the riches of our leaders. We follow the rich and famous. We want to see people who have great presence and can talk the talk. We think we are voting to people who should serve us, the community. We think we bring people into government who will listen to us and do what we want. What we get are people who crave power above all else. We get people who are corrupted by power and greed...
We are God’s children. We are the ones who need to shout about God and to rejoice in all He does in our lives. We are here to worship Him and share His Word with others. We don’t get to vote Him into power, but we do get to invite Him into our lives, to be the driving forces in our lives instead of the corruption of power and greed.
Points to Ponder:
Who do you invite into your life each day?
Will you stop and invite Jesus to take control of your life?
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December 1: James 1:16-18
Key Verse: James 1:17
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
Devotion:
Sometimes we are tempted to go off the rails and do things which we know are not right – the more we do this, the more we think it is OK, if we don’t get caught doing it! But what we forget it God is always watching us and sees everything we do both physically and in our minds and hearts! We often make up excuses saying it is probably OK with God because He has not stopped us from doing it!
That is not how God works. God is not going to support us doing things wrong and sinning. God is not going to have any part of the evil we get up to. God wants the very best for us and He will try to support us in doing what is righteous. All the good and great things we gain in our lives can be said to come from God – He is the creator and author of everything... yet still gives us free choice to do what we please.
He is not going to stand by quietly when we do what we please instead of what He is asking – but too often we ignore all the warning signs because we don’t like them. We ignore all the instructions we find difficult to take because we don’t like them. This does not mean God is giving up on us; rather we are continuing to walk away from Him!
God will never change. He is our Lord. He is everything. He is love. He created everything for us. We now have the choice at to what we do with His creation. We have the choice to follow Him and His Word, or to follow our own wants and desires. Why not change your direction a little to be more in line with God’s direction and see what He gives you as you do!
Points to Ponder:
Do you continue to ignore instruction just because you don’t like it?
Will you turn and face Jesus and ask for His instruction?
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November 30: Matthew 4:18-22
Key Verse: Matthew 4:19
‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’
Devotion:
What is your first reaction when a friend asks you to do something which will take you away from what you want to do? We all react differently to requests from friends and differently again to requests from family. When a friend asks you to do something with or for them, they do not know what is going on in your heart and mind at that moment – if they are very good friends, they could probably guess...
God knows what is going on in our minds and hearts and He is also aware of what we need to ensure our hearts and minds remain in a fit state; something we often struggle with when things go wrong. God is not going to step forward and ask you to walk off a cliff or to ask you to tell a loved one you do not want to see them again – that would not be right.
But sometimes God is going to ask you to do something you may not have thought of before, or something which will stretch your abilities or comfort zones. We, after all, feel most comfortable doing things which we are accustomed to doing – things which make us feel good or things we are used to doing. God may well ask you to step out of that comfort zone!
How we react is going to define our relationship with God. When He does ask something big of us, He will do so because He knows we can do it and we need to do it. When Jesus asked the disciples to follow Him and be fishers of men, He was asking them to leave the comfort of their everyday jobs and livelihoods to do something with sounded irrational to many people; but not to them because they knew God!
Points to Ponder:
Do you really listen to God?
Are you doing what God is asking or doing what is comfortable for you?
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November 29: Mark 13:24-31
Key Verse: Mark 13:28
Now learn this lesson from the fig-tree: as soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.
Devotion:
Our bibles tell us of a time when Jesus will return and take all remaining believers home to be with God in Heaven. The return is described in various ways according to who is describing the return; each of us see what we think are the important facts and we will tell of those facts, the same is true with the return of our Lord. Each disciple clung onto what they heard and retold what meant most to them – therefore we see variances in our bible between the gospel accounts.
The bible also tells us we need to be ready for the return of Jesus, because we do not know when it will be. But the bible does tell us of things we will notice before Christ’s return... just as we see the buds appearing in the trees before summer and the leaves changing colour before winter, we will see things happening before Jesus returns. And many of those things are happening now.
What God is showing us is we need to be ready all the time, not just getting ready for summer in spring, or getting ready for winter in autumn, but ready for Christ’s return always. This does mean we should be doing what God asks of us when He asks and not waiting until the last moment.
We are now in Autumn and going into winter in the UK. The leaves are turning colour and falling; we have work to do to clean up the leaves. Soon we will be in winter and we will look up at many bare trees which have lost their leaves. This season always reminds me of the poor and lonely because they often see the world as if it is permanently winter – where everything is bare all the time. Now, more than ever, we need to tell people of the hope which we have in Christ Jesus.
Points to Ponder:
Do you like Autumn (or Fall)?
Who are you looking out for this winter?
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November 28: John 14:6-14
Key Verse: John 14:8
Philip said, ‘Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.’
Devotion:
How many times do we ask for proof God exists? How many times do we ask for some sort of miracle just so we can believe a little bit more? We are always seeking proof and doubting when we do not get the proof – because it is by faith we live and not by physical proof! Well, we have had the physical proof, we have the eyewitnesses written testimony, we have the records of all the miracles... and still we doubt.
Jesus would not have had to go to the cross if we did not need it. Jesus would not have come to live amongst us if we did not need it. But He did. He did this all because of His continuing and unwavering love for us all. We do need to remember why rather than just the facts and figures. Facts and figures seem to lose their weight after a while as we grow dull to the news.
We do need to remember these words Jesus spoke to the disciples and the reason why Philip would ask for Jesus to show them God the Father. Jesus spoke these words because they, like is, struggled with how they could draw closer to God. We should be approaching God through Jesus because it is He who has given His life to be the advocate acting on our behalf. God knew He could not accept anyone who was a sinner into Heaven, so by allowing Jesus to come and be the perfect sacrifice, the one who took away all of our sins, God can accept us as people made perfect by His Son.
We need to thank God daily for allowing Jesus to come to us and be our Saviour. We need to ask for forgiveness for each of the things we do wrong and try to change our ways so we don’t carry on doing things wrong. Jesus has paid the price, but it does not give us free access to do anything we like from now on!
Points to Ponder:
Do you know Jesus is your Saviour?
Will you have faith to trust Jesus?
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November 27: James 1:12-15
Key Verse: James 1:12
Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.
Devotion:
We are all going to face trials in our lives, whether it is public, personal, physical, mental or spiritual; trials are a part of life and how we deal with them defines who we become. If we continue to crumble under pressure or trial, then we may become used to those trials and we may just accept them as part of our lives when they are not. But if we continue to try and fight them, we may gain the strength needed to endure them or the wisdom to overcome them.
But one thing remains certain, when we do face trials, we need to enlist the help of our Lord to guide us through the trial so we can best get through the trials. God wants us to be able to get through our trials with the best outcome. This is not to say God is tempting us, but God wants to be with us when we do face trials. God cannot be tempted by anything behind our trials and will, should we listen, guide us through them.
Many times we wander off to have a look at things we ought not to or turn away from God’s strength to try and do it by ourselves. It is at these times when we walk alone where we may trip over our own feet and fall into the temptations. It is not because God is not watching us close enough, but us who are wandering away from God’s protection.
The more we take on the tasks of life by ourselves, the weaker we often become because we cannot face the trials continually. We do need help, be it from a friend who is going to stand with us or from God holding us up, there is always someone who is willing to help. Often, we do not ask for help and end up wondering why we do not get any help... most people are willing to help if they are asked first – the same with God!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you face trials?
How often do you ask for help?
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November 26: Hebrews 12:1-3
Key Verse: Hebrews 12:3
Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Devotion:
I must say, the last week has been hard after losing Dad, but also very enlightening as we remember all he was able to do as part of a greater church family. Yesterday I found a cross with the word persevere on it and Dad’s name scribed on the back; so a couple of words about perseverance follow!
There are many little things which hold us back in our lives, things which prevent us from doing the right thing or from obeying God’s will in our lives. Now, we all remember there is a time for everything, but we must also remember there is always time for us to turn away from the small distractions in our lives – you know, the ones which stop us going to a church service or from helping our neighbour when they need it...
We do need to display a certain amount of perseverance – to carry on going when the going gets tough. Jesus did not stop before going to the cross because it got a bit tough – he continued to follow God’s instructions no matter what the cost was going to be for His human body. God is not asking us to give our own lives on a cross for the rest of the world – He has already done that. But He may well be asking you to do something which seems like it will be uncomfortable.
We do need to stop and pray. To think about what we are doing and what God has asked us to do. We need to remember God has the plan and He will not ask us to do things which go against His plan. But when He asks us to do something which goes against our own plans and work toward His greater good – we need to stop and listen. Persevere through the hard times.
Points to Ponder:
Do you know what God’s plan is in your life?
Are you going to put aside your plans and allow God to work?
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November 25: Hebrews 12:14-17
Key Verse: Hebrews 12:17
Afterwards, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done.
Devotion:
How hard do you try to live in peace with the people around you? What do you do when someone annoys you a bit too much? What do you do when you are tempted by something you gave into in the past? All these questions are hypothetical because we change according to our current circumstances...
God would love to see us being able to avoid temptations and to live a holy life with Him at the centre; but we are what we are and do give in to temptations more than we like to admit. What we do after we realise what we have done is what will shape our futures and count for or against us. God wants us to be open with Him and admit to our weaknesses before we get into trouble – He wants to be able to help us avoid the consequences of temptations by strengthening us to move away from those temptations in the first place!
If we chose to accept and live in our misgivings instead of admitting them to God, then we are choosing to live against God. We are actively rejecting God’s ways!
What happens when you get caught out for doing something wrong; most likely you are punished in some way. These punishments, or the threat of these punishments are there to try and persuade us away from doing wrong in the first place. When we face the threat of the punishment and ignore it, we get to face the consequences of that punishment after the fact. God does not want to have to dish out punishments, but He is ultimately just and will regrettably deal out punishment for those who ignore the warnings.
Points to Ponder:
Do you read warning signs or ignore them?
Do you ignore God’s warnings?