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November 20: Luke 23:33-43
Key Verse: Luke 23:40
But the other criminal rebuked him. ‘Don’t you fear God,’ he said, ‘since you are under the same sentence?
Devotion:
It is amazing to see the power of a crowd. The more people hear them the more others want to join in and things get out of hand very quickly. Many a riot is started by one person who sews an idea into others heads and that idea grows like a cancer until it has consumed the crowd and people are all doing what they ought not to do; and they are doing it willingly in their own minds...
The crowd was certainly won over by the chief priests who shouted out that Jesus should be crucified! They all joined in until it was too late and the Romans were worried too many people may start a riot which could not be contained. They gave in and crucified Jesus along with two other criminals who had done very bad deeds.
Jesus refused to give in to the crowd as they jeered and mocked Him. He refused to allow them to break His heart because His heart was set on accomplishing what His Father had set out to do – to save us all from our sinful ways! The two criminals who were also being hanged had very different hearts. The one refused to admit he was in the wrong and jeered with the crowd to try and get Jesus to use His powers to set them free.
The other criminal admitted his sins before Jesus and knew in his own heart he deserved to be punished; he was sorry for what he had done. Jesus saw inside the hearts of the two men and spoke out to the one who admitted his own guilt telling him he would join Jesus in Heaven presently!
Points to Ponder:
Do you give in and follow the crowd?
Or will you admit your shortcomings and follow Jesus?
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November 19: Luke 20:27-40
Key Verse: Luke 20:38
He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.
Devotion:
As humans we all get caught up in death, what happens when we die, how we react to people dying and many other aspects of death. When the Sadducees came to Jesus, they were caught up in what happens when people die because this is what they thought was the end of life. They wanted to know what other people should do when friends or family die.
A couple of days ago was the anniversary of my father passing away and we are all very thankful he knew Jesus as his Saviour and that he is now with Jesus in Heaven! My last words with my dad the day before he died were a reminder of how easy his life would be from then on – he knew he was going to be with Jesus. I did not have to worry about what would happen to him nor would I have to worry about what happens about his marriage and his second marriage after my birth mother died earlier… because I knew these words which Jesus reminds us of here.
When we get to be with Jesus in Heaven we will not have to worry about who we will have to love because God’s love will cover us all. The love we will have in Heaven will be toward all people in Heaven as well as God and we will share in that love. I wonder whether the Sadducees understood how wonderful and fulfilling the love is Heaven would be. The love Jesus was showing to all people whilst here on earth was just the side of it we see – because our human minds need to see love in action…
This is why we fall in love, marry and have families. We need a physical aspect or manifestation of love so we can understand it. The love we share with people does not go away, but we learn to love other people as we move on in our lives. In Heaven that love will always be present – eternal love!
Points to Ponder:
What do you do with your love when something goes wrong in life?
Will you allow God to share a stronger and eternal love with you?
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November 18: Luke 19:45-48
Key Verse: Luke 19:46
‘It is written,’ he said to them, ‘“My house will be a house of prayer”; but you have made it “a den of robbers”.’
Devotion:
What sort of things do you get up with your community and your church? Do you focus only on the people who have committed themselves to follow Christ or do you reach out and get everyone involved? Do you get involved with things in the community? How far do you go? These are all difficult choices we continue to make in our lives; sometimes we can’t stand to be around worldly people and we withdraw to what we think is a safe place.
Sometimes we get too involved with worldly ways and we get a bit off track in our own lives. What God focuses on is what is in our hearts and the work we do because of what is in our hearts. It is no good just thinking of ourselves and knowing we are safe in God’s hands. It is no good running around in worldly ways because we think people in the church are too insular… there is a middle ground which is hard to define unless we follow what God has already written down for us.
Our bibles are a constant source of righteousness and ways in which we should be living. Following God’s ways by following what He has written down for us is always a better way forward. What we must not do, though, is bend the words of the bible to suit our own ways or worldly ways just so we can have a good time.
It may sound like it is ok and may ‘taste’ good at the time, but if we are sinning against God, the sin will find us out and we will have to face up to the consequences of our actions. We will also have to face the consequences of our lack of actions!
Points to Ponder:
What rules do you follow in life?
Does God approve of your actions?
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November 17: Isaiah 11:1-5
Key Verse: Isaiah 11:4
but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
Devotion:
Many people do not look into the scriptures because they see a church where people don’t seem to be following the ideals they think people should follow; people have this idea church people will never do anything wrong and when they see someone do something wrong, they turn away thinking the whole church is like that! This is something we face as church people all around the world!
If we look back into the scriptures which were written many years ago we see stories which may shock us and stories we find distasteful because they differ so much from our modern lives. Well, if we lives during those times we may find they are just normal stories and nothing out of the ordinary. You see, even people inside church congregations get things wrong and mess up!
Even back during these times a promise was made that a Saviour would come to save us from all the things we do wrong. That Saviour was Jesus Christ, born to a virgin who's name was Mary. This man was actually the Son of God and He came to give us hope and eternal life. He did not come to judge us like a stern teacher or church leader. Instead He came to judge people through their hearts instead!
He lifts us the poor and needy, breaks down the proud and fickle, helps the helpless and warns the people who refuse to help those He asks to help… He is our judge, but He judges with a righteousness not found in ordinary humans, but one found in Him.
Points to Ponder:
Do you feel like your are too guilty to go to church?
Do you realise all the people in church are actually sinners?
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November 16: Luke 19:11-28
Key Verse: Luke 19:14
‘But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, “We don’t want this man to be our king.”
Devotion:
This is one of those parables which Jesus told people, whether this was said twice in slightly different format or whether the disciples remember it differently, we can work out a lot from looking into it. So there was this important guy who was going away for something important and he gave charge of parts of his land or investments to three other people… That's about the gist of it!
In this account the people who were put in charge did not want this person to return with even more power; maybe they were secretly hoping he would never return! But he did! They did not know when he was going to return, just that they were told he would return. Sound familiar? It should do because Jesus has promised to return at a time unknown and he has left us, the people, in charge of things!
So what are we doing with the responsibility Jesus has given us. Have we buried the gospel and are hoping to bring it out just as He returns so we have something to show? Have we worked a bit and played a bit and generally done a half baked job? Or have we committed our ways to spreading the gospel through our actions and our words?
Jesus has given us charge of a very important task. The ball is in our court and He is watching to see what we are going to do with it. The time is now. The opportunities are endless. The chance is ours to take or to discard!
Points to Ponder:
Have you taken God at His word?
Or are you waiting for something to happen first?
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November 15: Psalm 15:1-5
Key Verse: Psalm 15:2
The one whose way of life is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart;
Devotion:
This is one of those Psalms which makes us realise just how far short of the mark we all fall when it comes to being like Jesus. We can safely say Jesus is holy because He was able to continue doing the right thing at all times, keeping the Fathers word, making sure people heard the gospel and helping people no matter what their background!
Do we deserve to live in heaven with Him? No! But we are going to because He stepped in and took the punishment for all the little things we do wrong (and the big things!) Jesus knew we were going to fall short of the mark so stepped in to make sure we would pass! Maybe like letting someone else take your exam for you so your certificate gives a 100% mark! (But obviously not cheating like that!)
Think about each of the points raised here and think about how you approach them in your life. Do you pass with flying colours, or do you still have a bit of work to do. I know I have work to do on so many of these items. I try to keep these points, but I know I fall short when push comes to shove.
Some of the hardest points to keep are the ones where we have to be polite to people who are rude to us or be nice to people who mistreat us… It does not mean we have to be a push-over, but there is a difference between standing firm in what is right and doing something just to spite someone else. Jesus did not show spite, and nor should we...
Points to Ponder:
How tough do you find life?
Will you try to allow Jesus more room to teach you?
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November 14: Luke 18:35-43
Key Verse: Luke 18:42
Jesus said to him, ‘Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.’
Devotion:
How many times have you read passages in your bible where something has happened to a person because they have believed in God? I know it is a difficult thing to hear, especially when you have things going wrong in your life or when people have let you down – but God does look after us and does change the things around us to help and protect us!
I had a hard time believing God would do anything for me as a stroppy teenager, and I still have my doubts at times; but enough things have happened in my life to ensure I do trust and obey God. I have had things work themselves out as soon as I asked God for help. I have had things which took ‘forever’ to work out when I asked… But God always comes through and helps out when I ask.
That is the key thing here. We have to ask! This blind man who was sitting by the roadside outside of Jericho would not have known it was Jesus coming along. We can only assume there was a bit of a hustle and bustle happening which made him ask what was happening. When he heard it was Jesus, he had no delay in shouting out for help from Jesus! He was bold and he was a believer – he also had nothing to lose!
Jesus saw what was in his heart and immediately healed the man making sure he understood it was because of his faith and belief in God. If we are willing to have faith and believe in Jesus too, then He is willing to help us out; but we have to wait for His answer knowing He is going to answer!
Points to Ponder:
How patient are you with your prayers?
Do you give God time to answer?
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November 13: Malachi 4:1-3
Key Verse: Malachi 4:1
‘Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘Not a root or a branch will be left to them.
Devotion:
I think many Christians grow up thinking everything is going to be OK and we will all get to heaven in the end. What God has warned us about and has told us over and over again in the scriptures is there is going to be a time when He says enough is enough! That day is not going to be what many people expect. There will be some who will tell you when this day will be, but remember, Jesus told the disciples He did not even know when He was here as a human being!
As long as we truly believe Jesus has done what He did for us and is our Saviour, then we will not have to worry about this day because we will get to be with Christ in heaven before the destruction of things. This is not to say we will not see natural disasters and horrific events (such as the ever present worry about a nuclear event) because these continue to happen (but hopefully not the nuclear one) all around the world.
Then there is the ‘reality’ side of things where we live in this world and have people who seem to be intent on the destruction of property and/or people. We all live in this world and so we are all affected by these types of people. Just because we say we are a Christian will not stop us from being hurt when we are standing next to someone when an avalanche happens… I believe if we are truly listening to God, then He would warn us to stay away from that place if we have more work to do for Him…
God is good; it’s the people of this world we have to worry about!
Points to Ponder:
Do you believe and trust in God?
Do you listen?
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November 12: 3 John 1:5-8
Key Verse: 3 John 1:6
They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way in a manner that honours God.
Devotion:
How many strangers have knocked on your door recently; maybe trying to sell something, to ask for money or your vote or other strange reasons. How did you treat them? Would you have treated them any differently if they had known you were a Christian?
We do tend to treat people differently based on current circumstances, how well you know them and how much you like them. How does that relate to the way Jesus treated people when He was with us? Jesus treated all people equally. It did not matter if you were a king or a beggar, He would treat you with respect and humility. But if you worked against God then Jesus would have no problem telling you where you had gone wrong and what God thought of it!
When I was young and just out of university there were not many jobs going so I went along to join a sales team with some door to door sales… This is where I learned a very different story to the advert for the job; the sales people were dishonest in their dealings with people. I could not handle telling people lies when I could see they clearly could not afford the books we were trying to sell them! I left before the day ended!
Jesus wants us to treat strangers the same way as we treat our friends and family, always telling them the truth and sharing the gospel story with them wherever we can. When we see others doing God’s work, we should be willing to step in and help wherever we can too. The goal is to share Jesus with the whole world!
Points to Ponder:
How do you treat strangers to your door?
Will you greet someone differently today?
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November 11: 2 John 1:4-9
Key Verse: 2 John 1:6
And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
Devotion:
Today we remember all those who have gone before us and have served their country in order to keep us safe. We remember them for their sacrifice and their willingness to give the ultimate price for keeping other people safe – what love!
Jesus always reminded people they need to love one another and the disciples took this forward to all the places they visited, encouraging more people to share love instead of wars. We continue to face wars and all manner of fighting from people not sharing love and not caring for others; the opposite of what Jesus was trying to get us to do.
What is left from all the wars and the fighting? The pain of sorrow. Our feelings for those who have given their lives for us should never diminish over time, but they do because our memories grow cold and as generations move to new generations, people don’t remember the fallen like those who’s brothers and sisters fell.
God wants us to remember our love for others, even during these torrid times. He wants us to remember love will be so much better than the loss we will incur after fighting wars with our neighbours. We need to continue remembering the fallen generation after generation so the new generations can see the loss in real terms, but we also need to share the love so they can compare the loss with the love...
Points to Ponder:
Will you remind your children of the importance of remembering the fallen?
Will you remind your children of the importance of love to prevent the wars?