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April 19: Acts 2:36-41
Key Verse: Acts 2:39
The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.
Devotion:
You can see the difference in how the disciples, now apostles, taught others about Jesus. When Jesus was with them in human form, they were not so forthright and willing to pass on every bit of knowledge they had. But now Jesus had shown them everything and had demonstrated the ultimate love for us all, they wanted everyone to know about this love.
No longer was it a love which was behind sacrifices and what seemed to be a long lesson through the desert, no longer did they have to demonstrate their love for God by being willing to give up what they had on this earth to be able to obtain animals which were fit for sacrifice. They knew why Jesus had come to die on the cross. They knew why Jesus was willing to do this all for them; because it was the ultimate demonstration of His love for us.
This love was not limited to the disciples, or to the Jews, or to good people or to those who were willing to sacrifice; this was open to every person who was willing to believe in what Jesus had done. As a demonstration of that belief, we repent of our sins and even get baptised. When we put aside our doubts and truly believe Jesus dies for us, we are able to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit; this being what Jesus had said would happen!
We do need to step back from the corrupt ways of this world and be willing to accept Christ’s ways. We must be willing to admit to our sins and turn away from them. We must be willing to try and change our lives, not because we can do it by ourselves, but because God wants to help us do it! Christ took the first step to show us the Love God has for us and through Him we now have access to eternal life and the strength to turn away from evil!
Points to Ponder:
Do you accept what Jesus has done for you?
Will you trust what Jesus has promised for you?
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April 18: Matthew 28:8-15
Key Verse: Matthew 28:13
telling them, ‘You are to say, “His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.”
Devotion:
This is where we see the true colours of the people who were in charge of things during these times many years ago. We now see this echoing during our modern times as we witness politicians making extraordinarily terrible choices for human beings. The chief priests made choices they believed were right to make, but everyone around them saw the choices in the true light of day – terrible and long lasting pain and misery for the people they think they are protecting.
We see people in power making choices we cannot believe they are doing; we see the truth and wonder how they cannot see the truth because it is seemingly right in front of them! But, just as there are people in charge who will make terrible choices, there are also peers who will go along with those choices! How do I know? Because I have gone along with some horrible choices others have made, choices I am not proud of, but choices I have learned from.
I pray the leaders in our countries can take note of this story from the bible and realise just how pertinent it is to their choices they make. I pray we, as leaders of various sorts, take not of this story and make it pertinent to the choices we make in our lives which are going to affect others.
Each choice we make will not just affect us and our lives, but all the people around us and their lives too. The more we follow Christ’s words to love our neighbours, the more we will begin to think about these choices we make which affect so many more people that we first realise.
Points to Ponder:
Are you following bad examples given to you by others?
Will you try to stand up with the truth and change peoples lives for the better?
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April 17: Luke 24:1-12
Key Verse: Luke 24:3
but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
Devotion:
Have you ever lost anything? How about something which was precious and irreplaceable? I know that feeling all too well – and this moment when the women say Jesus’ body was no longer there must have been a tad worse! They came early in the morning to try and make sure Jesus’ body was best prepared for His final resting place – or so they thought!
God did not leave them wondering either; instead He sent two angels to tell the women what had happened, to give them comfort. These angels already knew what had happened and they did not give a long explanation as to what had happened… shouldn’t people have already known because they had been told!
Sometimes we do lose track of the directions God gives us and we step out of line because we turn back to what we think the world can do instead of relying on what God can do. We turn back to our earthly ways because that is what we can see, touch and smell. God is not limited by our senses or what the world can do. If we truly trust and believe in Him, our benefits and direction are guaranteed and we should always know the answers.
But we are human and we get trapped by the world and the limitations of our minds. We allow ourselves to be convinced by the people around us and what we can touch, smell, hear and see. We allow our world to be limited to what we can imagine. Yes it is difficulty to allow our imaginations to accept everything God can do, but we also need to trust Him and believe nothing is impossible for Him.
Points to Ponder:
How often are you limited by your thoughts?
He is risen! Hallelujah!
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April 16: Matthew 27:62-66
Key Verse: Matthew 27:64
So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.’
Devotion:
After Jesus had given His life up on the cross, people started doing strange things – most of them for selfish reasons. Joseph had asked for Jesus body to be given to him so he could bury Jesus in the tomb he had reserved for his family; this was out of love for the Lord! Of course, others helped Joseph and I’m sure quite a few people were willing to help out and stay guard over the body too.
But the chief priests and the Pharisees had other ideas. They had been talking amongst themselves and knew Jesus had said he would rise again in three days time. Their counting of three days and what actually happened is a bit different, but still three days by Jewish law. The Pharisees were worried someone would come and take the body and make it look like Jesus had risen – they were not so worried He would because they had never seen anyone do that before!
What they did not count on was the power of God working for those who love Him. What they were doing was taking the world before Christ and doing what they could to remain in power over the people. They had seen how the Romans would cave in to pressure and they had no wish to back down now!
Once again the Romans caved in and listened to the priests and Pharisees. They sent some guards to go and secure the tomb and also stay guard over the tomb to make sure nobody came in. They had seen their earthly power increase when the Romans gave in and now they wanted more power – the pride and greed which comes with earthly power is tantalising to many.
Points to Ponder:
Do you look to earthly success and power?
Have you considered Christ’s power instead?
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April 15: John 17:1-5
Key Verse: John 17:5
And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
Devotion:
How often do you feel guilty about praying for yourself? I know I sometimes do even though I know God is listening to me and I know God will answer my prayers, I still feel guilty about asking God for things when so many people around me do not have things! We don’t have to look very far to see the desperate need of so many people around the world; from those in war torn countries to those where disasters have torn people away from the basic needs of their lives!
Yet, despite all of this, when we pray to our Heavenly Father, He is listening and He will answer! Jesus knew what was going to happen to Him and He still stepped forward into the breach! What gave Him to confidence to do so – the Love of His Father for us and the love He has for us!
Is it OK to pray for yourself? YES! God has promised us eternal life when we believe in Him. When we feel that is threatened or we are losing confidence, we should be praying for ourselves so we can get back on track! Jesus knew what was going to happen so He prayed God the Father would glorify Him just as He was when He was in Heaven. Did He need to pray this? I don’t think so because God had already said this was His Son; but He prayed this for a reason.
When we go back and read what Jesus did this day many many years ago, we are shown the example by which to live. To make sure God is involved in our lives before anything else! Jesus prayed for normality before He prayed for anything else, because that is what was important. When we are down or threatened, we should be praying for ourselves so we have the courage and strength to step forward and pray for everything else because praying for anything is a lot easier when we know we are safe first of all!
Points to Ponder:
How safe do you feel with God?
Will you secure your place so you can pray confidently for others?
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April 14: John 13:1-11
Key Verse: John 13:8
‘No,’ said Peter, ‘you shall never wash my feet.’ Jesus answered, ‘Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.’
Devotion:
As we remember the events of what happened almost 2000 years ago, we mark today with various events which help us to remember the story. After the Passover meal, Jesus, knowing what was going to happen to Him in the next few hours came together with the disciples for their evening meal. Instead of having a normal meal together, Jesus got up and started to do something very different.
It was customary to wash your feet, or have them washed, after a long day. The open sandals or other footwear they had did not stop the dust and dirt from getting onto your feet – washing them so you could walk inside without spreading further dirt was a very good idea! But Jesus did not get a servant to fetch water and start washing people’s feet, He got down and started washing the disciples feet Himself!
When it was the turn of Simon Peter, he objected and said he should be washing Jesus’ feet and not the other way round. Jesus reply was to allow it to continue, not because it was right or wrong, but because it was something which needed to be done for them to understand what Jesus was doing later on. Simon Peter then jumped at the chance and said he should have his whole body washed if it was that important!
Jesus’ symbolism with the next words needs to be remembered by us all. For those who have had a bath (or been washed) need only have their feet washed to be totally clean – in other words, if we have been forgiven our sins, then we only need forgiveness for the sins we have done since we last were forgiven. He said these words knowing that one of the disciples had already organised to sell Jesus to the authorities!
Points to Ponder:
Do you continue to ask for forgiveness?
Have you brought your latest sins to Christ?
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April 13: Hebrews 12:1-3
Key Verse: Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.
Devotion:
When people ask me why I believe in God or in Jesus, my answer normally starts with “take a look at the world around you.” The more we look into the nature and design of the world around us, never mind the universe, we see so much detail we can be forgiven for getting totally absorbed with looking instead of getting on with our lives!
As a young man I spent some time trying to design what I thought would be the next computers we should be using – my thoughts were deep into using the power of microprocessors and LCD displays to make something portable. I was quite taken by the size and power of microprocessors but also knew they would be worthless without some sort of intelligence being programmed into them to start with.
Forty years on and we now have phones which have more computing power than I had ever dreamed of – and they are totally useless without the operating system to make them work! Without the intelligent design which has happened over the last few decades, we would still be using analogue devices instead of the wonderful digital world of devices we have now.
Then I look at the world around me and I marvel at the intelligent design which has gone into nature in order for us to live on this planet. We may well be destroying it with our greed and lust for everything, but underneath, the world is even more amazing than the devices we take for granted! God made this all possible, and Jesus came to set into motion the instructions which would change our destination forever!
Points to Ponder:
What do you find most amazing about the world?
What will you do to make the world an even better place?
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April 12: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 1:21
For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
Devotion:
How many times have you tried to figure out the questions like “why do things go wrong?” or “why do we have death?” Those are the sort of questions which stop us from understanding God. The more we seek after the answers, the more we figure out we don’t know and the more confused we become about life. God is not asking us to figure out those sort of questions or their answers; He does not expect us to have to find the answers because He knows them already!
Back in the days of the prophets, God wanted us to know we would be confused by these questions and that they should best be left for Him to answer. God tried to get us to understand the more we sought those answers, the more confused we would become and the more frustrated we would be about them.
God wants us to allow Him to handle the difficult questions in our lives and to simply trust Him to do what is best for us. The more the teachers of the law tried to understand the laws, the more they would trip themselves up because the more they would be confused by life.
As time went by, different people sought after different goals because they each chose different answers to the questions they were asking – even though the questions might have been the same to start with! The Jews demanded signs from God so they could believe. The Greeks looked for wisdom and started trusting the philosophers in preference to the prophets.
Points to Ponder:
What are your beliefs based on?
Will you believe and trust in Christ?
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April 11: Hebrews 9:11-15
Key Verse: Hebrews 9:13
The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean.
Devotion:
We live, work and worship in a very imperfect world, a world which continues to sin and breaks God’s laws time and time again. Is it the fault of the world? No! Is it the fault of God? No! It is because we listen to the evil one instead of listening to God. We may not realise we are doing so, but when we stop listening to God, we are listening to everything else around us, including the evil one!
The blood of goats and calves was used to make the people ceremonially clean so they would be able to continue moving forward with God instead of having to face their sins head-on and fail. The only problem with this is there are physical limitations to what signified a clean sacrifice; part of it being the hearts of the people offering the sacrifice as well as the hearts of the people carrying out the ceremonies!
When Jesus stepped forward to offer His own body and blood to be the sacrifice, He was doing this as a single step because He was offering a perfect Sacrifice without any blemishes; one God could never turn down! Because this was the perfect sacrifice, it went a lot further than the animal sacrifices previously offered because the hearts of the people who accept Christ to be their sacrifice know Jesus and are open to being cleansed of everything!
Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant, our advocate for the covenant being signed, sealed and delivered! The first covenant, the laws as described by Moses, and the sacrifices offered because of these laws, were always in a bit of a precarious position. However, Christ being the perfect sacrifice and conclusion of the new covenant, sets us free from any sins we have committed.
Points to Ponder:
How much are you willing to pay for a clean heart?
Will you accept Christ as your full payment for your clean heart?
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April 10: Luke 22:14-20
Key Verse: Luke 22:20
In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
Devotion:
When Jesus sat down at the last Passover meal He would have with the disciples, He instituted what we follow today in our Holy Communion services. Jesus knew this was going to be the last Passover and He wanted it to be special. He knew He was facing punishment, betrayal and finally crucifixion, not because He deserved it, but because we deserve it for all the sins we have done before God!
Jesus took the container of wine He had and told the disciples to share it out amongst them all. He wanted every person around the table to take part in this Passover, not just the feast side of things but the sharing of this wine and bread which would take on a new significance for all of us to come.
Jesus took the bread and He gave thank to God for allowing them to have it in the first place. But sharing a loaf of bread was something they had probably done before, so Jesus made it that much more special by saying they should think of it as His body which was going to be given to them as a sacrifice to cover all sin. Jesus was giving it freely just as He was giving the bread freely.
Then Jesus took the cup of wine He had and asked God’s blessing on it just as He had done with the bread. This was now going to be remembered as the new covenant in His blood… not His blood, but a reminder of the promise He was making which would end in the shedding of His blood in their stead; in our stead.
He did this all in preparation for what was to follow, demonstrating His absolute love for us!
Points to Ponder:
What do you do before you eat and drink?
Will you remember what Christ did for you in future?