June 28: Mark 5:25-31
Key Verse: Mark 5:31
‘You see the people crowding against you,’ his disciples answered, ‘and yet you can ask, “Who touched me?”’
Devotion:
In the gospel reading at church yesterday we heard about Jesus being begged by Jairus to come and heal his daughter who was very ill. Jairus was one of the synagogues leaders. Did this stop Jesus from going to help him? Not at all. Jesus wanted to show people He thought of everyone, from the poorest to the richest, from the most insignificant to the most well-known – Jesus did not choose people according to their positions in society or even in the church.
But in amongst this time when He was being called to go and help Jairus, a woman who had an issue with constantly bleeding for twelve years takes centre stage for a few seconds! She was a complete unknown other than being known by some as the woman with the issue... She was able to move around the crowd without causing mayhem like someone with leprosy would – instead she slowly made her way close enough so she could reach out and touch the tip of Jesus clothes!
It was her firm belief which gave her the strength to make it through the crowd and touch the gown. Ordinarily nobody would have noticed her, seen her reaching out to touch Jesus or even bothered she was not well – they were all too busy trying to either defend Jesus against the push of the crowd, or crowd in so they could see Jesus! But as soon as she touched His clothes, she knew she had and Jesus knew it too!
It was her belief which caused Jesus to notice. Jesus was looking into the hearts of the people around Him all the time and feeling what people felt; I’m sure His heart was going out to many people in that crowd – but His focus was on this single woman for a few seconds. He called her out and she had the courage to say “here I am!”
Points to Ponder:
Do you have enough faith to call out to Jesus?
Will you answer Him if He asks for you?
June 27: Psalm 30:8-10
Key Verse: Psalm 30:9
What is gained if I am silenced, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it proclaim your faithfulness?
Devotion:
Have you ever wondered why God made us; I mean, not just because He loves us, but why did He create us the way we are? We could come up with things like, He was lonely, or He wanted company, but we don’t really know enough about God to make assumptions like that. But, after people God to know Jesus personally, they wrote about things and through those words we have a better understanding of God through His Son Jesus.
When we read back over what God has done and the timing of various things, we can come to the conclusion He made the world so we would have a place to live – His creating us being the initial point and not just the creating of everything first!
As God got to know man, He was coming and spending time with man. Yes, He did enjoy the company, enjoy what he had done etc etc. Isn’t that the point of making something in the first place – so we can enjoy it. I have on many occasions wondered what I would create if I were to try to make a robot of some kind – how much artificial intelligence would I give it?
God wants us to continue communing (or meeting) with Him. He wants us to spend time with Him. If we did not, would the dirt around us praise God? I fear not, because we are the ones who have been created in His image, not dirt! God wants us to be open and enjoy our spending time with Him and not to hide it in a cellar or behind a bush!
Points to Ponder:
How much time do you spend speaking with God?
Will you spend a little more time today with God?
June 26: Isaiah 40:1-5
Key Verse: Isaiah 40:4
Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
Devotion:
I love the way God spoke to Isaiah so he would be able to encourage the people of Israel. They had been through so much, from being in captivity in Egypt, to searching through the desert, having a great place to live and then losing it all again. Some may well have thought God was not with them because of what they had been through – but they had turned away from God and done their own thing even after being warned by God!
After all this had happened, and they had more taken away from them that they could understand, God had promised to bring them back together and never to leave them. Throughout their troubles, God was close by and waiting for them to repent of their ways to come back to Him. His promises were to do so, and He was going to keep to those promises.
We can now look back over time and see how this promise came true through Jesus coming to live amongst them and to make a way where they would never have to seek sacrifices to cover their sins again. John came just before Jesus to make that way in the wilderness for people to look toward Christ and to find out what He was going to do for us all.
Jesus wanted to level the playing field so the rich would no longer be kept on platforms just because they had money, and the poor would be able to achieve things even though they are poor. Christ continues to make sure we still remember this and practice this when we can!
Points to Ponder:
Do you ever try to level the playing field?
Will you help someone today who is less fortunate than you?
June 25: Luke 3:10-14
Key Verse: Luke 3:14
Then some soldiers asked him, ‘And what should we do?’ He replied, ‘Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely – be content with your pay.’
Devotion:
When Jesus started teaching the people about how to live as Christians, He upset quite a few people because He was adamant about how we should be living. When the people heard His instructions about how they should behave when dealing with possessions, the rich people were put off because they did not want to lose money, and some of the poorer people were put off because they did not want to have to rely on others.
But when it came down to sharing what we have with others – many people did not know how to handle that! It was well known in their society tax collectors would take more than people owed and skim some of the money off for themselves. We think of things like this nowadays and call it a service charge – but it amounts to much the same thing! The same went for the soldiers who would ‘uphold’ the law for anyone who was willing to pay them extra!
God wants us to be honest about our lives and honest about our dealings with others. If we are honest then we must look to be happy with what we have and not desire more than we have contracted for. If we have agreed a certain salary, then we should not expect more just because we could get more if we did something else... This idea tends to break down society because some people want more than others and they end up getting more than others because of how they behave.
The less strife we have between us and our neighbours, the less we will have to strive to get over and above what we have – in others words, the less we will want and the more satisfied we will be with what we have already. God wants us to aim for the best – but not to be greedy about getting it!
Points to Ponder:
Do you think your business life is honest?
Will you try to work to what you have agreed rather than what you think you want?