Jesus answered, “ I am the way and the truth and the life, No one comes
to the Father except through me.”
To Ponder
Many years ago, when I was preparing to leave home to start my nursing training
at a large city hospital, I was given much advice about living in the ‘Big Smoke’ but
no thought that I might meet people who might not believe in God. Then I met my
Roommate. She made her views very clear as I unpacked. I had never heard so many
derogatory remarks to which I could find no answer. I do, however, remember one
“You bunch of wowsers think this God just cares for you lot!”
Today’s text proves just how wrong she was. God is addressing all people, and it
suggests that His action was to provide Jesus as a means for all humanity to access
Him, not a select few. God’s love is for all people.
God desires that all people know Him; His love is generous and inclusive for everyone.
His work through Jesus provides an opportunity for reconciliation and spiritual life to
all people. We begin to understand how God’s all-encompassing grace and mercy are
available to all people through the gift of His Son.
There is a suggestion that belief is required, but through Jesus’ work, even those who
may not understand or explicitly recognize Jesus can benefit because ultimately the
provision is God's.
We need to show God’s generous provision to us by faithfully sharing his word with
those around us, patiently answering questions and not making judgments so that
they come to faith and enjoy the fullness of God’s love and grace.
Prayer
Loving gracious God, I know there have been times when I have missed or not
recognized you prompting me to tell someone that you love them and desire to have
a relationship with them. May my words and actions cause someone to want to learn
about you and your love for all people. Amen
Today's Devotion written by Maureen MacPherson, LifeWay, Newcastle.
For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love.
TO PONDER
I feel sorry for Jeremiah. As a young lad He was called by God to warn his fellow citizens of Judah that God was going to destroy Jerusalem and the temple unless they changed their lives. But they didn’t listen to the message he brought directly from God. He then had to watch as the Babylonians first exiled their king and many of the citizens, and then some years later put Jerusalem through a long siege and finally destruction.
God had promised him right from the start that He would protect Jeremiah and keep him safe, but that didn’t stop Jeremiah having to endure lots of slander, false accusations and being thrown into a muddy cistern. Often, he feared for his life, because the people, from the king down, did not want to hear his message from God.
The book of Lamentations was written after the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of its remaining inhabitants. In poetic style, Jeremiah pours out his heart to God over the destruction he has witnessed caused by the degeneration of his fellow Israelites. Yet in the middle of the 5 chapters of Lamentations, there are 13 verses where Jeremiah expresses hope and salvation from a God of Love. The verses above are just two of those 13 verses.
We often have this picture of a vengeful God looking out for who ever does wrong so that God can zap them. This is a very depressing caricature of God since it can easily lead us down a path of rejecting this god we can never please, and for whom we are never good enough. But the God presented to us in the bible, and in the life of Jesus, is a God whose first attitude towards us is unconditional love. The God who created us, and knows intimately how we tick, is always working to grow us in our relationship with Him. At times we stray so far off the track of what He wants for us that He has to discipline us, to help us see that the path we have taken is leading us away from this relationship. But He is always motivated by love for us, and what He allows to happen to us is ultimately to help us to see that life, fulfilling life, is surrender ourselves into that love of His.
So, when we are struggling to keep our heads above water, we just need to call out to our Life Saver, Jesus, tell Him we have nothing left and give Him permission to lead us to safety. I’m not saying God will wave His magic wand and everything will be paradise, but we will grow in experiencing His amazing love as we take His hand and follow where He leads us.
Prayer: Loving Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Grace in showering us with blessings we don’t deserve and for Your mercy in not punishing us for what we deserve for not living up to Your very high standards. And thank You that everything you allow to happen to us has a purpose from You to grow us in knowing that Love and trusting that Love. Amen
Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LIfeWay Epping
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
TO PONDER
When I read these verses, three episodes recorded in the Old Testament of the Bible come to mind: The Israelites crossing the Red Sea as they leave Egypt; 40 years later, the children of those same Israelites crossing the flooded Jordan River to enter the promised land; and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego being thrown into a fiery furnace in Babylon. All came through without any harm. These were very impressive miracles by God to prove that He was the most powerful God on this earth, more powerful than the Egyptian gods of that time, more powerful than Canaanite gods of that time, more powerful than Babylonian gods of that time.
When we read about Paul’s life in the New Testament, we see his survival from ship wreck and from being bitten by a very venomous snake – amongst other survival miracles.
In our modern world, science and technology seem to have answers to explain everything that happens. Not that I am in anyway negative about science and technology, but their impact seems to be that we have squeezed God down into this small insignificant corner of our lives. God seems also to have lost a lot of His power to do amazing things – at least our expectation of what God may be able to do.
I have to be honest in that I can spend a whole day busy doing things and not spend a single moment thinking of how God may want to be involved in what I am doing – until things don’t go to plan and then I am reminded of my forgetfulness.
God has not changed. He is the same God who looked after the Israelites and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He has not lost any of His powers. He is still active in every moment of our lives, working to develop our relationship with Him. He wants to grow us in our trust in His love and presence so that when He asks us to face our own “fiery furnaces”, we will go where He calls us and do and say what He asks us to do. Notice, God doesn’t send us anywhere, He always goes with us in wherever He calls us to go.
Just a comment. In those three episodes I mentioned, the main time of fear and dread was before entering the water or fire. Once in the middle of the raging walls of water or the fiery furnace, the people were completely safe. So often it is the fear of facing a situation that holds us back and paralyses us. If we trust God’s presence to go with us, and step forward, we will experience God’s powerful presence as He carries out His plans and purposes through us. We just have to be there.
Prayer: Loving Father, so often we are paralyses by fear that we will stuff up, so we don’t go or we don’t say anything. And we have to confess that this is often due to us not believing You will be there with us. Please open our eyes to see You at work in this world so that we grow in trusting You. Amen
Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LIfeWay Epping
Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
TO PONDER
Come on Paul! Glorying in your suffering? You have to be joking, or masochistic!
OK, having got that off my chest, what is Paul really trying to tell us?
Just about every achievement or ability we have in life is brought about by some training. Consider training for a sport, learning a trade, studying for a profession, learning a musical instrument. All these require dedication to the process of developing the skills required. They nearly all require a teacher of some sort and the application of time to achieve the required level of proficiency. Some of us enjoy the development process, especially as we learn new skills and abilities. But, sometimes, the process is not so enjoyable and we have to push through to achieve our goals. Hopefully, having achieved some level of proficiency, we can get some level of enjoyment out of practicing our profession or competency.
When we struggle with the learning process, it is very helpful to have a fellow “traveller” with us to share the struggles with and encourage one another. And it also helps have a vision of what we are trying to achieve, to keep us focused on the task at hand.
What Paul is trying to say here is that God has a vision of what we can become if we let Him work in our lives to develop the characteristics He wants to develop in us. If you think about it, our whole life on this earth is aimed at developing our characters in preparation for our new life in eternity. God is working to remove from us those negative characteristics such as selfishness, anger, pride, jealousy and developing in us the characteristics of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Unfortunately, God doesn’t wave His magic wand and suddenly we are the wonderful people He wants us to become. Rather, He takes us through the training process we call life, letting us face situations through which He brings about the changes. And through all this He is revealing Himself to us so that we get to know Him and the love He has for us.
When we read through the second half of the book of Acts in the Bible, we find that Paul experienced some pretty horrific experiences as he surrendered his life to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in his life. He had come to develop a strong trust in God working through all these experiences, so, in spite of the pain he was experiencing in his body, he was able to still experience joy in his soul as he saw God at work through what he was experiencing. So what Paul wrote about glorying in his suffering was not theoretical, but lived experience. And it wasn’t actually glorying in the suffering itself, but what God was achieving through the suffering he was going through.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, there are times when life is hard and we don’t know where to get the strength to carry on. Thank You for Your promise to be right beside us during these difficult times. Please open our eyes to see Your presence and to know the peace only You can give. Amen
Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LifeWay Epping
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
TO PONDER
Is it possible to be at peace with yourself and the world when everything around you seems to be falling apart?
Most of my adult life I have lived in Sydney. Many of the places I have lived are under the flight path of aeroplanes using Sydney airport. Even though the noise from the planes in some of these places was so loud all conversation had to cease, I never felt threatened by the presence of these planes. However, in the days immediately after the hijacking of planes in America and the planes being flown in the towers of the World Trade Centre (just over 24 years ago), I experienced a nervousness each time I heard a plane in the vicinity of where I was and I would look up to locate the plane. I knew the fear was irrational, but the effect of the video of the planes flying into the towers had a strong destabilising effect on me and many other people.
As we listen to the news each evening, we will be exposed to the suffering of many people due to the selfishness and self-centredness of those in positions of power – from people in our own neighbourhoods to people in distant countries. Although what we generally see is not threatening us immediately, we can easily become discouraged by what we see in the general direction of the social and political environments of our world. And even if we are not negatively impacted by the social and political outlook, it can be financial, relationship and/or health issues that are threatening to take away our sense of peace.
It may seem counter intuitive that we can find comfort and assurance in Jesus’s advice to us that the world we live in will not always be the safe, secure place we may have experienced to date and we hope it will continue to be. The difference is that Jesus took all this negativity onto himself and dealt with it. He then promised that He would ALWAYS be with us in whatever was happening in our lives. He would protect us and guide us through these episodes, always working to grow us in our relationship Him, growing us in trusting His love and presence. He does this because He loves us deeply and wants to bless us richly with knowing Him as our loving Heavenly Father. He wants also to offer us the joy of being part of His mission in this world to bring that same relationship to other people.
A simple picture to help us understand this. You are walking along a muddy track after it has been raining heavily. You could be concentrating down on the mud that you are squelching through, or you could look up and enjoy the beauty of the rainbow in the sky and the beautiful sunset.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, we have to admit that we often take our focus off You and what You are doing in our lives. We let what is happening around us distract us from Your promises to be with us in whatever is happening to us. Thank You for Your faithfulness to Your promises to always be with us. Amen
Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LifeWay Epping
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
TO PONDER
Some of the people the Apostle Peter was writing to were experiencing various levels of persecution because they identified as Christians. This persecution ranged from being mocked for their beliefs and lifestyle, experiencing isolation from family and society, and being subjected to unfair treatment or punishment. To some extent, the “problem” the Christians presented to the society of the time was their different life style; instead of living selfishly for themselves, at the expense of others, they lived out the love and acceptance they received from Jesus: sacrificial love and acceptance of one another, ignoring ethnical, political and social boundaries.
We all need love and acceptance. It is critical to our development as children. As we grow up and become independent of our parents, we find groups in which we are accepted and confirmed in our beliefs and attitudes. If we cannot find these groups where we naturally fit in, we will be pressured (or we will pressure ourselves) to change so that we do fit in. If our group is focused on a selfish and self-centred lifestyle, we will be welcoming confirmation from within our group that our selfish attitudes are valid.
If, on the other hand, our group is Christ centred, we will find encouragement to be very sensitive to the needs of others and extend Christ’s self-sacrificing love to them. It will probably be evident that we are motivated by Christ’s will and purpose for us. This can have one of two impacts on people outside our group. They may be attracted to the group so that they too can experience this love and acceptance first from the Christians and then, as they learn more about Christ, experience the love, acceptance and healing that Christ offers.
On the other hand, they may be threatened by what they see practiced by the Christians since it shows up that their selfish lifestyle only has benefit for themselves and doesn’t give them the affirmation they are seeking. They may feel so threatened that they actively try to disrupt the Christians, leading to the persecutions we mentioned above.
So, as Peter wrote, we should not be surprised when persecutions, at some level, come our way because we live the love Christ has empowered us to live. But we are not alone in dealing with these attacks on us. As we are reminded over and over again in our devotions this week, God is with us through the Holy Spirit living in us to keep our focus on His plans and purposes for us. As we focus on God’s plans and purposes for us, through talking to and listening to the Holy Spirit, we will be lifted above the negativity to experience the joy of being involved in what God is doing in and around us.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of Your Holy Spirit living in us to “brand” us as Your children. Please help us not to feel discouraged or threatened when we are rejected by others for living Your love in our lives, but instead to experience the joy of being a member of Your family. Amen
Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LIfeWay Epping
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
TO PONDER
Imagine you are lying on a hospital bed in excruciating pain. You beg the nursing staff for something to relieve the pain, but are told that you have received all that they are allowed to give you, and you have to wait until the doctor arrives to reassess your situation and then prescribe some additional medications or treatments. You ask when the doctor is due and are advised that it could be 30 minutes or even an hour. I can only imagine how long that time will feel like while you wait.
Now imagine that when the doctor arrives, they advise that there is nothing more that they can do and you will have to live with your pain for the rest of your life. Then today’s verse will not be any comfort to you, and in truth it was never meant to be. What you need now is relief from your excruciating pain and to begin down that path is a second opinion from another medical professional. Of course, like the psalmist we read about yesterday, you will commit the situation to your loving Heavenly Father for Him to work through the situation to bring you comfort and healing.
So, what is today’s verse all about. We know that the revelation to the apostle John was given during a time when the church was suffering from a lot of persecution. Many Christians were losing their lives because of their faith. Indeed, the revelation includes the description of many horrific events in the lives of people on this earth. But God’s message is not that we have to grin and bear it on our own until we die or the end of the world comes, and we then finally reach paradise where everything is lovely, but rather that He is with us, beside us, every moment of every day with His love and support.
It is interesting that when we concentrate on trying to deal with something unpleasant, it is a real struggle and we will generally feel defeated. However, if we are distracted by something pleasant or which absorbs our attention, the intensity of our pain can be greatly reduced. And that is one of the ways God works to bring us relief in our struggles. He has things He wants us to be involved in, with Him beside us, guiding us with His Spirit. The peace and fulfilment this brings, lifts us above our pain and struggles in the here and now. And this is not just diversion therapy; it is part of growing in our relationship with the Heavenly Family and growing in trusting God’s love and purpose for us.
The vision of the future paradise where all our pain and struggles will be banished is just a part of the gift God gives us to keep us focused on Him and not on our struggles and pain.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You that Your Holy Spirit is living in us to support and encourage us each moment of today, each moment of tomorrow and each moment of each day until our life on this earth ends. And thank You for the wonderful picture You have given us of our future home with You where we will be in Your loving presence every day. Amen
Today's verses written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LifeWay Epping
Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief.
TO PONDER
Psalm 31 was written by David. Although we know a lot of details of David’s life and the number of times his life was in danger, we don’t know if this psalm relates to any particular episode in David’s life. The psalm can be divided into three parts. At the beginning, David confidently asks for God’s help in dealing with the issues he is facing. He doesn’t beg or plead with God, and he doesn’t argue that he deserves anything from God. His requests to God for help are based on God’s character – God’s goodness, God’s love, God’s faithfulness.
In the middle of the psalm (including our referenced verse), we learn of the anguish and suffering that David is experiencing. David feels weak, helpless, alone and in fear for his life.
Then David boldly declares his trust in God and commits himself into God’s care, confident that God would look after him and bring him safely through this time of trial. David ends in praise to God for His love and faithfulness.
We often struggle with why God allows bad things to happen in this world, especially to people who have committed their lives to following Jesus, the Son of God. In trying to understand, I like to think of a sail cloth shelter over a children’s playground. In strong wind, that sail cloth needs to be anchored well to solid foundations in the ground or it will be blown away. Similarly, we need some strong anchors to cling to when we are buffeted by adversities in life. The first anchor is the promise of God’s love for us, unconditionally. No matter how we think we have failed to live the life we think God expects of us, He still loves us deeply. And this brings us to the second anchor. Everything that God allows to happen in our lives He is using to draw us into a closer relationship with Him.
Sometimes the events in our lives are used by God to help us understand that we actually cannot cope by our own abilities, that we don’t have all the answers, or the direction we are trying to go in life is not the direction that God knows is good for us. What God is looking for in us is our trust in is love and purpose for us and to willing follow where He wants to take us. And that includes the amazing relationship He wants to have with us as we get involved in His family business.
It's really, really hard when we are struggling to cope with what is happening to us, racking our brains for ideas of how to escape from the mess we are enveloped in, to stop struggling and hand it all over to God, thank Him for His love and listen to His encouragement and guidance for the way forward. One obvious way to help is grab your bible, turn to the psalms and read how the psalmists over and over again, struggled with life but found that encouragement and comfort that God wants to give us.
Prayer: Loving Heavenly Father, thank You that I am precious to You and Your love to me is unconditional. Thank You that no matter what is happening in my life, You are beside me, to guide me, teach me and grow me into living as Your beloved child, a precious member of Your family. Amen
Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier LifeWay, Epping
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
TO PONDER:
Why isn’t God obvious? What doesn’t God just prove himself and just appear to me or do an amazing miracle to prove his existence?
These are some of the things that have been said to me in the past and I get them, kind of.
In 1 Corinthians 1:22-23 Paul says that some people ask God to prove himself with signs (miracles) and others want God to intellectually convince them into believing in him, Paul then gives his argument to those people, “Christ was crucified”!
See if God was obvious, if he “proved” himself beyond doubt, if he appeared in front of you in his fullness, his complete “glory”, we would follow God for the wrong reasons.
In today’s verses Paul is writing to the Colossian church, a new church made up of both types of the above people and he says to them that the unobvious/invisible God was made visible through Jesus, through God coming to earth, as one of us.
The creator of everything, the reason for everything joined creation as one of his own creations to show us the creator.
To discover God we need to look towards Jesus to see an image of the invisible, and then follow him.
PRAYER:
Almighty Creator God, I thank you for your obviousness, for allowing me to seek you, to answer your loving call to follow, to discover more of you everyday. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside