Author: emmanuelpcgateshead

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Daily Devotion August 19th

WEDNESDAY 19th

John 14:15-31

NIV (v16) – ‘And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—’

ESV (v16) – ‘And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever . . .’

This fourteenth chapter of John contains two promises that gave the disciples hope, the first as we saw yesterday was of a future home, here in this section was the promise of a present helper. The disciple having spent three years with Jesus, watching and learning are told he was about to leave them, but not without promising that he would ask the Father to send them the Holy Spirit who would come alongside them to help them, or as the KJV puts it to be a comforter.

I know this is a poor illustration, but it does in some way show a similar lesson. When I left school, I went into the motor trade to learn to be a panel beater and car sprayer. I was privileged to learn from one of the best, as the man who I was going to be working alongside and learning from had spent several years in the Rolls Royce factory. One day after I had enjoyed learning from him for a couple of years he announced he was going to be leaving, he had decided to retire, but then he added, don’t worry (or words to that effect) someone else is coming to take my place and he will continue to train you.

The disciples had spent three years learning from Jesus, but there was still so  much more they needed to know, and when Jesus announced he was leaving them he said (my paraphrase) ‘Don’t worry someone else is going to be coming to take my place and he will continue to train you’. We read it in verse 29, ‘But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.’

The present helper was to be none other than the Holy Spirit, the third person of the trinity, and we know that a few weeks after the ascension of Jesus he arrived to come alongside the disciples to help them, to empower them, to strengthen and enable them for the task in hand. And he is still here, as he came alongside the disciples, so he is wanting and willing to come alongside us to be with us, to be our helper, to be our comforter, to enable, equip  and empower us for the task in hand.

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Devotions

Daily Devotion August 18th

TUESDAY 18th

John 14:1-7

NIV (vv2-3) – ‘My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.’

ESV (vv2-3) – ‘In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.’

We remain in the first few verses of this chapter again today, to look again at the wonderful promise that Jesus made in verse 3, ‘I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.’ As I am preparing this it is a wet and miserable looking morning, it is raining, and the mist has come down over the town so that I cannot see very far. This would perhaps be a good way of describing how it felt for the disciples in the upper room with Jesus, not so much wet but a miserable day, the mist of gloom had descended upon them and they couldn’t see much further than beyond the next hour or two. But Jesus detected the gloom in their hearts and not only did he encourage the disciples that as they trusted in God, so they could also trust in him, (as we saw on 16th) but he makes them an incredible promise, ‘Yes, I am going, but I will come again and fetch you so that you can be with me in the place I am going to prepare for you, don’t be troubled, trust me in the same way as you trust God’. (my paraphrase)

We may look around us at this time and feel that the outlook looks gloomy and hopeless, but we as the family of God have this wonderful promise to cling onto, ‘Jesus is coming again’, we realise that what we see all around us is only temporal and will one day pass away, but what we are and who we are ‘in Christ’ is eternal, and we wait with eager anticipation to receive our eternal inheritance. ‘In this world’, Jesus said, ‘you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.’ When you see the gloom, remind yourself, there is a place being prepared for you, and one day Jesus is coming to fetch you and he will lift you from out of the gloom and into his glorious presence so that you will forever be with him.

It was January the 3rd when we reserved our house, here in Stanley, and all the delays made it seem like it was never going to happen, but finally we have moved in. Jesus made the promise two thousand years ago about a home he is preparing and it may sometimes seem like it is never going to happen, but it will, one day and it will be suddenly and at an unexpected moment we will move in, and what an incredible moving in experience it will be as the dead in Christ will rise first and we who are alive and remain will be caught up with them to meet the Lord in the air. Therefore, during this gloomy time in the world in which we find ourselves at this moment, be of good cheer, and keep looking up, for your redemption is drawing near.

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Daily Devotion August 17th

MONDAY 17th

John 14:1-7

NIV (v6) – ‘Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’

ESV (v6) – ‘Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’

We come to the last but one of the ‘I am’ statements of Jesus in these first few verses in this fourteenth chapter. Jesus says four things about himself:

I am the way

I am the truth

I am the life

No one can come to the Father except through me

You may remember in a previous devotion I talked about the uniqueness of the Lord Jesus Christ and of the gospel message which we proclaim. The uniqueness of Jesus and the gospel message is not something the Christian faith has mustered up to try to proclaim and propagate its message, it is something which has come from the mouth of the Lord Jesus himself. He himself made the declaration that he is the only way to the Father, therefore the only way to heaven. When Peter and the disciples declared in Acts 4:12 that there is no other name given under heaven by which we can be saved, they were not making up some new idea, or some fanciful plan or scheme they were declaring the truth of the message which Jesus himself declared.

Earlier in John’s gospel we are reminded of the uniqueness of Jesus in that we are reminded that 1) God loved the world 2) That he sent his Son into the world 3) So that WHOEVER believes IN HIM will not perish but will have eternal life (3:16)

This ‘I am’ statement in John 14:6, sums up everything about what this gospel is all about. It is about pointing men and women to the one who is the only source of eternal life, the only means of eternal life and the only giver of eternal life. All other ‘faiths’, ‘religions’, ‘isms’, are dead ends, there is only one door, only one Saviour, only one way and it is through the Lord Jesus Christ, the only one who has loved us and given himself for us. (1 John 4:10)

This statement in v6 came out of the inquisitiveness of Thomas who wanted to know where Jesus was going and how we can know the way to where he is going (v5)

The world has always been searching for answers, for the meaning of life, about the afterlife etc. The answers to all the questions can be found in the Lord Jesus Christ, for in knowing him we find real purpose and we have real hope.

May we continually rejoice in the hope that we have as we have come to know the one who is the way, and the truth and the life, and may we continue to pray that many more will come to find him and know him, and may we individually be used in some way to point others to the one who is the way, the truth and the life.

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Daily Devotion August 16th

SUNDAY 16th

John 14:1-7

NIV (v1) – ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.’

ESV (v1) – ‘Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.’

One of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic has been the fear that it has caused some individuals, the fear of catching the virus, the fear of financial security, the fear even of what will the future hold. Here in John 14, Jesus’ disciples were beginning to understand something of the events that were about to happen and that Jesus was going to be leaving them and it caused them to be troubled in their present situation, troubled in their hearts, but Jesus spoke and said, ‘Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.’ There is a sense in that believing in Jesus was believing in God, because that was who he was, but at that moment in the disciples experience it was all about letting them know that just as they believed in God, so they also could believe in or trust in Jesus. As they knew the God of the Old Testament Scripture was trustworthy, reliable and faithful, so also they needed to know that the one whom they had committed themselves to following over the last three years was also trustworthy, reliable and faithful.

We also have chosen to believe and commit ourselves to following the Lord Jesus Christ, and just as we have believed in him by faith for salvation, so we also need to believe in him by faith for all the circumstances of our lives. We do not know what tomorrow may bring, let alone a week or a month’s time, but he knows! He has the future sketched out for each one of us and he simply wants us to trust him to lead us and take us through whatever our tomorrows may bring.

At the time of the dialogue that Jesus had with the disciples here in John 14 they were about to face so much uncertainty as far as human understanding was concerned, they would see him taken and killed, they would feel abandoned and lonely, they would lock themselves in the upper room for fear of the Jews but by trusting in Jesus, they were able to get through it and come through the other side with a cry of victory.

So we in this time of uncertainty, as we face tomorrow, or next week or next month with perhaps some having a fear of the unknown, we can trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, we believe that he will not abandon us, but will safely take us through to a place of victory.

We remind ourselves of the song we have used a few times during this pandemic:

Because he lives, I can face tomorrow

Because he lives, all fear is gone

Because I know he holds the future

And life is worth the living, just because he lives

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Daily Devotion August 15th

SATURDAY 15th

John 13:21-38

NIV (vv21 and 38) – 21 ‘After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.’

38 ‘Then Jesus answered, Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!’

ESV (vv21 and 38) – 21 ‘After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.’

38 ‘Jesus answered, Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.’  

When we are gathered as Church and have communion, we are remembering what Christ has accomplished for us, and we partake in anticipation for when he comes again. I think that corporate communion is one of the aspects of Church life that I and others have missed during this time of pandemic, yes we can do it through the video, but it is not the same as being physically together sharing in this simple meal that Christ has called us to partake of.

This first instance of communion as Jesus inaugurated it with his disciples must have been an incredible moment, except that it was at this meal, that Jesus made an announcement that would shock them all, ‘. . . one of you is going to betray me.’ Imagine the scene, the twelve men had been with Jesus for around three years, travelling together, eating together, witnessing incredible miracles, and hearing the greatest teaching that has ever come from the lips of a man. And yet one of them was going to betray Jesus.

Then a few verses later we have one of them, Peter, making a bold statement, ‘. . . I will lay down my life for you.’ To which Jesus replies, ‘. . . I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three time.’

And Judas slipped out and soon came to Jesus with the kiss of betrayal and the cock crowed because Peter had denied Jesus three times.

Two sad experiences within a few verses of Scripture, the betrayal, and a denial.

How awful to have been revealed as the one who would betray Jesus and to actually go out and do it and how awful to be told you would deny him three times and still go out and do it.

Sadly, Judas is not the only one who has betrayed Jesus, and Peter is not the only one who has denied him. Many have committed their lives to Jesus and followed him until something has happened that has caused them to question their faith, and suddenly they betray Jesus by the new direction they take in life or deny him by returning to their old way of life.

During this time of pandemic the Devil would love to have turned the eyes of believers away from Jesus, he would love to bring them to a place of betrayal or denial, he would love to distract them in their walk of faith. Because of the inability to be able to come together as gathered Church over the last few months I wonder how many have begun to neglect spiritual disciplines, how many have perhaps not even sought to use the means available on-line to have some sort of fellowship, and maybe even have begun to drift away and their present situation may be one of denial or even a betrayal of the Lord Jesus Christ? I close this devotion with a prayer:

‘God keep us, may we remain close to Jesus, may we never betray him or deny him, but grant us the faith and desire to continue to follow, whatever our circumstance and whatever the cost, may we cling closely to the one who clung to the cross to save us and bring us into the family and household of God. If there should be any among us that have begun to drift, draw them back again, so that together we may continue to serve you as Church together for the glory of God.’

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Daily Devotion August 14th

FRIDAY 14th

John 13:1-20

NIV (15) – ‘I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.’

ESV (v15) – ‘For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.’

This is linked to where we were with our devotion on Wednesday, a command for us to follow the example of the Lord Jesus Christ which was an example of humility.

In Philippians 2:1-11 we read ‘So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,  who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’

May we always make every effort to ensure that Jesus is the example that we want to follow. We live in an era where following someone is very popular, for example with social media, your activity is measured by how many people you follow or how many are following you, many follow a particular football team, or other sporting team / individual, etc. some of those we follow are good examples in their particular sphere, we may follow someone socially because of who they are but there may be aspects of their personal life that we would not be willing to endorse, but when it comes to following Jesus, he is perfect in every way, in who he is, in what he has done and in what he continues to do. Pilate when looking at Jesus made this statement, ‘I find no fault in him’ and Pilate would have been strict in his scrutiny of Jesus. How well do we follow him, how closely do we follow him, how determined are we in ensuring that whatever our lot, we will follow Jesus, any day, every day, we will follow on? For those of us who do use social media, let us make sure that following and liking and keeping up with Tom, Dick and Harry doesn’t get in the way of hindering our following, liking and keeping up with Jesus.

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Daily Devotion August 13th

THURSDAY 13th

John 12:27-50

NIV (v35) –  ‘Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light. When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.’

ESV (v35) – ‘So Jesus said to them, The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.’

Within the context of this verse, we know that Jesus was predicting that the moment for his appointment at the cross was drawing near. He the Light of the world, had been with them from his birth, but more particularly during his three years of earthly ministry, but he was soon going to be leaving, via the cross, the resurrection and then his ascension. So, he tells the disciples and those hearing him, ‘The light is among you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light.’ Thankfully, Jesus also made a promise to the disciples that as he the light left them, he would not leave them alone, but that he would ask the Father to give them another Comforter or Helper, the Holy Spirit who would be with the disciples to help them to survive in the world that was full of darkness. (John 14:16)

On another occasion, Jesus had told those who followed him that they were to be light, Matthew 5:14 ‘You are the light of the world’, and it is within this context I want us to consider the importance of light, for as the Holy Spirit came from the Father as Jesus had promised, one of his tasks was to enable the disciples to be light in the darkness, it was to equip them and enable them to be bearers of light and truth in a dark world and rebellious generation.

Today the world is still a dark place, and the light needs to shine in the darkness, and we are called to be that light. I have touched on the subject a few times over the period of lockdown while doing these devotions that the unbelieving world is seeking to do what it can by any way or by any means to try to snuff the light out, we have seen it, and still see it through the regime of communism, we see it through the efforts in countries controlled by other religions where Christians are persecuted, and Christianity is banned. We see it in the Western world where effort is being made to marginalise Christianity. Just like a butler would have gone through a mansion late at night snuffing the candles out, so the devil is roaming this world using all the effort he can to snuff out the light of the Christian gospel, but thank God he will never succeed in blowing every candle out, for Jesus has already declared that the ‘gates of hell will not prevail against him’ and against the building of his Church. May we ever be willing to continue to shine as individual lights in the darkness, but may God by his Spirit help us as Emmanuel Pentecostal Church, a local Church family to be a bright light shining in the dark community around us, so that as a result of the light shining from that place many will yet come out of darkness and be joined with us.

That same verse in Matthew 5 continues, ‘. . . A city on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do people light a candle and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others , so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father who is in heaven.’  ‘Lord, may we Emmanuel Pentecostal Church, Gateshead, shine like a light on the hill, so that those around us will see what we are, and may come to know you as the true light, that brings hope to all who believe, in Jesus name.’

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Daily Devotion August 12th

WEDNESDAY 12th

John 12:12-26

NIV (v26) – ‘Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honour the one who serves me.’

ESV (v26) – ‘If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honour him.’

We used to sing a hymn with the chorus that said ‘Following Jesus, ever day by day’ it was linked to our knowing Jesus as our Shepherd, and following is voice, but here in this chapter the call to follow Jesus comes with our knowing him as the Servant, the one who stooped down to do the lowliest of tasks, washing his disciples feet. Just as he was willing to be a servant, so we his followers must follow his example and be willing to serve.

There is no room in the Body of Christ for big egos, or proudful boasting, we have all become who we are and what we are because of the Cross, and the Cross is a ground leveller, it puts us all on the same level which is as sinners who have been saved by grace. Prior to salvation, we were all lost and bound for hell, regardless of our class and status in life, and post salvation day we are all heaven bound. On that journey, God may call us into different responsibilities or callings within the body, but we are all of equal honour, the pastor or senior leader is no better, nor more important than the almost unseen or unheard individual that may attend a place of worship and vice versa, as Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 12, ‘But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body’ (vv18-20) and v 22 ‘On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those parts of the body that we think less honourable we bestow greater honour, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty . . .’ We are all in the same body, and we all have the same or equal responsibility toward one another as we serve the one who has called us by his grace. Not one of us should consider ourselves to be of more importance than another, if our servant Saviour was willing to wash feet, then we should all be willing to stoop down and to serve one another as if we were serving him, our Lord and Saviour.

Graham Kendrick put the thought in his well-known song, ‘The Servant King’, ‘So let us learn how to serve and in our lives enthrone him, each other’s needs to prefer, for it is Christ we’re serving’

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Daily Devotion August 11th

TUESDAY 11th

John 12:1-11

NIV (v10-11) – ‘So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him.’

ESV (v10-11) – ‘So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.’

It always amazes me when I see how the chief priests reacted after the amazing miracle Jesus performed by raising to life again a man who had been dead for a few days. Even those standing around Jesus at the time had suggested that the decaying corpse would have been smelling by the time Jesus had got there, and yet it mattered not as he exercised his authority as the Son of God and he called Lazarus to come out of the grave. I don’t know how they bound the dead up, but his legs must have been bound separately for it says that he came out (unless he jumped out!) and Jesus gave the orders, ‘unbind him and let him go’. This miracle caused some who saw it happen to believe in Jesus, while others decided to go and report to the authorities, looking at the text it would seem to indicate they wanted to cause trouble, for the Chief priests and the Pharisees were at a loss to know what to do with Jesus! They could not cope with the fact that Jesus was performing many signs and they thought it would eventually lead to everyone believing in Jesus and the Romans coming to remove them from office and to take over the country.

As we read through the chapter we discover that the high priest called Caiaphas had some understanding of spiritual matters and prophesied that it was expedient for one man to die for the nation, and for the nations of the world to gather together into one the children of God. (vv48-53)

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the Church, that is you and me included, operated in such a way that the power of the Holy Spirit at work through us was bringing about miracles that would catch the attention of the unbelieving world and point them to Jesus? The trouble is we see from Scripture that even when miracles and wonders were taking place, not all believed, in fact as we see time and time again it brought opposition and resentment. And although some believed, others just stood back and did not as it were bat an eyelid, in fact many responded not out of any desire to surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ, but to get out of him what they personally wanted, such as was the case after the feeding of the five thousand. Too often perhaps as I started this paragraph, we think if only such and such would happen then the world would see and believe, but it is not guaranteed, what we need I believe is a Holy Spirit revival of the anointed preaching of the Word of God, the whole counsel of the Word of God that will bring the conviction of sin upon the hearers, miracles will never save individuals, it is the preaching of the Cross, what is needed is genuine conviction which will lead to repentance and to salvation. Yes, miracles, signs and wonders happening amongst us would be great, but we need to remember that our priority is to point people to Jesus.

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Daily Devotion August 10th

MONDAY 10th

John 11:1-44

NIV (v27) – ‘Yes, Lord, she replied, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.’

ESV (v27) – ‘She said to him, Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.’

We remain in chapter 11 again today and our verse is the answer that Martha gave to Jesus after he had told her that he was the resurrection and the life, he said to her ‘Do you believe this?’ Martha answered in the affirmative with an important statement that summed up her own understanding of who Jesus was, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God . . .’

Do you remember when a similar answer was given when Jesus asked the disciples who they thought he was, Peter replied ‘You are the Christ the Son of the living God’ (Matthew 16:16)

There are a lot of questions in the Bible, this one in John 11:26 ‘Do you believe this?’ is an important one, in its context it is regarding our answer to whether we believe or not that Jesus is the resurrection and the life and that by believing we will never die, but will have eternal life, but what he offers is only possible because of who he is, the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Because of the reason for John’s writing of this gospel, ‘ . . . that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, . . .’ (see John 2:30-31) it is plainly obvious that we cannot go through the gospel, and in particular myself preparing these devotions by having to keep repeating the theme of believing who Jesus is and the importance of believing on him! But that is a good thing, that we keep reminding ourselves that in believing in Jesus we have come to know the only one who can give forgiveness of sin and grant eternal life. While going through the gospel, I have not gone too often into the Old Testament, but with today’s devotion we will turn to Psalm 103 to remind ourselves again of what the Cross means to each one of us, the place where the Christ, the Son of the living God paid for our redemption.

Psalm 103:1-5 ‘Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.’ 

‘. . .who forgives all your iniquity.’ Look at what it says in Psalm 32:1-2 ‘Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.’

We are blessed because we have been forgiven, we are blessed because our sin is forgiven, it has been washed by the blood of the Lamb and therefore the Lord will not count that iniquity against us. The lyrics from a well-known song, ‘Only by grace can we enter’ continues with ‘Lord, if you marked our transgressions , who would stand? Thanks to your grace we are cleansed by the blood of the Lamb.’

Believing on Jesus is so important, not only because of who he is, but because of what he has done for us. I repeat the question Jesus gave to Martha, ‘Do you believe this?’ Then end with the words of John, ‘. . . but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that by believing YOU may have life in his name.’