Category: Devotions

MONDAY December 4^th

Ephesians 2:4-9

‘But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.’

Now, I know these devotions are predominantly for the fellowship at Emmanuel Pentecostal Church, but with this one and as with the next devotion, I still want to include content that will be applicable to those who are not saved or are trying to earn salvation, for one of our aims must be to reach the lost and with the devotions also being available on-line, who knows who may come across them and read them.

These verses having giving hope to those of us who are saved by God’s grace also offer hope to those who are not saved, and it is this, that while it is still the day of grace and of opportunity the way is still open for you to come by faith and to be saved by the grace of God.

It has been said that grace can be considered this way, using a word for each letter of the word grace—Great Riches At Christ’s Expense. Grace is getting what we don’t deserve, grace is God’s mercy being shown to sinners and bringing them the opportunity to repent and to be forgiven. None of us deserve his mercy for we are all sinners, yet out of his love, God has extended his mercy, grace and forgiveness through the Lord Jesus Christ.

One of the hymns we sometimes sing is ‘Years I spent in vanity and pride’, it continues with the chorus part that says

‘Mercy there was great and grace was free,

Pardon there was multiplied to me,

There my burdened soul found liberty,

At Calvary’

 

Today to all who read this devotion, who have not yet come to Calvary you can receive God’s mercy and grace, in doing so you will be forgiven and reconciled to God, as the Bible says, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved’. If you wish to make this important step, you can get in touch with us at Emmanuel Pentecostal Church to find out more at pastorepcgateshead@gmail.com

FRIDAY December 1^st

Ephesians 2:4-9

‘But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.’

We will be considering these verses over a couple of devotions, for they are a great encouragement to us who have been saved and they offer hope to those who are not yet saved and are important verses for those who are seeking to be saved through any other means rather than through what Christ has done for us at Calvary.

These verses answer the question I ended with in our previous devotion, ‘How do we receive this wonderful gift?’ or ‘How can we be saved?’

Verse 8 tells us ‘by grace . . . through faith’ And Paul knows what he is talking about, because he would say that he of all people was underserving or unworthy of anything in regards to salvation, for he had put all his effort into trying to destroy the believers, but Jesus met with him and instantly he was saved and transformed and all by and because of the grace of God.

As Saul he could have boasted in so much, he tells us this in Philippians 3 but he says that who he was and what he had achieved as a Jew and as one who had kept the law counted as nothing. He says in verse 9 ‘not having a righteousness of my own that comes through the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.’ The words of a hymn come to mind, ‘Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the Cross I cling’ or the chorus that says ‘Christ is enough for me.’

Recently I brought ministry on a Friday evening based around the five ‘solas’ that came from out of the Reformation, summarized in this sentence ‘Christians are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, as revealed by Scripture alone, to the glory of God alone.’

Not one of us has been nor ever will be good enough to arrive in heaven though our own merit, it is only by grace and through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that we can be saved.

There was no other good enough,

To pay the price of sin,

He only could unlock the gate,

Of Heaven and let us in.

THURSDAY November 30^th

1 Corinthians 15:20-22

‘But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.’

As we continue to look at the ministry and life of the Apostle Paul and hopefully learn something and be reassured in our faith, I am also using them to be a means of presenting the truth of the gospel to any who may find the devotions on-line who as yet do not know Jesus.

Here in the verses for today we see one of the reasons why the gospel is so important, it is because it is the difference between death and life! ‘For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.’

Paul’s reference to Adam takes us back to Genesis where after being created by God and given the task of taking care of creation, Adam was told he could enjoy the fruit of all the trees in the garden except for one tree, the tree that was in the middle of the garden. If he partook of the fruit of that tree there would be serious consequences, he would die! And we know the story, the devil came and tempted them to disobey God and Adam along with his wife Eve, disobeyed God’s instruction and immediately that they partook of the fruit that was forbidden sin entered into the human race. As a result, Paul says ‘by a man came death . . . as in Adam all die’. In Romans 6:23 Paul says, ‘For the wages of sin is death’, and every day we see that what God said would happen, happened and still happens, men and women die every day, the funeral parlours are busy and all because of the disobedience of Adam to the instruction that God gave him.

But thank God that even though Adam sinned and thus through Adam all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God, God still loved mankind that he had created and put into effect a plan to reverse what happened in the Garden of Eden and to give eternal life and he has done it though sending Jesus into the world so that through his death as a substitute for each one of us, and his resurrection from the dead, all who believe in Christ will be made alive.

The gospel is a wonderful story, a story of the love that God has for mankind, the story of how he has demonstrated his love towards us through the Lord Jesus and of how Jesus was willing to come and to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and after saying in Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is death, he continues with these words that are full of hope for each one of us, ‘but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.’

For those of us who have come to faith in Jesus, spend some time thanking Jesus for such a wonderful salvation, but for any who have not yet come to faith, consider what it is that Jesus has done for you – he alone has done what is necessary and he alone can grant you eternal life. How do we receive this wonderful gift—we will discover what Paul had to say in our next devotion.

WEDNESDAY November 29^th

Romans 1:4

‘. . . and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord . . ‘

I have returned to verse 4 of Romans 1 as we continue to look into what this wonderful gospel is that Paul was called to be an ambassador of and of which he said that he was not ashamed.

Why is this the true gospel, the only gospel, and how is it effective or the power of God unto salvation?

Well, first I want to say that I am so glad that Jesus met with and saved Saul who we know as Paul the apostle, for it is from the epistles or letters that Paul has written that we can understand so much of what the gospel is all about. Yes, of course we learn from the gospels, as I have been sharing recently on Sunday evenings, John has recorded the signs that Jesus did ‘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’, John 20:31. If you are not a Christian believer and you happen to be reading this devotion wondering what the gospel is all about, I suggest that John’s gospel in the New Testament is a good place to start, read it through and discover the wonderful truths concerning God’s plan of redemption though Jesus his eternal son.

In our text Paul helps us to see that the death and the resurrection of Jesus were essential for men and women to become born again, saved or new creations, therefore the gospel is effective and powerful because of what happened just a little over two-thousand years ago, when Jesus was taken, crucified, buried and rose again on the third day.

Paul re-echoes the importance of these events in 1 Corinthians 15 ‘For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve’, (verses 3-6). He says to the Corinthian Church that these are the things that I preached to you which are of first importance, Jesus died, was buried, rose again and appeared to many.

 

It is only the Christian faith that has the means to bring forgiveness of sin and give any hope of eternal life, because the one who founded it, the Lord Jesus Christ gave himself to be the sacrifice for our sin and not only that but after dying and being buried he rose again to be able to grant eternal life.

I will continue on this important theme in the next devotion as we consider further what Paul has written to enable us to be able to come to a knowledge and understanding of the truth.

TUESDAY November 28^th

Romans 1:16

‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.’

Why is the gospel so important and why was Paul determined to unashamedly proclaim or preach it? Well, we answer first by saying what Paul has said in this text, because it is the power of God for salvation, but we add to this, that it is the only way for salvation. There is no other gospel and there is no other way by which a man and woman can be saved from sin and saved for eternity.

In the UK we live in what has become a multi-cultural and a multi-faith society, but what is important is that we do not allow those around us to come to the conclusion that we live in a society where we can pick and mix what we want to believe either from one faith or a mixture of faiths and then think that we are okay for whatever there is in the afterlife.

Paul says that the gospel that he is not ashamed of is for both the Jew and the Gentile, that is it is for all of mankind, we saw previously that he wrote that there is no other gospel, (Galatians 1) and from Acts 4, I quote again that salvation is not found in nor through any other name except through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I remember many years ago hearing the thought for the day on radio 4 and the person speaking said that the various religions or faiths are like blind-folded individuals trying to describe what an elephant is like according to where they are touching it, but at the end of the day despite all the descriptions they came up with, they were all describing the one and the same elephant but in different ways. She then went on to say that the different faiths or religions are the same, it is different ways of describing the one God and therefore all lead to a discovery of God.

We cannot accept this, all the various religions and faiths are not describing the same God, and do not lead to eternal life. For there is only the One true and living God who has made himself known to mankind through the Lord Jesus Christ. He hasn’t revealed himself through anyone else, be it the multiple number of gods in some of the other religions, nor through the false prophets of other religions. Hebrews 1 tells us that in these last days God has revealed himself or spoken to us through his Son who it continues to say that after making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.

Jesus himself said, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life.’ It is only through Jesus that we can be saved, then Jesus continued ‘No one comes to the Father except through me’. There is only one access into heaven and it not through the gods of the other religions nor the prophets of other religions it is only through the message of the Cross, though Jesus the founder and the perfecter of the Christian faith.

Last night (a week or two ago by the time you read this devotion) I went to a Christian Institute event in Newcastle and we sang the hymn, ‘Great God of wonders! All thy ways display the attributes divine’, and the final lines in each verse say this ‘Who is a pardoning God like thee? Or who has grace so rich and free?’

There is no other pardoning god, only the true and living God and this pardon comes to us only when we come to believe and accept his Son Jesus as our Saviour and Lord, for he alone has made purification for sin at the place called Calvary.

Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Are you fully trusting in his grace this hour?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

MONDAY November 27^th

Romans 1:16

‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.’

When I commenced these devotions on Paul, I started with the opening verses of Romans 1, verses 1-6, I have returned to this chapter and to verse 16.

Paul is making an important statement, and it is that he is not ashamed of the gospel. I ended the previous devotion with Paul saying that he didn’t count his life of being of any value, by this he meant that he considered his calling and the gospel as being of higher and more important value.

 Again, as we consider what he was doing at the beginning of Acts 9, breathing out threats and murder against the disciples to becoming one who has been saved by the gospel and transformed by the gospel and now making this declaration in Romans 1:16, it is incredible evidence of the amazing grace of God.

He was one who had been unbending with intent to destroy everything that was related to Jesus and all who followed in the Way, but now, he was unbending in his commitment towards the gospel, because he himself had come to experience the power of God which was at work in and through the gospel. After all, if it could change him and turn his life around, then the power of the gospel was and still is sufficient to turn anyone’s life around.

He was not ashamed of the gospel because he saw the power of God at work in the gospel. He not only knew what his experience was but would have witnessed the transforming power at work as he had become obedient in his calling to take the gospel to Kings, to the Gentiles and to the children of Israel.

It is in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 that we have from the pen of Paul the following words, ‘For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God’, (verse18)

What had been folly or foolishness to him as he became an activist with the gospel haters, had now become so powerful to him, not only in saving him but it caused him to become an advocate or ambassador of the message of the Cross. And as we will see, no one and nothing was going to deter him in his fulfilling the purpose for which God had called him.

Can we also along with Paul say that we are not ashamed of the gospel?  It is easy to make the declaration when we are with other believers, but what about when we are in the workplace or the college, or wherever we are found during the hum-drum daily routine of our lives, when opportunity arises do we willingly share about Jesus or do we slink back and remain silent.

May God give to each one of us the same determination to be advocates or ambassadors in this world around us, may the Holy Spirit grant to us boldness to speak out and to share with those who are lost that there is a Saviour that loves them so much that he died for them to grant them forgiveness and eternal life.

FRIDAY November 24^th

Acts 9:23–27

‘And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him: But their laying await was known of Saul. And they watched the gates day and night to kill him. Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket. And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.’

I have decided to include these verses in our devotion today before we leave Acts 9 for, we see here a contrast to the reception that Saul had when he went to the disciples in Damascus, to when he went to those in Jerusalem. In Damascus they welcomed him, in Jerusalem, they were afraid of him! They did not believe he was a disciple! His old reputation was still doing the rounds rather than his new reputation as a child of God! It is essential that we live as believers in such a way that we have a good and a godly reputation, that means that we must live differently than the way we did before conversion and not continue in the same old ways.

Thankfully there was one among the disciples who was willing to accept Paul and his name was Barnabus, the end result being that he was eventually accepted and in Jerusalem as in Damascus, he preached boldly in the name of Jesus.

What else can we learn from this? Well, not everyone will accept us for who we are as Christians, even some of those who we may be familiar with will reject us once we begin to declare our faith, we need to look for those who will be like Barnabus, encourager’s who will also be sympathetic toward us and who knows, eventually others may want to hear more from us concerning our faith and in Acts 20:24 Paul would later say ‘But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God’.

We need to be ready to testify to the gospel of the grace of God, and we can only truly do this if we are showing through our lives the difference that the gospel has made.

THURSDAY November 23^rd

Acts 9:22

‘But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.’

Because of the purpose for which God had called Saul, it was essential that he had his theology of who Jesus was correct! He was going to be carrying the name of Jesus to the Gentiles, those who had no understanding of Judaism, let alone this new Way which had sprung up concerning those who followed Jesus in Jerusalem and the surrounding area.

He was going to be carrying the name before kings, that is those who held high positions of authority, and part of that message was that Jesus Christ is Lord, so immediately there would be opposition against him, for those who were in authority expected the people to acknowledge them as lord.

And he was going to carry the name of Jesus to those who were Jews, those who had been established in Old Testament Judaism, and would need to realize that through Christ a new and a better way had come.

Today we have the responsibility of carrying the name of Jesus to those who are around us, 50-60 years ago it would have been to a majority of folk who had a connection in some way to the Christian faith, either through church or chapel going and through what was a Christian influenced education system. But times have changed.

Today in the 21st century we live in a post-modern, secular society where the Christian faith and the basic principles of Scripture are no longer wanted nor heeded. We live in a society that has multiple cultures and is multi-faith.

We need to not only know Jesus as Saviour, but we need to know about him and be confident in our faith and trust in him to be able to share the gospel to those of no faith or of another faith.

We need the help of the Holy Spirt to illuminate our hearts and minds and to empower and embolden us to speak out and to speak up concerning Jesus the Christ.

WEDNESDAY November 22nd

 

Acts 9:20

And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

Have you ever wondered how it was possible for Saul to immediately be able to proclaim about Jesus and that he was the Son of God?

Well, he already had a knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures and despite his opposition to those in the Way, as a Jew, he would have had knowledge of the prophecies concerning the Messiah, the one who would come from God. But now, the knowledge that he knew and of course the evidence that he would have seen and been enlightened about while spending time with the disciples would have helped him to begin to put all the pieces together.

But there is something else that happened after Saul’s conversion, which we read of in Acts 9 verses 17-19, Ananias tells Saul that he was to lay his hands on him, so that he may regain his sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Now, the first thought ‘that you may regain your sight’, I like to think that there is a spiritual application here, his eyes were opened not only physically, but also spiritually to the wonder and the realization of who this Jesus really was, the One whose name and followers he had been seeking to deny and destroy.

Secondly, he was filled with the Holy Spirit, this was not his first encounter with the Holy Spirit, sadly the modern versions miss out something we read in the KJV which is this, that he had been kicking against the pricks! (v5 KJV) In other words while he was intent on persecuting the believers, the Holy Spirit had been convicting him! But now, after his conversion, he was filled with the Holy Spirit who would now become his teacher, helping him to understand the truths concerning who Jesus is and of the gospel which he had been called to proclaim.

We too need the help of the Holy Spirit, first to convict us and to lead us to Christ and secondly to help us as we seek to live for Christ and to play our part in proclaiming the gospel to those around us.

And I just love our text that says immediately he proclaimed that Jesus is the Christ.

Notice he was in the synagogues; he was among those who had rejected the Messiah and still to this day reject Jesus as the Messiah.

May we pray for the Jews, that as Saul’s eyes were opened, so the eyes of many Jews will be opened today to see who Jesus really is and will come to know him not just as the Messiah, but also as Saviour and Lord.

TUESDAY November 21st

Acts 9:19-22

‘For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ’

 

Among the many lessons that we can learn from Saul as he is still called here in our verses today is that he spent time with the disciples in Damascus. Remember that only a few verses previously he was asking for letters to the synagogues so that if he found anyone in the Way, to bind them and bring them to Jerusalem. Now, he is going to be with those in the Way. Not to bind them, but to be bound with them! He realized immediately how important it was to spend time with other believers.

 

It is Paul who later speaks to us so much about the Church and the uniqueness of the Church as being the body of Christ and of each one of us as being members one with each other.

Being together in fellowship with one another is not just important, it is vital! Just as we are united to Christ as the head, so we need to be united to one another as the body. And as we continue our look into the life and the ministry of Paul this subject will come up again.

But for now, please take this as a plea that comes from a shepherd who is desiring the best for the sheep under his care, if you are not in the practice of being regular in fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ, makes the adjustments that are needed in your schedule to ensure that it happens.

Blessed be the tie that binds

Our hearts in Christian love

The fellowship of kindred minds

Is like to that above.