Category: Devotions

Friday 9^th

Hebrews 12:1-2

NIV (vv1-2) – ‘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. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.’

ESV (vv1-2) – ‘Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.’

There are two more of those ‘lettuces’ in these verses (see devotion 30^th March) they follow on from the catalogue of the heroes of faith in the previous chapter, their stories have been recorded to encourage us and to spur us on in our Christian faith.

They are ‘let us lay aside’ and ‘let us run with endurance’ and we will briefly look at them.

The encouragement tells us to look back to the Old Testament saints as examples, but also to the Lord Jesus Christ, the one on whom we need to keep our eyes fixed.

‘Let us lay aside’ – the author also tells us what it is we are to lay aside or to throw off as the NIV puts it, ‘every weight and sin which clings so closely’. Every weight is referring to all those things that way us down spiritually, it can be our cares, our worries, our burdens, our anxieties, anything that hinders us in our Christian life, it also refers to those things that we may be carrying such as unforgiveness, bitterness, jealously which also will hinder us and weigh us down, and the sin which we know is anything in our lives that should not be in the lives of believers, habits we hang onto, behaviour that needs adjusting, things we are involved with that are not becoming to a child of God, these things will hinder us and will weigh us down, and if we are not careful, cause us to fall by the way side, and to not finish the race. Thankfully Jesus has invited us to cast all our cares, our worries and anxiety upon him, (1 Peter 5:7) he will deal with these things for us and we ourselves need to give up or to let go of the sin that besets us, we need to live lives that are according to the Spirit and not of the flesh, we need to walk uprightly and righteously, living according to the standards that the Word of God sets for us rather than the morals and the standard we see in the world around us.

‘Let us run with endurance’ run what with endurance? ‘the race that is set before us.’ The word endurance is translated as perseverance in the NIV, patience in the KJV, in my mind I picture myself as an example at the start of a race, the starting pistol went off that Sunday evening way back on the 18^th of May 1969 when I gave my life over to the Lord Jesus Christ, and I left the starting blocks to run the race with endurance, the finishing line was way ahead in front of me, back then I had no idea how long my race would be, but there is one thing for sure after 52 years it must be getting closer. Back then I knew what I was doing, I understood enough about the gospel to know I was a sinner and that Christ Jesus had come into this world to save sinners, in a personal way, he came to save me. But having made that decision I had no idea what would lie ahead, I had no idea how the race would be run, except that it needed to be with endurance, perseverance, or patience. I can honestly say that since I left the starting blocks there has never been a moment when I have questioned the decision I had made, but there have been many occasions when I have questioned the direction I have needed to take, but the important thing has been to ensure as the writer continues to say that it has involved running with my eyes fixed upon, looking to Jesus.

To be honest when I look back to the crowd of witnesses and see what they had to endure, so far, my race has been relatively easy! But it doesn’t mean that there have not been those moments when the going has been tough, but thank God the one who is at the finishing line, is our daily provider, granting us the strength, the sustenance that we need to keep going. It is a little like when you are watching a marathon,(or running one as it might be for some of you – but not me!)  every now and again there are folk handing out water for the runner to grab and drink on the run, and our Lord Jesus has his helpers all along the race side, who hand to us the help we need, it may have been a word of Scripture, it may have been a word of encouragement, a word of prayer, it may have been a number of different things. But they have spurred us on to keep us going as we run toward the prize. And of course, there is the crowd of witnesses, their example cheering us on.

May we lay aside every weight and sin and may we keep running with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith, weighed down at the moment, then get rid of whatever is weighing you down, lagging at the moment, then reach out for some help, get some grace and mercy to help you in your time of need.

Thursday 8^th

Hebrews 11:29-40

NIV (v35) – ‘Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection.’

ESV (v35) – ‘Women received back their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life.’

The common theme of this eleventh chapter of Hebrews is the words ‘by faith’ that is they believed by faith in something which was yet unseen and unknown, they believed that God was outworking something in history for them and through them that would continue to lead on to something that was far better and more permanent. And as we have seen the far better and the more permanent was to be outworked through the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. In our text yesterday we saw the Old Testament shadow or picture of the death of the Passover Lamb, in todays text we see the confident belief the heroes of faith had toward a future resurrection, ‘some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life’ or as the NIV puts it ‘that they may gain an even better resurrection’. Now to me this is an amazing demonstration of faith, for they believed in a future resurrection to eternal life even though as yet death had not been conquered, the sting of death had not been destroyed, the one who had the power over the devil had not yet come to bring victory over the grave. YET THEY BELIEVED. There is another hint of this earlier in this same chapter for it says of Abraham that he went in obedience to offer up Isaac because ‘He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead.’ (verse 19)

And one did come who would do all that was necessary to bring about not only eternal redemption but resurrection from the dead, one who would hit death head on and yet not be held by it but himself would be raised and as a result lead to the future resurrection to eternal life to all who would place their faith and trust in him.

All those who had been raised from the dead before would have to face death again, I remember someone once saying they were resuscitated rather than raised for death would strike again. But not so with the Lord Jesus Christ he was raised to the power of an endless life, because he had not known any sin it was impossible for death to hold him, he could not and never would face corruption, but the good news is that in his being raised from the dead he is also the first fruit of all those who will believe and thus by coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we will confidently say ‘“Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.’ And we can confidently say ‘But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ 1 Corinthians 15:54–57.

When you look through these verses in Hebrews 11, especially verses 32-38 it is an amazing testimony to their confidence and trust in God, whatever life threw at them, however bitter or cruel it may have been, God would not fail them, there are many who are faced with such similar circumstances in the world today, because of their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ they are undergoing awful suffering, torture and some are even faced with death, but they have the same confident hope in God knowing that what is at present is but temporal, what follows is eternal, and there is no better hope to have than that of eternal life, to spent in the presence of Almighty God.

It was Job who declared, ‘For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!’ Job 19:25–27

May we be reassured by what the Word of God has to say, and act on its instruction, ‘Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God’ to enjoy this incredible resurrection to eternal life we need to be pure in heart, and Christ makes this possible as we trust him as Saviour for his blood cleanses us from all sin, his shed blood places us in a right standing before God so that one day we shall see him and be with him.

Jesus himself said ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”’ John 11:25–26

Wednesday 7^th

Hebrews 11:17-28

NIV (v28) – ‘By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.’

ESV (v28) – ‘By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.’

Our text today is a reference back to the night before the people of Israel were going to start their Exodus from Egypt. Owing to the stubbornness and hardness of the heart of the Pharaoh, God had sent plagues of various sorts until finally he was going to send the angel of death, to destroy the first born of both the families and the livestock of the people of Egypt. But in doing so, God was going to provide a means of protection from the destroyer of the firstborn for the people of Israel. We read in Exodus 12:3-13 what the people of Israel were to do, to sum it up they were to take a lamb or a goat without blemish and to kill it, and then to apply some of the blood and put it on the doorposts and lintels of the house where they were living and then when the destroyer of the firstborn came to destroy God made this wonderful promise, ‘And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I shall strike the land of Egypt.’ (v13)

What a wonderful provision and what incredible protection. The provision of blood and the protection from the wrath or the punishment of God. We know that what happened back then is a wonderful picture of the provision  that God has made in providing our eternal redemption, and with the redemption comes our own protection from the wrath of God. But a Lamb was needed who just like the lamb in the Exodus story needed to be without blemish, and the Lamb was provided in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, he became our Passover Lamb, he was slain, his blood was shed and as we come to him by faith we are washed in his blood, his blood is applied over our lives and it brings us eternal protection from the wrath of God.

The message of the Cross cannot be spoken of without the blood, for the shedding of perfect blood was essential to obtain a perfect and an eternal redemption. Perfect blood was necessary because it would be incorruptible, and the Scripture is very clear that the Lord Jesus Christ knew no sin, he lived perfectly in obedience to his Father’s will to be able to be offered up as the perfect sacrifice for our sin, the only sin he knew was our sin, yours and mine as he took it upon himself  to bear the punishment for it. And because his blood was perfect blood, incorruptible, it is still just as powerful and still just as effective washing clean every individual who comes by faith to the Cross.

We will end this devotion with some Scriptures that remind us of the effectiveness of the Lamb who took our place, may we rejoice in our hearts that we have been delivered from our bondage, our Egypt, and the oppression of the devil because of the effectiveness of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

John 1:29 ‘The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’

John 19:4 ‘Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.”’

Hebrews 9:22 ‘Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.’

John 3:14–15 ‘And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.’

2 Corinthians 5:21 ‘For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.’

1 Corinthians 5:7b ‘For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.’

Hebrews 9:11–14 ‘But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.’

Revelation 5:9–10, 12 ‘And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” . . .  Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing!”’

Tuesday 6^th

Hebrews 11:13-16

NIV (v13) – ‘All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.’

ESV (v13) – ‘These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.’

So far in this great chapter on the heroes of faith, the writer has mentioned Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, (Isaac and Jacob) and Sarah, and in our text for today he says that they were all still living by faith when they died, but on dying they did not receive the promise. Now this does not mean that they had believed in vain, it does not also mean that God had promised and not delivered on his promise, for the writer continues later and concludes this section on faith by declaring ‘And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.’ (vv39-40) In other words, they did not receive the promise when they died, but they will one day receive it, the promise is sure and certain, and the day will come when they along with all of us who have become people who walk by faith through faith in Jesus will receive the promise together.

We have just celebrated Easter, our remembrance of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and these events were crucial to the outworking of the promise of God as given to these Old Testament saints, these heroes of faith. It was to Abram who later became Abraham that God had made the promise ‘And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ (Genesis12:2) And the source of the blessing that would bless all the families of the world was the coming through the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who came to be the redeemer, not only for the Jew but also for the Gentile, and as we come by faith to believe we receive the promised blessing which is eternal rest.

And the day is coming and what a wonderful and glorious day it will be when they, that is the Old Testament saints along with us will be made eternally perfect.

Our text says that ‘not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar off’ they saw through the eye of faith, they had believed God, they had the confident assurance that we read about in verse one that what God had promised he would fulfil, and thus they had lived in this world by faith, ‘acknowledging that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.’ As verse 16 says ‘they desired a better country, that is a heavenly one.’ I am reminded of the words of a song we used to sing, ‘This world is not my own, I’m just a passing though, my treasures are laid up, somewhere beyond the blue’ perhaps it is good for us to have a reminder once in awhile that we are just passing through, we can get so comfortable in this world that heavenly things don’t have as much importance in our lives as they should, after all it was Jesus himself who said that it is those who hunger and thirst after righteousness who would be filled, and later on the same occasion of the preaching of the sermon on the mount he reminded us of the importance to ‘lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’ (Matthew 5:6, 6:20-21)

It is in this same eleventh chapter of Hebrews that we are told that Moses could have had all that this world had to offer, he would have been well off in every way possible – except spiritually, but he chose instead to suffer with the people of God, in other words in comparison to eternity, the temporal was unimportant and transient, he was making sure that instead of taking advantage of the treasury of Egypt he was banking in the treasure store of heaven. He, like those before him, had seen the things promised and he was not going to let go of it.

May we also cling to the promises of God, ensuring that we do not let the temporal pleasures of this world to satisfy us for a season, but rather to keep our eyes fixed firmly upon the promises of God, knowing that as we endure to the end we will be the recipients along with the Old Testament saints of all that God has prepared for those who love him.

Monday 5^th

Hebrews 11:1-12

NIV (v1) – ‘Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.’

ESV (v1) – ‘Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.’

KJV (v1) – ‘Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.’

We return to the book of Hebrews today and will highlight some of the key verses in chapter 11, I covered so much of this chapter in previous devotions June 3^rd – 13^th.

I have quoted verse 1 of this chapter from three versions, from them we have the following combination of words, ‘confidence, assurance, conviction, substance, and evidence’. Five words that are intended to help us understand something of what this faith is that the Hebrew writer is writing about.

Faith is essential to Christianity, for it requires us to believe in that which is unseen, but also to believe in that which has taken place to enable us to be Christians. It was after the resurrection of Jesus that he appeared to the disciples when they were assembled in a locked room for fear of the Jews, but one of them called Thomas was missing, he missed out! And he made this declaration, ‘“Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”’ And he had to eat his words a few days later for Jesus came and appeared amongst them again, this time Thomas was there and Jesus said to him, ‘”Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”’ And after Thomas declares, the words, ‘”My Lord and my God!”’ Jesus says ‘“Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”’

Thomas saw and believed, we do not have that same privilege of literally seeing Jesus with our physical eyes but on seeing the Biblical evidence we see through the eye of faith and believe. There is a spiritual principal at work in our lives that moves us from unbelief to believing faith, we have a confident assurance that what we read (or hear when preached) is believable, and even though we may not fully understand all the finer details (I certainly didn’t as a nine year old coming to faith after hearing the gospel one Sunday evening) we see it or hear it and we are moved to believe it and to accept it by faith, and that faith is based upon a confident belief that what the Bible tells me that Jesus has done is real, it is sure and is essential to my spiritual well-being.

There are some other important verses in Ephesians 2 that reminds us that this faith that we have exercised to believe is not something that we can manufacture up but it is something that is given to us as a gift from God, that is as we are presented with the truths concerning the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, God is at work through the ministry of the Holy Spirit imparting the gift of faith that causes us to believe and to accept this wonderful message of grace and hope. The verses are ‘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.’ Ephesians 2:8–9. In the book of Acts we see how this was outworked when Peter is preaching after the arrival of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost and it says that as he is preaching the hearers were cut to the heart and they needed to know what they should do, what has happened is that as Peter preached the Holy Spirit was at work, bringing conviction, and the gift of faith from God himself was imparted and they responded with belief, and one thing is sure they didn’t understand all the finer details, but they responded by faith and the pattern then as it still needs to be today is that they grew in their faith and in their knowledge of Jesus as Saviour and Lord. The faith that moved them to believe grew stronger each day as they walked the walk of faith.

I wonder if as you are reading this today you are a Thomas, ‘Unless I can see, I will not believe.’ Well, in the words of Jesus himself the blessed one is the one who does not see and yet believes. In the book of Psalms there is a verse that reads ‘Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!’ (Psalm 34:8) I invite you today to take a step of faith, come and partake of all that God has made available to you through the Lord Jesus Christ, come and know true and lasting satisfaction, come to enjoy all that God has prepared for those who put their trust in him.

Sunday 4^th

Luke 24:1-12

NIV (v3) – ‘but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.’

ESV (v3) – ‘but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.’

Just imagine the scene, you know without any shadow of doubt that the man called Jesus who you had spent so much time with over the last few years had died. You witnessed it, you saw him arrested, you had heard the shouts of ‘crucify him’, you had seen him beaten and bloodied, you had seen him hanging on the awful tool of torture and crucifixion, you had seen Joseph of Arimathea with others take his body down off the cross, and you had witnessed the body being wrapped in a clean linen shroud and placed in the tomb, you had even seen the stone placed across the entrance and sealed, with a guard being set,  you were absolutely clear in your mind about everything. He was dead and he had been buried.

As far as you were concerned the burial had been hurried because of the Jewish Sabbath, and so out of respect you go down to the tomb the following day to give him a proper burial, to add some spices and ointments you had just been so with preparing, ready to anoint his body.

But horror of all horrors you arrive at the tomb and it has been opened, the stone has been rolled away to one side and you enter into the tomb and the body of Jesus is missing – ‘Oh no, what’s happened?’ ‘Someone must have come and snatched the body, either taken it and hidden it somewhere else, or perhaps beaten us to it and done the anointing and reburied him somewhere else, somewhere more permanent.’ ‘If only we had got up earlier and got here sooner’.

And while you are contemplating it all, the early morning suddenly gets a bit brighter, and then brighter still and two men in dazzling clothing stand next to you and you are frightened, you rub your eyes wondering if it is all a dream and you are suddenly brought back to your senses as they begin to speak, saying ‘Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.’ AND THEY REMEMBERED his words. . .’ (Luke 24:5-8)

Wow what a relief, as you suddenly begin to remember and to piece it all together, but more importantly what incredible news, ‘He is not here, but has risen.’

This is the most amazing news that the world has ever heard and still needs to hear, the one who came into the world to save sinners by dying in their place is alive, he had fulfilled his mission, he had appeared in this world, he was delivered up unto death, he had atoned for sin and he was alive. He had dealt with the sin problem; he had dealt with the sting of death and he has made the remission of sin and the entrance to God possible.

HE IS ALIVE, death could not hold its prey, Jesus my Saviour, he tore the bars away. Jesus my Lord.

The women who I am referring to were as Luke reports, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other unnamed women (v10) They were the first to hear the incredible news and also the first to be able to share it. They had a mixed response, in fact Scripture is clear that the first ones the women told thought it was an idle tale, until they investigated further and found it to be true.

Many today will still consider the good news we have to share about Easter – the death and the resurrection of Jesus as an ‘idle tale’ maybe you were once like that but you also investigated further and discovered it’s truthfulness and applied its message to your life, maybe you are reading this and still consider it as an ‘idle tale’ you just cannot or will not believe that someone could come into this world to die for you, to take your sin and to bear the punishment for that sin on your behalf, but someone did and his name is Jesus. Listen to what Scripture has to say, ‘For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.’ Romans 5:6-11

Jesus has done what none other can do, and Jesus can do for you what none other can do, he can grant you forgiveness of sin, he can grant you eternal hope, he can grant you eternal life, what we need to do is to accept the sacrifice he has made on our behalf, acknowledge our sin, accept him as our Saviour and surrendering our lives to him allowing him to be Lord in our lives. Will you spend some time today concerning the message of the gospel of hope that is all based upon what Jesus has done, and realise like so many others have done, myself included, that it is no idle tale, it is the truth that can change your life for eternity. Jesus is alive.

Saturday 3^rd

Jn 12:23–24

NIV (vv23-24) – ‘Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”’

ESV (v23-24) – ‘And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”’

I am not a winter person, I don’t like the cold and dreary days, and as winter progresses I spend my time waiting in anticipation for spring time, and I am constantly looking for the signs of new life shooting up through the soil, the fresh buds appearing on the tree, the signs of new life. But it will only happen if something has been planted earlier, using our garden as an example, I spent a lot of time planting various bulbs etc in the autumn and early winter with great anticipation for them bursting into life, filling the garden with glorious colours and beauty and I have kept going out and checking looking for the signs, today we are now enjoying the flowers blooming.

We could consider Good Friday as late autumn and what had been an amazing life, an example of what all men and women should be like had expired, died in an horrific way on the Cross, and later that day his body just like a seed was taken and planted in the ground, a tomb. The Saturday we could consider as the wintertime, but the wonderful news about this planting that took place is that springtime would arrive and arrive it did on the resurrection morning and what an amazing death and planting it had been for the result was fruit of abundant life that would last for eternity. And we will consider this amazing resurrection tomorrow, this amazing moment when the seed that had been planted burst forth with resurrection life.

See although I don’t like winter, I appreciate that while the soil might look bare and barren something incredible is happening underground, the seed that has been planted which looked as good as dead, perhaps shrivelled and wrinkly was actually full of life and full of potential, and the authorities had taken Jesus and they had killed him, they thought that as far as they were concerned he was dead and buried, they had got rid of him, but they had overlooked or failed to listen to what he had said in our verses for today, it may have looked as if he was finished, and yes he was dead, but within his dead body lay a kernel, a seed that would burst into life again, and what a bursting it would be, a body that would be glorified, a body that would never know decay, a body that was representative of what will be for all those who put their faith and trust in him. Yes, his being buried or planted and the being raised again is the first fruits of an incredible harvest that will one day take place when the trumpet will sound and the dead in Christ shall be raised and we who are alive and remain shall be caught up so that together we will meet the Lord in the air. So, we thank God for this spiritual autumn and spiritual winter that led to a spiritual springtime, his glorious resurrection and which we know will lead to a spiritual springtime for us as well and into a spiritual summer which is coming when we shall together be with our wonderful Saviour, gathered around his throne.

Friday 2^nd

Luke 23:13-25

NIV (v23) – ‘But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed.’

ESV (v) – ‘But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed.’

I don’t think that we will ever be able to comprehend what Jesus went through after he left that upper room with his disciples and began the last stage of the journey that took him to Calvary. Imagine the anguish there on his knees in the garden of Gethsemane, knowing that very soon one of his friends was going to betray him and later one of the closest of the friends, Peter would deny him, then the awful treatment that he received as they took him, beating him, hurling out abuse, mocking him, taunting him and throwing all sorts of accusations against him to satisfy their demands to have him killed.

He had spent three years going about and doing good, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God, healing the sick and performing many wonderful signs, a few days earlier they had cheered and celebrated as he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, but now, he would have to bear the awful experience of the same crowd hounding for his death, and to hear them choose to let Barabbas go free and for him to be Crucified, Jesus had set his face as a flint toward Jerusalem, and he had determined in his heart that he was going to obey his Father’s will and he would not be distracted, he would not flinch, he would not call for the angels to deliver him, he would willingly suffer and die because of his great love for you and for me.

He had come to do his Father’s will, whatever the cost, knowing the joy that was set before him, as God he could see beyond the suffering, he could see beyond the Cross, he could see beyond the tomb, he could see the scene of the redeemed of the Lord gathered around the throne crying out ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ Revelation 7:10

And we end this devotion at the scene that humanly speaking we probably would not want to visit and see for ourselves, because of its awfulness, but a scene which we are so glad that took place because it brought about that which was necessary to bring us our eternal redemption and to bring about the future scene in heaven which we will see because we will be there,  ‘Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.’ Matthew 27:45–50

Oh, how He loves you and me, Oh how He loves you and me. He gave his life, what more could he give?

Oh, how He loves you; Oh, how he loves me; Oh, how he loves you and me.

Jesus to Calvary did go, His love for sinners to show. What He did there brought hope from despair.

Oh, how He loves you; Oh, how he loves me; Oh, how he loves you and me.

Thursday April 1st

Luke 22:7-20

NIV (vv19-20) – ‘And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 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.”’

ESV (vv19-20) – ‘And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”’

We will pause from the book of Hebrews for the next few days as we prepare to come to the Easter weekend, and we will mediate on some of the happenings of that weekend.

In our reading today we find that Jesus spent the evening with his disciples sharing the Passover with them. The week had been spent which much conversation as Jesus had taught them and had also sought to encourage them owing to his pending departure via Calvary. It is during this time in the upper room sharing the Passover that Jesus institutes what we now refer to as Communion, the Lord’s Supper, the Lord’s Table, one of the two Sacraments which we follow, the other being that of Water Baptism.

When we share in communion on a Sunday morning we usually take our reading from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 11 verses 23-26, here Paul is laying out to the Church the (for want of a better word) formula which is usually followed for the partaking of this sacrament. ‘For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.’

I suppose if we are not careful we can make our partaking of Communion on a regular basis as just something we do, but it is important that we keep reminding ourselves it is something that is important for it points back to the most important events that have ever happened in the history of the world and at the same time points forward to another important event that is yet to take place, the day when Jesus comes again and takes to be with himself all that have put their faith and trust in him. For the disciples when they shared in this first Lord’s Supper on that evening the events of the Cross and the resurrection hadn’t taken place, but were literally just hours away, in fact it is from that upper room that Jesus went to the garden and prayed that all important prayer (‘“Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”’ Lk 22:42) which led on toward his arrest, his suffering, and his death.

As we come to this another Easter weekend, may we centre our thoughts completely upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and today take the words from the ‘formula’ we use, ‘Do this in remembrance of me’ and remember him and thank God again for his indescribable gift to the world, the Lord Jesus Christ who came into this world to save sinners, to save you and to save me. And as we meditate again upon the events of that weekend, remind ourselves that he is coming again, as we learned from the book Hebrews last week, ‘and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.’ (9:28)

When we take the words from the ‘formula’, ‘For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.’ It reminds us as I have already mentioned that we look back – to his death, and we look forward – to his coming again. Can I put it this way we look back to the Cross and we look forward to the Cloud! For just as he was taken up from the sight of the disciples in a cloud, so he will come again, to take us to be with himself. (Acts 1:9 -11 ‘And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”’) 

Wednesday 31^st

Hebrews 10:19-39

NIV (v22-25) – ‘Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.’

ESV (v22-25) – ‘Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he

who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.’

Continuing from yesterday we have the third of the ‘Let us’ statements to look at, ‘Let us consider’, consider what? Consider how to stir up one another – now today if we are stirring it is usually implied that we are stirring up trouble, but in the context of this letter it is to stir up or as the NIV says to spur us on in our faith, and in particular toward our love and care for each other, our meeting together for we need to be encouraged as the writer says even more as you see the Day approaching.

The Hebrew recipients as I mentioned yesterday may have been going through difficult times, and one of the ways the writer wanted them to be encouraged was through the mutual support of one another, when they may have felt hated by the world, then show love toward one another, when perhaps it was difficult to get through life with possible risk because of their faith then show your love by good works, caring and supporting one another and then meet together, for in meeting together, by being in fellowship there was that sense of togetherness that helped them realise they were not alone, it was an opportunity to find the encouragement needed to persevere. And we today may not be undergoing the same difficulties the early believers were having but we do have pressure and opposition, and the ‘let us consider’ to the Hebrews is also important for us today. We need each other as the family of God, I need you, you need me, we need each other and we need to show mutual support for one another and we need to have fellowship with one another for it is very often in that place where we come together as God’s children that we get the encouragement that we need.

The final thought in these verses is ‘and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.’

The word Day is with a capital D, signifying that it is not just any old day but a particular Day. It is the Day of the Lord, the Day of the Lord’s return, the Day when a sifting will take place, the Day when those who have trusted in Christ will be taken and all others will be left behind. It is a ‘let us’ ‘all the more’ because the writer didn’t want anyone to fall back, to fail at the last hurdle, he wanted each one of the recipient of his letter to be sure to finish the race. We need to heed the same advice, ‘and all the more as we see the Day dawning near’, Jesus is coming again, don’t be caught napping, don’t be caught out unaware, keep focused on Jesus, look up, for your redemption is near.