Emmanuel Pentecostal Church Gateshead Resources

FRIDAY January 24^th

 

I wonder which of the miracles of Jesus that we read of that you find the most fascinating, maybe it is one of the healing miracles, and they are incredible as we consider that it didn’t matter what the sickness or disease happened to be, not one was beyond his healing power.

 

It may be one of the miracles such as the water into wine, the catch of fish, stilling the storm, the feeding of the five thousand, or maybe the instances when he delivered those who were possessed of demons.

 

I cannot define a miracle specifically as a favourite of mine but would perhaps be drawn close to choosing the raising of Lazarus from the dead. One of the reasons being that prior to performing this incredible miracle, Jesus talks about what is my favourite subject, the resurrection.

 

Let’s just read some of the verses surrounding this miracle.

 

One of the most important verses is the statement Jesus made when he was first told that his friend Lazarus was sick, it is verse 4 ‘This sickness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it’. Now it seems a strange thing to say, especially when we read a few verses later that Jesus tells the disciples that Lazarus has died (v14) and when he arrives to the town, Marth says ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died’.

 

But Jesus knows what he is doing! Notice from verse 6 that despite what was the urgency of the situation with Lazarus, that Jesus remained where he was for two more days! He didn’t hurry, and the reason being he knew exactly what was going to happen—Lazarus dying, and what he would do—raise him back to life.

 

We can learn that even in what we would consider to be the delay in an answer to our prayers, God knows what he is doing. He has it all planned out, and Jesus made his way to Bethany, with not an ounce of worry, because although he wasn’t there physically, it was nevertheless all under his control.

 

And of course, it leads to the incredible declaration that Jesus made to Martha first in verse 23 and then in verses 25-26. ‘Your brother will rise again’, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet he shall live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die . . .’

 

Yes this miracle led to the raising from the dead of a man who by that time should have been decomposing and stinking, it also proved without any shadow of doubt as to who Jesus really was as the Son of God, and it gives to us the proof that we need today to understand that Jesus really does mean what he says when he claims to have power over death, and to grant eternal life and of course he gave even greater proof by himself being the One who later would die, be buried and three days later rise again.

 

Now I suggested at the beginning of this devotion that one of the most important verses was possibly verse 4, but perhaps the most important words that I can ask today as you read this devotion are the words that Jesus concluded verses 25-26 with, which I deliberately left out to conclude the devotion with and they are this:

‘Do you believe this?’

 

Jesus the very thought of thee with sweetness fills my breast, we can only have and know the sweet thoughts concerning Jesus when we have come to know and to believe who he is and all he has done for us. Your eternal destiny is dependent upon whether you believe or not.

THURSDAY January 23^rd

 

One of the miracles that I concentrated on recently in my ministry on a Sunday morning was that of the feeding of the five thousand as recorded in all four of the gospels, (Matthew 14:15-21, Mark 6:34-44, Luke 9:12-17, John 6:5-14)) and in John’s gospel led further to the discussion which takes us to the following verse:

 

‘Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst”’, John 6:35.

 

The miracle that had taken place was incredible, five loaves and two fishes being taken up by Jesus and after he blessed it, it was sufficient not only to feed the hungry crowd that consisted of not just five thousand men, but also the women and children, and for twelve baskets to be filled with the leftovers! Wow!  But the problem was the next day the same crowd were hungry again, the natural only satisfies for a short time and Jesus speaks to those who had come looking for him, that they need to be more concerned about the spiritual, that which lasts for eternity.

 

Yes, he had handled and broken the five loaves, but at the same time, as he was doing it, he himself was the living bread that had come down from heaven, and soon he was going to be taken and broken, so that all who partake of him will never hunger and will have eternal life. ‘I am the living bread that came from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh’, (John 6:51).

 

The theme is ‘Jesus the very thought of thee with sweetness fills my breast, but here with this miracle we see another two word that begins with ‘S’, first is that Jesus satisfies, for he meets our spiritual hunger and thirst, and he alone can satisfy.

 

Second is that Jesus is sufficient, the natural food was only sufficient to meet their need for a short period of time, but Jesus as the bread of life is sufficient to sustain us not only now in time but also for eternity. We do not need to go looking anywhere else for satisfaction for Jesus is sufficient for each and every one of us.

 

When the crowd came looking for Jesus the next day he said to them ‘Do  not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life’, (v27) Jesus is not saying that we should not work, but rather that we need to prioritise that which is eternal, in his own words while he spoke to the crowd from the mountain as he commenced his earthly ministry, ‘But seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you’, Matthew 6:33.

WEDNESDAY January 22^nd

 

Matthew 9:20-22 (see also Mark 5:25-34, Luke 8:43-48).

‘And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.’

 Of all the miracles, this is the one that first came to my mind as I considered which ones to include in these devotions, and what I want to share from it, is very simple and yet so powerful.

 

Can you imagine how this poor lady must have been feeling, there may have been some feeling of shame or embarrassment, and of course fear in her heart, yet overriding it all there must have been an element of faith at work, so much so that she exclaimed ‘If I only touch the fringe of his garment, I will be made well’, this was sufficient for her to believe that she would be healed, and she was! And Jesus knowing that something had happened, turned to her saying ‘Your faith has made you whole’.

 

She had lived twelve years with this awful condition, Luke tells us that she had spent all her living on physicians, notice it is plural, and could not be healed by anyone—but someone was in the area, she must have heard all about him, and his name was Jesus and despite her condition, despite the vast crowd, because of her simple faith, she knew that she only needed to touch his garment and she would be healed. There had been enough drama in her life, she had had enough of the constant visits from one doctor to another, whatever potions she had tried, and all the prodding and probing had been unsuccessful. She was without hope until she heard about Jesus!

 

And she pushed through with determination in her heart to get even the slightest touch of his garment, what an incredible demonstration of faith and she was rewarded, ‘Take heart’, in other words, ‘don’t be afraid, I have absolutely no problem with you reaching out and touching my garment, in fact, your faith has made you whole!’

 

Imagine how she must have felt! Free at last, no more spending her living on physicians, no longer restricted in what she could do and be as a member of the local community, not only made whole, but she was also now clean, free and all through the power of Jesus, the one who had come from God.

 

What do you or I need to receive?  We need to have just sufficient simple faith just as this woman had to reach out and to receive from Jesus.

 

If you consider the context of this miracle, Jesus was a busy man, he was on his way to the house of Jairus, because his daughter had just died. But it didn’t stop him from having time for this woman, he was not only busy, but he was also pressed in with a crowd, but the individual still mattered to him.

 

You matter to Jesus, I matter to Jesus, all we need is the simple faith to believe, to reach out, to touch him.

 

She only touched the hem of His garment

As to His side she stole,

Amid the crowd that gathered around Him;

And straightway she was whole.

 

Oh, touch the hem of His garment,

And thou, too, shalt be free!

His healing pow’r this very hour

Shall give new life to thee!

TUESDAY January 21^st

 

As we continue with the theme, Jesus the very thought of thee, I will turn our attention to the subject of the signs that Jesus did or performed which we also call miracles, for John reminds us that he recorded the ones that he did in his gospel 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).

 

In the final verse of his gospel he wrote, ‘Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written’, (John 21:25).

 

As with the parables, I am only going to consider the miracles or signs briefly, but in doing so, the wonder of who Jesus truly is as demonstrated in the amazing things that he did should cause us to be excited and thrilled that in coming to believe on him and having come to know him personally as our Saviour and Lord that as incredible as all the miracles were, the greatest of all is the miracle he has performed in our hearts transforming us into new creations, exactly as my favourite verse says, ‘Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come’, 2 Corinthians 5:17.

 

I concentrated my ministry for a few months last year on a Friday evening and a couple of Sunday mornings on the miracles that we read of that are not to do with healing and deliverance but more to do with external elements, such as water into wine, or the multiplication of loaves and fishes, the stilling of the storm and the incredible catch of fish. They show the power of God at work through the Lord Jesus over external things. But beside this are the miracles of healing and deliverance, which demonstrate to us the power of God at work through Jesus over or within individuals, both physically (healing) and spiritually (deliverance).

 

First, I want to remind us that the miracles show to us that there is nothing that can happen to us internally or externally, physical, spiritually or naturally that is beyond the power of God through the Lord Jesus Christ. We can entrust every aspect of our lives into his hands therefore, I am just going to close this devotion with a couple of phrases from some well-known songs to encourage you this morning as you may consider your own circumstances at this moment.

Leave it there, leave it there,

Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there,

If you trust and never doubt, he will surely lead you out,

So, take your burden to the Lord and leave it there.

 

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.

MONDAY January 20^th

 

I suggest that if you have the time, you turn to and read Matthew 25:1-13 but I will use verse 13 as the basis for the devotion:

 

‘Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.’

 

This is the last parable I am going to turn to in this series, for if I went to all of them, it would become a series on its own, but I have chosen this one to link to the theme ‘Jesus the very thought of thee . . .’ for there is something about our thoughts of Jesus which should cause us to have a longing in our hearts for the fulfilment of his promise that he would one day return again. 6

 

And this parable is a very clear warning from the lips of Jesus himself that we should not only be waiting and watching, but we must be ready for when he comes! I wonder and I must ask myself the same question, as to are we ensuring that we are ready for when he comes again.

 

Clearly in this parable there were a group of individuals who assumed they were ready, when in fact they had been keeping themselves so busy with other matters that they had failed to ensure they had sufficient oil to keep their lamps trimmed and burning, and the final verdict from the lips of the bridegroom was ‘’I do not know you’!

 

When I was growing up as a child and into my teens, the subject of the Lord’s return was a regular feature in the preaching and the teaching in the local church, so much so that we were often enthralled with it and of course determined to ensure we were ready and living in expectancy, somehow, the emphasis has become lost, and alongside it the subject concerning how we should be living and conducting ourselves in this world as the children of God.

 

As a result, the importance of being ready and the need to be waiting and watching no longer seems to grip us as it should do.

 

And yet if it was a warning from Jesus 2000 years ago, it stands to reason that we are living closer today than ever before to his appearing, and as we see the mess and the confusion in this world, there should be a longing in our hearts for him to come and to take us into his presence.

 

Yet, sadly how many choose to live with what I will call spiritual carelessness, rather than ensuring their lamps are trimmed and burning they will flirt with the things of the world.

 

Jesus is coming again, and the thought of this and our thoughts concerning Jesus should inspire us to live in expectant hope, and as Paul says as he talks of this subject in 1 Thessalonians 4 and verse 18 ‘Therefore encourage one another with these words’.

 

Jesus the very thought of thee—the very thought of his coming again should thrill our hearts and fill us with joy, the very same hymn continues with these words ‘But sweeter far thy face to see and in thy presence rest’.

FRIDAY January 17^th

 

Luke 15:20

‘And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.’

 

As we come to the third of the stories that Jesus gave which Luke has recorded for us in chapter 15, it was difficult to know which of the verses to use, but I have chosen verse 20 because it speaks to us something about the love that God the Father has for those who in the first parable are lost sheep, in the second parable lost coins and here in the third parable, those who have left the home and gone to spend their time in a far country and wasted their lives with what is described as reckless living.

 

But besides the verse I have already quoted there is another verse that reads ‘But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!’’

 

The parable tells us that he had left the family, and in his low state he remembered what the rest of the household would have been enjoying, he came to himself, or he came to his senses, and he knew that he needed to return home. In his hopelessness there was hope! In his lostness there was a place where he could go to, in his recklessness there was the possibility of reconciliation. And so, he planned, and he prepared a speech, and he made for home.

 

This whole parable is such a wonderful story about the love of God and I like the title it is so often given which is, ‘the story of the prodigal son’, for it clearly shows us that many will have enjoyed the blessing of being a part of the family of God, and yet for some reason have chosen to leave and to go and to do their own thing, but God is ready to welcome them back.

 

It speaks to me of the need for we who are in the family of God to pray for those who have wandered away, to pray that they will come to their senses, that they will recall all that they were blessed with and enjoyed in the past and will make their way home to the Father and to the family of God.

 

What a wonderful picture we get as we begin to stop and visualize verse 20! God looking, God full of compassion, God running, God embracing and God kissing! Such is his love! Recapping chapter 15, we add, God searches carefully, God finds, God places upon his shoulder, God rejoices, God places us into his fold, and he welcomes us into his family.

 

The three stories show very clearly the value that God places upon each one of us, and which he demonstrated through what Jesus has done at Calvary.

 

He came to seek and to save that which is lost.

 

That is why I can say that Jesus is the sweetest name I now, and Jesus the very thought of thee with sweetness fills my breast, because he came and he found me.

THURSDAY January 16^th

 

Luke 15:8-10

 

‘Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’

 

Why would Jesus give another parable that really speaking led to the same conclusion as the previous one, concerning the joy that is known in heaven over a sinner that repents?

 

Well, I am not saying that I know the answer, but I am going to give my thoughts on the matter. Jesus loved to use simple illustrations so that the simple folk could understand the message. There are only a few that have experienced what it is to lose a sheep, but every one of us can relate to our losing something in the home.

 

I’ve known what it is like to lose a sheep, but I can tell you I have known more often than I wish to remember what it is to lose something around the house, especially my glasses or my keys!

 

But there is something else that we can all relate to, and it is the value of that which was lost, one lost sheep was important to the shepherd, even though he still had another ninety-nine and the one lost coin was important to the woman even though she had another nine coins. It doesn’t matter whether it was one percent that was lost as in the sheep or ten percent lost in the story of the coins everyone matters to Jesus and as we will see in the third story the percentage is even higher at 50% missing.

 

Jesus will leave the ninety-nine to find the one sheep and he will search every nook and cranny to find the one coin that will make the set complete.

 

There is not a single place in this world that the care of, the love of and the heart of God through the Lord Jesus Christ is not willing to go to save a lost soul.

 

He found me in a church, it may have only been a tin building that looked no more than a glorified shed, he has found those who have been locked in a prison cell for crimes they have done, he has met with those who have been in brothels or other places we would call dens of iniquity, he has met with those who have been wandering like lost souls in the streets, he has met men and women in more places that we can ever imagine, because there is no nook or cranny, there is no mountain side nor valley, no place on earth where his love can not reach down into and lift up. He will untangle every bramble, he will pour in the oil and the wine, he will dust off and clean up anyone who is willing to call upon Him and be saved.

 

Such is his love. And the love that we have come to know, he longs that others will also come to know. May God help us to share the love of Jesus to this lost and dying world. Let’s do our part in helping to find the lost sheep and the lost coins.

WEDNESDAY January 15^th

 

Luke 15:4-7

‘“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbours, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.’”

 

I have referenced this parable many times as I have prepared the devotions, and when preaching, obviously it has a farming theme, which was my background growing up, but more importantly they were the verses that were being preached from when I came to faith as a nine-year-old one Sunday evening. But even more important is the meaning of the parable, that Christ Jesus came to seek and to save those who are lost. And that is every single one of us!

 

In Hebrews 12 we read this concerning Jesus, ‘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’, (verse 2).

 

Salvation is about God’s love, it is about knowing peace and forgiveness, but it is also most definitely all about joy! The night that Jesus was born, angels announced to the shepherds that they had come to bring good news of great joy to all people.

 

Now whatever the joy is that is talked about in Hebrews concerning Jesus, I believe that it not only included the joy of fulfilling the mission that he had come into the world to undertake, it also included the joy of being exalted to the highest place and I believe it also includes the joy that Jesus himself experiences as he sees lost sinners being found, as one by one men and women come to Calvary, repent and trust in all that he has done for them.

 

But not only is Jesus filled with joy, the parable indicates that Jesus will call those who are in heaven with him (the friends and neighbours in the parable) which I assume will be the heavenly host and together they will rejoice over every sinner that comes to repentance.

 

Yes, when I came to faith as a nine-year-old lad, the good Shepherd rejoiced and all of heaven rejoiced with him for a lost sheep had been found! and the same for that moment when each one of you who reads this devotion came to faith. Heaven was filled with great joy.

 

In yesterday’s devotion I suggested that we learn to love as Jesus loves, today, can I challenge us all, myself included to make 2025 a year where we will do all we can to share the good news to those around us so that it will be a year of great rejoicing in heaven over sinners who will come to repentance, over lost sheep being found and brought into the safety of the fold of God.

TUESDAY January 14^th

 

I am going to turn today to the first of the three well-known parables that we read of in Luke 15, the parable of the lost sheep vv4-7.

 

‘“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbours, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.’”

 

When we briefly considered the previous parables from Matthew 13, they were to do with the kingdom of heaven, in verses 1-3a we see why Jesus told these three in Luke 15, ‘Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable:’

 

They are to help us to understand why Jesus left heaven and came into this world—that is to save sinners! That is not just the tax collectors and sinners that were listening to Jesus, nor just the Pharisees and the scribes who were criticizing Jesus for receiving sinners and feasting with them, he came to all the world and for all the world, he came to save anyone and everyone who will be willing to repent and to believe on him.

 

Some very important verses that even we who are saved need to keep reminding ourselves of, for we can so easily forget that just as we needed saving, so do those around us who we can so easily turn our noses up to, the ones that don’t quite fit into what we consider as being the ‘right’ or the ‘nice’ box that we sadly fit people into and the verses are:

 

 ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.’ John 3:16

 

‘The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.’ 1 Timothy 1:15–16.

 

Paul says of himself, that as far as sinners are considered, he was the worst, or the most foremost, but the reality is that everyone one of us however good or bad we may consider we were before we met with Jesus, were all as bad as each other, for we were all sinners worthy of death, for that is the wages of sin. But the One who revealed himself as the good Shepherd in John chapter 10, came to lay down his life so that we may have eternal life.

 

So, before we turn to this parable, let us all ask the Holy Spirit to help us during 2025 to learn to love sinners the same way that Jesus loves them, even the ones who don’t quite fit into our own liking, for Jesus gave his life for them as much as he gave his life for us.

MONDAY January 13^th

 

We are returning today to the theme I had been taking us through before Christmas, based originally around the words of the hymn, ‘Jesus the very thought of thee, with sweetness fills my breast’, and we finished 2024 considering Jesus as a great storyteller with his parables.

 

Following on from the parable of the Sower, in Matthew 13, Jesus told a series of stories, first about the weeds, then the mustard seed and the leaven, then the parable of the hidden treasure and the parable of the pearl of great value and then the last in this chapter the parable of the net.

 

The theme for each of these stories was the kingdom of Heaven.

 

The kingdom of heaven is a) like a grain of mustard seed (vv31-32), b) like leaven (v33), c) like treasure hidden in a field (v44), d) like a merchant in search of fine pearls (45-46), e) like a net that was thrown into the sea (vv47-50).

 

I will sum them up with the two parables from verses 44-46

 

‘“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”’

 

The Kingdom of Heaven is better than any other kingdom that has ever been and will ever be as far as this earth is concerned, first because it is an eternal kingdom, second because it is also known as the kingdom of God, and thirdly it is a kingdom with a great King. A king who will reign forever and ever, and what is even more amazing is that this King wants us to be found in his kingdom, therefore we need to do all we can to ensure that we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

 

Entry into this eternal kingdom is only through the One who we have already discovered in the devotions is the way, the door, the gate, and he made the entrance available when he gave his life to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. If we link it to the parable of the Sower, the kingdom becomes available to us as we allow the seed of the word of the kingdom to take root in our lives and to become fruitful.

Therefore, we need to play our part to cherish the seed of the kingdom, treat it like the treasure hidden in a field, treat it like the pearl of great value, we need to sell, or I will put it this way, give up, get rid of anything else that may deter us from fully possessing the kingdom of heaven in our hearts and will also deter us or prevent us entering into the fulness of the kingdom when the King returns.