Tag: Jesus

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Devotion June 5th

MONDAY June 5th

 

Matthew 5:33 -37

‘Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.’

 

As we continue to look at some of the teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, we come today to a few verses that ultimately are summed up in

v37 ‘Let what you say be simply ‘yes’ or’ No’; anything more than

this comes from evil!’

 

Without going into the details of ‘taking an oath’, we could sum up these verses as being an instruction to always be truthful and honest in our conversation.

 

Whatever we speak or say should always be truthful and should be able to be

relied upon by others. I wonder how often we have heard it said (or maybe have said it about someone ourselves) ‘Take what they say with a pinch of salt’, in other words you cannot be too sure as to what they are saying is the truth.

 

We can all elaborate or exaggerate about something if we are not careful, for example when relating the story as to how big the fish we caught was!  It can

happen so easily, but the moment we do so we are no longer telling the whole truth or we are not relating something truthfully.

 

As Christians we have come to know the One who is the truth. We daily read from his word which is truth, therefore truth or truthfulness should be a hallmark of Christianity, therefore we should endeavour at all times to be men and women who are truthful!

 

Our yes must always be a yes and our no a no! We all need help to walk in such a way because we see so much that is the opposite of truth or the stretching of truth all around us. May God help us to be those who will be identified as those who speak the truth.

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Daily Devotion July 9th

THURSDAY 9th

John 1:1-5

NIV – ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.’

ESV – ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.’

We come now to the beginning of John’s gospel, and to the opening verses which are contained within John’s prologue which is from verse 1 through to verse 18 in which John introduces us to Jesus.

Matthew commences his gospel by introducing Jesus through his earthly genealogy, going back to Abraham. Mark by introducing Jesus at his baptism in the Jordan, Luke takes us to the birth of both John the Baptist and Jesus being foretold by the angel Gabriel to Zechariah (for John) and Mary (for Jesus).

John in his introduction goes right back to the beginning, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’ In fact, although the word beginning is used here, the idea is to take us into eternity past, before time began.

Immediately, although he does not use the name Jesus till verse 17, he lets the reader know that Jesus is God, importantly, not a god but God. ‘. . . and the Word was God.’ (v1). Of equal importance is Johns introduction of the Word as already being with God, (‘ . . . and the Word was with God’) he was with God as God at the beginning. Before time began, the eternal God existed, and thus also existed the Word, who we see later in the gospel to be the Son of God, therefore he the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ is the ‘eternal Son of God’. There has not been a specific moment in which Jesus became the Son, he always has been.

John then announces that it was through the Word that all things were made, and without him was not anything made; thus we see the co-operation of the Godhead in the creation of the world.  We know from Genesis 1, that it says, ‘In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth’ (v1) V3 tells us that ‘the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the earth’. And now John tells us that the Word was there as well, thus creation is the work of the Godhead, the triune1 God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In his epistles, Paul also ascribes creation through the Lord Jesus Christ in 1 Corinthians 8:6 ‘ . . . yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.’ Also, in Colossians 1:16 ‘For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.’ And the Hebrew writer as well, Hebrews 1:2 ‘ . . . but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.’

John then makes another important statement about the Word in verse 4 ‘In him was life, . . .’ He himself is life, he is the source of created life and he came into the world to give us life, new life, abundant life, eternal life, resurrection life, as we discovered from the earlier devotions. This is the Word, this is the eternal Son, this is Jesus, the Christ, the one who is our Saviour.

Now, we could suggest at this time, that we are stating our belief upon Jesus and his deity  on the words of a fellow man, the apostle John, but we will see that what John has declared is also verified by Jesus himself. We discover that as time had unfolded through the record of the Old Testament, as we see one generation pass to another, Jesus already existed. Later in the same gospel, Jesus would make an incredible statement about himself at a time when the Jews were disputing with him, they said to him, ‘are you greater than our father Abraham who died?’ To this Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, before Abraham was born, I am!’  (John 8:53,58) By using the words ‘I am’ to describe himself, Jesus was declaring  himself to be equal with God, for he was giving himself the very title or name that God had used in telling Moses who he was way back in Exodus 3:13-14 (‘Then Moses said to God, If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them? God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And he said, Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’’)

This Jesus is our God!

1 Triune God / Trinity – The word trinity is not found in Scripture, this does not mean that it is a false concept, it is simply a word that has been used to help us understand the tri-unity of God, that God exists as one God in three persons, The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit, also known as the Godhead. Some Scriptures where we see the three persons of the Godhead together are: Mark 1:9-11 at the baptism of Jesus, he as the Son is in the water, the Holy Spirit descends like a dove, and the Father speaks from heaven. Also in 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 concerning the gifts, variety of gifts but the same Spirit, (the Holy Spirit) varieties of service, but the same Lord, (the Son) varieties of activities, but the same God (the Father) See also: John 14:16-17, 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, 2 Corinthians 13:14, 1 Peter 1:2.

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Devotions

Daily Devotion July 7th

TUESDAY 7th

John 3:16

NIV – ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.’

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

I have chosen to go to this verse from John’s gospel today to link it with the verses we had yesterday in John 20:30-31. ‘‘Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.’ Both references are linked to our need to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, which as we discovered yesterday was John’s reason for writing the gospel.

Believe(s) and believing are key words throughout this gospel. You may remember that when I came to Emmanuel Pentecostal Church to speak for the first weekend in September 2019, the theme that I shared was based upon the statement, ‘What we believe about the Lord Jesus Christ is important.’ This is the whole emphasis of John’s gospel, because what we believe, and how we act upon what we believe depends upon whether we receive the life that is offered. It is not just a case of believing in Jesus, it is believing that he is the Son of God, which will lead to life. Tomorrow we will consider the word ‘life’ in this gospel. For today we will consider the words believe and believing.

We have all been brought up in world in which we have been told a mixture of stories, some are factual, others are fiction or fable, known as fairy stories. It is amazing how the world of fiction, fantasy and fable has captured the worlds imagination, leading to multi-billion-pound enterprise especially in the world of film and theme parks. The world is fantasy mad and happy to live in cloud cuckoo land. What the world needs is a good dose of reality and truth, because the world of fantasy leads to a dead end, it may give temporal pleasure but offers nothing for eternity. Reality and truth as found in the gospel of John (as also in the entire word of God) leads to eternal life. And to receive the eternal life that is on offer we need to believe that what John has written is truth, for the one he has written about is truth himself. (John 14:6 ‘Jesus said, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. . .’)

There are at least four things we need regarding believing.

  1. We need to believe we are sinners – sadly the world is so utterly depraved that we are living in unprecedented times when wrong is now considered right, which is a massive stumbling block toward mankind recognising what sin is and that he is a sinner.
  2. We must believe that we need saving / salvation
  3. We must believe that Jesus is the only Saviour
  4. We must believe on Jesus, that is to put our faith and trust in him to be saved

Believing is so important, for not to believe leads to hell, eternal destruction, but to believe leads to eternal life. How we respond is the most important decision we will ever make.

The word believe appears in John’s gospel 48 times, believes 14 times and believing two times. If anyone wants to go through the various references, I will place them at the end of this devotion1, but this amount of usage in one Bible book alone is sufficient for us to understand the importance of believing in Jesus. Our text for today tells us that that is why Jesus was sent into the world, 1) because God loves us 2) he wants us to believe in his Son 3) and as a result we will not perish but will have eternal life. Later in his gospel John records the words of Jesus himself ‘My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.’ (John 10:27-28)

You tell me of any other book that reveals such wonderful and powerful news, there isn’t, for it is in this book alone (the Word of God) and in particular linked with our devotion from the book of John that we can discover the wonder of the truth of a God who loved us enough to come and to live in this world and to give his life as a propitiation for our sin. John wrote later in one of his letters ‘In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation2 for our sins.’ (1 John 4:10)

Dwell on this thought today, that God loved you so much that he sent his Son to die for you.

1 References for believe(s) believing – Jn 1:17,50 – Jn 3:12,15,16,18,36 – Jn 4:21,42,48 – Jn 5:24,38,44,46,47 – Jn 6:29,30,35,36,40,47,64 – Jn 7:38 Jn 8:24,45,46 – Jn 9:18,35,36,38 – Jn 10:25,26,37,38 – Jn 11:15,25,26,27,42,48 – Jn 12:11,36,37,39,44,46 – Jn 13:19 – Jn 14:1,10,11,12,29 – Jn 16:9,30,31 – Jn 17:20,21, –  Jn 19:35 – Jn 20:25,27,31

2The word propitiation carries the idea of appeasement or satisfaction, specifically toward God. Propitiation is a two-part act that involves appeasing the wrath of an offended person and being reconciled to him. This Christ has done through the means of his sacrificial death at Calvary. See also Romans 3:25, Hebrews 2:17 and 1 John 2:2 (ESV, NKJV, KJV) (The NIV uses the words atoning / atonement)

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Daily Devotion June 22nd

MONDAY 22nd

Acts 4:8-12

Our next letter in SAVIOUR for us to consider is U and Unique.

This will be considered in two ways, first Jesus is UNIQUE as Saviour, and secondly because of God’s concern for each one of us we are individually unique.

In the Scripture above, Peter and John are defending their involvement in the healing of the lame man and they make an important statement (Acts 4:11-12) ‘This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’

This is an affirmation of what Jesus had said while talking to his disciples in John 14:6 ‘. . . I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’

The gospel that we have believed and accepted is the only gospel, the only good news. The Lord Jesus Christ whom we have come to believe on and accept is the only Saviour. There is no other way, there is no other name, there is no other Saviour. He is unique, the gospel is unique, any other effort or endeavour to seek to placate God and reconcile mankind into his presence is to no avail.

In John 10 in which we read of Jesus as being the good Shepherd, we also read that he says that he is the door or the gate. The hymn writer puts it like this, ‘There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin, he only could unlock the gate of heaven and let us in’. Jesus not only unlocked the gate of heaven with his atoning work but he himself is the gate. ‘One door and only one, yet its sides are two, I’m on the inside, which side are you?’

Jesus is unique in that he is the only Son of the true and living God, who through his obedience in coming to earth and going to Calvary became the unique Saviour.

In regard to our own personal uniqueness, when God created man in his own image, the first thing we need to understand, God was not creating a man that would be cloned in every person that would be born, like a mass production of robots from an assembly line, yes, every person would be recognisable as a person, but not one of us is exactly the same, we have our own personality, our own consciousness, our own preferences, we are physically different but even more important we all have our own individual soul, spirit. We are individuals made in the image of God, with our own uniqueness stamped upon us. This should help us to understand that each one of us is special, we are all unique in our own way. But there is something special about our uniqueness in the unique Saviour. We have a new identity, we have a new name and its written down in glory. I am who I am and what I am by the grace of God, and you have become who you are by the grace of God. God looks at us en-masse, and sees us as the Church, the body of Christ and the bride to be of Christ, yet at the same time he looks at us as unique individuals, he sees each one of us separately as his workmanship in Christ, he sees us uniquely as new creations, he sees us as individual sons and daughters who have been adopted into his family.

Today if you are struggling with who you are, with identity, remember that God has called you and saved you, he sees you as unique and special, he sent his Son to redeem you and to save you, he has a plan and a purpose for your life which only you can fulfil.

This thought leads us to the next letter in Saviour O – Ordered

This is a simple thought and it is this. God has a plan for each one of us, in redeeming us he has firstly brought order into our lives, one song says that ‘my life was full of so much confusion, my life was full of sin and shame, but Jesus came along and he touched me, I have never been the same.’ And the reason why we have never been the same is because Jesus the Saviour has tidied up our sin filled lives, he has thrown out the rubbish and brought order in the place of confusion, chaos and mess. And as he works in our lives, he causes us to live ordered lives, lives that are lived fulfilling his plan and his purpose. He has prepared good works for us so that we can walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10)

Psalm 37:23 ‘The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way . . .’

Proverbs 3:5-6 ‘Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.’

If anyone is reading this and you are finding that things seem to be in a mess at this moment, your life is all confused and you don’t know which way you are heading, turn to the Saviour, refocus your attention towards him, centre your desires and your will around what he desires and wills and allow him to bring order and direction back into your life. Allow the one who says we are his workmanship to do the work that he needs to do to keep us in that place, which is the safest place, the centre of his will.

I’m special because God has loved me

For He gave the best thing that He had to save me

His own Son Jesus, crucified to take the blame

For all the bad things I have done

Thank You Jesus, thank You Lord

For loving me so much

I know I don’t deserve anything

Help me feel Your love right now

To know deep in my heart

That I’m Your special friend

Graham Kendrick CCLI788682

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Daily Devotion May 28th

THURSDAY 28th

John 1

Having had six children, Elaine and I have known the difficulty in deciding what names should we give them. Shall we use family names, shall we be different and use obsolete names, shall we just choose names we like, but then what if we both do not want the same name. One name or two, or what about three? Well, we chose, and between the six we have used 14 names. Some are family names carried on and others are names we chose because we liked them and although some of our children have chosen to shorten their name’s we will still only call them by their full name. i.e. Robert goes by Rob to many, but we will never call him Rob, it is always Robert, the same with Andrew / Andy. To me, one of the joys when they were born was going to get the birth registered and having the names put on record by the registrar.

Can you imagine Mary and Joseph going to register the birth of Jesus? Name please? Jesus. Middle name? Yes, but how much time have you got, he’s Messiah, Word, Lord, Christ, Redeemer, Saviour, Lamb, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God . . .

Well, he is all of these and so much more. This new-born baby had a lot to live up to and live up to it he did.

In John’s gospel chapter one, Jesus is identified in many ways. First in verse one as the Word, then he is identified as the creator (v3), life (v4), light (v5), the true light (v9), full of grace and truth (v14, 16), God (v18), Lord (v23), Jesus (v29), Lamb of God, (v29, 35), Baptiser (in the Holy Spirit) (v33), Chosen One (v34), Rabbi or teacher (v38), Messiah, Christ (v41), Son of God (v49), King of Israel (v49), Son of Man (v51). It is a comprehensive list of names, titles etc. When you add in the ones I have listed earlier and many more such as Great High Priest, Advocate, and others which Jesus used to describe himself, the ‘I am’ the door, the Good Shepherd, etc his names would have taken some registering at birth!

But for us today what matters is not the registering of his name at birth, but our receiving him for our new birth, as John records in 3:3 Jesus said, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ And in 3:5 Jesus said, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.’ Earlier in chapter 1:12 John had said,  ‘But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.’ Being born again, brings us into a relationship with Jesus which then opens up to us everything that Jesus is and everything that he has to offer! But, whichever of the names and titles we use for him, we first and foremost need to go back to the name that God told his earthly parents to give him – that is Jesus, for he was to be the Saviour of the world. It is only when we come to know Jesus as our own personal Saviour that we can really start to get to know him in all the other ways. For example, he can only become my Shepherd after he has become my Saviour!

What I want to share briefly this morning is that once we do get to know Jesus as our Saviour, (that is we have believed in his name), we then begin to get to know him in all the other ways, and we will begin to realise that Jesus is all or everything that we need.

Need saving – he is our Saviour who saves us

Need help – he is our Helper, our Advocate and Great High Priest

Need direction – he is our Shepherd who leads us, he is our Light, he is our Doorway, he is our Way

Need healing – he is our Healer and the restorer of our soul

Need strength – his grace is sufficient for in our weakness, his strength is made perfect

Need peace – he is our Peace

Need comfort – He heals the broken hearted

Need resources – he is our provider

Feeling lost and helpless – he is our Hope

Need I add any more? There was a new chorus that became popular in the late 80’s early 90’s which I think we almost wore out with singing at the time when it became known in our local Church, but the truth of the words could never be worn out. It is ‘Shout for joy and sing’ and the second part continues, ‘You are my Creator, you are my deliverer, you are my Redeemer, you are Lord; and you are my healer, You are my provider, You are now my Shepherd and my guide; Jesus, Lord and King, I worship you.’

What are you in need of today? Look to Jesus, the all sufficient One. We used to go to an annual convention in South Wales and one year a new chorus was introduced as was often the case and it must have been sung over and over and over again, after returning home I popped into Hereford to the bank, and queued outside the ATM, Steven our second son was with me, he would have been around 6 years old and suddenly in the queue he started belting out loud and clear the song, he had obviously learnt it!  ‘I confess that Jesus Christ is Lord . . .’ But what surprised me the most was that he had remembered the bigger more complicated words in the song, ‘He’s omnipotent, magnificent, all-glorious, victorious, I confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.’ We need to keep reminding ourselves, or instead like Steven, sing to ourselves till we not only know the words but the reality of the words, that Jesus Christ is Lord, he is omnipotent, he is magnificent, he is all-glorious, he is victorious. Because we have come to know him as Saviour, Jesus is all we need.

It was the words of the following song that prompted me to do this devotion today, He is all I need.

He’s all I need when I just need someone to talk to,

He’s always there to hear my prayer each time I call him,

All my need he supplies my thirsty soul he satisfies,

He’s the Lord of and he’s all I need,

He comforts me when I am weary eases every pain,

Fills my deepest longing, time and time again,

He’s my souls inspiration, my hearts consolation,

He’s my everything, He’s all I need

He’s all I need I will not turn to any other,

For he’s my friend who’s closer than any brother,

On this friend I can rely to be my strength as life goes by,

The Lord of all is all I need

He comforts me, when I’m weary, eases every pain,

Fills my deepest longing, time and time again,

He’s my souls inspiration, my hearts consolation,

He’s my everything, he’s all I need.

He is all I need, He is all I need, All, Jesus is all I need,

He is all I need, He is all I need, He’s my everything, He’s all I need.

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Daily Devotion May 27th

WEDNESDAY 27th

As we continue the theme of the name of Jesus today, we will consider five short points.

We GATHER in his name.

In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul is having to deal with an individual who has sinned, but the context is not so important for now, but a statement he makes in v4 is, ‘When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus . . .’ From this we can deduct that when the Church gathers together it must always be in the name of Jesus, or because of the name of Jesus, or to put it in another way, in our coming together, Jesus should always be at the centre and the purpose for which we have come together. In Matthew 18:20 Jesus says, ‘For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.’ If we want to know the presence of Jesus among us when we come together, we must gather in his name. It is not about you or me, it is all about Jesus and to lead us to the second point, when we come together:

We GLORIFY his name.

 In our coming together we should seek to glorify his name. Sadly today we are living in an age of celebrity, the world is full of celebrities, and sadly it is a culture that is creeping in, or has crept into the life of the Church, we have made celebrities out of leaders, pastors, worship leaders etc. The one who should be the centre of our attention when we gather together is the one who’s name is above every other name, he alone is the one we celebrate and worship, he alone is the one who deserves all the glory and honour, he alone is the one we should be exalting. Thank God for leaders, pastors, and worship leaders who God has raised into places of leadership and authority, but never ever should they become the focus of our attention, if they do not point us to a place of glorifying God, then we should remove ourselves from them, and if they themselves become the centre of our attention, then we reposition ourselves into a new place where the Lord is being glorified.

We GO in his name.

It wasn’t until I was putting yesterday’s devotion together and reading the verse from 3 John 1:7 that I put two and two together and realised that an old hymn we used to sing years ago was probably based upon this actual verse of Scripture. I have sung the hymn many times, not realising its source. The Scripture says, 3 John 1:7 ‘For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles.’ The hymn we sang was ‘For my sake and the gospel’s, go and tell redemption’s story.’

It is for the sake of the name of Jesus that many have left the shores of the United Kingdom to share the gospel around the nations of the world. As a result, many have given up homes, families and even their lives for the name of Jesus and the sake of the gospel. They have reckoned that because of his name it was worth it, they realised that putting Jesus first, putting him at the centre meant that nothing else mattered but redemptions story. And as Paul testified about himself, they went willing to suffer for his name, some even imprisoned because of his name and some even faced death because of his name.

To lead to our next point, this verse in 3 John is followed with verse 8 which says, ‘Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.’

We GIVE of our resources in his name.

Thank God for those who are willing to go, but we are not all called to leave the UK to serve God on foreign soil, but we can all play our part. First in praying for them, and prayer for mission or prayer for mission organizations should always feature in our prayers, but secondly, we can give, we can give financially to support the work of worldwide mission. And as we give, we give in his name, for the furtherance of the gospel story so that it will lead to many more coming and calling upon the name of the Lord and being saved. Colossians 3:17 ‘and whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.’ This includes our giving!

Finally

We GIVE thanks in the name of Jesus.

Ephesians 5:20 ‘Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.’

We have come into His house

Gathered in His name to worship Him,

We have come into His house

Gathered in His name to worship Him,

We have come into His house

Gathered in His name to worship Christ, the Lord

Worship Him, Jesus Christ, the Lord.

Let’s forget about ourselves

Concentrate on Him and worship Him,

Let’s forget about ourselves

Concentrate on Him and worship Him,

Let’s forget about ourselves

Concentrate on Him and worship Christ, the Lord

Worship Him, Jesus Christ, the Lord.

Let us lift up holy hands

Magnify His Name and worship Him,

Let us lift up holy hands

Magnify His Name and worship Him,

Let us lift up holy hands

Magnify His Name and worship Christ, the Lord

Worship Him, Jesus Christ, the Lord.

He is all my righteousness

I stand complete in Him and worship Him,

He is all my righteousness

I stand complete in Him and worship Him,

He is all my righteousness

I stand complete in Him and worship Christ, the Lord

Worship Him, Jesus Christ, the Lord.

Bruce Ballinger CCLI788682

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Daily Devotion May 25th

MONDAY 25th

Reading – Acts 4:13-31

We will continue today on the theme of the name of Jesus, but today from the book of Acts. As I did yesterday, I will give an overview of the verses that have reference to his ‘name’, you will need to turn to them if you want to find the context. ‘who calls upon his name’ (2:21), ‘every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ’ (2:38), ‘In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth’ (3:6), ‘And his name – by faith in his name’ (3:16), ‘or by what name’ (4:7), ‘that by the name of Jesus Christ’ (4:10), ‘there is no other name’ (4:12), ‘to anyone in this name’ (4:17), ‘teach at all in the name of Jesus’ (4:18), ‘through the name of your holy servant Jesus’ (4:30), ‘not to teach in this name’ (5:28), ‘not to speak in the name’ (5:40), ‘worthy to suffer dishonour for the name’ (5:41), ‘and the name of Jesus Christ’ (8:12), baptised in the name’ (8:16), ‘who call on your name’ (9:14), ‘to carry my name’ (9:15), ‘for the sake of my name’ (9:16), ‘who called upon his name’ (9:21), preached boldly in the name of Jesus’ (9:27), ‘preaching boldly in the name of Jesus’ (9:28), ‘forgiveness of sins through his name’ (10:43), ‘baptised in the name of Jesus’ (10:48), ‘risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (15:26), ‘I command you in the name of Jesus Christ’ (16:8), ‘baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus’ (19:5), ‘invoke the name of’ (19:13), ‘and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled’ (19:17), ‘die in Jerusalem for the name’ (21:13), ‘calling on his name’ (22:16), ‘opposing the name’ (26:9).

In our reading for today we discover that it was not long after the day of Pentecost when the authorities began to be concerned about the ‘name’. Even though they had seen tremendous evidence of the power that is to be found in the name of Jesus, they sought to ban any activity based around his name, verses 17-18 ‘But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name. So, they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.’ But what did the disciples do? They prayed for boldness, and after being filled again with the power of the Holy Spirit they went out and continued to speak the word of God boldly. (4:31) But it got them in trouble again, in Acts 5:28 ‘We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching . . .’ The apostles replied we must obey God rather than men.

The disciples had come to know the tremendous power and authority that was involved in the name of Jesus. Power and authority that was present in the name and through the name because of who Jesus was, the obedient and conquering Saviour, the one who God had declared to be Lord over all. And Jesus had commissioned the disciples or sent them to ‘go in his name’, this means that they had been given authority to exercise authority in the name of Jesus.

To attempt to use an illustration, a poor one I know, in themselves the disciples could do absolutely nothing, they would be like you or I going as a civilian and attempting to enter a property to do a search. It just would not happen. What we would need is a warrant, a document that gives us authority to go and to enter and search. And when Jesus gave the disciples authority to use his name it is as if he issued them a warrant, a document ‘his name’ that gave them the authority.  If we look at the period of time between Acts 4:18 when the disciples were charged not to teach or speak in the name of Jesus and the second time in Acts 5:28 ‘We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, we will see verses 12-16 in which we see how they exercised that authority. ‘Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.’ Wow what amazing results. Brothers and sisters, we need to collect our warrant!

As I have gone through these various Scriptures, there are many things that have been highlighted to me, things we know about and readily proclaim, the power in the name to save, the power that is in the name to heal, and the power in the name to deliver and set free.

In Acts 9, we find that Saul who later became Paul was going about with authority (a warrant) to bind those who call on the name, (verses 1-2 and 13-14) and yet as he who hated the name of Jesus was intent on causing suffering toward those who loved the name of Jesus, God was at work with a plan that in turn meant that Saul himself would end up suffering for the sake of the name. The name hater, the name despiser, the one who wanted to obliterate the name would himself become a carrier of that name, he would hold a better warrant, not a warrant that would lead to death for the believers, but a warrant ‘the name of Jesus’ that would lead to life for the unbelievers. (9:15-16) What an amazing evidence of the power in the name of Jesus to save and to transform a life. So much so, that he came to love the name of Jesus so dearly that we hear Paul saying many years later that he was willing himself to be imprisoned or even to die for the name. (21:13)

We are living in relatively safe times in the UK to be a believer in the name, sadly there are many nations where this is not so. We can so easily sing or say that we love the name of Jesus, that Jesus is the name we honour, Jesus is the name we trust because at this moment in time there is no risk involved in saying so. But what if? What if we were told that we were not to teach or preach the name? What if the authorities had warrants to arrest those who follow the name? What if our believing in the name means we would have to suffer many trials, or be imprisoned or be put to death? A lot of ‘what ifs’, but the challenge is for the now, we can believe freely on his name, we can declare freely about his name, maybe, the person God keeps placing into your heart and mind is someone who needs to know about the name, and you are to be the one who is to carry the name to them.

The name of Jesus is so sweet,

I love its music to repeat;

It makes my joys full and complete,

The precious name of Jesus.

Jesus! oh, how sweet the name,

Jesus! every day the same;

Jesus! let all saints proclaim

 Its worthy praise forever.

I love the name of Him whose heart

Knows all my griefs and bears a part;

Who bids all anxious fears depart,

I love the name of Jesus.

That name I fondly love to hear,

It never fails my heart to cheer,

Its music dries the falling tear;

Exalt the name of Jesus.

No word of man can ever tell

How sweet the name I love so well,

Oh, let its praises ever swell,

Oh, praise the name of Jesus.

W C Martin CCLI788682

Categories
Devotions

Daily Devotion May 24th

SUNDAY 24th

Reading – John 14

When I was preparing the devotions for last week, at the same time I was also reading through the books of John and Acts, and toward the end of John and into Acts what kept getting my attention were verses that had reference in some way to the ‘name.’ (referring to Jesus)

In the beginning of John’s gospel we have, ‘believing in his name’ (1:12), ‘believed in his name’ (2:23), ‘not believed in the name’ (3:18), Then in particular within the dialogue Jesus is having with his disciples prior to his going to Calvary we have, ‘ask in my name’ (14:13) ‘ask me anything in my name’ (14:14), ‘the Father will send in my name’ (14:26), ‘ask the Father in my name’ (15:16), ‘on account of my name’ (15:21), ‘ask of the Father in my name’ (16:23), ‘you have asked nothing in my name’ (16:24, ‘ask in my name’ (16:26), ‘by believing you may have life in his name’ (20:31).

Now I have only given a highlight from each of the reference, you need to read the surrounding verses to find the context for each of them, but what I want to draw from this short list is the conclusion that they reveal to us that there is and must be something unique and special about ‘his name’. There is little point in me suggesting today that you should believe in my name, or ask anything in my name, nor any point in me suggesting that the Father will send anything in my name. My name is just a normal (or maybe odd, unusual) name that has absolutely nothing significant attached to using it. But when we come to this name it is a uniquely and particularly special and important name because it is the name of Jesus. Now, the name Jesus in itself is not unique, it is still used as a popular Christian name in some parts of the world, but with regard to the Lord Jesus Christ it is uniquely special because it is the name that God has given to his eternal Son. Luke 1:31 ‘And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.’  Luke 2:21 ‘And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.’

The name ‘Jesus’ (Gk Iesous) is the equivalent to the Hebrew ‘Joshua’ (Heb Yehoshua) and means ‘The Lord is salvation’ and this baby born in Bethlehem and given the name Jesus was to be the Saviour, the ONLY Saviour, who would bring redemption for mankind. He would be the only person in the history of the world named either Joshua or Jesus who would literally be what his name declares about him. In Luke 2:11 as the angel came to make the announcement to the shepherds about the birth of Jesus we read ‘For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.’ Most translations have ‘a Saviour’ The NLT puts it this way, ‘The Saviour—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!’ The NET translation, ‘Today your Saviour is born in the city of David, he is Christ the Lord.’ Jesus is ‘THE SAVIOUR’, Christ the Lord.

Now why is this name when given to Jesus different to when it is given to any other? Why does it contain power and authority, why can we ask through it, why should we believe on it etc.? Well, as I’ve already mentioned, because it is the name his Father gave him, but Philippians 2:9-11 enlarges the answer for us, ‘Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.’ (See also Ephesians 1:20-22)

He was given the name Jesus by God the Father at his birth, and because of his obedience in accomplishing what God the Father had sent him to do, that was to live a sinless life, to die a sacrificial death and to be spectacularly raised from the dead, God has exalted him, and bestowed on him a name which is above every name. The name bestowed upon him was Lord. By exalting his name, God is declaring the one born as Jesus, to be Lord. Therefore, we declare that Jesus is Lord. Remember what Joshua means ‘The Lord is salvation’ and in the person of Jesus, in his name as Jesus he truly is Lord. It is a name that has power, it is a name that has authority, and Jesus prior to his ascension, declared to his disciples ‘All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.’ There is a song made more popular by the Gaither’s which has the line, ‘Mary called him Jesus, but I call him Lord.’ What we can declare is this, Jesus is Lord, or our Lord is Jesus!

Another reason why the name is unique when given to this Jesus is found in Acts 4:12 ‘And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’  It is only in this one who is called Jesus, the one who has become Lord, that salvation can be found.

There are some lovely songs that are composed around the name of Jesus, and I will mention just a few of them here, I love to sing about Jesus, I love to sing about his blood, I love to sing about his name, for it is the highest name that heaven and earth affords.

We will continue the theme on the name of Jesus tomorrow from the book of Acts.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

There’s just something about that name

Master, Saviour, Jesus

Like the fragrance after the rain

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus

Let all Heaven and earth proclaim

Kings and kingdoms will all pass away

But there’s something about that name

Gaithers CCLI788682

Just the mention of Your name

Causes me to fall before You,

Tears flow as I adore You,

At the mention of Your name,

Just the mention of Your name.

Just the mention of Your name,

Reaffirms the love that holds me,

Speaks once more of love that knows me

At the mention of Your name,

Just the mention of Your name.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,

At the mention of your name,

I worship.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,

At the mention of your name,

I worship.

Chris Bowater CCLI788682

Jesus, at your name we bow the knee,

Jesus, at your name we bow the knee,

Jesus, at your name we bow the knee,

and acknowledge you as Lord.

You are the Christ

You are the Lord

Through Your Spirit in our lives

We know who You are

Chris Bowater CCLI788682