May 26

“And when he heard of Jesus…” Luke 7:3

The centurion’s servant was on point of death. It seems clear from the narrative that being dear to him, the centurion would have made all efforts possible and perhaps expended all he could on physicians, and to seek medical help for his servant, but to no avail. This is not an unfamiliar set of circumstances. Both in what we read in scripture and in what we may experience in our lives, we find many situations, where we come to the end of our resources. We seek help but cannot find it, we hope for solutions but none appear. When empty of answers and without hope, we may become taken with despair, and perhaps become a little more sensitive to the fact that there is One who can help! Christ’s reputation as a healer had come to the centurion’s ears! Someone had spread the news about Jesus and what He could do, and the centurion heard it! When he heard of Jesus, new hope filled his heart.  When he heard of Jesus, a door was opened where there had been none. When he heard of Jesus, faith took hold in place of despair. When he heard of Jesus, he acted quickly on behalf of his servant, pleading that his urgent need may be met. How important it is for us all to remember Who Jesus is; what is can do and what He has already done! How vital for us to allow faith in Him to fill our minds and hearts, and displace the distress and anguish that may plague us, believing that He is the answer to our problems. He holds the key to the door, and is willing to help and meet us in our difficulty with strength, encouragement and answers. Faith and trust in God are both necessary when we walk with Him. Faith says that He is God, and is able to do whatsoever it is we have need of. Trust causes us to rely on His wisdom and will, and accept that He is God and He knows what is best in every circumstance of our lives! We are no doubt personally glad we heard of Jesus, and have verified for ourselves that He loves us and is there for the challenges which face us. We need to make sure that others hear of Him also, so they too can have an opportunity to find out what a close Friend and wonderful Provider He really is! 

http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion

May 1

“Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance…” Luke 3:8

The Lord had shown that He would not turn away a contrite heart and a repentant spirit. The Pharisees however, believed they were ‘justified’ and able to escape the wrath of God to come, through the value of their descent from Abraham. This basis of their righteousness therefore was not obedience to God and His law, but the fact that they were born Israelites! Jesus made quick work of their self-righteous beliefs, with His rebuke and retort, that God could raise children to Abraham from stones, if He so desired! In other words, their ancestry was an invalid measurement of justification or right standing with Yahwah! For us also there is a right way to salvation, life and victory. It is the way of the cross, the way of death, burial and resurrection through Jesus Christ. The gospel message is clear in what a believer must do, in order to be saved. Mentally assenting a belief in God, without true obedience to His word, is a righteousness equivalent to that of the Pharisees. In Matthew 5:20 Jesus said that “except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” This is a standard applicable to all who would be Christ-followers. We cannot like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, rely on our own abilities, religiousness, pedigree or rank. We must have the righteousness of God imputed to us through the Lord Jesus! This process begins when we come to a place of repentance. There we identify with the Lord’s death, for repentance is death to our flesh, our own desires, our ways and practices. It means turning away from the worldly way we have participated in thus far, and turning 180 degrees in the opposite direction, to walk in the ways of God, by obedience to His Word! This kind of repentance bears tangible fruit, evidences which can be seen, felt and known. The evidences are ‘worthy’- that is appropriate, equal to, and correctly reflecting the reality and genuineness of repentance! They include heartfelt sorrow for our sins of the past, hatred for those sins, and desire for God so strong that we will resist temptation, and never return to the ways of sin and death. In a world where much lip service is paid, we owe God to produce more than the Pharisees of old! Let our repentance and desire for God, be fresh each day, stronger along the way, sincere and marked by plentiful evidences to His glory!

http://www.pentecostalfamilychurch.com.au/devotion