Walk With Me - Devotionals

God — Our Teacher And Our Example

Reader: Jon Watson

Date: 9th August 2022

Passage: Leviticus 19:2

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The book of Leviticus is full of lessons — God was teaching his people how he wanted them to live. The people God was teaching lived in a world where they were surrounded by different tribes most of whom worshipped idols which led to evil and cruel behaviour. God was determined his people should be different because God himself was different - "You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy".

What did this mean? God is the great example of what holiness means. In his case (God is in a class by himself) it means absolute purity; God is high above us, separate from sin and everything unclean; he is pure perfection!

So what does this mean for me if I am one of his people? Think of the sun shining down on a bright object. The sun's light is reflected and it can brighten up other objects that may be in the dark. So God's people have to reflect God's likeness — they have to have shining lives of purity, morally clean in heart and life — in other words they have to be holy for God is holy. This can be very hard in a society that may hate the things of God a society in which immorality, dishonesty, and lack of integrity comes to be acceptable. Chapter 19 of Leviticus is a very practical chapter of godly living and neighbourly love — holiness in action.

Dear Lord, sometimes I feel very unholy. Cleanse me and keep me pure in heart and life. Amen.

One Sabbath Day In The House Of Mercy

Reader: Jon Watson

Date: 8th August 2022

Passage: John 5:2

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Bethesda means 'House of Mercy', and that was an appropriate name for this place in Jerusalem because it was full of people who had many different and severe health problems. Those around the place were blind, lame, paralysed, and some had been there a very long time.

Jesus visited this House of Mercy on a Sabbath day. No doubt Jesus had words of sympathy and encouragement for all the people at Bethesda but we read that he only healed one. Why only one? We don't know, but it may well have been because Jesus knew this one man had been an invalid for 38 years and had been at Bethesda for a very long time. Jesus asked the man 'do you want to be healed?' It sounds like a strange question yet we know that many paralysed people earned their living by begging. Perhaps this man wouldn't know how to cope with being healed.

Anyway we know that Jesus healed him and he walked away cured. Later on Jesus found the man in the temple. Was he there thanking God for the healing he received? I'm sure that he was. But then Jesus said to him "You look wonderful! You're well! Don't return to a sinning life or something worse might happen" (Vs 14, The Message). We don't know if the man's illness had been a direct result of his sin but Jesus clearly showed him how he should live a life from then on that was pleasing to God. We trust he did.

Dear Lord, you have done so much for me. I thank you so much. Amen.

Joy Comes With The Morning

Reader: Jon Watson

Date: 7th August 2022

Passage: Psalm 30:5

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There are times in a Christian's life when things don't go the way he/she wanted. Yes, we do have good times of God's blessing and we find it easy to sing God's praises from a heart that is full of joy. But then we may find ourselves in a different situation — perhaps with illness or some danger or even when we feel 'out of sorts' with God.

At times like that we may well feel God is angry with us, distant from us, and that we have lost favour with him. Psalm 30 deals with situations like that. The writer felt at times that he was at the bottom of a deep hole. But then he says God lifted him up and he found that although God "gets angry once in a while, but across a life-time there is only love" and "the nights of crying our eyes out give way to days of laughter" V 5 (The Message). Joy comes with the morning!

The writer wants us to realise that life is not one great 'rosy day' when everything will go smoothly. There will be tough times, stormy days times when our faith in God will be tested. Yet he keeps telling us God is for us. He wants us to be happy with God. That is how he was when God answered his prayers during periods of feeling 'down'. And so it will be with us when we trust God completely. 'God filled my heart with gladness and clothed my soul with radiant joy. (Jim Sayers)

Dear Lord, help me to trust you day by day and know you in my heart so that I will praise your name. Amen.

Words Of Bad Company

Reader: Jon Watson

Date: 6th August 2022

Passage: Mark 7:20-23

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When you read all the words in Mark 7:20-23, you get an idea of just how ugly and sinful people can become. And you will find that there are several places in the New Testament where there are other lists of the bad things that people did in those far off times and people do the same things today. The words Jesus uses in the verses above are similar to those the apostle Paul uses and that the apostle Peter uses: they are words of bad company - "vile things ... and make you unacceptable to God" (verse 23).

When we harbour any of these thoughts in our hearts we have to repent of them and ask God for his cleansing and grace in forgiveness. Remember that such thoughts are bad company and make us unacceptable to God. Surely we don't want to live like that ?

But how do we deal with someone who does live like that — a person who loves the ways of the bad company Jesus was speaking about. First of all we must pray for them. They need God's help as only he can give them a sense of shame and a longing to leave the bad company they keep and desire to live a clean life. We must love someone like that and show them our love — a caring love that will want God's best for them. It may be that such a person needs more help than we can give them, but we can help them find such help and by God's grace they may come to find in Jesus the cleansing forgiving Saviour they need.

The Angel Of The Bottomless Pit

Reader: Jon Watson

Date: 5th August 2022

Passage: Revelation 9:11

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There is a terrifying battle going on all the time between the great God in heaven and the forces of darkness and evil, egged on by Satan the destroying devil. This battle will one day come to an end. Satan will be destroyed for ever; Christ will be the glorious Victor.

The book of Revelation has many pictures which show us a lot about the battle that is going on between good and evil. It shows the terrible effects that evil can have, the misery it brings and the sorrow that comes with it. We should never forget that behind many of the bad things which happen in our world there is an evil genius Satan the 'angel of the bottomless pit', as he is called in Revelation 9. His name means 'destroyer' - the destroyer of all that is good.

While Revelation 9 has some things that are difficult to understand, one thing stands out. God's people cannot be destroyed by Satan. The angel of the bottomless pit has no power to harm those who are trusting in Jesus. That is a great encouragement.

Another thing that becomes clear is that many people just ignored God's warnings and pleadings. People did not repent of their sins and continued under the power of the angel of the bottomless pit. That is a terrible choice to make.

Dear Lord, I pray you will keep my soul in your care for all eternity. Amen.

The Only True God

Reader: Jon Watson

Date: 4th August 2022

Passage: Isaiah 45:21

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The passage from which this verse comes is a wonderful Gospel passage speaking about many people coming to plead with God for salvation. Many of the people spoken about had their idols of wood and stone, but they would come to the Jewish people to see if their living and true God would accept them. God's answer was that of course he would: "Turn to me all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other" (Verse 22). God wants all people to be saved.

But look at how God describes himself in verse 21: "a righteous (just) God and a Saviour." One meaning of God being a righteous or just God is that he can be trusted; he speaks the truth and tells only what is right (45:19). But one other great thing about this text is the fact that God has a way of being just and a Saviour at the same time.

We see this in a clearer way in the New Testament when God's perfect Son the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross. He took all the sin of all who put their trust in him and paid the penalty for that sin (God is just and he must judge sin) and so he became at the same time the Saviour. God is just so does not demand any more punishment for the sin of those for whom Jesus died. That is Gospel good news and it is the message God wants all people to hear. It is true.

Dear Lord, as I thank you for Jesus, help me to spread this good news. Amen.

Bin It

Reader: Jon Watson

Date: 3rd August 2022

Passage: Philippians 3:8

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Popular in social media for a time was a Japanese lady who encouraged people to 'declutter' and get rid of things in the house: wardrobe, bookcases and so on. The charity shops became full and if something was not useful "then bin it"! No doubt the 'decluttering' guru was quite right in some ways.

Certainly when it comes to thinking of what is really important in our lives we have to keep a careful check to make sure we have our priorities right and we may well have to 'bin' things that can be spiritually bad or useless for us.

The apostle Paul had a massive clear out of stuff from his heart and life when he was converted. All the things he had been proud of before his religious zeal: his pride, his strict law-keeping, even his family connections with Judaism. He threw them all out as worthless things, because they had been keeping him from trusting in Jesus. The Lord Jesus Christ became the centre of his life his most precious possession and he no longer put value on the inferior stuff of his former self-centred and proud rule packed religion. A personal trust in the living Christ was worth everything even if along with it would come suffering and even death itself. Is your faith in Jesus as real as that ?

Dear Lord, please help me to trust you only and completely. Amen.

The Voice Of The Lord

Reader: Jon Watson

Date: 2nd August 2022

Passage: Psalm 29:4

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Psalm 29 is a joyful song of praise to our Creator God. The world he has made is full of 'the voice of the Lord'. You can imagine how David who wrote the psalm remembered the many times he had heard God's voice in the hills around his own home. Thunder and lightning were signs of God 'speaking' in a most majestic way.

David turned to poetry and music to tell us just how it is that the God of the wonders of creation is the God whom we and all the angels in heaven should praise and worship.

The psalm is also a reminder to us to look at what is happening in the world around us and 'listen' to the voice of the Lord speaking to us. God 'speaks' to us through the many good things we receive and for which we should thank him. But God also speaks through the tragedies that overtake people, maybe through illness, disasters and cruelties. God speaks through all of these, urging people to listen to him and come to trust in him.

The last book in the Bible Revelation tells us in several places of the voice of the Lord. The voice of the exalted Jesus is like the sound of a trumpet (Revelation 1:10) and the great voice of God on the throne of glory tells us how he will welcome all his believing people to live with him forever. Sorrow, fear and suffering will be gone for ever (Revelation 21:3 & 4). What a most comforting voice that will be!

Dear Lord, help me to hear your voice and give attention to what you are telling me. Amen.

Christians

Reader: Jon Watson

Date: 1st August 2022

Passage: Acts 11:26

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Christians! There are many places in the world today where people who call themselves Christians are in grave danger. To be known as a Christian may indeed lead to their death or imprisonment or some other punishment. There are three places in the New Testament where the name Christian is used and it is worth taking a look at each of these places.

The first one was a very happy use of the word — the people who had become believers in Antioch were the first to be called Christians. Believing in Jesus Christ marked them out as being different.

The second time the word Christian was used it seems it was used as a deliberately offensive word. The King Agrippa said to Paul "In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?" (Acts 26:28). He thought that would be beneath his dignity.

The third time the word Christian is used it was used by Peter as he warned believers in Jesus of the suffering they might be subjected to "If anyone suffers as a Christian let him not be ashamed..." (1 Peter 4:16). It may well be that you will be insulted or rejected because you are a Christian. Our Lord Jesus himself suffered greatly — so he could save us. As a Christian you are identified with him and that is glorious in itself.

Dear Lord, may I say or do nothing that will dishonour your name. Amen.

Looking With The Eyes Of God

Reader: Miriam Montgomery

Date: 31st July 2022

Passage: Luke 18:14

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Haven't we sometimes said about someone "He/she is a big show-off"? One of the men in the parable Jesus told in Luke 18:9-14 was a big 'show-off'. He was very religious and he wanted everyone to know it; he was a religious leader and proud of it; he told God about all the extra-good things he did so God would take notice. He felt himself a 'cut above' the rest and had a place for himself to pray a bit apart from the other 'common' people.

The other man in Jesus's story felt he had nothing to boast about. In fact he was depressed to his boots. People called him a sinner and that was how he felt in his heart before God and he called out to God for mercy.

The story of these two men touched a raw nerve in several of those listening to Jesus — those who trusted in themselves that they were OK with God and who treated men like this 'sinner' with contempt.

But before we condemn people who think like that, let's take a look into our own hearts. How, do we think, God sees us? Does he see us as being 'show-offs', thinking we are better than we really are; purer in our thoughts, kinder with our own words, with a love for those crying out for salvation? Looking through the eyes of God may be a humbling experience one that we need!

Dear Lord, forgive my pride and have mercy upon me. Amen.