Walk With Me - Devotionals

Marching Orders

Reader: Mairi MacPherson

Date: 1st May 2022

Passage: Joshua 1:1-9

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Joshua had been Moses' assistant but now Moses was dead. It now fell to Joshua to take over and lead the people of Israel into the land God had promised to give them. It was a big responsibility.

I think Joshua must have been really worried scared even because three times God said to him "Be strong and courageous" one time even saying "Be very courageous" and once he said "Do not be afraid, and do not be dismayed". God gave Joshua a real pep talk and with it his marching orders as to how he was to lead the people. The secret of being a successful leader in this great task was to do exactly what God told him to do .

We will probably not be called to do a great work like Joshua was called to do but there is something every Christian is called to do that is vitally important and to do it well we need God's help and we need to stick to God's marching orders.

God calls each Christian to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ(2 Timothy 2:3) You see, in the world we live in so many people know nothing about the Christian life at all — they don't go to church, they may never hear the Gospel. That means each of us who is a Christian must live in a way that will show people that we are marching under God's leadership and that that is the best for all of us.

Dear Lord Jesus, I can get scared to witness for you at times. Please give me courage to live and speak for you.

The Blessing Of Shalom

Reader: Jon Watson

Date: 30th April 2022

Passage: Leviticus 3:1

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In the Old Testament worship of Israel there were several sacrifices. They were the constant reminders of two great truths that are still of vital importance today. One is that God is holy and separate from all that is sinful. The other is that we are not holy and we can only have fellowship with God when he shows us how to have fellowship with him and provides the way for this to happen. The different types of sacrifices in the Old Testament religion showed the different aspects of God's way of salvation, and so to fellowship with him.

One of the sacrifices was called the Peace Offering — the word "peace" is the word "shalom" that many people today use as a greeting . This "Shalom" offering was use for several reasons, one of which was as a way of expressing to God a big "thank you" for all the blessings that a person had experienced, and he wanted God to know how much he appreciated them all.

This offering is often linked to the blessings we now have through the Lord's Supper and the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus which it represents. This is often spoken of as the cup of thanksgiving — saying "thank you" to God for his way of salvation through Christ Jesus. This brings us "shalom" indeed, and fellowship with him.

Dear Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you for your sacrifice for us and pray that we never forget how great a debt we owe to you for this. Amen

Who Does He Think He Is?

Reader: Angus Macdonald

Date: 29th April 2022

Passage: Luke 4:16

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I was once asked to conduct a funeral in the village in which I was brought up in my early years. When I went into the room where the people were gathered I heard someone say, "Who is that?" A person answered, saying, "He is (my father's) son".

Jesus went back to the village where he had been brought up. People did know who he was; he had lived and worked there in Nazareth and he had obviously faithfully attended the synagogue services on the Sabbath days. It was obvious that Jesus had been educated to read the Scriptures, and he had probably taught the people as well. They were used to him in Nazareth, although he may have been away for some time. How strange then that when Jesus began to teach the people their reaction went from being pleased to being really hostile to him — so much so that they chased him out of town and even tried to kill him. Why was that?

It is a strange fact that people are often very happy to hear good Gospel preaching until they realise that if they were to really believe the claims of the Gospel their lives would be changed. Then they turn away from it as if to say to God (and the preacher), "Who do you think you are telling me to come and confess my sin?" There is too often an angry reaction to the Gospel. How sad the heart of Jesus must have been when he had to escape for his life from his own home village!

Lord Jesus, may I never try to turn my back on the Gospel. Amen

A Mighty Wind And Tongues Of Fire

Reader: Calum Macdonald

Date: 28th April 2022

Passage: Acts 2:1

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Pentecost was a popular day in the old Jewish calendar. The name comes from the fact that it was held 50 days after the great Festival of Passover (the Greek word for five is "Pente"). It was a happy festival because it also marked the end of bringing in the harvests. It was a festival for which all Jewish men were expected to go to Jerusalem to celebrate there. We are told that the city was full of people from all over those areas of the world where Jewish people had settled — mostly areas surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.

For Christians, this day became specially important because it was on this day that God the Holy Spirit was "poured out" from heaven like "a mighty rushing wind" and "divided tongues as of fire" came upon all the people who were gathered together waiting as Jesus told them to do for just such an event as this.

What did it all mean? First of all it meant Jesus had kept his promise to send the Holy Spirit. Secondly it gave new courage power and authority to the apostles and other followers of Jesus. In the third place the great miracle of the apostles speaking in the many languages of the people who were from many different countries meant they could understand the Gospel and tell people about it when they went home. And fourthly this was like the "birthday" of the Christian Church as it began to go into all the world.

Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for the Holy Spirit and his place in my life. Amen

Let Us Make A Name For Ourselves!

Date: 27th April 2022

Passage: Genesis 11:4

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"Let us make a name for ourselves." Ambition can be a good thing, provided it is for the right reason, but it can also be a very ugly thing when it is simply to make a name for ourselves. We should all be ambitious to do the best we can in order to bring honour to God. We shoul try to live in a way that shows our love and gratitude to God for all he has done for us and for all he is in himself, the great and holy God.

The people spoken about in Genesis 11 were ambitious. They wanted to build a city for their protection, which was fair enough. But then they wanted to build a big tower just to show how clever and powerful they themselves were. There was pride, and indeed arrogance, in their decision to build a tower with its top in the heavens. It was as if they were saying, "We don't need God to help us, we are quite able to do things in our own way."

We can all become very proud, especially if things are going well for us. We, too, can think that we can live without God's help and manage life without having to listen to his word all the time. But that is a foolish attitude and a sinful one Hear the word of God's wisdom: "Trust God from the bottom of your heart: don't try to figure out everything on your own, Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track" (Proverbs 3:4-5, The Message).

He's Got The Whole World In His Hands

Reader: Angus Macdonald

Date: 26th April 2022

Passage: Revelation 1:8

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The world we live in can be a very scary place. There is so much violence, poverty and natural calamities that we wonder just what is going to happen to us in the future.

We read three times in the book of Revelation that God is the Alpha and Omega. Once in the Old Testament we read a similar phase: "I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God" (Isaiah 44:6).

What does all this mean for us? It means that the world we live in was created by God, it is still under the control of God and one day God will bring it to a place where he will create a new heavens and a new earth where there will be no more sin or death. Righteousness will be the order of the day.

So where does today's suffering and sadness fit in to this scheme of things? It is a reminder that we live in a world that is suffering the results of the terrible curse that sin has brought upon the whole world. However nothing is beyond the control of God — "He has the whole world in his hands" and one day he will show this in the glory and judgment that is yet to come.

Almighty God, while we look for that glorious future, help us to witness for you today. Amen

Thank You Lord

Reader: Calum Macdonald

Date: 25th April 2022

Passage: Psalm 9:1

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Probably one of the first things we were taught to do and say was "thank you," when we were given a sweet or some other gift. It was likely too, that we got into trouble when we ran away and forgot to say "thank you!"

Saying "thank you" is good in two ways: it makes us see that what we are given is something special to us, and it lets us see that what we are given is something special to the person who gives us a gift. It gives a warm feeling all round. If we just grab a gift and go off without saying "thank you," the giver will be disappointed in us and won't really feel good either.

The Bible itself is full of places where people gave thanks to God. We have every reason to give him thanks. One of the most beautiful expressions of thanks to God is in 2 Corinthians 9:15 which says, "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift." The gift, of course, is the Lord Jesus Christ and his salvation.

The writer of many psalms sang his thanks with his whole heart — it was sincerely and joyfully given. May we never grudge saying "thank you" to God. Every day we receive God's good gifts and we are constantly receiving his love and grace through Jesus Christ.

Help me, dear Lord, to give you my thanks from my whole heart. Amen

A Tale Of Two Brothers

Reader: Jon Watson

Date: 24th April 2022

Passage: Genesis 27:41

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The story of Jacob and Esau is one of the most important stories in the Bible, and one of the saddest. It is a story of how deceit, favouritism and shameless trickery tore apart a family that should have shown the world an example of godliness and happiness. These two sons were the sons of Isaac, Abraham's son. Their father was a good man who became blind in his later years. Their mother showed favouritism to the younger son Jacob. Jacob was a 'stay-at-home' guy while Esau was a hunting and shooting man of the outdoors. There was a real jealousy between the brothers, and both wanted the special blessing of their father that normally would have gone to the older son by right. However, with the connivance of their mother, Jacob tricked Isaac into giving him the father's special blessing, and once it was given it could not be withdrawn. The rift between the brothers caused no end of problems for the people of Israel for years to come.

This gives us a very clear warning about family relationships and the damage that can be done when we allow these to go wrong. There is no place in Christian families for jealousy, dishonesty and favouritism. The New Testament teaches that every family should be rooted and grounded in love. Christian families are to show a Christ-like example to an often dysfunctional and deeply sad world.

Dear Lord, please protect our Christian families and help them to be your witnesses to the world. Amen

'no Man Is An Island, Entire Of Itself' (John Donne)

Reader: Angus Macdonald

Date: 23rd April 2022

Passage: 1 Corinthians 12:14

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We are all different. Some of us like to do things on our own while others like to do things in a group. However, there is one thing we cannot do on our own and that is to be a Christian. A Christian is not "an island, entire of itself." If that is our attitude then we will not survive as a Christian.

The apostle Paul spent a long time teaching us that the Christian is a member of a body (the church) a Christian is a member of a fellowship (the church); a Christian is a member of a family (the church). Just as our physical bodies are made up of several different limbs and they are all important, so each Christian is like a limb of the body, the church, and each is important. Fellowship is like the life-blood of the church. As Christians each one is united to Christ, and together we share in a love for Christ and for one another. God gives different jobs to different people in the church so that it can function well — like a good body — and it functions well when we all work together in a mutual love for one another.

Love is the hall-mark of the Christian Church. Perhaps the most familiar picture we have of the church is as the family of God. We know how sad it can be in a family if a son or daughter goes away and has nothing more to do with their family. It is a tragedy when that happens in the Christian family, too. If it does happen we must pray for that person's return. Love the family of God and thank him for your place in it as a believer in Jesus.

Dear Lord, I thank you for the different people in my church. Help me to love them in Jesus' name. Amen

The Heavens — The Work Of God's Fingers

Reader: Calum Macdonald

Date: 22nd April 2022

Passage: Psalm 8:3

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King David of Israel was the writer of this psalm. David was not brought up in a palace; his father was not a king. David, the youngest of all his brothers, was a shepherd boy in his early years, and he knew and loved everything about the natural world around him.

I think it is very easy to see how David with his strong poetic talent just loved to sing about the world around him, the world which God has made. I have always loved the way David writes about the sky in this psalm. You can imagine him lying on his back in the open one starry night and just marvelling in the glorious beauty of the stars. He saw them as jewels set in a staggeringly lovely setting — all the work of God's fingers — God is so mighty and so fond of beauty.

When we live in a city perhaps we don't take time to appreciate the creation of God. The bright lights of the city tend to make it difficult to see the stars in their glory. When everything around us is man-made — the buildings, the roads, the lights and so on then we are apt to leave God out of the picture. But this should not be so. We must never forget our Creator — God. All the "artistry" of God went into the creation of the heavens but also into the creation of people "What is man?" asks David. Then he tells us — people receive God's special attention.

Dear Lord, help me to give my special attention to you. Amen