Walk With Me - Devotionals

The Glorious Trinity

Reader: Jon Watson

Date: 29th October 2022

Passage: 2 Corinthians 13:14

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If you are at all used to going to church you will be familiar with the above words. They are usually said at the end of the service — the Benediction. Yesterday we looked briefly at the person of the Lord Jesus — he is the perfect human being and at the same time is the eternal Son of God. Today we look briefly at the Trinity, the word we use to describe how God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, is one God — not three gods, but one glorious God living in a perfect harmony of love and fellowship. One God, yet Father, Son and Spirit — each a person with his own special characteristics his own special 'functions', but always in perfect unity and always good.

The Old Testament stressed "The Lord our God is one Lord." (Deuteronomy 6:4) That is, he is unique, not just one among many gods. He alone is God. But even in the Old Testament there is mention of the Spirit of God, and even appearances of the 'angel of the Lord', who may well have been the Son of God (See Exodus 23:23). The New Testament is full of references to God the Father and to the Son who is considered God (see John 1:1) and to the Holy Spirit. There is a mystery surrounding the belief in the Trinity, in the sense that it is nowhere stated as a fact, but in so many places it is assumed as a fact, and gives an explanation for all the wonderful and good activities of God.

Dear Lord, I believe in the one God who exists as Father, Son and Holy Spirit and who loves me. Amen.

Glimpses Of Glory

Reader: Jon Watson

Date: 28th October 2022

Passage: Luke 9:29-30

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For most of the time as Jesus went about he looked just an ordinary man. We don't have any description in the Bible as to what Jesus looked like — was he tall? What colour of hair did he have? What colour were his eyes? But then we see this ordinary looking man doing amazing things: healing the sick people, even raising to life dead people stilling a storm on Lake Galilee and feeding 5000 people with a few little loaves and fish. This ordinary man was clearly no ordinary person after all. And then we see why.

Peter tells us "But we saw the greatness of Jesus with our own eyes. Jesus heard the voice of God, the Greatest Glory, when he received honour and glory from God the Father. The voice said, "this is my Son, whom I love, and I am very pleased with him." We heard that voice from heaven while we were with Jesus on the holy mountain." (2 Peter 1:17-18)

Jesus, as well as being an 'ordinary' man, is also the glorious Son of God. While Jesus lived on earth it was essential that he was in every sense an ordinary man because he took the place of ordinary people as he died on the cross, a perfect and sinless substitute for us sinners. But it was also essential that he was God the eternal Son to be the perfect Mediator between God and man. He is the Lord of glory.

Dear Lord Jesus, we worship you as our Saviour and our God. Amen.

Who Is In Control?

Reader: Jon Watson

Date: 27th October 2022

Passage: Genesis 8:22

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There are many predictions about the predicament our planet Earth is facing. Climate change is big news, carbon emissions are being monitored carefully and fossil fuels are becoming very 'uncool'. According to some experts, we are heading for the destruction of the planet. Of course these are issues we must take seriously. Climate change — and there have always been periods of climate change - has really severe consequence for many communities and animals if the level of the oceans rise the temperatures of the oceans rise and so on.

Certainly the Bible urges us to be good stewards, managers of the earth God has given us. And the Bible has also a word to tell us about how and when our world will end. It is a solemn word and well worth thinking about: "But when the Day of God's Judgement does come, it will be unannounced, like a thief. The sky will collapse with a thunderous bang, everything disintegrating in a huge conflagration, earth and all its works exposed to the judgement of God." (2 Peter 3:12, The Message)

It will happen at God's appointed time. Until then, what God promised to Noah will continue. God is in control.

The reason the world exists is because God willed it and it will fulfil his purposes from beginning to end.

Dear Lord, help me to respect and take care of your good earth. Amen.

An All-Rounder!

Reader: Jon Watson

Date: 26th October 2022

Passage: Luke 8:39

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As I write this the cricket season is in full swing and a whole variety of games go on especially in England. Cricket is a game that sometimes produces a player who is good at bowling, batting and fielding — a most useful player in any team — an 'all-rounder' - and most interesting to watch.

I have often been amazed by another all-rounder -and that is Jesus. The reason I say this is that he was to be found in all sorts of situations with people from different backgrounds and needing his help in a whole lot of ways and he just seemed to cope with it all in a calm and wise way.

The verse at the top of our page is about a demon-possessed man who had been healed by Jesus. Just before that, Jesus had calmed a storm on the Lake of Galilee. The next thing we find Jesus doing was healing a woman who had been ill for twelve years and then he went on to raise a young girl of twelve who had died. In the middle of all that, Jesus had been teaching the people and then had the serious job of appointing his twelve apostles. And as Luke tells us in his Gospel, Jesus did it all quietly and with great compassion. (He even told the young girl's parents to give her something to eat when he raised her from the dead!) Nothing was too hard for Jesus to do, nor was it a bother. Remember that when you need his help.

Dear Lord, what a wonderful Saviour you are. I love you. Amen.

Looking After The Poor And The Weak

Reader: Jon Watson

Date: 25th October 2022

Passage: Psalm 41:1

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"How a community looks after its poor is, for the Bible, the acid test of its life." (C. N. Sugden)

Poverty, sadly, seems to be a permanent feature of our world. It should not be like that. In nearly every part of the world, even in the wealthiest parts, you will still find many poor people, weak people, orphans and the sick.

The Old Testament is full of directions as to how the poor and the weak were to be looked after, and the New Testament puts a lot of emphasis on this as well. The Bible sees no virtue in poverty as such, but it does tell us that God cares for the poor and he calls blessed those who in his name car for them and help them in their need. It is our Christian duty.

But there are two kinds of poverty highlighted in the Bible. There is the economic poverty we have been noting and there is also a spiritual poverty, when people think they can do without God but then come to realise that without him they are poor wretched and blind — even if they have plenty of money. Jesus has a great message of good news for such people just as for the other kind of poor people: "Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?" (James 2:5)

Dear Lord, I thank you that though you were rich you became poor for my sake and to be my Saviour. Help me always to consider the poor. Amen.

Demons And Evil Spirits

Reader: Jon Watson

Date: 24th October 2022

Passage: Mark 3:22

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The Bible especially the New Testament, has many references to demons and evil spirits. One of the most disgusting accusations made against Jesus was that he was possessed by Satan (here called Beelzebul). Jesus was the opposite of Satan as he was sinless, holy and good.

Satan, demons and evil spirits are real and they always act in evil ways. The Gospels and the early Epistles mention them a lot because it seems Satan was trying hard to destroy all that Jesus came to do — but he failed. The effects these evil spirits or demons brought about in people were often like severe illnesses, possibly like epilepsy, or some violent reaction to the presence of Jesus. But the Bible always makes a difference between a real illness and the work of a demon.

In modern times demonic activity is just as strong as it was in Bible times. People sometimes even want to be possessed by a spirit for one reason or another — witchdoctors, clairvoyants and people using a ouija board etc.. Christians must avoid such things as they are evil and never 'for fun'. Keep away from them. Christians sometimes worry in case they could become possessed by an evil spirit. The answer to that is 'No'. As a Christian, we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit and he will keep us safe.

Dear Lord, keep me safe from the devil and all his works. Amen.

Forgetfulness

Reader: Jon Watson

Date: 23rd October 2022

Passage: Proverbs 3:1

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Some time ago a friend gave us a little book which tells how when we reach a certain age, 'the muddle age', we tend to forget things very easily. So, as we get older, we tend to forget what we were speaking about, or the name of someone we know very well. 'Muddle age' indeed!

There are some things we should never forget. One of these is that God forgets! For those who trust in Jesus God says "I will remember their sins no more," (Hebrews 8:12) and in Isaiah 43:25, he says: "I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake and I will not remember your sins."

Isn't that wonderful? God forgets! When God forgets our sins, they are gone forever for all who trust in Jesus.

But there is something that we should never forget, and that is to remember the teaching of our Lord. When we grow older there are many things we do forget, but if we start to remember God's teaching, the words of Jesus, when we are young, then we will not forget them when we are older. By starting young to follow our Lord Jesus, his ways will become part and parcel of our lives, part of our nature, and God will keep helping us to live as his child.

There is something very beautiful in seeing an elderly Christian showing the grace and wisdom of many years of following Christ. There is also something very beautiful in seeing a young person learning the ways of Jesus.

Dear Lord, help me not to forget your Word or your ways. Amen.

Milk Or Meat?

Reader: Jon Watson

Date: 22nd October 2022

Passage: Hebrews 5:14

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Any teacher gets fed up with pupils who pay little attention to what is being taught. It will be little wonder if pupils sitting staring out of the window all the time will learn little, and may end up being kept behind when the others move on.

The person who wrote the letter to the Hebrews obviously felt like a fed up teacher. Those he had been teaching should have been mature believers by the time he was writing. Instead, they were like children who were still being fed milk when they should have been on solid food — they were immature.

Paul had the same complaint about the church in Corinth: "I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it." (1 Corinthians 3:2) The reason seemed to be the same in both cases. People were arguing about unimportant things and neglecting to study the Bible and the deeper things of the Christian faith. "And a person who is living on milk isn't very far along in the Christian life and doesn't know much about doing what is right." (Verse 13 NLT)

I think a lot of us are like that. We are lazy and inattentive about spiritual things; we may neglect our Bible readings, our prayer times and our reading of books that will help us to deepen our understanding of God's truth. When this happens we don't just fail to grow in our Christian life, but we are in danger of slipping back into unfaithfulness.

Dear Lord, help me to mature in my Christian life through your Word. Amen.

The Church

Reader: Jon Watson

Date: 21st October 2022

Passage: 1 Corinthians 1:2

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"Are you going to church?" That's the kind of question we might ask of a Christian friend as we walk towards the church on a Sunday. But what do we mean when we say 'the church'? A building? A gathering of Christians? A denomination? We use the word in a variety of ways.

In the early days of Christianity, there were no church buildings. Buildings came along much later, and can be a great blessing, but sometimes a great burden.

But what do we mean by 'the church'? The most important thing about the Bible's word for church is something we probably don't really think of at all when we ask a question like, "Are you going to church?" The first reason why we go to church is because God calls us together and he calls us together to hear his word. When we go to church, it is like answering a summons from God. That gives us a very important reason for 'going to church' - God is calling us.

When Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth he wrote in such a way that reminded them they were but a part of a much bigger community — wherever Christians come together to hear God's word, they are the church. We are members of a worldwide family.

Dear Lord, help me to value the church family of which I am a part. Amen.

We Will Feast In The House Of Zion

Reader: Jon Watson

Date: 20th October 2022

Passage: Revelation 19:9

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One of the favourite hymns we sing in church is the song by Sandra McCracken: "We will feast in the house of Zion, we will sing with our hearts restored...' The hymn goes on to tell of God's grace in salvation and the hope the believer has of being at the 'great marriage supper of the Lamb' in heaven.

The Bible tells us in different places about this great feast that will be held in the glory of heaven. Jesus tells us that "people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at the table in the Kingdom of God." (Luke 13:29)

Now there are two lessons here for us. One is this: God's kingdom will have believers from all over the world. There is no racism as far as the Christian gospel is concerned. That means that the believers from other nations are our brothers and sisters in Christ, so we should care for them, love them and look forward to meeting up with them in glory. We will feast together in the 'house of Zion'.

Secondly, Jesus tells us in Luke 13 that there will be those who will not be at the feast — the door will be shut to keep them out. Only those who are invited will be welcome and admitted. Why will they be invited? Simply because they have trusted and followed Jesus and had their hearts restored.

Dear Lord, help me to trust and follow you always, Amen.