Day 31 - Parental Shadows
May God fill us with His peace as we live out our lives for Him today.
Read: Acts 12:12
THEME: For much of his life John Mark appeared to be living on the edge of the action. For many this is an uncomfortable area to be in, but it can be an ideal place for God to shape us and mature us.
Many of us feel we live on the edge of life’s action, just caught up in circumstances rather than determining them. Sometimes we wish we could step in more closely, sometimes we long to stand further away. From Acts 12:12 we can see that John Mark had the benefit of godly parenting. His mother held a prayer meeting in her home, and some believe that she was the widow of the man who hosted the Last Supper in the very same room. They seem to have been people at the centre of the action and Mark grew up under the shadow of their protective care, seeing much from the side-lines and experiencing their joys and pains.
Of course, we can understand his longing to have a role of his own and maybe Mark’s Gospel chapter 14, verse 51 gives an early hint of this – a young man who had set his heart on following Jesus but who eventually came under pressure and fled. But in all honesty, living on the edge of the action does have its advantages. It can be a safe place from which to look and learn; seeing but sheltered; learning but secure. It is good to know that we can be in the centre of God’s will without always being in the centre of the action.
May God fill us with His peace as we live out our lives for Him today.
Day 26 - Protection and Provision
Let us set our challenges in a more positive perspective so as to have a genuine testimony of God’s goodness.
Read: Psalm 23:1
THEME: Psalm 23 carries a weight of maturity. It is more than a song of a shepherd boy; it is the testimony of one who has been shepherded through a lifetime of pain, challenges and correctives.
In looking afresh at Psalm 23 we can begin by changing the tone of the first verse so that it sounds less like a lullaby in a field and more like an assertion in the face of day-to-day realities. It could be read as a bold exclamation: ‘The Lord! My Shepherd! I shall not want!’ When expressed in such a way we can see clearly that the confidence concerning provision comes from a realisation of God’s shepherding care. He is MY SHEPHERD and because of that... lack will not overtake me.
This is a big testimony from a man who has lived all of his life with major needs, and at times with seemingly only the most limited of supply-lines. How did David feed an army whilst living on the run from Saul? How did David find the wisdom to govern a nation when his only role model was a man who had lived out of his insecurities and fears? His answer was simple; he was constantly shepherded by a Shepherd, and His Shepherd was the Lord. Issues such as food for his troops and wisdom to rule were seen in a fresh light when such truth was asserted.
Regardless of what issues we may face today, let us start with a bold exclamation, ‘The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not lack!'
Let us set our challenges in a more positive perspective so as to have a genuine testimony of God’s goodness.
Day 25 - A Nobleman from Cana
It is a privilege to live our lives relating to Jesus, but we must never lose sight of the transforming power of a moment.
Read: John 4:46-54
THEME: The Gospel record gives us so many examples of how people engaged with Jesus that it would be hard to find a human challenge that did not in some way meet Him face-to face.
Some encounters with Jesus were very brief. The one we look at today took no more than a moment as Jesus continued on His way, and yet it contained a request, a challenge, a plea and an assurance that proved life transforming.
The man who came with the request was a nobleman from Cana who had a sick son and wanted Jesus to come to his home to heal him. Jesus appeared dismissive, almost accusing the man of being an unbelieving miracle-hunter. But the man stood his ground and urged Jesus to come.
Jesus, though, is not limited by time and place. The son’s healing was effected without Jesus having to move and the man was sent on his way with Jesus telling him ‘your son lives’. The apparent dismissiveness of Jesus provoked faith. The nobleman was looking for a miracle and he received one that he would never forget, but the impact Jesus made in that one moment would have gone far deeper.
John chose this encounter as the second of the seven signs around which he built his gospel. It shows that Jesus was not constrained by distance and did not need a public performance in order to meet a need.
It is a privilege to live our lives relating to Jesus, but we must never lose sight of the transforming power of a moment.
Day 24 - Residents of a Samaritan City
May we be inspired to tell our story and to introduce others to Jesus.
Read: John 4:27-42
THEME: The Gospel record gives us so many examples of how people engaged with Jesus that it would be hard to find a human challenge that did not in some way meet Him face-to face.
It is amazing to think that a city was introduced to Jesus by someone who had virtually been hiding in their midst. The first they knew about Jesus being in town was when a woman came running from the direction of the well, shouting ‘come and see, come and see’. As a crowd gathered around her, she breathlessly re-enforced her invitation ‘Come and see me a man 2who told me all that I ever did’.
Looks were exchanged as some began to realise who she was, and started recalling the rumours they had heard about her frequently troubled domestic arrangements. How could she be so excited about someone raking over all of that? But in the midst of their raised eyebrows a question was hitting home, ‘Could this be the Christ?’ Something had definitely happened to her and it was well worth a look, so they went back to the well with her and persuaded Jesus to stay.
After two days, as Jesus moved on, they turned to the woman and said ‘Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we have heard Him ourselves and know that He is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world’. It is impressive to see how a liberated recluse could impact a city after being asked for a drink of water.
In our sophistication we may no longer gather around wells but some of us have conversations around the office water-cooler. We are probably naturally more outgoing than the woman who had made a habit of avoiding crowds.
May we be inspired to tell our story and to introduce others to Jesus.
Day 23 - A Woman from Samaria: a meeting at a well
Let’s be quick to recognise the fullness of the solutions Jesus brings to our circumstances.
Read: John 4:4-26
THEME: The Gospel record gives us so many examples of how people engaged with Jesus that it would be hard to find a human challenge that did not in some way meet Him face-to face.
The well at which Jesus met the Samaritan woman was not just any well. She had come to draw water from Jacob’s well. She knew who had dug it, who had drunk from it, and how deep it was. There was nothing wrong with Jacob’s well; it provided a good temporary solution to physical thirst and Jesus was happy for her to help Him drink from it, even though His request shocked her. But when Jesus offered her living water, which He said would continually slake her thirst, she was curious. This could save her leaving her house and let her hide permanently from her neighbours.
There was a problem, though; the well was deep and, although she sensed that Jesus might be greater than Jacob, He had no rope and bucket. She was of course right about Jesus being greater than Jacob and His well is even deeper than Jacob’s well was, but no bucket is needed. The spring supplying it is strong enough to deliver at the surface as well as to satisfy the depths. It is the spring of resurrection life that was to see Jesus triumph on the cross.
The woman was so overwhelmed with what she had received that she left her water-pot at the well. She would need it again to draw physical water, but she had discovered a deeper well that had enabled her to confront her past, face her future and embrace her neighbours.
Let’s be quick to recognise the fullness of the solutions Jesus brings to our circumstances.
Day 18 - Lot and the rescue
May we today find ways of extending God’s grace to others.
Read: Genesis 14
THEME: There are some incidents in Abraham’s life that are hard to explain unless we see how God’s grace towards us can make us gracious towards others.
Although, when choosing land, Lot believed he was selecting the best, it turned out to be the worst, with two very sinful cities, Sodom and Gomorrah, right in the midst of it. It was also a region renowned for strife, with rival kingdoms fighting over the territory.
On one occasion Abram had had to mount a rescue, riding hard with his friends and household to release Lot, and his fellow inhabitants of Sodom, who had been taken into captivity. It was on his return from this battle that Abram was blessed by Melchizedek, God’s High Priest, named as King of Righteousness and King of Peace.
In his commitment to Lot, Abram never wavered. Years later when God determined to judge Sodom, Abraham stood and prayed over the city, believing that even a handful of righteous people, as few maybe as Lot’s wider family, could bring a sinful city to repentance.
Abraham was not presuming upon the grace of God in thinking in this way (as we know, an unrepentant Sodom was destroyed) but he did know the power of God’s grace in his own life and wanted to extend that grace to others.
May we today find ways of extending God’s grace to others.
Day 17 - Lot and the land
May we today respond to the grace of God in our own lives in a way that makes us gracious.
Read: Genesis 13
THEME: There are some incidents in Abraham’s life that are hard to explain unless we see how God’s grace towards us can make us gracious towards others.
Abram had set out for a land that God had promised to show him and had graciously taken his orphaned nephew Lot with him. God had made no specific promises to Lot but, through Abram’s generosity, Lot had ended up with flocks and herds of his own. When tensions occurred over grazing rights, Abram thought it appropriate for Lot to have his own land.
Abram could have allocated some lesser territory but in his graciousness, as he and Lot stood on a hilltop surveying a vast panorama, he allowed Lot to choose whatever he perceived to be the best.
Abram accepted Lot’s choice without a hint of complaint and, once they had separated, God said, “lift up your eyes and see – all that is to the north, south, east and west I give to you and to your descendants”.
The God whose promise had sustained Abram in his journey and inspired his earlier generosity, was once again showing him the grace that was making him gracious.
Graciousness may at times appear costly but we have a God who is infinitely gracious and it is His grace that inspires and liberates us.
May we today respond to the grace of God in our own lives in a way that makes us gracious.
Day 15 – The wedding guests at Cana
Maybe we should look for more opportunities to explain why the new wine is better.
Read: John 2:1-12
THEME: The first two chapters of John’s Gospel record significant encounters at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Meetings that were noteworthy for Jesus were even more important for those He met.
The wedding guests at Cana were a diverse group and though they all benefitted from the ministry of Jesus they no doubt came away from the event with a range of different impressions.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, would have left weighing Jesus’ strong sense of timing. He clearly wanted to help but in saying ‘My hour has not yet come’ He was obviously aware of His ultimate redemptive assignment.
The waiters, disciples and family members of Jesus would all have seen His miracle-working power. We know that His disciples went away believing but the waiters may well have left discussing their nervousness when presenting the contents of six large water pots to the Master of Ceremonies. And maybe for His brothers it marked the start of their troubling process of re-assessment – Son of God, or just a brother?
So what of the Master of Ceremonies? He tasted the good wine without knowing where it had come from and congratulated the Bridegroom on its quality, questioning why the Groom had saved the best wine until the inferior wine had gone. As for the Groom himself, he would have just been grateful to have saved face before His wedding guests and might well have headed off with his Bride without knowing the full story.
As we go about our daily lives, it’s worth remembering that many people are experiencing the goodness of God without fully realising it.
Maybe we should look for more opportunities to explain why the new wine is better.
Day 9 - Elisha: chosen to be a prophet in place of Elijah
Let us seek to have a servant heart and a willing disposition.
Read: 1 King 19:19
THEME: We know that God is able to select whomever He wants to do whatever He chooses. He can also raise, mould and empower the least of us to do more than we can ask or imagine. Occasionally we get a glimpse of what catches His attention.
When Elijah fled to Horeb in the wake of the threats that followed his Mount Carmel victory, he was given three anointing assignments. The only one he completed was the ‘anointing of Elisha' and he did it in an unconventional way by casting his coat over the young man‘s shoulders.
For Elisha that was enough! He stopped his ploughing and ran after the fleet-footed older prophet, keen to be his apprentice. So what was it about Elisha that caused God to nominate him?
It was probably his diligence, determination and optimism. There had only been one rainfall in three years and he had just hitched up twelve yoke of oxen to break up the rock-hard ground. He was handling a powerful team with skill and was ready for an even greater challenge. Elijah had been a loner but, now that the famine had ended and the king’s wrath was subsiding, many young prophets were being liberated from protective detention.
Elisha would be serving Elijah but with an eye to the future. Diligence, determination and optimism like Elisha’s will stand us in good stead.
Let us seek to have a servant heart and a willing disposition.