Daily Devotion: John 21

²⁰Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is going to betray you?") ²¹When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?" ²²Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me."

Our decision to follow Jesus must solely come from our own initiative and decision. It must not be banked on others nor their decisions. In a sense, Jesus was telling Peter to M.Y.O.B - Mind Your Own Business. Whether others decide to follow or not, it should not matter to us. What matters is "What About Us?"

Application:

1. Stop standing at the by-line today and always following others' faith. Make a personal decision today to follow Jesus.

2. Make this prayer to the Lord today. Tell the Lord, "Lord, I will follow you with all my heart. No turning back Lord. When the going gets tough, help me to deny myself and focus on you. In Jesus name I ask and pray. Amen."

Daily Devotion: John 20

Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene

¹⁶Jesus said to her, "Mary."
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).

Jesus appears to his Disciples

¹⁹On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" ²⁰After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

Jesus appears to Thomas

²⁷Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."

²⁸Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"

It's interesting to note from the scripture here in John 20, that despite the despair, grief and sadness that the disciples and Mary feel from the loss of Jesus (bear in mind it was not just a physical loss, but also a boggle in their mind whether whatever Jesus has said and taught them were true), they recognized Jesus through his voice (example of Mary) and by what they see (example of disciples).

This clearly shows that in those times that they have spent with the Lord, they have built such a close relationship with Him that they know and recognize Him. Such that when they hear his voice or see Him, they will recognise Him! They are not strangers or unfamiliar to Jesus!

The disciples may have harbored doubts towards Jesus in the beginning (after crucification). But once they saw Jesus themselves, they believed and never doubted. Subsequently, they moved on to testify and their lives were radically transformed.

Application:

1. Do we recognise the Lord whenever we see Him at work in our lives? Example: When certain things come true for us, do we credit it to God? Or do we just say it is 'lucky'?

2. Start by giving thanks today for how blessed we are by God. List down at least 10 thanksgiving you can give to the Lord for this week and praise Him for it.

3. Are we harboring any doubts about Jesus despite all He has shown and provided for us in your Christian faith? Repent of the doubt and unbelief today and receive what Jesus says, "Stop doubting and believe.... Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

Daily Devotion: John 19

Jesus Sentenced to be Crucified

¹⁶Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

If you have been following through the scripture from John 18-19, you probably would be quite upset with Pontius Pilate - the guy who eventually caved in to social pressure, washed his hands off the case and handed Jesus back over to the Jews for crucification.

"Gosh! If Pilate had stood his ground and not given in to the Jews demands, then Jesus would have been saved!"

"Why was Pilate such a wimp? He's the governor, so why is he so afraid of the people?"

The truth is nothing could have changed God's plan that Jesus had to die for our sins.

However, if we look at how Pilate reacted to the situations then, it would be a classic example that he didn't hold firm and fought to the end for Jesus. He did try at some point.... but didn't dare to incur the wrath of the people and wilted under social pressure.

Application:

1. Do we compromise our Christian faith in way when under social pressure?

2. Sometimes it's hard to stand firm by oneself. Identify fellow Christian in your marketplace and gather together to pray and encourage each other in holding firm ground as a Christian and not compromise on our faith in God.

Daily Devotion: John 18

The High Priest questions Jesus

²⁰"I have spoken openly to the world," Jesus replied. "I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. ²¹Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said."

²²When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby struck him in the face. "Is this the way you answer the high priest?" he demanded.

Jesus before Pilate

³¹Pilate said, "Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law." "But we have no right to execute anyone," the Jews objected.

³⁹But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release 'the king of the Jews'?"

⁴⁰They shouted back, "No, not him! Give us Barabbas!" Now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion.

As I read this very sad part of the scripture, I just couldn't comprehend how barbaric, ignorant, insecure and "stupid" the Jews have become! It seemed that there was no room for discussion or to hear any petitions regarding Jesus... they were just bent on condemning Jesus to be sentenced to death.

Yes, it may have been instigated by the Pharisees, but the rest simple follow suit because they were either:

1. Blinded as well - swayed in by the Pharisees explanations.

2. Couldn't accept the radical and hard truth teaching from Jesus (found it an abomination to their customary law - in our case today is logic)

3. Crowd follower who didn't want to get into trouble with the Pharisees.

There came a tipping point where they chose to harden their heart and decided against Jesus.

How about us today? In our faith journey with Him, do we do our best to trust and rely on Jesus? Or are we easily swayed and influenced by the non-believing friends and people around us? Have we 'rejected' Jesus because of some biblical `hard teachings that we cannot accept taught forth by the Church or leaders?

Application:

1. Evaluate our Christian life honestly and ask ourselves, "How are we behaving as a Christian in front of our non-believing friends and family members?" Do we hold back, compromise or are bold to live out as a Christian?

2. It is always easy to just be a crowd follower and be socially accepted by people around us. But it takes true guts to stand up for what we believe in. Why is it that at times we do not dare to stand up for the truth in Christ? Is it because we don't believe in Jesus? Or we are more afraid of man?