Saturday Reading: Ezra 10:11
Key Verse: Ezra 10:11
11 And now confess to Jehovah, the God of your fathers, and do His pleasure. And separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange women.
Devotion:
What is one of the weakest points in your life? What do you give in to the quickest? Some people may say things like chocolate and sweets, others may just answer food, but others may well be more open and say that the ways of the world, lust and the like will tempt them far quicker than things they may simply eat. God knows our weaknesses and He knows the things that will break us from the inside. That is why He has continued to give us His Word, generation after generation, so that we may be strengthened into knowing that there are certain things in life that we can depend on. One of those, unfortunately, is our own weaknesses.
God does not want us to give in and go with the flow. He would rather that we separate ourselves from those very things that we will give in to so that we may not be so easily tempted. Satan knew the very thing that would tempt Adam and Eve and used it to his best advantage; not the fruit itself but the idea behind that fruit – that they would be more like God and know good and evil. We do not have the mind of God and we do not have the strength and wisdom to be able to avoid the temptations that come up in front of us. That is why He demanded that we do not eat of that fruit in the first place!
What we need to do is to make sure that we do give God the position in our lives that He deserves. How are we ever going to be able to fight against the things of this world unless He is fighting in our place? Yes we could be big-headed and say that we can win if God will fight next to us, or we could admit defeat and be honest and say that we will not win unless He will fight in our stead! God is the one who can continue to keep us. We have to give up our ideas of being able to lift ourselves up and to lift Him up instead. Nothing we can do will strengthen us more than giving God control in our lives. So if you think you are in control then you are only fooling yourself!
Points to Ponder:
Will you give God a chance?
Will you give God control?
Key Verse: Ezra 10:11
11 And now confess to Jehovah, the God of your fathers, and do His pleasure. And separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange women.
Devotion:
What is one of the weakest points in your life? What do you give in to the quickest? Some people may say things like chocolate and sweets, others may just answer food, but others may well be more open and say that the ways of the world, lust and the like will tempt them far quicker than things they may simply eat. God knows our weaknesses and He knows the things that will break us from the inside. That is why He has continued to give us His Word, generation after generation, so that we may be strengthened into knowing that there are certain things in life that we can depend on. One of those, unfortunately, is our own weaknesses.
God does not want us to give in and go with the flow. He would rather that we separate ourselves from those very things that we will give in to so that we may not be so easily tempted. Satan knew the very thing that would tempt Adam and Eve and used it to his best advantage; not the fruit itself but the idea behind that fruit – that they would be more like God and know good and evil. We do not have the mind of God and we do not have the strength and wisdom to be able to avoid the temptations that come up in front of us. That is why He demanded that we do not eat of that fruit in the first place!
What we need to do is to make sure that we do give God the position in our lives that He deserves. How are we ever going to be able to fight against the things of this world unless He is fighting in our place? Yes we could be big-headed and say that we can win if God will fight next to us, or we could admit defeat and be honest and say that we will not win unless He will fight in our stead! God is the one who can continue to keep us. We have to give up our ideas of being able to lift ourselves up and to lift Him up instead. Nothing we can do will strengthen us more than giving God control in our lives. So if you think you are in control then you are only fooling yourself!
Points to Ponder:
Will you give God a chance?
Will you give God control?