Wednesday 20 Jun 2018

June 20: 1 Corinthians 16:13-14

Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 16:13
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.

Devotion:
How do you protect yourself? Well, normally, you have to watch out for any dangers or situations which may cause you harm and then act accordingly. In order for us to remain safe, we have to be pro-active in doing something so our safety can be assured. This is true is all walks of life both physically and spiritually. We have to watch, not only for those things around us which may harm us in any way, but also to those things within us that may lead us to any harm. Outwardly we may be able to see danger. Inwardly we need to watch out for things that will let us down. Our hearts, thoughts, affections, words, actions, in fact the whole way we are and the whole way we interact with others…

It is so easy to allow some things to pass, to allow some things to go untreated or unfixed; but by allowing them to pass by, we are weakening ourselves for the next time round. That is Satan’s aim, to make us so weak against any temptations, we will give in to anything that comes our way. It is only through standing up against things we will become stronger to fight them. Recognising we have weaknesses is our first step but working against them is not going to be easy. If you can imagine a branch growing in a tree; in the beginning the branch is still subtle because it is still growing. We can bend the branch back and forward until we make it weak; but that does not necessarily mean the branch is broken because if we can steady it with something the healing of the tree will make the branch stronger again. That does pre-suppose we have something to shore up our branch to stop it bending in any wind which comes along!

That is where God will help each and every one of us. If we are willing to allow Him to be the splint which will bind us firm until He can heal us from the inside, then we will come out the other end being a whole lot stronger than when we went it. But we need to have faith He will do that. We need to trust Him to do that. And we need to be patient so He can do that. Nothing is going to be an instant fix because the evil one will be there trying to bend us backwards and forwards all the time…

Points to Ponder:
Do you feel like a branch bent in the wind?

How much do you rely on your faithful relationship with God?