Tuesday 4 Dec 2018

December 4: 2 Timothy 2:8-13

Key Verse: 2 Timothy 2:13
if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

Devotion:
“How can there be a God if there is so much suffering in the world?” I bet you have heard that said a few times... Well, a simple answer is that there is suffering in the world because of our sins, but if you tell this to someone who is not yet a believer they may well turn against you because you are telling them they are sinning against God and may even be a contributing cause to suffering! Their immediate thoughts may then be God is set against them and they will not want to believe in such a God... maybe hoping in some way God will not affect them if they do not believe in Him in the first place... It’s that chicken and egg situation all over again!

We need to remember Jesus Christ is the Author and Finisher of our faith. We have to place our faith squarely in His hands because He alone is the one who has shown us the mercy and will forgive us of our sins if we confess them to Him. He is the one who has already endured the cross to take on the punishment for our sins – hence we only need to ask Him for forgiveness for them. We may suffer because we do good or evil; that is just the type of world that we live in. You only need to watch the news to find out that people suffer when they try to stand up for good and they suffer when they get caught doing bad – it does seem like a no-win situation! But what so many people do forget is what is going to happen after we die here on earth.

If we continue to uphold Christ as our Saviour in front of all adversity, then we are holding His name above all; He will not forget that and He will stand by our side when we meet Him face to face. If we, however, deny Him, He is going to deny us when it comes time to meet Him face to face. It’s not all about our time on earth – it’s all about what is going to happen for eternity after our comparatively time on earth, and that is what we really need to worry about! No matter how much people try to deny God or deny Christ, He is alive, and He cannot deny Himself. We will all meet Him face to face one day; there is no getting away from the truth...

Points to Ponder:
Just because you don’t know someone does that make them not exist?

Do you keep in contact with Christ all the time?