February 17: Romans 14 19-23
Key Verse: Romans 14 22
Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.
Devotion:
Keeping the peace is something we all like to think we can do, what governments aspire to and what few actually can do! So many people shout about how there should be peace in the world and go about causing the exact opposite; if we want to do something about it, we have to start with ourselves! If we want to make others feel better about themselves to promote peace, we have to make sure we don't start arguing with them about what they are doing!
If you are invited to a friend’s house where they do not drink alcohol, then you should not expect to be given any and should probably not bring your own! If they come round to your house, then it could be wise to abstain from it whilst they are with you. How can we try and promote friendship and peace if we are not going to try and start with a bit of friendship and peace? Allowing our lusts and excess desires to rule our lives instead of standing up for peace is not wise from anyone's point of view. Through our own lusts and desires we may well be hurting others and preventing them from finding Christ.
If we want others to be Christians, then we must act like a Christian and talk like one too. We cannot go about our lives saying one thing and doing another – people will see through us! Making sure we live by the words that we say to others is a very wise move. Living as a Christian does not mean we have to make a public display of everything we do and say; being a Christian is a personal relationship with Christ that we need to follow up in person. We do not tend to make a public display of our personal relationships with others, so why should we do it with Christ? He wants to know that our relationship is sincere and based on truth, not public and based on pride! We are asked to serve Him and live for Him, not to serve and live for our own lusts and desires.
Points to Ponder:
Do you go out of your way to help others, or assume they should do what you should do?
Are you living your life for Christ?
February 16: 1 Corinthians 8 7-13
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 8 9
But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak.
Devotion:
We are told by certain groups of people how we are all equal and we should always be treated as equal. Sadly, the fact is we are not all equal and we do need to treat people differently. I am not trying to drive a wedge between groups of people or between sexes or even races; what I am talking about is our minds. There is no way we can all know the same things. We may go to the same school as our friends, but our environment outside of school is different so we pick up different things. Our minds thrive on what we see, hear and smell.
We make up our minds based on things we hear and see of our friends and others around us too. We don't just go by what we read, but by the actions of others and how they react to circumstances. Let us say that you and your friend thought a certain food was poisonous but you alone knew that when treated properly it was good to eat; what would happen if your friend saw you eating that food? Could they change their minds and think it was good to eat? You have given them doubt over the original premise. The only way out would be for them to know how to treat the food before they tasted it!
Unfortunately our knowledge can be a danger to others who do not have the same knowledge! The one thing we really have to look out for is that we do not show complacency about our knowledge in front of others. When we do that, we may well be throwing doubt on their very beliefs. If someone saw your reading a book from another religion they may well think you are siding with that religion and try to find out about it before finding out about God's truth. They may well be swayed by that religion and never get to hear the truth!
People may well have the same rights as anyone else, but our minds are so different that we have to treat each other differently. The only way we can do this effectively is by finding out about them and caring for them. Just maybe they will see how much we do care and how much God can care for them too.
Points to Ponder:
We can bring everything before God because He knows everything...
We still need to take care in front of others!
February 15: 2 Timothy 2 8-13
Key Verse: 2 Timothy 2 13
If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
Devotion:
The first and foremost thing we need to remember is that Christ paid it all on the cross and rose again on the third day. We need to look up to Him as the Author and Finisher of our faith. No matter how much trouble we may face, it is going to be nothing compared to all Christ had to endure for our sakes. There was nothing physically special about the body of Christ in that it was a normal human body, born to Mary, so the suffering He endured was real!
Paul was a witness to the resurrection and he wanted Timothy to know everything was real. He reminded Timothy he had to face troubles of his own, even being bound in chains in prison. But no matter what he went through, the Word of God would never be bound. No matter what we go through, the Word of God is able to continue on. Death could not hold Christ back, and nothing is going to hold His Word back from reaching others.
Paul's suffering was because of the things he did whilst trying to reach others with the gospel. He did it all for other people's sakes so they may have the same chance that he had to get to know Christ. There was no way he was going to deny Christ after his conversion. Yet when things get tough for us, we often crumble under the stress and strain. We may even go as far as denying Christ just so we can survive another day.
What we have to remember is that our earthly death will only be the beginning of our heavenly lives; our lives with Christ. If we suffer here for His sake, He will be just and faithful to remember us in heaven. If we deny Him, He must be faithful and just to remember that too! Yet, no matter what we get up, no matter how many people deny Him and do not believe in Him, He is going to be faithful and just to be there waiting for us all – He cannot deny Himself!
Points to Ponder:
If everyone else did not know you, would you still exist?
How often do you deny Christ each day?
February 14: Matthew 12 31-34
Key Verse: Matthew 12 33
Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.
Devotion:
Standing fast on our faith means we do have knowledge that Christ has forgiven us of all of our sins. We know this because we have brought them to Him in our own humble ways. We know we are safe and secure because He has already shown us His forgiving nature by giving His own life up on the cross for our sins. That does not, unfortunately, mean we do stop sinning! We do continue to sin and we need to bring those before Christ too. No matter what we get up to, He is a witness to it all and needs for us to show that we are sorry by bringing them to Him.
The only sin which He will never forgive is the sin that is never brought to Him through unbelief. If someone has chosen to not believe in Him, they have chosen not to bring forward their sins before Him. They have verbally chosen their own short life over His. He gave His life to cover our sins, but if we continue to kick off that covering, how can we be covered?
We are going to face all manner of people saying strange things to us all the time. Some of those things are going to hurt us; but Christ wants each of us to forgive those who do say things against us. He wants us to do that to show others there is hope even for those who do evil. He wants us to be examples who will encourage others to seek out that final step of forgiveness from Him.
If we are going to rebel against things, fight against those who say things against us and continue to act in a non-Christian manner, then we should expect others to see us as non-Christian! There is no way we can act like the rest of the world whilst trying to do the right thing. We are the ones who will lose out by falling into temptation. Saying the right things and doing the wrong things does not set any example that anyone wants to follow!
Points to Ponder:
Do those around you know you as a Christian?
Do you humble yourself before God daily?
February 13: Proverbs 19 1-2
Key Verse: Proverbs 19 2
Also it is not good for a soul to be without knowledge, And he sins who hastens with his feet.
Devotion:
God gives us understanding through the Holy Spirit; through The Holy Spirit we are able to learn what God has in store for us and even how we are blessed. No matter how much money, wealth, power or whatever we have here on earth, it is nothing when compared to what we can attain through Christ. By walking in His statutes (or following His commandments) we are able to live our daily lives with integrity. No matter how much we have in earthly goods, nothing can compare to that when our souls are involved.
We need not look too far to see the ways of the people around us, the ways of the people who so many look up to; yet what we see may not allow us to look up to them with all honesty. We may well see the ways they do things as being contra to God's commandments or without integrity; basically against God. The more light the Holy Spirit is able to show us, the more we realise how others seek after foolish desires not knowing the longer term impact of their ways.
It is only through wisdom given to us by the Holy Spirit that we are able to understand what God would have us to do. In doing so we find out what is good for our souls, we find out what can give us eternal life and we cling to it with a faith that makes us whole. If we do not go forward and seek this wisdom, we will not learn all that is good. We will fall short of the mark and feel like there is something missing from our lives. With those feelings of something missing comes feelings of doubt which weaken our faith.
The more we try to jump through hoops by ourselves, the more difficulty we will find things and the more dejected we may well feel. That can only break down our spirit and weaken our faith. But by ensuring that we actively seek knowledge through the Holy Spirit's teaching us, we are ensuring our future is built on a solid rock. That rock is Jesus.
Points to Ponder:
So you think you are clever?
Our knowledge of everything natural is nothing compared to God's understanding of a single atom!