December 9: 1 John 5 14-17
Key Verse: 1 John 5 14
Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
Devotion:
One thing we must always be doing is praying for others. When we know God is on our side, we have the confidence that He is listening to all of our prayers. When He listens, He answers. So if we have the confidence that He is listening, we must have the confidence He is answering.
But one thing we ought to know is what we should be asking for. We need to make sure what we ask is in line with His will. God's Will is that we should all be saved: (John 3 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.) He does not want any of us to be left out, but we do have to make our own choices: (Romans 10 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.) He has made sure we have a way of having our sins cleansed from us so we may be with Him: (Romans 5 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.)
One of our major flaws is that we do not always see how we are sinning. You could say this is why John wrote these words. He wanted to make sure we do remember others in our prayers. When we do see someone doing something they should not be we can pray for them. We can ask God to forgive them; so long as God knows them and they know God. That is where we come in – we need to introduce Christ to them!
Christ came to earth to make sure all of our sins are forgiven, not just some of them. He made sure He took the burden of all of our sins on His shoulders and died so all of those sins are paid for in death. When we accept Him as our Saviour, He is just to forgive us of all of our sins. That even includes the ones we don't see... But if someone does not know Christ, their sins are not yet forgiven. So praying for forgiveness is not going to work. We need to pray for their salvation too! That is the only way we can be confident that their sins will be forgiven as ours are.
Points to Ponder:
How many people in your family need forgiveness?
How many of them are you asking God to save?
December 8: 1 John 1 8-10
Key Verse: 1 John 1 10
If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
Devotion:
How many times have you watched someone do or say something and thought in your mind “why don't you just tell the truth?” It seems so easy to spot the mistakes that people think they can get out of by telling a lie or two. Yet when we find ourselves in a difficulty, it almost seems natural to make up a story to shift the blame onto someone else. But when anyone else comes up to us with a lie to try and get themselves out of anything, we don't like what they are doing!
If truth be told, we like to think we have different standards to everyone else. We like to think we are above certain things. We like to think we have no need for things like lies. But when push comes to shove we find that we bend just as much as anyone else.
It is the very same with many sins. We like to think we are good Christians and that we do not have any need of sin in our lives. We like to think we are in control. We like to think we set a good example. But it does not take long to come up with our first fault. Maybe it is simply boasting of something we are proud of – it is so easy. Maybe it is when we try to help a friend out by keeping the truth from them – ever so easy.
What we need to do is to admit to those faults. We need to get them out in the open. Christ can see all of our faults anyway, so why even try and hide anything? Why not just admit we have problems and ask Him for forgiveness? He is the one who has already taken on all of our sin debt on the cross. He is the one who has already paid for it all. All He wants us to do is to admit that we do sin and ask Him to forgive. If we want to be true ambassadors for Christ, then we have to show people we admit to our faults so they have an example by which they can follow.
Points to Ponder:
Who breaks the most rules, you or your friends?
How often do you admit to your faults to God?
December 7: Colossians 2 18-19
Key Verse: Colossians 2 18
Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
Devotion:
The bible is surprisingly direct when you get to know it. God's Word is plain and simply. Yet many people will try to persuade you otherwise, telling you of all the complicated things which you have to live up to or do in order to stay right with God. Staying right with God is all about your personal relationship with Him, nothing more! If you don’t understand what makes a good relationship then you need to learn that first.
How do you like phoning up someone and they are not there? Do you leave a message, or do you try again? How do you know the message will get through? When will it get through? Do you try to leave a message with someone else and hope they take your message through? Do you trust anyone to do this with important messages? What if you try to phone someone and you are told they are not accepting calls and you have to leave a message? What would you do if a friend turned round and said that you had to talk through a mediator!
Having a personal relationship with God means that you, and you alone are the one responsible for the things you do in that relationship. If you want to get something straight with God, then you go directly to Jesus Christ because He has told us to go directly to Him. You don't have to pray to angels, or saints or anything else. And if Jesus Himself has directed us to do so, then praying to anything else would actually be disobeying Him.
Any relationship has to be open and nothing should be hidden... God can see everything, so trying to hide from Him is a bit worthless! Pretending you are something that you are not, or hiding something is only affecting your personal relationship with God, so if you have anything on your mind, take it directly to Him!
Points to Ponder:
If someone has wronged you, is it not best to seek them out?
Do you take everything to God, or just when you're in trouble?
December 6: Psalms 128 1-6
Key Verse: Psalms 128 2
When you eat the labour of your hands, You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.
Devotion:
We have many ways of describing the consequences of life. Various communities and religions have their own words for it and many have different beliefs. We have the naturalists telling us how our lives are leading to the complete breakdown of the earth's ecosystem. We have some religions telling of the horrors which await us in the next life if we don't get it right in this life – or even the ability to be able to come back as an animal if we get it right! But every belief or religion has the same core; if you mess up, you have to pay for it! But if you get it right, you gain the rewards...
As Christians, we are told many times in the bible how we need to have a reverend fear of God. It's not such a hard topic to get to grips with, just look around and see what God has already done for us; look around and see what He has created! If that does not start you thinking you need to have respect for our Creator, then nothing will! It's not about quaking in your boots because He is God, it's about having the utmost respect for Him because of what He has done, is doing and will do. It's about knowing that He is God.
Once you get your head round that then you will not have much difficulty wanting to do the right thing for God. Once you begin to do the right thing, you start to realise that doing it right has its rewards. Not only is He the God of our Creation, but He continues to watch over us and care for us. If we are following His will, then we can expect Him to be happy with us. Just like your parents will show their gratitude when you do what they want, God does not leave us out!
He may not want us to be rich, but He sure does want us to be happy. Being happy allows us to show others how much we enjoy trusting in Him. Being happy allows us to help others to see just how wonderful a God we have!
Points to Ponder:
Who do you know who seems to be happy all the time?
How much do you trust God in your life?
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December 5: Proverbs 17 6
Key Verse: Proverbs 17 6
Children’s children are the crown of old men, And the glory of children is their father.
Devotion:
Do you, or did you get spoiled by your grand-parents? All the time, or just when your parents aren't watching? There is something special about grandparents and the way that it seems acceptable for them to spoil you. They are allowed to show their joy by buying you things and by allowing you to do things that your parents may not... but it does not mean we should take advantage of that!
Have you noticed how your attitude changes when you are with different people? Have you realised you may be more relaxed when you are with people who you know will allow you to do things differently? Have you noticed things may get tense when you know you are not allowed to do something but you want to do it? Have you noticed how your parents seem to know what you are about to do... and that annoys you!
We live with our parents to start with and they are able to watch us most days to see how we react to things and to see what sort of trouble we get up to. They are aware of the things that we like to do and will try their best to allow us to do some things but not to get into trouble. Parents are always looking out for their children – no matter what age! That is the way children are able to know they can always depend on parents... Have you ever told someone that your dad would come and sort them out? We do that sort of thing because we know from experience that parents do sort things out... when we ask...
God is watching over us all the time. He continues to know exactly what sort of things we get up to. So long as we keep ignoring Him, we will never be able to learn what He does not want in our lives. Just like children rebelling against parents, we continue to rebel against God. Yes, He can step in and put a stop to it, but He would rather that we learn to make the right choices by ourselves. He would rather allow us to see the faults we make and aim to correct things. He is always there ready to help... we just need to ask...
Points to Ponder:
What would your parents think of your friends?
Are you seeking God's instructions, or carrying on rebelling?