September 10: Acts 4 23-31
Key Verse: Acts 4 31
And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.
Devotion:
How many times have you used the excuse “well, I don't know how to pray, so I'm not going to”? How many times have you put things off because you did not know how to? How much work have you not done for God because you felt like you did not have enough experience? If each one of us was honest, we could come up with a whole list of things and times we have shied away from God's work just because we thought we could not do it. Or maybe we were told to go away and to stop talking about God!
There are going to be times when we do have to back off a little, but when we do back off we should not back ourselves into a corner and be quiet about it! Instead we need to go to where we know others will openly worship Jesus and to strengthen ourselves again! There is nothing quite like being beaten down by people who think they are in charge and have enough power behind themselves to make a difference. They will make you look small and they will probably not care about doing that to you either. Our response should be to go back to God for help and not to lie down and be trampled upon!
Peter and John had just been told to stop preaching about Jesus because that was undermining the authority of the people in charge of the Jewish church at the time. So instead of abandoning God's work, they went back to the Christians who were meeting and then gave an honest plea straight to God. Their prayer was meaningful and worthy of a response from God. They started by praising God for who He is: God is the only God, He made heaven and earth, He made all of us, He has shown His power many times on earth and His son Jesus Christ did come to save us from our sins. After that, their prayer was simple: “Please help us, your servants, to speak boldly about you!”.
God is more than powerful enough to make a universe... You asking for a little help for bravery to speak His Word is nothing compared to making and maintaining a universe! Ask Him, Always!
Points to Ponder:
How confident are you with your friends?
How confident are you to tell people about God?
September 9: Matthew 7 24-27
Key Verse: Matthew 7 26
“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:
Devotion:
Hearing good advice that someone is giving you and actually following that good advice are two different things! We do hear good advice from people almost every day, but following it may be an issue with us if it does not fit in with our own philosophy or wants at the time! Too many times we get caught up in our own ways and reject good advice from all sorts of people...
Proverbs 9 9 reminds us (“Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.”) we are never too wise to receive instruction, even from those who seem like fools most of the time! If we can learn from a situation rather than putting down the situation or rejecting it, then we have become a better person. Being able to admit to mistakes and learn from them does take a certain amount of grace!
It is just so sad to see so many people who refuse to help themselves by learning what God would like them to do with their lives. Too many people reject God before He even has a chance to open His mouth. Too many people reject His will in their lives even when they learn about Him. Too many people will end up finding out the truth when it is too late! That is one of the reasons why we are here – to show people we can make a difference and we can do so because God is with us! When people wake up to the fact we have outside help all the time, then they will start to seek that help we all have.
Being a good example and showing how we are still learning is going to make a bigger difference in other people’s lives than trying to stuff the truth down their throats – for then we risk them rejecting God's will because of our attitude; God forbid we prevent people from drawing closer to God just because of our own attitude! We need to wise up and make sure we are fully trusting in God rather than our own vanity!
Points to Ponder:
Do you think you are better than your friends?
How many times a day do you reject God's wisdom?
September 8: Ezekiel 15 1-5
Key Verse: Ezekiel 15 5
Indeed, when it was whole, no object could be made from it. How much less will it be useful for any work when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned?
Devotion:
To show just how bad things have got, God shows Ezekiel how much use there is in a nation of people who do not follow God! He does this by comparing them to a vine, or grape vine. If you try and take the wood from a grape vine, you will see that it is pretty useless to make anything with. The wood is not strong and it is more often than not twisted and full of knots. It does bend, but brakes easily. In short, it is not good for anything. When you burn it, it does not burn well either... And when you have burned it, it is then good for absolutely nothing!
But as long as a grape vine is flourishing and bearing fruit, we can use it. The grapes can be used for fruit, grape juice and even wine. The leaves themselves can be used for cooking and the whole plant as a form of shade for the hot and weary. But none of this can be done if the plant is not healthy.
As children of God we need to make sure we are seen to be flourishing, for as soon as we are not, people will discard us and assume we are good to be cut down and nothing else. But as long as we show signs of life when all around are failing, then we will be an inspiration to those others. Our fruit will become nourishment for others. Our juice will quench the thirst of others. Our shade will give respite to those in desperate need.
God does not ask us to sustain the world. God does not ask us to bear all manner of fruit and meat to give sustenance to the whole world. God does not ask us to provide heat and shade for everyone. God simply asks us to be an encouragement to others so they can see just how much we get from God. Without God, we cannot grow. Without God, we are pretty useless. But with God, we grow and thrive. With God we can be that encouragement to those around who need a bit of support!
Points to Ponder:
Do you like helping others?
Would you go out in God's name and help someone today?
September 7: Ezekiel 12 17-18
Key Verse: Ezekiel 12 18
Son of man, eat your bread with quaking, and drink your water with trembling and anxiety.
Devotion:
I wonder how many times you have been asked to do something which you though “too simple” or “below you”. How did you react? Did you smirk at the idea and put it off until the last second? Did you take the task and do it immediately? Did you just refuse it outright? Or, did you take on the task, find out how you could do it to perfection and only hand it over when the work was done to standards over and above those expected? There are not too many times we do go overboard and do more work than someone expects of you; most of the time we do what is required and that is about it!
Doing God's will in your life can be exactly the same – you can do what is required and back off and let others do all the proper work; or you can throw yourself at His mercy and do whatever you can to do His will. I would hate to think we would ignore His will and go off to do our own things... but that does happen! Doing His will is not always going to be the easy way out either; quite often we will find all sorts of hardships confronting us as we try to get closer to God.
The surest way of making sure you stay in contact with Him is by making sure you read His Word on a regular basis. Not just picking up your bible and reading a few verses now and again or even reading a bit each day, but reading with conviction! We need to make sure we do understand what we are reading or we may as well be reading a novel. We need to make sure we understand just who wrote the bible and just what it means!
Each bible is nothing more than ink on paper, both of which have a surprisingly short lifespan! But God has made sure that generation after generation faithfully reprint and spread His Word over every part of the world. It is such an important part of our lives God has made sure nobody has ever been able to totally hide it from us! If it's that important to God, don't you think we need to spend some time in it, and most importantly, with the right attitude!
Points to Ponder:
Do you get told off for your attitude?
What is your attitude to God? Do you show Him true respect?
September 6: Ezekiel 3 1-3
Key Verse: Ezekiel 3 3
And He said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you.” So I ate, and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness.
Devotion:
How many times have you heard the saying “you are what you eat”? How many of those times was it someone who you know does not stick to their diet as strictly as they tell you to? There is a lot of truth to that saying and it is disconcerting to see how many people do give in to temptations rather than sticking to what they should be eating – I know that I am one that does give in to temptations more than I should!
Our minds are just the same as our bodies when it comes to giving in to temptations. We do have many temptations of the mind which are just no good for us. We give in to these and they do spoil our minds. We find ourselves thinking and doing things we should not, just because we gave into something and it has become a habit – or worse, we gave into something and we just want to rebel and do it again!
Ezekiel was a prophet who was being given instruction by God to teach the people of Israel exactly where they had gone wrong and what would happen to them if they continued – much like a doctor or dietician would try and show you what you are doing wrong with your food intake. But Ezekiel was being fed the right stuff – The Word of God. How good a metaphor it is to eat the Word of God! That is what we should be aiming at, taking in God's Word and allowing it to sustain us in all our ways.
God is the one who has designed us into the perfect specimens we are... what? You’re not perfect? Nor am I! But we are the ones who corrupt God’s design and break it down. God has given us the ability to read and take in His Word – we are the ones who choose to not read God's Word. We are the ones giving in to other temptations rather than consolidating our position within His Word. God's Word is sufficient!
Points to Ponder:
What sort of things do you listen to and read?
How often do you listen to or read God's Word?