August 21: Isaiah 43 14-15
Key Verse: Isaiah 43 15
I am the Lord, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King.
Devotion:
We may look at some of the prophets as the men and women of God who were bringing bad news every time the Jews stepped out of place; but we must always remember we worship and serve a JUST God. Because of the things they got up to and the way they treated God, the Jews were scattered and many taken to Babylon as slaves. But God already had a plan in place to revive them and bring them home.
We may not like the way we are treated by others at times when they are trying their best to do what is right for us; but we will be able to look back and see why things were done the way they happened. The prophet is writing these words to show people God is always one step ahead and continues to watch over every person who has ever said they love Him.
I love going to Christian festivals and have just come back from Soul Survivor 2016 in the South West of England. I love it because we get to see that we are not alone as many young people get together to celebrate being Christians and to invite their friends along to show how much they love God. I may work hard and get very little sleep over the week but when I begin to hear the testimonies of how someone was invited along and got the chance of starting their lifelong journey with God.
Times like this remind me of the promises God has given us right from the start; the promises through prophets and kings and even directly from Jesus Christ himself. God is real and He is the one who is in control over all. He continues to watch over His children. Continues to make it possible for more people to get to know Him. Continues to make so much more possible. Nothing is impossible with God. Trust Him and follow Him!
Points to Ponder:
Do you have faith that lasts?
Are you willing to give it all to God?
August 20: 2 Kings 17 7-12
Key Verse: 2 Kings 17 9
Also the children of Israel secretly did against the Lord their God things that were not right, and they built for themselves high places in all their cities, from watchtower to fortified city.
Devotion:
Keeping secrets from friends is one thing, but trying to do the same against God is just never going to work! We may be able to keep some secrets from friends and relatives – but when we do let something slip and they find out, we are the ones who have to face up to why we have been keeping the truth away from them. If we have been keeping a surprise party secret, then they would be willing to forgive us after finding out the surprise... but if we are keeping something away from them which they should know about, they may well take that harder than we first thought.
Trying to keep secrets from God is just a waste of time! God is watching us in everything we do, He is with us in everything we do. Trying to pretend to Him that we are doing the right thing does not work either – He can see right through us. He may well be putting up with it knowing that we are going to trip ourselves up before long and have to bow down before Him, or He may be patiently waiting for us to see the error of our own ways.
When the Children of Israel started to think they could hide their idols and other false gods away from God, they were in for a bit of a surprise. They tried hiding them under bushes and inside buildings – but God saw what they were doing. Not only did He see physically, but He saw what was happening to them in their hearts! God doesn't have to see what we get up to physically because what He is worried about is what is happening to us spiritually.
We are the ones who have to do the changing to allow God to be able to walk close by us. We are the ones who have to ask for His forgiveness for the things we are doing to Him day by day. We are the ones who have to realise that God has made us and continues to watch over us every second of every day. We are the ones who have to realise we cannot hide from God!
Points to Ponder:
How often to you hide the truth from friends?
How many secrets do you think you are hiding from God?
For those who got an automated devotion earlier - I've been away at a Christian Festival (Soul Survivor) and needed a bit of time alone with God - but catching up on devotions now. God Bless.
August 19: Ephesians 4 25-32
Key Verse: Ephesians 4 25
Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbour,” for we are members of one another.
Devotion:
We often think that if we tell a “small white lie” it will help others, but in truth we are just not being honest with them. When it comes to them relying on us for an honest answer, they will then have their doubts about whether we are telling the truth. The truth may well hurt sometimes, but withholding the truth will have longer lasting repercussions than telling the truth up front. Imagine if you had a heart transplant... if the heart showed signs of rejection up front, they would have to do something before you leave the hospital... but if the heart could somehow “lie” about rejection until you went on holiday afterwards, things would not be so pleasant!
Having the truth withheld from us is probably one of the most common causes of stress and anger; and that is exactly what Satan is aiming for! He wants us to be stressed out or angry so he can have his way with us – those are the times we are less likely to depend on God for everything we need. Having someone steal stuff from you is another common cause for stress and anger.
If we are going to want to walk closer to God, then we are going to have to push aside the lies, push aside the stealing, and push aside the gossip. Each one of those will not only be hurting the person we are assaulting, but will also hurt God as well. We are all His creation. When we are saved we have The Holy Spirit living within us. We are not going to have the Holy Spirit leave us because He has promised to stay with us... but we may well be driving Him into a tight corner where we will not hear from Him!
The best way forward is to follow these words from Paul's letter to the Ephesians: “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:” Stop doing it! It is hard, but we can do it – with God we can do anything! Put it behind you and turn on a different face of kindness and tender-heartedness.
Points to Ponder:
How many times have you lied recently?
How many more times are you willing to upset God?
August 18: Ephesians 4 17-24
Key Verse: Ephesians 4 22
that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts
Devotion:
Too many of us believe we cannot chance, or give in and say “we are what we are”. We have a very defeatist attitude towards changing ourselves to be a better person. We think we are not good enough, or we cannot change because we are too weak or we are just not good enough. Well, most of that is just what we think and is not based on anything real!
We may not like to think we are weak – but we use weakness as an excuse for getting out of things. We may not like to think we are “geeks” in anything – but we use our knowledge and skills to help others (and even boast about our knowledge when we think fit). We don't like to think that we know nothing – but we use that as an excuse to get out of doing things! You see, what we do is to make up our own rules according to our own vanity; we change the rules to only allow what pleases us!
One prime example is the language we use. We may well be very pleasant and kind and not swear when we are around people from church, but what happens when we are at home – what sort of language do we use then? We think of others as being two faced, but when we look deep within ourselves, we find we ourselves are just as guilty as anyone else. It is little wonder that almost a whole chapter in our bibles is devoted to topics like this.
So can we change? Yes, we can. We have a choice of the things we do, we have the choice to the things we say and we have the choice about the way we act. Each one should not be done to glorify ourselves, but to glorify God. As long as we try to make ourselves something other than what God made us for – we are making things up. God did not make mistakes when He made anyone; we are the ones who have corrupted His creation and continue to do so!
Points to Ponder:
How long do you keep new year’s resolutions for?
Are you ready to put your life behind you so that you can walk with God?
August 17: Proverbs 15 1-2
Key Verse: Proverbs 15 1
A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.
Devotion:
Can you count the number of things you have said this week which have come out the wrong way? Can you count the number of things you have said which you wish you had not said? Can you count the number of times you got angry and started blurting out things which were just wrong? Our emotions are one side of our lives we do find hard to control, and the first thing that happens when we get upset is our mouths start babbling on before we even know about it!
One of my favourite sayings was “engage brain before releasing mouth”, but that was just a fact... God's Word gives us the reason for this fact – why, because if you don't engage your brain you are going to say all sorts of things you will wish you had not! It may seem obvious that we should use a bit of wisdom to control our mouths, but we need to be reminded again and again it is our emotions which are driving our mouths before our brains can get into gear... unless we are able to stop and think a second...
A sure fire way to get someone angry is to start telling them they are a fool or stupid... Doing that is normally going to be counterproductive because it may well provoke a reaction out of them that will come from their emotions before they have a chance to think about it! And the cycle has begun – faster emotional responses each time and a fight ensues... Each time around the cycle you are baiting the other person, as they are baiting you, and each time you think less about their feelings!
But what if we were able to stop for half a second for our brains to be able to catch up – it's not going to take all day for them to catch up... We would be able to think about what we have just heard and about what we are about to say. God has given us immensely powerful brains so we will be able to control our mouths – as long as we are willing to wait that extra second to allow them to catch up with the conversation!
Points to Ponder:
What was your last fight about?
Are you depending on God for guidance through your angry times?