July 27: Luke 4 23-30
Key Verse: Luke 4 27
And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.
Devotion:
Leprosy was a disease people thought was a punishment from God for sins being offended. It was and still is a horrible disease which means you have to stay away from the rest of society, not being able to enjoy the things everyone else can do. We all do tend to call out to God when things are not going the way we want, and knowing God can heal but people are not being healed does cause doubt in many peoples’ minds.
Just like many parents, God does not want to listen to us cry – He would rather pick us up and comfort us than allow us to continue crying for help. And just like kids, we only cry when trouble has hit us and not when it still lies ahead. Just like kids, we accept the comfort and then run off and do something else without thanking our comforter and quite often without taking heed of the warning of danger we probably have just been given! We even turn against our comforter when they try to get us to avoid danger ahead thinking they are preventing us from enjoying ourselves!
Later, Luke tells us about ten lepers who are healed by Jesus and also the reaction of those lepers. When God does do something in our lives we are not as quick to thank Him for what He has done than we are to complain when He does not do what we want Him to.
Far too often we all accept the fact God is here and we all expect Him to do things for us and with us in a manner we like or accept. When God wants to improve the situation He may not be doing it the way we want Him to. Don’t be surprised to find God is working in so many ways behind the scenes. Don’t be surprised when you friends turn against you just because God has done something for you and not for them. We are, after all, a very selfish society. Always share with others what God does in your life. It will encourage more than it will disrupt.
Points to Ponder:
Do you get down when God is slow to answer prayers?
Are you expecting God to work to your own rules?
July 26: Matthew 19 16-22
Key Verse: Matthew 19 17
So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
Devotion:
We always think of Jesus as being pure, without fault and without blemish… so why would He say He is not good and that God alone is? Think about this question a bit more before reading further – even go over the verses again and see why.
God is Holy and hence cannot abide sin. He will not allow sin to enter into heaven. So how can Jesus get into heaven if He is saying He is not good? The answer is is given to us here in these verses. There is nothing we can do which will release us from the burden of sin, the thing which is keeping us from getting to be with God in heaven. But Jesus is there at the right hand of the Father. How come? Because He was willing to lift up those sins to His Father in heaven and ask for forgiveness!
Jesus was no longer good when He took on our sins. He was no longer clean and without sin. And yet He stepped forward willingly to take on this mantle; because He knew His Father in heaven would forgive Him once and for all. He is now standing up for every one of us, taking on the sin debts we owe and bringing them up to the Father in our stead, asking for forgiveness!
What an awesome and loving advocate we have. One who willingly gave it all so we could get to be with God in heaven. What an awesome Christ; one who stepped forward to take our sins and bury them forever so God will not have to look upon them any more! We have the same choice. Do we keep hold of all the silly things in life which cannot get us into heaven, or do we put aside the worldly possessions and move forward with Christ knowing it is all possible because of Him!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you look back at the cross?
Are you willing to give it all to Christ?
July 25: Numbers 23 19-20
Key Verse: Numbers 23 19
“God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
Devotion:
Balaam’s prophecies to Balak were quite direct in their content and squarely aimed at Balak, but we can and still do learn so much from them. This, in particular is such a good reminder of the position of God and Christ. We are created beings, created in an amazing and beautiful way to do good and to worship God; and yet we fall so far short of the mark and do so many things wrong.
We were not created as any other beings anywhere from being angels down to the lowest animals in the food chain. Instead God created us to do the worshipping and repenting. We are the ones who get things wrong, we are the one who need to say sorry for the things we do wrong. God does not have to repent or say sorry because He is God.
When God says He is going to do something we had better be ready for it because He is going to make it happen. When God has spoken about things which will happen in the future, we had better be ready for those things to happen because they will. He has not broken promises like we do. He has not forgotten about things like we do. God is Just and He is Holy.
When God says He is going to bless someone then that is exactly what is going to happen. Even if none of us agree this should happen, God knows best and He will do what is right. I know there have been times in my life when I thought people should get what they deserve in my mind and yet they are blessed by God for what they are doing behind the scenes. I know God continues to bless many people and continues to work with so many more. I pray He will give us insight into their lives so we can help to bless them too.
Points to Ponder:
Do you get grumpy when others get rewards?
Have you tried to focus on God’s work instead of prizes?
July 24: Acts 27 21-26
Key Verse: Acts 27 25
Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me.
Devotion:
A Pastor was preaching one day when he went on for a lot longer than normal. Many in the congregation started to fall asleep. Finally, after the service a dear old lady came up to him and said “I'm sorry Pastor, but that was the worst sermon I have heard. Please stick to the point next time”. Another lady followed her out and stopped and blurted out “Don't you be going and listening to her now Pastor, she never has her own words, she always says what everyone else is saying...”
How many times have you tried to put a little cheer into the conversation and found you actually spread fear or more despondency! There are times when I have tried to say the right thing, but what comes out seems to do more damage than good. Those were the times when I tried to think of something good to say! Worse still, if you try to invent a bit of truth, it will often backfire and leave even more devastation!
Paul, on the other hand, wanted to make sure the people on the ship knew the truth. He was standing up for what was right. He knew they probably did not want to hear they were about to be shipwrecked! But he still wanted them to know when Christ is in it, even the bad times can have something good come out of it. That good news was that none of the people on board were going to perish – all would survive! It was only the vessel which was going to be crunched!
Too many times we do forget this about ourselves as well. We look after, or try to look after our human side without giving thought to our spiritual side. We make sure we physically are fit and well, but within us stirs up a boiling cauldron of emotions which are just waiting to spew out all over the place. Paul was trying to show the men on the boat they would find peace from the storm and the only reason for that peace would be because God was in it. When we face our storms, we need to make sure we are looking for God first!
Points to Ponder:
Do you suffer from “foot in mouth” disease?
How often do you ask God for guidance in everyday life?
July 23: 1 Samuel 2 1-3
Key Verse: 1 Samuel 2 2
No one is holy like the Lord, For there is none besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God.
Devotion:
No matter how much we trust and rely upon our friends and family, there will be a time when they do let us down – there will probably be a good excuse for it, but that will be the time when we realise none of us are not perfect. Maybe you have let your friends down at some stage and even had an argument when you told them you are not perfect. Whether we, or they, understand is up to how they look upon the situation in hand.
When things go wrong in our lives, it is quite often when we walk away from Christ, or turn our back on Him. Hannah’s prayer starts with the resounding words of how awesome, righteous and holy God is, God is perfect in all Him ways. Many Psalms also remind us of how “great”, “gracious”, “good”, “righteous” and “holy” He is. God is worthy to be praised.
If we are to keep our friends, we have to be friends with them – we cannot turn our backs on them and hope they stick with us when we need them. Hannah was acknowledging God as Lord of all and reminding us of our position as His children. We are not to be proud or arrogant when we know God. I’m not talking about just being proud about anything and everything but being proud in spite of God. He is our everything and we need to make sure He gets the praise and glory He alone deserves.
All we need do is to call out to Him in truth. When we do that, He is willing to fulfil our desires – to answer our prayers. He is willing to make sure we survive for as long as we are willing to do His work. If there is any way we are to be used to glorify His name, then He will make sure that we can do exactly that. We don't all have to go to college to learn about God. We don't all have to preach His word. We don't all have to write devotions... All we need do is to call upon His name in truth. As long as we are willing to call Christ our best friend, He is willing to stand up for us forever.
Points to Ponder:
How often do friend stand by your side when you are wrong?
As long as we are willing to stand up for Jesus, He will be by our side!