July 2: Ephesians 2 8-10
Key Verse: Ephesians 2 10
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Devotion:
Have you ever told anyone your Pastor or priest saved you, or maybe someone else saved you? Or have you ever told anyone how you did it yourself? Well, being saved is not about what we do or what we can do, it is simply about placing your life back in Christ's hands. The only thing we can do is to submit to our Lord. He is the only one who can “save” us. He is the only one who has paid for our sins. Nothing we can do or say will get us closer to God other than us giving our lives back to Him. Which means no person has saved you – it is Jesus Christ Himself who has accepted you back. It is His gift to you!
Imagine the uproar if people would go round the world telling of how many people they have saved? It's bad enough there are many who will go round boasting of how many they have led to the Lord. It is bad enough that “men of honour” base their strength in Christ by counting something they have not really done! We may be able to knock on the door, we may be able to get the person to open the door, but that person can do nothing through us other than listen to God's Word. The Holy Spirit is the one who will be able to convince each person about who God is.
And why should we be the ones submitting to His law, His will, His life? Well, He did create us! When God created Adam and Eve, He did so out of love. He was extremely pleased with what He had done. He knew exactly what had to be done in order to create us so we would be able to love Him back. We may be the ones who are able to have children, but that is only because of the way God made us.
When we submit our lives back to Christ, we need to remember exactly what we are doing. From that moment on we should be aiming at leading our lives according to His will and not our own. If you are going to get a job, you have to work according to your new boss's hours and outline, not your own. Having a job should not be about surviving, but about enjoying what you do. In like manner, we should be doing our work for Christ out of our love for Him, not out of duty!
Points to Ponder:
Do you like doing things for others or do you just do them because you must?
What do you do in your Christian life out of duty, and what out of love?
July 1: Romans 12 1-3
Key Verse: Romans 12 2
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Devotion:
Don't you just love advertisements which offer great things but only deliver a tiny portion of what they offer. Thankfully we don't get to see too many of them because the law stands in and stops people from false advertising. But that does not stop people from doing it – you only have to go on holiday to be pestered by people who have a promise of a free holiday and it's only when you get there you find out you have to buy something else before you get anything free!
This is probably one of the main reasons why people are not willing to accept Christ for what He is – because He has promised us eternal life for free so we immediately think we have to do something before we get the free gift. Well yes, we do have to do something before we get eternal life – simply believe on Him. But because our world is corrupt, we always look for some sinister reason – we have been programmed to look for faults and catches in almost everything in life!
Just like getting a free gift in life, when we get our free spiritual gift, we normally have some work to do. If someone gives you a free goldfish, you have to learn how to keep a goldfish and what to feed it and how to clean up after it etc. When we gain our free gift from Christ, we have to start living up to being a Christian. When Paul wrote this letter to the Romans, he plainly told them they have to present themselves as a living sacrifice to God. Whilst we may cringe at those type of words now, we need not.
Presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice does not mean we have to lie down and die. Christ Jesus has already given His life and has sealed our fate by doing that. We no longer have to pay with our lives. But by the same token, He has paid for us by giving His life. Our reasonable service must therefore be to give that life back to Him. This means not being taken in by everything we see around us – not being taken in by the temptations which surround us all the time. Give control of your life back to God and you will never be disappointed!
Points to Ponder:
Would you know how to take care of a greyhound if it were given to you?
Do you know how God wants you to live your life?
June 30: Psalms 34 11-14
Key Verse: Psalms 34 11
Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
Devotion:
Have you ever tried to watch TV by going into the next room, or tried to eat your food when it is still in the oven, or tried to wash in mud? It may sound odd I would even think up questions like this which seem so mad they would never be true, but we do some strange things in our lives!
It has been proven time and again the best time to learn anything is when you brain is at its most active and most able to absorb and discern new information. It is little wonder those years are spent in school and university. But those same years should also be being spent in church and bible study. Why should we divert all our energy to learn things which may not be relevant to our lives and leave out the one thing in our lives which should come first and be most relevant – God!
Another fact about leaning is that we are more willing to learn things for subjects we enjoy or new subjects. Our lazy minds get used to things very quickly and we get stuck in a rut whilst things should be moving on. We may even get to a stage where we do not want to learn anymore! But that is where the Bible is so different. No matter how many times you look at the Bible and try to learn it all, there are new things you pick up on each time you read it.
God is never going to turn His back on us as we learn His Word. He is going to continue supplying us with a raft of information each time we read so we will never get bored with reading His Word. Why? Because He wants us to understand Him. The only way we are going to understand just how much God has done and still does for us is by learning about it. If we want to learn about God, we should not go to a football match to try hear the truth. We will not go to a bank to find it. We will not go to a party to find it. All these tasks may be tasks we have to do all the time, but we will not find God’s truth in any of them. If we want to do our best to learn about God, we need to go where He is taught about, read about Him, listen to others... but we also need to change our lives so we can focus on Him and not ourselves...
Points to Ponder:
Party or Church?
Doesn't seem fair? If they knew God too they'd change too...
June 29: Psalms 56 3-4
Key Verse: Psalms 56 3
Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.
Devotion:
David seemed to live a life where there was always someone trying to get rid of him or to hurt him in some way – or so it probably seemed to him. When we find out someone is against us, we get to be afraid, or worried, and those feelings seem to consume us to the extent where it will affect our living. Too many times we try to take the bull by the horns and ride out our problems as if we can... Maybe we should take note of those cowboys in the rodeo – they always get thrown off, it's just how long they can hold on for.
When we are faced with problems in our lives, we need to be able to give those problems over to someone who can handle them. As a Christian, the first person we should look to is God – but all too often we think we can handle it. God continues to remind us through His Word that He alone has promised to take care of us. He continues to remind us He has promised never to leave us nor forsake us. He continues to remind us we should turn to Him in times of troubles.
But it should not only be in times of troubles we turn to God. Each and every day, hours, minute, we should be turning to Him for guidance – not just turning to Him for protection. If we are willing to turn to Him for guidance, He will be able to guide us away from the trouble we so often seem to attract. When David was running from Saul, he continually tried to listen to God for guidance as to where He should be going. He was able to stay one step ahead of Saul on every occasion, no matter how much Saul would try to get him. God was even able to hide David in the same cave that Saul was resting in on one occasion. Giving Him our total trust will produce surprising results.
Our trust in God should not be limited to times of trouble. It should not be limited to when we face danger. It should not be limited to when things go wrong. When we are feeling at our best and thing around us are going right – when we are feeling on top of the world – that is the time when we should be closest to God, thanking Him for putting us there!
Points to Ponder:
What do you do to your friends when they are kind to you?
What do you do to God when things are good in your life?
June 28: Psalms 148 1-5
Key Verse: Psalms 148 5
Let them praise the name of the Lord, For He commanded and they were created.
Devotion:
Sometimes we have the gall to think we are the only Christian nation (I'm not picking on any one nation!). Sometimes we even think we are the only Christians in the area. Sometimes we think we may be the only good people on the block! Whatever our aspirations, we need to sit back and think; what are we! I mean, really, what are we?
The psalmist starts off by reminding us to Praise God. That is why we are here! And not just us, but for all those who are in heaven to praise Him. Don't forget the multitude of angels who are there by His side! And if they are with Him need to praise Him, then those of us who are still living in faith need to praise Him more to make sure we keep ourselves headed in the right direction spiritually.
The psalmist also is keen to point out just who should be praising Him... Everything that He has made! He made the heavens, He made the earth, He made everything which is in the earth; including us. So what gives us the right to think we should be any different from anyone else. He wants each and every one of us to be able to praise Him. The only way that is going to happen is if we understand just who He is.
Take a look around you at the wonderful world He has made for us to live in. It may have its problems, but those can all be put down to man! Once we start to see the wonders of the universe which God has created for us, we begin to see just how much He loves us. We don't need to look too far around us to see just how those around us love us – we should not have to look too far to see just how much God loves us! God created everything here so we could see His love for us. He created all of this because He wanted to. His love is shown in everything He has created – don't you think it's time He got some more praise for His Work?
Points to Ponder:
How much do (or did) your parents do for you?
How much more does God do for you?