June 27: Proverbs 14 13
Key Verse: Proverbs 14 13
Even in laughter the heart may sorrow, And the end of mirth may be grief.
Devotion:
When was the last time that you had a real “belly laugh”? Not just laughing because everyone else was, but laughing so hard it made your eyes water! Laughter does make a difference... You could be feeling very down when a good laugh will pick you up. I’m no biologist but whatever God has given us which is released during laughter, helps to pick us up from almost anything. But no matter how much it picks us up, it does not make a real difference to the problem we have.
Yes it will allow you to make a new start, or to make a fresh start, or make you more willing to have a go at finishing or making a difference. It makes all the difference between not being able to finish a task and being able to finish that task... But what of the “social laugh”? The laugh which we do to keep others happy or to join in with the fun. If you had to sit and think about what you were laughing it, you would probably not want to laugh any more. Solomon was probably going through a bit of a rough spot when he realised this. You can laugh, but when the laughing has finished, the problems still exist. This realisation is probably going to make you feel really down in the dumps, but there should be no need for that. We have something which is far more than laughter!
Jesus promised He would leave a comforter with us. The Holy Spirit is with us 100% of the time. He lives inside each one of us. The Comforter lives inside of us! Not just something which is going to make that bit of a difference when we laugh, but all the time. No matter what we are going through, we will always be able to call upon Him for help and guidance. So many people forget we do have Him and fall apart when the going gets tough. What we should be doing is allowing Him to work at those times because that is when He would be at His best!
Yes it is hard to have faith in something or someone you cannot see especially when you think things are going wrong. All it takes is one small step of faith and you will realise just how wonderful God really is and just how much He can comfort us from the inside!
Points to Ponder:
Do you get embarrassed when you laugh alone?
With the Holy Spirit with you, you are never alone!
June 26: Psalms 32 10-11
Key Verse: Psalms 32 11
Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
Devotion:
How many times have you had a friend or family member come up to you and ask you what is wrong? When we are not feeling at our best, it shows. Those around us who care about us will always spot when something is wrong and many times they may come straight out and ask what is wrong. When things are not right in our lives, we do “wear it on our sleeves” and allow everyone to view it whether we want to or not.
At first we may not think this is a good thing, that we are allowing too many people into our private lives; but when you start to think about the way we should be acting, then it is a very good thing! If you are willing to allow others into your personal life, then you are showing a bit of trust. With that trust them comes a certain amount of shared hope because if one of you has a problem, the other may be able to help out. But when you are doing something which is plainly wicked, others will not be willing to help you out. You will have to stand up and bear any problems you have by yourself.
We have a faithful friend in Jesus. He has promised never to leave us. In that promise we have the ultimate hope because He will always be there for us. The mercy He has promised will follow us no matter what happens in our lives. When we are feeling down, Christ is there, willing to listen and waiting to help. That is why the Psalmist writes here that we need to be glad in the Lord!
When things do start to get a bit rough, you soon see who your real friends are. Those who are willing to stick by your side are friends. Those who hide behind the bushes want you to be their friends but are not willing to make the required commitment for you. Those who run are certainly not your friends. There is one in our lives who will tempt us with so many things, say he is our friend, offer us untold mysteries, yet leave us standing just when we need it. He may not have dominion of all the earth yet, but he sure acts like it... Be wary of Satan, he is real...
Points to Ponder:
What did you last do when a friend needed you?
Christ stands by our side all the time, putting your hand out for help is quite natural!
June 25: Matthew 7 13-14
Key Verse: Matthew 7 14
Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Devotion:
How many times have you thought about how other people should treat you, or how you should treat other people. We tend to do this sort of comparison each time things go wrong. Maybe we get upset with someone because of the things they have done to us and we wish they would treat us differently. Or maybe we look back at the way we have treated someone and think “why can't they treat us like we treat them?”
We seem to have a double standard by which we live. Our ways of treating others do not always agree with the way which they treat us. But as soon as we get treated the wrong way, then we react! That must have been so frustrating for Jesus to see, people doing one thing and saying another, or doing and saying different things according to whom they we talking. One thing we can count on is how Christ will never change the way He does things!
He warns us there will be so many times when we will be tempted away from the things we should be doing. He warns us it will seem so much easier to go down the route of ease and temptation. He warns us we must be consistent... And yet we still choose to waver each step of our way. His consistency should be a goal we should be aiming for. His consistency should be what we should seek. Our ways of chopping and changing should be left behind so we can get on with our lives.
God wants us to be good stewards of His Word; which mean showing people the gospel without vain babblings. He wants us to be consistent in keeping His Word. He wants us to be consistent is showing others we are keeping His Word. He wants us to be consistent in the way we treat Him. He wants us to be consistent in the way we treat others. If we are able to step forward in the right direction, with Him by our sides, then we will see how He would want us to treat others.
Points to Ponder:
Do you get upset with the way others treat you?
How do you treat God in your life?
June 24: Romans 7 21-25
Key Verse: Romans 7 25
I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
Devotion:
Have you ever sat back and thought about the way that you do things? I mean, really sat back and thought long and hard; not just about what you did today, or yesterday, but the way you act in general! As I read these verses and try construct a lesson for the younger children at church, I began to start thinking deeper than I had before. I began to think about how I was being seen by other people and not just those around me, but those on the road and others in different places which I visit. I started to think about the example I was setting for others to follow.
Too many times in our lives we live double standards. We try to tell everyone how they should be living their lives – maybe not directly, but the way we get people to do things our way rather than their ways. We start to try and control others people’s lives because it is the way we would want them to be. It is so surprising to find out just how much each one of us do this without thinking as well.
God's law is perfect. He has given us the instruction book and we need to read it to change our lives so we can live according to how we were made, not according to how we want to be. You see, we are actually trying to change our lives away from that for which they were intended to something that is palatable for us!
These verses, like the previous verses in this chapter, talk about our will to do what is right, but our weak bodies giving in to the desires of our bodies rather than what is righteous. Just like we say one thing and do another thing, we try tell our bodies to do one things and end up doing something else. We are totally re-writing our own lives according to the book of “myself”. What we should be doing is conforming to the instruction manual – God's Word. For each time we are doing something according to the manual of “myself”, we are showing other people we have changed the law and are now living by another law. We are telling them that it is OK to live outside of God's Laws...
Points to Ponder:
What things do you do that you hate to see others do?
How do you think God feels every time He sees you do that?
June 23: Romans 7 7
Key Verse: Romans 7 7
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”
Devotion:
How do the people you know treat the Bible? Do they look at it as something which should be taken with them to all places where Christians meet? Do they read it all the time? Do they trust in its words? Or do they have one in their drawer ... still unread! And how do you treat your Bible?
God has made sure His Word continues to be with us. He has made sure it continues to survive, even when we do not do our best to keep it going. No matter how much we fail, God will continue to surprise you with what He does. For Him to make sure His Word has survived for as long as mankind has been around – don't you think that He is being serious about it! If you wanted someone to have something, you would probably make sure they get it, and they keep it. God has been doing that for a long time now! He has made sure His Word is skilfully kept. That the truth is still portrayed. That man continues to have it close to hand. It has even been translated into almost every language! It has all been done for a reason...
God knows we do not listen to everything He says or notice everything He does; so He has given us His Word so we can remember or reference it when we need it. He has given us a perfect set of instructions by which to live, even in a world which is falling apart! If we buried our heads in the sand (as many do) we would think the world was OK. It is only when we read what God wants us to do that we realise how bad things are around us. Without His Word, we would not know anything was wrong. Without that cornerstone, we would not know anything had existed – the world has all but forgotten Him (or so it seems sometimes).
Believing what is in God's Word is a simple step after understanding what it is. Understanding only comes through hearing or reading (Romans 10 17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.)
Points to Ponder:
Do you keep instruction manuals in case anything goes wrong?
Do you read your Bible to help understand your life?