June 2: Micah 7 5-7
Key Verse: Micah 7 6
For son dishonours father, Daughter rises against her mother, Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; A man’s enemies are the men of his own household.
Devotion:
How many times have you lied to the people in your family? How many times have you told someone a lie just so you can more forward? To be brutally honest we do have many times in our lives where we get it all wrong! The thing is, we continue to mess up with people close to us or in our families just because we cannot see what to do next.
God is not blinded by the things we do, nor by the things we get wrong. God continues to give us every opportunity to set the ball rolling again and to lift up our lives toward Him. Putting your trust in a friend may seem like the safest option to do when we are in the midst of fighting; but they may well be the ones who let us down first when push comes to shove just because they cannot cope.
It is not going to be the things we are always on the lookout for which will trip us up. It is probably going to be the times when we are fully trusting somebody else, even our friends or family. God continues to lift us up out of the mire and continues to keep us secure even when others tell us they know more; if only we will let Him! Satan thought He would know more until he was confronted by God.
It does not take too many times of allowing God to lift up our plans before we actually see how much He does for us in our lives. We need to continue to trust in God as He works with us and for us so we are ready to get back into life. God is not going to get things wrong; but we may well fill our lives with so much junk it looks like He has left us alone. Do not despair.
Points to Ponder:
Who do you trust most?
Are you going to trust God more?
June 1: Psalms 118 5-9
Key Verse: Psalms 118 8
It is better to trust in the Lord Than to put confidence in man.
Devotion:
I don’t know about you but I have definitely called out to the Lord in distress on many occasions; only to find out how much He can and does do for you when you need Him most of all. I know there have been times when I have thought He has abandoned me and times when I have been sure He has ignored me; but when I look back on those times I see a pattern emerging. Those are the times when I did not actually need Him. Yes, I wanted Him, but I did not need Him to fix the unfixable.
God is all powerful and His knowledge and wisdom go so much beyond what we can think about that we lose track of just what we do need as opposed to what we want. Our Lord God is watching over us every step of the way and continues to lift us when we need it, steady us when we falter and lift us up when we begin to drown.
Jesus did not leave Peter to sink in the sea but told him to trust and obey. When Peter put aside the earthly ways and fully trusted Christ, he was able to walk on the water, but that first glimmer of doubt made the world come flooding back in. Jesus wants us to see His ways are far beyond the worlds ways and He will continue to work to His limits and not the limits of the world.
No matter how much we trust in people and have faith in others, there will always be times when they let you down or simply cannot fulfil the task required to lift us up. But God continues to work far beyond our imaginations and the ways of the world. I thank Him He is willing and able to work with me! I continue to look back on the special occasions when He has been able to work with me in my lost state. I thank Him for saving me and for being able to lift me out of the pit when I have all but flung myself into it!
Points to Ponder:
Do you doubt because others cannot do things?
Will you trust Him with the unthinkable?
May 31: Exodus 31 12-17
Key Verse: Exodus 31 15
Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
Devotion:
Can you imagine how popular it would be to be in church if they still enforced this rule! People would be scrambling over each other to get through the doors just in case someone thought they were not being “holy enough!” But even this section of text shows why God wanted us to remember the Sabbath over and above any other day. It is not for the fact people would die if they did not. It was the fact that people were showing God and others they had a covenant between them and God.
If you are really serious about something, then you may well do something like swear an oath to someone about how serious you were. Maybe you would say something like “I'll give you a hundred pounds (dollars/whatever) if I don't keep it up...” And maybe you would even be willing to carry out that oath to show people just how serious you are. But it would not be worth anything unless you were serious about it. Unless you wanted to keep to the promise over and above other things, it would lose its meaning.
God simply wants us to show we want to keep our oath with Him over and above others. He wants us to recognise He alone is our God, He alone is our creator and He alone is our Saviour. If we are going to be serious about our relationship with Him, then we should be serious about the way we carry on with our lives.
We can be thankful Jesus showed us a new relationship. A much more personal relationship which we can manage. A relationship He started and has given to us to keep. A relationship which does not depend on us keeping the myriad of laws which were laid down to the Jews, but one that encourages us to follow His law. If you were in a relationship with someone and they decided they wanted to be unfaithful to you, how would you feel?
Points to Ponder:
Are you faithful in your relationships with friends?
How good are you at remembering who should be first in your life?
May 30: Proverbs 14 5-6
Key Verse: Proverbs 14 5
A faithful witness does not lie, But a false witness will utter lies.
Devotion:
Do you find it at all strange we are taught more about backing up friends and bending the law to protect our friends than we are taught about telling the truth? All the movies have much more compelling stories about how people have stuck up for friends, even breaking multiple laws just so their friends will have their support. Gone are the days where we seek to tell the “truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!” (or so it seems)
We also see more stories about people who are being false witnesses than people who tell the truth – there does not seem to be any excitement in telling the truth, so people are more inclined to bring forward the gossip and the lies just so they can continue to receive more gossip and excitement in their lives. The corruption throughout our lives all stems from the initial false witness statements!
A conscientious witness will strive to find the whole truth and then to deliver said truth. They will not be satisfied with delivering a lie just because it is easier to do so. Can you imagine what it would be like if all the lawyers just took the easy option and went with whatever was easiest at the time? Equally, you would not want to hire a lawyer who had that sort of attitude just in case they sided with the other people and gave away your freedom!
So why do we take the truth so lightly? Why are we willing to listen to people covering up the truth? Why are we willing to listen to people diluting the truth? Why are we willing to take the easy road instead of the one which leads to the truth? Because it just seems easier at the time! Because we do not have to do any thinking. Too many people will blame God for bad things which happen just because it is easier to do that instead of going to try and find out the truth for themselves! If you want to find the truth, then you have to find a place where the truth is told. God has not given us the 4th commandment just for fun! He gave it to us so we may seek the truth where it is told!
Points to Ponder:
How much can you depend on your friends telling you the truth?
We can totally put our trust is God's Word and need to seek it where it is taught!
May 29: Exodus 20 8-11
Key Verse: Exodus 20 8
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Devotion:
One of the things which first struck me when I was learning about God's Word and learning about the history surrounding Christianity was the massive changes between historical life and modern life. You don't have to look too far back to see the changes in the church and the congregations. The size of the congregations is the most striking though!
Only a few hundred years ago the English society was built on Biblical truths and society welcomed the church influence. But within the last few hundred years there has been so much corruption and degradation within the church, most people seem to frown upon going to church. The “Church of England” would stand up for what was right and be open to condemn the sin which was in the world. Now we have a society that is scared to openly talk the truth for fear of upsetting some person somewhere.
From our earliest times, God has laid down the law concerning our life and worshipping. He gave us the ultimate example by resting on the seventh day of creation. He wanted to make sure we did the same. That we set aside that one day where we would not have to worry about all the things which we do during the rest of the week. He also set it aside as a day when we could draw closer to Him, to be able to put aside the everyday temptations we face and focus on Him. How else are we to strengthen our resolve unless we can turn our backs on the things which weaken us?
By taking away the Sabbath day, society has closed the door on the one time when we can focus on Him. But what is this “society”? It is us. We cannot make excuses about it being everyone else. We are the people who make up our world. We are the people who are here and now. Unless we are willing to stand up and be counted for the Lord, then we are just going to be encompassed in the crowd which is nonchalant towards Christianity. We will be no better than Peter by turning our backs on Christ when we have said we will not.
Points to Ponder:
How often do you turn your back on your friends?
How often do you turn your back on God?