April 13: 1 Corinthians 6 9-11
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 6 11
And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
Devotion:
One of the first things I learned as a Christian was there is no place for sin in heaven. God has created a place where there is no more sin and He will always keep it like that. Well, He actually created two places without sin, but we spoiled this one! God cannot abide sin and sin cannot abide in heaven because God is there.
We don't have to study our own lives too deeply to know we are sinners. Whilst we may not be guilty of heinous crimes ourselves, we are guilty of many sins. The dividing line between heaven and earth is quite simple. No sin whatsoever will get to heaven. There is no grey line, no 'maybe', no 'depends', no 'possibly'. God has written the rules and will not change them to suit anyone. He cannot change the rules otherwise all other rules will be for nothing. God is above all of that.
We have got to be ever thankful that Christ did what He did almost 2000 years ago. We have to be thankful He knew we would be tempted and He knew we would not be able to resist Satan. He also knew the only way to beat Satan was to make sure He paid for all our sins and not us. That is why Jesus came down to earth as a perfect human, so He could willingly lay down His own life for all of our sins – He who knew no sin.
With that one single act, He was able to give us a way of getting to heaven. Without that, we would be stuck with all the other sinners, whether we think they are good or bad. We may deceive ourselves thinking some sin is not 'bad' as such. We may bend our own rules to allow some things through the net. But if we leave it to fate, we will find out the judgement is as harsh for a little sin as for a 'whopper'! We can be washed, sanctified and justified. All we need to do is to accept Christ as our Lord, repent & believe. If we have friends who think they are doing no wrong, we need to gently remind them of God's Laws. We cannot judge because we are sinners too, but we sure can help.
Points to Ponder:
Who was able to show you that you had sin in your life?
Who are you going to help out?
April 12: Zephaniah 3 1-7
Key Verse: Zephaniah 3 7
I said, ‘Surely you will fear Me, You will receive instruction’— So that her dwelling would not be cut off, Despite everything for which I punished her. But they rose early and corrupted all their deeds.
Devotion:
We read stories like Jonah and find out about places like Nineveh and Tarshish, or places like Sodom and Gomorrah. We even read in the news about places nowadays where sin is central to the life of the place. But how many times do we realise sin is right here with us. These few verses in Zephaniah are telling us of a city that is filthy, polluted, oppressed and ignoring God. It is telling us of what was going on in Jerusalem!
Just a few hundred years before Christ entered back into that city, it was effectively laid to waste in regards to Christianity. The fear of the Lord had all but disappeared! The priests would continue bringing forward God's Word, but presumably the congregations were getting smaller. It even sounded like the prophets and priests themselves were given to diverse and strange activities. Were they trying to bend the rules to serve the people rather than God?
Yet through this all, God continued to keep them as His people. God continued to keep His promises. God continued to make sure His Word remained true. Christ would soon be coming back into Jerusalem to show them the way. Even though His Word remained true, the people would not be moved by it. Even though the Law was written and taught, people would not follow it. It had even got to the stage where people did not see they were doing anything wrong.
Can you draw any parallels? Can you see how society if moving today? How they want to close down religious schools and places, shut off the teaching of God’s Word from schools... No matter how much God allows things to go wrong in the hopes that people will see their errors, man simply changes the rules and continues on in his ignorance. Oh how we love to forget those things we do not like... But God does not forget. Instead He continues to wait patiently for us all.
Points to Ponder:
Do governments make you angry with their 'personal views' on your life?
God is our judge. He alone stands before us without sin. We must look to Him alone for our guidance.
April 11: Proverbs 13 12
Key Verse: Proverbs 13 12
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.
Devotion:
What is more disappointing; having something being cancelled or having it delayed without promise of an arrival. I think having something cancelled is final and you can accept it, but having something put off without a time when it will be done is a constant worry. You may well find this Bread by Faith comes to you early or late because of a software problem on the server, or even because of a user problem! I do try my best to remember things which have to be done on time to get this all out to you all, but things do go wrong sometimes: I’m sorry for disappointments when it does not arrive on time.
But imagine what it must be like to listen to someone each day and constantly wait for them to make their mind up. Each day passes and you wonder when they are going to change their mind. Each day turns into a week, the week a month and the years roll on... You wait patiently, without complaining, just waiting... And then one day they finally change their mind and come to you! The joy when just that one person finally makes up their mind!
Now imagine if that person were complaining about what you knew to be the truth. Every day they complained, every day they moaned a bit more. Every day they just could not see the truth even though it stared them in the face. Now imagine if everyone in your town or city was complaining about the same thing; none of them could see the truth. None of them would open their eyes or ears to see or hear the truth. They complained every day! How easy it would be for us to either turn our backs on them, or to shout back at them for being so stupid!
Christ waits patiently for everybody to make their minds up. He waits patiently and faithfully. He sees them to break His heart over and over. He sees them abuse and break His rules. But still He faithfully waits, even for just one more soul to turn and repent!
Points to Ponder:
Do you get upset with people that do not listen?
Christ loves us more than we can imagine!
April 10: 1 Peter 4 1-3
Key Verse: 1 Peter 4 2
that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
Devotion:
As we reach the end of our Easter Holidays in the United Kingdom, I hope we all remember everything Christ has done for us. From the day He entered into Jerusalem upon the fresh donkey, to the suffering, the cross and most of all, the resurrection, He knew what it was all for. He knew our sin debt was there to be paid and that is exactly what He was doing.
We should never pretend we are anything other than sinners. We are born into this life and we shall ultimately die in this manner. But as long as we are able to recognise the truth and follow that truth, we shall be freed from the sin debt without cost to us. There is nothing we can do to pay for our own debt. There is no way we are able to stop the sin totally, no way we are able to avoid it. What we need to do is not just to try and stop doing things, but to want to stop. That big difference being we should want to!
We will continue to get things wrong. We will continue to trip up and fall. But as long as our desire is to lead a better life, we will be able to recognise many faults and to avoid them. Christ has been our example and He will continue to be our guide – so long as we want to walk with Him and be His servants. We are given the excellent pointers about what we should avoid in our lives so we can avoid the unnecessary falls we would otherwise be tempted by.
If we start to allow one sin into our life, then we are going to slowly allow more and more in. The more we let in, the less strong we will be to be able to avoid them. The more we let in, the less we will be able to differentiate between what is good and what is bad. The line between good and evil becomes so blurred that we no longer see it and go back and forth continually. Christ, because of His perfect nature, never once lost sight of that line. We need to be ever on the watch to make sure we know where that line is.
Points to Ponder:
What is it in your life that you give in to the easiest?
Do you regularly ask God for help to recognise the pit-falls?
April 9: Acts 10 1-2
Key Verse: Acts 10 2
a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always.
Devotion:
There are people in powerful positions all over the world who are devout Christians. People who are willing to keep God in the forefront of their lives; people who make sure that God comes first in their lives. When we become Christians, it does not mean we are going to have to give everything away, or that we are going to have to live as a pauper to show God we have given away everything that we had.
God wants us to take good care of the things in our lives which He has allowed us to have. God wants us to take absolute care of the human body He has given to us. God wants us to keep Him in the centre of our lives. That is, after all, the top of the commandments! (Exodus 20 2-3)
This is something difficult for us to do; to keep God in the centre of our lives, whilst we are still surrounded by the temptations of the world around us. But if you do keep Him where He wants to be held, then He is going to make sure that you are able to continue doing that. Not just that but He will continue to give us the patience, strength, grace and wisdom to allow His gospel to be heard in more places.
God does not want to be surrounded by people that love Him but don't want to live in the world. Yes, we are to love God above everything else, but we are to continue living in this world. Which means that we have to work within the confines of this world. How else are we to help the lost people in this world if we do not work within it?
Points to Ponder:
Do you put up with your friends smoking in your face?
Are you willing to make the first move to move God into the centre of your life?