January 3: Proverbs 12 1-3

Key Verse: Proverbs 12 3
A man is not established by wickedness, But the root of the righteous cannot be moved.

Devotion:
I know even talking about school in the holidays is not good, but think about the people you have/had in your class. Think about the people who would sit there and listen to the teacher because they liked the class or teacher and then the others who were bored before they got to the class! Those are the ones that would be most likely to cause some sort of commotion in class...

That same philosophy goes everywhere in our lives. People who are willing to learn do tend to listen and take in the advice from others. Those who are willing to admit and acknowledge others may in fact know more than them take the advice in and use it. But those who do not want to listen are always there disrupting something somewhere! We are even like that as Christians – we listen if we want to learn, but still disrupt things when we think we know that answer!

Some of your teachers may get fed up with those who disrupt class and may well ignore them, not bothering to allow them to learn the same things as the ones who do wish to learn. A good teacher will take the disruption on the chin and continue to try and teach everyone in the class. Christ is our good teacher and will never turn His back on anyone. We are the ones making the choice as to whether we want to listen and learn.

Christ wants us to be pupils who will look and listen, learning from every word, accepting Him as Saviour and King. Christ wants us to show Him the love He continues to show us every day. There is coming the day when all will face the judgement seat and those who have accepted Him will stand as innocent people, but those who have not will stand before Him guilty. Christ is the root of righteousness who will not be moved. No rules will be changed just because we behaved ourselves the day before. No word will be changed because we misbehaved. Those building their fortunes without God will lose them all when they face Him...

Points to Ponder:
Is your aim to be rich?

Are you forgetting spiritual wealth?

January 2: John 17 1-5

Key Verse: John 17 5
And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

Devotion:
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in poverty? We see a lot more programs on TV about the terrible state some people have to live in every day of their lives, yet most people seem to ignore their fate. We see governments turning their backs on people; always with an excuse as to why they can’t help. We see countries ignoring their neighbours – not through ignorance or apathy, but something more.

When Jesus came to live with us, He came down as a human being. That means He gave up all His glory He had in heaven and turned Himself into a mortal human being to be with us so He could go through everything just as we do. I am not saying we should all give up our lives and go to war torn and poor countries to see if we can hack it; because we will not be able to! There is no way many of us will be able to put up with the total lack of facilities some countries have. Instead, I would rather you remembered just how much Christ gave up for us when He came down to be with us on earth.

Being here did not stop Him from achieving His goal, to spread the Gospel and to lay down His life for our sin debt. He made sure He made people aware of God, not Himself (even though we know He is God). He made people aware of the fact that God is in control of everything. He made people aware of the fact He was an intermediary between us and God. He made sure we knew He would continue to listen to all of our prayers and to answer each and every one of them. He made sure He would leave behind a comforter for us so we would never be alone.

He did all of this because of His love for us. That same love which existed whilst He was still in heaven, before we existed. His love for us that allowed Him to give His life for us. He knew He would return to heaven, but He still prayed God would glorify Him. Why? Because God wants us to show Him we do love Him. We can do that through our lives and through our prayer.

Points to Ponder:
How much do you ignore in the world around you?

Are you making a difference for God yet?

January 1: Psalms 96 1-13

Key Verse: Psalms 96 3
Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.

Devotion:
Have you made any New Year’s resolutions? Have you made any promises you “think” you may be able to keep? Have you promised to turn over a new leaf? Whatever you have done, there is still one promise which will stand firm over and above all our resolutions we can hope to make and that is the promise of Salvation through Christ Jesus our Lord.

We definitely have good reason to lift up our voices this year. This year should be the year we take one step further towards doing His Work in our lives. This year is the year we should lift up our voices and let others know just how much He means in our lives. Just like so many of the Psalms teach us, we need to lift up our voices and sing a new song this year!

Each day we get on earth is another day we can proclaim His name. Each day is another day of grace we can use to spread the Gospel. Each day is another day God has given us so we can shed a little more light in this world. There is only one God. There is only one truth. There is only one creator of heaven and earth. Everything is accessible through Him. Everyone can be saved through Him. Every day needs to be dedicated to Him from start to end.

We don't “need” to do anything physical to get to heaven for it is through His grace we get there. But if we are not doing anything physical, then how will others see that we do worship our God. How will others know that what we believe in is the truth. How will others know that He loves us and we love Him? We all need to know everyone of this earth will face Jesus when He comes to judge the earth. Every person will then know the truth. If we have not given them that chance of knowing the truth, what will we have done wrong?

Points to Ponder:
What are you going to change this year?

How will you listen to God this year?

December 31: Romans 6 17-23

Key Verse: Romans 6 23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Devotion:
As another year draws to a close, we have so many things to look back on. We have all the memories, be them good or bad. We have all the physical things, good or bad. And we have all of these thanks to our one true God. For as long as we had followed our sinful ways, we had been destined for a sinful death. For as long as we had our backs turned to the truth, we would not have seen that truth.

We are utterly incredible creations that God has lovingly created from the start. We have been given free choice in what we want to believe in and follow. We have had the truth laid down in front of us and have been given the options to believe or ignore. We have chosen our path based on our own free will. We have chosen our ways after being given the ways and chosen to follow the truth or not. Our destination is chosen by what we believe, or by what we choose to ignore.

We have been shown the law of the land. We have been shown God's Law. We have had the choice as to follow both or none. We have known the penalty for both laws. And yet the one law, God's Law, does not carry the same impact in people’s minds because the effects are not so visible to us.

Each one of us may well have broken a law of the land at some stage and some of us may well have been punished for doing so. But every single one of us has broken God's Law!  Every single one of us would have had to pay the debt for those broken laws. Every single one of us would have had to die, not just physically, but spiritually. But the best joy of all which we can look back on this year is that Christ has already given us a way of escaping this horrible debt. A way to eternal life. A way which we do not deserve... Just because He loves us so!

Points to Ponder:
What is your fondest memory of 2015?

What do you think God will see as His best memory of your this year?