October 21: Hebrews 4 14-16
Key Verse: Hebrews 4 16
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Devotion:
Living a Christian life is not about living it best for yourself. Living a Christian life is not all about how successful you are at living it. Living a Christian life is all about how you are living it for and with God! This may well involve doing things which you do not look forward to doing.
Just like Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh to teach all the wicked people about God, we are going to be given tasks we do not look forward to doing, but tasks which we know are what God wants us to do. Once we get into doing the work, we will find that it actually is rewarding and that God will give us all the knowledge and tools we need to accomplish the tasks.
Jesus is the one that has given His life for us. He is our Saviour and He is constantly listening out for us. He is waiting to answer our prayers, to help us in our hour of need. He never turns His back on any of us, waiting patiently for us to turn back to Him and ask simple questions. One of the ways God always wants us to help is by helping others. A Simple act of offering help to someone before they ask for it does so much more to their own lives than you can imagine. Showing people love like Jesus did when He walked amongst us will allow others to see just how much God loves and cares for us all!
When we do step out to help others, we have to be on our guard at all times. Jesus was able to avoid all temptation shoved in front of Him, but we will be sorely tempted by most things in our lives. That is when we need to turn round and simply ask Him for help to carry us through! Jesus may be our King but he wants us to boldly come forward and ask for help.
Points to Ponder:
When did you last ask anyone for help?
When did you last ask God for help?
October 20: Psalms 33 16-22
Key Verse: Psalms 33 20
Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.
Devotion:
Giving up on a job before you have even started it can be very easy, so keep this passage in mind before you give up... God is our help and our shield! If you are an avid history fan, I'm sure you can come up with many examples of people that have been mighty and valiant and have fallen at the first hurdle – they are not normally mentioned in all the history books.
God has the power to make sure the smallest and most unlikely people succeed. God has the power to make sure that the most unlikely and popular people sometimes fail miserably.
If you wanted to make sure you were going to succeed in something, then you would be wise to start by making sure you had the best possible people backing you up. If you wanted to start a business that dealt in computers, it would not be such a wise decision to go and find someone who knew everything about sewing to help you buy the right stock for you shop.
Likewise, although you may know everything about horse riding, you may well not succeed in setting up a riding school... simply because you started it up when there was no demand for it. If God wants us to do thing to honour and glorify Him, do you think He is going to help you set up something that is going to do the opposite to that?
Points to Ponder:
Do you look forward to working for God or for yourself?
God has given each one of us all we need to serve Him effectively!
October 19: Matthew 4 23-25
Key Verse: Matthew 4 23
And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.
Devotion:
When Jesus was here on earth, He showed His disciples what they should be doing. He used every opportunity that He had to teach others the truth. He made sure that as many people as possible heard the truth so that they could do the right stuff. But no matter how much He went round teaching people and showing people the right things to do, many people turned a blind eye to Him and did not listen. Even though He was and is the Son of God, they still turned their backs on Him.
Sometimes in our lives we try to teach others how to do something and no matter what we do and say, it goes in one ear and out the other! They come back a few days later and ask us to do the same thing over again – because they did not listen the first time round!
There are many many people in this world. God has created each person with the same ability to be saved. God has given each one of us the same chance of obtaining eternal life through Jesus. God has given us all the same choice. But many many people are going to turn their backs on Him each day. And if you try to go round and find people that are trying to do anything about this big gulf between God and us... you may well find it very hard to find anyone. You may even begin to think you are fighting this fight alone.
It is always a lot easier to do something if you know you are going to get help with doing it. Or if you know someone is going to be there to back you up. But if you stick your neck out and try go it alone, the road soon gets rough and you may well give it up... If you give it up, who is going to do the work?
Points to Ponder:
How many times have you given up because of lack of help?
Do you ever consider the help Christ gives you?
October 18: Romans 9 19-24
Key Verse: Romans 9 21
Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honour and another for dishonour?
Devotion:
If you wanted to build a bookcase or a bunch of shelves, would you go to the plumbing shop and buy yourself a load of plastic pipes to do the job... or would you go to the electrical shop and buy a box of light bulbs... or would you go to the timber yard and get the right wood for the job?
When you go to that timber yard, you are going to be looking for wood that will be right for the job. If you want the shelves to show off the natural grain of the wood, you would not buy wood that has no grain. If you wanted the shelves to be strong enough to hold a rack of bowling balls, then you would not buy thin pieces of wood! Likewise, if you had a modernistic décor, you may well go and buy metal shelving units instead of using wood.
Each job we do does not necessarily require the same tools and same materials – even if the description of the job is similar. Each job should be done to the requirements for that job. Then again, it is no use building a thin shelf in the right place and then trying to load bowling balls onto it in a years time!
God has thought things out already and knows our future requirements. He is not going to short change us and allow us to build our lives upon foundations which are not up to the job for our complete lifetimes! Just like the potter has complete control of what he lets out of the shop, God has complete control about what He has let into this world. He has created each of us in the exact form He wants us in so that we can carry out our task that He has for us.
Points to Ponder:
Have you ever asked God what He would like you to do?
Will you obey Him when He asks?
October 17: Isaiah 10 15
Key Verse: Isaiah 10 15
Shall the axe boast itself against him who chops with it? Or shall the saw exalt itself against him who saws with it? As if a rod could wield itself against those who lift it up, Or as if a staff could lift up, as if it were not wood!
Devotion:
Have you ever tried to cut down a tree? Did the axe try and tell you how to hold it and where to hit the tree and how hard to do it? Or if you tried using a saw, or even a chainsaw... did they try and to tell you which way to begin to cut the tree? If you try to bake a cake, does the flour get out of the bag and start telling you how to mix things up in the right portions to get the perfect mixture for a light and fluffy cake... Sometimes I wish it would do that so I could bake a good cake that would not break the table!
We are tools. God has created us as tools. God knows how to do everything. God knows how to love people. God knows how to teach people. God knows how to save people. God knows how to encourage people. God knows a whole lot more than we could ever imagine. So why do we question everything God has done and what He wants us to do? Why do we always take a step back and say “hang on a sec, are you doing this the right way?”
What would happen to us trying to cut down a tree if the axe would stop half way through a swing and say “hang on a sec, are you sure that you know how to cut down this tree? Are you sure that you want to cut down this tree?” I think we would get a might annoyed with the axe and go looking for something else to use to cut down the tree instead of the axe!
God will not turn His back on us at any stage. We may try to turn our backs on Him and we may try to be a back seat driver and tell Him how we think this world should be run, but He is God and He alone knows the right way to do everything.
Points to Ponder:
Would you use a telephone which dialled random numbers?
God knows the number you need dialled?