September 6: Psalms 5 9-12
Key Verse: Psalms 5 9
For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; Their inward part is destruction; Their throat is an open tomb; They flatter with their tongue.
Devotion:
Flattery is one of those things that we are often brought up to do in our lives. But if you look at the definition of flatter in a dictionary, then we start to see where it all falls down. (Oxford English Dictionary: Flatter: Compliment unduly; over-praise, especially for gain or advantage). It is defined as a way of getting your own way by saying things that are not necessarily worthy of being said!
There is a big difference between telling someone that they are beautiful because you can see an inner beauty within them and telling them that they are beautiful just so that you can get them to do something for you! If you are prepared to say something good then you had better be prepared to back it up with your own actions too. If you say they are beautiful, do something to show them they are, and mean it!
We must aim to always tell the truth, to always bear the truth instead of lies and flattery. When we do start to go down that route, we are opening up avenues that will allow those lies and untruths to bounce back on us and show up our ineptitude! We don’t think of anything good being able to come out of a tomb and that is why the comparison is made between flattery and an open tomb.
On the other hand, for those who do uphold God’s ways, the truth and put their trust in God; the psalmist asks for God’s blessing on them as well as for them to be filled with joy and feel safe. God is the one who fills us with joy and peace and surrounds us with His own protection; trust in Him.
Points to Ponder:
Do you abuse flattery?
Will you trust God and share the truth instead?
September 5: Deuteronomy 11 1-7
Key Verse: Deuteronomy 11 1
Therefore you shall love the Lord your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always.
Devotion:
It's hard to believe a person who tells you a story about something you find incredible. It's hard to imagine such an event were possible at all. But then, sometimes, we see the proof before our own eyes and we still find it hard to believe things. The Children of Israel were party to the actual events that unfolded as they were taken out of slavery in Egypt and brought through the desert to the Promised Land. They were the ones that had first-hand experience with God's awesome power – but still they opted not to believe in some things. They opted to ignore the miracles and all the good and bad things that they had personally observed.
Many times we are like that in our lives too; we find things hard to believe when they happen to others and even when they happen to us we still seem to think that it was impossible – “because it would never have happened to us normally”.
God's first commandment is simply to love Him above all else. We have to love Him above our earthly pleasures. We have to love Him above the bacon sandwiches from the corner shop. We have to love Him above the nice new mobile phone that we have. We have to love Him more than that party or disco that we have been told about!
There is no reason why we cannot continue to live in this world and enjoy the pleasures that we have surrounding us, so long as we are doing it within the rules that God has laid down. When we do live by obeying God’s rules we show Him that we love Him above all else and want to listen to what He has to tell us! We also show the people around us we mean business with God!
Points to Ponder:
When was the last time your bed was more inviting than church?
What does the forth commandment say about the Sabbath?
September 4: 1 John 3 18-23
Key Verse: 1 John 3 18
My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
Devotion:
So how far do we go to try to get other people to see what God has in store for them? How far do we go to allow others to experience the love of God which we are able to? We should make sure we show love for all the people around us as much as we can. Jesus laid down His life to show His love for us as an example of how willing He was to show others His love for them; we may not have to go that far, but we should be willing to show love.
Jesus did what He did because it was THE WILL OF GOD. What we need to do is to find out what the Will of God is in our lives and do all we can to follow His will. God will most likely not ask any of us to lay down our lives in the same way as Jesus did because we can be great witnesses if we are willing to follow His commandments and live as He wishes. We are a much more effective witness alive than dead!
What we need to do is to show others we are willing to love as much as is possible and we are willing to pay whatever it takes to allow them to find the love that we know. What we need to do is to do more than just “lip service” to God. We have to go one stage further than just saying that we love Him by showing others we really do love Him.
By doing that, we will be being more of an effective witness than any words can explain – actions are loader than words! If we have doubts in our hearts they will surface and others will see we doubt, so we need to face those doubts by going back to God’s Word and finding out more of the truth and live by that truth.
Points to Ponder:
How much do you trust your family?
Are you trusting God as much?
September 3: 1 Thessalonians 3 6-10
Key Verse: 1 Thessalonians 3 8
For now we live, if you stand fast in the Lord.
Devotion:
God has given us the ability to be set free from our sins. He allowed Jesus to pay for every single one of our sins by laying down His own life on the cross. By doing that, we are no longer bound by sin. But we continue to live in a world bound by sin. We continue to be surrounded by sin. We continue to have an abundance of temptations surrounding us every day and all the time.
Satan is going to continue to try to bring down our lives, to continue to oppose the Word of God so that people will not worship God and will not turn to God for safety. But so long as we have been set free from that sin, there is no longer any reason for us to return back to that sin and yet we still give in a follow the temptations.
When Timothy returned from visiting the church in Thessalonica he told Paul about the good work the people were doing and the way they were trying to live their lives for Christ. They also said how they missed Paul. When they exercised their faith it did not just make them stronger but it affected so many more people. As word gets back to Paul his faith is also made stronger. Faith continues to spread so much further than we realise.
God is all seeing and all powerful and omnipresent (i.e. everywhere) so we can no longer hide behind any sin or hide any sin from Him. Our sins may not be shown to other people which may give us a false sense of security, but they are clearly visible to God. Our faith, on the other hand, does become visible to others and encourages others just as it encourages and builds us up. Trust in God.
Points to Ponder:
Do your parents see the same person in you as your friends do?
Will you try to act in truth?
September 2: Acts 13 44-50
Key Verse: Acts 13 46
Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.
Devotion:
Sometimes we tend to look at our surroundings before we do what we should be doing. When we are brought up in the world and follow earthly ideals, this is exactly what we do, we tailor our actions according to who is watching us! But when we live in a foreign place (like when we are on holiday) then may well go a bit mad and think about the consequences later!
When we are living our lives as Christians, we should be living our lives the way God wants us to. That may not always be in line with the way people expect us to do things in this world. It may be that we get to rub a few people up the wrong way because they have been ruling their own little world until we come alone and do what God requires.
If we are on holiday and act in a reasonable way (well behaved etc) and continue to live as we do when we are at home, then the local people will see the way that we are and may even want to know more about us because we are different from the other tourists. They may begin to ask questions about us and we can share what God is doing in our lives. If we act like hooligans it will be the local police who want to find out more about us!
If we live our lives the way God wants us to we will be given opportunity to share our faith in some way or another. God knows the best way for us to live so that others will know that that is the right way and want to live that way too. All we need is a bit of faith to follow what He has asked us to do! In some cases it may seem like a whole lot of faith!
Points to Ponder:
Did your parents try to make you good or bad?
If your parents can do that, imagine how much more God can do!