September 1: Acts 2 36-41
Key Verse: Acts 2 41
Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
Devotion:
Seeing what others do to spread the Gospel should encourage us to go out and tell others of this great news about Jesus Christ being our Saviour! I'm not suggesting that any of us go out and try preaching to thousands of people without first learning a bit more about God, about the Gospel and about the people we are teaching.
What I am saying is that if we go forward and show others that we do have faith and that we want to live our lives the way God has asked us to live them... then imagine how many people will be able to see your testimony, to see the way that you are lifting up God in your life. Living your life for Christ and with Christ is just as important as getting God’s Word out there to the masses. Without example our words may land flat on the ground.
We don't have to be great evangelists, we don't have to be amazing apostles, we don't even have to drop everything in our lives just to try and tell others about God. What we should be doing is making sure that what we do reflects the way God wants us to live. We should make sure what we do shows the people that are close to us we care about God and we care about how others feel about God and how we care about others getting to know Christ like the words of the children’s chorus: to find the “wonderful love of our Blessed Redeemer down in the depths of their hearts.”
Jesus wants each of us to know Him and to know God; He has given us the task of taking that same love for others and sharing it with the people around us. He wants to be able to take care of us and protect us night and day but we have to accept Him as our Saviour who can do exactly that! Once we do accept Christ into our lives He will be there protecting us for the rest of our lives.
Points to Ponder:
How would you get through a maze if you were blind?
Are you trusting God to guide you today?
August 31: Psalms 116 1-4
Key Verse: Psalms 116 1
I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my supplications.
Devotion:
Many times in our lives we do tend to lose track of the important things in our lives. The most important thing in our lives must be God. That is His first commandment to us and one that Jesus Himself would reiterate many times. (Matthew 22 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.)
With a little faith, we have the power to do wondrous things in our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit... that part of God that He has left to be with us all the time. So if He is with us all the time by being within us, then He will definitely hear each and every request made to Him. Jesus promised that whatever we ask in His name, He will ask that of God on our behalf and hence it will be answered.
So, the fact that we actually get down and prayer at all, means that God will hear our prayers and He will answer them. So if He is going to answer them, we should follow the example laid down by this Psalmist here in Psalms 116: “therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.”
God wants to know that we do put our faith and trust in His hands, not just a little, but totally. By doing that, we are showing Him we love Him because we are doing His will – what He has told us we should be doing... Asking Him to be our Father!
Points to Ponder:
Do or did you trust your parents for food?
God has promised us even more – why is it so hard to believe Him?
August 30: Matthew 24 9-14
Key Verse: Matthew 24 11
Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.
Devotion:
How do we know when we are doing things right or wrong? Well, we should be using the Bible to teach us. We should be getting inspiration and guidance from the Holy Spirit through God's Word (the Bible). The Bible also warns us about the pitfalls that lie ahead. The many things which are going to be there to trip us up in our lives. About how Satan is going to do what he can to trip us up at every possible occasion.
We are going to be shown things in our lives that we will believe because they look so good. We are going to be tempted by things because of how good they seem at the time. We are going to be lead down the garden path by people who will say they are our friends and guides. We are going to be fooled by people that will do many wonderful things.
Look around you at the moment and think about all the people that are fooling us at this moment! Think of the adverts we see on TV and hear on radio telling us of the great things we can do – if only we pay them enough money! Think of the miracle cures for various ailments – that will only work on half the people that take them. Think of the adverts promising you a good life and times – if only you suck on that cancer stick!
We are surrounded by such people already. We are conned into all sorts of things in our lives. We are promised things in visual aids that do not come with the goods when we pay for them! God is the truth. God deals in the truth. God does not deal in drugs. God does not deal in evil. God does not deal with anything He does not condone. So why should we?
Points to Ponder:
Do you get a false sense of security from many earthly things?
Are you chasing a false foundation?
August 29: Luke 6 41-42
Key Verse: Luke 6 42
Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye.
Devotion:
I can remember seeing movies about preachers threatening fire and brimstone against the gold miners in the old cowboy black and white movies... only to find out that the preacher would go and get drunk every night with the rest of them, or go off to do other unsavoury things behind the scenes. The sad part is many of us are still like that. We often tell others about how they should be doing things only to go about doing it the wrong way when they turn their backs on us.
Before we start to try and tell others how things should be done, we have to first examine how we are doing things to make sure that we are not being hypocrites! Jesus was able to tell us how to do things because of His perfect nature. Because He did do no wrong, He was able to tell us how to do things right. We get things wrong all the time and go off in the wrong direction time and time again; because of this we do not have the right to judge others.
But don't let that stop you! If you do see someone doing something wrong, there is nothing wrong with bringing that fact to their attention. There is nothing wrong with telling them they may well be doing things the wrong way, or that they are affecting others in the way they are doing things. But don't try to tell them how bad they are when you yourself are not up to scratch.
More often than not we do not see the mistakes that are in our lives until it is too late. We tend to bend the laws around us to fit into our way of thinking so we can live comfortably within them! What we should be doing is changing our lives to make sure we are doing things right first! Our actions will speak louder than our words!
Points to Ponder:
Do you know you’re not perfect?
Do you know God loves you the way you are?
August 28: 2 Corinthians 13 7-10
Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 13 7
Now I pray to God that you do no evil, not that we should appear approved, but that you should do what is honourable, though we may seem disqualified.
Devotion:
After spending a week away at Soul Survivor I got to thinking about the way people act and the way so many come to the camp with different goals in life and leave with common goals. We are brought up to desire personal success above many things. We strive to do what we can, but is it always towards the right goal? It is so easy to get caught up in the pride aspect of things that we lose sight on what we should be aiming for.
I admire the extent that many people go to to make sure that they are the best in the world, but when they leave God in second place, then you have to wonder why they are doing it. No matter how much someone strives to be the best here on earth, when they die, they can no longer be the best. They can no longer look back on how good they are. They have lost all sight of what they were. But when we try to do our best for God, we will be able to enjoy our moments forever as we live our eternal lives with Him in heaven!
When we aim to do our best for God before He takes us home with Him, we are doing what Olympic athletes do, we are making the performance of our life time! Other people will be watching us... but it is not just about what other people think of us or how they see us. It is the fact that we are doing something for the right reason. Not for personal satisfaction, but for God's Glory and honour!
We may well be sinners. We may well be born to sin. We may well be unable to do it right... But as long as we are honest about it, as long as we admit our shortcomings to God, then we have the best possible reason to aim for the best of the best!
Points to Ponder:
Do you aim to win races you enter?
Are you seeking earthly or heavenly approval?