August 22: Ephesians 6 10-20
Key Verse: Ephesians 6 11
Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
Devotion:
Each person goes in to do their work dressed appropriately. A soldier would not dream of going into war dressed in shorts and a t-shirt waving a plastic sword, though I spent some of my childhood dressed in that manner! Instead a soldier will dress up in appropriate clothes for the battlefield they are to fight in so they are as camouflaged as possible making it harder for the enemy to see them. They will also carry all the weaponry they need for their battle as well as sustenance and even rudimentary first aid. They are as prepared as they can be so they can do the best job they can.
You will not see a lawyer go into a courtroom with no supporting paperwork and with no witnesses. Instead they do as much as they can to prepare themselves for the battle they will face in the court. Each of us should be as prepared as we can to do the job at hand.
As Christians we are going to come up against a lot of different people who will throw all manner of horrible things against us just so they can win their own private battle against you. We need to be prepared to come up against such people everywhere we go. The problem we are going to face is that we do not know exactly what we will come up against. A soldier does not know their enemy inside out and so must take extra things along to cover for the unforeseen. So too should we be prepared for more than we expect.
Taking God and His word with us will allow us to be prepared for every eventuality. We may not feel like we are prepared because we may not know Christ as good as we think we should and we may not know the Bible as much as we feel we should; but by allowing God to guide us through His Holy Spirit, we will be able to face up to things we have not thought of yet. God is ready.
Points to Ponder:
Do you think you read your Bible enough?
Do you let God guide you through His Word?
August 21: 2 Chronicles 32 24-26
Key Verse: 2 Chronicles 32 25
But Hezekiah did not repay according to the favour shown him, for his heart was lifted up; therefore wrath was looming over him and over Judah and Jerusalem.
Devotion:
Hezekiah was a very sick king and knew all too well he would die before long. His physicians would have told him so and he would have no reason to doubt them; but then God sent Isaiah to come and tell him to get his house in order because he would be dead soon! What would you do if someone came and told you that God said you would be dead soon? Hezekiah did not just give up and accept what was going to happen to him. Instead he knelt down before God and prayed in earnest begging God to change his situation.
There are going to be times when we think the end is on our doorstep and the only way out is going to be via a miracle. Well, God is the God of miracles and nothing is impossible for Him. When Hezekiah pleaded with God it must have been straight from his heart because God listened. He allowed Hezekiah to have a few more years because He could see Hezekiah was going to change his ways.
If we are coming to God and asking for something rather special, we had better be sure we are going to give the glory to God and not take it on ourselves as a nice reward or something we have done. God wants to bless us but we have got to be sure we know who is doing the blessing in the first place!
I would love to think that my prayers would be answered instantly and I could go round asking God to heal the people around me just as Jesus did. So what is holding me back? Well, lack of faith at times. Sin at other times. Not giving God the glory at other times. A whole lot of pride most of the time! I know I should give God the glory, but when things do go right I do often take on some of that glory that belongs to God alone. It is a very human thing to do and one we need to give back to God!
Points to Ponder:
Do you know God listening to your prayers?
Are you going to give God all of the glory?
August 20: Psalms 34 15-18
Key Verse: Psalms 34 17
The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.
Devotion:
Do you have a friend who you can call on day or night and know they will come to help you? I know it is a great comfort to have someone like that in your life and I try to be like this to the people around me. I know God is there for me at all times and continues to love and support me even more than I admit to at times; praising God is easy when you know He is there.
But when things go wrong in our lives we often think God is not going to be there or we feel like we are far away from Him. I am not going to tell you it is you who have drifted away from God because that is not always the case. Sometimes you just do feel far from God even when you know He is there with you. There are days when you are going to feel down and you will not know why. Lift up your prayers and praise to God and continue to trust in Him.
God has promised to deliver us out of our troubles. He has promised never to leave us or forsake us. Sometimes the world around us is just so corrupt and evil we cannot see the good because of all the horrible things we are focusing on. God is still with us and still cares for us! And yes it is easy to say this to someone else and sometimes hard to imagine for yourself!
I have learned to trust God in everything and every day of my life. It is not always easy and it does not always seem like He is listening as much as I would like Him to listen; but that does not mean He is not here with us! Just because we cannot see Him and just because we can see all manner of horrible things does not mean He is not here. When Job was going through terrible trouble, he called out to God and asked Him why! It is not a sin to ask God why. He would rather we ask why and listen for an answer than sit and sulk and blame Him without knowing the truth!
Points to Ponder:
Do you feel alone?
Are you asking God why?
August 19: Romans 8 35-39
Key Verse: Romans 8 39
nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Devotion:
Sometimes when we try to find the best birthday present for someone special, we go out of our way to make sure that what we do get is absolutely right. But there are limits to the things that we can do before we will give up and go home! When you receive a gift for your birthday or for Christmas, you can enjoy it for as long as it will physically last. For when the wheels fall of the car, the car becomes useless!
God gave the ultimate sacrifice for us; His Son! He knew that by doing that He would be able to demonstrate just how much He does love us, even though we never seem to follow the rules! When you receive God's gift, you are receiving a gift that will last forever! Something that will never wear out, something that will never corrode, something that will not break under duress!
Yes we will still have things go wrong in our lives just as we have things go wrong with the presents we get from others; but God’s gift continues to outlast those moments of failure and continues to bless us for all of our lives. So if we know that we have a free and everlasting gift waiting for us, why do we hold back and “do nothing”?
It is true that the free gift will always be available for us up until the Jesus does return, but never forget we do not know when He will return; hence we do not know whether we will make our choice before it is too late – be safe, not sorry!
Points to Ponder:
God's perfect sacrifice results in God's perfect gift.
Are you waiting for absolute scientific proof?
August 18: Romans 12 9-16
Key Verse: Romans 12 14
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
Devotion:
What happens when you are standing waiting in a queue and you accidentally step on someone's toe? Do you turn round and say sorry or try blame them for getting too close to you in the first place? Or if you are walking down the road in town, not being too aware of your surroundings and bump into someone? But when someone else bumps into you, or steps on your toe you want to jump on them!
What happens when you are the victim of someone else deliberately doing something against you? That is when we start to feel hurt, start to feel like the other person is going out of their way to hurt us. Even if we find out later it was actually a mistake, we still harbour the feeling that they did it on purpose!
Have you ever stood up for someone that was in the wrong and asked whether you could take their punishment for them? Would you be willing to take the place of someone on death row just so that they could have another chance? Imagine if someone did that for you? How thankful would you be? Would you go out of your way to thank them for what they are doing?
Jesus did exactly that for us all. But, most of the time we do not thank Him for everything that He has done. Most of the time we just take Him for granted. We do need to think about what others do for us and to thank them more often than we do. It may not be easy for us because we are surrounded by people who do the opposite as well, but if we can turn the tables and be thankful and humble, people would find it more difficult to be aggressive toward us!
Points to Ponder:
Do you help your enemies?
Do you try to make others happy?