July 13: Ezekiel 18 19-24
Key Verse: Ezekiel 19 19
“Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not bear the guilt of the father?’ Because the son has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes and observed them, he shall surely live.
Devotion:
People like to blame others for their own situation especially family life; but the truth of the matter is that we each have our own choices to make in life and we are responsible for those choices we make. We cannot blame our own sins on other people because we are the ones who do those sins. Yes this is a bit of a cop-out because there are actually many things in our lives that affect the outcome of our choices so it is not simply black and white.
What Ezekiel is trying to get over here is not to make the whole choice thing black and white but for us to realise we have a choice as to whether we do want to sin or not. He goes on to expand on this a bit by reminding us that God is willing to forgive all sins and separate them from us totally if we are willing to admit them to God and ask for His forgiveness. But it does not stop there because we may turn away from our righteousness and turn back to sinful ways.
So what is the difference here between the Old Testament teaching and the New Testament teaching? Nothing. If we turn to Christ, He is willing and able to forgive us for the sins we have committed. If we turn away from Him we heap up those new sins on our shoulders once again. We do need to ask God to forgive us of our sins, but that means we should be willing to admit to them and turn away from them. Just admitting them and continuing in sin is not going to help anyone; we have to make a conscious effort to turn away from them and no go back – which is very hard!
If we show God we are being honest and trying to turn away from our sins then He is going to be just and faithful to forgive us of those sins. That is His promise to us and one He continues to keep year after year. We are the ones who give in to temptation and turn back to our old ways. Make an effort this time and ask God to give you the strength to continue moving away from the sin in your life; you will enjoy your new life with Him!
Points to Ponder:
What sin do you have in your life?
Are you willing to turn away from it?
July 12: Judges 9 7-15
Key Verse: Judges 9 15
And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in truth you anoint me as king over you, Then come and take shelter in my shade; But if not, let fire come out of the bramble And devour the cedars of Lebanon!’
Devotion:
Yes there are parables in the Old testament and this is one of them. How we choose things and people in our lives not only makes a difference for and to us but also for and to our choice. If we went into a shop and looked for the cheapest thing on the shelf we may well treat it with no respect after buying it because it is almost worthless in our minds. If we were to think long and hard about what we buy we may well respect the item more than usual because we spent time in our choice.
But how do we go about choosing people? Do we look at them from the outside and go for the prettiest or most handsome specimen, or do we go for someone who is going to be the least maintenance? It may seem horrible to talk about people like this but there are many who do exactly that! This parable takes the choice of trees and uses it instead of people. The olive tree was respected because of the high quality oil produced. The fig tree because of the fruit. The vine because of the wine. But what about the bramble?
If you are very honest with your choices of people you mix with in your life you may be very surprised with the types of people you actually get to meet and mix with. When we get to know people, not just by what they offer but by who they are on the inside, we get to appreciate them in an entirely new way and get to know things about them we would probably not think of otherwise.
When we want to get to know someone, maybe with the thought of marriage, we need to get to know them properly; this means being totally honest and looking for what they are like on the inside and not just what we can get out of them. Relationships are very complex and need a lot more than just looks to survive and thrive; they need to be honest, truthful, open, forgiving and willing. That is a lot to ask for, so give as much as you expect!
Points to Ponder:
What do you look for in a person?
What do you offer God?
July 11: James 3 13-18
Key Verse: James 3 17
But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
Devotion:
This is a good question to ask at times, “who is wise amongst you?” Not so we can figure out who is wisest of all or who can boast they have all wisdom but so we can admit we all lack wisdom at times. If we have a successful business we may be looked at as being wise in the world. If we are able to do great things as doctors we may be seen as very wise. If we are able to keep a family loving each other and together we may be seen as wise. Wisdom can be measured in many different directions.
But how we use that wisdom will also be a measure of us as a person, of our spiritual side, of our compassionate side. The business person may spend all their time running their business and none of it with their family; the world may think they are wise but their family may think they are not. The same can be said for most professions and most walks in life, the measure of wisdom seems to be very subjective and dependant on others things.
Our Bibles teach us not to be wise toward the world and in worldly ways but to aim to be wise in Gods ways; that means having a measure of wisdom which can be related back to Gods ways. In this letter of James helps us to understand how we can relate what we do back to God and His commandments to us all. Throughout history we can see people who have gone against God; we can probably look into our own lives and see enough of that as well. If we ignore the advice we can get from our Bibles then we are no better than the many who have ignored Gods advice throughout that history! That is not wisdom. That is foolishness.
God does not offer us advice to perform evil but to do good and righteous things lending our lives to His ways of love, peace and mercifulness. God does not call us to measure other people for their wisdom or goodness before we offer our love and help. God does not require us to qualify and quantify everything as they do in the world. God calls us to offer ourselves first of all.
Points to Ponder:
How wise do you think you are?
Are you following Gods advice?
July 10: James 1 19-20
Key Verse: James 1 20
for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
Devotion:
How many times do you say something out loud before thinking about it and then panic about how you can fix it by saying something else, only to get yourself into deeper trouble than before? I know I have done that far too many times and yet it is easy to get around… take a second to think about what you are going to say before blurting out something that comes from your mouth and not from your heart! Spend a second or two digesting what you hear before responding…
And it is not all about listening to everything and anything to see what is out there so we can make our own ideas up from everything around us, it is about listening to what God wants us to let into our lives and digesting that to understand what we should be passing on to others. This does not mean closing ourselves off from the world but it does mean tempering what we listen to; what good is listening to something that is nothing but hatred toward God?
Slow down on the input so you can get to grips with what is coming in and understand it, allow it to settle in your heart so you can be built up. When someone does say something that angers you don’t just respond with more anger, it will do nothing to help. Don’t start talking and continue talking so nobody else can get a word in, you will not be thinking about what you are saying. No you will not be! You will be thinking about the words that have already come out! Think about that for a whole second. Yes, a second is a very long time to think…
The more we allow anger to control our words the more we will be working against God. Yes Jesus did get angry at times but He made sure that He also spent a lot of time thinking and listening. In order to work out where someone else is in their life you have to listen to them and not talk them into submission. Take your thoughts to God and allow Him to guide your mouth rather than allowing the anger built up to say things before you can think about them.
Points to Ponder:
Do you like arguing?
Do you bring God with you in arguments?
July 9: Isaiah 55 8-9
Key Verse: Isaiah 55 9
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
Devotion:
How we think and how God thinks are totally different. We like to think we know things and we like to believe we are in charge, but we lack so much! Don’t get me wrong, I know God has given us amazing minds and gave charge of this planet to us, but we still have a whole lot more to learn before we can even imagine ourselves as being anything more than what God has created. It is beyond our dreams to even think how He created us in the first place!
As I think back on some of the things story tellers and authors have come up with in the realm of science fiction I begin to see how much more is possible with God. Man writes stories about us controlling things with our minds and scientists are striving to make computers which will pick up brain waves and control other things. We try out hardest to make things like that possible and it takes years or research and practise before we even make a dent in the discoveries to make.
I then look back at some of the things God has shown man and the miracles Jesus performed in front of man and I think… we have so far to go still! God was able to speak and things were done. Jesus did not have to do years of research before He could turn water into wine or heal people. God’s ways are way beyond our thinking and even further beyond our abilities. Trust in Him and believe in Him and His ways will continue to encourage and astound us!
We dream of being able to cure things like cancer. We dream of a cure for the common cold. We dream of so many ways in which we can enrich and improve our lives and yet this is normal for God. He can and does cure people; so why doesn’t He cure everyone who asks? Why does He not remove cancer from society and stop the earthquakes and floods? Because His ways are far beyond our imaginations. When we look back over time we begin to see why things happened the way they did. God is in control!
Points to Ponder:
Do you sometimes wish you knew the results?
Are you trusting God for His results?