June 3: Daniel 5 18-21
Key Verse: Daniel 5 20
But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him.
Devotion:
When Daniel was called in to interpret the dreams the king was having he did not come in and bow down to every whim of the king but came to give a truthful account as God gave it to him. Many times in our lives we are looking for the easy way out or the best sounding result rather than the truth because we simply don’t like the truth. It is not our choice to make up the truth as we go along but ours to make choices from our free will – the truth does not change.
It may be a difficult concept to accept, but God allows things into our lives because He actually does know what is best for us. Sometimes what comes our way may not be to our liking because we have gone in the wrong direction and God wants us to turn back to Him. Belshazzar had turned away from his father’s ways and was doing his own thing as he saw fit. Nebuchadnezzar had seen the difference between his bad choices and God’s truth and tried to do things right, but Belshazzar was still on his own track.
God does not impose bad things on our lives per say but will allow us to make bad choices which in turn will invite bad things into our lives. He does this because He wants us to learn from the choices we make and does not want to treat us like slaves by making us do everything His way. Belshazzar had made the bad choices and was now faced with losing his kingdom because of those bad choices he had made.
Bad choices do not only constitute evil things but also such things as turning away from God. We must acknowledge God as God and give His the respect, honour and glory due to Him as God or everything. Belshazzar was too busy counting his own worth and living in pride to think about God. That was his choice to walk away from God and God wanted to let him know it was a bad choice.
Points to Ponder:
Do you follow good advice?
Do you ignore God’s good advice?
June 2: Isaiah 48 3-5
Key Verse: Isaiah 48 4
Because I knew that you were obstinate, And your neck was an iron sinew, And your brow bronze,
Devotion:
God has tried to make sure we hear the truth, His Word, His plan and His commandments from the beginning. He has not changed things, though we do seem to think so. He has remained faithful though we think He ignores us at times. God has not changed; we change. But do we admit to that change? Oh course not!
It is a bit sobering to read words like this in our bibles; places where God is telling us we are going to ignore Him, reject Him, despise Him and just plain get it all wrong. He continues to tell us we will even be obstinate about us getting things wrong and we will try to blame everyone else and in describing our ways He uses words we can understand, even the people at the time could understand.
Why is it that we struggle to see God is right and He knows us better than we do? Has He not told us of these things before they happened? Has He not warned us from the beginning of the faults we have? Why do we continue to question God instead of accepting His ultimate authority? Because if we did admit to hearing anything we would have to accept the blame ourselves instead of passing it on to other people all the time! Why admit to anything if you can blame somebody else?
What do we do when we feel cornered? We lash out and blame something instead of someone! If we have made something our idol then it is easy to blame that instead of admitting the truth! If we have allowed something into our lives and we let it rule our lives, then turning round and blaming that instead of admitting your fault to God is so much easier!
Points to Ponder:
Are you blaming someone or something?
Will you admit it to God today?
June 1: John 3 9-17
Key Verse: John 3 12
If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
Devotion:
When Nicodemus asked for an explanation about being born again it was because he had been so entrenched in the ways of the Pharisees he lost sight of the relationship God wanted to have with His people. Being caught up in something which sounds so good and keeps you away from sinful ways is always very attractive; but when it is taking you away from a personal relationship between you and Christ, then you need to stop and take notice!
The Pharisees were using their knowledge and power to remain in control and try to make sure the people did not sin against God. This is what God wanted, but not at the expense of love. Christ came to show His love to all mankind and to show us we need to know Him personally before we can get to heaven. That personal link was being left out as the Pharisees taught about the law and tried to maintain the law through their own teaching and through physical ways.
God’s link to us is through the Spirit and not through any physical things we must do; a relationship built on love and respect. Leaving love out of the relationship will lead to a physical link with an unknown God. We could go round to someone’s house and talk about all sorts of things, but unless we open up and talk about them and us, we are not going to really get to know them. Getting to know God means getting to know Him spiritually and not just physically through the law. Yes we need the law for us to identify how we can get closer to God, but getting to know Him is much more personal than that.
Whether Nicodemus fully grasped what this was all about it not shown to us here; just like Nicodemus we also need time to get to know Christ. It is not going to be like a light switch being turned on unless the Holy Spirit works miraculously in our lives. Getting to know someone else does not just happen but takes time and effort from our side to open things up slowly by surely. Getting to know God is going to take effort from our side as we open up the scriptures and get to know God’s rules.
Points to Ponder:
Do you know all of God’s Law?
Are you beginning to unravel Christ’s love?
May 31: Ezra 4 1-6
Key Verse: Ezra 4 4
Then the people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah. They troubled them in building
Devotion:
Have you ever noticed that when you come up with a good idea there is always going to be someone who does not like it – probably because they did not come up with the idea first. Or when you start a project others object because they are not involved with it. The same was happening when the temple was to be re-established in Jerusalem; and the same will happen again when the time comes round once again.
The rest of the people in Israel did not like the fact Judah and Benjamin were going to rebuild the temple. They wanted to be a part of it because they were sacrificing stuff as well. So why were they not allowed to join in? Was it just because the king Cyrus had deemed it so?
God wanted His people to rebuild the temple and that meant other people and those who sacrificed to other gods as well should be excluded from building the temple. Judah and Benjamin were the heart of the people of Israel and were the remnant who remained faithful to God. They were the ones who kept God’s ways alive and remained faithful. Just because the others sacrificed to God did not mean they followed Him with their hearts – and that is what God was looking for; good and faithful believers.
God continues to seek good and faithful followers even though we no longer are required to sacrifice. We may not have to do all they did back then, but our belief has to be strong and single-minded. Our belief must to in one God and in Him alone. When we waver and follow others paths as well as Gods we are lifting up other idols to His level or trying to bring Him down to the level of the other idols. Remember the first two commandments and remain good and faithful followers of God alone!
Points to Ponder:
Do you allow others gods into your life?
Are you really being faithful to God?
May 30: Ephesians 2 19-22
Key Verse: Ephesians 2 20
having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,
Devotion:
Don’t get trapped into thinking you have been left behind as others run off ahead and do so many things for Christ. Don’t think that just because you are not the ultimate youth worker or qualified priest that you cannot work effectively for God. All of us are different and we live our lives in very different ways. Sometimes it takes a long time for us to realise what sort of person we actually are or what gifts God has given us to work with. I can remember trying to figure out what I was going to do after university knowing that the aircraft industry was in decline at the time I was to qualify.
We may not find out what God has in store for us until we are actually needed on the front line; when we get to that stage we will be looking at why we did not listen properly to God who was trying to teach us and make us ready for this moment! None of this is possible without a foundation. I knew I would have to go to a different country to try and find work after qualifying because the foundation of the industry was not strong enough to support growth… God had other plans for me later in life!
If you are of an engineering background you will relate to the description of our being a required cog in the machine that bring glory to Christ. If you are a linguist then you will relate to being the required adverb which makes the sentence make sense. Whichever way you look at it, we are all working for Christ together and we need to work together in order to work. If we try to do our own thing we may well be working against the rest of the people and that is when things break down!
We have been made to be a part of this life with Christ, working as one to glorify God. That means we are essential parts. The best design is when all the parts do the task they are assigned. If we have to pick up what others should be doing, we will not be as effective as if we all work properly. Doing our part for Christ is just a little thing but can mean everything working as it should!
Points to Ponder:
Do you feel important?
Read about how important you are to God!