December 30: Psalms 50 22-23
Key Verse: Psalms 50 23
Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; and to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.
Devotion:
As we draw closer to the end of 2014 I want you to look back and try and think of the biggest revelation or realisation that you have had this year about God. Is it going to be the fact that His love for you is far greater than you have imagined; has He shown you His love for you has far greater implications on your life than you realised? I know that God has opened so many door for me this year and many of them are doors I did not expect to be able to open! But God is good, He loves me, He loves you, and He alone can open locked doors when you continue asking Him – not because you just want to see if He can do it but because it brings you closer to Him!
Or maybe your greatest revelation has been to see Him working in turning your life around; turning away from the lifestyle you have allowed to leak into your life. Maybe He is blocking off the doors which lead you away from Him, gently trying to encourage you back to the narrow way that leads back to Him. God is righteous and He is just. He will not sit back and watch idly as you jump back into the fire. If you have told Him in the past that you want Him in your life then He is your Shepherd and will come back to find you!
Or maybe He has shown you a new path to take in your life, one where you have to work a lot harder for Him. It is not going to be an easy life once you say you are working for God… Don’t let people try and fool you! When we turn away from the sin around us, the people around us will begin to look bad and they will reject us because we may be showing them up in some way. Continue to love them and continue to lift them up because they need it more now than before. But expect an uphill struggle…
Maybe the best part is the realisation He is willing to continue showing you more of His Salvation as we lift Him up and glorify Him. God is not slack in hearing when we glorify Him and He will not ignore us. The rest of the world around us may crowd in and make it difficult to listen to God; but when we stop for a second and listen out for God, we will hear His message and His Salvation calling out for us.
Points to Ponder:
What is you highlight been this year?
What has been you most special memory with God?
December 29: Jeremiah 9 23-26
Key Verse: Jeremiah 9 23
Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;
Devotion:
How much stuff have you got around the house at the moment? After all the celebrations and parties and things that may have gone on over the Christmas holidays, you may well have all sorts of clutter in your lives. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the feasts and festivities, I love the celebrations and the gatherings, I love the families and friends, but do we have to go so far overboard sometimes?
It is not for me to put a dampener on things, but this year I have tried to stick to the essentials and limit myself to just being there for other people. I have a feeling that I am going to get a whole lot more mileage out of the love I share than the presents some people share this year!
Enjoying yourself and having a right party is very good for you because it does lift your spirits and gets you to see how special times can be together with others. But living for those moments and making them the focus of your existence is, I’m afraid, more like treating them as your gods than anything else. It is almost a sick thought when you begin to realise it, but one that will set you free to do so much more for others and for Christ this coming year. Don’t be bogged down with the order of things, the wisdom of men, the might of countries, the riches of some and the need for more… Instead make a new focus in your life…
Look at the loving-kindness of others. Look at the well from where they get that love. Look to the source of that love. Look to God and see it is from Him this all flows and not from mankind or anything else. Allow God to open your eyes and show you how precious life can be when it is a life lived with Him instead of in spite of Him. Give the true glory to God and see how much He can do for you when you trust Him!
Points to Ponder:
What have you focused on this year?
Are you ready to focus on God?
December 28: Proverbs 3 1-6
Key Verse: Proverbs 3 5
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
Devotion:
What sort of things do we need to take with us every day? Well, a good start is clothes and then something to eat and drink or the means to obtain something to eat and drink… But what is going to feed us each and every day with the essentials. The doctors and health people amongst us will now be telling us about all the nutrients, special acids and all manner of things that our bodies need. In fact if we listened to all the people who knew about these things, did the exercise and stayed on track we would be quite fit and healthy; but would we be enjoying life any better?
Well, because we would be healthy and able to do more we would probably want to do more and we would enjoy that. But life is not all about the enjoyment and striving to get the most out of it; life is also about being there for others, worshipping God and so many more spiritual aspects than just the physical and emotional. Life is a very special gift given to us by God and He would like us to enjoy living it the way He designed it for us…
When we start to trust in what God has done and what He can do, we have doors and ideas opened up to us far beyond what we normally see. Embracing these new aspects in life allows us to live a closer life with Christ and hence more in line with the life He had for us to start with. We like to wander off on the roads of ‘fun’ and ‘games’ but we also get distracted by the roads of ‘lust’, ‘pride’ and ‘greed’, each of which take us further away from God and His design.
Remember God’s mercy, His law and His truth because we can apply those to our lives every day and be filled with the spiritual food we seek via all manner of strange ways. Trusting in God’s ways allows us to walk with Him and live with Him in our hearts. When our eyes and ears are more focused on Him we can pick out the parts where He clearly is not and help ourselves and others to avoid those situations. God is good, but we need to trust Him to realise how good!
Points to Ponder:
Are you being side-tracked?
Have you let go of God’s law?
December 27: Proverbs 22 17-21
Key Verse: Proverbs 22 19
So that your trust may be in the Lord; I have instructed you today, even you.
Devotion:
I would like this coming year to be a year when we all get to read our bibles on a regular basis; a year where we all draw closer to God and a year where we all share a bit more about our God with the people around us. Wouldn’t that be a fantastic year! Well, let’s make it happen!
If you want to see revival or church growth, then someone has to start the ball rolling. If you want vegetables growing in your garden then someone has to dig up the earth and get fertilizer in so they will grow! That initial work is going to have to be done so the rest of the growing cycle can continue, including watering, feeding, sunshine and cover, all required in the right dose and right time to ensure maximum yield for your crops. If you miss out on steps the crops will not be as good as they should. If you miss out on the early steps then your crops may be in danger of failing up front!
Our first step in growth in Christ is getting to know Him better and getting to know His will. What better ways than to get into your bibles, get into church and get into regular meetings with people who share the same outlook toward God as you do. I know there are many churches out there who don’t have the same views as you and many who may just be comfortable with the lot they have. Well, break the mould and make a difference!
Even you will be able to get closer to God if you try and make it more personal. Even you can make a difference by spreading the Gospel and showing people what true Christianity is about. Let us leave behind religion and move forward with Christ and let us start by making a difference now before we get lost in the new year!
Points to Ponder:
Are you resolving to make a change?
Will you walk closer with God?
December 26: Matthew 2 13
Key Verse: Matthew 2 13
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”
Devotion:
If anyone tells you that being a Christians is easy then I would question if they are really living a Christian life because when we do start to live for Christ we are going to get all manner of people who object to what we are doing. For some reason it gets a lot of people upset and all riled up that we dare to believe in Christ and even to mention His name.
Governments seem bent on removing Christ out of our schools and out of our society; probably so they will not have to answer to Him for what they do. If we do give our lives to Christ then we do have to answer to Him; we are saying that we want to be a follower and that we agree to His terms and conditions. When we buy things we often have to agree to certain terms and conditions before we can get the most benefit from our purchase. When we start to live for Christ the greatest benefit comes after we agree to His terms and conditions because that is when we do start to follow His will in our lives.
It is His terms and conditions many people object to. It is His will many people reject. It is man’s own pride, greed and lust which all lead him away from God and toward his own destruction. It is Christ’s terms and conditions that lead us toward Heaven and toward a wonderful life with Him. So you can see there is a big conflict between the wants of the world and the will of Christ!
I know I come up against many strange ideas from people around me because I dare to lay my own life aside to be a servant for Christ and for the youth. Many simply do not understand that Christ requires a full commitment and many are not willing to give that full commitment (whether they see it or not is another thing). When we do submit to God we will find out He is there for us, willing and ready to support us as we place our faith and trust in Him.
Points to Ponder:
Are you willing to trust God with your life?
Are you willing to give your life to Christ?