December 5: Hosea 6 4-11
Key Verse: Hosea 6 6
For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
Devotion:
God continued to try and tell the people of Israel of the things that made a difference to Him. He told them of all the rules and regulations to try and get them to understand that getting things right all the time was an impossible task. He told them of the sacrifices to try and get them to see that no matter how many sacrifices they made, they would have to make more because they would get things wrong time and time again. He told them that their faults far outweighed the sacrifices they were bringing to Him…
And still they would not listen… Does that sound familiar? I hope it does because this is the way we still live today! We continue to try and do the right things and we continue to get things wrong. We continue to mess up and require more to pay for all we do wrong. This is why Christ was brought to the world, so we would have a final payment which would cover it all for all of us!
God allowed His Son to come down and pay for the things we do wrong. The payment was a single payment which was more than enough to pay for all those wrong things in the past, present and future… And yet we still get things wrong and we still feel like we should be paying even more for those wrong-doings! God is saying that the price Jesus paid is enough and there is no more to pay.
If we don’t believe this then by our own admission we have to go out and do our own sacrifices to cover the wrong we have done. Which then has to be continually repeated because we have more we bring up in front of God each and every day! I love the simplicity of the message, but, like many I struggle with the fact that Jesus had to give His life because of what I have done wrong. The most amazing fact is that I don’t have to go out and find a perfect lamb or other animal to sacrifice for what I have done wrong because I know that Christ has already paid for me…
Points to Ponder:
Do you feel guilty?
Do you understand how much God loves you?
December 4: Matthew 9 9-13
Key Verse: Matthew 9 12
When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
Devotion:
How would you classify “being normal”? Is it the act of being like everyone else, the act of being like the majority or being like someone you like? When we actually look at how we are and why we do things the way we do them it may be a different way, a different thing or a different style, but we cannot really say that it is normal… When Jesus was walking round to find the men He wanted to be His disciples he was not going round for people that looked normal because the group of men that He chose was anything but normal! But when we look at each one in turn then they may strike a chord with us because we can relate to them… So is being normal simply the act of being able to relate to someone else?
Jesus did not ask for interviews from each man. Jesus did not ask a bunch of probing questions. Jesus chose the men based on the way He knew each one on the inside! No that is not cheating! Jesus needed to pick the men who would make the biggest difference to our lives so He had to select the ones whose lives would affect as many people as possible.
When we pick people to work with us or for us we would probably try to pick people we would get on best with and people who would listen to us when we tell them to do things. Jesus wanted people who were already doing that sort of thing in their lives and needed to change in order to make a big difference to other people’s lives.
Would you want the local tax collector to come along and tell the rest of the world what you had been up to in your past? After all, they probably knew a whole lot more about the truth of many people’s lives than other men did! Jesus picked carefully to make the biggest impact on society. So why has He chosen you? And what has He chosen you to do? Think about that for a while and then stand up and make that big difference in the way that God designed you to!
Points to Ponder:
What changes are you making?
Are you changing according to God’s direction?
December 3: Luke 2 8-12
Key Verse: Luke 2 10
Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.
Devotion:
Have you ever wondered how people actually spoke in the days of Jesus’ birth? How would the angels have actually broken the news to the shepherds and how would they have broken the news to Mary and Joseph. We can come up with all manner of ways in which we think things were but the truth is that all we have is what has been written down by some dedicated people many years after the event; but people that God trusted to get the job done properly.
Now we talk in all sorts of ways in our modern society… If we were to see the conversations as if they went back and forward via SMS messages, then we may have something recorded in a totally different way with all manner of short words without verbs and abbreviations and acronyms that we would get wrong in the years to come! We have to have faith in God and in how He has made the story of Jesus’ birth last all these years for us to know the truth. If it had been written down in others ways then just maybe we would not be re-telling it like it was.
As a youth leader I spend far too much time on YouTube and other media places looking for new ways in which I can engage with the youth. I try my best to keep up to date with the youth of today but don’t try to be one of them… because I am not. I am somewhat older and hopefully wiser because of many years of listening and learning. I apply what I have learned to move forward with God. We live in an ever-changing world where we have to come to terms with new ways of speaking with others. It does not mean that I have to be a youth, nor does it mean I have to change my values or my beliefs… it just means that I have to be ready to accept that the youth of today are very different to how we were!
God wants us to know Him and to love Him. That means accepting the way that people were back in those days when we read the story of Jesus and apply that into our modern world. It does not mean changing the story. It means applying it today as if it was happening today. Jesus is real. What happened is real. Live with it and embrace it as reality.
Points to Ponder:
Do you struggle with learning?
Are you really accepting the truth?
December 2: Ephesians 5 15-21
Key Verse: Ephesians 5 20
giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Devotion:
Learning to live as a Christian becomes harder the old that you are… Well, that is just one of the sayings that we have to put up with, but in reality it is as hard as you want it to be! If you are going to fight against living like God wants you to live, then you will have a hard time changing. If you are going to give in to the ways of all those around you then you will find it hard work against the enemy. If you are going to continue telling everyone how hard it is then you will believe it is hard.
So how do you do it then? You start by finding out more about God and how He wants you to live. Then you have to submit to Him and allow Him to change you. Then you have to keep doing it! The finding out can be very hard if you don’t want to find out. The submitting to God can be very hard if you want to be your own boss all the time. The keeping on going is going to be hard especially when you see others not doing it either!
We live in a world where we are still surrounded by many people who do not want to believe in Christ and who even go out of their way to say so or to prove otherwise… just so that they don’t have to get involved with any of it. When we do start finding out the truth we hear many many good things and we typically want to find out more as we go along. Finding out then becomes interesting and fun – so we want to do more.
The submitting then becomes a little easier because we see the rewards for getting it right to start with. We want to do more because we see that it is rewarding and we still enjoy the fun of it all as we find out more. The the keeping on doing just gets done. You see, when you continue finding out and aiming for that truth you want to get more done and achieve more, so the doing just becomes part of life. It’s only when you try to skip the steps or jump off the rails where it all goes pear shaped and we have to start again!
Points to Ponder:
Do you like the idea of being wise?
Are you finding out about Christ?
December 1: Hebrews 12 25-29
Key Verse: Hebrews 12 29
For our God is a consuming fire.
Devotion:
If we are not willing to listen to those men and women here on earth that are trying to tell us about God, then are we really going to take any notice of anything speaking from Heaven? We have to make the choice to listen to the words that we here on earth before we will get to hear the truth about God. That step has to be taken here on earth before we die; once we do die we are no longer capable of making that choice to find out the truth – the next time we face the truth will be in judgment and not in conversation!
God made sure that the words He spoke have been written down in the scriptures and now in our bibles so we can make sure we hear them. He made sure that when He did speak from heaven, people took notice and wrote it down; this was done for our good and for our learning… Taking the next step and believing those words is the important step!
Jesus made sure the disciples knew there was no way that anyone could destroy Heaven, the place He has reserved for us after we die. This place is secure and cannot be shaken by anything on earth or even anything in heaven apart from God Himself. This means there is only one place where we will be totally secure, totally safe and totally at ease with Him… Heaven… The one place where God is in absolute control of everything, where nothing is left to chance and where He is everything.
If you are going to take all the dirt out of a dish, what will be left? A clean dish… If you are going to take all the evil out of the world, what will be left? A clean world… God has promised us a place in Heaven where there is no more sin, where there is no more death, where evil cannot reside and cannot reach us… a totally clean place! This is the place created for us by a God who cannot accept or abide evil. God will remove every scrap of evil from us before we get there so that we are totally clean with Him. RESPECT!
Points to Ponder:
What will it take you to respect someone?
What else does God have to do for you?