November 30: Hebrews 10 26-31
Key Verse: Hebrews 10 31
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Devotion:
How would you go about telling other Christians about the power or God? How about telling them about the Holiness of God? In this letter to the Hebrews Paul reminds them of their past and their God. When a person gains an understanding of God they begin to realise just how much things mean to Him; but we have so much to learn about God that it may take us time to unravel this!
To the Hebrews, God is and was everything. They knew that they had to make sacrifices in order to appease God for the things they did wrong. Paul reminds them that the judgment for not believing is death and that many sins carried the death penalty with that being passed simply by having a few people agree that you were in the wrong. Paul then asks how much more we deserve death by doing something willingly against God!
If we do know something is wrong and God would not approve, then going ahead with that is like doing it in front of God after He has told you not to? Can you remember how your parents acted when you did something they had just told you not to do? How much more then can the creator of everything do to you? This is not a game we are playing but a real and all powerful God we are trying to argue with. Let us put aside any thoughts that we could ever get away with things when we know that God is watching, not just over our shoulders but because he is with us and in us!
Christ gave His life for us on the cross and because we do know that, we must accept it and live with it. We cannot turn around and change the rules just because we think it is a better idea to allow something God has already said no to! Christ did not go to the cross just to waste some time or to appease His Father in Heaven; Christ went to the cross to make sure that our sin debt is paid for once and for all. Accept Christ and accept this payment; and then live it!
Points to Ponder:
What doubts do you have?
Would you want to see Christ suffering every day?
November 29: 1 Corinthians 10 14-22
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 10 21
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons.
Devotion:
How far do you push things in this world? How far do you take it before you turn back? Some will say that we need to turn back before we even think about it and others will say that we need to get knee deep into things so we can help others. Does it depend on how strong you think God has made you? I think not! God alone knows how much you can endure and He will not place more in front of you than you can handle. But if you start giving in to what is in front of you then you will quickly find that you are in over your head and not just knee deep!
This is why we are warned against taking on board anything that is not to do with God. So how do we go about identifying what is and what is not? The best way is to compare what we see with what God has already shown us and told us through His Word, our bibles. And that is why we have passages like this written down for us so that we stop and think about what we are getting involved with.
It may have seemed quite reasonable for some to not worry what has been offered to idols and such, but when we are doing this in front of someone who is weak they may well give in next time because it looked like you were. Taking notice of the people around you all the time is hard work and not something that we all have the luxury or ability to do; so making sure that we stick to what God has said is a much safer plan most of the time!
Let us never try to fool ourselves that we will be able to stand up to evil and still continue working with God. If we go and play with evil we cannot continue working with God at the same time. God will not accept that!
Points to Ponder:
How far do you go?
Are you stepping on God’s toes?
November 28: Acts 9 1-9
Key Verse: Acts 9 5
And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”
Devotion:
Most of us have probably never had anything like this happen to us because this was God’s unique way of reaching Saul/Paul. Each one of us is unique and God has a way of reaching into each of our souls that matches the person that we are. We may be like Paul was, fighting every step of the way and wondering how we could ever do the things that other Christians get up to. We might be waiting for God to light up a bush in front of us like He did for Moses. In reality it may just be a very small and quiet thought that God places into our minds that is required.
God works with us and He works in us. This means that when we do the things He wants we can be sure that He is pleased with us. He should not have to write a certificate of achievement out for us every time we do something right. Likewise He should not have to write a letter of complaint to us when we go astray or do not obey Him. We should be able to work with Him and know that He is with us every step of the way.
Sometimes that is going to mean us giving time to other people and to other causes. Sometimes that is going to be us stopping what we are doing and spending time with God. That does not mean going into a church building and staying on our knees for a few days waiting for God to talk to us; just stopping what we are doing so we are not distracted from what God may want us to hear.
God does not want to have to shout at us every time He wants our attention; we should be willing to give Him time and attention so that he can continue talking to us with that small voice that will not distract others. We are very different from the person next to us. We are very different from our brothers and sisters. Explore those differences with God and allow Him to use you fully!
Points to Ponder:
Are you waiting for a letter?
Do you really want God to be upset enough to have to write a letter?
November 27: Matthew 25 31-40
Key Verse: Matthew 25 40
And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
Devotion:
We must always be ready for Christ’s return! This is something that Christ has given to us many times and one that so many preachers like to remind us of… why? Because it is important! But let us never forget about the here and now. Let us never forget about what we should be doing right now for this moment.
We are given a single life from God and we should be living that life to the best of our ability. That does not necessarily mean that we have to get straight A’s all through school and achieve the best job that we can in industry earning all the money in the world; it means that we should be making the most of what God has given each of us. He gives each of us different abilities and very different minds. He gives us very different bodies and very different hearts. I love the fact that God has given me a big heart, but with it comes a whole lot of responsibility and more work than I could ever have imagined!
When Jesus said that He was thankful for all that the people had done for Him, for the help, love and care, the people did not understand how they could have done this without first knowing Christ. What Jesus told them must make us stop and think. What we do to other people is seen, heard and felt by God because God is in every Christian. So when we love without measure, care beyond what is required and lift up higher than ourselves, we are doing these things to God as well. He notices!
This is what I mean about taking care of the here and now. Making sure we take that extra step. Making sure that we go that extra mile. Making sure that we give when we think we have no more. Jesus was moved with compassion when the widow gave her mite at the temple because He knew it was more than she could reasonably afford; Jesus felt the love that she showed by giving. We need to stop counting the cost of Christian living and start giving time, love, energy and heart back into community.
Points to Ponder:
Do you count the cost of giving?
Have you measured what Jesus gave?
November 26: John 3 27-36
Key Verse: John 3 34
For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.
Devotion:
Have you ever wondered how you could ever be as faithful as another person or as filled with the Spirit as another person? Have you ever wondered why God would want to be with you? That is just our own doubts and insecurities jumping in and certainly not what Jesus teaches us or what we read about in the bible. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to come and fill us. He did not say that He would send just a little bit of the Spirit or a certain percentage.
We cannot measure what God gives us because we do not know the bounds of what He has to give us. We cannot say that He gives more to someone else than He gives to us. We cannot say that He has a limited amount to give away. All of this says that we are limiting the power of God in our minds to something we can think about and something we can handle.
It does not have to be measured as to how much we believe before we can receive God into our lives. It is the single fact that we do believe, no matter how little or how much, it is that single step of belief that starts it all. God then gives to us and we grow in Him. God supplies and we accept. As long as we do continue believing and accepting we can be sure that it will be given to us how much we need. In this I am not talking about the Spirit because He is the whole and not part.
If you feel like you head is going to explode with the amount of information you have to think about when considering God, then you are probably getting closer to understanding more about Him. God is God of Heaven and earth. He is God of everything, not just you and I. He is the one who has created this all because He loves us. He is the one who IS and forever WILL BE. When God told Moses to tell the people “I AM” sent him, it was a promise of a past, present and future. Believe and receive!
Points to Ponder:
Do you struggle with your belief?
Take that ounce of belief and use it!