November 25: 2 Thessalonians 2 1-4
Key Verse: 2 Thessalonians 2 4
who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
Devotion:
One of the most difficult things for many to come to terms with is the return of Christ is not going to be a time when we all sing and dance here on earth. Christ is not going to come back until the evil one rises up and people see him in some sort of position of power. Satan is going to show himself as if he were God and is going to lift himself up and say that he is God… but just because he does do that does not mean that he is God!
Many will be fooled into believing the lie and many will turn to follow him. But that still does not mean it is the truth! There is only one truth and we cannot change it. There are many lies and many who will lie. Many people will fall away from believing God because they have grown tired of waiting and want something to happen; just as the people of Israel wanted something to happen when Moses had led them into the desert. Instead of waiting patiently for God they took things into their own hands and lifted up strange idols as gods.
We cannot force something to be the truth just because enough of us follow that cause or follow that way. Justice should not work on the majority decision but in true justice and truth. The layers in courts swear an oath to uphold that truth and justice (some of them do follow other paths and end up deceiving many into believing lies – but that does not make it the truth). God wants us to uphold His truth above all else because it is the absolute truth.
We have got a long way to go before we understand God’s ways and further still before we are strong enough to resist the ways of the world and stand up for God’s ways. But when we ask Him for help in walking those righteous ways, we do get answers that we should listen to!
Points to Ponder:
Do you worry about Christ’s return?
Do you know how much He loves you?
November 24: Psalms 25 8-11
Key Verse: Psalms 25 9
The humble He guides in justice, and the humble He teaches His way
Devotion:
Take a look at the ministry of Jesus. Can you see how He fulfilled this passage? Can you see how He went about showing sinners what they were doing wrong and showing them the right ways? Can you see how He approached those willing to learn and gave them as much as they would willingly accept? Jesus loved everyone around Him to the point where there are now people who gossip about whether Jesus was in love with various people. No, this was Jesus showing what love actually is!
When we compare our lives to that of Jesus we fall flat on or faces. But don’t let that get you down; rather use it as a stepping stone to rise up for the next challenge learning as you take each step along the way. Jesus knew the truth and made sure that He kept to the truth. We know truth and we try to keep to it but fail in many ways. This is where we can know the mercy of our God because Jesus has already paid the price for those mistakes and wrong choices that we make.
For us to learn as much as we can means we need to be humble before God so we can learn quicker. Why should we go through all the hassle of tripping up, falling over and having to get picked up just to learn something we could if we listened the first time? Being humble does not mean letting the world run all over you, it means being honest enough to know that you are not perfect and asking for help before you need it!
God wants us to be able to learn the easy way, through His love and support, not the hard way through His wrath. Take a bit of time to stop and listen before running into the fire. Take a breath before shouting out the odds. Take a moment to think before telling the world it is wrong. Take time to read His Word so we can know what to teach. The world has so much to offer, but God has so much more to offer if we listen!
Points to Ponder:
How quick do you retaliate?
Will you take time next time?
November 23: Psalms 119 65-72
Key Verse: Psalms 119 68
You are good, and do good; Teach me Your statutes.
Devotion:
We could look back on our own lives and get really depressed because of all the things we have done wrong. Or we could look back and ignore all of the things we have done wrong thinking that God has forgiven us already! Or we could do what is right and that is to learn from the things we have done wrong! God does allow us to fall flat on our faces at time so that we can learn and sometimes we have to learn the hard way because we are not listening to the easy way.
This does not mean that God is going to punish us for every little thing we do wrong. If that were the case I would be a jabbering wreck at this moment in time. But I know that God is good and that He tries to teach me what is right and what is wrong. I am learning all the time and I try to apply what I learn into my life. I don’t always succeed either so we are not alone!
Going through our bibles and hearing about what has happened to others and why it has happened should teach us a whole lot about what we need to avoid doing in our lives. Sometimes we just don’t get it until we have fallen into the same traps. But the teaching is there for us to learn from and God has covered just about everything too. What we really need to do is to take notice of all that has been and gone before us for our learning.
People who refuse to believe the bible will grow in their own pride, digging bigger and deeper holes for themselves as they try to work things out. The more we dig around ourselves the bigger and deeper we go. The only way out of the hole is to ask for help and assistance in getting out of it so that it can be filled up. We cannot dig around ourselves to fill the hole up – that just does not work! Ask for God’s help and guidance, and then listen to it!
Points to Ponder:
How much help have you asked for so far?
How much help have you listened to so far?
November 22: James 4 7-10
Key Verse: James 4 9
Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
Devotion:
How many times have you thought you were prepared for something only to fall flat on your face because you have forgotten one thing or another? Yes it happens to me all the time… I work late through the night and the next morning just as I think I have got it all sorted out, I get to the part where I realise I have forgotten that one crucial step, or the computer goes wrong, or the sound system does not work… Then we need to admit that we have failed and move on quickly!
I have learned this well! I know that I am going to fail from time to time and so I accept it and deal with it when it happens. I know that if I get up tight about it and stress over what is happening all I am going to do is to delay the recovery, so I place it firmly in God’s hands and ask Him for a clear head to handle my mistake. God never disappoints! We may not listen. We may not obey. We may not handle it. We may fall apart still. But God is there, trying to get us back on track as quickly as possible.
A bit of humility will go a long way to allowing us to get back on track a whole lot quicker than we realise. This is when it pays to have a team of people around you whom you trust! I am thankful that I am part of a team who get on and do things and I try my best to love and support those that need me as well. It is not about being the brightest star so that we stand out amongst our friends because that gets a bit close to boasting. It is about being the brightest we can for others to see how much we depend on God!
Giving every situation to God before we start will help us to prepare for the bad times and will help us to handle them better because we will know we have help both from our teams and from God. I love the way that God tells me “I am here for you” and that is why I try to tell others that I am there for them, not just because I love them, but because it is God’s will.
Points to Ponder:
Do you fall apart when things go wrong?
Have you tried being a willing servant first?
November 21: John 14 25-31
Key Verse: John 14 30
I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me
Devotion:
Yesterday we looked at how the evil one is going to try and catch us out at any opportunity. Today I want to encourage you again to remember that God is with you and you do not have to fight the battle alone. Yesterday the passage started out in Luke 4 1 with the reminder that Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit. Today we are reminded by Jesus that we are filled with the Holy Spirit. We do not fight alone but with God in us!
Jesus was not over-wrought with pain, guilt and other ill feelings in the desert. Yes He had been without food for a long while and His body may well have been tired, but His spirit was not because He knew He could be comforted by God through the Holy Spirit. That sounds odd for us because we also know that Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit are one. But it also helps us to look at them as different to give us greater understanding of how God helps us in our own lives.
Jesus reminds us here that we will have the great comforter, the Holy Spirit, giving us moral, physical and spiritual support when we need it most of all. Just as Jesus needed it whilst in the desert, we need it in our everyday lives to face up to the evil one. And when we know our bibles better we will see just how much he is able to help us because we are relying on Him more.
If someone tells us something as a one off, we may not realise the gravity of what they are saying to us because it was a single statement. But the more we get to know about the situation, the more we understand and accept it as fact. The same goes for us and God’s Word. The more we are able to read, digest and understand it, the greater our faith will be because we know more of how God can and does help us. Jesus wants us to remember more because that allows us to depend on Him more as our Heavenly Father.
Points to Ponder:
How well do you read your bible?
Are you strengthened by those words?