September 26: Leviticus 10 1-3
Key Verse: Leviticus 10 2
So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.
Devotion:
I’m not sure how I would be able to handle the death of my children just because they did something wrong against God – Aaron remained silent after Moses reminded him of what the Lord had said concerning keeping the tabernacle holy and without sin. Aaron’s sons did not follow the law exactly as required and had to pay the ultimate price because of their sin against God. God cannot and will not turn His back on sin. He will however forgive us of those sins when we bring them before Him and ask Christ to forgive us of those sins.
Christ paid the absolute price required for all of our sins to be forgiven. It was not anything that we could have done but rather the price Christ chose to make on our behalf. Nothing we can do will get our sins forgiven because we, like the two sons of Aaron are not worthy enough to come into that tabernacle for our sins to be forgiven. Christ does not require that we come before Him as clean people so that He has something to clean from us. Christ forgives the greatest of sins and asks that we accept the forgiveness.
God cannot sweep everything under the carpet when we are not willing to ask Him to forgive us of our sins. It is when we come and offer up those sins to Christ and ask Him to carry out His promise He made that we are then able to be forgiven. It if because of what Christ has done and not what we have done.
I do have to ask God for strength to get through many things in life and death of loved one’s comes right up there… We ask Christ to forgive us because we know of His promise. We then live life in that forgives and mercy and are able to live put those sins behind us knowing that we are not going to get zapped just because we do something wrong. Trust Christ. Trust God and live your life for Him!
Points to Ponder:
Do you look for mercy?
Do you trust Christ to deliver?
September 26: Matthew 3 11-12
Key Verse: Matthew 3 12
His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing-floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.’
Devotion:
John the Baptist did not mince his words out in the desert; he told the people exactly how it was and that God alone is in charge and needs to be worshipped accordingly. He did not try to dress up to impress others nor did he go out of his way to make people happy or comfortable. John gave people what they needed to hear, the truth as God exposed it to him.
He knew that Jesus would be coming and that He would be baptising people in the Spirit rather than the symbolic dunking that he was giving people. He would no doubt explain to the people that he was showing them how they should give die to their old ways and be born to rise and live with Christ as teacher and King. But still people got hung up with what he was saying and what he was doing, still they looked at the world instead of looking at God!
How do we go about teaching people about God nowadays? How do we make sure people do not follow what we are doing and follow Christ for who He is? We tell them the truth just as John told people. We open up the truth before their very eyes and allow them to make the choice as to whether they take up the truth or reject it. We do have to remind people just how important it is to make the choice before it is too late. We do have to tell them that there will be a time when it will be too late… but unless God calls us to go into the desert, dress up in camel skins and eat grass-hoppers and honey, we don’t have to behave like John the Baptist!
God wants us to share the truth and encourage people to seek Him. We should be doing that non-stop through the way that we live and not thinking of it as a extra job that we have to do for someone. We should be looking at the people around us and thinking of them as friends who are not going to enjoy their futures unless they know the truth like we do. Take a bold step forward and love someone today!
Points to Ponder:
Are you ready to show someone you care?
Are you ready to say the truth?
September 25: Matthew 13 47-50
Key Verse: Matthew 13 48
When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away.
Devotion:
Have you ever thought about what happens to all those fish caught up in the net when fishermen go out fishing with a big net? Modern times dictate modern practices and less fish are wasted, but there is always small and unwanted fish caught up in the net. Jesus was using this as an illustration because these men knew about fishing and knew what happened; they would think nothing of the practice that Jesus was describing because that was normal. They throw a big net out which catches everything in its path including unwanted fish and even floating debris.
How does that relate to us as people? We are like those fish in the sea. We have free choice in that we can virtually do what we want just like a fish has the whole ocean to swim where it wants. It is not good for it to swim into deep waters where it will be eaten or swim so deep it can’t breathe, it has to make choices to stay alive. But along comes something like a big net which it knows nothing about and it no longer has a choice but has to put up with what happens! If fish knew they would avoid the boats because there could be nets in them. If fish could speak they would learn from each other.
So what happens when we get caught up in the net? Well, if we are the right size and right type of fish, then we may well be taken in and used as food just like God had designed. But if we are the wrong type or size we will get discarded. Now modern tactics should mean that we get thrown back into the water for a second chance, but if we have already drowned because we could not escape it is far too late! If we are even more unlucky and end up on dry land we are going to face an end that is not natural at all. Luckily fish don’t have feelings – or so they say.
We have choices to make. We are taught about the choices we can make. We are taught about the consequences of those choices. If we don’t act on what we learn and make good choices, then we are more the fools and will end up having to put up with what comes our way whether we like it or not! Look to God. Look to righteousness. Learn and draw closer to the goal God has designed you for…
Points to Ponder:
Do you just keep swimming and see what happens?
Or are you making God inspired choices?
September 24: Genesis 6 13-22
Key Verse: Genesis 6 22
Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.
Devotion:
How easy do you think it is going to be to listen to God and to obey what He says? Do you think that just because He does know what is best for us all that it will be a walk in the park? Well unfortunately it is not always going to be as good as we think. This is not heaven we are living in so we will be faced with death and destruction from time to time. It will not be as drastic as this time that Noah was facing, but it may be something we really do not like!
Why then should God choose to do things that we are not going to like? Why does He allow things to get so far that death is the only way out of it? The reason comes back to us and the way that we live our lives; not just us personally but the whole community, the whole country, the whole of humanity. We get things wrong and just like we make bad choices for ourselves, so do other people. When too many people have made too many bad decisions, the effect goes far beyond what we can see in our own little worlds…
God was looking at the whole world and trying to make a path forward where man would be able to stop the sin and self-destruction that was going on. The only way forward was to wipe out all of the sin and start again with a few people who would most likely listen to Him. Even then God knew that they would not all listen and that there would still be sin in the world; but at least the majority would be gone and mankind would look back on this time with a conscience.
When we do stop and think we do see what is wrong and we do begin to see how much we have done wrong. That is the time when we should repent and turn away from our ways; not just us individually but us as a community. Being in the same boat as other people often makes it easier to handle so we can help each other through the rough times. Look to those around you for support in choosing to walk with Christ because a helping hand will make it easier to handle.
Points to Ponder:
Do you despair at what goes on?
Are you choosing to change things with friends help?
September 23: 2 Samuel 24 10-17
Key Verse: 2 Samuel 24 13
So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, “Shall seven[a] years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.”
Devotion:
What would you do when faced with the choices that were given to David? Would you choose the shortest punishment or the one that you thought would bring least death and destruction? To be honest I really don’t know that I could make a decision like that and would rather defer it to God. But David had already made a decision that was going to affect the whole of Israel and God was bringing that issue home to him now!
The decisions that we make in our lives do not just affect us, there are times when the things we do will affect many more people around us than we think. We are quite selfish when it comes down to it. We think in the circle of events and consequences in our minds which excludes many people. We go off on benders thinking that we are just venting our frustrations when in reality we are affecting all the people involved with us. I do struggle to keep going at times because I know that my actions may cause distress to other people, but when you have a choice between bad things or worse things, the choice gets a whole lot harder to make.
God would rather that we chose to listen to Him all the time so that we could follow in His will from the beginning. He has planned a path that is good in our lives and good for all the people around us. We choose things that break those paths and we end up hurting other people because of our bad choices. When you add up all the bad choices of all of the people around us then you begin to see why God has such a hard time with us all!
God has made the right choices for us and He would rather that we listened in the beginning to go on that predestined path. When we stray from His ways we may find it very difficult to get back on the straight and narrow path. Whatever we do, we should be following God and His instruction!
Points to Ponder:
Do you always listen?
Will you listen now?