August 7: Ruth 1 11-17
Key Verse: Ruth 1 14
Then they lifted up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
Devotion:
The book of Ruth is an amazing story of how people act when they come to know God in their own hearts. Orpah said the right things but turned away when the going was about to get tough and unknown. Ruth, on the other hand, was willing to give it all up so that she would be able to be with God and Naomi. It takes a lot of courage to go into something totally new and unknown, trusting in someone else instead of yourself.
Ruth had to trust in what Naomi was going to do and say as well as trusting in God for everything. God had allowed things to happen in their lives that convinced both Naomi and Ruth that this was not what God wanted them to continue doing; so they packed up everything and went back to Naomi’s birthplace and people. They did not know what lay ahead but they were willing to entrust their lives back in God’s hands.
Sometimes it does take a drastic change in our own lives before we see that God wants us to do something for Him instead of living for ourselves. Sometimes that is going to go against what you think is logical and will test you to the limits. But as long as you are listening to God and trusting Him for guidance, then you will be going to a much better place. Ruth was willing to give up her life to find this God that Naomi was so fond of, and so she did.
Being with God does not necessarily mean that you have to give up everyone in your life and everything that you have; but if you are willing to do that if asked to, then you are stepping in the right direction. When God asks you to do something it is not because there is nobody else to do it; He knows you are the best person to do that job! And if you are the best person for the job then He will try to get you to do it. Be willing to give God more control in your own life and He will show you how much you can do with Him!
Points to Ponder:
Are you willing to give up your habits?
Are you listening to God?
August 6: Joshua 24 14-18
Key Verse: Joshua 24 18
And the Lord drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.
Devotion:
When Joshua called all the clans of Israel together it was to confront them with the lifestyle and to make them stop and think about what a covenant or promise is. He wanted to make them very aware of the fact that if they chose to serve God then they would not be able to serve any other god. Many had apparently settled into a dual lifestyle where they continued to do things as they always had done for God but they were bringing in new ideas which went against their teaching and even doing some things that the local people did as they served their own gods.
God is a jealous God and He wants our focus to be set on Him and not to be drawn away with various whims and temptations. Each time we give in to a temptation or follow what other people are doing against God we are walking away from serving God. We are to serve God with our whole heart and to make sure that He is the focus of our love and nothing else.
I know it can be very hard to stop what you are doing when it goes against God, especially when everyone else around you is getting involved with this thing. But we do need to remember that we have asked God into our lives and that means we should be making sure that he stays and that invitation is not withdrawn by default. It may not be that we make a conscious effort to turn away from God but that we get involved with other things which turn our attention elsewhere instead.
If you are a guest in someone’s home then you would expect to be made welcome for as long as you stay. But if you are asked to be a guest and then treated badly because the occupants would rather do their own thing that welcome you, you get to feel bad and unwanted. Think about how you are treating God in your life. Are you making Him welcome every day when you wake up or are you slowly making Him feel like an unwanted guest?
Points to Ponder:
Do you treat guests well?
How do you treat God?
August 5: John 6 35-40
Key Verse: John 6 37
All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.
Devotion:
Have you ever been really hungry? Not just hungry because you missed a meal or two but really hungry because you have not had any real food for a few days… That hunger is very real when compared to missing a meal. But after a while you try to ignore the hunger and fill your mind with other things. You try to make as if it were not real even though you know that it is very real!
We have that hunger for God in our lives because God gave us minds and hearts that want to seek Him always. If we try to ignore that hunger we will make up excuses about things and try to say that it is someone else’s problem but we cannot get away from the fact that it is our hunger. God does not want us to have to face that hunger all the time but would rather that we come to Him and be fed whenever we need to be fed. This is not the physical hunger that I am talking of here but the spiritual hunger that we have inside of us.
We know that there is more to life than the physical side that man portrays. We can satisfy that hunger by seeking God and getting to know Him better; so we know that it is real. But in order to be satisfied we do have to come forward and ask for some food. We have to take that step forward and ask God to help us to understand what it is all about. Jesus has said that He will not turn away from anyone who is willing to step forward and ask. He is willing to feed anyone who admits that they are hungry.
Jesus came down from Heaven to live as a man. He came to step into our shoes and show us that it is possible to love God with all our heart and soul. He came to show us that He was willing to give it all up for us because of the love He has for us. He wants us to know that same love for ourselves and not to have to read about it and imagine if it is true. You don’t have to try starving yourself just to see if that hunger is real; come forward and be fed now.
Points to Ponder:
Do you eat regularly?
Do you feed on God’s Word regularly?
August 4: John 7 37-39
Key Verse: John 7 38
He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.
Devotion:
Jesus made the personal promise of the Holy Spirit coming to minister to us when He lived as a human being on earth. I’m not sure if everyone knew what He was talking about when He spoke these words, but if was still His promise to us. Not we have better explanations of the text in the Bible and a better understanding of Christ in general, we can live more in line with what he should require of us than of the misconceptions we had back then.
Jesus was telling us we would have a teacher who would stand inside of us and give us the understanding we needed. The understanding He would give us goes further than the understanding our peers give us and would continue to come out of us so that we would be able to pass on that knowledge to others. Jesus wants us to be able to bring glory to Him as been as bringing able to share the truth that He has given us.
Jesus was giving us a promise of what was to come and how much we should be able to rely on The Spirit to give us the ability to teach others what we have learned. If we are willing to allow God to work in our lives then we shall have the ability to do what He says is possible and not to have to rely on our own understanding of the scriptures. I love being able to share my passion for God’s Word and I love to share what He has told me.
Being able to share the Gospel to the best of God’s ability will go far beyond all that we may be able to do. Waiting for inspiration or fitness to do what God has said is already possible now is not going to be free of all pitfalls, but it will be something we aim for later in life. Showing people what is possible with God is not something that is always comfortable and certainly not what God has planned for us. God continues to lift up our voices and gives us the words to say to the people around us. He does this through the Holy Spirit and waits for us to acknowledge He is here with us.
Points to Ponder:
Is your heart open to Him?
Do you allow God to work in your life?
August 3: Isaiah 55 1-5
Key Verse: Isaiah 55 1
Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Devotion:
There are going to be people who think that the world satisfies all that they desire and they will remain quite content with what the world gives them; until they start to get thirsty for more. We all have a natural inquisitiveness and desire to know more. We continually seek new information and new ideas as we try to satisfy this longing in our souls. God planted that longing in our souls so that we would want to find out the truth. For those that close off their minds to anything outside of what the world can give them, that longing grows dull until they do not seek more.
That does not mean that God will not continue to supply to those that seek. That does not mean that the well is dry and there is no more to be found. God will always make sure that there is more than we need and has demonstrated this to us throughout time. When Jesus few the multitudes they gathered up the left-overs to find that there was more left-overs than the initial supply of food. God will make sure there is more than we need when we earnestly seek Him.
There is always a price on food and supplies in the shops so we know what we have to pay to buy it. God does not put a price on what He has to give to us because it is a gift and not something we have to purchase. He has already made the purchase through Jesus Christ and now gives to all who are willing to receive. But just as God gives out all that is good, there will be someone trying to give out temptations so they may gain their own followers.
Seeking what is good above what the world and others give out is not always going to be easy because the temptations may well seem like a good idea at the time. This is why God has made sure that we know the truth through our Bibles so we can separate the good from the evil by comparing it to what God has given us. Abundant life is a gift to all of us; we just have to choose to accept that gift and not take the temptations instead.
Points to Ponder:
What do you seek in life?
How often do you seek God?