July 18: Isaiah 61 1-3
Key Verse: Isaiah 61 1
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
Devotion:
God spoke to the prophets to give the people of Israel instruction and guidance. He continues to show us that same instruction and guidance because it is right. We are the ones who choose whether we are going to follow that instruction or not. These words were brought to life by Jesus when He lived them out during His time on earth and He fulfilled what God had said to the prophets. It is no secret that God gave instruction. It is no secret and we have our bibles. But linking the two facts together just does not seem to gel in many people’s minds!
There are times when I have wondered what I would have done if I was alive when Jesus came to live amongst us in human form… Would I have been one of the zealous people that refused to believe that He was fulfilling the prophecies, or would I have been one to follow Him, or could I have even been one to reject it all? I guess I would have done the same as I do nowadays… I know God is real because He has done so much for me, but it is not just the experience that I base my belief on. I believe because I can see how all the prophecies have come to life and have been fulfilled. I believe because I can see my bible as being the truth and the word of God.
Jesus did not waste His time by coming and being killed. He came to set us free from our sinful lives through which we are condemned because of the rules that God set down in the beginning. Jesus came to teach man that the scriptures were and are the truth. Jesus came to show us how it was all possible even if we could not fully understand it. We may still struggle with interpreting the scriptures and understanding God, but it is the truth still and will always remain the truth.
Christ did this for us all, from the strongest to the weakest and wants us to continue on by reminding people of this truth whenever we can. He wants us to spread the Gospel so that more people will accept it as the truth and be able to be set free by this truth. Jesus set’s us free. But in order for that to happen we have to believe. How can we believe unless we are told the truth? How can others know this same truth unless we keep on telling it?
Points to Ponder:
Are you telling others about God?
Do you share God’s Word?
July 17: 2 Samuel 7 4-11
Key Verse: 2 Samuel 7 7
Wherever I have moved about with all the children of Israel, have I ever spoken a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built Me a house of cedar?’”’
Devotion:
How many times have you come up with what you think is a good idea? Not just a good idea for yourself but a good idea for God or for some other person in charge of something in your life? We like to think that there are things that no other people have come up with so that we can impress others or even impress God with our love and devotion. What we have to do is to stop and think about why we are offering what we offer… Are we doing it just so that we can get noticed, or are we doing it to give glory and honour to the target of our affection?
Making the biggest and the best for someone is not always as good as we think it is going to be; we may have this idea in our heads that nobody else will want to follow up on because it is only a good idea in our own minds. Seeking God’s advice and following that is what we need to get to grips on. This is not me saying that we should just wait for God to tell us what to do… David was making the first move here but he did seek council from God’s representative (the prophet Nathan) to make sure that it was right.
When we go off and focus on what we think is good for God or for others we may well lose focus on what is actually good and end up doing what we want rather than what is right. God wants us to keep our hearts and eyes focused on what He has taught us to do rather than what we think is right. We do get carried away with seeing the world and all the worldly activities around us instead of God’s will; and often that is because we are focusing on the world instead of the commands that God has given us.
The commandments give us the law and set out what is right and wrong. God’s commands, on the other hand, tell us where we should be focusing and aiming our hearts and minds. We have to choose the right path and follow it because we want to and not because the world says so. Choosing to follow God is something we do. Choosing to follow God’s will is something we should be doing. What I do is not always right. Don’t follow man; follow God!
Points to Ponder:
Do you want to do something for God?
Have you asked Him if it is right?
July 16: Psalms 66 16-20
Key Verse: Psalms 66 19
But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer.
Devotion:
We are all witnesses for God. What we do will be seen by others. What we say will be heard by others. What we think will be heard by God!
That should be enough for us to stop and think about what goes through our minds. Whilst we may not be able to stop ourselves from thinking about some things we should be able to fill our minds with more Godly stuff so there is less room and time to get involved with all the rubbish that we take with us. When we focus on the rubbish it tends to build up until it spills over into our lives. When we allow that to happen the people around us start to ask questions about what sort of lifestyle we lead. No it is not right to judge others but that is a part of life – we do judge others!
We need to make sure that we allow others to see that we love our God and that we are trying to live for Him and with Him. Yes we are still going to get things wrong and we should apologise for those things when the time comes, but we don’t have to live by them and we don’t have to focus on them. God is not going to take every little thing that we have said wrong and bring it all back to us… Oh wait… He is if we don’t ask Him to forgive us… You see, God is God. That means that He will never miss anything. But when we ask Him to forgive us He will forgive us because Jesus Christ paid for those wrong things with His LIFE!
I thank God that He is willing was willing to allow Jesus Christ to die in my place on that cross. I thank Him that He is willing to listen to me when I lift up my wrong-doings to Him and ask for His forgiveness. I thank Him because I trust Him and I believe in Him. I want you all to know that because when we all get together and compare notes about how much He has done for us, we will lose count of all the blessings He gave us whilst we were still living with sin! It is a very special life we have with Christ and one that should not be taken for granted. Live your life to the full with Christ and not to the full with the earth!
Points to Ponder:
Do you live life to the full?
Is Christ in that life?
July 15: James 4 1-6
Key Verse: James 4 3
You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
Devotion:
When we look at the world around us and how people act and react to their own feelings we should not wonder why we have so many arguments which eventually spill over into being wars! Mankind just cannot seem to get on with others because we all want things to happen our own way or we couldn’t care less about others and do things how we feel like doing them. If only we would all take a second or two to think about the people next to us we may just get on a bit better.
I am not having a go at people who go off and do their own things and don’t care about their neighbours because I know that some of the things I have done have profoundly affected the people closest to me. I know I get things wrong but I do try to fix them and try to work with others which makes me a bit different when compared with others.
We could say that we have to put up with the naughty, the proud, the overbearing, the rude and all manner of other descriptions for others we can come up with but that would have to encompass us as well because we are guilty too. It’s not all about the degrees of which we are guilty; that is a measure that we have come up with. God says we are either innocent or guilty, plain and simple. And yes we do all fall into the guilty category until we are forgiven and made clean by Christ Himself!
It is those who are willing to come forward in a humble manner to Christ who will be forgiven. It is those who are willing to come forward in a humble manner to their neighbours who will make a difference. It is those who are willing to put aside their own wants and think about the needs of others who will change the world. But don’t stick to the world because that is all it has to offer. Try to stick with God because He has eternity on special offer!
Points to Ponder:
Do you give others a piece of your mind?
Are you listening to God?
July 14: Psalms 78 12-20
Key Verse: Psalms 78 18
And they tested God in their heart by asking for the food of their fancy.
Devotion:
How do you see the power and might of our Lord? Do you see it as a way in which He can and does bless you with all sorts of fancy things? Do you constantly ask God to bless you so that you can be happy in your life? Do you ask God to supply you so that your life can be good? Are you going about asking God in the right manner for the right manna?
When God supplied the children of Israel with manna in the desert it was not a feast laid out on a table with all the trimmings; it was a supply of the basic essentials that were rich in all that was required for them to live in the desert without other provisions. We seem to think that we do need all manner of fancy things in our lives so that we can live for God and work for Him. In reality we actually need very little but we continue to crave for more. God has shown us in the past that we can survive on very little when we do depend on Him. God continues to supply our needs when we do rely on Him… But we still expect for more and ask over and above that which He supplies.
Is it wrong to ask for things? No! Is it wrong to ask for help? No! Does God want us to ask? Yes! But we must realise that we do not need all the trimmings in life in order to survive and work for and with God. Those may be the things that make us happy and those may well be some of the things that he supplies in our lives to make us happy, but we do not require them!
God has continued to show us throughout history that we can survive on what he supplies when we ask. God has continued to show that we can live together by sharing what we have. God gives us the wisdom so that we know this and that we can work together. We choose not to because we want things over and above our needs. It is the way we are and it is what God wants us to see. If we are able to stand back and look at the way we are, we should be able to recognise that God is in control and that we can live a very different life when we live for Him.
Points to Ponder:
Do you focus on what you want or what God wants?
Will you trust Him?