January 14: 1 Corinthians 7 21-24

Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 7 24
Brothers and sisters, each person, as responsible to God, should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.

Devotion:
In his first letter to the churches of Corinth, the apostle tries to encourage people not to try and become something they are not just to be more of a Christian! God comes to find us in the situations we are in so He can get the most out of us; unless He is telling you to radically change your life, the only thing you should be doing is trying to be a bit more like Christ. This does not mean suddenly becoming middle class or changing to act like you are working class – God wants you to simply trust and obey where you are.

The apostle likened this to people who were not Jews trying to become Jewish by being circumcised and changing their lifestyle to be more Jewish in nature. God chose you where you were and how you are. He wants to use you the way you are and not the way you think you should be. I found this hard to accept in the beginning, but by talking to others and encouraging them to be themselves I began to realise I was uplifting my own status beyond where it was – I was no longer the person God chose but something I thought He wanted.

By being myself again and living with the people God has called me to reach made me realise I was more like them than I realised. God brought me back to be the original design He chose and the one which he wanted to work with Him. Yes it was hard to accept in my mind until I did accept it; then I realise just how natural it should have been in the beginning!

When God calls us, He changes our spirit to be a little more like Him so we can hear His instructions and live with Him in our lives. This means we taste the freedom of life when we have been slaves to life beforehand or becoming slaves to Him when we have led a privileged life. This is His choice for you and one we all need to embrace with open arms.

This does not mean we have to become slaves to the people around us – God has not chosen us for that. Yes He wants us to be more loving and accepting of the people around us, but not to become slaves to their worlds just as they are; we are to show them the freedom God has granted us and allow them to see they too can accept this freedom in their lives. Be yourself. Be normal. Love and be loved where you are called.

Points to Ponder:
Do you struggle trying to be a good Christian?

Will you accept the life God chose you in and live with Him?

January 13: Matthew 21 28-32

Key Verse: Matthew 21 32
For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

Devotion:
How much do you think you obey God? I know it is a loaded question because so many of us do not realise when God is speaking to us because we are so caught up in the things and people around us. When we get caught up, we lose focus and we tend to stop listening for those small voices and hints He gives us. It is not often we receive an audible response from God but rather a response through others – how we treat those responses defines how well we listen to God!

I went through a stage in 2018 of not listening to the people around me when they were telling me to go to the doctor and get myself checked out… I was too caught up in worldly things, worldly ways and my own pride to listen – God had obviously been trying a few ways to get my attention. Needless to say, early 2019 came along and I ended up in intensive care. The rest of 2019 was spent in hospitals and recovering and revisiting hospitals – all because I did not want to listen to something so small as my friends and fellow Christians telling me I needed to get myself checked out!

It is not just you who will be affected by these choices you make – it affects all those people around us, especially the people we love the most! Listening to God has got to be central to our lives and needs to be a constant in our lives. Don’t just dismiss things other people say, start praying about things and then stop and listen. The more we are caught up in our own busy lives, the less we get to listen. We need to stop and just focus on God for a while – every day!

John was telling all manner of people about God and it was the people who were not so focused on what they thought they should be doing who heard the most. The religious people were so focused on doing the right thing and trying to keep themselves apart from the world; they lost focus on God. I wonder how many people stopped what they were doing and actually listened to Jesus as He was reminding them of this fact here.

Points to Ponder:
Do you get caught up in work too easily?

Will you make a time in your day to stop and just listen for God?

January 12: Matthew 14 1-5

Key Verse: Matthew 14 5
Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they considered John a prophet.

Devotion:
When we continue to walk with God and listen and obey His wishes, we are going to meet all manner of opposition during our life; not because we are doing anything wrong but because there are people out there who somehow feel unsettled with us. When we lead a life with Christ, we act differently from the other people around us and we often start to stand out, we get noticed!

When we get noticed more than the people who are actively going out to get noticed, they start to object – they don’t like us getting the attention more than them. Don’t be too surprised when they start to work against you, using worldly measures to try and get back at you or bring you down. This is exactly what was happening back in the days of Jesus walking amongst us – the authorities did not like Him getting more attention than them and made stories up about them to try and bring them down in one way or another.

If we continue to listen to Christ, He will guide us as far as He can, but at some stage we are going to lose track and give in to the ways of the world and the people around us; just another way the evil one has to stop us from worshipping Christ. We are living in the world and the world can get very powerful because of the support it gets from people of the world.

Herod was not about to give in and allow another man to become too popular just in case he lost popularity amongst the people; his power came from the fact others were afraid of him and of his ways. If he lost that fear amongst the people, he may lose the political battle he would face against the people. Fear of the unknown or fear of losing popularity will often make us do stupid things – Herod was heading down that path and beginning to hate John for what he was able to achieve by telling people about Jesus. Herod also seemed to understand God was a lot more powerful than many realised and he was not going to give anybody the chance of allowing them to see God was more powerful than him!

Points to Ponder:
Are you proud of something in your life?

Would you be willing to lift up someone else just to give God the glory?

January 11: Philippians 2 5-11

Key Verse: Philippians 2 8
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross!

Devotion:
No, you are not seeing things and my bible isn’t stuck in one place, but these verses have so much to give us! What is the best way to infiltrate the enemy? What is the best way to be able to walk around the enemy’s camp without being detected? If you wanted to be able to walk unnoticed in a rough neighbourhood, would you walk through it is a suit with flashing lights, or in clothes they wore in that neighbourhood?

The Lord knew the only way to reach people, was to become a person. He knew He had to bring Himself down to our level to allow us to see what He has in store for us. He knew He would have to show us how He was willing to accept all the punishment which is due to us. If you wanted to show someone you could arm wrestle them, would you cheat by taking a robotic arm in to the contest, or would you offer your arm against their arm?

Jesus knew He had to accept the punishment in the same form which we accept our punishment. He knew He could only show us how much He loves us if He was at our level – if He was in a human body, the same as we are in a human body. He needed to show us His love for us by showing He was willing to accept it all for our sake. What better way than to become one of us, to become a human being, so He could share the pain as we would if we had to pay the price for our sins.

He was willing to take on your sins for you when He went to the cross. He was willing to take on human form so He could accept the punishment in the same body as you would normally accept it – just because He loves you. He was willing to be born of no reputation, be your servant and become one of us, just so we could see how much He loves us.

Points to Ponder:
Have you ever pretended to be someone else?

Jesus physically became a human to make sure He paid for our sins IN FULL!