Sunday Reading: Matthew 5 1-12
Key Verse: Matthew 5 8
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Devotion:
I challenge you to see if you can get out of a blessing from God in these verses. I really don’t think that anyone who has trusted Christ at any stage in their lives could ever get out of receiving a blessing from God. No matter what stage we are in our walk with God, no matter where we are in the scale of feeling down and depressed, no matter how high or low we are in our spiritual walk, each one of us is blessed by God ever day.
God does not say that He is only going to bless those who are pure in heart; what He does say is that those who are will also be blessed. You see, these beatitudes are for everyone who is willing to listen to them. Just as Christ stoop on the high point and broadcast to everyone who was listening, He continues to stand up and talk to those who are willing to listen. I am awestruck that so many people want to hear God’s Word those things like the Internet and even mobile device apps. I count it as a truly great blessing that God has allowed me to reach thousands of people every day just by putting pen to paper (not literally, otherwise it would get lost in the post!)
On this last Sunday of the month, count your blessings as see what God has done (great hymn). He continues to bless us in every walk of life so don’t put Him aside just because you think you are doing something else!
Because this is Mothering Sunday here in the UK, I want to make a special plea today for you to count your blessing that have come from your mothers today. Not just your real flesh and blood mother, but those special ladies who may have taken you in and treated you like someone special. Give them a call today, be it phone, text, email, card, walk round and speak, or a very special prayer lifted up to them.
Points to Ponder:
Lord, on this special day, I lift up my memories of my mother, mother-in-law and other special ladies, and I thank you.
I lift up all those very special ladies in my life and especially my ‘new’ mom, and I thank you!
Saturday Reading: Acts 18 9-11
Key Verse: Acts 18 9
Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent;
Devotion:
When we reach out to God in faith and with all our hope we will always find that He has been there all along, even when we have felt least loved! Paul probably went through very trying times as he came to terms with all he had done against Christ and how much Christ was now doing for him. Paul believed fully that this was God talking to him through a vision or a dream; don’t ever be put off by what God gives to you when you meditate on Him!
I had great difficulty in believing that God would ever choose to talk to me in any way because of the things I had done in my past. I could not see how He would ever want to come close to me, and yet I very quickly learned that when I put my faith and trust in Him, He was always there and always encouraging me in so many ways. I do love it when things all drop into place with the work that I do for Him, but I also see how the evil one tries so very hard to stop those good things from happening.
In this passage God reminded Paul that He was always with him and that Paul should be bold enough to talk about God openly because of that fact. If we hide God’s Words because we are afraid of what other people will say or do to us, then we are not putting our faith and trust in God. Yes there are times when it is wise to not say anything because your life is in danger and the people around do not want to hear the truth, but that should not stop us from saying that we should agree to disagree with them. Let people know you believe in Christ and that you are not afraid of that fact!
Christ came into the world to show the world His love, not to hide it under a bush or in a cupboard. Christ came and was very open about the fact that He is who He is. But there are a few times when He knew to keep quiet and other times when He knew to stand up and be counted. Allow God to guide you as to when you open your mouth and not when you want to open it… you may end up breaking trusts instead of building them. But when God asks you to step forward, don’t be a Jonah and think about it, just do it!
Points to Ponder:
Are you open about Christ in your life?
Do you listen to Christ?
Friday Reading: Psalms 133 1-3
Key Verse: Psalms 133 1
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
Devotion:
Have you ever tried to work out why there are groups of people that will not get on with each other in a village, suburb or even a block of flats? We are essentially tribal in nature and group together with likeminded people and as we do so we split apart from others who do not live and act the same as us. This can get to the extreme where groups hate each other and war breaks out when taken to a larger scale. One of the biggest influences in splitting people apart is religion!
It makes absolute sense that if we all looked for the truth in life and aimed to work toward that same truth that we would eventually get on with all people, but we don’t. Some people are quite happy with listening to what others say, believing what they say, watching what they do and then acting how they want; that is our free choice in life that God has given us. Besides, it’s too much like hard work to go out and actually think for yourself!
When I sit down and work out what God wants me to say for the day I do not just copy what someone else has said otherwise that would be plagiarism! I do read up what other people have said about verses because that gives me a better understanding myself, but what comes out is what God puts into my heart (which is why it is a bit strange at times). Seeking the truth should be something that each of us do every day so that we can understand God that little bit more. Seeking to understand other people a little bit more is going to be very helpful too.
Sometimes we do just ‘click’ with other people, but getting to understand them will bring you even closer. Getting to understand your enemies will allow you to see why they are the way they are; having that insight may allow you to love them for who they are. Sharing ideas and working toward finding out the truth will bring you closer to them so long as you don’t just follow what someone else is saying. Each of us is on our own personal journey with Christ and that is where we need to grow most of all. Get to know Christ today so you can understand Him a little more.
Points to Ponder:
Do you think some people are weird?
Are you seeking the truth?
Thursday Reading: Proverbs 18 20-21
Key Verse: Proverbs 18 20
A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; from the produce of his lips he shall be filled.
Devotion:
We can eat food, drink drinks, and generally fill ourselves up and yet we may still feel like we have a huge gap in our lives. We may have a great job, house, car and whatever else we desire, and yet still feel like we need more. This is because what really does please us is not all the trimmings of the world but rather the things that belong in your heart. God created us to be living, caring being and not just animals that live and die.
If we want to be truly satisfied then we have to seek out what it is that will satisfy our souls and not just our bodies. A simple word of love and support can do more than a handful of money; and God wants us to be filled from the inside and not just satisfied on the outside. Yes I know food goes inside your body, but it does not reach deep into your soul like words can. So when someone says that words will never harm them, you can bet they are not thinking of the long term affects that words do have on your inner being!
The one thing that will affect me more than anything is the words that someone says to me. They could take away all my belongings and I may still feel fine; but say something to hurt a friend of mine and I will be sad for a long time… Is that normal? I don’t know, but it should be! We should be able to love each other openly like Christ has taught us. That does not mean free love and sex like the hippie movement but true Christian love. I know it has got me into trouble in the past because people spread rumours, but I continue to follow Christ’s example of love whenever I can!
What you say can always be taken different ways by different people. Being open and honest and loving people as a Christian should will go a lot further than having to watch every single word that comes out of your mouth. Living the life instead of trying to talk it is a lot easier!
Points to Ponder:
Do you talk like a Christian?
Do you live like a Christian?
Wednesday Reading: James 3 1-9
Key Verse: James 3 5
Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles!
Devotion:
It really is amazing how much trouble we can get ourselves into by saying the wrong thing at the wrong time! No matter how quietly we say it or how much we try to grab back those words, when those words have left our mouths they will land on someone else’s ears… it’s then too late!
I have seen first-hand how a small and un-assuming fire can take hold very quickly and decimate a forest or country-side. It is a very frightening thing to watch how huge flames can get in a big fire and how uncontrollable it all seems to get so very quickly. But if that first flame was not lit, then the fire would not have gotten out of control in the first place. In this same manner God tries to warn us against saying that small phrase that will light the bonfire and see us lose control very quickly. God knows just how easy it is to lose control and His warning here is to not go there to start with.
Taking a second to think about what we say before we say it may lose us a second or two in our lives, but it will not lose us our friendship or loved ones. The speed at which sound travels is pretty amazing, but when compared to the speed at which electricity travels it is nothing. So when you are going to spark off a conversation in the multi-media world of the internet, just take a few seconds to think how quickly it will reach the other side of the world, and as you are thinking it would have already gone round the world!
Social media and other forms of communication are so much faster than sound and they do not fade away after a few meters; they reach their destination in exactly the same form as they left your fingertips! The same words can be used for good instead if you take that extra second to think about what you are going to send, post, say, write, type or whatever; take time and think of what it would be like on the other end of the line…
Points to Ponder:
Do you think how your words will affect others?
Are you really thinking before you speak?