Tuesday Reading: Psalms 33 6-12

Key Verse: Psalms 33 9
For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.

Devotion:
Never underestimate the power of God! We only have to look back in our bibles at a few passages to be reminded of all that God has done in creation, in supporting us, in rebuilding mankind, in heaven and nature; the list is endless. But how quickly we tend to forget when things are not going our own way or when we think that God is not listening!

This whole Psalms is a song of praise to give God the glory for what He has, is and will do for us. There is no mighty power in place that has not been allowed to get there by God! He has given us free choice to allow us freedom to express ourselves, but that does not mean that He will support everything that we do. If we are not working towards His will then we should not expect His support for the things we do; we may find that He allows adversity into our lives instead so that we can see where we are going astray.

We have to work hard at making things and spend time trying to get things working as we want. God spoke things into existence! He did not have to have a long discussion, many meetings, plan things out, do a few trial runs, get out all the tools and begin a long and laborious project; He spoke the words and created us! God’s knowledge and power is beyond our comprehension and beyond anything that we can relate to so we should never bring it into question but rather marvel at all He has done already.

We then need to entrust our lives into His hands so that He can do all that He has promised for us. It is not a case of give in and see if He does anything but of giving Him everything and trusting fully that He will do what He has said; after all He created everything by saying so in the beginning. Why should we bring into question things that we now look forward to in the future?

Points to Ponder:
Do you like making things?

Do you struggle with some things?

Monday Reading: Luke 7 1-10

Key Verse: Luke 7 7
Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be healed.

Devotion:
Faith can be shown in many ways but none more so than an outward show of your absolute trust in someone and their abilities. This centurion may well have been showing people that he supported the Jews by building them a synagogue and by allowing them to worship openly there, but his true belief in Christ was shown when he sent for Christ. I think maybe he did not believe that Christ would actually come and do anything for him, but he sent his request with hope.

When he found out that Christ was on His way to visit him, his faith was made whole. He did not have to wait until he saw Jesus face to face because the action of starting toward him was enough to convince him that Christ listened to his prayers! We don’t have to wait until Christ is walking up to our front door to realise our faith; we have many people’s words and examples enough to show us that Christ does listen and that He does answer prayers – we just need to have faith.

Look around you today. Look at the natural world around you. Don’t look at the things that man has done. Don’t look at how majestic a certain building is, but look at the tree that stands before it or next to it. Look at the bird who flies to find shelter in that tree, having hope that there will be some there. The birds are kept by God, as are the trees and everything around us. He is the One who keeps this world whilst entrusting us to maintain and look after it as we can and should.

God is real. Christ is real. Just as the world is real. Man has used and abused his position on this world to make something of his own instead of living his life for and with God. We need to refocus our lives back on the God who has given us everything and the God who continues to supply our everyday needs. We need to have faith that God will look after us just as He does the birds in the trees. I love God!

Points to Ponder:
Been bird watching lately?

How many birds does God feed?

Sunday Reading: Matthew 15 21-28

Key Verse: Matthew 15 27
And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”

Devotion:
I do like the way that Jesus would question peoples commitment before He answered their prayers. I do not believe that He did this to make sure that they did have commitment but rather for each person to think about their own commitment before they had their answer from Him. If Jesus answered their request, as in this case, then He would have shown them that their faith was greater than they had believed – something we all doubt at times. If He did not answer their request, then He would first show them that they lacked faith.

Jesus is not just going to answer each prayer lifted up to Him because many people do not have faith and yet they shout out prayers to a god in case there is one listening. That is not faith, but that is showing signs of hope. Faith is the depending on that hope as the correct and truthful answer. Christ is looking for us to depend on our faith and not to have a little hope that floats around in the wind. Our faith needs to be anchored to a rock and that rock is Christ Himself!

You may well notice that Jesus also used each opportunity to open the eyes of the disciples and other Jews around Him when He answered prayers. In this case a gentile woman had come to ask Him for help; she firmly believed in God and in Christ as the Son of God. Jesus’ initial words were to say that He had come to save the Jews and that she was not a Jew. Her reaction was to say that she may be viewed as a dog who runs round under the table getting what crumbs it can, but that she came there because she knew there would be crumbs.

If we do not think of ourselves as being worthy or faithful or having enough faith, then we need to go back and read such verses from our bibles. They will make us realise that Christ answers prayers of the faithful no matter what society or race or country they are from. Christ is looking for people who rely on their prayers to be answered because they are showing faith in Him.

Points to Ponder:
Do you doubt?

Is your faith anchored on Christ?

Saturday Reading: Mark 4 26-32

Key Verse: Mark 4 27
and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.

Devotion:
When Jesus had explained to the disciples how important it was to spread the Gospel like a sower would sow seeds, He backed it up with this thought for them too. When we put seeds in the ground, we don’t know what makes those seeds suddenly spring into life; yes it is moisture and nutrients, but what actually wakes the seed up from being dormant? Do we actually need to know exactly what does? No! We just expect the seed to grow.

And so it should be with the Gospel. When we give it out to others, we should expect it to change them. If we tell people about God and about Christ and expect them to do nothing about it, then that is probably what will happen. The attitude in which we present the gospel will be take on board by the person we are speaking to; if we give it out in a manner that shows we don’t really care, then they will not care! Be expectant. Be positive. Share with love!

Expect the seed to fall on all sorts of ground and expect there to be some failures, but expect the majority to bring forward new life… and that is what will happen! We may only be planting the smallest of seeds into ground that we do not know, but we are planting the seeds. All manner of flowers, trees, shrubs and other vegetation grows out in the wild with nobody looking after them. So what can we expect when we plant seeds and the nurture them? Much more!

One thing I have learned is that you cannot expect anything to grow if you are not going to stand by and water it after you have planted the seeds! We reach out to the youth in this area (which is no easy task) and we have to continually back up our words with the Gospel message through what we do and through how we support them. Without that nurturing they would forget everything just as they tend to with so much in life nowadays. We may live in a throw-away society, but there are many things that are still held dear. Make God’s Word one of them!

Points to Ponder:
Do you give out the Gospel?

Do you back it up with actions?