Thursday Reading: 1 Corinthians 13 1-3
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 13 1
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.
Devotion:
Sometimes you just have to revert to an old saying from a film “It’s no good just talking the talk, you have to walk the walk!”
We can talk until we are blue in the face, but unless we actually show people that we mean what we say, we may as well be saying absolutely anything. That is not what Christ wants from us and certainly not what Jesus came to teach the world. Right from the beginning of time God has tried to make sure that we do what we mean instead of saying what we mean because words are about as good as the sound of a cymbal by itself; rather harsh!
A lot of people will put major importance on the gifts that they think God has given them and they will try to convince you that they have marvellous abilities; I find them hard to believe until I see those people living up to what they are saying. I don’t mean that I would not believe them until I see them showing me physical proof; where would my faith be if it were based on physical proof? Instead I wait until those people show me what they are like by either doing what they say they will or running off in the other direction.
Love is the prime example of something that you should never just talk about because when you do talk about it and never carry it through, people will not believe you. At first they may well take in what you say, but until you stop and show them that love, it is meaningless. God taught us His love from the beginning; but then He showed us His love through everything that he did for us. Never stop to think whether you should show love, because you would have just made it too late!
Points to Ponder:
Do you love people?
Do you actually show them?
Wednesday Reading: Proverbs 2 1-9
Key Verse: Proverbs 2 9
Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path.
Devotion:
How do you go about learning things? Do you sit and read, maybe with music on, maybe in silence, maybe you have to read over and over again, maybe you have to write it all out… Learning is a natural part of life and one that will never leave us. God has all knowledge but He cannot impart that on us like some science fiction experiment. We have to go about learning through seeking the truth from the source of that truth.
We are very lucky nowadays to have the bible written out in plain English as well as in many other forms; all of which we are able to access. In days of old people would have to ask wisdom from the privileged few that did have access to a bible and even then it may not have been written in plain English. I struggle with reading and so have a few books that people have given me over the years that remain unread or at best partially read. The bible, however, is one book that I shall always be able to read. That must be given by God because I really do struggle with reading.
Whether these words are to King Solomon’s son or to everyone should not have to be debated about; rather the words taken and used for our learning and our encouragement! We need to open up our minds to receive God’s Word and be willing to learn from it. It is no good sitting and reading the bible in a day or two if you are not going to take any of it in. God wants us to study His Word because He made sure that the right people at the right time penned the words down so that they would all come together one day for our use.
God wants each of us to be able to learn His Word so that we can pass it on to others. That does not necessarily mean that we have to learn whole chapters verse to verse, but that we are willing to take in the knowledge and wisdom that He is willing to give us, so that we can pass on that to others. Maybe they will be the ones to learn the words and be able to quote them for others peoples learning. I take my bible everywhere because I have an electronic one on my phone… a far cry from old England where it would be chained to the pulpit!
Points to Ponder:
Do you read your bible every day?
Are you willing to learn every day?
Tuesday Reading: Psalms 51 14-17
Key Verse: Psalms 51 17
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart — These, O God, You will not despise.
Devotion:
David may have been feeling a bit low and unforgiven when this Psalms was written, but the words that came out would show that he knew that he was forgiven, no matter what. Far too often we get into a state where we think we have gone too far and that God is not going to forgive us this time… well the worst sin may be that you allowed yourself to go that far and not the actual sin itself! But no matter what, God is willing and able to forgive us of all sins that we bring to Him.
The key here is that we are bringing the sin to Him and that we are bringing it with a humble heart and an open heart. There is no use trying to get a bit of forgiveness out of anyone until you mean it, never mind a God who does know everything anyway! You cannot hide anything from God so trying to do so will not get you very far. When we do realise that we are forgiven, our heart sings aloud and others will get to see just how good God is. We have no problems giving God the glory when we know forgiveness, but when we are trying to hide things we get all tied up and the only thing that comes out is despair.
For as long as we carry round our sins by ourselves, we are caught up in something that will not allow us to give glory to God. There is nothing that we can do to lift ourselves out of the mire once we get trapped in. Someone else has to reach down to us and lift us up because the harder we struggle, the more we sink into our own pit.
God does not want open burnt sacrifices anymore because He has already given His Son as the sacrifice to cover all sins. Any sacrifice we offer that excludes Christ is not a sacrifice that will please God but one that may well anger Him instead. Remember what Christ has done and step forward with an open and humble heart, willing to listen and to learn from God Himself!
Points to Ponder:
Are you caught in a sin trap?
DO you trust God to lift you up?
Monday Reading: Psalms 1 1-3
Key Verse: Psalms 1 2
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.
Devotion:
As Christians we all like to be in a church where people are nice and where we can have a good time; we love the fellowship that a church brings into our lives. But that is like saying that you like one car better than the other because it has leather seats that are much more comfortable. The choice should not be on the surface things but should be made much deeper than that. For cars we can get to drive them and see what the difference is. We can read up on reviews and find out which one is more suitable for the life that we lead or for the requirements that we have from it. But what about church?
We do have something that is better than third party reviews. We don’t have to wait until someone else has tried it to see what they thought about it! We can find out what God has designed, what He requires and what He says we should have; then we can aim to find a church that will help us to fill those requirements… This is where we all get a bit disappointed because very few churches are going to live up to those requirements! We are all human and we all live according to what we can do, which falls far short of what God requires!
That is why we do have God’s Word. He made sure that we always have the truth and can always have ready access to it. We don’t have to wait until Sunday to get the good news. We don’t have to wait until the preacher can tell us all about it! God wants us to live our lives with Him at the centre. God wants us to take His Word with us every step of the way; we will get far more out of our life with Him if we include Him in it!
He is willing to guide us in the path that we walk. He is willing to show us love and mercy far beyond what we expect so that we can enjoy our lives with Him. When we do keep Him in our lives we will find that we grow spiritually far beyond what we could by simply going to a ‘good’ church. Don’t let me water down the requirement of having people that can help you along the way, but never leave God out of that list of people that will help you!
Points to Ponder:
Who do you go to to be fed?
Are you packing your own lunch as well?
Sunday Reading: Matthew 6 28-34
Key Verse: Matthew 6 32
For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
Devotion:
If you are a student, how hard do you work to make sure that you will pass your finals? How much do you think about what it is you need to achieve in order to get on in life? Are you worried about the state of the economy? And if you work, how hard do you work in order to have food on the table? Do you work extra hours so that you can have what you want? Do you just work all the time to get by?
I know that is over simplifying life but we do have to stop and think where we are aiming in life. Are we aiming for what the world can give us or what God can give us? It is a very difficult decision to make for many people; should I work and live well so that I can help others, or do I help others and see what happens?
God has given us clear instruction that we ought to love one another and that does not mean loving yourself so that you can love others afterward. It means being content with what you are and who you are so that you can help others when they need it and not when you can afford to do it. Love does not wait for you to be in the right place before it will be required; love means giving right now what you can. God does not want us to have to line up everything in a nice neat row before we start the ball rolling. If we tried to do that, I’m sure Satan would disrupt our plans before we could get started!
Instead God asks us to trust Him and to rely on Him. That is hard for someone who has made a living out of doing it yourself! When we have always had to care for ourselves we tend not to give that trust away lightly. I do not speak of myself here because I have always had many loving people around me who are willing to help; but are we willing to allow God to help as well? Are we willing to ask God for that help? I’m not talking about that one cry of “God please help me in this fine mess!” but being willing to ask Him daily for everything.
Points to Ponder:
Are you self-sufficient?
Do you rely on God?