Wednesday Reading: Exodus 33 17-20
Key Verse: Exodus 33 20
But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”
Devotion:
When God chooses us to do something He does not bend the rules just because He has chosen us! God chose Moses to lead the people out of slavery, out of Egypt and into the Promised Land, but He did not bend the rules and allow Moses to see Him face to face! God reminded Moses that He was in charge and that His authority was and still is the ultimate authority!
How often we do forget that God has got ultimate authority over everything and everyone. He is the one who will choose whom He has compassion for and whom He wants to show mercy toward. It is not our choice, but Gods! This is God we are talking about here and not some political leader, king or queen. This is God! Creator of heaven and earth! Creator of mankind! And yet He still chose to have compassion upon mankind and to show us such great mercy that we cannot comprehend.
His love for us should be without question based on the facts! His love toward us should never be in any doubt based on what has happed in the past. If we took all that has happened and presented it in a court of law, it would be upheld as the absolute truth. Unfortunately man continues to want to bend the rules and have his own ways which leads to a corruption of the law and a lessening of the reality of what God actually stands for, and who God is!
Moses got to know God pretty well by the end of his journey throughout his life, and yet he still broke the rules and still wanted to do his own thing now and again. God did not change the rules and did not back down; Moses was not allowed over the river into the Promised Land because he had done things his own way and not Gods way. God shows us incredible mercy, but He must always be righteous! Don’t ask God to bend the rules for you!
Points to Ponder:
Do you bend the rules regularly?
Do you really expect God to?
Tuesday Reading: John 14 7-11
Key Verse: John 14 8
Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”
Devotion:
Why do we always have to have some sort of physical proof before we grasp something or before we believe in it? Well, that is the way we have grown up and that is the way our society is; it’s a pretty good philosophy to only believe in the things which are shown to be true! What is being left out is the spiritual side of things and even God being left out altogether!
When Philip turned round and asked to see God the Father, he did not quite understand how much he was asking and certainly did not think of the ramifications of that request. If he had thought about it he probably would not have asked! But he wanted some sort of physical proof, even after all this time of walking with Jesus and being taught by Him and seeing all the miracles, he wanted more proof. Philip still had doubts…
So when you feel guilty about having doubts about your faith, think back on this moment in time when Philip was standing before Christ and asked to see God! We can look on that and think that he was not in his right mind, but he could look at us now and ask why we are not depending fully on Christ because we are not accepting what is written down. Faith is something very personal and is between you and God. Nobody else has the right to judge you on your faith and you certainly do not have the right to judge anyone else!
Jesus did not come down on Philip like a tonne of bricks, but rather talked it through with him, highlighting the fact that He had done many miracles and that Philip did have to have some faith by taking His word for it. That is what faith comes down to. It is not all about physical proof but about believing what God tell us, whether it is through reading His Word, through revelation or through listening to someone else tell you about God. You have to take a step forward to show you have faith.
Points to Ponder:
Do you worry about your faith?
Have you read God’s Word today yet?
Monday Reading: Jeremiah 32 36-41
Key Verse: Jeremiah 32 39
I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me for all time, for their own good and the good of their children after them.
Devotion:
When we are searching for answers we should be willing to listen to what God has to say and not to be discouraged by what it looks like He has allowed into our lives already! If I were to look back on my life, I would probably question why many things have happened to me if I did not know that God was behind me! But the more that I search the more that I realise that He continues to look out for us even when we think we have been abandoned.
I like to think that I do listen intently to God, but my past has shown that I do not because I can see many times when He has asked me to change my ways and I have not. Just like we can look through our bibles and find out how many times God tried to make the Israelites change their ways or their minds, we too should be able to look back in our lives and see how God has asked many things of us. It may be hard to listen at the time that He asks, but we should be able to see when He did ask when we look back.
When God does call us together to do something or even call us back to where we used to be, we should be willing to listen to Him and to listen to what He has in store for us. Too often we will try to stick to our guns and wade through the mire until we simply cannot stand it anymore! This is not what God wants us to go through but rather what we are letting ourselves into because we are not listening like we should. Therein comes the all-important question… how do we know what we should be listening to?
If you are not prepared to listen to what God tells you through His Word, then you are not going to be listening to Him; instead you will be listening to the world and trying to justify it by finding things that will agree with your ways! Nothing is impossible for God, but if you are simply going to ignore Him then don’t expect any revelations any time soon. But when we do listen to God we will find that He gives the same heart to others around you so that we can work together for Him!
Points to Ponder:
Do you think you listen?
Is God still asking?
Sunday Reading: Exodus 20 1-6
Key Verse: Exodus 20 6
but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
Devotion:
God gave the commandments to Moses so that he would in turn give them to all mankind, specifically though, to the people of Israel at that time. They are not just a simple set of rules to follow but a deep and meaningful contract between us and God. Just looking at the first two should make us stop and think about how we do live our lives!
God’s words to Moses start with (paraphrased) “I am God, your God. I am the one who brought you out of slavery in Egypt!” That is followed by these first two commandments reminding us that God is our God and we need to be reverent toward Him; we need to fear Him. This is the same God that created the whole world, the whole universe, that planted us on this planet so that we could grow up to know Him in person. He did not just do this because He was bored and wanted something to play with which is how some would look at Him.
God created us and loved what He created. Even though we do go astray and break His heart at times, He still loves us and wants us to realise that. He did not say that He was a jealous God to cause any strife but rather to show us that His love for us goes deeper than just the words. God does not want us contaminated by evil and does not want us ruining our lives… but we do from time to time…
If we are willing to take on these commandments and to keep them in our hearts just as He keeps us in His heart, then we will find that our lives do take on a whole new meaning. If we have a goal in life then we aim toward that and our spirits are raised as we get closer. When we have rules and are able to keep them we feel a whole lot better than when we break them. But when we break them God wants to show us mercy and forgiveness so that we can get back on track toward our goals as quickly as possible. God wants us to have a joyful and peaceful life with Him.
Points to Ponder:
Do you remember the commandments?
Do you follow them in your life?
Saturday Reading: Luke 1 46-53
Key Verse: Luke 1 47
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour.
Devotion:
When Mary and Elisabeth got together their babies knew each other from before birth! That sort of thing does not come from mankind but rather from God Himself. The world treats life with distain whereas God holds it dear. The world looks for worldly links and fuel whereas God build invisible bridges and links us spiritually in ways we cannot understand. I praise God that I have met some very special people in my life that have built me up, charged me spiritually and make my life in this world a very special experience.
God is not going to allow us to go through life wondering what, why, who, if… He will make sure that we are given the explanations or the chances to seek those explanations. He gives us people that can point us in the right direction. He gives us people who are willing to support and guide us. Then when we do come to Him and ask Him into our lives, he gives us the best possible guide and support we could ever hope for; He gives us the Holy Spirit!
God continues to show us mercy throughout all generations and continues to lift up the name of Jesus above all so that we can get to know Him as our personal Saviour as well. Mary and Elisabeth were given very special roles in life, to bring forward a whole new way! If we are given a chance to do something similar then we need to take a firm grip on what God is giving us and do everything He asks of us, accepting the consequences and trusting and believing that He will make all things happen for His glory.
When we seek God with our whole heart, He will supply us with gifts beyond our imagination. This does not mean we will be given new cars and houses but that He will give us gifts that we can take with us to heaven where we shall keep them forever! Mary and Elisabeth would not have liked to see what lay ahead for their children from a worldly point of view, but both of them saw the richness and blessings that God was supplying every step of the way. Look for what God can give you and not what the world has in store for you!
Points to Ponder:
Are you looking to the world for fulfilment?
Or are you looking to God?