Thursday Reading: 2 Corinthians 9 6-9
Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 9 6
But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
Devotion:
I have heard these verses used in so many ways when church leaders want more out of their flock but this is not where I see us being lead. Many people will tell us how these verse apply directly to giving money to churches out of love, but I believe it goes much further than that. Giving is not just about money, possessions or other physical things; giving is about being willing to give what you have, be it physical or spiritual.
When we say that we love someone we should not require a return to the love that we give. When we say that we want to do something for someone we should not look for a reward for what we have done; that is duty, not love. People who demand recognition for what they are doing are doing things out of duty and not out of love and need to stop and think about where they are going and what they are committing themselves to. I know that I am guilty about wanting reward for things that I do and I know that I have failed on many occasions because of that, but it does not stop me from trying to do things right!
Christ gave everything with the hope that He could have love in return. That is different to us demanding love in return when we want to show our love to others. A lesson I have learned is that your love needs to be without conditions and without end otherwise it may not be seen as true love.
I quite happily give without expecting rewards because I know that I am able to please others through giving love and support to them; that is enough reward for me just knowing that I have been able to change someone’s life or circumstance for the better. Why should I seek reward for doing what Christ has called me to do? Expecting something in return for what you do will only lead to disappointment because our version of the reward will undoubtedly be different to the other person’s idea of a reward!
Points to Ponder:
Are you constantly seeking reward?
Have you tried just giving?
Wednesday Reading: Luke 6 46-49
Key Verse: Luke 6 46
But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?
Devotion:
When Jesus went around choosing who should follow Him as disciples, He chose carefully and with foreknowledge of which of the disciples would be the ones who would get down and do the things that He said should be done. If Jesus had chosen people who simply said yes and did not follow through with the actions then we would be nowhere now; we would not have our bibles to look back on what had happened so many years ago.
Jesus has chosen people from our past whom He knew were right for the task in hand. This did not always mean that we would agree that His choice was right or that we would have chosen the same people; this means that Jesus knew what was required and who was best for the job at that time. When He chooses people nowadays we may look at the choice and wonder why! We may question Him and ask Him why He has chosen us to follow Him or to do His work!
Jesus wants people that He can depend on… and if you think you are running the other direction at the thought of this then stop and think… Jesus does know what He is doing and He does know what we are actually capable of. We may not like the idea that He has chosen us and we may not like the idea that we have to come forward and work for Him now… But He has chosen carefully and He does know what is best!
But don’t rest on this single choice and think that Christ is going to give us everything on a plate for us to look like heroes! Far from it! We may well have to go through many trials and temptations as we move forward with Christ in our lives. The evil one is not going to like the fact that we now work for God and he will try to persuade us otherwise. But dig deep and make sure that you build your foundation on Christ and in His Word; that way He will be your strength when you come up against hardships and He will guide you when you feel like you are lost!
Points to Ponder:
Are you just doing things because you think it’s a good idea?
Or are you basing them on the Word of God?
Tuesday Reading: Luke 6 43-45
Key Verse: Luke 6 44
For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.
Devotion:
Adam and Eve faced the temptation of an ideal fruit tree that God had told them they should not eat from; and man today faces the same fruit tree of sin that God has warned us against. Man has been facing temptations and sin for a long time and God has been trying to separate us from that sin for a very long time. It is when we are away from God that we do face that temptation and quite often we do give in and sin when we should know better.
God has given us His Word to warn us against the sin that we will face. He allowed Christ to come to die for our sins so that we would not be facing eternal death because of our sins. He gave us The Holy Spirit to dwell within us to guide us and keep us from being tempted by sin… and yet we still go there and we still give in! God knew that from the start and He made sure that we would have an escape plan from the start as well.
When we go out and tell others that they should not be giving in to the sin around them we need to take a very long look at the example we are showing others before we start dishing out advice! We need to make sure that we are not just observing the law that God gave us, but that we are obeying it and living by it. If we do not live by it then those around us will see a very different fruit to the one that we think we are showing off! They will see a very rotten apple instead of a nice fresh juice apple that we think we are depicting.
God is trusting each of us with a task to show off the best possible fruit that we can. He gives us the means to cultivate the best fruit in our lives and He gives us the ultimate Guide who will give us the best chance at growing the best fruit… but we need to listen to Him and we need to make sure we actually do what He asks of us. If we do not listen to good instruction then we will not hear good instruction! Listen, learn and apply it into your life!
Points to Ponder:
Do you listen to God?
Do you actually listen and learn?
Monday Reading: Genesis 1 11-13
Key Verse: Genesis 1 11
Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so
Devotion:
I can remember growing bean plants as a young child for a science experiment in which I continually turned the plants as they grew toward the light making them grow in a cork-screw manner. But it is only when you get a bit older and wiser that you look back at the start of that growth as the miracle and not the fact that you can make it grow in circles. That initial life that comes out of a hard and dry seed as you bath it in water in rather incredible; after all this is not a magic potion you are putting it in, just plain water!
God showed us how it was done in the beginning by growing plants out of nothing, starting the cycle off which has continued to go round in cycles for as long as the earth has been around! One of the promises that God eventually gave to the Jews was that He would always make sure the seasons came and went to ensure that we would have cycles of growth just as He started in the beginning.
Those promises continue to be upheld each and every day, month and year and we grow our crops to survive. I know the farmers put all sorts of fertilizers and things into the soil now to make things grow quicker or better, but it is God who puts the life back into those dead seeds so that they can absorb the fertilizers later on. It is God who maintains the circle of life that we depend on every day of our lives!
We plant seeds of particular types to give us the crops that we need to eat; we do not throw a bunch of seeds in and see what grows! That is God’s design; He gave each plant seeds so that they would re-produce the same plant again. He gave us seeds so that we would re-produce as human beings. I cannot see how we could grow into anything other than humans without an intelligent external source. Man many be able to genetically change plants, but it needs a pretty intelligent man to do that first of all!
Points to Ponder:
Do you trust God to give you human children?
Do you trust God with your soul as well?
Sunday Reading: 1 Corinthians 15 35-38
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 15 37
And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain.
Devotion:
One thing that is hard for us to accept is how we can be raise from the dead. Death is so final and we see how the human body quickly degrades when we do die; but death is necessary in more ways than one. In the plant world death is part of the cycle of life in that the death of plants gives nutrients back into the soil for the next set of plant to grow from. When we plant seeds, they are just that, seeds. We do not plant plants and get baby plants from the next one. Those seeds have to be put into the ground and germinate before a plant will grow from them.
Don’t ask me the ins and out of plants and growth because I did not do so well with the whole biology thing at school; but one thing I do know is that when you put a seed into the ground the seed has to give in and break down a bit before it can start to grow. Most seeds are dry and hard and look pretty much lifeless; they have to have moisture put back into them to start growing and that moisture is what makes things rot! If you leave paper out in the rain it breaks down pretty quickly as the moisture breaks apart the fibres; but in order to make paper you have to break down the fibres so that they can be intermeshed back together again.
So where is this all leading when concerned with us being brought back to life? Well in order for us to be able to be brought back to life, we would first have to die and then something special would have to be put back into our dead bodies for them to bring forward life. We could let our bodies rot and use them as fertilizer for the next plant, but that does not sound such a good plan when you think it through.
God is not going to bring back our bodies in a state where we will all look like zombies from the movies; God is going to bring us back with glorified bodies that will not have rotting parts but will be whole and special; able to last for eternity with Him! Just as we don’t fully understand how a lifeless seed can be given a spark of life and grow into a full plant, God is going to bring us back in a special way that only He knows how. Trust in Him fully to do what He can do and don’t try to over analyse things!
Points to Ponder:
Do you get wrapped up in supernatural details?
Are you trusting God to do His part as only He knows how?