Thursday Reading: Romans 15 7
Key Verse: Romans 15 7
Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.
Devotion:
This single verse comes into much greater meaning after looking at the previous verses; this is why I felt that I should cover it by itself. We do need to be there for others, we do need to support each other, we do need to look out for each other, we do need to make sure that others know this as well! This is not just a simple command by Christ for us to think about doing, or one that we should do because He says so but one that must be a part of our lives; our lives should be rooted in this way of living!
When Christ came to live as a human amongst us He came down from His position as King of Kings, Lord of Lords to be a servant for mankind. He did this with the express purpose of giving glory to God the Father who sent Him and allowed Him to give His life for us. He received us into His kingdom by taking on our sin debt once and for all. He did this for both the Jew and the gentile; for every single one of us! But always for the glory of God!
What an awesome statement from a single verse; taking it in context shows us just how special God has made us, that He thought of us in this manner and made sure that we could always be with Him in glory. We need to take this example that Christ has shown us a live for Him to support Him in giving glory to God our Heavenly Father! We need to take His example and live to love and support all those around us and not just the people we choose because we like them.
I have learned over the last decade that I have to extend my love to many people because that is what Christ has shown me. I do this, not out of duty, but out of a loving heart that God has placed in this body of mine. He has shared His love with me so that I can share that love with others. I don’t tend to hold back on my love and many people get upset with me that I am willing to put my livelihood on the line just so that I can love others. Well, Christ did that for me and I certainly will continue doing that to all His people because I give God the glory!
Points to Ponder:
Do you like supporting everyone?
How much support has Christ shown you?
Wednesday Reading: Romans 15 4-6
Key Verse: Romans 15 6
that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Devotion:
No matter how many time you read the bible it will always give you the truth and part of that truth is that we are serving one God! We are one church! Now this is where many people get upset about us daring to call this one church because religion has got in the way of serving God openly and truthfully. There are too many religious people out there promoting their religion rather than promoting God and many more trying to break others down because they are tied up in religion.
God has given us the bible so that we can know the truth. If we take our own words in preference to the Word of God then we are working against God because He is the one who gave us His Word. It is strange how people will cling to one particular thing in the bible and miss out many more things when we have been given the whole bible. We cannot ignore God’s Word because it is the absolute truth. Yes man has had his hand in it and as always has spoiled it, but God’s Word stands firm.
This means that we need to seek out this Word. We need to seek out the truth. We need to hold that truth dear to our heart, even more dear than we hold our loved ones because it is God’s Word. This does not mean accepting what others say as the truth just because they have got a degree but accepting it as God’s Word when He impresses on your heart that it is the truth and shows you that it is. God has given us just one bible so that we all work toward the same truth. That means working in that truth with other people and not telling other people what you think is right and backing it up with a few words from the bible.
Being a Christian means upholding the Word of God and living by that word, all of it, not just the parts that hold up your own religion. If you want to go out and help other people then the best way is to help them by building them up in some way rather than by trashing their ways or their leaders; that will only lead to alienating you from them rather than you being accepted as an outside help. God wants us working together in His Truth!
Points to Ponder:
Do you read God’s Word?
Do you know it as the absolute truth?
Tuesday Reading: Romans 15 1-3
Key Verse: Romans 15 3
For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.”
Devotion:
One of the most amazing things we can learn from Christ’s life on earth as a human is that He chose to live His life aiming to please someone else and not Himself! If only we would have the courage and foresight to live our own lives for someone else instead of for ourselves we too could achieve so much more! Society today seems bent on living as much as you can for yourself so that you can be as happy as you can by living things to the maximum. But that is not life, that is greed and pride mixed up in yourself!
God has given some of us the ability to bear more than others can and He has done that for a reason – so that we can bear some of the burdens for others. Then He also creates some of us who need the support of others so that we can draw closer to them. What we tend to do is to worry too much about what we can do and what we can get out of the lives we lead… How about looking into what someone else needs in their life rather than your own…
We all do like to be able to help others at some time or another and we all like to care for others; but we do tend to pick and choose who we care for and who we help out. What Christ was trying to teach others was that we need to care for all people and we need to help out all people. Sometimes that is going to be our friends and neighbours and other time it may well be someone on the other side of the world. We live in a world where things like that are now possible!
But the best results are going to come from the people we can love and care for around us. Those people that are part of our lives even if they don’t think they are. The people we see a lot of or the people we think of a lot. Just because we see them every day or very often does not always mean that we are taking care of them or helping them. But when we do stop and make a difference, God notices and they notice as well. That is when the biggest differences are made!
Points to Ponder:
Do you like to help others?
Is God seeing the difference you make for them?
Monday Reading: Matthew 3 7-9
Key Verse: Matthew 3 9
and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
Devotion:
What makes you a Christian? Is it the fact that you celebrate Christmas each year? Is it the fact that you go to a church service most Sundays? Is it the fact that you go to mass as often as you can? Is it the fact that you read your bible or daily devotions regularly? Is it the fact that you give money to the church every week? Is it the fact that you work for a church? Is it the fact that you have learned many bible verses and can quote them? Is it the fact that you passed exams to say that you can teach others about God? Is it the fact that you have been baptised?
John made it quite clear to the Pharisees and Sadducees who were coming forward to be baptised that they needed more than this! He warned them that they could say all that they wanted and could have all sorts of learned qualifications and even be baptised, but unless they had asked Christ to forgive them of their sins, they had nothing! He was warning them of the things to come because Christ was not well known at this stage; but the warning was dire. They needed to believe in Jesus or lose their souls…
Christ backed these words up by telling us that He was the Messiah that had come to save the world and that people would need to believe that He was and is this Messiah. The religious people at the time had all manner of religious acts that they had to perform in order to make them religious, but no acts to bring them to repentance. Christ simply wants us to know that we have broken God’s laws and that we need to come to Him humbly and ask for His forgiveness. Without that forgiveness we will not have our sins washed away and we will be sending ourselves to hell.
Yes that is as serious as it can get! John was not telling them that if they were good enough they could get to heaven. He did not tell them they could get to heaven by doing good things or by being baptised. He did not tell them that being in church was good enough. He told them that they needed to believe in Jesus and ask for His forgiveness. It is Jesus that has given His life for our sins. We need to believe that and recognise that by bringing our sins to Him and asking Him for forgiveness. Then we can be called a Christians!
Points to Ponder:
Do you actually believe what Jesus did for you?
Have you asked Him for forgiveness?
Sunday Reading: Isaiah 11 1-5
Key Verse: Isaiah 11 2
The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
Devotion:
It is amazing to see God’s plans going into action just as they did many years ago. When the prophets foretold of the coming of the Messiah it was quite descriptive and showed a wonderful promise for the people to look forward to. Now that we have seen how Jesus came to be with us and all that He accomplished whilst with us in human form we can marvel at how God’s plan was lived out. But then this is not the finish because His plan continues!
The birth of Jesus was prophesied about in many ways right from the beginning but it was when these prophets came forward with descriptions of how blessed we would be with such an awesome presence that people probably started to take notice. When we look back on things we probably wonder why all of the Jews could not see that Jesus was the Messiah but then they may have been caught up in many things in their lives.
We like to say how much they were caught up in building up their religion instead of seeking God through Christ. We like to say how they had made their religious acts more important that their relationship with God. We like to say all sorts of things which make us feel a bit better… But how are we treating Christ in our modern lives? Are we promoting Christ as the Messiah still? Are we giving Him the reverence and glory that He alone deserves? Or are we simply saying the right stuff and continuing on with our own plans so that we can still be in charge?
One thing I have learned over the past years is that if you try to take control away from God then you will fail! God in the one who set forward the plan for this world and He alone knows what is going to happen next. We have been told about the things that are still to come and we have been told about all of the things that have happened in the past, but we don’t know the details like God does. We need to make sure that we remember He is God and He knows what will happen and when. Give Him the glory!
Points to Ponder:
Have you been given authority with anything?
Are you allowing God to be in charge?