Friday Reading: Colossians 1 19-23

Key Verse: Colossians 1 20
and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

Devotion:
Before we start on our walk up to Christmas I want each of us to remember one more time what Christ has done for us! Why did Jesus do what He did? Because it pleased The Father! Jesus lived a life that was for God The Father. He lived a life that brought glory to God every step of the way. Whilst that may be impossible for us to do because of our sin nature, we can still try to live as close as we can to that way!

We do have a choice as to whether we live a life that is full of sin and that breaks our relationship with God, or we can live a life that does please God. Jesus willingly went to the cross on our behalf so that we could be set free from our bondage to sin and destruction. He gave it all up for us, showing us incredible love and devotion, and He did it to please God! But isn’t He God? Yes He is, but Jesus was living as a man amongst us and He was willing and able to set His human life aside and live for God! That is our example!

We were complete strangers to God at some stage in our lives as we had walked away from Him after we grew up. It is only when we came back to Him that we saw what we had done and asked for forgiveness for our sins. Unless we have asked for that forgiveness, we are still walking with the world, away from God! This is the truth that He has shown us and the truth that we need to apply into our lives!

We have His Word, we have the gospel, we have the truth and this is what we need to live by. It is not just a story to make us happy but a way of life that we need to live by. Jesus gave us the example by living His life for God every step of the way. We now need to pick up the truth that He has shown us and walk with it, applying it in our lives and living it. That way we can walk with God and give Him the glory that He deserves for all that He has already done for us!

Points to Ponder:
Do you remember what Christ did?

Will God remember what you have done?

Thursday Reading: Colossians 1 9-14

Key Verse: Colossians 1 10
that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

Devotion:
The point about God’s Word is not just that you read it and know, but that you do it and use it! I know I have said this before, but what use is an instruction manual unless you use it! But God’s Word is so much more than an instruction manual because it gives us life, more abundantly than anything else and the life that it gives us is so much better than anything else. If we are not willing to take up that life and live it, then we are leaving behind what God is giving us and trying to do things by our own selves again.

We have this awesome knowledge and wisdom that God is trying to give us through His Word and through the Holy Spirit. Unless we pick it up and start applying it into our lives we are never going to benefit properly from it. God has gone through so much with mankind already, trying to show us the way and the truth so that we can learn to do all that is right. We are the ones who continue to do what we please instead.

God wants us to grow in knowledge and wisdom as we get to learn from all He has already done, all that He does and all that He has promised to do for us. He does not say that we are going to be able to sit back whilst He does everything for us; far from it. What God says is that we will face hardships and we will have to fight for what is right. But every step we do take with Him will be a step in Joy and fruitfulness because we will grow with Him in every one of those steps.

The whole point of exercise is that it makes us fit for purpose. God wants us to continue exercising with Him so that we will be fit for purpose for His work. He has already shown us that He has given us eternal life through Jesus Christ. He has already shown us what He is willing to do for us. He has already done this! What now are we willing to do to show Him that we are willing servants for Him?

Points to Ponder:
Do you do any exercise?

What spiritual exercise do you do?

Wednesday Reading: Matthew 25 31-46

Key Verse: Matthew 25 40
And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

Devotion:
When Jesus was telling the people about the last judgement He wanted to make sure that all of us could understand the consequences of our actions. There are those people who look at themselves and say that Christ could never exclude them from heaven because they have always been good and have always done what they thought was the right thing. But when each of us looks back on our lives there is going to be at least one time when we did something wrong…

I am not talking about picking up a big lump of wood and hitting someone over the head or any other drastic actions like that. I am talking about something like eating that last biscuit even though you knew that someone else would really have liked that biscuit. I am talking about the times when we do not go and visit someone just because we are a bit tired or lazy. Those times when the other person would not know that we have ignored them because we did not say anything in the first place… These are the times that Jesus was bringing up for discussion here.

We all do have our moments when we do something for ourselves rather than doing something for someone else. We all do have times when we think that our life should be more important than the person standing next to us or that person has not cared for themselves like we have… It is a very difficult line to draw; should we help or should we not? Do I stop or do I walk on by? Should I help or is it going to end up hurting?

God is the one who does know the right answers because He is God! Christ is the one who is going to judge us according to those perfect rules and not according to the rules we have come up with to comfort ourselves. God is holy and that means He cannot and will not accept breaking the rules… It is only because of what Christ has done for us on the cross that we are able to be declared not guilty. Thank you Jesus for what You have done for me! Guide me toward doing what You want in my life and not the things that I would prefer to do!

Points to Ponder:
Do you think you are good?

Does Christ know you personally?

Tuesday Reading: Jeremiah 23 1-6

Key Verse: Jeremiah 23 2
Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: “You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,” says the Lord.

Devotion:
The bible is God’s Word. That means that from the very beginning to the very end, it is all God’s Word. You cannot skip chapters because they talk about things you do not want to hear about or things that you think only apply to other people; this is the Word of God. So when we get stark warnings like this that should put the fear of God in us, we need to stand up and take notice!

It is no good saying that this was a warning written to the leaders of Israel who were not doing their jobs so it does not count for me. It is no good saying that we are not Jews therefore it does not apply to us. This is what God said should be written down by Jeremiah so that all people would take notice of what was going on. This warning was given to the church leaders at that time but it is still valid and absolutely true for leaders of the churches today as well. Just because we live on the other side of the world and go to a different denomination to the people of Israel does not mean that we can be lax in our leadership!

When God gives us a position where we get to teach others or lead them through discovering the bible for themselves, He is entrusting us with an awesome responsibility that must not be taken lightly! God has given you the privilege of showing someone else the truth that He has entrusted you with. That same truth that allowed you to become a child of God is now your tool to show to someone else! If you misuse that word, keep it from people or change it for your own good then you are going up against God!

He is the one who knows what each one of us get up to every second of the day. He is the one who knows what goes through our minds. He is the one who knows when we back down or when we refuse to share the gospel. These verses should be taken as if they were a final demand from God and not just a polite notice to wake you up! God is very serious about getting people to know the truth because He knows the consequences!

Points to Ponder:
Do you skip parts of your bible?

Would you like God to skip over you?