Sunday Reading: Romans 12 9-16
Key Verse: Romans 12 12
12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;
Devotion:
When you are thinking about real love, reading this passage may seem a bit alien in that you may not be able to see what all this negativity is about; but if you have ever told someone that you love them just to make them happy or to keep the peace, then you will get a whole different meaning from this passage! Love is so very pure and honest when it is real. It reaches deep down into the soul and lifts up the spirit in incredible ways that we cannot imagine until we have been there.
Loving some people is so very easy and yet loving others can be hard work when they do not let you get close. It certainly does not help when we have so much negative press with people abusing others just because they have a position of authority over them. But real Christian love will go so much further than being able to stand up to bad press, it will renew the soul and mend the broken heart.
Love must not have conditions attached to it and must never depend on someone else’s love or feelings. Love must not have limits placed on it, though we all do that! We should not have to wait until people are in a bad place before we step forward and offer them our unconditional love, because it should be exactly that, unconditional love. Love must always uphold all righteousness and must never work against God’s plan. We do get caught up in things and lose track of God’s plan at times because we are forgetting just how much God loves each of us.
Even though I am reminded every day about God’s love for me, I always seem to think that I have fallen short at some stage which brings up a barrier that is hard to get over. Trusting God’s love is hard to do until you get to experience it and depend on it; then things become a whole lot easier. We must always rejoice in the hope that we have in the love that Christ has already demonstrated to us. Be patient whilst the world around us breaks up. Always lift up your prayers to a God that listens!
Points to Ponder:
Do you like love?
Are you trusting in Christ’s love?
Saturday Reading: Mark 14 39-42
Key Verse: Mark 14 40
40 And when He returned, He found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him.
Devotion:
I’m sure that most people have experienced being very tired at some stage and I wonder how many would own up to actually falling asleep on the job! The disciples were tired, it was late at night, but Jesus knew that He still had prayers to lift up to His Father in heaven. This is an example to us to show us that we should never shy away from lifting up our own prayers either. Just because we are in the wrong place at the wrong time, or because we are running late or because we have missed out a meal; none of these should ever stop us from praying.
We could go back to Daniel in the Old Testament for our inspiration and be steadfast in our prayers no matter what we have to face up to. But this example is more than just being strong and steadfast. This is about praying when you don’t feel like it. There are going to be many times in your life when you really do not feel like praying, but those are probably going to be the times when you need it most! God is always listening and wants us to always pray!
There are many shortcuts we like to take in life and some of those seem to pay off, but shortcutting prayers does not work! We have a life to live with Christ and in order to live it with Him we need to be constant in prayers. You could say that someone was your best friend, but unless you are going to spend time talking to them and being with them, how can you maintain that friendship?
Being a friend of Christ means spending time with Him and also waiting on Him for an answer as well. What good would it be if we shouted out our prayers and then ran off to join in with the world, or did not follow that up with time in God’s Word? God speaks to us through His Word and through the people around us. But if we are hanging out with non-Christians then how are we going to hear from God when all we will hear is the world shouting through the people around us?
Points to Ponder:
Do you spend enough time with friends?
Do you spend enough time with God?
Friday Reading: Mark 13 35-37
Key Verse: Mark 13 36
36 lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping.
Devotion:
Jesus had just warned the disciples about false Christs and false prophets coming along to persuade them away from the truth; not just the disciples but the whole church. It is hard to work out just who is telling the truth until you can compare what they are saying with the actual truth – then it is quite easy to spot. God’s Word is that truth! If we continue to uphold God’s Word as the ultimate truth then we will continue to be able to spot the false prophets and discard what they are saying.
Sometimes we face people who make things sound so good and appealing that it is hard to ignore them and not be taken in by what they are saying. Satan is the master of this deception and has been doing this since the beginning of time so being taken in by him is quite easy. What we don’t realise is that the evil one will use absolutely anyone he can to get us to step away from the truth! He does not care who he uses (or abuses) and will go to great lengths to make us fall when he sees us growing stronger in Christ.
What better time to attack someone than when they are planting the foundations and building up the support structure before they grow in the truth. If he can cause cracks in the foundation or loose fittings in the support structure, then when we come to try and depend on what we think are the foundational things in our lives, we find them lacking. But if we are willing to rely on the truth, God’s Word, to keep us going, we will be able to avoid being trapped by the weaknesses in the foundations; almost like having God’s Word re-set the foundations.
I absolutely love being round people who I know read God’s Word regularly, depend on it and believe it in their hearts. Then I know that I am with people who will not be unseated by the waves of life that come our way every day. It’s not just a passing love but an enduring and real love. Thank you God!
Points to Ponder:
What do you trust absolutely in life?
How often do you build yourself up with God’s Word?
Thursday Reading: Mark 13 1-4
Key Verse: Mark 13 2
2 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
Devotion:
How many times have you marvelled at the great and beautiful buildings in various cities or countries? I am sure that most of us like to be able to go and see some of the major accomplishments of man and stand in awe of the structures. We even like to be able to go out to natural sites and stand in awe of the structures that God has created for us as well… but all of these counted as very little in Christ’s eyes!
God is the one who knows what is going to happen in the future and He alone has the power to keep or take what He wishes; and that also means that He has the power to throw down all of man’s greatest accomplishments and build up His own instead. This does not mean that God is going to destroy every big building just so that man will not be so proud but rather that it is not up to us but up to God! Let us never put a higher estate on anything we do than God allows because when we do we will be disappointed!
We need to give God the glory for things that we see around us and not to continue building up ourselves in His stead! We need to remember who has given us the power to be able to do the things that we can do. We need to realise that we can do nothing unless Christ allows it! We may think that there are a greater portion of people that are working against Christ in our modern world, but if we take time to study God’s Word we will see that there has always been a large section of mankind who does not give the proper reverence to God.
That does not mean that man is going to get away with anything just because it has been so for that many years! Christ gave the warning back when He was walking with the disciples that all of the pomp and ceremony built up by mankind will count as nothing when the time comes. Let us therefore lift up the things of God and give Him all the glory!
Points to Ponder:
Do you have any great skills?
Do you use them for God?
Wednesday Reading: Genesis 43 11-14
Key Verse: Genesis 43 14
14 And may God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother and Benjamin. If I am bereaved, I am bereaved!”
Devotion:
When you get to a point in your life when you do not have much left, are you willing to give a little more just so that you can survive a bit longer? And if you are going to give a little more, to what purpose are you working toward? Are you giving so that you can gain a reward which you hope will be greater than your own gift, or are you willing to give what you have so that others can gain more?
That should be the type of question that every Christian should be willing to ask themselves and then to answer truthfully as well. Yes we could all say that we are willing to lose everything for a good cause, but the time will come when God may ask you to give that little bit that you have saved just so that someone else can survive a while longer and get to know Christ. All things work to the good and glory of Christ so we should not hold back for our own sakes.
I know it is easy to talk about and hard to do! I used to think that I could get myself into almost every bad position that life could throw at me, but each time I have been there I have realised that there are people in need that I have met during those times, people in greater need than me even though I thought I had hit rock bottom! I guess God is showing me that there are deeper and deeper pits that people get themselves into, but none are so great that He cannot reach down into them and lift people up.
Are you willing to give your life to God so that He can use you to reach down into a deeper pit than you have known before? Are you willing to lose everything? Jacob was willing to put everything on the line just so that he could support his family. When missionaries go out in faith to reach others, they go out expecting God to allow them to do His work. Each of us should be willing to give up our belongings to be able to do God’s work, having faith that He will enable us to do so; even if we get very uncomfortable doing that work!
Points to Ponder:
Do you look for easy jobs?
Are you willing to get down to do God’s will?