Saturday Reading: Psalms 2 1-4
Key Verse: Psalms 2 2
2 The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
Devotion:
Sometimes we look at modern societies and we like to think that man is so very different now in that he seems to be working against everything of God. But when we read Psalms like this we must realise that man has been like this for a very long time and that we do have so much to learn from our history. The people that work against Christ, leave Him out of the community, reject His ways and covet after the ways of man are much the same as they have always been!
Man’s ways are corrupt and he chooses to steer his path away from the righteous ways of God. Man does not want to be shown up as being corrupt or bad in any way so He hides the good and righteous ways so that his own ways may be seen as being ok! It runs all the way through society from the high up officials down to the lowest servants – man does not want to be shown up!
But no matter how much we get up to, we have a God who does see everything that is going on at all times. Our God continues to see everything as it happens and right up close too. He is with us every day of our lives and has to put up with all the things that we do against Him! We continue breaking the rules and living our lives the way we want them so that our consciences may be dulled somewhat, giving us excuses to live the way we want. Just because we change our own minds does not means that we are changing God’s ways!
God will always have the last say in everything because we are the one who will have to face Him in the end and make account of all that we have done in our lives. If we were able to obey God’s rules and stick to His Word then we may well get closer to having heaven on earth – but the sad fact is that we cannot keep our own word, never mind God’s Word! Christ has been given all power both in heaven and on earth and we are accountable to Him. He has defined our consciences and not we ourselves.
Points to Ponder:
Do you think you are different?
Do you know that God knows you?
Friday Reading: 1 John 2 15-17
Key Verse: 1 John 2 16
16 For all that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life - is not of the Father but is of the world.
Devotion:
How often do you get caught up in the physical things around you and get side-tracked away from worshipping God? We are all guilty of doing this at some stage in our lives, whether it is simply going down to the beach instead of going into church because it’s such a lovely day, or sitting playing a game on the computer instead of reading your bible. We all get carried away by things around us; there is nothing new here because that is exactly how Satan tempted us in the beginning and continue to do so every day of our lives!
We live in this world and we will always have to put up with the evil one placing things in our paths that will tempt us away from a righteous relationship with Christ. But that does not mean that we have to give in and do with the flow like the rest of the world is; we do have a choice to turn our backs on the things of the world. It is not always going to be an easy choice because our friends and family will tell us that we can give in just this once… What we need to do is to follow The Holy Spirit whom God has given us as our guide in our everyday lives.
God is going to give us time off. God is going to give us good times. God is going to give us creature comforts. What we don’t need to be doing is making those things the focus of our lives because once we do that we focus on them more and more and on God less and less! That is how Satan is going to tempt us, but making those things look more and more important and the things of God will begin to fade if we are not careful.
We are the ones who allow the things of God to fade from our lives by not keeping them in the forefront of our lives. If you want a copper kettle to remain shiny then you have to take care of it regularly otherwise it will tarnish over time. If we expect God’s Word to grow in our lives while we ignore it, then we are sadly mistaken! We need to spend time in God’s Word and make that time profitable too!
Points to Ponder:
What is important in your life?
How prominent if God in your life?
Thursday Reading: John 5 39-44
Key Verse: John 5 39
39 You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,
Devotion:
Have you ever noticed that there are some things in life that take you away from God? If you have time to think about some of the things that separate you from a right relationship with God then now is the time to sit and think a while. Some of the sin in our lives is pretty obvious and we all know why those things take us away from God, but what about things which actually seem right? I’m talking about the religious things that we get up to that become habits and start to take up all of our time, time that we should be spending with God instead.
The Jews had made an art of the law as laid down by Moses – that is the way that they were looking at it and that is the way that it was going to be! God had given Moses strict laws and they were going to make sure that they were kept. What they did not count on was that their own imaginations would get them so caught up in the law that they would leave Christ out of it!
If we are not careful then we too will get too caught up in our religious lives and we too will leave Christ out of it. Yes we may well talk about Christ and we may well include God’s name in our conversations, but unless we include Him in our conversations then we are leaving Him out of our lives. Christ needs to be an integral part of our lives and not just something we talk about. Friends are people we do things with and not just talk about; why should we be treating Christ any differently?
God’s word gives us all we do need to know about Him, but unless we are going to use the whole of His Word and not just the parts that we want to, then we are going to miss out on the truth that He wants us to know. We need to take God’s Word and apply it to our lives, not in part but all of it. God gave it all to us so that we would know how to live with Him! Let us not seek to give each other glory any more but to lift up God and glorify Him alone!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you read your bible?
How often do you apply your bible?
Wednesday Reading: Matthew 13 44-48
Key Verse: Matthew 13 44
44 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Devotion:
There are so many verses in our bibles that you could teach a whole sermon or lesson from that we could have a few years of devotions without having to re-use the same verse; this scripture containing three simple but profound parables in one reading. The question that we should be asking ourselves here is not what we think heaven is going to be like but rather, what would we give up to make sure we obtain this gift of entry into heaven!
So many people take no notice of the gospel because they look at a few words, look at the humans in church or look at the surface of things and see nothing. I would equate this to people looking at a field and seeing nothing other than a place to grow crops. What would the archaeologist see in that same field? If we are not willing to take a closer look at what may be under the surface then we too will not see anything; but for those that are willing to dig a hole and see what is under the surface, they shall find the real treasures! They seek the truth.
So many people are caught up in what is not real because they see something they like and follow that instead of looking for the truth. We tend to get caught up in things or objects of great beauty because they please us when we look at them… but what lies beneath the surface? What is contained under the façade?
So many people are swimming round in the big ocean of life and they never get to notice the truth even though they may be sitting right next to it. If you cast a finish line into a shoal of fish, only a few will see your hook and only one is likely to get caught by that hook at a time. A net may be able to catch more of those fish, but not all. Those left behind forget about what has happened and continue on in ignorance.
We all have this choice in our lives as to whether we want to look under the surface and find God, whether we choose to just be taken away by the glittering things in life or seek the truth, and whether we will take the truth that we have learned and try to give it to others. Are we going to be selfish and take what we can or share the truth just as Christ has with all mankind?
Points to Ponder:
What do you do when you find a treasure?
What do you do with God’s Word?
Tuesday Reading: Proverbs 17 9
Key Verse: Proverbs 17 9
9 He who covers a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates friends.
Devotion:
How many times have you been hurt by something someone else has said? Probably too many to count! You are not alone. Man seems to have this aptitude of being able to say things out of turn or repeat a matter just when it should not be talked about! Most of us do not do this deliberately, but I’m pretty sure that we are all guilty of doing this – I certainly am!
There is a time and a place for everything and some of the time we are going to get things wrong. Our friends will be the ones that stand by and accept our apologies and move on with us. Bringing up a matter time and time again without thought is a good way of showing people that you care about something else rather than them. Yes it does take time and effort on all sides to be able to move on from mistakes made; but the key has got to be forgiveness.
If we are willing to forgive one another as much as Christ is willing to forgive us, then we are going to be able to move on a whole lot quicker in our lives. When we bring our sins to Christ and ask Him for forgiveness, we are assured of a full and true forgiveness that will not end and has no limits. It does not matter that we have committed the worst atrocities before God – if we are willing to come to Christ with those sins and truly place them at His feet, then He is willing to forgive us. This does not mean that we are going to be forgiven by everyone because people are people and the law of the land is the law of the land!
Don’t try going out and seeing if you can get away with a speeding ticket just because you are willing to show how very sorry you are for speeding! When our offence is against Christ and we are willing to own up to that offense, then Christ is willing to forgive us of that offense. We may still have to put up with the punishment for our sins in the eyes of man; but in God’s eyes we will be seen as forgiven! I thank God that He allowed His one and only Perfect Son to come to the cross and pay for my sins so that I may be totally forgiven!
Points to Ponder:
Are you apt to talk too much?
Do you apologise for your mouth?