Friday Reading: Psalms 105 40-45
Key Verse: Psalms 105 45
45 That they might observe His statutes and keep His laws. Praise the Lord!
Devotion:
This is one of the psalms written by David and was written as a song to remind the people of many of the things that God had done for Israel so that they would be reminded of His Word continually. The ark of the covenant was being brought back and David wanted the people to remember their Lord and to praise Him for all He had done in their past and promised for their future. Often we need reminding of what God has done just so that we do remember to praise Him.
If we are feeling down because not everything is going our way, or we are feeling hard done by because the world does not understand our ways, we still need to be joyful and lift up our God in praise for all that He does in our lives. Just because we cannot see what He is preparing or because we have forgotten what He did for us yesterday does not mean that He is not doing something for us today!
God has accomplished so much in our lives even though we have done so many things against Him and contributed to the evil and despair of the world around us. In spite of all that we do get wrong, God is still willing and able to lift us up and prepare us for the new life that we will have with Him in glory. He has given us His Word and has made sure that we have ready access to it so that we can learn it and remember it. If we continue to ignore God’s Word then we will not be able to live our lives for Him and will continue working against Him instead. God’s plan is for us to know His Word, apply it in our lives and live for the future that we have with Him
God has not given us the law so that it will bring us down into a pit of despair but rather that it will lift us up and encourage us to live our lives for Him and not against Him. God has continued to show us mercy and grace over the years so that we know that He loves us and wants us to live a good life with Him. He continues to bring things into our world so that we will be encouraged and not discouraged. It is the world and the corrupt nature of man that brings in all the sin and strife that bring us down and separate us from God. Praise the Lord for all He does do in your life!
Points to Ponder:
Do people get you down?
Do you allow God to lift you up?
Thursday Reading: Psalms 19 7-10
Key Verse: Psalms 19 7
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
Devotion:
When we go out and tell people that our bibles contain God’s words to us we often get people telling us we are bible bashers or other names. But when we turn round and tell them that what is written down is of much greater importance than gold or silver we then get some pretty strange looks too! So let us take a closer look at what we do have in our Bibles. We have God’s Word. These are the words written down by various men over the ages who were inspired by God to write them down for our benefit.
We may think we are quite intelligent or very practical or even hard workers who can get things done; but when we compare what we can do to what God has done we begin to see how insignificant we are in comparison. It is not that God wants to make us look small but rather that He wants us to know the truth about who and what we are. We are a race of beings who are actually very corrupt and do many bad things – just take a look at the news and see how corrupt men are the world over!
God’s Word gives us the truth and allows us to see that we cannot compare to that truth or to the righteousness that God portrays through His Word. In order that we do understand this we need something to compare our lives against; and that is God’s Word! By reading His Word and putting it all together we find out about our God and how much He loves us because of the complete history He gives us through the bible. We gain faith by seeing how much He has done and how that compares with earth’s history. We then take the parts of the bible that teach us about what God still has in store for us and we can then build up a healthy trusting relationship with Him.
This is the truth that we need to take with us so that others can be introduced to it as well. The more we read up and understand God the more we are able to take what we learn with us and show others just how much God means to us, how much He has displayed to us and how much more we still hold in His promises for our future. It is that future life with Him that gives us the most peace of mind and builds up our faith in trusting Him. When we put this all together we see just how important God’s Word is to us every day of our lives!
Points to Ponder:
Do you trust God’s Word?
Are you living with God’s Word?
Wednesday Reading: Psalms 23 1-6
Key Verse: Psalms 23 3
3 He restores my soul;…
Devotion:
I have seen this Psalms written in many places but the places where it has more of an affect is where it is written in a dire surrounding. Seeing it written on a wall in a ruined town after a war or seeing it written on a soldiers helmet are two that spring to mind whenever I read this psalm. God is the God of all comfort!
When we get down or feel alone, this should be one of the passages that springs to mind and strengthens us. I know situations surround us and we get really depressed or find it hard to see any comfort in anything, but when we rest in Christ’s arms we will find that we have not considered Him and that is why we feel alone! God is always with us, just like a good shepherd will always keep an eye on the sheep and will go that extra mile to ensure that they are safe at all times; but when a sheep starts to panic because they cannot see the shepherd they bleat and moan like anything!
Just like that, we tend to bleat and moan when we think that God is not with us. Just because we have not looked up to see if God is there does not mean that he is not there! Just because we have our eyes closed does not mean that He cannot see us! When we sit down and read a few verses from His Word each day we can learn just how much He is with us by the comfort, peace, wisdom and love that He shares with us through His Word. I know there have been many times when I have felt really down and I have not read my bible because I have thought that I ‘just could not face it’… That is exactly the time when we do need to stop everything and pick up God’s Word and read it!
If a person facing death can gain strength from the words of this Psalms then imagine what we could gain from all of God’s Word if only we took some of it in. If we continue to remain with our eyes and hearts closed to God, then how are we ever going to accept all the love that He wants to share with us? In order the receive the gifts from God we have to accept them; and that may well mean going to Him to find out what He has for us rather than waiting for the knock on the door!
Points to Ponder:
Do you struggle alone?
Or do you reach out to God?
Tuesday Reading: Psalms 7 3-5
Key Verse: Psalms 7 5
5 Let the enemy pursue me and overtake me; Yes, let him trample my life to the earth, And lay my honour in the dust. Selah
Devotion:
What would you be willing to allow into your life just to prove your innocence in a certain matter? Would you be willing to give up everything just to prove a point? I know that I have been accused of things in the past and I’m still not sure how far I would go to prove my innocence or whether I would just walk away from things and hope that the dust would settle!
David had been publically accused of lying in wait for Saul and most people probably got to hear about these accusations because they were against the King at the time, Saul. What David was pleading for was for God’s mercy and justice to be what came from all of the accusations. He knew in his own heart that he was right and even though people in high places had accused him of wrongful things, he wanted the truth to come out.
David was not willing to make a public example of his accusers but rather that he should have public shame brought upon himself if he had done things wrong as they had said. He was willing to have God as his judge and willing to stand up to what God would allow his way. He was not requiring and judgment from man and he was not requiring that God should judge his accusers for spreading lies; he simply wanted God to show him whether he was right or not.
David was willing that God should allow his enemy to pursue him and run him down if there were grounds to what was being said. I know that I have come to trust God more as I walk in this world. I know that I will come up against men because I try to live for God. I know I will be accused of things just because I dare to trust God instead of man’s ways. But the more that I hear of people following man’s laws instead of trusting God to deliver them, the more that I want to trust God just to show others that God’s ways are always right!
Points to Ponder:
Do you trust God?
Do you trust Him with your reputation?
Monday Reading: 1 John 3 16-21
Key Verse: 1 John 3 20
20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.
Devotion:
How do we know if it is right? How do we know if we are following what is righteous? How do we know that God has told us the truth? The most amazing thing is that when we do invite Christ to be in our lives, He makes sure that our consciences are kept in line with His will. When we have the Holy Spirit come to dwell in our hearts He makes sure that we do know if we go against His will by giving us that uncomfortable or on edge feeling. But when we are following in His footsteps and doing His will, our hearts are filled with the love that He has shown us.
When we work against God we are left with those uncomfortable feelings and we begin to understand why we feel that way. It is our own desires, the pride and foolishness that we cling to that will prevent us from knowing the truth. God’s love is far greater than any feeling we can come up with and so we will know that the ultimate truth is governed by God and not our own desires.
The first steps that we do have to take are to make sure that we are sharing the love of Christ with others. If we are going to tell others of this great love and then not show others that we do accordingly, we are just saying the right stuff and not doing it. That is not what God has required of us. The Scribes and Pharisees were sticking to the letter of the law and they were certainly not displaying that love to others. We should not fall into that same trap by saying and not doing…
Just like King David’s heart made him feel condemned for what he had done by ordering the census, we too will have our own consciences pricked by the Holy Spirit if we work against His will. I thank The Lord that He is patient and forgiving in His ways so that He allows us to see the truth even when we are working against it at times. Trust what God has given you, but make sure that you follow His Word to confirm your feelings!
Points to Ponder:
Do you go with your heart?
Do you confirm your hearts desires through God’s Word?