Friday Reading: 1 Corinthians 2 10-15
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 2 12
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
Devotion:
God, through His Word and His Spirit has revealed to us many spiritual things; to the world these seem foolishness because they cannot comprehend them based on their initial assumption that God is not real. Yet we know, through what He has revealed to us, that the fool has said in his own heart that there is no God. When we accept Christ into our lives we take on a whole new understanding of God’s Word through what the Holy Spirit reveals to us from that point onward. Before we knew Him we lived in certain darkness and could not understand the things of God either.
Nobody can know the things of God apart from the Spirit of God; just as nobody can ever know what goes on inside our own minds apart from our own spirits. But through His teaching us we can learn and know many things that are not known to others because the Holy Spirit indwells us, giving us access to such knowledge unknown to normal man.
When we study the life of the apostles we find that they were not guided by the Scribes of Pharisees as were the Jew but rather they were given guidance by the Holy Spirit such as was required by each one. God guides us as we need it as long as we are willing to listen to Him and to accept His guidance. The world cannot accept this guidance because they do not have access to it and will look upon such guidance as unacceptable because it may go against their own vain principles. God is not concerned with the vanity of man but with the truth that He has been giving us since the beginning of time.
We have our bibles which contain all we need to know in order to get to know God and to accept Jesus Christ as our Saviour. From that moment onward we accept guidance from the Holy Spirit as He teaches us from within. The pride of mortal men blocks the basic understanding that will bring them to salvation – but once that pride has been broken we can move forward and upward with God without restraint. We need to remain spiritual so that we can continue to accept His guidance. Once we turn back to worldly ways we lose touch with Him and we lose understanding in our daily walk. God wants us close so that we can walk with Him continually.
Points to Ponder:
Do you seek God’s guidance?
Are you walking close to Him so that you can accept His guidance?
Thursday Reading: Romans 11 33-36
Key Verse: Romans 11 36
36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
Devotion:
Have you ever sat on the edge of a cliff and looked down at the depths of the valley below? Or maybe on a really high skyscraper and looked down at the “ant-like” people walking on the payments below? It is only when we take a look at things from a very different perspective that we begin to see the whole picture that we are looking at. Seeing a picture on the screen as opposed to the reality of a situation are two very different things.
Paul knew full well the power and might of God and yet each time he was shown a bit more of God’s might he marvelled a bit more. When Paul looked at the perfect nature of God and His amazing judgement he stood amazed once more. He knew that nobody could ever hope to know what God knows and that nobody would ever be able to think in the same way as God; but he also knew that God continued to uphold His laws throughout history. God is the perfect judge and we do not have to second guess what God can or should do because His judgment is always final and perfect.
There is nothing that we can do that God has not already seen or that He does not already know about. There is nothing that we could ever make, build or do that God does not already know about because we are His creation and not the other way round. Man likes to think that he is the great inventor or that he is original in some way but God is the only original and He alone knows everything.
We need to keep in mind that God is omniscient, omnipotent and beyond reproach. God is the one who first created things and nothing that is would ever have been if it were not for God allowing it in the first place. That may sound like we blame everything on God but that is far from the truth. We cannot blame sin on God because He is without sin. We cannot blame all the bad things on God because we are the ones who allowed sin into our lives to start with. God wants a personal relationship with every one of His creations and that includes us. Animals may start with that personal relationship built in but we have to make the choice of following God first of all.
Points to Ponder:
Do you stand in awe of God?
Do you try to fix God?
Wednesday Reading: Job 12 6-11
Key Verse: Job 12 6
6 The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.
Devotion:
We sometimes look at our lives and wonder if things could get worse… What about looking at Job’s life and seeing just how bad things can get – at least how bad they can get without actually dying! We may see that dying is the worst thing that can happen to us, after all we will no longer be alive! But there are plenty of things that will probably have us begging to die rather continuing to live in those circumstances.
Even though Job went through so much pain and agony and agonised over being allowed to die rather than having to live under these pains he was going through, he continued to lift up God as his creator God. We can look at things in a very worldly way and wonder why thieves and murders should be allowed to live the way they are without being put to death or being “zapped” by God. But then we need to remember what we are and what God is. We are just another human being, another one of those people that are going to sin sooner or later, another sinner. God does not sin…
We only need to look at the animals and birds to find out just how special we actually are. The animals will show us our awesome God through their dependence upon Him for the lives they live. They would not be around if it were not for God. They are not like thieves and murders because they simply obey God and His creation laws. They continue to live according to His design and totally depend on Him for their existence. We have been given a choice as to how we would like to live and we choose which laws we are going to follow or not. If we choose to break the laws then we are choosing to separate ourselves from God because He cannot abide sin.
None of the animals, or us for that matter, were created through some random chance or accidental happening. God created things after their own kind so that they can exist and continue to breed after their own kind. Job saw that and understood that. He also understood that God created us in His own image so that we could have free will and choice. We can choose to sin and live in sin, or we can choose to break away from that sin so that we can walk closer with Him every day. We cannot judge God or others, but we can judge the way that we are because God has given us a conscience that allows us to see good and bad.
Points to Ponder:
Do you listen to your conscience?
Do you listen to God?
Tuesday Reading: Matthew 11 25-30
Key Verse: Matthew 11 25
25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
Devotion:
When these verses are used most people will focus on the fact that Christ was telling others to cast their burden upon Him because He wants to be able to help us and for us not to be burdened down with so much that we cannot be effective servants for Him. But today I want us to be reminded that it is God’s power and might that makes this all possible. It is not so much the fact that we can cast our burdens on Him because He can bear it but the fact that His omnipotence delivers where everything else falls short!
We need to be able to come to Him as thankful and grateful children, not lifting ourselves up or thinking that we are strong and mighty, but to come to Him in reverence and acknowledge that He is God over all. All wisdom and power come from Him. All grace and mercy start with Him. There is none besides Him that can take this place and none other that we can look up to in this way. Jesus Christ Himself, though God in flesh, looked up to His Father God as the only power and might. How can we ever look up to anyone else if Jesus did so as our example?
We are given the confidence to be able to approach God through Jesus Christ because He invited us to do so. He invited us to place our burdens on Him so that he can lift us up above the strife of the world to allow us to see God more clearly. God had given all power and might into the hands of Jesus Christ and yet Jesus still lifted up His name above all names. We are swayed by much less powerful people in our lives and we give in to the temptation to follow them instead of remembering that God has given them that position. Let us not be slaves to Satan and give in to the lusts of the world, flesh and mind but let us give in to God and allow Him to guide our thoughts and spirits effectively.
Let us not try to labour in vain to build up our own righteousness; there is none righteous besides God and we need to give Him the glory for that. We need to work toward showing others the righteousness of our God and our Saviour because ours are filthy rags before Him. It is, instead, our duty to bring our “everything” before Christ and to place it all in His care and on His shoulders. He has invited us to do so, let us obey Him now and forever.
Points to Ponder:
Do you work to promote your name?
Do you promote the name of God?
Monday Reading: Daniel 2 20-23
Key Verse: Daniel 2 23
23 I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king's matter.
Devotion:
There are some people who can tell a story from the bible and while they are telling you nothing else matters other than the words they bring to you. I am lucky enough to work with someone like this and when she is teaching the children I think I may often be more spellbound by her way of teaching than some of the children! I know that our Lord is the one who has given her this wonderful gift and one that so many children look forward to each week as we share God’s Word with them.
Daniel was a man who was under no illusion that God was the only one in charge. He knew that he would not be in the position he was if it were not for God and he knew that it was God alone that deserved all the credit. When I read back these devotions a couple of months after they have been written I am surprised at the way that God allows me to bring out His Word as well and I am certainly under no illusion that it is me. My school career proved that I was no great writer as I struggled with my grasp of the English language; but over a decade ago God encouraged me to move forward in my walk with Him by sharing His Word with others – He gives me the inspiration to do what I could never do before.
Let us lift up God’s name together and acknowledge that He is the one who does give us the strength and might to take His name and His word forward to teach others. We may not feel like we can do anything, but if we are willing to allow God to work through us then we will be amazed at His might and power as well. Daniel blessed the Lord for showing him what nobody else could. Nebuchadnezzar himself could not even remember the dream so there is no way that Daniel could make up any stories about what was to be the interpretation.
God’s power and might go far beyond what we can comprehend but in order to be able to see that we have to believe it and to trust in Him. I still struggle with giving everything to God because I cannot see ways forward in my own life; but the more I get to know God the more I am able to give to Him and wait patiently for His will to be done and His power to be revealed to me and those around me. Our God is the God of Wonders! Never sell Him short!
Points to Ponder:
What do you struggle with in life?
Are you giving it to God?