Saturday Reading: Psalms 78 35-39
Key Verse: Psalms 78 38
38 But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.
Devotion:
If there is one thing that will wear you down it is sin in your life. Despite people having a certain knowledge that God is God, each of us still has various ways in which we doubt and it is at times when we are doubting that we are weak and give in to temptation bringing sin into our lives; that in turn continues to weaken our spirits. When we bring that sin into our lives it begins to drive a wedge between us and God, a wedge that will separate us from God if we are not careful.
We can be ever thankful that God is merciful and longsuffering toward us because it is through His mercy alone that we survive. We are the ones who grow weary and give up; God is the one who grows weary but continues to stand by us with patience that endures throughout everything we do. We may know God as our Saviour and our King, but we still grow weary and we still cave in or give in at times.
We may not think that we give in but each word that comes out in haste after things have gone astray is another way in which we give in. Each thought that dwells and breaks us on the inside is another way in which we falter. Each lie we tell just to get our own way or to try and fix things according to our rules is another way in which we give in. If truth be told then we are continually giving in a taking a chance at the world instead of being steadfast in God and in His Word.
It is by standing steadfastly in God’s Word that we gain strength and remain close to Him and His ways. For our hearts to be right with God we have to continually aim at living our lives with Him at the centre. The first commandments given to Moses for the people of Israel were to love God above everything and that is exactly why they were the first commandments. It is only when we do focus on God that our hearts remain true to Him and we can live our lives with more confidence that we will do the right things.
Points to Ponder:
What do you love in life?
Do you love God more than that?
Friday Reading: Habakkuk 3 1-2
Key Verse: Habakkuk 3 2
2 O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.
Devotion:
Depending on who you go to to find out what these verses mean you will get some pretty different results and that appears to be a big problem with many people; however when we study God’s Word and allow Him to guide us through our studies He will show us what we need to know. Sometimes it will take a while before we shut the world out and take in what He is trying to teach us, but we will get there in the end.
Scientists and historians will always make up their own accounts of what people were thinking when they wrote texts many years ago; but in reality we cannot ever get to know what other people were actually thinking. What we need is to listen to what they said and apply that to the circumstances at the time to get the closest possible understanding of what we think they were up to – but for true understanding we do need extra input from someone that does actually know what they were thinking because it is God who placed those thoughts in their minds at that time.
These words were written by Habakkuk to remind us that it is God who is in charge and God who is in control. I know that we are the ones who chose our paths in life, but it is God who has defined the world around us and the environment that He sets up for us is so that we may make informed choices. But if we ignore His input and try to make sense out of the world without Him we will quickly find out that we cannot make sense of the world because we cannot understand everything.
When we take these prophetic words written by Habakkuk we can apply them to many circumstances simply because we cannot fully understand all that he was going through or to what he was applying the words at the time. But God has made sure that we do have these words for a reason and that it to make sure we understand His omnipotence. God provides the support for us when we are scared. He supplies the wisdom when we seek. He builds us up when we fall down. He revives us when we are flagging. God is what we need in our lives more than anything the world can give us!
Points to Ponder:
What do you find hard to understand?
Do you still depend on God?
Thursday Reading: Psalms 90 12-17
Key Verse: Psalms 90 16
16 Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children.
Devotion:
If you really want to be better at something that others then you will have to learn more, try harder, experience more and much more in order to be able to be better. When it comes down to God’s Word and His instruction then we have to be better prepared when it comes to learning more about Him. In order to do our best for God we should learn us much as we can from Him and aim for that knowledge and wisdom to be the very best – which means learning from the very best teacher we have; The Holy Spirit.
We like to think that we will ask for the right reasons when we pray for things, but when we sit back and think of the real reasons we begin to see that much of what we ask for is for our own merit and not for the benefit of others. For some time I have tried to make a conscious effort to pray for the merit and benefit of others instead of myself; but each time I come back to the realisation that much of what I ask for will benefit me in the long run as well. Do I feel guilty about this? Well no, not really, because my first plea is on behalf of others for their benefit.
God wants us to be cheerful givers even though we may see that we do not always have things going our way. There are going to be tough times as well as the good times. We need to continue depending on God during the good times and during the rough times and during both those times we need to show others that we are always depending on God so that they can be strengthened through our example as well. We need to be glad of the comfort and help that He will bring us during the tough times and hence encourage others to actively seek God at all times as well.
God has shown us more support than we could ever ask for. He has shown it to His people time and time again with the hopes that we will eventually cotton on to the fact that He wants to help us every step of our lives. God wants us to know that He is on our side and not against us. As a final show He allowed His only Son to come and live amongst us in human form to teach and instruct us in a way that we could not argue with. All throughout this He has given us the choice…
Points to Ponder:
Who do you seek to glorify?
Do you lift up Christ for all He has done?
Wednesday Reading: 2 Chronicles 20 20-23
Key Verse: 2 Chronicles 20 20
20 And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
Devotion:
Jehoshaphat pleaded with the people to trust in the Lord with everything. His plea to the troops was that they should trust God to deliver them instead of trusting in their own power and strength. The army had reason to believe in themselves but they also had doubts; God wanted them to put aside the doubts they had and give them all to God. Just the same nowadays, God wants us to put aside our doubts and trust Him to be able to deliver us from the impossible situations that we will find ourselves in.
When we have a firm belief in the power and might of God we gain strength from that and our faith remains firm. With that faith we are able to give our burdens fully to God so that He can deliver us from our situations. Jehoshaphat wanted the army to look back through history and over what God had done for them in the past so that they would be more willing to believe in His ways. The prophets were given instruction and prophesies from God that would come to pass – this would strengthen the people’s belief so that their faith would remain firm.
But it was not going to be left to chance for each person to try and figure things out for themselves; instead God wanted them to appoint singers and leaders that would be able to encourage the people toward the truth. It is one thing knowing about a truth, but until you start to share that truth with others it remains a useless truth. But when we share that truth with others it can be used to strengthen others just a God has intended it.
God wants us to share the truth so that others can draw on the same faith that we will display. If we continue to hide it under the proverbial bushel, then we are not going to be strengthening anyone. We need to tell others of our experiences so that they can enjoy the faith we know. Moses told others and showed them the power of God. Jehoshaphat told others and showed them that depending on God was more than worth it.
Points to Ponder:
Do you share your faith?
Are you strengthened through others display of their own faith?
Tuesday Reading: Exodus 14 21-31
Key Verse: Exodus 14 31
31 And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses.
Devotion:
I cannot begin to think what it would be like to see huge walls of water under perfect control. Seeing a huge wave bearing down on you and feeling totally out of control is one thing, but seeing that huge wall of water standing still like a brick wall is beyond our normal thinking. Moses only had to stretch out his hand over the sea in response to God’s command to be able to part the Red Sea. It was not the fact that Moses was stretching forward his hands but the fact that this was God’s commandment.
Without God we are just human beings but with God we can be so much more. Moses was just a man until God used him to free the Hebrews from captivity in Egypt. When they were trapped between the Egyptian army and the Red Sea they were reduced to their own selves without a hope; at that moment they had to depend on God in order to survive. When they turned to God they were delivered in a way that goes beyond our normal comprehension and a way that we can remember as miraculous.
Our God is a God of the possible and the impossible. If we are willing to believe wholly in Him and His power then we too can be delivered from the impossible situations that we will find ourselves in. Moses was willing to trust in the unseen God for everything and he was willing to display that trust to others so that they could draw from that faith. Our lot is to be that same example to others that Moses was to the people around him. God wants us to trust in Him for everything so that we can enjoy a fulfilling life with Him.
If we are willing to learn from the past then we are going to be able to learn how to depend on God. He has given us so many examples through which we can learn how much He cares for us and how much He wants to show us that fact. Throughout history we have examples showing us His power and might being used for us to help us and against us when we rebel. We must try not to be like the people of Israel as they continue to be scared and doubted His power; but instead to be more like the prophets and apostles as they depended on God for their lot.
Points to Ponder:
How much do you trust God?
How much do you really trust Him?