Monday Reading: 1 Samuel 12 16-18
Key Verse: 1 Samuel 12 18
18 So Samuel called unto the LORD; and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.
Devotion:
We expect certain weather patterns at certain times of the year; a couple of months back we had snow showers at the beginning of April instead of rain showers – something that would not have been predicted at all under normal circumstances. The thunder and rain that God sent after Samuel prayer for it was certainly not expected either. Our weather people like to think that they can predict weather at a reasonable time before it happens but there are many cases where they have to admit defeat and say that the weather is just too unpredictable to say what will happen for certain.
Samuel had absolute faith that what he said would happen because God would reveal things to him before they would happen. God had tried to get the attention of the people of Israel but they refused to listen and so He told Samuel to prophesy that they would have this absurd weather to get their attention. The people had chosen to have a human king to rules over them instead of having God Himself to rules over them; the result was not unexpected when we look back on it, but to them at the time it was totally unexpected.
When we choose our own ways instead of God’s ways we don’t expect things to go wrong; instead we believe that things should be going well because we are in charge. We may even be on a ‘high’ as we continue to move in line with what we think is right. We may even go as far as thinking that it was God who supplied what we have chosen and hence it must be a blessing from God and His will.
If we really want to know about God’s will in our lives then we have to listen to Him all the time and not just when we think we need to. That may involve doing things that we do not want to do because we simply do not know what is best for ourselves. God knows what we need and what is best for us; so when He gives us the answers we need to listen and obey without argument. Yes that may well be difficult because of our need to have independence and self-control, but allowing God control in infinitely better no matter what.
Points to Ponder:
Do you think you know best?
Will you listen to God?
Sunday Reading: Matthew 17 24-27
Key Verse: Matthew 17 25
25 He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers?
Devotion:
There was absolutely no reason for Peter doubting that Jesus would pay the appropriate temple tax because he knew Jesus was just. Christ already knew what they had asked Peter about and so He stopped Peter from asking the question in the first place and asked him a question instead. Jesus asked Peter what he thought of the situation to get an honest answer out of him. How Jesus presented the question was a bit different because He wanted to extract the correct answer instead of throwing doubt into Peter’s mind.
When we face others we often ask questions that will trip them up instead of getting the most information out of them. We also tend to do things like put people down by our words instead of lifting them up with encouragement. In fact the questions that we ask others quite often end up driving a wedge between us and them rather than smoothing any situation. But when it comes to speaking within families we often spend a bit more time before asking the question so that we do not offend our friends or relatives.
If we are going to charge anybody for doing a service then we are far more likely to charge strangers than our own friends and relatives – indeed we may well allow friends and relatives to get free service through us rather than to have to pay like anybody else.
Jesus wanted the disciples to see that God did not want them to be charged with having to pay for the privilege of meeting with Him. God wants us to have free and ready access to Him at any time and not only after we have paid enough money to get past some guards that are only there to extract money and not to serve God. By rights Jesus should not have to pay any tax because not only was he a direct descendant of Kind David, but He also is the actual Son of God! Both these positions should make Him exempt; but Jesus paid the tax because He wanted others to see that the religious leaders were extracting unlawful taxes at any opportunity.
Points to Ponder:
Do you try to keep to the law?
Are you trying to keep to Christ’s law as well?
Saturday Reading: Habakkuk 2 18
Key Verse: Habakkuk 2 18
18 What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols?
Devotion:
What profit would you ever get out of making a statue that you could bow down before and worship? Well, if you are the one that made it for someone else then you may stand to make a tidy profit because your outlay may be very small in comparison to the spiritual need of the final recipient. The person looking for some spiritual fulfilment is looking for something far greater than the simple physical – but you may have been able to make the physical for little or no cost to yourself.
What gain do you get out of making that small (or large) statue? If you put aside the monetary gain then what is left? Many people put their faith and trust in the physical things that surround them and because of that they want something physical to bolster their faith; throughout history man has always sought physical proof for things so that he would have an explanation that he can stick with. God is not limited by the physical and is certainly not going to provide physical proof for ever demand we make. Instead God requires faith from us and that faith is the belief in the unseen or the unexplainable.
How could we ever explain a virgin birth? How could we ever explain God making everything out of nothing? That is simply placing physical limits on a God who is not limited to anything or by anything. There are not going to be perfect scientific explanations for everything that we go through, even when we go through them in the physical world. God wants us to have faith that He is able to do things beyond what we can explain and to have faith that He is willing to do those things just because of His love toward us.
God alone is able to do things beyond our explanations; don’t expect something we can make to be able to do the same as God! Making a bow and arrow means that I may be able to kill something to eat but it does not mean that I will be able to take on a fighter aeroplane or that I should be able to shoot round corners. If we make things, we are the creator. God created us and He alone has all power to control our environment that we live in. Trust in Him and Him alone for everything and you will never be disappointed.
Points to Ponder:
What intelligent artefacts have you made?
How did God make man?
Friday Reading: Isaiah 44 13-20
Key Verse: Isaiah 44 19
19 And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?
Devotion:
One of the things that I have always struggled with is people making statues of anything and worshipping before them. Yes I know that there are people who make statues of our Lord and bow down before those statues not as a god but as a figure of remembrance of what Christ did for them; but I still struggle with that because that is the way I am.
What is being described here is something different. Men do some pretty strange things and they make figurines thinking that they can bow down before them and that the god behind them will be honoured somehow. How about looking at it this way… if someone told you that they loved you and they then showered their love on a picture of you instead of actually to you, what would you think of their love toward you? I would be a bit confused by what they are calling love!
The specific instance described here was to people who carved their own gods out of wood – and they used that same wood for fuel and for building other things. How can you worship something that is created by your own hands? Would you not have to start worshipping the furniture that you made or the wood that you have just put onto the fire? Does it sound condescending to say things like that? I mean no disrespect to anyone but ask instead what is seen in our own actions. We like to have things that we can see, touch, feel, hear, smell; any physical experience we can gain means something to us and we strain to keep to those physical experiences.
God wants a relationship with us that does not depend on physical experiences but rather on the spiritual. As long as we try to bring physical experiences into our relationship that is all we will get out of them. To enter a full relationship we should be willing to go past the physical and allow God to show us what His love really is about; it certainly is not about statues or any other created things. God is real, but He is not limited to the physical God that we would like to be able to see…
Points to Ponder:
What do you seek from God?
Are you limiting God to your own world?
Thursday Reading: 1 John 4 17-19
Key Verse: 1 John 4 18
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
Devotion:
On that final day of judgement we shall be able to stand firm and stand without fear because of God’s love toward us. How can we say that? Well, God’s love is perfect which means that it is without fault and without end. If you have ever experienced true love then you will know that there are no limits to that love; but you will also know that it is a two way thing. When you do love someone, that love will allow you to overcome fear and to share something very special with the person that you do love.
We tend to think along the lines of being very forward or very open when we think we are in love; so we blunder in and spoil things without knowing. God’s love is not like that because it is perfect so we will never be trapped by His love and we certainly do not have to fear because of that love. If we are blundering in because we think we are in love then we do have much to fear. We need to fear the consequences of our actions. We need to fear the outcome of our uncertainty. We need to fear the reactions of others when they find out the truth that we are still seeking.
None of this would be there if we were truly in love. That love that Christ loves us with is that perfect love and it casts no fear or doubt and is without end. When we are not sure of love we are in torment over what will surface if the truth comes out or if we should happen to find that we love someone else more; but with true love there will not be any of that torment.
When we are told that we will find perfect peace in God it is because of that perfect love that we find peace. If we are not sure of that love then we will have fears, doubts and torment close at hand. If we are sure of that love then the fears will not accompany our relationship and we will find that perfect peace. Christ has demonstrated His love for us and gives us the opportunity to follow up on that love by loving Him back; seeking true love. When we enter into that right relationship with Him, demonstrating that real love, we find peace and have no fear in being called one of His children, a true Christian.
Points to Ponder:
Do you fear love?
Are you chasing something else?