Saturday Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5 6-11

Key Verse: 1 Thessalonians 5 8
8  But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

Devotion:
Have you ever noticed that you cannot see as much during the night time as you can during the day time? “No, really!” Our bibles do quite often point out the obvious but so many times we ignore those obvious points and carry on as if we did not see anything coming! People who know that they are doing things wrong do not want to go ahead and do those things wrong during the day time or when everyone else is watching them; instead choosing to do things when people are not watching or when they cannot see as much – at night time.

We are no different to other people of the world because we have gone there in the past as well and maybe even continue to try that sort of approach to many things in life still. But God wants us to be honest and open about what we do, choosing instead to follow the truth and stay in the Light. That Light being the light that Jesus brings into our lives and the guidance that the Holy Spirit give us every day.

God wants us to choose the right support in our lives as well. It is no use clinging to things that are going to work against God, or clinging to things that are not going to glorify God. Our commandments given to us from God remind us that we need to keep Him first and foremost in our lives and allowing anyone or anything else to take that place of pre-eminence in our lives is asking for trouble instead of asking for God’s support.

It is no use being drunk on anything that the earth has to offer because that is as far as it gets – no further than the earth! But when we take on God’s support and accept His power in our lives then we find that we can not only do more for Him but we live a life that glorifies Him always. It is Christ who willingly laid down His life so that we may have eternal life with Him. But in order to accept that free gift we have to believe in Him and have faith that what He has promised us will come to pass! Believe and receive!

Points to Ponder:
Do you depend on police and other emergency services?

Do you depend on God?

Friday Reading: Romans 8 18-25

Key Verse: Romans 8 23
23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

Devotion:
How many times do you look at what you are going through and think “why am I suffering so much as a Christian” or “why should I have to go through this all just because I say I’m a Christian”? We like to think of ourselves as being very safe and secure as Christians because we see this picture in our minds of us being safely held in the arms of God – so what can ever touch us!

Well, as Christians, we still live in the same world as the rest of the world. We may turn our backs on many things that the world embraces so that we should not have to suffer those things, but we will still have to face up to the same hardships as the world in many cases. We then may even have to face up to more hardships because we dare to tell others that we are Christians! But when we compare all of the suffering that we may come up against with what we will receive with Christ in heaven – how can we ever look at them as being hardships again.

Oh yes it is very easy to say that when we are not suffering, but when you have to face many things going wrong and you get to the point when you don’t know whether you can carry on or not… take a short while to think about what we have in store ahead and come back and visit this same question again… While we can see answers to questions and ways out of troubles we don’t have hope, we have a future; but when we cannot see any way out or forward then we have to hope in the unseen. That is the start of our faith because then we will start asking God for the things that only He can do in our lives. Whilst we may not get the answers we want right then and there, we will be very surprised at what comes our way.

God is a God who answers prayers in ways that we cannot even imagine. He is a God that wants us to know that this is what He can do and what He does do. So when we find out that our prayers are not being answered in the instant that we want them to be, just maybe He is holding off so that we can know that it is Him and not circumstance, or maybe He is waiting to make sure that we are sure that we are asking for the right things in our life!

Points to Ponder:
Do you suffer as a Christian?

Are you waiting on God?

Thursday Reading: Romans 8 9-17

Key Verse: Romans 8 12
12  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.

Devotion:
If we continue to live by our earthly and fleshly ways then we are going to end up going one way and that is not going to be walking alongside God. The more we walk with the world the more we force a wedge between us and God. God cannot and will not abide our sinful ways. Why should He have to put up with the sin that His Son has already died for? By walking in those ways we are turning our back on what Christ has already done and saying that it was to no effect!

It is our duty to stop walking in those earthly ways and to try to walk a closer walk with Christ in The Spirit. The more we live with sin the more we die with that sin. Even if we are professing the name of Jesus Christ, when we walk with sin we have to put up with the consequences of walking in that sin. The consequence of Christ taking on the sin of the world was His terrible suffering and death. The consequences of our walking in sin may well be our own suffering as well. Just because Christ has paid for our sin debt does not mean that we should be able to do whatever sin we like from that day forward!

When we look toward God’s ways and toward His law then we will be able to turn our backs on the sinful lives that we used to live. It is not our own strength that will allow us to do so but the strength that God gives us that will enable us to turn away from that sin. The ways of the world are sinful ways and we are forever trapped in those ways as long as we are in this world. It is God who has given us the lifeline and it is He that holds on to the other end as our Anchor.

We are not under the same bondage to the law that the Children of Israel were in the Old Testament. Yes we are under those same laws, but that bondage has been broken by Christ giving His life on the cross for us. It is those same laws that have shown us that we are sinful men and those same laws that have convicted our souls, but it is what Christ has done for us on the cross that has set us free so that we no longer live to try and fight our own fight. The Holy Spirit lifts us free of that bondage so long as we walk with Him.

Points to Ponder:
Do you feel broken by the old laws?

Do you know you are free with Christ?

Wednesday Reading: Romans 8 1-8

Key Verse: Romans 8 7
7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Devotion:
One thing I have learned as I grow in Christ is that the world does not truly convict you of anything other than worldly laws and lusts; but the Word of God will convict you of so much more from the inside out. The more that I walk with Christ the more that I realise that I do not have to be a part of this world and its ways, instead I can live my life according to God and His ways. This sets me apart from the world so that I do not have to fell condemned with this world any longer.

We have the choice as to whether we walk with The Spirit or whether we walk with the world. When we choose to walk with The Spirit we can bathe in the fruits of The Spirit in that we will find joy and peace and will be able to separate ourselves from the carnal ways of man. But when we try to go our own way and fight our own fights we very quickly find that we fall into the same traps as the rest of man and we go back to our old earthly ways instead.

God’s law gives us the wisdom to be able to follow God’s will, not just in our outward ways and duties, but with our inner most feelings and obedience toward God; we are given the strength to follow God’s ways. When we then remember what Christ has done for us, the price that He willingly took on His own shoulders for us, we can begin to see why He hates sin so much. That should drive us forward with The Spirit and away from the ways of the world.

The more that we think of the ways of the world, the more that we will be trapped by those same ways and thoughts. The more we go there, the more we should realise that those ways lead to the same death and destruction that we see throughout history. Christ showed us that the ways of the world lead to death and destruction and He was willing to take on that death to free us from that condemnation. But in order to be freed from that condemnation we have to take on the ways of The Spirit and walk a closer and more sincere walk with God. We cannot walk in the ways of the world and hope to be walking with God because they are different sides of the coin!

Points to Ponder:
Do you walk in the worlds ways?

Do you seek God’s ways?