Tuesday Reading: Galatians 5 22-26
Key Verse: Galatians 5 24
24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Devotion:
We often like to talk about the fruits of the spirit and how they should make us so much better off than we were when we lived our lives in the world, but it goes much further than that because it is how we live our lives along with those fruits of the spirit. Just because we believe in Christ and feel like we want to do what is right, does not always mean that we are going to do right!
When we accept Christ into our lives He does bring a whole lot of joy and peace into our lives. What we do with that joy and peace is then up to us because we can revel in it and enjoy it by ourselves or we can share it with others in the way that God has intended it to be shared. When we keep that joy and peace to ourselves the only gain from it is to our own feelings for a while, but when we share it with others we a whole lot more happens.
God gives us joy so that it may be shared. It is a joy that needs to be shared because it is more than any one of us can store up inside of ourselves. When we begin to share that joy we begin to change from the inside out by displaying more of the fruits of The Spirit. This is how God changes us from the inside out and it is a joy in itself to live with. The more that we are able to see how God is working in our lives the more faith we display and the more of an encouragement we are to others who are seeking that joy in the first place.
I thank my God always that He continues to give me joy and peace because I know I can then go out and share His love with others. There is no way that I can put up with the people around me unless I have God helping me every step of the way – and for those of you who are close to me please don’t take that the wrong way! It is not me that shows the love, care, kindness, patience and other fruits toward others, but rather God through me. I am just another (ab)normal person who is willing to give God room in my life to work with others.
Points to Ponder:
What do you like sharing?
Are you sharing God?
Monday Reading: 1 Corinthians 3 21-23
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 3 23
23 And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.
Devotion:
I find it rather incredible that people should dare to say that they belong to a particular church rather than attending some other church. Yes we can say that I belong to one church or another in order to try and emphasise that we are attending a church that follows the Gospel and teaches Christ as Paul did, but when we lift up a church instead of lifting up Christ then we have lost sight of what the church actually is!
When Paul went around preaching the Gospel he was confronted by people who would lift up their preacher or teacher as being better than another. I can honestly say that I go to my church because I know that I am going to be taught from the bible and not from what others think of society, what they can get out of the service or any other reason. Yes all preachers will get carried away at times and may get political for one reason or another but when they are teaching God’s Word then they should be listened to. The people in the congregations get carried away with things as well and focus on what they can get out of it rather than what God is trying to get them to hear.
I don’t like getting on a soup-box or getting carried away with being political, but whenever subjects like this are brought up we all get into deep water and follow on in the way of the world. It is at that point that we all need to stop and look at what we are trying to achieve: are we trying to promote ourselves or are we trying to promote God?
It was just a couple of months ago that we were celebrating Easter, remembering all that Christ had done for us and the price that he was willing to pay just to make sure that our souls would be eternally safe. It does not take long before the world will get a hold of you and draw you away from Christ; so I want this day to be the start of a new day that you remember that you belong to Christ. I want this to be the start of a very special day where you lift up nothing else other than God in three persons and not three persons instead of God!
Points to Ponder:
What do you see in your church?
What does God see in your church?
Sunday Reading: Romans 14 7-9
Key Verse: Romans 14 9
9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.
Devotion:
One of the biggest changes that I saw in myself when I gave my life to Christ was that I no longer was as selfish as I used to be. I would do things because I wanted to do them and even made out that I was doing things for others when in reality I was doing it because it fulfilled a need within myself first of all. But when I began to see just how much Christ has done for me I began to change my attitude toward life in general.
When we are focus on ourselves then we will find out that all we can achieve is those things for ourselves and that is all. We will find that when we have achieved our goal it still leaves us empty because we still see others around us searching for their own needs. When we live for ourselves we will always find that we need more than we can gain and more than we find; it is all in vain.
We need to remember that we do belong to The Lord. It is Jesus Christ who laid down His life for our sakes; He has bought us with a great price, one that can never truly be repaid, but one that He gave so freely. When we live our lives we should live each day as if it were our first day and our last day to be with Christ; living each moment to the fullest extend for Him and not in spite of Him. Jesus paid that price for us so that we can know that we belong to Him and not to the world. It was a price that He was willing to pay and one that we must not take lightly.
God wants us to know that He allowed that price to be paid so that we would always belong to Him. He created us and has maintained this world so that we can continue to live on it with a freedom that is greater than anything we know. We may feel trapped by all manner of earthly things and may even be physically trapped, but our souls have a freedom that Christ has paid for and one that we will have forever. It is because of that freedom that I willingly go forward to live for others as well as for Christ now. He has shown me more love than I could imagine and I share that love with as many as I can, openly and fully.
Points to Ponder:
Who do you love?
Do you ever compare that to Christ’s love?
Saturday Reading: Luke 20 34-38
Key Verse: Luke 20 35
35 But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:
Devotion:
Our view of this world and God’s view are probably very, very different. Our view of heaven and what it is actually like are probably just as different again! So when Jesus began to explain a few truths to the Scribes and Pharisees it probably came as a bit of a shock to them because they had built up their own ideas of what the afterlife would be like; just as we do.
We get caught up in the ways of the world and we start to apply those ways into everything we think about because we don’t know anything better. What truly awaits us after earthly death is something that we are going to have to find out after we leave this place! But God has given us plenty to think about and plenty of descriptive passages to allow us to know that it is far better than anything we could imagine.
We get caught up in relationships, wanting them, not wanting them, having them, losing them, breaking them, repairing them and we do it all the time. Those relationships can become the centre of our worlds as we live with them or without them. We look to relationships for comfort and for strength. We come to depend on them. But in every relationship we always think of the earthly side of it and not just the spiritual side of it; we think of holding our partners and being with them, enjoying constant contact and company.
But a relationship should be so much more than just the physical and emotional sides of it. A relationship needs to be a life-long commitment to each other, one that will not be broken down by anything that happens around us or to us. A relationship needs to last far beyond our earthly limits. Often I will stop and think about people from my past and wonder why I have lost track of them, lost contact and moved on. Then I remember that I have lived an earthly life and discarded so much of the spiritual warmth that I built up as a young child. God has started a relationship with us that is not going to stop when this earth disappears or when we trip and fall. This relationship with God is eternal and does not require a marriage certificate or any other legal document. This relationship is built on everlasting hope and truth; that is how we should look at all of our present and future relationships – anything else is falling short of the mark!
Points to Ponder:
What do you require from your partner?
How much has God given you freely?
Friday Reading: Luke 14 12-14
Key Verse: Luke 14 14
14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.
Devotion:
This sounds like a very strange request from Jesus when we first read it because we think of feasts and parties as being times when friends and families can get together and enjoy themselves – and that is what we practice. But Jesus is rather planting a new thought into our heads, one that needs to be there to break us out of our comfort zones and make us think of others.
When Jesus said that we should love our enemies it was another time to get us to stop and think about our relationship with others. When we start to put ideas like this together we then get to see the whole picture – or at least begin to when we open our eyes! God is trying to get us to see that we need to be there for others, no matter what! We always place requirements and constraints on everything that we do because we always want to get something out of what we are doing – but that is not what Christ wants us to see and do.
Jesus came into this world to give everything freely. He came to give it all away knowing that we would never truly be able to pay Him back. He does not ask anything back and He does not require anything back; instead He gave it all to us freely and openly. When we begin to take that idea on and to give to others freely and openly we then begin to see what love is about and what Jesus meant when He said we should love others. I used to struggle with doing things for some people because I took offense at what they stood for or what they did; but as I grow in my walk with God I continue to be able to just stand up and do things for others, no matter what.
I don’t look for anything in return when I go forward in Christ’s name now. I don’t require that people do something for me in return. I certainly don’t look for reward from God’s work. What I get from God is so much more precious than any payment. I get His love and His peace and His comfort; together they give me a life that no amount of money or reward could ever give me. Look to fulfil your lot for God and don’t look to fulfil your pocket – they just don’t go together…
Points to Ponder:
What rewards do you seek in life?
Where would you be if Christ did not give everything?