Sunday Reading: Luke 18 10-14
Key Verse: Luke 18 11
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
Devotion:
We all love to hate certain people or types of people in our lives at times and it is those feelings, somewhat misguided, that will land us in trouble just when we don’t expect them to. Love is something else and something that we need to reach out with and to because it comes from the heart and is without want or need; and if you think you love and find it has a want or a need, then think again…
This Pharisee used in this parable by Jesus was someone that the people would normally look up to. He should be someone that upheld the law and made sure that others got to hear that law. He should have been practising the law and making sure that others got to follow it too. But therein lies a problem for us because once we get thoughts of power or pride into our minds, love starts walking out the door and in comes those feelings of want and need; the want to make sure that people listened and the need to show off as someone special.
But this was not coming from a heart that was seeking God but rather from a mind that wanted recognition for all the works that he was doing. This was not bringing glory to God and to His Law but rather lifting himself up in a position of authority with pride and ignorance. Ignorance to the fact that none of this would be possible if it were not for God’s righteous law, ignorance to the fact that the law is there to show us our shortcomings and not to be used as a measuring stick to show how good we are!
God does not want us to boast about all we can do but rather to get on and do things knowing that God is going to get the glory and not us. God wants us to be honest with Him, admit that we are sinners, ask for forgiveness in truth, trust that He will forgive us, and depend on that forgiveness continuing to take His Gospel out to everyone with an open heart. That is what will bring God the glory. We are just His servants and need to be willing servants accepting that others may well mistreat us because we are His servants.
Points to Ponder:
Are you all puffed up?
Or are you God’s humble servant?
Saturday Reading: Psalms 64 1-6
Key Verse: Psalms 64 3
3 Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:
Devotion:
When King David lifted up his prayers to God, he knew that God was listening and he knew that God would answer. He grew to depend on God for so much from an early age and continue to depend on God throughout his life. Yes there were times in his life when he questions God because he felt like he was fighting alone, but every time that he did, his prayers turned to praise as he realised that God was always there and always fighting on his side.
Every time David had his doubts he had more praise than doubts. His faith continued to be proven day after day as God provided for him, encouraged him and expanded his life. There were times like these where David begged God to do something to the wicked people that would allow them to see that there is no battle that can be won against God because He has already won the war. Each time David had to end up acknowledging that God was in control and that He was the one who always knew best.
We are the ones who hide from God and the ones who think that He is not watching; just because we fall over in the dark does not mean that our world is coming to an end or that God is not watching. All it means is that we lost sight of the ground and we tripped over – be it tripping over our own feet or over something someone else has left behind, it is just normal…
God has not removed us from this evil world but rather has given us a way of surviving in this world. He has given us the power to stand up against the woes and sorrows. God has given us the strength, peace, joy and love to move forward in this life with Him. He is in control and will be able to achieve so much more if we are just willing to give Him control in our lives and follow His direction. God’s ways and His wisdom go so far beyond our understanding that we tend to ignore those ways just because we cannot figure out where they are headed. God does not ask us to understand His ways, just to trust in them, always.
Points to Ponder:
What do you look to for trust?
Are you relying on God?
Friday Reading: Proverbs 15 1-2
Key Verse: Psalms 15 2
2 The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.
Devotion:
How many times have you looked at someone and thought that they would be great to be friends with only to hear them speak and wonder how they have ever made friends? I am not talking about judging people by their accents or their language but simply what other people talk about. It is good to be able to fellowship with others, to be able to sit and chat about things, but endless words of drivel or swearing and putting down others is not going to win any friendship at all.
This is not to say that we need to speak of nothing else other than God and His Word because we need to be there for people and we all have real lives that we live. We need to be able to communicate to each other about those lives and how we can work things out with others because we are all made different and think in different ways. If we all thought the same way we would not have to talk about things and discuss things, but we are not so we do need to talk. If we are to spend that time having meaningful discussions where we can discuss real life then we will grow closer together as we understand each other more.
If, or when, we do something wrong against another person we should be able to work things out between ourselves and not have to blow up in a full blown argument in order to sort out our differences. That is going to do nothing but drive a wedge between us and them. But being able to discuss our problems openly will help to move us forward together.
Could you imagine how far we would get if we argued with God? Would we ever be able to draw close to Him if we only ever blamed Him for everything in our lives? Would we ever listen to Him if we were always arguing? I think not! Instead we have to open our hearts to Him and pray to Him in all honesty; only then will our prayers mean the same as what is on our hearts, only then will we be talking honestly to God. If we expect to be able to do anything different with our friends and those around us that God would have us love, then we are living a lie.
Points to Ponder:
How often do you argue?
How often do you open your heart to others?
Thursday Reading: Leviticus 19 17-18
Key Verse: Leviticus 19 18
18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.
Devotion:
How many times have you looked at the New Testament and thought that Christ was giving us something new to do or to follow? I know that we say that Christ was giving us a new commandment to love our neighbours, but there was nothing new about it. These are the same words that God had given to Moses to guide the Israelites, His chosen people. Christ was giving us the same words, reminding us of what we had forgotten.
Christ came to seek and to save those who are lost. That means He came to encourage those who are lost; something we should be doing as a matter of course as well. He did not walk amongst us and pick out and condemn all the sinners, otherwise He would have been condemning every single one of us. Christ knew that man would continue to forget commandments as we grow. He knows that it is impossible for us to keep all of His commandments because of our sin nature that we inherit and that is why He came to earth. His intent was to give us a way through which we could be made clean again.
The Israelites were told that they had to look out for each other, to care for one another and to support everybody. This did not mean that they got it right first time and loved everyone around them – far from it because God was disappointed in many cases by what they got up to. God was the one seeing inside their hearts and despairing about what He saw; He is still the one who looks inside our hearts and finds so much that goes against His law.
But He is also the one who allowed Christ to come to earth and present a way forward for us whereby we can be saved from the awful debt that we owe. That was the example of love that He gave us and the love that He wants us to show to others, not a love that has limits but one that goes that extra mile when others fade. There will be no way that we could show the same level of love as He showed us, but that is what we have to aim for and it has been that same guidance from the beginning – nothing has changed about God’s continued love for us.
Points to Ponder:
What makes you stop caring for others?
What would you do it God turned His back on you?
Wednesday Reading: 2 Peter 2 17-22
Key Verse: 2 Peter 2 18
18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
Devotion:
There are those that will stand up and proclaim the Word of God and will give out the truth according to the Holy Scriptures, but, sadly, there are also those that will use the name of the Lord but spread lies and deception instead. We need to be able to identify between the truth and the lies and for that we need to turn to and trust in the Word of God. God has given us His Word and has continually made sure that we are supplied with all that we need in order to know the truth; so let us use God’s Word to make sure that we are walking in His truth.
When I look back in my life I can recognise the times when I was trying to escape from the worldly life that I was living and turn back to God. I can also see those times when I made a break and though that this was it, only to be trapped back into my sinful ways because someone just happened to tempt me back there. It is those times when we first make a break or try and escape that we are at our weakest points and it is at those times when we need the most strength and encouragement.
As soon as we make that break we start searching to something to hold on to; just as if you were in a swimming pool and let go of the side for the first time, you reach out to grab on to anything close by that seems to be floating. If we grab hold of the wrong things we are going to be carried away with those things rather than being saved by the things we should be holding on to. God’s Word will help us to identify those correct and wholesome things in our lives that we should be holding fast to: God’s ways, God’s Word, Christian fellowship, Christian love, righteousness to name but a few. Though we may grip hold of them as hard as we can, none will grip us back other than God Himself.
The closer we walk with God the more He is able to hold fast to us and the more we are able to get out of our relationship with Him. If we try to have a long distant relationship with Him then we will always find that we feel far from Him and we will always be weak and give in to everything else that is close by instead. We need to hold fast to God so that He can keep us in His grip otherwise we will not keep His ways for long…
Points to Ponder:
What do you reach out to when you need help?
Are you ready to hold on to God?