Friday Reading: James 2 8-10
Key Verse: James 2 10
10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
Devotion:
I always think of the chain theory when I read this verse – our safety in the law being like safety in a chain, if any single link breaks, our safety in that chain is broken totally. But sin in our lives are so much more than just a chain that we depend on. As humans we look at keeping the law as being of various stages in that we can be very strict and keep it exactly to the letter or we can follow it in spirit and bend a few of the laws along the way. God gave us the laws so that we would understand that we are sinners because we do break them; it does not matter by how much or which laws we break. Once we break a law we have broken God’s law and are guilty. If we are guilty then we are guilty and that is it!
We like to think that we can love our neighbours and hence we can stick to the law that Christ gave us when He walked amongst men as a human being; but that is simply not good enough to get us a get-out-of-jail-free card! If we are found guilty then we are destined for the place where sinners are condemned to – hell.
The problem with us is that we tend to look at people and judge them according to how we see them or what we think of them. We make up our minds pretty quickly and whoever is on the wrong side of the fence will get judged accordingly even before we have had a chance to get to the truth. As soon as we judge someone we become guilty of the law and that means we are guilty, as good as being guilty of everything!
Our saving grace is grace indeed! It is only because of the grace of our God that we can be forgiven for our sins without having to pay that ultimate price for our sin. We know that the penalty for sin is death, but we also know that God has given us the gift of life through His Son Jesus Christ. We may find it very easy to break God’s laws, or at least some of them, and we may find it very hard to keep some of those laws. But we know that Christ will forgive all of us who call on His name for forgiveness and that that forgiveness is absolute and permanent. So just because we have no hope when we see how easily we break God’s laws, we also have absolute hope through Christ’s precious gift to us.
Points to Ponder:
Do you seek God’s forgiveness?
Do you know God’s grace is free for us all?
Thursday Reading: Galatians 5 1-6
Key Verse: Galatians 5 3
3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
Devotion:
How many times have you done something just because other people in the church have done it or do do it. I am not talking about having fun or doing something strange like bungee jumping but rather talking about those things that we ‘do’ for God. If we take this point that Paul raises here, that the Galatians were seeking to be circumcised even though they were not Jews. There were two thoughts about this practise at the time and still are; that in order to show that you are willing to live for God in the same way as the Jews that you should be willing to be circumcised, and the other that this is just a Jewish custom.
What is a custom? It is an agreed or stipulated rule that should be followed because that is what has always been done. God required that the Jews themselves were circumcised to remind themselves that they are set apart for Him. It was a constant reminder that men should be living for God and following all of His rules just as they had followed this rule to be circumcised. If the men of Galatia were wanting to be circumcised then that should mean that they were being bound by the same set of rules as the Jews and that they would have to carry out everything according to the Law as laid down my Moses for the Jews.
Christ, on the other hand, had set the people free by releasing them from that debt that they owed so that they would no longer be totally constrained by that Law but would be able to live under grace instead. As a Gentile we should not have to go through the same customs as the Jews because those laws applied to God’s chosen race, the Jews. Christ now wants us to live by faith and showing that we have an earnest hope in what He has given to us. If we go back to the Law then we are saying that what Christ has done was to no effect.
So instead of sticking to customs for customs sake, let us turn to Christ and do things for Him and not just because that is what others do. Christ has made us different so that we can be different. He has given us all different gifts to be used to fulfil the Gospel by taking it to others through the way that we live, not by sticking to customs but by showing that we believe in Christ and all that He has done for us and that we now live for Him in hope and faith.
Points to Ponder:
What customs have you go used to?
Do you live for Christ?
Wednesday Reading: Galatians 1 15-20
Key Verse: Galatians 1 17
17 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.
Devotion:
One of the things we may find very hard to do is to listen to what God wants from us in the beginning. And then the second big thing is to listen to God when we get comfortable in our ways. God is someone that we need to listen to constantly to find out what He wants in our lives. Each of us live very different lives and as we live them, they change. We have to be ready to adjust to the changes in our lives so that we can continue to do our best for God in the ways that He wants us to live and not necessarily what we think is OK.
When God told Paul where he should be going it was not to go to the other disciples and learn his trade from them but to get out there into the world and teach the gospel as Christ revealed it to him. God does not always pick us to go via the recognised routes of bible college and various scholastic methods to learn about Him but will do what He knows is best for each of us as long as we are willing to let Him work in our lives. Paul had no problem with allowing God to have His way after what he went through; we are not going to get the same treatment as Paul did on the road to Damascus so we have to listen for God’s instruction in our own ways.
We now have a complete Gospel in our bibles that has been put together for us over many years. God has made sure that we have it available and that we can learn from it as well as use it to teach others. He has shown us through example that the Word is sharper than any two-edged sword because He used it to rebuke Satan himself. This means that we have a very sure Word that is able to stand up to anything; let us then fully trust in it from the beginning to the end.
I have been very fortunate in that Christ has brought me to a church where the Gospel is preached all the time and where I am able to continue learning all the time, not just through what I can read but through the most excellent teaching of our Pastor. This is where God put me because He knew that this is what I needed, and now as I grow in wisdom through reading and preaching I can share what I have learned to many more. I do this because of my love for Christ and earnestly hope that you can learn from it and pass on your new-learned wisdom to others as I do.
Points to Ponder:
Do you seek God’s ways?
Are you listening to His Word?
Tuesday Reading: Deuteronomy 18 10-14
Key Verse: Deuteronomy 18 10
10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
Devotion:
If there is one thing that God does not want us to do more than any other thing is that we should not look to other gods. This is not just a warning against Satan himself but every other thing that will take us away from God Himself. This is not a gentle warning that we should keep it clean and follow God instead of running off and following football stars or other things but instead is a harsh warning about the dangers that we do face if we allow something else to take control that is more powerful than we are.
Whilst we like to think that we can control our emotions toward footballers or soccer players we can see enough evidence from the news that men do get carried away and lose control of their own selves when following sports and stars of various kinds. So if we then add to that by choosing to follow something that is going to actively work against God instead of just replacing Him, we are onto a battle ground where we are giving all the ammunition we can to the enemy. Satan does not have to be given any more ammunition to work against God, so don’t give it to him!
The dangers we face when we allow evil to take control in our lives are far worse than we imagine by such a seemingly simple word. Satan has enough people working for him that will be able to cast doubts in our minds if we allow them to move in; what we should be doing is keeping them as far from our lives as we can. I have always had a very big problem with people who give in to charmers and people who seek to get answers from mediums or tarot cards. God explicitly warns us away from such because He knows just how dangerous it can get for us when we allow evil into our lives. It may not seem like a big thing to begin with because we are seeking good news or they tell us that they will bring us good news or work with good spirits…
How did the serpent convince Eve in the beginning; by casting a bit of doubt and telling a lie. Satan is the master of lies and he will stop at nothing to get his way, and that includes getting his own way with you even when you say that you’re are on God’s side!
Points to Ponder:
What things do you let into your life?
What has God told you to avoid?
Monday Reading: Revelation 20 1-3
Key Verse: Revelation 20 2
2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
Devotion:
I don’t get to hear too many people preach from the book of Revelations because of the content therein. Many people do not want to open up the box and let things out because they are in some way scared that they may either frighten people away or that they will not be able to stop people from thinking the worst. One way is to start with these verses so that everyone can see that God has ultimate power even though we stand against an more powerful being than ourselves. The power of Satan should never be underestimated and anyone who stands up and says that they can defeat him has obviously never met him or is on his side anyway…
The Devil is very powerful and will and does bring so much chaos and suffering into the world by deceiving people into thinking that his ways are in some way good or the only way. That is his task, to take away the good from God, or at least to try and do that. He can never take away the good from our God, but he can make it seem like he is because we can be deceived. If we look at magicians and conjurors we see many things which we think are impossible – they are either doing something rather incredible or are deceiving us with sleight of hand. We can be deceived because we can see that in men, so facing someone more powerful than man, we don’t have much hope.
Or do we? Well these verses give us the clue in that Satan is under the ultimate power of God. He cannot do anything without God allowing him to do so. When God says that it is time for him to be deported to the bottomless pit for a while, then that is what is going to happen. Unfortunately we also see that he is to be loosed again for a season. At the moment he is not in that pit so we have to be wary of that and we have to place our trust in God to deliver us from his evil ways.
That is the truth. God is able where we are not. God is in control and we are not. When we allow God to be in control of our own lives then we will see many things happening that may make it seem like we are in control; but never forget that it is only the power of God that can do this, not us. Rely on God. Trust in Him. Believe in Him.
Points to Ponder:
What things do you believe in?
Are you fully trusting in God?