July 8: Romans 10 16-21
Key Verse: Romans 10 17
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
Devotion:
What does or has your church life look(ed) like during these times of lockdown? Have you been able to continue worshipping God in some way on your normal ‘church day’ or have you had to do something by yourself? I am so pleased to be in a church where we have been able to shift everything online and continue with some sort of church service every week. You don’t realise just how important this is until you are faced with not being able to do ‘normal church!’
God has continued to try and make sure people gathered in one way or another so they can encourage each other as well as be encouraged by the Holy Spirit – especially since we have not been able to meet together face to face with all of our normal church family. Even during the early church years when God was gathering the people of Israel together, people still would wander off when they did not hear from God in one way or another.
Those early years were centred around the prophets being able to bring God’s Word to them, but not everyone would listen. For those who chose not to listen, they missed out on the message God was trying to get across to them – much the same as we are going through at the moment. Just because we are all stuck at home does not mean we should be ignoring God’s Word. If you are part of a church where nothing is going on because of a lack of technology or expertise from the leaders, then I encourage you to find something online where you can join in a ‘home service.’
One thing we need to be careful of is not trying to compete to make the best online service in the country! We need to focus on the people we are trying to reach in our communities and continue to share the content we would normally share in a service, but doing it in a new way. Our church service has changed somewhat and is made available through a chat group which goes out to all our community. We all come together around this chat group and worship God in our own homes, and if we’re late, no problem… It’s God we need to focus on and not perfect online presences with perfect timing!
Points to Ponder:
How do you meet on your Sabbath day?
Do you still get back to God’s Word?
July 7: Nehemiah 8 7-8
Key Verse: Nehemiah 8 8
They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.
Devotion:
After the walls of the city had been rebuilt the people came together to be reminded of the law, the scriptures, given to the people by God, through Moses. These were the rules by which they should have been living and now realised they had lost so much by going off and doing their own thing. Now they sat and listen intently to the leaders as they read the law once again in the city.
The Levites went one step further and they interpreted the law for the people so everyone was in no doubt what the law said – no excuses this time round. If we want to be able to help the people in our communities then we have to be willing to go through similar steps to what Nehemiah went through and to go those few step further for the community.
Our first task is to go into the communities and to start by doing the physical works. Start by rebuilding things which have fallen apart. Start by organising relief for those in need and expertise for those who need it. What is a community if it is still falling apart? Once we have got things moving in the right direction again, we can continue helping those who need help and helping them to start helping each other again. Communities used to all club together and get things done – we need that spirit back!
When the community is at rest again they will make time to listen to God’s Word. When it is still knee deep in pain they will continue to ignore everything else, including God’s Word. This is when we can start explaining God’s Words in ways the community can understand. Jesus showed us how important this is by talking in parables for people to understand. When people begin to understand, they are more willing to spend a bit more time listening and so the cycle of learning about God continues!
Points to Ponder:
Who was the first person to explain the bible in simple terms for you?
Are you ready to simply the bible for someone else now?
July 6: Jonah 4 5-11
Key Verse: Jonah 4 10
But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight.
Devotion:
How many times have you got angry with God – note I ask how many times, not if! We all do get angry with God at times because we want to see things done according to our own times and places, yet what do we do about all the other times and places the Lord allows us to be alive with and at?
Jonah sat outside of Tarshish to see what God was going to do to them because they were not obeying God or listening to Him. This was obviously a desert town because it was hot and no shade around anywhere, but God provided a small plant which grew up beside him to give Jonah a little bit of cover. Jonah did not give much attention to this plant other than being thankful for it being there. So it came and gave him shade and it went and died just as easily…
What lessons do we take from this? We need to not just be thankful for the things God gives us, but to take care of them too. Without us taking care of anything we are simply taking God for granted and living according to our own wants and needs. God is still with us and still cares for us, but when we ignore the very things He is placing around us, we are beginning to ignore God in our lives too.
Take a bit of time to stop and think about the things God is placing around your life. Take a bit of time not just to be thankful but to care for them too. This does not just include the plants around us, but the buildings, places, environment, and of course the people too. Stop taking them for granted and start offering a helping hand to the things and people which God places around you every day! Be thankful for more and care just that little bit more by showing you care!
Points to Ponder:
Do you get angry with God for not giving you what you want?
How much do you care for the things He gives you without you asking for them?
July 5: John 5 31-40
Key Verse: John 5 39
You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me
Devotion:
Talking all about yourself can be harmful for your image – the more we build ourselves up the more people will think we are not telling the truth because we are talking about ourselves! Jesus knew He would face this and that is why John was sent before Him to tell people of a truth which was coming, one which was going to change the world. This was what the scriptures had recorded in them and something the people should have already been prepared for… but the closer the time came, the more people ignored the signs.
We have seen this in action over the first half of this year and we will continue to see more of this as people ignore the warnings just because they want to go back to doing their own thing! We can look forward and say “we won’t get involved!” but after a very short while of not having our own ways we tend to give in to temptation and do silly things! We even start believing our own lies and tell those same lies to others expecting them to believe us…
Let us never forget we are those lights Jesus is talking about here, just as John was a light coming before Jesus, we are lights declaring the way before the Lord returns once again. We don’t know when it will be and we have no idea how other than this is because Jesus said it would be so. You may think we have a bit of an uphill struggle here because we don’t know enough details – that is where our faith comes in.
If we are willing to have faith and trust Christ will do as He has promised, then we can shine that light just as John did and people will believe us just as they believed John. The crowning glory will be when Jesus does come again and we can live out our faith! Ours is to simple tell it how it is, but Jesus has the task of fulfilling what has been said, no matter what!
Points to Ponder:
Do you shudder at the thought of having to tell people about Jesus?
Imagine having to tell them there is no longer any hope...
July 4: Mark 12 28-33
Key Verse: Mark 12 30
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
Devotion:
I wonder how frustrating it was for Jesus to go round telling people the truth about Heaven and for them to all question His every word. Many of the people who were not learned scholars of the Torah were willing to listen to Jesus and to learn – almost like they had not been given the chance to learn before… Sometimes we do get carried away with the intricacies of the details and we forget about the simple truth. So when Jesus brought it down to just these two commandments, it was about as simple as He could make it!
When we try to explain the gospel to others we should not be trying to give them the law according the scholars and priests, we should be giving them what we have in our hearts and what we have learned to understand ourselves. If we think it is still difficult to be a child of God, then we surely are on the wrong end of the rope…
God wants us to know it is very simple to love Him and to dedicate our lives to worshipping Him. We don’t have to try and invent a million rules and regulations so we can prove in some way we are worthy! God simply wants us to love Him with our whole heart and to love the people around us so they too can get to know Him. I love being able to help others and sometimes spend far longer helping others than I probably should, but it is my way of showing people a bit of the love Christ showed me!
I want to be able to allow people to see the simplicity of the gospel and not to get caught up in the many laws mankind tried to follow in order to prove himself worthy. We have shown on so many occasions we are not worthy, but because of Christ’s love for us, we can be worthy because He has made it possible. It really is that simple.
Points to Ponder:
Do you think you have broken too many rules?
How many can God forgive?