Sunday Reading: Luke 11 21-23
Key Verse: Luke 11 22
22 But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils.
Devotion:
Sometimes we are faced with things and we are able to overcome them in some way; whether we have God’s help or we think that we do it ourselves we gain in confidence. The more confidence we gain the more we try to go ahead and face even more things in our lives. Whilst we may be thinking that that is exactly what God wants us to do, to gain in strength and stamina so that we may face up to more that lies ahead of us. It is round about that time when we are brimming with confidence that we find that we still have chinks in our armour!
Goliath must have brought great terror to the armies of Saul as he continually taunted them day after day knowing that nobody could stand against him. His confidence was brimming and he did not think that any higher power would enter into his realm that he had built up. When we are on the winning side we tend to build up that confidence and not look for the things that could be against us. Goliath was certainly not looking for having to face a shepherd boy who was protected by God!
Even though we can claim the protection of our Awesome God, we still can become a bit too self-confident in our own ways. It will be at those times when we are thinking that nothing will touch us that Satan will be there trying his best to trip us up. He will be that one that is stronger than we are and that will manage to break us when we least expect it. But even though we may let the side down and fall into the traps set by the evil one, God is above all and all powerful. With God in control we will not have anything to fear; but giving God that control can be the part that we struggle with most of all.
No matter what else we trust in we will find that it spoils, breaks, grows weak, dies or fades away. God never will! He has always been and will always be our God who created us, sustains us and wants us to come back to Him and to give Him the glory for all eternity. It is not a price we pay but a choice that we make to be with Him to be kept in safety for ever more.
Points to Ponder:
What do you regard as your strength?
How much greater is God who gave you that?
Saturday Reading: Isaiah 48 9-15
Key Verse: Isaiah 48 11
11 For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another.
Devotion:
Isaiah was given a remarkable insight into how much God cares for us and how much He upholds His choice of people. This is man whom He created in the beginning. This is the selfish man He created and gave the whole world to. This is us.
We do not think about just how much God has done for us in the past – I know this because we continue on doing some pretty strange things in our lives. God has given us the minds to discern right from wrong. He has taught us through many means and have given us a whole string of righteous people who have taught man time and time again. I am one of the lucky one who gets a chance to be able to spread His word to others and I count myself very privileged to be here. I also know that I still do make mistakes though. God chose Israel to be the chosen race so that we would all see what happens to someone God chooses. Even though we have seen them make bad decisions over and over again we also see how God has been there with them every step of the way and has been willing to forgive them over and over again.
God made that choice to do that so that we could see from the outside in – that is much easier for us to accept than being stuck in there in the middle of it all. I really do feel for the people of Israel as they struggle between their consciences and their history and their leaders. We are able to see this from the outside and make a much easier choice to follow God based on history and on God’s laws and not on laws that we have made up.
God has worked on each one of us from before we were born. He has created the best possible combination of events in our past so that we could get to the point where we are now. As we go forward in our lives we find all manner of things that trip us up along the way, but if we are willing to keep our eyes open we will also see the many wondrous things He has put in our paths so that we will recognise Him as Almighty God alone. God has done this so that we may make the right choice to follow Him. God has given us all we need to make that choice – it is now time for us to make that choice and follow Him on into eternity. Will you hide your secret under a stone or will you share this wonderful news with others today?
Points to Ponder:
How many chances do you get with life?
How many chances has God given you just in this year?
Friday Reading: Isaiah 43 1-7
Key Verse: Isaiah 43 7
7 Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.
Devotion:
We do not have to look too far to see why God has created us. Yesterday I hinted toward the right answer by showing how we have been given a free choice. Today we look at how God has steered us in the right direction. Man has made some pretty remarkable choices in the past that have caused all manner of anguish and pain and yet we look upon those choices as the right choices! We see a pattern of man making choices and God trying to steer us back toward the right way throughout history. From the ancient times when God was trying to take the Children of Israel and allow them to be a shining example to the rest of the world right through to the modern choices we make, we see the same pattern over and over again.
Man makes choices and they are his own choices to make. We know they are our own choices because God allows us to make them and afterward we then see that we have done a few too many selfish choices and not considered God once again! Why would God make those sort of choices for us? They are our mistakes and we have to own up to them. The mistakes than man made that got him into trouble have been made over and over again throughout history; but that does not mean that we are going to have to make those same mistakes as well. We have the choice as to go in the right direction… but we also have a very crafty and sly enemy in Satan who wants to trip us up so that we fall before God. After all, why should he be the only one who has fallen – what selfishness!
I know that I come up against tough times and I know that I make bad choices as well, but I also know that God is not just forgiving and merciful but also gives me the strength and wisdom to turn round and make the right choices at the right times as long as I am willing to listen to His good advice!
When we get to know just how special our God really is we begin to be more willing to accept His advice, but we still make mistakes. We need to come to Him and ask for forgiveness for those mistakes and to lift Him up in praise for all that He has done and all that He does do for us. We were created so that we can choose to give Him the glory that He alone deserves – but it is our choice!
Points to Ponder:
Do you follow God’s advice?
Do you give God all the glory?
Thursday Reading: Genesis 1 26-27
Key Verse: Genesis 1 27
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Devotion:
Have you ever asked “why did God create man in His own image”? And if you have, what was your answer to yourself? God had created so many things this far: the very essence of light and dark itself, the smallest moons to all biggest stars, the largest sea manuals to the tiniest fish, from the creepiest insect to most majestic animal, and then to create man. Man was created, not as an afterthought but as a completer of His creation. God wanted someone very special to be able to tend to His creation. You may well say that He created angels to do that, and that they are more capable of things than we are; but God wanted someone a bit more special than a powerful angel to be able to do His bidding.
Yes God has and does use angels to do many things that we are not capable of doing because we are not able to be in the same places as them. God has created animals to be largely self-sustaining because they are able to live in their own environments and are able to reproduce to continue the progression. Then we came along and put a few spanners in the works by moving animals around and mixing them up a bit. God created things just right and we have come in and spoiled many things. So why should He have created us in the first place – after all He must have known we would be like this!
Well, God wanted us to have a free will and wanted us to be able to make the choice of how we live. So He gave us the ability to make those choices based on the conscience minds that He gave us. He allowed us to grow in intelligence and to fill our minds with the things that we choose rather than planting everything there in the first place. Animals have a very basic form of choice in that they chose to live or die. We have a choice that goes far beyond our mortal bodies because we have a soul that God has given us and that soul will be living with the ultimate choice that we make during our lives on earth. So we have to make the right choice here and now so that we can live the right way after our mortal bodies give in. God wants us to choose to live with Him – that is why He created us the way that we are. But He knew there would be a price to pay because some would not choose the right way.
We have a chance to be witnesses toward others so that they can make a good choice rather than a bad choice based on the worldly perspective.
Points to Ponder:
What made you choose to find out more about God?
Do you encourage others to seek God?
Wednesday Reading: Psalms 17 13-15
Key Verse: Psalms 17 15
15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.
Devotion:
How many times have you looked at the prosperous people of this world and wondered how they have got as far as they have knowing what sort of people they are spiritually. It is not always the righteous people of this world that are going to be the ones who succeed in many things; indeed God will allow many who do not know Him to become full of worldly riches and they will become people of great renown. But what gain is there in those things?
That is one thing that we may not understand and one thing that God may hide from this generation in readiness for the next generation. God is a God who is working with the past, present and future and not just what we can see around us at this time. God has plans afoot that we cannot understand because we cannot see the past, present and future like He can and does. So let us not try to understand His ways by picking apart the success of the failure of people of the world but let us rather focus on God so that we can glorify Him throughout this chaotic world we live in.
Ours is not to try to understand but to trust in God. He has allowed many things to happen in the past just so that we will have a better understanding of His ways. He has allowed those who He knew would constantly reject Him to do what they have done so that we can see that even though they have been able to do many worldly things, they have nought when it come to the spiritual gifts that we have through Christ Jesus.
God has given us a sure future that gives us hope. We must not let go of that hope because it is that hope that builds our faith in His ways and allows us to continue on when so many around us are failing. It is that hope that will drive us forward to do the things that He requires of us – just so that one more soul may get to hear the Gospel, that one soul that God knows will be the one who accepts Him as God. Our lot is to do the will of God according to His understanding and not to our understanding because we cannot see the things that He sees – we are not God.
Points to Ponder:
Do you keep going after being knocked down?
Are you relying on God to pick you up?