Tuesday Reading: Ephesians 2 1-10
Key Verse: Ephesians 2 3
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
Devotion:
How many times have you got to the stage where you watch someone doing something and you say (even if it’s only in your mind) “There but for the grace of God go I”? I’m sure we can all relate in some way to that saying because we know that we have been at some stage in our lives where we have gone and done things which we are certainly not proud of, things that we would rather forget about and not have people dig up from our past! But we have to remember that we have done such things in our past and we have now got to the stage where we know that Christ has forgiven us because we have asked Him to!
That grace that God has shown us is so amazing because it goes beyond what we would probably call normal in that we may well set limits as to how much we are willing to forgive others – Christ went all the way and is willing to forgive anything that is brought to Him with a penitent heart. You may be thinking now “what about the unforgivable sin?” The only sin Christ cannot forgive is the sin of unbelief, so if we are willing to believe that He is the Son of God, has gone to that cross for our sakes and has risen from the dead to defeat that death penalty, then we can be forgiven for absolutely anything.
But just because we have that forgiveness from Christ does not mean that we are going to have that same forgiveness from man. We have rules and regulations and we have to abide by those rules so we have to put up with the penalties for breaking those rules unless all of the people who have been affected by our wrong-doing are willing to forgive us totally for what we have done. There-in lies the problem because many people will just not have that level of grace to forgive us for doing what we do.
We are bought by His blood, saved through His grace and live by His mercy. Let us never forget any part of Christ and His ways because without Him we are nothing, have nothing and are bound to eternal death and nothingness. But with Christ we have hope, we have salvation and we have a living truth we can depend on and live by and live with.
Points to Ponder:
How much do you hide in your past?
Do you realise Christ is willing to forgive it all?
Monday Reading: Proverbs 21 17
Key Verse: Proverbs 21 17
17 He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.
Devotion:
One of the dilemmas that we face in life is not just where we should be aiming but how we actually get there. If we are to believe the world then we should be aiming to live every day with the uttermost so that we can get the most out of life. Well, as a Christian we should be doing the same – but exactly what we seek to do that is very much in question. The world will say that you need to look for the pleasures in life so that your life can be as pleasurable as possible – but to us we have to take account of each of the treasures and pleasures we seek.
King David sought one of the greatest pleasures in life – that of having a partner. But the way he went about it was totally wrong. He sought to have another man’s wife because she was so very beautiful. Now we may turn round at this stage and say that we have not done that, but it is not the actual doing part that is cause for concern but the thinking and desiring in your soul as well; and not just for a partner but for many things in life. Just because we may get what we desire does not mean that we will be rich because of that. David took what he desired and ended up being in a very poor state because God did not want him to build His temple!
God does not want us to seek after those pleasures in life that will detract us from glorifying Him and worshipping Him. They may be pleasures of the heart or pleasures of the world that may be our trapping that will take us from a close walk with God and so we have to be very aware of those temptations in our lives. The Lord’s prayer, when He taught the disciples how to pray, tells us that we need to ask God to guide us so that we are not led into temptation – because it is those temptations that will ruin us, just as they did for Adam and Eve and so many others in our Bibles.
When we seek God with our whole hearts we will find treasures laid up for us that will make us far richer than any earthly treasure or pleasure. The treasures of this earth will only last a short time whereas the treasures that God has for us are for eternity and will never change over time. Our earthly stores will wither and die but all that God gives us will grow forever more.
Points to Ponder:
What supplies do you seek?
Are you allowing God to supply you?
Sunday Reading: Luke 15 11-16
Key Verse: Luke 15 13
13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
Devotion:
The story of the prodigal son has two (or three) parts to it; the first part being that the younger son demanded (or lusted after) when he wanted before taking it and wasting it through riotous living. That is a part of us that we can all relate to – we may not desire to have a bunch of money but we do have these feeling where we do want everything in a single lump so that we can do what we want. That lust for things gets us into more trouble than good. We may be seeking to have all of our holiday in one bash – but then what will we do when we have to work non-stop for the rest of our lives? We may want all our food in one huge pile – but what would we do when that food went off and we had nothing left to eat?
Asking for everything in one lump sum is not the wisest thing we can do – God has given us so many things that He wants us to be modest with so that we can learn the meaning of being modest, sharing, earning and providing. God wants us to be able to live in this world where we are going to be faced by people making decisions based on lust and desires instead of wise decisions based on modesty, caring and sharing. The world is not looking for ways of being modest and caring but is rather looking for people who will be willing to give as they take, serve as they demand and listen as they speak.
God does not want us to go down that route but rather that we should go down the route of being willing to serve, give, share and do this all with modesty and honesty. God does not want us to demand all His promises up front so that we can live a fantastic life whilst all around us suffer. God does not want us to run off and party far away from Him. Instead, God wants us to ask in moderation knowing that all good things in moderation will not corrupt us. God wants us to stay close to Him at all times so that when something does go wrong, we will be close enough to ask for help.
God has promised us mansions in heaven, treasures both in heaven and on earth and a whole lot more than we can think of; but He wants us to be sensible about them so that we are not lead off in temptation but rather stick close to Him at all times.
Points to Ponder:
What do you want most from God?
Are you asking God in moderation?
Saturday Reading: James 4 1-3
Key Verse: James 4 3
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
Devotion:
Our desires will lead us into all manner of places that we don’t want to be and should not be! When we allow our worldly passion and lust take over or take control in our lives we are letting a side of us come to life that we don’t really want in control because that is the side of us that can lead us into wars. If we have a look throughout history we find many wars are started just because on government got upset with another because one wanted more than they should. These human feelings burn inside of us and very quickly spill out for all to see as they take control.
Those human feelings lead to so many deep seated problems from a simple argument or fight to murder and wars. They are the product of those feelings becoming out of control. They are a part of us all so we cannot say that we will not be affected by them; but we can depend on Christ to guide us through our problems and to not lead us into the tempting situations.
And then we have the cheek to turn round to God and complain because He is not answering our prayers on time – we have demanded so much because of those lusts and prideful feelings that we lose track on what we need and go for what we desire instead. And even if we recognise that we have these issues we then stop asking God because we feel guilty that we should ask Him for anything because of the way we are acting. God reminds us that when we need something, we have to ask for it – but we have to ask in the right way!
How can there be a right way? Well, let’s start by looking at how we ask others for things – we will ask in a way in which we are most likely to get a good response. We ask kindly and we ask with a heart that is willing to accept. If we approach God in a similar way, with an open and willing heart, then He is going to be more likely to answer our requests. Then we look at what we ask for. If we ask for the impossible from friends, it’s not likely to get much response from them. But with God, anything is possible so we need to aim a lot higher! Then we need to think about whether we are demanding or asking. Depending something is not asking, it is allowing your lustful and prideful ways to take control of your requests – again not something God is going to look kindly upon!
Points to Ponder:
What do you expect when you ask God for something?
Do you actually expect Him to answer?
Friday Reading: Matthew 20 20-28
Key Verse: Matthew 20 23
23 And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.
Devotion:
The disciples were people just as we are and they had desires just as we do; pride is one of those things that we have but should not strive after because it is most likely to land us into trouble rather than to lift us up in any manner. We are warned that pride will lead us into a pit rather than onto a platform but somehow we think we can get away with it. When Jesus was asked to have these two men by His side He answered their request by showing it for what it was and what it should not be.
The disciples were beginning to understand what baptism was about but to know that it was just an outward sign of the inner grace that is given us through what Christ has done for us was not yet fully understood. So they were answering correctly in that part, but asking to be on Christ’s right hand or His left hand was not for Christ to give but for God the Father to give. The disciples were being shown that even though they were in a very special position of disciples with Christ at that time, they should not over step their mark.
If we want to be able to serve God fully then we should not lift ourselves to be equal to Him in order to serve Him but should rather show ourselves as willing servants so that we can serve Him. If we want to be able to work for someone then we would not lift ourselves up to be the boss of the company so that we can work within it – so why should we think anything like that when seeking to work for God?
Being careful of our position is important not just because of how others see us but also because of how our hearts will follow desires or pride instead of following God’s will. If we lift ourselves up we are not seeking to work for God in our hearts but are lifting ourselves up to be God in our hearts. God wants us to show ourselves as willing servants first of all. When we are willing to do that He is willing to call us sons and daughters of His because He then knows that our hearts are in the right place.
Points to Ponder:
How would you go about seeking employment?
How would you go about seeking to work for God?