Thursday Reading: Proverbs 23 4-5
Key Verse: Proverbs 23 4
4 Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
Devotion:
It is amazing how many people will use this verse to try and tell you how God has said that we should not be rich or that we should not own many things. Well that is simply not what God is saying to us; rather He is trying to show us that what comes with riches and wealth is not always in line with Christians’ ways and God’s plan. It is not that He wants us to be poor and totally dependent on Him because of the state we are in but rather that he wants us to choose to be dependent upon Him for everything in our lives.
If we are going to place out trust in the money and the riches, then we are going to follow the rules and the ways of that money and that wealth; and that is where we suddenly see that God’s ways and man’s way are very different! We like to think that our understanding of money and wealth is growing all the time and that we can control the economy of the country or even the world by doing things our own way… but as we see from the state of the world at the moment, the more that we try to get things going our own way, the more we find out that man’s ways are inherently evil.
It is not so much the fact that we don’t know what is going on or that we don’t understand the rules of global economy but more the fact that men are not always honest and they break the rules; in breaking the rules they destroy the fragile balance that the rest of us are trying to keep up. It all comes down to someone thinking that they know best or trying to pull the wool over other people’s eyes!
God does not work like that at all because He has given us the truth up front so that we can know what is true and what is not. He then continues to warn us of the traps and pitfalls that are ahead of us so that we will be able to keep on the straight and narrow. God is giving us all that we need to make sure that we can do things right, but as soon as we figure that we can go and do it alone we are going to find out the hard way that we face other forces far beyond what we realise. God wants us to know this ahead of time so that we are confident it placing our faith and trust wholly in His arms!
Points to Ponder:
Do you look for riches?
Or do you look for God’s ways?
Wednesday Reading: Proverbs 3 1-6
Key Verse: Proverbs 3 5
5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Devotion:
Yes I know it’s the same verses but there is a very important point that I left out of yesterday’s devotion and that is the second half of verse 5. The more that we think we know the more of a case we build up based on our own understanding of things. Unfortunately for us we do not have the same understanding as the author our the bible!
When we think we know it all, or even when we think we know just one spec of evidence better that God, we are immediately working against Him! I have been in trouble before both in school and out of school as I have tried to prove in some way that I know more than my teachers. I know that I have been right sometimes but that is because I have been up against other people and not against God. Each time I have come up against God’s Word I have had to back down because, ultimately, I find out that I am actually wrong.
Nowadays I don’t try to pick fights against God because I trust in His Word. I trust it as the truth and I trust that it is there to teach me to live my life in the right way. That does cause problems in my life because I come up against people who do not want to believe God’s Word is the absolute truth. If God just wanted to entertain us then He would have given us a novel to read and we would be able to pick holes in it all day long – just as we like to pick holes in novels and films. Instead, He has given us His Word so that we can know it as the truth.
It is not up to us to define which parts of the bible we are going to take and which parts we are going to leave. We either take God’s Word as the truth or we take it as a novel. Man’s understanding may seem rather incredible compared to a decade ago and incomparable compared to a century ago, but no matter how much we think we are learning, we are still learning and we still need a teacher. God continues to explain His Word to us for as long as we are willing to attend class with Him. The more we attend class and listen, the more we learn – so let us not think that we can re-write God’s Word but rather use it to further our understanding each and every day.
Points to Ponder:
How much did you learn yesterday?
How much did you listen to God for understanding?
Tuesday Reading: Proverbs 3 1-6
Key Verse: Proverbs 3 5
5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
Devotion:
Have you ever noticed how hard it is to keep laws or rules when you don’t really believe in them? We all like to think that we know the law and that we can point out when they are wrong; but most of the time we are just trying to get our own way and side step the law. If we took time out to actually study the laws and find out why they have been defined the way that they are we may well change our opinion of those laws when we find that are actually designed to help us and not to prevent us from enjoying ourselves.
Too much of the time I see people throw God’s law aside and take on their own definition of things; I see this in the adults that I mix with and the youth that I teach and I know that I have done the same in the past as well. Speaking for my own actions, I was ignorant about God’s laws and I took what others were saying and bent things a little so that I could come out on top. But the more that I am able to study God’s Word the more I am certain that God’s Word is perfect.
Yes there will always be arguments about whether it is right, whether it is the absolute truth, whether it is all parable and similes or not, and a whole host of other excuses that people will come up with just so that they don’t have to keep that law. But when we reach the end of the line we will turn round and wonder why we ever had our doubts about any of it! You see, God has given us enough law written in this one book we now call the bible so that we can not just straighten ourselves out but continue to be guided in the right direction for the rest of our lives.
But in order for us to get the most out of these laws that God has given us, we need to get to know them. The more that we do get to know them the more we put two and two together. The more we understand about it the more we can see it for what it is. Our faith has to be built on something and the best things for it to be built on is the truth – God’s Word. The more we keep it in our hearts instead of just in our heads the more likely we are going to be to keep it, obey it and live by it. The more we do that, the more likely it is that we will listen to God and to His ways – that is, after all, what He wants from us!
Points to Ponder:
How much do you trust laws you don’t like?
Are you willing to trust God’s law explicitly?
Monday Reading: Isaiah 30 19-21
Key Verse: Isaiah 30 21
21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
Devotion:
God has promised us a place in heaven when we believe on Him and trust that Jesus Christ did come to give His own life for our sins. Actually, He has already promised us that place even before we believe, but we have to make that choice ourselves to believe so that we can get to heaven. But what happens between us accepting Christ as our Saviour and the day that we enter into heaven is going to be largely up to what we listen and act upon.
We could just accept that God will keep His promise and continue on our own merry way causing havoc as we go; but that would be very unwise and may lead to all manner of things going wrong in our lives as God continues to try to get us back on the right track without us listening to Him. On the other hand we could actually listen to Him and we could be shown the best possible way forward in our lives. If we are willing to listen then we will find that He is willing to guide – but it is that listening part which becomes difficult unless we firmly embed our way of life in God’s Word.
The times that I find toughest are the times when I find that I have drifted away from God in some way. If I continue to read God’s Word every day then I do get encouraged along the way as well as finding out a lot more about our incredible God. If I pray to Him every day I also get encouraged and also find comfort. If I do things for Him I am rewarded, not just outwardly but inwardly too. If I set time aside to lift up His Word to others I am rewarded through others thanking me. If I do things for others I am rewarded in the knowledge that I am showing them a small part of our Saviour.
But if I only do any one part of the above, I lack the other things in my life. If I do most of them, I still lack and want for more. But if I am willing to do all of the points above and continue without murmuring, then I find that not only does God plant my feet on firm ground, point me in the right direction and help me on my way, but He blessed me in more ways that I can think of. Yes it can be hard keeping up with everything when Satan is throwing so much in our paths, but by sticking closer to God we can be led by Him all the more.
Points to Ponder:
Do you find instructions easy to follow?
Are you giving God time to give you instruction?
Sunday Reading: Psalms 107 1-9
Key Verse: Psalms 107 7
7 And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.
Devotion:
What does it take before we trust in God? What is it going to take in our own lives before we really do place that faith and trust firmly in God’s hands? Most of us will say that we have faith and display a certain amount of faith, especially after being saved, but as time goes by and we see things creep into our lives, our souls grow weary and feint within us because of the hardships we have to face. It is at those times that we need to reach out the more to God and lay hold of His firm grip on us remembering that it is He who has the firm grip on us and not the other way round.
If we had to rely on our own grip on God we would have fallen away a long time ago and we would be in dire straits right now (no not that band but the state of extreme distress). It is hard enough for most of us to hang on to a rope and support ourselves for any length of time, never mind juggling our lives and trying to hold on to everything at the same time!
When I see how some of my missionary friends rely so much upon God for everything in their lives it spurns me on the more to live for God trusting in Him every moment of every day. This is not an occupation that we should take up so that we can earn points to take with us into heaven but rather it should be a way of life by which we can give glory to our Heavenly Father who has done so much for us from the very beginning. I smile at scientists as they try to explain the impossible, not knowing that there is a simple explanation, that God is in control and that He continues to make the impossible possible for those that trust in Him.
When the Jews found themselves at the end of their tether they finally reached out to God once again only to find that He was patiently waiting to receive them back into His open arms. God is not running away from us constantly. We do not have to chase Him down the road begging Him to come into our lives. He is the one watching us as we run all over the place like a rodent or roach caught out in the open. Once we turn to Him and allow Him to guide us and keep us, we will find that our lives do get turned around and start to make a whole lot more sense… but we must be willing to allow Him to guide as and be willing to follow that guidance wherever He leads us…
Points to Ponder:
Do you listen to good advice?
Are you listening to God’s advice?