Monday Reading: James 2 1-5
Key Verse: James 2 5
5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
Devotion:
Go on, admit it, you know you have done this as well. If we have not done this openly then we have done this in our minds. If we have not done this intentionally then we have done this without thinking. We do view others with partiality, selecting those that we wish to see more just because we like the way they dress or the way they act instead of looking at who and what they actually are.
Jesus has no problem looking at us from the inside and discerning exactly what we are like, so trying to hide anything from Him is just not going to work. We also know that our God is not just omniscient but also omnipresent so there is nowhere that we can hide from Him; our thoughts, desires and minds are always open to Him. Yes we can hide much of that from others much of the time, but when we are off guard or when we are not thinking about everything righteous we tend to let the things out that we bury deep inside. It is at those times when we realise that we do have prejudices that are going to hurt others and that may stop us from serving God effectively.
When we allow any of those prejudices to escape from our lips or through our actions then we are breaking down the things that God has so patiently been building up through us. If we do not realise what we are doing then we will see others drift away rather than coming toward God. In this simplistic look of prejudice here in James we see how bad things can look when we reject someone just because of their outward appearance; but this runs much deeper than we realise.
I was brought up in a country where prejudice was the normal way of life – thankfully my parents taught me to love others no matter what station in life they hold. God continues to teach me through allowing me to see so many different people during my work for Him. Whilst I do still crave to spend time with certain people in my life, it is not just because they are beautiful on the outside but because of the beauty that I see inside them; something God has allowed me to see when others have judged them already. I thank my God that He continues to open my heart to the real people in this world and allows me to see through many of the people who hold up earthly ways, money and prejudice instead of God’s Word. Be bold and uphold God’s Word, His ways, His love…
Points to Ponder:
Do you think you are unaffected by prejudice?
Where would you be if God was picky?
Sunday Reading: Luke 16 19-25
Key Verse: Luke 16 25
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
Devotion:
I have often read this passage and skimmed over things to look into the reactions of the rich man when he gets to realise that the poor man is in heaven and he is not; but sometimes we should not just take things for what we think about first of all, but to rather look a bit deeper into what Christ was actually saying. If we look at the words that He used to describe the rich man we do not see anything negative – though we may wish to make negative comments because the poor man wishes to eat of the crumbs from the rich man’s table.
This is not just a story about a rich man who had everything apart from Christ and not just about a poor man who knew Christ; this is more a story about the way that people see others. It is a sad reflection on society today that we have a class society in which people are graded by how much they earn and society then gives them privileges based on that income. This is certainly not what God does because He looks on the inside of each person instead of the outside.
The rich man does not have any record that He knew Christ otherwise he would have expressed Christian love toward the poor man. Christian love should never be about positions in society or about how much people earn but rather about that inner love that God has given us toward others. I am so very thankful that I know a broad range of people and have learned, with Christ’s help, to love people for who they are rather than their position in society. I was not always like this because I grew up in a very different country where things were certainly not equal between people.
Christ showed His love toward everyone in many unique ways, just one of those ways being that He healed everyone that came to Him for healing. Now whilst we would like to think that everyone that got healed then turned their lives round to serve God in any way they could, we know this is just not the case. Take the case of the ten lepers who were healed – we only hear of one of then actually thanking Christ, never mind doing anything for Him! God wants us to show our love toward others, not just to the select few we think deserve it!
Points to Ponder:
Do you limit your good works toward your friends only?
Where would we be is Christ required you to be a friend first of all?
Saturday Reading: Galatians 6 6-11
Key Verse: Galatians 6 10
10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
Devotion:
When we do take God with us in every part of our lives we will find that we are given a better understanding of our lives each step we take with Him. God is not going to leave us to walk alone if we have invited Him along; He will jump at the chance of guiding us in every step if we are willing to allow Him to do so. When Christ said that He would not leave us alone it was with the express intent of making sure that we have a guide that He gave us His promise. Just because we have earthly work to do does not mean that we must exclude God from our earthly work; include Him in everything, always.
If we go off on our own merry way and do what we want to do we are going to find that the things we do will have consequences in our lives. If we leave God behind, the consequence may well be that we feel very far from Him and find it hard to listen to Him. If we try to focus on God but exclude others in any way then we will find that others will see a very different picture of us than we think! Excluding others may sound a harsh statement, but we do exclude others in many ways in our lives. It may be a simple remark that we make that excludes others because that remark is taken as a harsh an unnecessary rebuke instead of helpful guidance; each of us has a conscience that can be built up or dashed and broken down.
Our words, once they leave our mouths, are on a mission to do something and affect others. If we let out those words without thinking, they may well be words of destruction rather than words of encouragement toward others. What could be worse that breaking down what God has built up in another person?
It is not always an easy task to live with other people because of our differences. The more work that I am able to do with others working for God, the more I am able to see how different each of us are. God has given us these different lives and different roles so that we can support a much wider and fuller society. If we do not embrace, carefully, those different people, we will find that we cannot cater for God’s children. God is the one who has created us different for a reason so let us move forward in support of one another as God intended us.
Points to Ponder:
Do you like helping others?
Are your words helping others?
Friday Reading: Galatians 6 1-5
Key Verse: Galatians 6 3
3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
Devotion:
Each one of us has been given a lot by God and it is our task to make the most of that lot for the glory of our God; if we are aiming at anything else then we are sadly mistaken about our goals in life. But just because we have this lot to fulfil does not mean that we have to be a recluse or that we should not be successful – quite the opposite because God would have us to be as good as we can be.
The mark of a Christian should not be how great a position they can climb to but rather how they have been able to help others by being in the position that they have attained. We have jobs to do and we need to be expedient about doing what we have to; but if we lose focus on the people around us, then we have lost focus on God’s people as well because we are all God’s creation.
There are going to be times when we make mistakes and time when people around us make mistakes too. If we are being good stewards of the lot that God has given us in life then we should be able to help one another to sort things out and to get each other back on track, but being able to do such things in Godly and spiritual ways may well be the tough part. We all like to think that we know what is best and that we can do things better than others at times, but that is not what God has given us to do. He has given us the task of lifting each other up and sustaining our Christian brotherhood so that others will see how great God’s love can be.
If we are able to display just some of God’s love toward others, especially in dire times or times of trials and tribulations, then others will be able to see that God’s love is above everything. We must never think that we are any better than others because God has given us a different lot in life to others – we should strive to be the best in what God has given us, not in what God has given others. When we are able to take God with us in everything we do then we are headed in the right direction and others will be encouraged by what we can achieve. If we try to run the race by ourselves then we are showing others that we think we don’t need God by our side; so let us move forward with God, every step of the way.
Points to Ponder:
What are you good at?
Do you include God in every part of your life?
Thursday Reading: Romans 12 9-21
Key Verse: Romans 12 16
16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.
Devotion:
I think that I have used these verses quite a few times over the past years, but it is because of their wording that I keep coming back to them. These verses encompass a great definition of what Christian love should be about and a great reminder of just how many ways we do corrupt the love that we like to think we have toward others.
Christian love must be honest, open, free from deceit, sincere and needs to be real. There is little value in telling people that we love them unless we are willing to show them we love them. Imagine what it would be like to have someone continually tell you that they were going to improve your life in many ways, and when you vote them into power they fall back on every one of those promises… Oh, wait, that sounds like most governments in the world today! Too many people are into things because of the glory that they can gain from them instead of just showing people that they care and want to share!
If we are not willing to reach out to the people around us so that they know that we care, then we are nothing different from any other selfish person in the world. God has given us our positions so that we can demonstrate Christian love toward others; He has given us a position on His staff so that we can continue to show others of His great love toward all men. He does not call us to judge others and decide who needs our support but rather to support anyone and everyone who we meet. It is not our call to decide who God brings into our lives but the will of God – we just need to work with God and love and support those who He brings into our lives.
What sort of person would we be if we said we were Christian but chased people away? What sort of person would we be is we said we were Christian and turned our backs on others? If we want to be called Christians then we need to take on the mantle of a Christian and show Christian love to everyone that God brings through our lives. Sometimes that may well seem to go against what we think is best, but at those times I put it to you that we are lifting up our own thoughts and desires instead of lifting up God and His ways. If we are willing to think about God’s ways as the Romans are here reminded, then we too can move forward in Christian love with Christ.
Points to Ponder:
Are you picky about who you let into your life?
Why has God chosen you first?