Friday Reading: Mark 15 33-34

Key Verse: Mark 15 34
34  And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Devotion:
How many times have you complained about God not being there for you or complained that God has let you down? Let’s be honest now… I know that I have complained in my heart, not just for me but on behalf of others as well! So what on earth takes us to the point where we want to complain about our God, our Perfect God, our Omniscient God, our Omnipresent God?

I think the best illustration for this is the point where Jesus took on the sin of the whole world and God’s response was firm, deliberate but loving. Jesus’ words were exactly what we may want to cry out “God, why have you forsaken me?” These words were not just a sad reflection on those last hours of Christ’s life but rather words that would be remembered by so many and told over and over again; words that would touch many people’s hearts throughout the years and words that would be able to give us the encouragement that we need to get us back to the point where we can see that God will never leave us and that His love for us continues throughout everything.

How many times have you been told off by your parents? Did you receive some sort of punishment? How many of those times were you sent to your room where nobody would be able to see you and where you would not see anyone else? What happened to those times where you were so embarrassed about doing something wrong that you fled to your room all by yourself just so that you could hide away? Putting those two thoughts together gets us a look at what was happening to Jesus on the cross. God was shutting the door so that He would not have to look upon the sight of His Perfect Son taking on the sin of the world! Jesus knew it had to be done but before He went through with it He pleaded to God to see if there was any other way for this to be accomplished so you can understand that He would not want everyone staring at Him after He took on the sin!

God is Just and Holy. He cannot abide sin. If we are going to run off into sin then we should not expect Him to follow us. If we are going to harbour bad thoughts about others should we expect God to support us? We may not like what others do but that is just because we are different. Embrace difference because God made us that way!

Points to Ponder:
Do you feel let down?

Are you actually letting God down?

Thursday Reading: Luke 12 16-21

Key Verse: Luke 12 20
20  But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

Devotion:
One of the biggest unknowns to us is when. When will we get something, when will we die, when will things go right, when will things go wrong? The more that we ask these questions the more confused we seem to get and the less likely we will be able to make head or tail of what lies ahead.

God is the one who is in charge of and in control of time. He is the One who does know when things should be done for our best interests. He continues to juggle things in our lives so that we will be to obtain the best things at the best times – so long as we are willing to trust Him and follow His will in our lives. When this rich man saw that his crops were going to be more than he had ever had, his instinct was to scrap the silo and barn that he had and to make for one bigger and better – his first reaction was to trust in his own strengths and riches than to trust in Christ’s strength and judgement.

If we really do want to know what is going on then we should make sure that we will be able to put up with the answers to our question as well. It’s all very well saying that we want to be able to know when things are going to happen so that we can be prepared for them – but unless we do accept what will happen and when it will happen then we shouldn’t expect to know God’s timing. What we should be doing rather than asking God when things will happen is to start out by making sure that we are as prepared as we can be right now. The boy scout motto was drummed into me when I was young: “Be prepared”.

We certainly do not know God’s timing, but we can be prepared so that when we do face His timing we are ready for what He will allow into our lives. Yes there are going to be times when we just don’t know what to expect and times when we cannot be prepared for the unexpected, but at those times, as long as we are willing to trust our God and place our lives, our futures, into His hands then we will get what is best for us. We don’t have to be like this rich fool and build up our own little worlds because we live in this complete world that God has made for us. Let us aim to live in God’s constrains rather than imposing our constrains on God’s will!

Points to Ponder:
Have you found out when it will happen?

Are you trusting God’s judgement?

Wednesday Reading: Matthew 10 32-33

Key Verse: Matthew 10 32
32  Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

Devotion:
What use is a tool if you were to buy it and then leave it in the toolbox instead of taking it out when you need it? What good would it be to be a painter and decorator if you are never going to use you skills to do that painting and decorating? God has given us these amazing bodies that allow us to do so many things and part of that must surely be that we should be using them for His glory!

My first experiences with trying to tell others about God were in front of teenagers which some may think of as the hardest nuts to crack. Well, they are not! The hardest nuts to crack are the ones who are deepest entrenched in the world instead – typically adults who have had quite varied lives. Maybe that is why I continue to strive to teach teenagers because I see them as having a difficult life because of the peer pressure and the temptations that attach them from all sides.

There seems to be different attitudes to teenagers out there and they all seem to cause problems for other people. The people who lift up the teenagers and say that they have no choice in how they grow up because of the rejection they face from society are sometimes those same ones that do the rejecting. Some who turn round and refuse the teens because they are not helping themselves may well be helping them in some ways. I refuse to be drawn into arguments about what is best for them because each person is different. The only common thing that we should be concerned about is the fact they each of us has to confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and to ask Him personally for forgiveness.

If you are not willing to allow others to know that truth, then you are guilty before God because you are hiding the truth from people that need God in their lives. That is what needs to count. That is what other people need to know. God has given us these wonderful bodies so that we can use them to inform others about our Awesome God. I use my mouth to teach children. I use my brains to write web sites to teach people via the World Wide Web. I use what God has given me to write devotions that are published through mobile apps. I don’t dare stand idly by and keep my mouth shut!

Points to Ponder:
Have you told anyone about God lately?

How would you start telling someone about God?

Tuesday Reading: Romans 10 1-10

Key Verse: Romans 10 9
9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Devotion:
One of the things that I do like to remind the teenagers that I teach is that even though they may like to think of themselves as being Christians, until they know it in their hearts they still have a problem. This does tend to get them thinking for a while, at least until the world and its trimmings get them side-tracked again! You see, Satan has this grip on the world that shakes people up and gets them all confused. He continues to throw all manner of junk our way just so we may doubt one little bit. He is after that doubt so that he can make that grow instead of our faith – that is his only grip on us!

Fortunately we do have God’s Word whereby we can know what is true and we can look to it for the truth at any time of doubt. There is absolutely no doubt that Satan does know about God and that he knows about Jesus. There is no doubt that he believes that Jesus is real – but he also has this arrogant attitude which makes him stumble when it comes to confessing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He came to pay for our sin debt. That arrogant attitude is all that prevents Him from being saved – he still thinks that he will in some manner be able to over-throw Christ, his creator!

The more that we think about that the more that we begin to realise that there is no way we can get away with thoughts like that – because we know our limitations. But Satan is very powerful and he is able to do so much more than we can; and that fuels his arrogance and fuels his belief that he can in some way overthrow his Creator! I am very thankful that I do not have the power that he has otherwise I too may be very tempted to follow that power instead of following God!

I can look back at the wonderful education that I have been fortunate to have and then I can turn round to the preachers and teachers around me and marvel at the education that God personally gives them so that they can bring His Word to those around them. I know that my engineering background counts as nothing when I get up to talk about God. Instead, I too have to depend on His for wisdom to teach His Word. I praise my God for giving me wisdom and strength every time I stand up for Him!

Points to Ponder:
Do you depend on God for wisdom?

Are you personally acknowledging Him as Saviour?