Monday Reading: Psalms 55 1-8
Key Verse: Psalms 55 6
6 And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.
Devotion:
David was a man. And that, to many, is about all you have to say! We (men) do tend to get things wrong now and again! And when things do go wrong we get very upset with the fact that everything has not gone our own way and with that come feelings that pour out sometimes with very little control from our side. This is not entirely limited to men but we do tend to show this off somewhat better than ladies do!
Sometimes we do have problems trying to control our feelings or our actions and reactions. We learn these actions and reactions from observing, listening and learning from what goes on around us – so when we let a lot of garbage into our lives, we start to allow that garbage to come out when we get to that point of anger or strife; just about that point where we find it hard to let go, hard to control or hard to have patience. King David was certainly not the best with patience and self-control – but He was always ready to stop and learn what was going wrong.
David came undone on several occasions where the sin got the better of him because it seemed like a good idea at the time and just maybe God would not be watching! But David also learned the hard way that when things did not go according to plan and according to the rules – there would be consequences for his actions and reactions. Many a time he had to come forward and admit to those things he had done wrong because he had realised that God was always there and always knew what was going on.
But the one thing that David did know was that God would always be willing to forgive when he came forward and openly and humbly admitted to his mistakes or his misgivings. Jesus Christ came into this world so that He could do once and for all what man had to continually do time and time again after seeing the error of his ways. Christ paid for that sin once and for all! But Christ did not just wipe the slate clean without worrying about what happened; Christ wants us to come forward and acknowledge what is wrong, admitting to Him that we are sinners and that we do need that mercy that He alone can offer us. God continues to uphold that truth, love and mercy so that we can know that we can depend on Him totally and forever!
Points to Ponder:
Do you have to look for forgiveness much?
If you are not looking always and forever, why not?
Sunday Reading: Psalms 53 1-6
Key Verse: Psalms 53 1
1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.
Devotion:
If you thought that there was nobody around that would punish you for doing anything wrong, would you be tempted to go ahead and do something wrong? If we are all going to be honest then the answer would probably be yes – after all, if we are never going to get into trouble for doing wrong, what is there to stop us at all?
So it is little wonder then that people turn round and say that they can do what they like – or at least they want to be able to say that just so they don’t get into trouble! And what excuse are they going to use? “I didn’t know” or “there is nobody around to see me” or “nobody is in charge”… are but a few excuses that will come out of the woodwork. But it is only the fool that will say that nobody can ever get them into trouble or that nobody will ever tell them off!
We live in a world where there are so many cameras and video surveillance that it is very hard not to get caught out when we do things wrong. But what most people forget (or choose to ignore) is that God is watching 24/7 and that He actually does see everything. How are you ever going to get away with sin when He is able to see your every move? How are you ever going to believe that He will turn a blind eye to your antics when He sees everything?
God is Just! That means that if He sees you do something wrong, then He has to do something about it! Scary thought! But one that we do need to remember. Something that we are not alone with either because the Children of Israel also had issues with forgetting that God sees everything. When they mumbled and groaned about what they had to put up with, who was the one watching over them? When they thought that they could complain to Moses and get him to petition God, who was watching and listening?
But just because we are not alone in doing things wrong it does not make it right in any way. Being wrong, naughty or sinful is exactly that, wrong, naughty and sinful. We are the ones who choose to go against righteousness and we choose to go against God – but we also choose to do it right in front of Him. We do this because we cannot see Him and we somehow hope He turns away just at the right time – well, guess what…
Points to Ponder:
Do you think you can get away with it?
Do you really think God is not watching?
Saturday Reading: 1 Timothy 6 17-21
Key Verse: 1 Timothy 6 17
17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;
Devotion:
At a time when most people are finding life very difficult with the world economy being on the brink of collapse, there are some who are still making a whole lot of money – you may ask what are they doing with it and most of us would be hard pressed to find a viable answer! But money is not everything. Money is not what is required to pull this world out of its situation! The more that people focus on the money instead of what is needed, the more people will become entrapped in this love for money that God’s Word tells us is the root of evil!
When we focus on the earthly things such as money, we lose focus on the heavenly things such as eternal life. When we concentrate on digging for gold we lose out on all the precious things in life that pass us by while our heads are buried in the sand. God wants our primary focus to be on Him and not on the things of this world. As long as we do look to Him and to His ways then we will find out what is best for us and what can make us happier than any earthly riches.
No matter how entrenched we become in worldly matters we will never find out about the things of heaven and the things that God wants in our lives. No matter how many resources we push into what we do on earth, they will count as nothing compared to those few resources we give to God and His work. It is not the riches of earth that will give us eternal happiness because they lack certainty and lack finality. God does not want us to throw the earth away because He did make it for us. He wants us to be able to live in this world in happiness and in comfort and the best way to do that is going to be to follow His will in our lives and stop following the earthly greed and lust that we have become so used to.
God’s ways are perfect and eternal. Our ways are corrupt and short-lived. To build anything that is going to last, we have to build on a firm foundation. The earth may look like a firm foundation but man has proven beyond all doubt that it falls apart as soon as we corrupt things; so building on what we think is firm is not always the right plan. Building on what we should know is firm (God’s Word) is the right way forward, but not always the easiest for us to accept. Leaving earthly ways behind may be difficult when we cannot see what God has in store for us; but we do need to have faith that He does know what we need and that He will supply what we need!
Points to Ponder:
Do you like trusting in others?
How much do you trust God?
Friday Reading: Matthew 6 19-24
Key Verse: Matthew 6 24
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Devotion:
One of the hardest things I still find it to think ahead, plan ahead and to make sure that things are sorted out for tomorrow instead of just today, the here and now! I know my parents had to put up with so much as I continued to put things off and to lay things aside – and my family and friends still do have to put up with that; but can you imagine how much God has to put up with with all of us doing much the same thing?
We like to think that we have things sorted out and that we have got time to do what we expect we can do, so we put something off for a little while longer whilst we go off and do something that we would much rather be doing! Sound a little familiar? Well our bibles are full of things like that where God has continually had to put up with man taking things into his own hands or running off like Jonah. How can we ever think that we can run away from a God who is eternal, living, all knowing, all powerful, all seeing and everywhere?
If we ever get to the point where we think we should follow what our friends are doing just because it looks like the right thing to do or because it is fun – then we have already gone too far and we need to stop and think once again! God is so very patient with us, but He also remembers everything! If we do not figure out that we are doing things wrong then He may well allow things into our lives that will force us to take a long hard look at what we are up to and compare it with His Truth! None of us like to be told that we are in error or that we are following man instead of following God – but we do have to realise that we do do such things!
We have a single God. Yes it is confusing for us to know that He is made up of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. But He (or They) are one and the same. No part of God will ever do something without all of Him knowing what is going on and in full support. So our love toward God should not just be in part or part time but in whole and all of the time. Our love for God should be directed toward Him and not through lifting up man in His place. Yes we do need to love and support each other, and the love that God allows me to have towards other never ceases to amaze me – but we need to server Him first and foremost. He is God!
Points to Ponder:
Who do you lift up?
Is God preeminent in your life?
Thursday Reading: Deuteronomy 6 4-5
Key Verse: Deuteronomy 6 4
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
Devotion:
If I seem to spend too much time talking about The new Testament scriptures it is probably because that is where I am reading at the moment – but our thoughts must always dwell on the whole of God’s Word and not just the parts that we think we should read or the parts that we think encourage us. Our walk, after all, is not with a brief section of what has happened in this world but with the whole world and the whole of God’s creation. If we look at part of the truth then we will learn what we look at, but if we spend time to find out the whole truth, then we will begin to pick up wisdom.
If I were asked to try and summarise religion from a few verses in the bible then these are likely candidates! This is the basis of how God wanted Israel to look at Him. When we look into the original text we find word such as Jehovah and Elohiym. These are a couple of the names given to God, each describing God in different ways but each talking about the one, eternal, living God that we know today. Jehovah describes God as self-existent and eternal. Elohiym describes God as the supreme God of all. We can say that something is lost in the translation somewhere unless we know in our hearts that The LORD is self-existent and that God is the supreme God and that they are one and the same!
God is not just limited to how we can describe Him either because we shall never know the true extent of our God. We shall understand more about Him when we are with Him in heaven, but I’m pretty sure that we shall continue to learn more about Him all the time that we are with Him. So when it comes to us showing God a bit of respect or a bit of love – that is too small a commitment and falls far short of what we owe Him.
Let us therefore turn to our one true God, Lord of all, King of Kings, God of everything; and love Him with all that we have within us. That should not be such as hard task to do when we can turn to another human being, who has done nothing in comparison to God, and love them with our whole hearts! But we need to make sure that it is not just an earthly love but a full, spiritual love that we express to our God. Loving someone else is wonderful, fulfilling and fun. Loving God is all together more and without end!
Points to Ponder:
Do you love someone special?
How deep is your love for God?