Sunday Reading: Genesis 1 1-5
Key Verse: Genesis 1 3
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Devotion:
If there is one place that you can always feel depressed in it is in darkness; there is just something all-encompassing about darkness that it should steal all that seems good, and boy does light seem really good when you are faced with darkness! Is it little wonder then that God would create light first of all? What better start than to pick something that is pure; light cannot be made dirty because the only way you can destroy light is to make the total absence of light – darkness…
This first step of creation by our God is the first expression of the will, power and might of our Almighty God. By His simple command the world exists and is placed in perfect balance within a solar system, within a galaxy and with so much light that every corner of our universe seems to have light at some point within it.
When we start to draw a few parallels with our lives, the darkness being evil and sin and the light being God in our lives, we then begin to see that any spec of light is something to be pleased about. On a clear night we can see so many stars in the heavens above that we are in awe at how much God has created (and anyone who dares to say that this is all a random sequence of events really needs to have another look at how things are made). Although light travels at a finite speed (the speed of light funnily enough) we see light as being instantly on or off. The light starts as soon as the source is switched on and stays on until that source is switched off. Nothing corrupts the light; even though we can place things in front of the light to form shadows, we can still know that there is light because of those shadows.
You see, no matter how dark things get now we can always know that there is light and that we can look forward to that light. We know this because of our knowledge about light, that one thing that is neither corrupt nor spoiled in any way. We are reminded in many places (such as Psalms 33 6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth) that it was God who commanded our whole being into existence. He has done this in such as manner as to demonstrate all that is good in a dark and evil place that is seemingly all-encompassing and never ending; but all it takes is that single spot of light to give us something pure to aim form.
Points to Ponder:
How much better do you feel when you see a speck of light in a very dark place?
Are you working towards that Light?
Saturday Reading: Ecclesiastes 12 13-14
Key Verse: Ecclesiastes 12 14
14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
Devotion:
So what does it come down to? Is it you feeling like you are having to rebel against the whole world or maybe it is you feeling like you have hit a brick wall. Or maybe you have acknowledged that God is in charge and you are finally bending to His will in your life. We will all get to a time when we see just how important God’s ways are in our lives; whether we get to that stage before we see Jesus and can change our lives while we are still on earth or whether we find out in shock and horror as we face Jesus on judgement day – we are the ones that have to make that choice.
God has given us plenty of time, knowledge and wisdom to make an informed decision based on His love and the facts that He has laid down before us. He has given us plenty of opportunity and time to come to the right decision. But He continues to leave that choice up to us because He wants us to make the choice and not to have to beat it into our heads.
We serve a Just and Holy God. Jesus Christ is Holy and cannot abide sin. He has laid down His own life for us so that we will not have to face the awful shock of finding out that we are sinners before Him when it is too late. He wants us to realise that while we still have time to repent and ask Him into our lives. He wants us to break the habits that we have picked up over the years and live a life aimed at pleasing Him instead of a life of pleasing Satan. No matter how much we do please Satan, he will still lead us to destruction if we choose his ways. Christ, on the other hand, is Holy and Just. He will always lead us towards a righteous and eternal life with Him if we are willing to ask Him for that guidance that we need.
It is our reasonable service to continually praise Christ for all that He has done for us. It is what we were created for and it is what we need to continue to aim for. God is never going to turn a blind eye to the things we try to sweep under the carpet. He must always and will always uphold the truth because He is Holy and Just. That means that He does not have any evil in Him whatsoever! It means that He is never going to let us fall by the wayside. It means that He will always have His hands outstretched toward us so that we have a hand to grasp when we feel at our weakest in life. He is our strength and our everything. Why not bridle our mouths so that we can live more of our lives with Him instead of against Him!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you lift Christ up in praise?
Do you know He has promised to lift you up in front of God?
Friday Reading: James 3 7-10
Key Verse: James 3 9
9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
Devotion:
There are people out there that pick the most exotic animals to be their pets and some do manage to make those animals change their ways so that they are friendly towards humans. Give enough exposure to any animal and it will begin to accept humans as being frequent visitors and certainly as masters. Man has managed to tame birds of prey so that they perform on request. He has managed to tame wild cats and other exotic animals to perform in zoos; and whilst we do hear of cases where one or two of the animals do turn back to their old wild habits we do not hear anything other than wild outbursts coming from all humans. Instead of the one or two exceptions that go wild we have one or two exceptions that turn toward good and righteousness!
We may look at it as having the tables turned but when we look at it from God’s point of view or look at it through millenniums of examples through our bibles we find out that man has always had an unruly tongue! Right from the beginning of time we find out that man has always had a problem with trying to keep his tongue in line or in check. And it is those few words that come out in anger that we see the most damage being done to the people around us. Just like a snake’s venom will inflict a large amount of damage through such a small bite, our mouths inflict untold damage on people’s feelings through one or two words that burst out at inopportune times!
That same mouth that we use to lift up our prayers to God we use to dash down the friends around us. That same tongue that is used to form wonderful words of praise is used to break down friendships and cut people’s spirits to the quick. How soon we do forget that we are actually doing this damage to God’s own people; the very men that He created in His image, we break down and destroy with words. God created men to praise Him and to glorify Him, not to be broken down by other humans or spirits.
God has created our bodies as living temples for the worship of a Glorious Saviour and King. Our mouths are the parts that form the words with which we lift up God’s name in praise. We should not be using that same temple and that same mouth to break down and level God’s creation instead!
Points to Ponder:
How God friendly is your mouth?
How often do you break God’s temple?
Thursday Reading: James 3 2-6
Key Verse: James 3 5
5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
Devotion:
When was the last time that you got into trouble for saying something that you thought was not worth all the bother? Yesterday? First thing today? Or maybe you have learned the hard way and actually have been able to stop letting your tongue run away with things so much lately! I am sure that we have all been there at some stage when we have thought that others were making a big fuss about nothing. Equally we may well be able to think of a time when we were on the receiving end and we thought that what someone else said was the ‘absolute pits’ whereas they don’t know what we are all uptight about! Welcome to the real world!
The smallest of things are often used to change the big things in life. We are given horses with the bits in their mouths and ships with small rudders as being two things that we can relate to. When we see huge ocean liners turning in the sea we don’t often think about the small rudders or directional jets that do the turning. When we see aeroplanes flying through the air we don’t think of the seemingly small control surfaces (rudders, elevators and ailerons) that do all the work of changing the direction that the aircraft – what would the people in Jesus’ day think of aeroplanes!
Then we turn towards our ever useful (or useless, depends on how you look at them) leaders of various countries and we see how they can make or destroy countries just by saying the right or wrong things! Just by saying the wrong thing at the wrong time people can bring down countries and not just people. Then you get those leaders who seem to be able to talk more than you thought possible, but all the talk that they are able to bring forward is absolutely useless and worthless!
Something so small and hidden most of the time can make such a huge difference in our lives and the lives of those people around us; and at other times it cannot be silenced and does absolutely nothing more than give you a head ache! It can be the most useful thing in your body besides your brain because it can reach people you cannot see; our tongues are very versatile but they do need to be used in the right manner otherwise they will be used for breaking things down instead of building things up.
Points to Ponder:
How often do you praise others?
How often do you teach others?
Wednesday Reading: Deuteronomy 6 6-9
Key Verse: Deuteronomy 6 9
9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
Devotion:
Have you ever had one of those awkward questions from someone else that thinks you know everything – you know, that one question that you know absolutely nothing about! Maybe it was because you did not listen in class, maybe you just had no interest at the time, or maybe it just went straight over your head… Well, you are not alone! My French was about as bad as anyone could imagine – and I’m pretty sure that my French teacher still cringes when she thinks of me (if she does! Why should she want nightmares!)
Learning about God’s ways and learning His Word is just one of the things that God wants us to do. But unlike some of the things we learn is school, God’s Word is always going to be useful and all ways. I can remember my first difficult question asked of me as a youth leader and one which stumped me at the time; but that question gave me a chance to find out the answer for myself. It is the learning that we need to continue focusing on; not to be like the Scribes and Pharisees but to be able to know more about our God and His ways.
He has given us our bibles so that we can learn about Him and can find out the truth through studying His Word. If we are going to spend time learning then we should be willing to give some of that knowledge to others who are seeking it right now. Just as we looked to others when we started learning, we can then be those aids that others seek out when they start learning. We do not have to be walking encyclopaedias but rather just have to know one bit of information that someone else does not to be a teacher!
Learning has always been hard for me because I cannot sit down and study anything for long before my mind goes wandering off into the distance! You could ask any of my teachers and they will all say the same thing – I was (and still am) a person that spends a lot of time dreaming about things! So being able to sit down and write things down is about the only way that I can learn – what better way than to write my words down daily so that others can try to figure out what I am on about or going through! But God continues to not just hold out His hand for guidance but lift me up and allow me to understand His ways through His Word.
Points to Ponder:
How do you learn things?
Are you sharing your new-found wisdom about God?