Saturday Reading: Psalms 37 1-6
Key Verse: Psalms 37 4
4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Devotion:
With a week gone and so much more to do I think we will be coming back to do another week in Psalms soon! But to keep you strong and encouraged I have picked one which I have been encouraged by and one that is a driving force for me in my life.
There was a time that I was afraid of what other people could do to me but as I have grown stronger in God I have also learned that He is greater than all! This does not mean that I never stumble and fall but rather that I just know that no matter what happens to me, my security with Him is eternal and sure! I used to get jealous of the people who had all things and who flaunted what they had in front of me, but now I know that God continues to give me all that I actually need. I used to be seduced by the beauty of things and of peoples outward looks but now I know that the beauty that God holds within each of us is what counts so much more in life. I used to seek to have my own of everything but now seek to share what I have with those that need it. God has truly changed my outlook in life!
God is not here as our servant in so much as He will do everything for us but rather here to encourage us to do what is right so that we can live the way that He wants us to live. That may well be living in a large house with people to help you, or it may be in a small flat so that you can help all those around you instead. What God has given us in our lives is what is best for us to have and we need to realise that before we go off breaking His heart. We have many scriptures that show us how He does care for us both spiritually and physically, but we also have those same scriptures showing us that those people actually had to knuckle down and do things as well!
God wants us to realise that we do need Him but He also wants us to know that He will supply our needs. He wants us to know that we need to ask, but He is willing to show that He gives without us having to pay. The world will promise you much so long as you pay but God gives you everything because that is what He wants in your life. God wants each of us to live our lives for Him and with Him and for that He gives us His Word for knowledge, His Spirit for guidance and His Son for the promise!
Points to Ponder:
Where are you driving in life?
Is God leading you there?
Friday Reading: Psalms 23 1-6
Key Verse: Psalms 23 1
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Devotion:
Read it out loud “The Lord is MY shepherd; I shall not want.” And if you don’t believe it the first time, read it out again. Jesus Christ IS our Lord and our Saviour. He alone is the gate to the sheep-fold. He alone is our gateway to heaven. But not only that, He is also the one who keeps a constant eye and ear out for each one of us. Whilst a human shepherd can only be in one place at one time, they become very attuned to the sounds around them and the actions and reactions of the animal life so that they understand when things are not as they should be.
But we have a Saviour who is all knowing and all seeing. We have a Saviour who is constantly watching, listening, caring for and loving each one of us. He is the one that supplies our needs and the one who makes sure that we are safe forever in His arms. If we are silly enough to run and jump off a cliff (figuratively speaking) then we are the ones who should understand that it is going to hurt when we reach the bottom of that cliff! But He is also the one standing at the top of the cliff and warning us that we should not be going there – and if we are willing to listen to Him then we will not have to face that fall in the first place!
I am sure that I am not alone in knowing that before I got to know Christ I was always seeking something in life to fit the gap that was there. I went about it in many different ways, many of which I would rather forget about than be reminded of. Even after getting to know Him I still went seeking for things not knowing just how much God is actually willing to do for me. But when I came to the realisation that God cares very deeply for me and that He tries to let me see just how much He does care, I began to rely on Him more than on the world around me.
The more that I rely on God, the more I recognise how much more He wants to care for me and the more I am willing to rely on Him. So when David said that he “should not want”, it was not the fact that he would not want for any physical things in life, because he had many trials to go through after this, but more that He knew that God would supply all that he required to keep him secure. It is an eternal security that God gives us and not one that is limited to this earth and our physical bodies. It is not just protection whilst in the sheepfold that Christ offers but eternal protection. We don’t have to look and wonder whether the grass is greener on the other side because we can be safe in the knowledge that God is supplying all that we need!
Points to Ponder:
What do you yearn for?
Are you seeking God in that same way?
Thursday Reading: Psalms 19 7-11
Key Verse: Psalms 19 7
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
Devotion:
Whilst I am sure that you would get good out of any section of scripture that you read, it is not something that should be done as a “once in a lifetime”, or even “every now and again” thing; if we want to know the truth about God and to learn to live His ways, then we have to get to know His Word. When this Psalms talks about the law of the Lord, it is not just a little bit of it, not just the Ten Commandments, but the whole of the Word of God. So when it is being described as being perfect, it is the whole of the Word of God that is perfect.
If you wanted to know how to be able to operate a piece of machinery, you should read the whole of the instruction manual and not just part of it. I know that most of us would rather read a few lines and try things out – just because we are impatient and want things to happen now. But when it comes to God’s Word we have to continually apply it in our lives because that is then when we will get the full benefit of God’s Word; that is when we will see just how much there is to know and how simple we are compared to all those that have gone before us.
When we keep to the law we will find out that we begin to live a life that is more pleasing to God and find the rewards are so much more than we had imagined. The rewards reach much deeper than just our eyes and ears, reaching deep into our spirits so that we do find that peace the God alone can give to us through knowing Him.
Once we get to know Him then we get to understand a part of His Omniscience, His all-knowing power. It is then that we begin to understand how Awesome He is and how much we need to reverence Him and respect Him; that is the beginning of wisdom and the beginning of us understanding Him. That is the beginning of the fear of the Lord that we hear about. The more that we are able to continue on in His Word the more that we realise that He is everlasting and that His Word stands forever! That is when we begin to understand just how rich we are in knowing His Word and having it in our lives. Money can buy many things in this corrupt world, but it will never purchase our God or His ways. Our reward comes from knowing Him and that comes from knowing His Word!
Points to Ponder:
Do you like reading?
How often do you read God’s Word?
Wednesday Reading: Psalms 17 1-3
Key Verse: Psalms 17 1
1 Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.
Devotion:
Already half way through the week and we are still at the beginning of the Psalms – how I would love to bask in them for so much longer, but there is work to be done. If we are sincere about our work for God then we will find out that He is sincere about our relationship with Him! But if we come to Him with hypocrisy and deceit, we will not find what we want to find but rather a Holy Judge! I am sure that we have all had a moment in our lives when we have had to stand up and say that we were the ones that have tried to deceive others in some way, whether on purpose or just trying to hide our own shortcomings. When we turn round and show that we are sincere from our hearts, people start to believe us in what we say and do.
As a youth worker I can always spot the person who is just saying something to please others because you see the difference between their actions and they words. When we are sincere about our love for Christ it shows in what we do and not just in what we say. Children are going to be the first ones to spot the difference between words and actions; or at least that is how we see it. We always seem to forget that God has already seen what is in our hearts and has already known what we were going to do – that is why we need to be brutally honest and open with God!
If we are so sure about our position in life through the works that we do then should we not be willing to say “pass judgement on me” and to accept the judgment that is then passed? If we were ever to think that we could do such a thing then we have not understood the gospel as Christ has given it to us! We have been told many a time through God’s Word that the judgement that we deserve is death because our God is Holy and cannot and will not abide sin. If we then ask for judgement, we are asking for certain demise!
Christ is the one who came forward and gave us a manner in which we could approach God. It is not for what we have done by because of His love and His actions that we are able to do this at all. It is because of His great love for us that we have a way in which our sins can be forgiven, a way in which we can be presented to God the Father, not as sinners, but as forgiven souls. Let us then turn our backs on our earthly ways and lives and turn fully and whole heartedly toward our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ our King!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you try pulling the wool over others eyes?
Are you really fooling anyone but yourself?
Tuesday Reading: Psalms 16 1-11
Key Verse: Psalms 16 1
1 Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust.
Devotion:
How can anyone submit Psalms to be read without including a Golden Psalm, a Michtam? When we read through the words of this Psalms and think about what they say we can be strengthened in knowing that David knew God’s strength and encourages us to depend on it too; but we also see parallels in Christ’s life on earth as He totally depended on God the Father too. How else could a person go out into the wilderness and survive for forty days without the hand of the Almighty intervening? How else could any man face Satan and prevail other than by knowing for a fact that God is with them and strengthening them?
No matter how much we are able to do, how righteous we are able to act, how much we are able to avoid sin – not matter how far we are able to reach, it is nothing compared to the righteousness and holiness of our God! But by seeing just how much Christ was able to do in the form of man we can then look forward to what we may be able to be like once we are given our place in Heaven. It is through what Christ has already done for us that we are able to reach forward to the high calling of God our Father and nothing that we can do. It is because of all that He has done for us that we can look forward to the marvels of our future with Him.
The more people seek after other gods, of this earth or wherever they seek them, they will only end up finding disappointment and discouragement whereas when we seek God we find encouragement and joy. But it does not end there because when the time comes for them to face our Lord in their final judgement they will find out that all they have tried to do through all their sacrifices and works will account for nothing. What Christ has done for us is what will count in that final judgement because Christ alone will be able to stand up and say “I knew this person” and “I have forgiven them of all their sins”!
It is because of this that we need to lift up the name of Jesus, praise our Holy God and make sure that we know that each and every day of our lives. It is not just that we have a safe haven for our souls after our bodies expire; it is that we have a place in glory for our physical bodies as well! It is also that we have a place here on earth under His wings wherein we will find peace and rest even when the world is in turmoil around us. Yes we will still face many dangers and sad times just as others will, but our joy is a future in heaven!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you think about what you do in life?
How often do you think of what Christ has already done for you?