Saturday Reading: Matthew 28 16-20
Key Verse: Matthew 28 20
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.
Devotion:
Even with the disciples walking with Jesus, they had doubts; Peter had doubted beforehand and so had Thomas. Each one of them had doubted that Christ had risen when the women first came back from the tomb. Now they knew that He was Christ because here He had risen from the dead and now He gives them clear instruction as to what to do with that truth. But just as they had doubted there, we do face certain doubts in our lives with God too.
We are certainly not alone when we do have doubts and Christ knew that we would have our doubts so has given us a lot to be able to belay those doubts. He has given us the bible to study how man has done things in the past as well as to know more about Him. It is through examples that He gives us direction as to what we should be doing in our futures. He strengthens us through allowing us to know how much He has done for us as well as to know how ‘man works’. The bible is not a book that is ‘out of date’ or one that only applies to ‘the olden days’ but as we read it we can relate to everything that was happening back then and see that that is much the same as we are now. God’s Word is what is most valuable to us.
When we have doubts, we need a sure truth that we can stand on so that the doubts will crumble and not us. That truth is what God has made sure that we have a ready access to and one that has stood the test of time. That truth is what Jesus spent all His days of His ministry telling others. That truth is what we need to read every day to keep up with all that He does for us. When we begin to know more about Him we then begin to be encouraged by what He shows us. As we grow in strength through His Word we are then able to take that Word with us and share it with others. Being able to pass on the Words that Christ gave to His disciples is just one of the things that continues to drive me forward in my work for Him.
Christ continued to encourage each of the people He spoke to by reminding them of who God was, of who He is and of the fact that we have a God who is constantly with us. Jesus had told the disciples these facts over and over again to make sure they knew those same facts. So it is little wonder then that these words have been recorded for our learning and for our encouragement. We need to use them because it is what He has asked of us.
Points to Ponder:
Do you take God’s Word with you?
Do you remember that He is with you too?
Friday Reading: 2 Corinthians 12 6-10
Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 12 9
9 And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may overshadow me.
Devotion:
Just when we start to think that we can handle all manner of things we will normally find out that we can’t, and it may not be the easy way that we find out either! Does this mean that God is not with us? Certainly not! On the contrary, God is probably the one that is allowing us to trip over our own feet so that we can be reminded that we need Him at all times! This does not mean that God is the one throwing temptation our way – we can do that all on our own quite easily! God is the one who sees inside our hearts and knows what we need to be reminded of His power and His might.
There is not a lot that will damage our walk with God than a bit of spiritual pride! God does not want us go down that path so allows certain things through our lives to remind us that we depend on Him. God will continue to do all things for His glory and for our good. When we lift up our prayers to God, He is faithful and just to listen to those prayers and to answer them for our good and His glory. But one thing we are reminded of here is that it may not be for our good or His glory for those prayers to be answered immediately!
God does listen to those prayers, but the answers will be done to His timing and not to ours. If we had them answered immediately would we not become spiritually proud and start telling others all about our power with God or our closeness with Him? God can see right through our ways and He certainly does not want us to be proud in what we can accomplish.
When we lift up our prayers to God it must not be in a selfish manner either because that will not bring Him the glory. We should not just be lifting up our prayers during our weakest points; though His strength will be shown at its greatest during those weak times. Our prayers should not be lifted up so that we will feel better but rather to ensure that God does get the glory. Our prayers are not a sign of weakness but rather a confirmation of the strength we gain through Him answering them. When we find ourselves facing hard times we can rejoice that He will make us strong because we are able to lift up our prayers.
Points to Ponder:
How often do you pray?
How often do you praise God?
Thursday Reading: 2 Timothy 4 14-18
Key Verse: 2 Timothy 4 17
17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, that through me the preaching might be fulfilled, and that all the nations might hear. And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
Devotion:
One thing that we all face at one time or another is someone who says they are a friend, only to turn out to be someone we don’t really want to know. People have this thing about them where they will say one thing and do another. Throughout God’s Word we have been shown time and time again how man has said one thing and gone off to do another... how can we place any faith and trust in someone who is willing to do that to us? Well, thankfully, God is nothing like us and He continues to uphold His Word throughout everything!
Then there are going to be the people who God has warned us about – those people who pretend to be on our side but are secretly working to their own designs. The men and women we meet that say they are here to help us but are working against us and against God. Oh how we try to not think about them and try to think good of everyone that we meet; but if people are not working for God they are by definition working against Him.
The disciples had their faith share of people that were working against God trying to get their own ways in life and not caring about those around themselves – and even some who did care about those around them but did not care for God. The more that we stand up for God, the more we may find out that there are some people out there who will rise up against us when we try to stand. It is not a nice thing to have your character damaged just by something someone else has said; so when people say that ‘words will never harm you’ you can take it from the apostles that words run deep and harm more than anything physical.
But as long as we are willing to stick up for God and to listen to His will, we will be able to see just how much He does do for us and how much He does protect us. When He said that we should not have any temptation given us that we may not be able to stand up to it was not a glib statement to say that we would never be tempted but one stating that we should not have to stand up to those temptations by ourselves. The more we work for God the more worms will crawl out of the woodwork and the more we may be faced with people working against us; but we can be sure that God is with us all the way. We must remember that our strength comes from God.
Points to Ponder:
What do others say when you tell them you’re a Christian?
Do you depend on God for strength?
Wednesday Reading: Isaiah 41 10-13
Key Verse: Isaiah 41 13
13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
Devotion:
The one thing you learn from reading the Old Testament is that God has always been ready to be there for mankind just as He has promised. God continues to uphold His promises by never failing man. Man, on the other hand, is the one that continues to break promises, continues to turn against God and continues to lift up his own ways instead of God’s ways. How great the temptation that is in the world that it should turn us away from such a great God? If truth be told that temptation is not that great but we are the ones who seek out the easy path or the path where we can gain more from; leaving our God out of our lives just to make them easier!
It is an army that can make a country feel safe. It is a police force that can make a town feel safe. It is the head of a household that can make a home feel safe. But it is God alone that can make mankind feel safe! When He tells us that we have nothing to fear it is because He knows that fact. Throughout history He has shown us that for as long as we are willing to place our faith and trust in His arms, He is willing to hold us safer than anything else can. When God has been by the side of man, man has been invincible. When man has turned away from God to seek his own, he has found out that he cannot lift himself up. Why then do we ignore so much of history?
Is it because we think that we can somehow avoid the same things that man has encountered time and time again? Is it because we somehow think that we will not fail when man has failed for centuries before? Or is it because of our pride that we think that we are better than other great people from the past? God has been trying to teach man for so many years that we have to put aside our pride so that we can exercise our faith in Him by giving Him control. After so many demonstrations of what can go right and all that can go wrong, so many promises held and so many examples of man’s failings, don’t you think it is time for us to start listening?
Above all of this we can know that what God does will always be the righteous way, the right way and the best possible way forward. Yet still we try to give it our own go to see what will happen! There is nothing in our power that will alter God’s ways because we are His creation and certainly not the other way round. When He states that He will hold us by the hand it is far greater than any hand a friend or parent can give us; take hold of it with both hands and trust Him!
Points to Ponder:
What do you seek when you need help?
Are you holding fast to God’s hand?
Tuesday Reading: Psalms 139 7-10
Key Verse: Psalms 139 8
8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
Devotion:
There is always going to be those moments in life when we think that we are the ones that have had it so tough that nobody else could have been there before. Then there are going to be those times when we feel like we are alone or out on a ledge without anyone to reach out to help us. Just because we are human and God is God we think that He somehow does not know what we are going through. Well, yesterday we were reminded just how wonderful our God is at knowing our very being and today we find out that He is always right with us. What better friend could you ever ask for than one who knows exactly what you need and is always by your side?
We are the ones who are limited by our human bodies in that we can only be in one place at one time – God has no such limits! We are the ones who will stand still and feel the wind blow through our hair whilst He is the one who will be everywhere within that wind. We are the ones who can only see what we look at whereas He is the one who knows and sees all in our lives and in our world.
There is no way that we could ever hope to be able to ascend into heaven by our own admission or by our own deeds, but Christ is the one that rose directly to heaven to be with God the Father by His own power. But should we choose to ignore our God, then we will find that our journey is set to hell where we will then find out that truth that He is real after all! No matter where we think we can hide from God, we will find out that He is already there. Just because we can hide from one another does not mean that we can ever hide from our God who sees all!
If we take off as quick as we can, race through all that we can and do more than any other, we will still find out that when we get there, God has already been waiting for us! As far away as we think we can escape we will find that He has already been there waiting patiently for us. No matter how far man thinks he can fly in outer space he continues to find more majestic things out there, created by our Awesome God. No matter how deep man can descend into the ocean depths, we find out that God has part of His creation already there to show us just how great He is! Man continues to lift up many things in God’s stead because they are things that He can see and feel, only to be reminded that he is lifting up what God has created. Let us therefore turn back to our Creator and our God who is already there and has always been!
Points to Ponder:
What do you seek when you feel at wits end?
Are you depending on God?