Monday Reading: Psalms 139 1-6
Key Verse: Psalms 139 2
2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
Devotion:
How many times have you been faced with that feeling that you just don’t know what to do or where to go? How many times have you felt like things are out of control and that you need something steady in your life that you will be able to count on? I put it to you that if you do truly have Christ in your life then you will no longer have to face that sort of thing again. Yes there will still be times when things go pear shaped and you will wonder why, but you will always have that sure and firm foundation upon which to build things.
God continues to be the ever watchful and ever present God that He has always been for and to us. He continues to watch over us and to allow us to know that He is there. He knows when we are feeling down and He knows when we are feeling great because He is always with us. Just because we cannot physically see Him does not mean that He is not there. If we are willing to take a few moments to see the things that are around us and to watch how God provides for every circumstance then we will see just how close He always is to us.
We may be the ones who get all tied up in knots over things that we think we cannot control because we begin to feel out of control, but He is the one who will always be willing to show us a way forward. Listening out for God and for the things He is doing in our lives then becomes a very important part of our lives and one that should be central to our lives. Listening to God and allow Him to guide us should be second nature and not just something that we call out for when we are at our wits end over those awkward things we cannot control.
The one thing that we can count on is that God is the one who does know everything about us. No matter what we get up to and what we face in our lives, God will always be there. We try our best to be prepared for things in our lives that we can try and foresee, but God is the one who knows exactly what is in front of each of us. He knows how we will react to things as they come into our lives... so should that give us comfort, just knowing that God knows about things and that He is watching? Absolutely! If we are willing to listen out for His guidance then we will always have a ready source of guidance and protection from God. His promises continue to stand no matter what we get up to, but our listening out for that guidance is the thing that changes all the time...
Points to Ponder:
How often do you expect others to change for you?
Are you listening out for God?
Sunday Reading: Luke 7 1-10
Key Verse: Luke 7 7
7 Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.
Devotion:
Imagine what it would be like to be able to go to a doctor sick and they would be able to send you away well again – without going through all the hassle of diagnosis, false diagnosis, medicines, prescriptions, re-visits, referrals and all manner of other hoops we try to jump through just to get better! That is what this Romans Centurion believed, that he would be able to call on the name of our Saviour Jesus Christ and that is all that had to be done!
It is a wonder in itself that this man showed so much faith that he believed things would happen just because Jesus could do it! When we think of such faith we probably begin to feel quite weak in ourselves because we begin to see the flaws in our own faith. That is not what Christ wants but rather what the evil one wants. He is the one that casts doubt when there should be no doubt. He is the one who tries to trip us up before we get there just so that he can weaken our resolve and put another crack in our faith.
Jesus was the centre of attention at that time because He was doing the healing and resurrecting. Nobody before nor since was able to have such a ministry for all to see and believe in. You could be forgiven to think that this centurion had little cause to doubt when there was so much evidence right in front of Him. Well, guess what… we have even more evidence than this centurion had because we have everything written down in writing in a single book we call our Bible. What we have in our Bibles is a mountain of evidence that backs up everything that we get to hear about. The stories such as these are told multiple times; on in other words have multiple witnesses. In a court of law that would be called proof enough!
Why then does our faith wane? Why then does our faith have so many cracks in it? The answer is not an easy one to admit to because we have to admit that we have let things slip! We have to admit that we are in the wrong and that we do need to change. It is that change that Christ has already placed in our hearts that He wants to see come about within us and not just to pay lip service to! God wants us to live for Him and not to just live because someone said so!
Points to Ponder:
Do you doubt your faith?
Are you placing all your trust in God?
Saturday Reading: 1 John 1 5-10
Key Verse: 1 John 1 8
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Devotion:
When someone does turn round to ask us “Did you do that?” we often turn away as if to say that we had nothing to do with it. Just as Peter denied Christ three times before realising just what he had done, each of us will go down that path at some stage – whether we have been there and done that already or whether we may be on the way now I am not to judge because I, like Peter, have done things wrong already. But I know that my Christ has forgiven me for those things that I have done and I know that because I have taken them to Him already and now trust totally on His promise that He has forgiven me.
Does this mean that I am sinless? Certainly not! It does mean that I know that when I am presented before my Lord He will not account me as guilty but rather will see that my sins have been forgiven because of what He did for me on that cross of Calvary. As long as we are willing to admit that we are sinners and that we do need our Lord and Saviour, then we are on that road to redemption. Just because we may say that we are Christians and may say that Christ is Lord does not get us any further down that road. It is the believing in our hearts that Christ has died for us and that we need to acknowledge Him as Lord of All that will move us on.
God’s Word is the truth. It shows us these facts so that we can separate ourselves from the deceit that Satan continues to shove our way. Satan is trying to stop us from making that final step to say that be believe Jesus is Lord and that we need Him as Saviour. Satan wants us to trip up before we get there in the hopes that he will have one more follower. But as soon as we do things wrong we will know that we have done things wrong. Doing something about those wrongs is then what will count.
Christ is the one who went to the cross before we gave in to those temptations and that sin. When we recognise that we have done wrong, we can do something about it by admitting those wrongs to Christ – just as our bible will tell us to do, just as God wants us to. Christ did not stop the woman from touching His garment (yesterday’s devotion) because He knew that that step would allow her to know Him properly. He is never going to turn us away whilst we still have a chance – but once that chance has gone, we will have not a single one left. When we then realise that we have done wrong, it will be with tears that Christ admits to us “I never knew you” (Matthew 7 23)
Points to Ponder:
Do you know Christ as Lord and Saviour?
What are you waiting for?
Friday Reading: Mark 5 25-34
Key Verse: Mark 5 31
31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
Devotion:
“OK, own up, who did that?” How many times have you heard that or said that yourself? Sometimes we find it hard to identify just who has done what when we are with a few people, never mind in a crowd; but that was not a problem with Christ. Even though Jesus was here as a human being He still had the power to be able to identify many things and to know many things – after all, He is God. (Another stumbling point for many)
This woman had pushed through the crowds to get close to Jesus just so that she could touch Jesus’ garment in the hope that she would be healed from her problems. Her single hope was that just by touching His clothes, never mind Him or even talking to Him, she would be able to be healed – such was her hope in the situation that she pressed forward just for that cause. If we read our Old Testaments we will find that people were declared as unclean for various reasons and in that state they would not be allowed to enter the temple. Her hope of being able to find someone to come to her instead of her being able to go to them must have all but dried up. Little wonder then that she was willing to try this stunt.
But her hope was a real hope. Within her heart she knew that Christ was special and that she had a chance. Her hope was not in a random chance but rather in the power of God that was being displayed in Jesus in human form. But as soon as she had done her deed, Christ knew that something that God had declared as unclean (because of the Law) had encroached on His domain. If Jesus was able to know that as a human, how much more do you think God knows as God? We do not have any hope of taking our unclean selves and sneaking into heaven whilst He is looking the other way! God is Just and will not abide sin, so being able to sneak in is never an option!
But because of Christ’s love for us and through His infinite mercy, He was willing to allow this deed to happen. He allowed it to make sure that this woman would know the truth. He allowed it to make sure that we would learn the truth. He allowed it to show that He is willing to forgive us, even when we are in a state that God has called unclean! What an Awesome God we have that He is willing to show us such mercy every day of our lives – where would we be without His love and without His care?
Points to Ponder:
Did you do that?
Have you asked for His forgiveness?
Thursday Reading: 2 Timothy 2 19
Key Verse: 2 Timothy 2 19
19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
Devotion:
It should not have to take a rocket scientist to know that you cannot build a house on ground that is crumbling or simply not strong enough to bare the weight of a house. So it should not have to take a rocket scientist to realise that we cannot build a church on something that is not the truth! But what we have is the evidence that God’s Word is the truth by the very fact that the church has been in existence for such a long time and continues to be a pillar in society. Just because so many people are saying that that pillar does not exist or is not there – that does not mean that it is not there. We can see it, we can feel it and we can know it… How can man reject it?
Sadly there are too many people who are rejecting God and rejecting Christ just because someone else says so. What we need to do is to find out the truth for ourselves so that we can know that we are building on a sure foundation. Yes, God’s Word continues to tell us the truth and we have great men of faith that go out and preach God’s Word to us so that we can know that truth and yet we have so many that turn their back on that truth and walk off in the other direction. Why? Because they don’t want to be found out as doing something wrong! Why should they admit to being in the wrong when they can cover things up and continue as if nothing had happened?
We now have governments doing exactly that nowadays which is causing global chaos in many financial markets – but it is digging deep into the very fabric of society, teaching people that lies are ok. They are NOT! God’s Word does not teach us that because it is the truth. How can the truth be a lie?
Sadly, we also have many people who are claiming to be Christians or saying that they believe in God when the truth is far from them. Satan believes in God… but he is not following God… Do you want to be counted as one of those that pretend to be with God or do you want to be one of His children? There is no hiding from the truth because God continue to see everything that is going on. There is no bending the truth to fit in our lifestyles because God’s Truth does not change. We have had His Word from the very beginning and it has remained the same truth that it started out as being – because it is the truth. Stand on it. Believe it. Live it!
Points to Ponder:
Do you tell others you are a Christian?
How well do you know God?