Thursday Reading: 1 Corinthians 4 14-21

Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 4 16
16  Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.

Devotion:
What a statement! Are you sure that you want to be able to make a statement like this? If you think that you should be then you had better be sure that you are willing to stand up and be counted as being worthy of such a statement! Paul was a man who stood up for Christ and was willing to give everything up for His name. If we are going to think that we can make sure a statement then we should be the ones standing firm and upholding Christ’s name more than Paul!

Being able to separate ourselves from the sin around us is not an easy task unless we are fully committed to Christ and resting fully in His perfect grip. When we know that we are firm in His grip and can stand with His to resist the world, then we are beginning to be an example that others can look toward. Christ was a perfect example for us and one that we do need to study. We can look at the Apostles and see just how much they loved Christ, how much they had to work to be more like Him and then also see that they fell down at times as well. But the one thing that we need to study most of all is how they were willing to give over their lives to Christ.

What would you do if your parents started doing all manner of things wrong and did not try to hide it from you? Would you then begin to question whether they have lost the plot or even if they should be looking after you? Or would you give in and follow on from their example they are laying down? That is a very hard situation to be in and one that no parent should lay on their children. Christ, as our Father, did no such thing. He continued to show us the right from the wrong and continued to uphold His Father in heaven above all else. We need to treat those around us as our children and protect them from the evil that Satan has splashed all around this world.

If we are able to show others just a little of the love that Christ has shown us then we will become just that little bit more like Him. Christ looked beyond the sin that people were committing and looked inside their hearts. Whilst we cannot hope to see inside other people’s minds or hearts, we can look beyond their sin. Just because they are sinners should not exclude them from our lives. Instead we should be an example to them of how they could and should live rather than giving in to the ways they do. But be very weary that you need Christ with you because you will not be able to do it yourself!

Points to Ponder:
What do you think others think of you?

Are you taking Christ with you wherever you go?

Wednesday Reading: 1 Corinthians 10 23-24

Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 10 23
23  All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

Devotion:
There are many things in our lives that upset other people because of what they believe or believe in. That does not give us the right, as Christians, to go out and terrorise the world with our ways just because we think they are doing things wrong and they think they are right in our own eyes! Yes I know that is a bit harsh but we really do need to see things from other people’s points of view now and again. God wants us to know the truth and He has given us His Word so that we may study the truth and part of that truth is that we need to take in the needs of others.

That certainly does not mean that we roll over and give in to everything that others bring into our lives – God still wants us to separate ourselves from this world because He knows that we will give in at the wrong times and that we will end up working against Him. But being able to see why others are doing the things they do or being able to see what we do that will offend others will go a long way towards us being accepted by others and allow us to draw closer to them. If we are not able to draw close to them then we will not get the opportunity to reach out to them in Christian love.

There-in lies a bit of a dilemma for us because as soon as we start to see what others are up to we start to cave in just a little bit more and start to think that those sins may not be so bad after all! Well guess what. A sin is a sin! So if you want to be able to reach out to others then you had better be prepared to build up your strength and then make doubly sure that Christ goes out in front of you!

As soon as we do step out of the door we will be open to temptations and Satan is going to make sure that we get more than our fair share just so that he can try to trip us up in front of Christ. If we start to look at the world around us we will start to wonder what it would be like to have a little bit of that world – just as Eve and Adam were drawn in by the evil one, we too will fall into his trap before we know it. So making sure that we do have Christ with us whenever we go out into the world has got to be the first thing we think about. If God had never taken into account the needs that we have, He would never have come to the cross to give His life for us; where would we then be without that love that He showed us first of all?

Points to Ponder:
Are you being selfish?

Do you know how much love Christ showed you before you knew Him?

Tuesday Reading: Isaiah 42 1-4

Key Verse: Isaiah 42 3
3  A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.

Devotion:
Have you ever wondered how you can be more like Christ? You know, when people turn round to you and say that you should be more like Him; then you rummage through the New Testament to try and find out what it is about Christ that you should be doing… then you get discouraged because you see all manner of miracles and all manner of righteous things that He did and just know that you will never be able to live up to that sort of life! But do not be discouraged because it is not being exactly like Christ that we should be aiming at. Christ is our Lord and our God! How can we ever be like Him?

We have been created in His image and we have been brought into this world through Him. How else could we survive in the places we have been if it were not for Christ creating us the way that we are. Yes we have a mother and father but without God’s design in the first place we should not ever have been able to be conceived in the first place!

So let us not look into what Christ did on earth but look back at some of the prophesies that were told many hundreds of years before Christ was born as a human being. This first one always strikes a note in my heart because of the simple words.

God set in motion things so that we would be able to recognise Christ when he came to earth. He allowed many people to remain blinded from that truth because of what they wanted to believe in their own hearts. If they had only opened their eyes to the truth that He Himself had given them over the many years that He had cared for them, then they would have known Christ first of all! Christ made sure that His ministry was one to always lift God up above all. Our first commandment. He did not shout down others unless it was required. He did not go round bashing people on the head to make them listen. He did not cause chaos to gain attention. Instead Christ always lifted up God first of all – but He also went in to dine with sinners so that He could show them the truth from the inside… He never gave up doing that task until He was on the cross accepting all our of sins onto His own shoulders. Then, He willingly gave up His life so that we could live! Are you willing to be more like Him today?

Points to Ponder:
Do you want to be a better Christian?

Are you aiming at Christ’s example yet?

Monday Reading: 1 Corinthians 9 24-27

Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 9 24
24  Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.

Devotion:
I will always remember the first race that I saw a college at school run because it was more of a revelation to everyone than a race! The team was short of a runner for the 200m race and so they picked on the guy who was sitting quietly reading his book to fill in the gap. Once they had persuaded him and the race was under way, the rest ‘is history’ as they say. This young man ran straight past all of the top runners that were lined up for that race and finished first by quite a distance – he was a natural born runner!

We are in the race of life. It is sometimes a race that we would rather not be in and it is sometimes a race that we enjoy; but we are in this race and we are in it was a whole lot of other people. Why is it a race? Because we have to get to the end in order to receive our prize. Does this mean that we have to be the first, biggest, smallest, quickest, slowest or whatever? Well that is left up to each of you and what God has given you as a gift. My college had been given the gift of being able to run faster than anyone in our school, but he would also read more books than anyone else as well! When we strive to be the best at some things we will find that we are not necessarily the best at what we choose because that may not be where God wants us to be; instead we need to find out that path that God has laid down for each of us.

When we strive to do earthly things, all we will obtain in the end is earthly prizes for those things. When we strive to do the things of God, then we can expect to receive blessing from God instead. If we go out to be ‘one of the lads’ then we should not expect to be treated any differently than ‘one of the lads’ because when we land up in trouble we have nobody else to blame but ourselves – we chose that path and we have to live up to the consequences! God does not want us to lead a life of sin and shame. God does not want us to live our life with our heads buried in the sand. Instead He wants us to see the world for what it is and to take full grasp of everything that He gives us in our lives.

Sometimes we are going to be surprised at what does come our way and we may well start to think twice about what it is that we should be doing. When we are faced with those questions or decisions in our life we need to make sure that we have God by our side to guide us in our decision making so that we do turn the right ways for Him!

Points to Ponder:
So you think you are good…

Have you consulted God to see if you are?