Sunday Reading: Ecclesiastes 4 9-12

Key Verse: Ecclesiastes 4 9
9  Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.

Devotion:
How do you mark the line between separating yourself from the world and still keeping companionship? After all, man is a social being. God created us to have companions and He encourages us to keep companionship with others but just who we do keep companionship with will define our lives. Being seen with the right people may well make a big difference in the social world and in the business world, but God is not one for checking up on who you are keeping up with! God wants us to be able to follow the love that He puts in our hearts so that we will fulfil a much deeper companionship than simply being seen in the right places and with the right people!

When we are reminded that two are better than one we are not just given a statement but given reasons as well. We can relate this back to the very beginning when God created Adam and then Eve as a companion. If He thought that we needed to be seen with the right people then He would have created a few celebrities as well; sounds so ridiculous when we put it in that context! God has given us the style of life that He wants us to live and we have corrupted it beyond anything recognisable from that creation and now seek to redefine those basic definitions that He gave us.

If we try to mix the style of life that God has designed for us and the corrupted style that we have ended up with we will very quickly find out that we tend to give in to the life that we have designed. And that is when we start to realise just how important it is to have the right people in your life – and I am not talking about the celebrities or the rich and famous but rather the children of God that He has allowed into our lives. I have learned that it is very easy to give in to life when living or working alone, but a whole lot harder to ‘fall off the rails’ when we have someone by our side.

That is where I praise my God because He has allowed some pretty remarkable people into my life over the last decade that have more than strengthened my walk with Him. If it were not for those people I would have continued to walk with the world and the people who think that it is OK to continue walking with the world instead of aiming for God. The more Christians I am able to be companions with, the stronger and more defined my walk is with God. It does not mean that all my friends are Christians, nor does it mean that all my Christian friends support me; I have to do my fair share of supporting others as well. God has given us as companions, which means it works both ways and not just supporters for us. Just remember, God alone is that Rock and that Solid Companion that we can always count on.

Points to Ponder:
What are your friends like?

Do you introduce them to God?

Saturday Reading: Genesis 6 22

Key Verse: Genesis 6 22
22  Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

Devotion:
When we look at the people around us we may well think that it is a very hard thing to do God’s will in our lives, but after we have done His will we look back and think “what was all the fuss about”. Just as in other things in our lives, a change is not what we look forward to, but there are times when God will call you to do something that will change your life. Those are the times when we have to make sure that it is God who is doing the talking and that it is us who are doing the listening.

Noah had a task ahead of him that was not one that any of us should look forward to. He had the task of taking on a giant piece of work, but also of shutting himself and his family off from the rest of the world as God dealt with them. Each of us are going to face a time in our lives like that and we may well not have the courage by ourselves to do such things. But you can rest assured that with God by your side you will have the courage, stamina and wisdom to carry out His will. Noah did not lose focus on God and he did not allow his own family and feelings to get in the way of carrying out God’s will. That is the key point, I believe; making sure that we do continue to carry out God’s will, even when we think we know better!

We will face all manner of people who will try to convince us that what we are doing is turning our back on the world in favour of something or someone what we cannot see… well praise God that that is exactly what I want to be able to do – to turn my back on the world and focus on God instead!

We will not be given such a daunting task as that given to Noah because God has promised not to flood the world again; but God may well give us word that He wants us to make a big difference in our lives, one that we think we are not ready for or one that we think we cannot do by ourselves. If we trust our God, who does know best, then we will very quickly find out that He is guiding us in the right way forward and that we do need to leave the things that we have built up behind and follow His example forward. To God be the glory!

Points to Ponder:
Do you squirm when given a daunting task?

Are you trusting God’s judgement?

Friday Reading: Isaiah 44 14-17

Key Verse: Isaiah 44 15
15  Then shall it be for a man to burn: for he will take thereof, and warm himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread; yea, he maketh a god, and worshippeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto.

Devotion:
I guess we would all look at a verse like this and say “I would not do something so foolish as to carve my own god out of wood”; but how many of us do continue to carve our own metaphorical gods from the things around us? If we are honest we will see that there are certain things in our own lives that we do more than we should or take care of more than other things to the extent that we ignore the things of God and we ignore God’s ways just so that we can have our own way with these things. If you think that that is not the same as making your own god with your own hands then I then I think we need to sit down and talk.

Christ reminded us enough times that we need to make sure that God is the one who comes first in our lives and that we lift Him up for His glory and nothing in His stead. If we are going to lift up anything else before God then we are not listening to Him. This does not mean that we can simply ignore everything else nor does it mean that we do not have to take care of those things in our lives that we don’t like doing – that is just part of life and we have to deal with that. God wants us to be diligent in everything that we do but most of all He wants us to love Him above everything.

He is the one who has given us the family that we have so loving our family is paramount because we need to take care of everything He has given us. He is the one who gives us life, so we need to take care of our lives and health. He is the one who gives us those special people in our lives that we love, so we need to make sure that we take care of them just as much. But in everything that we do, we need to uphold the name of our God first of all and make sure that we try to follow His will in doing so. As long as we are doing that, we will be working towards pleasing Him and glorifying Him for everything that He gives us in our lives. Ignoring Him or lifting up anything else in His stead is doing exactly the opposite by saying that we can do better than Him! Think again!

Points to Ponder:
Are you good at doing something?

Who is it that gave you that ability in the first place?

Thursday Reading: Romans 3 27-31

Key Verse: Romans 3 27
27  Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

Devotion:
How many times have you been wound up by someone boasting about the things they have done or things they have seen? How many times as a youngster did you tell others that your dad was better than their dad? How many times did you even think about the fact that just maybe someone else did not have a proper father or did not have a loving father to count on? As children we do learn some very selfish things and we do come up with the words that we may not dream of saying when we get older. But it is not the words of a youngster who does not understand what he is doing that cause such grief but rather the words of one who should know a whole lot better that will cut deep and wound mortally.

There should not be any room in our lives for such things as boasting because they are nothing but destructive or even counterproductive at the very least. No matter what we are in life, boasting should not follow us. We don’t have to be Christians to work that one out! So what is it that should remind us that there is no room in our lives for such things? Is it the law of God? As we probably already know, it is just honest living and a good attitude that will show us that boasting is wrong so we cannot say that it is only the law of God that excludes such things in our life.

What then is it that should drive us to be better people? Is it not the hope of things to come that gives us a goal to aim for and a purpose in our lives? If we do not know Christ then what is our purpose in life? If we are to believe certain scientists then we are just an accident waiting to die! What hope is there in that? Little wonder then that they create such amazing stories to try and support themselves and to try and give themselves a goal to aim for.

I am blessed that I do know Christ and that my hope is in Him. I am blessed in knowing that my future is safe and secure. I am blessed in knowing these things count and that boasting of anything other than God is worthless!

Points to Ponder:
What do you look forward to in life?

How do you tell others of Christ?