Friday 20 Jan 2012

Friday Reading: 1 John 4 18-21

Key Verse: 1 John 4 18
18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

Devotion:
I love the way that love is describe here – that love should not have fear or harbour fear because love should cover all and include all. But this love that is described here is more than just the love that we should have for each other or for those special people in our lives; the love that is described here is the love that God has shown to us and the love that He wants us to know! Not just know about, but actually know in our hearts!

Does this mean that we must all go out there and strive to find that special person so that we can spend the rest of our lives with them? Well, no, not really. Yes we will find great comfort in love. Yes we will find great companionship in love. Yes we will find great joy and peace in love. But unless we hold fast to that love that Christ has shown us first, then we should not have room for any other love in our lives. It should only be once we do know that love from Christ and for Christ that we should even think about taking that love and sharing it with another person.

Christ is the one who is going to give you a heart that will have room to love Him as well as to love that special person in your life. Christ is the one that we need to focus on in our lives so that we can get that love from Him and for Him too. Once we know that love then we will be able to decipher the love that we have for others. When we think about that special person in our lives we should never harbour doubts or fear that what we do should interfere with our love for each other. As long as we strive to do what is right in God’s eyes then everything else will fall into place. If anything does not fit into that pattern, then are we simply fooling ourselves rather than exercising our love?

Our love for Christ needs to be strong and sincere. If we do not truly love God then we will find all manner of things that feel wrong in our relationship with Him. But if our love for Him is anything like His love for us we will grow in that love daily!

Points to Ponder:
Do you know love?

Do you know God’s perfect love for you?

Thursday 19 Jan 2012

Thursday Reading: 1 John 4 14-17

Key Verse: 1 John 4 17
17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Devotion:
Do you ever look at someone and long to be as lucky as they are because you think that they must be the luckiest people in the world because of the things that they have that you do not have? I’m sure that we have all been there and yes I do know that God has told us that we should not covet; but I’m not talking about getting all upset and uptight about being without something when you see that someone else has got something… There is nothing wrong with being happy for someone who has something even when you do not have it. There is nothing wrong with making it your goal to be able to attain something someday – but the feelings that we have have got to be kept in control otherwise they will quickly turn into us coveting things!

When these words were written down they were not meant to raise up feelings of resentment or any other bad feeling but rather to encourage others about what they could experience and what they have to look forward to. When we walk with God we know a peace that others would strive to have if they could see it in us – so why don’t we let others know about it?

It is through knowing Christ that we get to know about His love for us and His care for each one of us. It is through getting to know others that we can get to know how they feel about us too. We cannot ignore those situations because we live in this world and we are surrounded by people who think like we do – like human beings. We are certainly not perfect and we do lack finesse in many things in life – but we also have this great ability to love others. It is that ability to love others that we do need to exercise and not leave to die down in dormancy. Why should we allow that love to die down when Christ was so willing to show that love to everyone around us.

I am not talking about the lust that we know so well from all sides and all manner of people around us. Lust and love are different sides of the coin and must ever be confused. God continues to show us just how pure and natural love is, if we accept it!

Points to Ponder:
Do you love others?

How do you compare your love to Christ’s love for you?

Wednesday 18 Jan 2012

Wednesday Reading: Galatians 5 1-6

Key Verse: Galatians 5 6
6  For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

Devotion:
There are many saying that we have in the English language about being a master of a single thing or just good at lots of things; in life we often find that it is good to be able to do many things instead of focusing on being a master of one thing – especially when it comes down to DIY work. But in those circumstances we can always turn round to someone who we know is a master of that thing that we need doing and ask them to help out; but that is not the case when it comes down to our belief in God and our faith in Christ!

Our faith in Christ needs to be singular. In other words we need to have faith in the one Christ and nothing else. When Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” He was telling us in no uncertain terms that He is the only way that we will get to heaven. We cannot try to be justified by everything that we do, because even if we think that we have done everything right and kept every law, we are still breaking the law of believing God by not trusting His only begotten Son! We are condemned by the law; plain and simple, the law tells us just how bad we are. Unless we believe that totally and turn to Christ and have faith in Him alone, then we are still falling very short of the mark.

We have to wait for eternal life. It is a promise to us and not something that we get given whilst we are still alive. We have to have faith that that promise will come to pass and the only one who can give that to us is Jesus Christ because He is the one that gave His own life for us in our stead on the cross. He paid for our sin debt and so He alone can dictate our future. But the most amazing part is that He has already given us that promise that He is faithful to deliver… if we trust in Him.

It does not matter what race we are from or what religion people place us in. What matters is that we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ through whom we can attain eternal life because of His promise to us when we trust in Him!

Points to Ponder:
Do you think you are good?

What does God’s Word say about you?

Tuesday 17 Jan 2012

Tuesday Reading: Acts 10 34-43



Key Verse: Acts 10 35

35  But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.



Devotion:

Have you ever gone to a church where you have felt that you are the odd one out, the one who is not welcomed, the one who is just not invited back? If you have ever gone to such a church it is probably little wonder that you do not go back there again… But there are going to be so many more churches out there that will invite you in with open arms and want you to stay. Sadly some of those will be ones that you do not make it back to because they are far away or even because of other reasons. One thing we really do need to remember is that God’s Word is meant for everyone and not just the people we choose or think deserve it.



That certainly does not mean that everyone is going to accept it, because you will find many people who reject it and even reject you just because you stand up for the truth. You may even go into some churches where they reject you because you dare to stand up to God’s Word instead of following their own ways. God has warned us that there will be many people who will try to lead us astray and that we need to stay away from them… but there is also going to be those who just do not know the truth because they have never heard it yet. Those are the people that we need to be reaching out to; those are the people that God has sent us to preach to!



I’m not sure how Peter felt about having to go to a Romans Centurion’s house to give them God’s Word; whether he would have thought it a trap or what in the beginning if it were not for the dream that God had given him first. We may not get the visions nor have the personal word from our Lord as to who we should be going out to reach, but we certainly have His Word, our bibles, which plainly teach us that we ought to go out into all the world and take His Word with us!



This is another one of those things where we have to go out and do something and not just say it. The more that I am able to take God’s Word and His example with me to youth groups and youth meetings, the more I want to reach out to more children. God continues to give me the strength and wisdom to reach out to youngsters of all ages – something I found hard at times when I was bringing up my own. You see, when we fully rely on God we are able to reach out to more people in a far more effective way that simply trying to do our best. Let God be your effective guide!



Points to Ponder:

How often do you shy away from telling others about God?



Has God ever rejected you?

Monday 16 Jan 2012

Monday Reading: Psalms 29 1-11



Key Verse: Psalms 29 4

4  The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.



Devotion:

It may be hard to admit that you are wrong about things in your life and it may be harder yet to turn away from them, but if you are finding it hard then just maybe you have forgotten just how Awesome our God is! The one thing that we can count on is that God is bigger, better, more powerful, stronger, wiser, move loving and well, just so much more than anything or anyone in the universe! God is God! Do you get that? He is actually God; and that makes everything else dwindle in comparison! Now that we have that sorted out; just what was that problem you had?



You see, no matter how big a problem we think we have, God is so much bigger than that. There is absolutely nothing that God cannot do! How often do we forget that? Well, probably more than we would like to admit because we still find ourselves worrying and fretting about things that we know we should be giving to Him to sort out in our lives. I have long worried about things before realising that I have not given it to Him to help me with. God is there and He has asked us to bring everything to Him. Why? So He can do what is right and show us just how much He cares for us and in doing so we can then see and be reminded just how wonderful He is which gives us something to shout about – and shout about it we should!



God wants us to lift His name up and give Him the glory that is due to Him; but if we are going to continue to hold on to everything and not allow Him to work in our lives, then how are we ever supposed to see the wonders of our awesome God? There is method to His ways and they are ways that He laid down before we were even on the scene because he knows that those ways are the best ways; the ways that work!



It is not just when we get into trouble that we should turn to God because whilst we continue to have great things happen to us, He continues to walk beside us and share this world with us. Who do you think it is that has allowed those great things and wonderful people into our lives? Is it not our Awesome God? Everywhere we go we should be lifting His name above all else showing and telling others of the wonders of our God. We should be making sure that we remember (as well as others) that He is God and that what He says needs to be so – not just in our lives but in everyone’s live around us too. If we do not remind others just who it is that have given us this wonderful life, then how are they to know that God is actually in control? Lift up the name of Jesus today and be proud to say that He loves us!



Points to Ponder:

How often do you tell others you love them?



How often do you tell God you love Him?