Tuesday 10 Jan 2012

Tuesday Reading: Ecclesiastes 8 14-17




14 There is a vanity which is done upon the earth; that there be just men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there be wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous: I said that this also is vanity.



Devotion:

How many times have we seen bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people; at least as seen through our eyes. But this is something that Solomon started to realise and something that we definitely need to remember. Just because we are Christians, just because we are acting properly, just because we are following the rules, it does not necessarily mean that good things will always happen back to us. Yes we are often told in God’s Word that we will be blessed if we continue to walk with God and do His will in our lives, but equally we are also told that we will also have to put up with the things of the world happening to us because we are living in this world…



There is no way that we will be able to escape a flood whilst the person standing next to us will be taken away by it. We would both be standing in the way of a natural disaster and hence will both have to put up with the consequences. No there may be a good reason why God would lead us away from that spot before the flood comes so that we may not get trapped by it, but that is going to be very different circumstances. God is just and He will not take things out on someone just because they have not listened this time and you have.



The crux of this should not be us seeking God’s blessings so that we can continue to feel good about following His will and His ways; we should be seeking to do His will and trusting Him that He will then set our lives in order according to His will. That may well mean that the unexpected will still happen to us. We should not require things of God just because we say that we are following His laws. We should be saying that we are willing to allow God to work His will in our lives because that is His choice. He is the one who is in control of this planet and all that happens. We are not to try and figure out what should happen just because we are saying that we are doing it right according to God’s Laws. When people try to convince me that I will have many good things happen to me just because I have done one thing right by God’s Law I begin to question the motive behind such sayings; God is just and will do what is right. We are the sinners who live in a world full of sin; should we expect things to go our way when we may well be the sinner doing things wrong tomorrow or the next day?



Points to Ponder:

How often do you examine yourself?



Do you know exactly what you will do next week?

Monday 9 Jan 2012

Monday Reading: Ecclesiastes 7 14-17




16  Do not be righteous over much, neither make yourself over wise; why destroy yourself?



Devotion:

There cannot be a person who is too righteous or a person who is too wise but there can be those that appear to be too righteous or too wise. Once again we see how words can be taken out of context and that seems to be one of the central goals of society – trying to trip others up because of parts of what they have said or done. We have multi-million dollar law suits going on in courts where large companies are fighting each other because of the most trivial (it seems) of ideas and designs. But that is man, that is the way that man thinks and works – not toward the high calling of God anymore, but to the lifting up of himself in God’s stead.



It pains me to see people promoting themselves in such ways instead of lifting God up; just like I mentioned yesterday, the children of Israel took no time in lifting something else up just because God was not quick enough to satisfy their own feelings and their own desires. We need to wait on God, not just for the things of God but for the things in our own lives as well. Lifting up ourselves and promoting ourselves is just one of the things that we do when we think that God is not doing things quick enough or in the way that we want. It is something that we need to work at and something we need to recognise in our lives.



We must not lose sight of the fact that God is not bound by time – time is of no consequence to Him, it is just something that we live in and something that tends to tie us in knots when we give in to it. This does not mean that we should ignore time because we do live within its constraints and it is a very important part of our being and our existence – but imposing limits on our God who knows no limits is a very strange thing that we do and is just a small part of us being righteous or wise in our own eyes.



If we are going to make a show of being righteous or wise then who are we lifting up? If we are not lifting up God, then are we not going the same direction as Satan himself went? There is no way that any one of  us can say that we are more righteous or wise or holy than any other person – we cannot see inside their hearts and inside their minds. God is the only one qualified to do that and that is something that we should never forget in our walk with Him. He is God. Lift Him up as God. Praise Him for all that He does. Let us bring ourselves to Him and serve Him first of all.



Points to Ponder:

How often do you compare yourself to others?



How often do you come humbly before your God?

Sunday 8 Jan 2012

Sunday Reading: Ecclesiastes 7 2-4



Key Verse: Ecclesiastes 7 3

3  Sorrow is better than laughter; for by the sadness of the face the heart is made better.



Devotion:

I am sure that we have all heard it said that laughter is good for the soul and that it is even a cure for many ailments – so why then does God’s Word seemingly say the opposite. Taking God’s Word out of context is a dangerous thing that we do too many times as a society because we take a few words, a phrase or even a whole verse and we try to gain meaning from those few words. God has not intended that we base our lives on a few words at a time but rather on the whole Word of God; and that means taking the whole Word and applying it all and not just the parts that we like at the time.



The children of Israel found themselves in very deep water when they took what they wanted at the time and made themselves a god they could worship because they thought Moses was taking too long! If we take a few words and ignore the rest, then are we not doing much the same by telling God that we don’t have time for the rest of it! So let us look at the wider context that these words are said in. God is not giving us a blanket saying that we should all be mourning and sorrowful instead of being happy and having fun, what is being said here is that there is a time for mourning and a time for happiness. If we choose to take the laughter and joviality when it is time for mourning, then we are only fooling ourselves. But it is more than just that...



Yes, laughter and good times will lift up our souls and allow us to smile in the face of adversity; but sometimes we do need to take time and meditate on what is bearing down on our souls. Sometimes we need to take time out of our lives and just think about why we have these hard times, harsh things or concerns in our lives. If we do not take time to straighten those thoughts and feeling out then we are going to have them gnawing at our souls for a long time to come. We do need to sit down with God and allow Him to show us why we are where we are. Just maybe we are not listening the way we should be. Just maybe we are ignoring something He is trying to tell us. Just maybe He wants us to change just that little bit to line up with what He has in mind for us.



God is the one who does know what is in store for us. He is the one that does know what is best for us. He is the one that does know our futures, so we do need to give Him time to allow us to see the other side of life at times – and sometimes it is hard to sit and listen when we know we are not going to like it at first...



Points to Ponder:

How often do you sit and listen to bad news?



Are you really giving God control by ignoring the stuff you don’t like?

Saturday 7 Jan 2012

Saturday Reading: Hebrews 3 12-13



Key Verse: Hebrews 3 13

13  But exhort one another daily, while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.



Devotion:

It is very easy to be convinced of something if that is what you want to be convinced of. If, for example, you go along to see a magician perform, it is seemingly quite easy for him to pull the wool over your eyes partly because that is what you want to happen so that you can be entertained. So it is with sin in our lives. If we want to go somewhere because we have been tempted, then it is going to be quite easy for someone to come along and lead us astray – even if they are the ones that we call friends, family and loved ones.



Harsh words you may say. But there has to be a time when we stand up and be counted for God and not against Him. There has to be a time when we are willing to stand alone and say that we stand for God… because we are not really standing alone with God by our sides!



How did I start off these holiday times? I started off with words of love and I now bring this full circle of love round to it’s beginning. If we do love someone, then we should be willing to stand up to them and show them when they step out of line. If we allow them to continue off into sin then we are not showing them one ounce of love, we are showing them that we don’t care. “Isn’t that backward” I hear you ask; certainly not. God came into this world to show us that He loves us beyond measure. He did that by showing us that He was willing to give His own life for us; but in doing so He reminded us of the fact that we are the ones in sin, the ones that require forgiveness because we have sunk deep in sin. If He did not remind us of the fact that we are sinning, we would continue in our sin; but because He reminds us and switches on the light, we are able to see that we have gone astray and then we are able to see the full extent of His love for us.



So if you really want to show someone that you care for them beyond the normal, switch on the light and stand by their side.



Points to Ponder:

Are you ready for the Light?



Do you know God’s incredible love?

Friday 6 Jan 2012

Friday Reading: John 3 19-21



Key Verse: John 3 20

20  For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, lest his deeds should be reproved.



Devotion:

Have you ever noticed how much we like to avoid talking about sin? It’s not something we normally talk about and it’s not something we like to bring up in a normal conversation because we know that sin is wrong. If we tell others that they have sinned and they take those words home with them, it is not just going to be those people that are affected by what we say but all of those that they share that with too. It is quite normal to get some sort of response from someone else rather than the person you talked to in the beginning. Why? Because nobody like to have their sin exposed!



If you were trying to sneak into a dark room to do something that you did not want others to know about, how would you feel if the lights were all turned on just as you got to the interesting part? We simply do not like being exposed even when we know we are doing something that we should not be… God wants us to know that sin works deep in our lives. Sin works beyond what we can see. Sin creeps into parts of our lives that we don’t normally think about. Sin is corrupting and breaks us down, wearing us down from the inside out.



God wants us to remember that we have Him within us. We have the Holy Spirit dwelling with  us and because of that our sin will always be exposed even before we realise it. That means we need to be conscious of when we do go off the rails and be aware of what we can do to bring ourselves round to Him again. He is willing to forgive us, so long as we are willing to admit that we do things wrong. If it is going to take someone else switching on the lights before we admit to things, then do you not think that God is going to allow someone into our lives that will switch on the light?



I know that that is what God will do if He knows you are ignoring Him. It is very humbling and very educational to know that God is by your side – always!



Points to Ponder:

Are you creeping in the dark?



Has God warned you that the lights will be turned on soon?