Wednesday Reading: Matthew 5 38-42

Key Verse: Matthew 5 41

41  And whoever shall compel you to go a mile, go with him two.

Devotion:

As you read through God’s Word there are going to be times when you come across things that just maybe you have not thought about or maybe you didn’t want to think about. We all like to think that when we face adversity that we too will be able to stand upright and “take it like a man”, but in reality many of us crumble and fall reacting in many different ways that are not entirely Christian (to put it mildly). Jesus did not come to reject us just because we are weak and He is strong; far from it. In fact Jesus came to show us that we will give in and that we will fail but that He is willing to still forgive us for those times when we will fail Him.

He wants us to come to Him honestly and to admit to our failings and our shortcomings. He does not want us to project this image that somehow we are stronger than we seem and that we can stand up to anything… He knows just how weak we are and He knows how we will fail – but still He is willing and waiting for forgive us.

This then gives us a real reason to “turn the other cheek”. He wants us to know that we can stand firm with Him by our sides and accept the flak that comes our way. He wants us to know that that flak is not intended to trip us up or to make us fail but rather to strengthen us in our walk with Him. If we are able to lift Him up in praise when our world seems to be crumbling around us, then we are going to come forward a whole lot stronger than when we first met our stumbling stones. Yes it is going to be hard to accept the abuse at times, but accepting it with Christ by your side will only make you stronger!

Points to Ponder:

How much further can you go?

How far did Christ go for you?

Tuesday Reading: John 5 30-40

Key Verse: John 5 39

39  You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life. And they are the ones witnessing of Me,

Devotion:

The more we are willing to stop and take note of what God has in store for us, the more we will be able to see just how much Christ has done for us in those same scriptures. Our bibles, from the very beginning to the very end, are treasures of knowledge that we must bind deep in our hearts knowing that it is the Word of God. Our whole bible tells us of the promises of God, shows us the reality of those promises and shows us what lies ahead because of those promises. It is a whole book of the whole truth and not just parts of things tucked together to form a story.

As my Pastor reminds us, the Old Testament is a record of the New Testament that was to come, the New Testament is a record of those promises. Or to put it another way, the New Testament is concealed in the Old Testament and the Old Testament is revealed in the New Testament. They are not two separate books but rather the linking together of what was to come and what happened, giving us a sure hope of what is still to come.

When Jesus was walking with two disciples on the road to Emmaus He did not tell them who He was by saying “I am Christ” but rather spoke to them of all things beginning with what Moses had first written down; He started in the Old Testament and spread out the whole truth before them so that they may see that is has always been the truth and God’s way! What a wonderful moment it must have been for those two when they realised the full extent of the truth from seeing the whole picture explained so clearly to them. We now have that whole bible in one book so that we can study it and find that same truth. That is exactly what we need to be doing, searching God’s Word from beginning to end to uncover the glorious truth that He has given us to see. It is only once you have had time to sit down and go through things with God that you will begin to see the full extent of that truth that He has given to us.

Points to Ponder:

How often do you read?

How often do you read God’s Word?

Monday Reading: John 5 30-40

Key Verse: John 5 30

30  I can do nothing of My own self. As I hear, I judge, and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of the Father who has sent Me.

Devotion:

There are always times when we just need to be able to stop what we are doing and get into God’s Word. Those times should never be ignored but grasped with both hands tightly and taken direct to your heart because those are the times when God really does have something to say to you! The more that you are willing to stop the merry-go-round of life and take a moment with God, the more that you will find out how much He does actually do in your life already. We always like to think that God will put up huge billboards for us to see so that we know when to get off the highway of life… but it is not like that.

We are the one who need to keep a constant eye open for the small sign-posts that come whizzing by in our lives. We are the ones who should be ready because we know that things are going to change. We know that Christ has promised us that things will change and He has given us His Word so that we can know what to look out for; so that is exactly what we should be doing – being prepared to stop and get off at any second so that we know we are still in His will.

When Jesus came to walk amongst us to prepare for that final day for our sins to be wiped away forever, He came as a human being, but one who was expecting things to happen because God had promised it so. He came listening and obeying. He came seeking His Father’s will and not His own. He had every right to do His own will, but instead He chose to do His Father’s will. If we are able to stand up and be counted as one of God’s children, willing to do His will before our own, then just maybe we can be counted as worthy to accept His promises and His blessings. I constantly am reminded of the things that I do wrong because He does continue to guide me in my walk with Him. I am also constantly reminded that He chose God’s will so that we could have our sin debt paid once and for all. What an Awesome Saviour we have in Jesus Christ our Lord!

Points to Ponder:

How often do you stop and look at things?

How often do you stop with God?

Sunday Reading: Deuteronomy 11 18-21

Key Verse: Deuteronomy 11 18

18  Therefore you shall lay up these my words in your hearts and in your souls, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, so that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.

Devotion:

Being a father has helped me to understand just how much children need education in its many forms. I am not just talking about the education that they would receive at school but rather all manner of learning that children will receive as they go through life. That learning does not really stop for us when we grow up but rather changes its form from a scholastic environment to life as we know it. Just because we are living our lives does not mean that we actually stop learning…

As we do walk through life we very quickly begin to see that we need some form of experience or answers so that we can fall back on to them when we are at a loss to explain what is facing us at any given time. We will all get to some point in our lives when we do not know the answer and we have to be able to find that answer out from somewhere so that we can learn and move on. If we simply relied on others we may get to the stage where we run out of patience waiting for them to explain things to us or run out of time waiting for them to explain.

God’s Word, thankfully, will never get to the stage where we cannot learn from it because it is so immense! God made sure that we were given all that we need in His Word so that we will not have to flounder around trying to figure out where to go to find out what to do. Instead He gave us His instruction book so that we can know at all times that we have the truth with us. We need to take that word and keep up to date with it. It is no use reading a bit and l=then leaving it well alone for the next few years as we try to learn from others. God wants us to figure things out by enquiring through His Word and through Christ Jesus. As we learn we gain experience and we should then pass that knowledge and experience on to others such as our children or those children around us. Stepping out and making a difference in a child’s life is one of the most rewarding things we can do for God.

Points to Ponder:

Do you remember learning when you were younger?

How much does God teach you daily?