Saturday Reading: 2 Chronicles 33 1-13

Key Verse: 2 Chronicles 33 12

12  And when he was in affliction, he sought Jehovah his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.

Devotion:

I like the way that many of the historical records in the books of Kings and Chronicles list a whole lot of things and then have an abrupt end echoing our lives where we have what we think is so much time to do things and then suddenly have to face up to the fact that we are out of time. Manasseh was a man who strove after the world, worldly ways and everything but God. It sounds like he was the rebel who did not have a cause other than himself and who did not care for anything other than glorifying everything that was wrong. His rule came to a rather abrupt end when he was taken by commanders to Babylon where he did not have a good time!

Manasseh was a man who probably thought that nothing could touch him whilst he was king and so did what he wanted. But when he was faced with the consequences of his actions he suddenly turned back to his God and pleaded with Him. Did he have any right to plead with God after doing every abomination against God? No, but God is always willing to listen to anyone who is willing to humble themselves before God. God is waiting for us to put the world down and pick Him up…

Once Manasseh had sorted out his heart and had admitted to his short-comings as king, God was willing to listen to him and to answer his prayers. God will always protect those that He knows look to Him. Does that mean that we will never die? Unfortunately not because we all do face a death on earth before we can live with Him and yes sometimes that death may come in a way that we don’t want but God has is reasons for everything. Seeking Him constantly will allow you to see those reasons and give you the peace and grace to accept what God has in store for you. It may not be what you wanted in the beginning, but it is going to be what is best for you (and for God) in the end. It’s not so much about us, but about God!

Points to Ponder:

Do you act up in front of God?

What do you think God think of your actions?

Friday Reading: Matthew 7 7-8

Key Verse: Matthew 7 7

7  Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you.

Devotion:

How many times have you heard someone quote this verse and then go into a long sermon about how you too can be rich with Christ? Or maybe they have gone into a sermon about how you can be healed… Well just maybe that is not going to happen… You may well be on the defensive now and asking how dare I second guess my God who IS all powerful and who CAN do anything. Well, I’m not. I’m just trying to be open, honest and faithful to my God. You see there are many times when we come to Him and ask, or even beg Him for things when we do not have any right to even be asking. You may say that none of us has a right to ask for forgiveness, and that is absolutely true but God has already offered that to us. He has not offered us eternal riches and health on earth but rather eternal riches and health in heaven.

There is a big difference between us being selfish and wanting things here and now and between us waiting patiently for those things that God has promised us. Yes we do have a right to ask things from God but don’t be offended if He does say no to our selfish requests and only says yes to those that are not selfish. God wants to open doors for us and to make our lives better but not just so that we can be better off but rather so that we can give Him the glory for the great things that He has done for us!

Be honest. How much would you glorify God if you won the lottery and how much would you glorify the money and what it can do? It’s not all about what we can do with what we have but what we can do with God and with what He allows into our lives. If you really want God to be opening your doors then maybe you should be walking with Him and not in the opposite direction to Him. God wants us by His side and not running off into the world to have a ball without Him – that is never going to show others that we are Christians and that we live for Him. Try to open your eyes before opening your mouth – it will help!

Points to Ponder:

Do you make know your requests to God?

Are you being greedy?

Thursday Reading: Zephaniah 2 1-3

Key Verse: Zephaniah 2 3

3  Seek The LORD, all the meek of the earth who have done His justice; seek righteousness; seek meekness. It may be you shall be hidden in the day of The LORD's anger.

Devotion:

It is an amazing thing to be able to look back on history and to see the recurring things that man has got up to throughout time. Over and over again we see the greed, pride and general lack of wisdom that man has displayed and we see the same affects every time we see those traits. So why do we not learn from those mistakes that others have done so many times before. The simple answer that we ignore is that we think we are just plain better than those that have gone before us and we think that we will be able to do things when so many before us have failed!

Well, guess what… we are probably going to fall into the same traps and pitfalls that all of those people before us have fallen into! Why? Because we are human, just the same as they were human… We will get caught up in the same things over and over again just as our forefathers were and we will end up with egg on our faces just as they did! No matter how much we try to stay out of trouble we always end up stepping in it just when we don’t want to. Call it what you may but the truth is that we are in fact sinners and we do tend towards sin rather than to righteousness.

That is why we need God on our side. That is why we need Him encouraging us all alone the way! We may feel like He is trying to get at us or that He is not being fair with us; but when we look back at the type of student we have been and then look at all that He has tried to do for us, we may well see His side of things! God has every right to do what He wills. He has every right to stop us in our tracks. He has every right to end it all right now – but He continues to show us grace and mercy all along the way. Praise our Awesome God for His grace and mercy that allows us to live the way we do!

Points to Ponder:

Do you think you are hard done by?

What do you do to God on a daily basis?

Wednesday Reading: Psalms 25 8-9

Key Verse: Psalms 25 9

9  The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.

Devotion:

One of the most important things that we must always remember about our God is that He is willing to teach even the most vile of sinners as long as they are willing to approach Him in the right manner. If you were picked to be a teacher for a day and was faced with a class of students that shouted abuse at you and did everything but listen to you, you would probably be forgiven for not actually getting round to teaching them anything. If, however, you were faced with a class who were asking questions and generally showed some sort of interest in finding out about the subject you were trying to teach, you may well get carried away and keep teaching them even after the bell has gone!

Now imagine what sort of a class you are in when you are facing Christ? Are you one of the class who always makes a noise and distracts everyone else so that nobody gets to listen to the teacher, or are you one that waits patiently for the teacher to unfold the truth before you so that you can learn? If we are honest then we can all look back on the time in our life when we were probably one of the noisy ones who was distracting everyone else or just joining in with the crowd and doing everything but learning…

God has been trying to teach man from the beginning, slowly and patiently giving man the truth and waiting for him to respond. God continues to give us that same truth and continues to give us all manner of things in order that we may actually learn more from Him. Not least of which He has made sure that we have the ultimate teacher, the Holy Spirit, always on hand! What a Teacher! What a spirit! But now we have to look within ourselves and try to see what sort of a student we are turning out to be because we are the ones who will make the difference as to whether we do learn from God or whether we stop others from learning! We have to be that positive person who has the right attitude to encourage others to find out the same truth that God is teaching us all. We can make a difference – so long as we try.

Points to Ponder:

Do you make a noise in “class”?

How much of a distraction are you to God’s children?