Monday 17 Oct 2011

Monday Reading: Psalms 39 1-6



Key Verse: Psalms 39 3

3  My heart was hot within me; while I was musing, the fire burned; I spoke with my tongue:



Devotion:

The Psalmist here raises the thoughts about how we feel when we are surrounded by people who would not believe Christ and how we act in such circumstances. It also raises the thought that no matter what situation we find ourselves in we should always be reminded that God’s Word is not something to keep quiet about.



We seem to be in a time when people are not willing to work for God but rather to work for themselves, even to conspire against Christian workers. But whatever does happen out there in the world we have to remember that our strength comes from God and not from within ourselves. If we try to raise ourselves up we will find that it is almost impossible and that we very quickly find failure as an attractive alternative. Failure should never be in our minds because we have already seen that Christ has succeeded! When we sit in our corner and start to feel sorry for ourselves we should find that fire burning hotter and brighter within ourselves. If we do not, then just maybe we are not listing to our God.



The problem we face is that God is being removed from so much in our lives that people are not being exposed to the truth. If we do not keep bringing that truth about God to the front then we are failing in our duty. It is not our task to try to convince others that God’s Word is the truth but rather to bring that truth out to them so that they can see it for themselves. God has never asked us to do His work but rather to work with Him. Yes there are times when we should keep quiet because He wants us to survive, but every opportunity that does come our way should not be missed. Unfortunately the labourers are few when it comes to working with God; but He can, does and will continue to strengthen and encourage us so that we can go forward with His truth. Don’t let your own weaknesses wear you down because it is God who is trying to lift you up to work with Him.



Points to Ponder:

Do you feel like nobody is listening?



Are you listening to God’s encouraging Words?

Sunday 16 Oct 2011

Sunday Reading: Jeremiah 20 7-9



Key Verse: Jeremiah 20 9

9  Then I said, I will not mention Him, nor speak in His name any more. But His Word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with holding in, and I could not stop.



Devotion:

The inspiration for this week comes from several sources, the one that triggered it off being a devotion I read from last month. Jeremiah was at an absolute low at this stage because it seemed like everyone was against him, people were making up their own prophesies and nobody wanted to hear the truth from God. It was not made any easier through the fact that Jeremiah did not always have good news to tell because of the waywardness of the people of Israel. Another source of inspiration comes from the fact that we see so many people nowadays who are willing to be called Christians but do not seem to want to take the Word of God with them!



We are facing times much like Jeremiah where people do not want to hear the truth from God. They would much rather make up their own ‘truth’ so that they can continue to do what they want to do rather than obeying God. We are faced with governments who are trying to take God out of schools and out of our lives, replacing it with their own religions so they can follow their own sinful, lustful, prideful ways. It is a sad sight to see, but one that is very real.



But no matter how much Jeremiah tried to keep to himself at this stage he knew, from that burning inside, that he had to continue taking God’s Word with him. He knew that he had to lift up the truth so that others may be given the opportunity to know God. He knew that his task was not to keep quiet about our Awesome God but to spread His Word to anyone who was willing to listen. There are people out there that are still willing to listen. We need to step out and find them because they may be too fearful to come forward because of all the strife. Take a stand for God today!



Points to Ponder:

Do you like telling people the truth or lies?



Are you telling others God’s truth?

Saturday 15 Oct 2011

Saturday Reading: Romans 12 9-16



Key Verse: Romans 12 10

10  in brotherly love to one another, loving fervently, having led one another in honour.



Devotion:

One of the best ways that we can lift up Christ and His ways is to continue on in His example by loving others. The love that we show towards others will shine stronger than a spotlight in their lives because it will be something that they can know as the truth. If we are willing to take our love with us and to give it to others in our lives we are not just lighting up our lives and their but also the people around us too. Being able to demonstrate your love for Christ is a very important part of being a Christian – as is demonstrating your love for those around you. Jesus reminded us in this by giving us what some like to call the eleventh commandment – to love others.



That love has got to be right though because if we try to love others for our own gain or for our own good, then we will quickly find out that that will work against God’s will in our lives. We should then not be too surprised that we fall flat on our faces or that things don’t go our own way. God will try to allow us to see that it is His ways that we need to follow and that it is His will that we should aim for. He does this because of His awesome love for us and not because He wants us to be slaves to His ways. Our love towards others has got to be honest like that too – we cannot turn a blind eye to everything to try and make people happy. We need to lift up the truth and God’s laws so that others will know His ways as well.



This description on love should be read regularly to make sure that we do remember just how we should be loving others; not part time, not half way, not just when we want to, not just because they are nice, but always and forever. When you find that special someone in your life you can realise that love to the full – what we need to remember is that that is the love that we should be willing to show to everyone and not just that special someone in our lives. God did not limit His love to the people that would agree to His ways but showed His love to the whole world, both sinners and saved, so that we can know that true and faithful love. Let that be our example!



Points to Ponder:

Do you limit your love?



Did Christ limit His love?

Friday 14 Oct 2011

Friday Reading: James 2 14-20



Key Verse: James 2 20

20  But will you know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?



Devotion:

When we see successful advertisements for things like sports equipment that thrive on simple saying like “just do it” we are told that it is ok to “just do it” because that way you will succeed. But not everything is right to just go out and do it because many things are contrary or against God’s laws. We do like to see how far we can stretch things sometimes but that is not the best thing to do – we will either get caught out because we fall, or we will push the boundaries a bit far and encourage others to do things against God’s law.



But let’s look at the positive side of this. How can we turn our negative way of seeing things into something positive that we can use to encourage others too? To make sure that we are able to join Christ in heaven His commandment to us is simple in that we have to believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He came to die for our sins. But what if we just stop there? What if we just believe in our hearts but don’t do anything after that? I suppose that should be about as good as burying your savings in a hole in the ground – you know that it is safe but it’s doing absolutely no good for anyone!



Christ wants us to be part of His life, to live our lives with Him instead of in spite of Him. He wants us to be able to demonstrate our love for Him because by doing that we are able to grow stronger in Him every day. If we buy the best sports equipment and put it in the cupboard, we have achieved nothing. But if we take that equipment and go out and use it, we will begin to grow; we will be gaining in more ways than one from what we go out and do. Christ wants us to be active Christians, living our lives for Him, showing others that we love Him, taking Him with us everywhere. Without “doing” it, we are as good as a pair of sneakers stuck on the shelf forever.



Points to Ponder:

Are you an active person?



Are you active for Christ?

Thursday 13 Oct 2011

Thursday Reading: Mark 12 19-25



Key Verse: Mark 12 24

24  And answering Jesus said to them, Do you not err because of this, not knowing Scriptures, nor the power of God?



Devotion:

Our ways are certainly not God’s ways. Man has proved that from the beginning of time when he chose to sin instead of continuing in God’s honest ways. Man is enticed by so many things and some of them are not that obvious. One of the ways that Satan will try to get round us is through our pride which can take many forms. One of our weakest is also one of our strongest and that is honour. We try to make sure that we do things in an honourable way or that we keep our word or our ways no matter what happens around us. Sometimes that fact that we are keeping our word is actually working against God and we don’t always see it.



God’s ways are perfect and we try to make our ways follow on from that. But sometimes we keep to what we have said rather than standing back and evaluating the circumstance against God’s Word; or in other words we keep to our own word rather than to God’s Word. It is a fine line that we tread in many things in our lives but one that has to be kept. The only way that we can be sure of staying on the right track is by always keeping God’s Word in preference to our own. Yes it will still land us in trouble because we still do things wrong in between, but at least we will be sure that we are aiming to keep God’s will in our lives.



In this passage the men around Jesus were deliberately trying to trip Him up, not knowing that they should never be able to do that because He is God. Instead they were lifting up man’s word in preference to God’s Word. They lifted up the rules given to Moses knowing that it should be the truth. Yet Jesus was able to further enlighten their minds to show that God’s Laws are firm, without error and can always be used in every case in life. Keeping God’s law in our life should be what we aim for, making sure that people understand that we keep it because it is God’s will and not our own wishes we intend keeping.



Points to Ponder:

Do you look for holes in the law?



Are you trying to make holes in God’s law for your own good?