Tuesday Reading: Psalms 7 1-5

Key Verse: Psalms 7 4

4  if I have rewarded evil to my friend, or if I have delivered one oppressing me without cause;

Devotion:

Being able to recognise when we do wrong is a big step towards getting back on the right path. Being able to admit to what you do wrong is the next step. The most important step is then to ask for forgiveness for those things that we do wrong. Christ has already paid the price for those sins and He wants us to admit them and bring them before Him so that He can tell us of how He has already forgiven them. Christ’s love for us is without fault and without end and yet we just don’t seem to get it sometimes.

If we are honest with ourselves then we will see so many times when we have got things wrong; we will see so many things that we have done wrong against others just because we got in a mood or because we lost our way. Why should we take it out on others just because we have done wrong? But the biggest problem we have is that we hide behind all manner of things so that we don’t admit to those things. We never like to say that we have done wrong and we will do almost anything to pass the buck on to someone else. It is not a little thing that we do because we are heaping up deceit which will eventually find us out.

Being open and honest can be a hard thing for us because we are brought up in a world of deceit; and yet it is something that we need to aim for every day of our lives. Being able to recognise when we do things wrong to others is not a small thing because it is those very actions that will prevent others from getting to know Christ – just as the things we find around us are the very things that will drive a wedge between us and God. Don’t be that wedge that will drive others away from God; rather be and encouraging friend so that they will be more willing to find out about Christ before it is too late for them. We are not the glue that sticks us together, but we can loosen that glue so that it is less effective is we are not careful!

Points to Ponder:

What do you think others think of you?

Does God agree with your ways?

Monday Reading: 1 John 2 7-11 

Key Verse: 1 John 2 9

9  He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness until now.

Devotion:

One thing that we must always remember is that the Gospel that Christ gave to us, though it was new, is born from old and has always been. Or to put it another way, Christ came to fulfil the scriptures and not to invent anything new; neither is it a new religion nor a new Gospel, just the fulfilling of everything that had already been written down and taught to us. That means that God’s Word has not changed but rather has been fully explained – if only we will listen.

Christ had to remind us of the fact that we are human and that we go off on tangents at almost every opportunity! He had to remind us of the fact that we are weak and that we give in. He had to remind us that our ways that we think are so straight are in fact quite corrupt. Our human emotions get in our way all the time and force us off track without us realising what is happening. That is the side that we have to be very aware of because it is the side that Satan will attack so that he can try to drive a wedge between us and God. Don’t let him get the better of you!

If we are going to say that we love our Lord and that we are Christians, then we are going to have to live up to that which we say. We cannot be saying one thing and then doing another because that will be seen as hypocritical by everyone else. We cannot say that we love others but secretly keep a hatred for someone inside. Christ wants us to be totally honest with our feelings with Him so that we will never be tempted to lie to Him. We cannot hide our sins from Him to start with, so why allow Satan to get his way with you? The more we hide behind lies, the more we will begin to think that it is OK to tell those lies. The more we do lie, the more we separate ourselves from God. Stop the separation and come back to God in humbleness…

Points to Ponder:

How many time do you lie?

Are you hiding your own feelings?

Sunday Reading: Matthew 5 19-24

Key Verse: Matthew 5 22

22  But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be liable to the judgment. And whoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be liable to the Sanhedrin; but whoever shall say, Fool! shall be liable to be thrown into the fire of hell.

Devotion:

God’s Word is exactly that: God’s Word. If we think that we can change any one bit of it to suit our own needs then we are bigger fools than those who refuse to believe any of it! How can we take what God has given us and twist it thinking that what He has given us is not quite as right as we think it should be? Is that not the same as writing something ourselves and then worshipping what we write? Is it not the same as carving a statue and then bowing down to that statue saying that it will protect you when you have made it?

Yes it is very easy to sit back and say that we will believe the whole bible and it is also easy to say that we will obey it – but actually doing that can be quite a task. We do impose our own ways and we do think we know best so we do try and change things to suit ourselves forgetting the very essence of what God’s Word actually is! God has given us the whole truth so that we can know it as the truth. He has given us the wherewithal to challenge what people say and do to us through comparing it with His Word, the Truth. So why should we give in to those temptations and think that it is anything other than the truth?

Christ reminded us through His own words that we will come up against many people who will make things look rosier than they are. He warns us that we have to keep to the law in every aspect otherwise we will not know where our law stops and His law starts. We will always side with our own judgement in those cases so we cannot rely on that. We have been given His Word as the whole truth and we need to accept it is such and move on in that knowledge, upholding it as the truth and not lifting up man in God’s stead!

Points to Ponder:

What laws do you break?

What commandments do you change?

Saturday Reading: Matthew 5 13-16

Key Verse: Matthew 5 16

16  Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in Heaven.

Devotion:

So where has this all got us in the end? We know we are the ones who are selfish and we know that we are sinners. We also know that our God is gracious and merciful. We even know that we will be given a new nature so we can be in His presence in Heaven. But how are we even going to get there unless someone is first willing to show us that there is an alternative to the corrupt way we grow up in? How are we ever going to find out that there is a better way than what we have chosen?

The answer is surprisingly simple – we open our eyes and we observe. We look around us and we see that people are different. We look at how people act and re-act and we begin to formulate ideas about what is good and bad. We compare the things we see and our nature that God has given us will be able to discern the difference because we will be able to see those who do choose to follow Christ and those that choose to continue on in their own ways.

We are given that choice and it is ours to make. If we are going to act as if we are normal people then I don’t think that we should be at all surprised to find out that people just treat us like normal people; and most people do not treat normal people like we would want to be treated. If we want to be different, if we want to stand out as a Christian, then we have to be different from this corrupt world and act like a Christian. It is then that we shall be able to show others that there is light at the end of the tunnel and that there is another way of doing things. Don’t ignore the world and expect the world to treat you any different than just another brick in the wall. We need to take a leaf out of Christ’s book and stand up for what is right. We need to stand up and glorify God so that others can see that the difference is God and not us!

Points to Ponder:

Do you want to stand out?

Do you make God stand out?