Saturday Reading: Mark 8 14-21

Key Verse: Mark 8 17

17  And knowing it, Jesus said to them, Why do you reason that it is because you have no loaves? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Have you still hardened your heart?

Devotion:

Just after performing another great miracle by feeding more than 4000 people with a few loaves and fish – the second such miracle – Jesus then started to talk about the disciples having to be very wary of the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod. The first thing that popped into their heads was the talk of bread itself and they remembered quite clearly how many baskets of bread there was left over after the miracles, and yet they still did not quite get what Jesus was talking about here. There are going to be times when Christ will allow something into our lives so that we will think about things and not just blindly keep on going no matter what.

Just when you may think that everything is going the way that you want it to go, a change occurs that throws you totally out of sync with what you think should be happening. You suddenly find that you have to start re-evaluating so many things that you begin to get worried that something must have gone wrong. But maybe, just maybe, Christ is making you stop and think about where you are going in your life. Maybe He wants you to start thinking about something different or new. Maybe He wants you to stop and think about where you are headed.

I love coming back to Jonah in cases like this because he seems an easy target. But in truth we have all will face decisions in our lives where God wants us to stop and think. If we continue to ignore Him, then we may well find ourselves in a bit of hot water like Jonah did; so what we need to do is to try and find out what God wants in our lives at the earliest possible instance rather than having to wait until it all hits the fan! Our problem is that we look at things from an earthly point of view and see everything as physical wants, needs, desires instead of looking at things from God’s spiritual context. Yes it does take time to figure things out sometimes, but have a bit of patience and study on…

Points to Ponder:

How often do you get in a pickle?

How often do you look at things from a spiritual point of view instead?

Friday Reading: Ezekiel 3 1-4

Key Verse: Ezekiel 3 3

3  And He said to me, Son of man, cause your belly to eat, and fill your belly with this roll that I give you. Then I ate it; and in my mouth it was like honey for sweetness.

Devotion:

Very similar words as these are given to John in the book of Revelations where God gives the prophet something to digest so that they may take it forward to the people; that is God’s Word. When we take God’s Word and sincerely read it we find such treasures in it that we wonder how man could ever have come up with anything like this by himself – then we know that it is through God’s inspiration that we have His Word. Our bibles are such treasures that lay dormant until we do read them. The Good news that is proclaimed from them pleases us, lifts our spirits and rejuvenates us as well as giving God all the glory. But when we have read it, as pleasant and sweet as it is to read, we find that it leaves a bitter aftertaste in our bellies.

How could such a wonderful thing ever make us feel bad? Well, it is not the Word of God that is making us feel so bad because we have tasted it and have tasted how good and sweet it is. It is the realisation afterwards that we are undone that gives us that bitter aftertaste in our bellies. It is the very fact that God’s Word has allowed us to see within ourselves and has opened up our hearts to the truth that gives us the jitters. God’s Word has shown us the truth and we cringe at that truth!

It is a hard thing to be able to stand up and admit to the truth. It is a hard thing to be able to stand up and show others that truth. It is a hard thing to show others that it is also their undoing. But that is why God has given us His Word – so that we will know the truth and proclaim that truth to others. He wants us to be able to take the truth with us and to make sure that others see that knowing the truth is the most important thing that they should be focusing on and not the world and all its trimmings. Let us therefore take God’s Word with us, uphold it and proclaim it wherever we go!

Points to Ponder:

Do you like eating good things?

Are you ready for the truth?

Thursday Reading: Jeremiah 15 16 

Key Verse: Jeremiah 15 16

16  Your Words were found, and I ate them; and Your Word was to me the joy and gladness of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O Jehovah, the God of Hosts.

Devotion:

In the midst of all the uphill struggles that Jeremiah had to face, he always looked up to The Lord with thanksgiving and even a sense of pride knowing that God knew Him! We like to look for support from others by gaining some sort of recognition from them and when it comes we even live by it because of the encouragement it gives to us. When our bibles tell us that God knows the very number of hairs on our heads that surely means that He does know us from the inside out and that must mean that He knows what we get up to – both the good and the bad.

When we turn our backs on Him, He knows. When we turn back to Him, He knows. When we take His Word and bury those words deep in our hearts, He knows. I don’t know if you have ever been in the position when you have tried to teach others, but there are very definite time when you just know that they are hanging on every word and you want them to have more of God’s Word. But there are also times when you try so hard and just feel like you are hitting a brick wall. That sort of feedback feels vital to figure out if you are getting through to people; so why not be positive and give the feedback that God is looking for?

Jeremiah stood forward and told God that he was taking in the words as if they were food – tasting every bit and eating it for the goodness that it has. It was not as if it was just something to fill him up but rather like a feast that was a wonderful thing to his heart. Some foods we just eat because they are there, but others we love to savour eat bite so that we can be pleased even more. That is how we should be accepting God’s Word because it is the best food that we have and certainly will do more for us than any earthly food can ever hope to do. God wants your feedback so that He can give you the recognition that you seek when doing things for Him. That recognition will come from deep inside where only He can reach!

Points to Ponder:

Do you like getting feedback?

Is your feedback getting through?

Wednesday Reading: Psalms 119 9-16

Key Verse: Psalms 119 11

11  I have hidden Your Word in my heart, so that I might not sin against You.

Devotion:

I was once asked “What does Psalms 119 11 follow on from?” I cannot ever remember getting down to answering that question yet – so here goes. It follows on from Psalms 119 10… No, seriously, I know that is not what you are seeking. Sometimes when we look at our bibles we see a verse that stands out at us and we cannot quite see where it comes from or where it is going. Or maybe we think we know until someone asks us the question and then we struggle for an answer. But the most wonderful thing about God’s Word is that we will always be able to find the answers to our questions right in the words that we are looking at because God is the one who gave us these inspired words in the first place. Let us not get into an argument about which bible translation or anything because that will achieve nothing but one big stumbling block after another!

The words are simple – Please God, allow me to not go down that road of sin because I have got your words in my heart. That in itself makes us stop and think… If we are going down that sinful path then do we really have God’s Words in our hearts? The answer is not a simple yes or no because we live in a very tempting world. Right from the beginning of time we have been tempted to go down that sinful path because it seems like a good idea at the time. Just because we have God’s Word with us does not mean that we will avoid that sin. We can only avoid it if we are willing to allow God to strengthen us against those temptations. Is that a cop-out? Certainly not! Satan is the one who has the enormous power of temptation hanging over us. We are the ones who give in because it is so strong. We cannot and must not try to fight him alone because we will lose every time.

God knows our weaknesses and knows that we will give in to many things. That is why He gave us the bible. Where does a verse like this follow on from? It follows on from the admission of sin in our lives; it follows on from admitting that we are not strong enough. It follows on from being honest with God first of all!

Points to Ponder:

But why can’t I…?

Do you give in to Satan or to God?