Thursday Reading: Romans 2 1-10

Key Verse: Romans 2 8

8  But to those who indeed disobeying the truth out of self-seeking, and obeying unrighteousness, will be anger and wrath,

Devotion:

In Paul’s latter to the Romans we are reminded of the things which Job and so many have had to face up to. That we can choose to ignore God and we can choose to judge others. That may sound a bit of a generalisation but you only have to look at the history of man to realise that we have chosen our own ways above God’s ways far too many times. Over and over again man chooses to go his own way instead of bowing down to God’s ways.

It is but a small step to fold in your own ways and your own pride in order to live for God; but it is a step that too many of us will not take because of that pride of life. We have so many things that we cling to and so many things that we blame others for that we get caught up in our own desires more than we would like to admit. Turning your back on those desires may sound easy but it is a battle that we face every day and one that beats us much of the time.

When push comes to shove what we are actually choosing is between a life of self-seeking and a life of God-seeking. There are religions around the world that will teach you that self-seeking is the way to enlightenment. Our bibles teach us that that is in fact the exact opposite to the truth because we are then lifting up ourselves above God; the same mistake that Satan himself made in the beginning and one that will never be forgiven by God. God requires that we do come to Him to ask for forgiveness for those things that we have done wrong. He has also promised us that He will forgive us when we do. His forgiveness has been proven through what Christ has already done for us. We need to make that choice before we come face to face with Him!

Points to Ponder:

How much time do you spend blaming others?

How much time do you spend seeking God?

Wednesday Reading: Job 36 1-31

Key Verse: Job 36 12

12  But if they do not obey, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge.

Devotion:

It is a very interesting thing to look back at the words spoken by Elihu to Job when Job had suffered so much in his life. So often we do turn and blame God for things in our lives. Even if we do not blame God directly for bringing bad things into our lives, far too often we do blame Him indirectly for things that happen to us. It is certainly Not God that brings misfortune into our lives but Satan himself. God is not here to bring us misfortune! We may choose the ways which will bring us that misfortune, but God does not do the bringing!

Elihu had many truths in what he was saying in believing that God does reward those that are faithful. But what he was wrong in saying was that God would forget about those who turn their backs on Him. God will never turn His back on us; something that we can know for certain by the simple fact that God allowed Christ to come to earth as a human to take on the sin debt for so many even though many were still choosing to ignore Him in the beginning. We have a God that cares for us and stays with us even when we turn away from Him!

When we choose to ignore God’s Word as it is presented to us, we are choosing our own destiny. God has been just and faithful to warn us that we will choose a path that leads to destruction, but He has also laid down the truth before us so that we can turn to Him and ask for His forgiveness. We live in a world where Satan brings all manner of things through our lives just to try and turn us away from our true loving God. What we need to do is to remember that God is the one trying to bring order to our disorderly world.

Points to Ponder:

Do you find it hard to accept bad things?

Are you trusting God to bring you through those bad things?

Tuesday Reading: Psalms 31 1-8

Key Verse: Psalms 31 8

8  and have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy; You have set my feet in a broad place.

Devotion:

One of the most amazing things is looking back in your life and recognising all that God has done for you. Quite often we do not see all that He does until we do look back and realise just how much of a hand He actually has in our lives. It is then that we lift up our praises to Him without a problem; but when we are facing hardships or missing something or someone we often look to Him and ask Him why! How our faith crumbles when we are faced with a hole in our lives!

From the words of this Psalms I am pretty sure that David would have gone through the same sort of thoughts and feelings too. It was only when he looked back and penned his psalms down that we find that He too recognised all that God was doing in his own life. At the time that we think we are alone, at the time when we feel low, at the time when we feel like nothing is going our way we are the ones that are holding back from our God because He is the one watching over us at all times. It should not be just the wonderful times or the most drastic times that we should be calling out to our God but also the times when things just seem to be going along just fine!

God is here with us at all times but He also wants us to acknowledge that fact at all times! If we are not acknowledging Him then we must, by definition, be ignoring Him. How easy it is to not give someone the proper attention that they deserve when things seem to be going smoothly; that is something that I have struggled with for much of my life and I’m sure that I am not alone. But God is also a very forgiving God for those who are willing to trust Him and to believe in Him!

Points to Ponder:

How often do you acknowledge your friends?

How often do you acknowledge your God?

Monday Reading: 1 Samuel 17

Key Verse: 1 Samuel 17 46

46  The LORD will deliver you into my hand today, and I will strike you and take your head from you and give the bodies of the army of the Philistines to the birds of the air today, and to the wild beasts of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

Devotion:

This last week I had the privilege of telling the young children at holiday bible club the story of David and Goliath. The focus of our lessons was having faith in God and David had bucket loads of faith! What else would allow a young lad to come forward and challenge a giant of a man that nobody else would challenge? He must have known something more than the others... and that was that God was faithful and just to continue with His promises to deliver the land of the Canaanites to the Children of Israel.

The whole week we were able to show how so many people in the Old Testament had faith in a God that they did not see. Yes they were able to see many miracles such as the parting of the sea and the river Jordan, but then we have had the proof that Jesus Christ came to earth. Why then do we struggle to have faith in God? I guess it must be because we are as weak as many of the other people in the Old Testament!

It is our faith that crumbles when we see things go wrong. How else can Satan hope to get our faith to crumble other than by shoving things in our faces? How else does he know that he can affect our faith other than by giving us opportunity to doubt what God is doing in our lives? What we need to do is to read our bibles and to be reminded of the faith that others have shown God. Let us grown in strength from His Word so that we too can have the faith that David had to face up to our very own giants that threaten everything in our lives.

Points to Ponder:

What gives your strength?

How is your faith in God?