Monday Reading: Matthew 5 8

Key Verse: Matthew 5 8

8  Blessed are the pure in heart! For they shall see God.

Devotion:

If we were able to get to heaven by dong good works then surely there would be a very long line of people willing to come forward and do some good so that they can get their foot in the door! But the truth is that we cannot hope to be able to do anything of ourselves to get to heaven because it is a gift of God and not something we can take from Him.

Again, though, it is not about doing things but rather about believing in our hearts. It is not the fact that we can say that we believe but the fact that we do believe it in our hearts that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He is the one who came to earth in human form to freely give His life for our sins. That in itself shows us that He loves us from His heart and not just saying that He loves us. Yes we can read all about it but He has also shown us that He loves us. That demonstration of His love was unique and remains with us.

Does this mean that if we have sin in our hearts that we will not be able to get to heaven? No. We all have sin in our hearts because that is the way that we are born and that is the way that we live. When we come to know Christ as Saviour we do strive to change our ways but we still have that sin nature inside of us. That is why Christ gave His life for us, so that He can cover that sin nature and free us to be able to come to Him. But to do that we have to believe in our hearts that this is all true. It should not be the way that we are able to change that will get us there because that would then depend on our own actions again. It is through our love for Christ after we believe in Him…

Points to Ponder:

What would you do for love’s sake?

What do you do for Christ’s sake?

Sunday Reading: Matthew 3 7-9

Key Verse: Matthew 3 8

8  Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance;

Devotion:

Before Jesus came to be baptised by John, John was preaching and baptising in His name already. John knew that his task was to prepare the way for Christ to come to His people and to show them that He was indeed King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But another part of his ministry was to warn sinners that that is exactly what they were and that they needed to come to God with a right attitude in their hearts. We may be able to fool some people some of the time but we will never be able to fool God any of the time!

Christ demands that we come to Him in truth and not in the name of religion or any other practice. Christ wants a personal relationship with us and it is us that have to realise that! It is no good saying that we have kept the law and that we have done nothing wrong and that we have done things in the name of Christ if we are not willing to come to Him with and open heart in the beginning. All of us have the ability to do good; but we all have the choice as to whether we do believe in Jesus Christ or not – that is the turning point.

If you don’t know what an apple tree looks like, you will know after it bears apples; it cannot grow pears or any other fruit. As a Christian we are going to be known by what we do. If we are not living our lives as Christians then nobody is going to see us as a Christian. If we live our lives as a ‘normal’ sinner then that is exactly how the world will see us and that is probably what we have held in our hearts; so if we cannot fools the world then how do we ever think we can get round Christ? If we are truly repentant, our lives will change because we want them to change.

Points to Ponder:

Do you want to change?

Have you asked God to help you change your ways?

Saturday Reading: Psalms 25 8-9

Key Verse: Psalms 25 8

8  Good and upright is The LORD; therefore He will teach sinners in the way.

Devotion:

David starts off this Psalms by praising God and asking Him to not cause David to be ashamed. When we do something wrong and we are found out, we are normally ashamed of what we have done and none of us really want to go back there and be reminded of that shame. So when we admit to our sins we are effectively inviting that same in which is the exact opposite of that which we would like to do; we would rather our sin just be hidden and not exposed. David continues then to ask God rather to show him mercy and to forget his sins entirely.

When Christ came to die on the cross for our sins, that is exactly what He had planned – showing us that He is merciful and that His tender love for us was so great that He wanted to cover up the sins of the whole world. All we need do is to look up to Him and acknowledge that He is God indeed. That is exactly what our bibles tell us so that we can know that not only is Christ our God but that He has already shown us that He wants to forgive us and not make a big scene of our sins!

God sent many prophets, kings, judges, disciples, apostles and even many more saints to follow such that we will get to know the truth. That truth is here to set us free from this incredible guilt and shame that we should have if we then admit to our sins. Christ made this all possible in one step and continues to teach us every day just how much He loves us and how much He cares for us. We do need to acknowledge Him and we do need to accept His love and His free gift to each of us – only then can we be called His children; only then can we be sure that we will join Him in Heaven!

Points to Ponder:

Do you like admitting your faults?

Do you want Christ to forgive your faults?

Friday Reading: John 7 16-18

Key Verse: John 7 17

17  If anyone desires to do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it is of God, or I speak from Myself.

Devotion:

One of the biggest differences between how man chooses to live and how Jesus lived His life is that Jesus lived His life for God and not for Himself whereas we tend to live our lives for ourselves. Our lives are typically focused on the things that we do, can do and want to do. Christ focused His life on the will of God and the timetable of God’s ways; a goal that we should be seeking.

When God created us He gave us an inquiring mind so that we would seek things out and learn as we progressed. If we are going to just take in the things that we want to rather than the truth then we are not really learning but rather living for ourselves and politely ignoring what God lays down in front of us. Yes it is hard to continue picking up on things that God sends our way if we are not expecting them, but it is a whole lot easier when we do expect things from Him. We need to live our lives expecting God to continue supplying us with what we need in order to live for Him. When we do that we will see just how much He does send our way.

Christ lived His life with God and continued in conversation with Him always. It is not just because He is God but because He wanted us to see how easy it is to live with God in our lives and to live with God’s ways being central to our living. Christ was able to live a fulfilling life as a human even when doing God’s will instead of His own will. That is our big stumbling block in thinking that we shall not be able to live a fulfilling life if we do everything according to God’s ways instead of enjoying ourselves. God wants us to have a fulfilling and enjoyable life so He will give us things to enjoy and to be happy with; He does that because of His great love for us.

Points to Ponder:

Do you insist on doing things your own way?

Do you let God have His way when you don’t like it?