Wednesday Reading: Malachi 1 6-14

Key Verse: Malachi 1 13

13  You also said, Behold, what a weariness it is! And you have puffed at it, says Jehovah of Hosts. And you bring plunder, and the lame, and the sick, and you bring the food offering. Should I accept it from your hand, says Jehovah?

Devotion:

One of the recurring things that we find in our bibles was how people offered their sacrifices in the wrong manner in the Old Testament. Is it any wonder then that God wanted and end to the sacrifices seeing all that was going wrong with them? God wants a cheerful giver and not one that is doing it just because it has to be done or giving the first things that comes to hand instead of giving what should be given or what is required.

Does this mean that this is all to no effect because we are living in the time of grace after Christ has already given His life on the cross? Well yes the time of animal sacrifice is over, but the time of our own daily, continual sacrifice will never end. That does not mean we have to go out and find the required, clean sheep without blemishes because Christ was that sacrifice without a blemish. What we should be doing is taking on the example that Christ has given us and to come forward and be willing to give our all for Him.

Christ wants us to be willing to do what is required to make sure that others get to hear about Him. He wants us to take His name forward, to take His Word forward and to share it with others. We know the truth because the truth has set us free; we now should be willing to take that truth forward with us, without fear and without hindrance so that others will get to know that freedom too. Christ set us free so that we can show others the truth. We are required to give people the truth, not lies, not stumbling blocks, not habits, not religions, just the plain truth that He is God. He has done it all for us so that we can do this for Him!

Points to Ponder:

What do you offer others?

What do you offer Christ?

Tuesday Reading: Acts 17 23

Key Verse: Acts 17 23

23  For as I passed by and saw the things you worship, I also found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Not knowing then whom you worship, I make Him known to you.

Devotion:

Have you ever been to a gathering of people that have claimed to be Christians and yet you wondered whom they are lifting up? Maybe this has been a meeting with just one other person or a small group in a house, or worse, a church. It is very sad that people are looking to so many other things in life rather than looking to God. There is only one God and that is our Lord God in heaven. If He is not the one being lifted up as God then there has got to be questions asked about whom the people are worshipping.

This does not mean that we all have to worship in the same way, nor that we have to meet in the same place; the only stipulation should be that we follow the first commandment in this case and make sure that there are no other gods that we hold up before our Lord God in heaven. It is no use saying that we worship an ‘unknown god’ or a ‘hidden god’ because God has shown Himself and has made sure that we do know about Him through His Word. God is God. He alone is God. He alone deserves our worship; not man, not woman, not beast, not cross, not statue, just God.

The Greeks are just one people who are known for their many gods in the past. Nowadays we do have religions where they still have hundreds of gods and they try to appease each of them in their own way. If you were told that you had to love 100 wives, how would you be able to share your love to each of them so that they felt like they were the most important person in your life? As soon as you turned your attention to one of them all the others are being rejected. God is God alone. Treat Him as such!

Points to Ponder:

What do you worship in life?

How important is God in your life?

Monday Reading: Ecclesiastes 3 11-15

Key Verse: Ecclesiastes 3 13

13  And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.

Devotion:

Each time I have seen this passage being used it is to try and show that we are allowed to enjoy ourselves because God wants us to be happy. But I am going to look at things from a different angle today. Yes, God wants us to be happy. But what actually makes you happy? Does working for yourself make you happier than working for others, or the other way round? Most of us would rather be doing something for someone else so that we can make them happy – that in itself will make us happier as well. 

Yes, doing things for others is more than likely to make you happy, but you also have to be able to do things your way so that you can get the satisfaction. We all like to be able to make our own mark or stamp our seal on what we are doing. Does that mean it is all about us being able to do things our own way? Not really. If we do things our own way and we know that that is not the right way, then we will realise that we are not doing things the best possible way and we will become disillusioned or disgruntled with the way things are being done. The same can be said about not being able to do things our own way... So where should we be aiming?

There-in lies the truth. We should be aiming at doing things in the best possible way. There is, ultimately, only one best way of doing everything and being able to find that way is sometimes what gives us inspiration. God is the one who does know what is best for us as well as knowing the best ways of doing things. If we were to listen to Him every time we go forward to do anything, we would automatically end up doing things the best possible way – so long as we did it right! We may not be able to do it right, but by trying to do things God’s way we will find that we do get the most out of it for ourselves. 

Points to Ponder:

Do you do things your own way?

How often do you try God’s ways?

Sunday Reading: Ezra 9 6

Key Verse: Ezra 9 6

6  And I said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to You, my God. For our iniquities have increased over our heads, and our guiltiness has grown up to the heavens.

Devotion:

Well today is the day that I will be standing in church watching my Son being married and a whole bunch of thoughts have been going through my mind for a few weeks; not least of which is the promise that is made before Our Lord standing up in front of the congregation in the church. One of the sad things about society today is that people are not fully committed in their relationships. I was going to qualify that by adding ‘with Christ’ but so sad are the days we live in that you can add ‘with each other’; we live in a day of the disposable marriage vows. I know that my son and his wife (they’ll be married by the time you and they read this) have wonderful hearts and that their plans are not disposable! Praise God!

There have been several people throughout Christian history that have been willing to stand up and accept the responsibility for the way that the whole country or people are acting. Christ is the one who has known no sin and in accepting the sin for us all has freed us from the debt that we owe. But people like Ezra and Moses were willing to accept the blame, not just for themselves but for everyone just so that people would not have to die!

Our relationship with Christ is a permanent one – at least from His side it is. We may be the ones that grow weak and fail, but He remains consistent and keeps His promises to us! Just imagine what a wonderful place our world would be if we were all able to keep our own promises to each other. Just imagine what a wonderful life we would have if everyone was willing to accept the responsibility for other people’s actions – think about it.

Points to Ponder:

Do you support others?

Do you rely on God’s support?