Saturday 13 Aug 2011

Saturday Reading: 1 Corinthians 6 19-20




19  Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit in you, whom you have of God? And you are not your own,



Devotion:

If we do not start off our day with Love, then we are going to find it very difficult to find the faith that Christ says we should have in Him. If we struggle to keep that faith then we will struggle with all sorts of things in our lives. That love that God has given us to start with must remain in the centre of our lives. The love that we share with Christ must be the love that we share with others. When we can come to knowing that love then we can build our faith based on all the things that we will find He is able to do through us.



With Christ’s love centred in us we will find that He is able to use us, that He is willing to use us, and the best part will be that we will find that He is always with us! When we are fighting with the world then we will find it hard to focus on the things that God is showing us or trying to do in our lives; because when we fight with everything we are not giving the Holy Spirit the proper ground in which to work. It is no use trying to spread your grain seeds down a motorway because nothing will ever get to grow. If we are trying to allow the Holy Spirit to grow in us then we have to make sure that we give Him the room to work.



That means standing firm in His Word. Standing up to His will. Listening to His ways. Learning from His Word. Showing His love through us, our actions and our ways. God wants us to be useful to Him; that is the way that He has created us and that is the way that He expects us to be able to grow up in. If we continually fight against Him, we will never be able to grow in His ways – instead we will be growing in the ways of the world and we will be leaving Him behind.



Points to Ponder:

What are your ways like?



Do you know God’s ways?


Friday 12 Aug 2011

Friday Reading: Romans 12 1-2



Key Verse: Romans 12 1

1  I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, which is your reasonable service.



Devotion:

After we have been able to get over the hurdle of giving back to Christ the best that He has given us we should then set our goal on the next step; giving back to Him the very essence that He has given to us. Here I am not talking about the food and physical things but our very own selves; us!



I am not suggesting that we all hang ourselves on crosses for Christ but that we rather surrender ourselves to His duties. Because Christ is sitting on the right hand of God right now, He requires people here to do His work and continue to preach the gospel to all who are willing to listen. It is not a task that just anyone can do – but each of us can do a little toward it so that that gospel can be given in the best possible way and in the best possible light. How would it be is the local preacher had to go into pubs and nightclubs in order to try and give out the gospel. I doubt they would get very far!



Christ, instead, wants us to present ourselves back to Him (after all He has given Himself for us already) so that He can use us in the best possible way. If we are like Jonah and run off in the opposite direction, we should not be able to be used very well. But if we come to our senses and listen for His instruction then we should be able to come to Him as willing servants to be used in the most effective ways to teach others. It is only when we submit to His will and His way that we find out just how much He can use us.



Points to Ponder:

Do you like doing things your own way?



Have you tried giving God a go?

Thursday 11 Aug 2011

Thursday Reading: Genesis 4 1-7



Key Verse: Genesis 4 5

5  but He did not have respect to Cain and to his offering. And Cain glowed with anger, and his face fell.



Devotion:

We may well be talking the talk and walking a walk... but is it the walk that God requires of us? We can read so many passages from our bibles where we learn about people who wanted to do their own thing for God instead of doing what God wanted of them; so I picked the first occurrence of two people doing opposite things!



Cain and Abel must have known what was required of them, but because they were working different parts of the land they each did what was right in their own eyes. Abel’s actions were in line with what was required from God, but Cain’s action fell far short of those requirements. What Cain gave to God was a product of His own hands. Cain gave to God what he was able to make himself. Abel gave to God what God had created; he gave back the best that God had given to Him. The best that God can do and the best that we can do are very very different things.



If God was willing to give His best for us, then should we not be willing to follow Abel’s example and give back to God the best that He has given us? So what is the best that God has given us? Well, it used to be the best sheep and goats and bulls, but when Jesus came to earth that was a whole new level of giving. If He was then willing to give His own life for us, we should be willing to give our all back to Him. God has given us so much and continues to give us so many things in our lives; giving back to Him some of that best stuff should be as natural as giving a gift to yoru best friend.



Points to Ponder:

Do you like helping others?



What are you giving to Christ?

Wednesday 10 Aug 2011

Wednesday Reading: Hebrews 11



Key Verse: Hebrews 11 39

39  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, did not receive the promise,



Devotion:

Faith is something that we all aspire to and yet many feel like they fail because of their lack of faith. It can be very difficult to stand firm on your faith when the world around you seems to be crumbling apart. It can be just as hard when you are caught up in doing so much that you have no time for anything else... But equally it can be oh so easy when you walk a little walk with Christ every day. Just being able to take a few steps with Him each day will allow your faith in Him to grow stronger and more secure. Just that little walk each day will make a huge difference in the way that you look at your relationship with Him.



Faith is something that we do need to give to Christ. We do not get a diploma or certificate to say that we do believe Christ is the Son of God; that has got to come from our hearts. When that does stem from our hearts then we can find that faith in believing the truth as it is written. If we never take those first steps to knowing Christ then we are not going to ever get to call Him our Saviour. If we never get that far, then how can we ever have hope in Him?



Just because we may not see the fruit of our prayers the instant that we ask them does not mean that we should lose hope that they will not be answered. We must be lifting up our prayers expecting that God will answer them and that He will keep His promises to us. This chapter in Hebrews reminds us of all the people that had to have faith in what God had told them. When we look back on some of the people that were promised the Land of Milk and Honey we find that many did not get to actually be there – because they kept failing in their faith. Now that Christ has set and end to that way, our faith has no real excuse to wane!



Points to Ponder:

Is your faith waning?



Are you depending on Christ?


Tuesday 9 Aug 2011

Tuesday Reading: Hebrews 13 16



Key Verse: Hebrews 13 16

16  But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.



Devotion:

What good is it to say one thing and do another thing. If we have followed yesterdays thought and confessed the name of Christ from our hearts then we should have no problem with following up on those words because if we are saying one thing and then failing to do what we say, nobody is going to believe us. Christ can see straight through us and He would know before we started to say those empty words; but those empty words would go into other peoples ears and when they turn round and see you breaking your own words, those words become meaningless! 



If we are then using the Word of God to uphold what we should be doing and yet do not do it; we are then bringing the very Word of God down to that same level of meaninglessness! We are destroying the very fabric that God has built up. Now, while we will not ever be able to actually destroy the Word of God, we will destroy the meaning in someone else’s heart; that heart will then find it very difficult to come to terms with the rest of God’s Word and we will be holding someone else away from getting to know Christ.



Do you really want to be held responsible for taking the side of Satan against God? Do you really want the world to know that you have sided with Satan and not God?



When we get out there are say things that uphold God’s Word, we need to do those things which we talk about. We need to lift up ourselves and be willing to do what Christ requires rather than just talking about it.



Points to Ponder:

Do you talk the talk?



Do you walk the walk?