Monday Reading: Genesis 46 1-4

Key Verse: Genesis 46 2
2  And God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob! And he said, Here I am.

Devotion:
What words really catch your attention? What name makes you respond quicker than others? Jacob’s name had been changed to Israel but on this occasion God wants to get his attention quickly and calls him by his original name. We could go into debate about what it meant but I like to keep things simple – God simply wanted Jacob’s attention! Getting someone’s attention is only the first step because what follows is normally trying to get them to do something...

Sometimes it takes a bit more than just a word from someone before you will do something for them. Sometimes you get caught up with your emotions and you ignore what should otherwise be the obvious. When we get upset or angry because of what is being said we may well start to ignore things that are being said as we focus on our own feeling instead of the big picture. If you look back at the things that you have been asked to do you may well find a parallel between the things you did not do and your feelings at the time. If we are angry or upset then we may well be less likely to do things.

The same can be said about being scared – we tend to ignore things being said when we are scared because we are very focus on the things that are making us scared. This could well be you being scared about doing work for God because you feel like you are not ready or that you are in some way not good enough! If God though that you were not good enough or that you were lacking in some way He would be teaching you and giving you wisdom to tackle the situation that lies ahead rather than allowing you to face something that He knows you cannot cope with... Or it could be that He knows that you can cope with it! God may well be willing to take you out of your comfort zone knowing that that is what is required to get you to be useful for Him – but you must still be willing to give Him a chance!

Points to Ponder:
Do you think you are lacking in some way?

Are you trusting that God actually does know best?

Sunday Reading: Genesis 22 1-13

Key Verse: Genesis 22 1
1  And it happened after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, Abraham! And he said, Behold me.

Devotion:
How many times have you been willing to go off and do something without first finding out what is involved? There are times when we all like to take a bit of a risk on something and go and see what happens and then there are times when we stick by what we know and demand that we know all the details before we get into something. It does always seem a good idea to know what we are letting ourselves in for before we go off and get involved but there are also times when we have to branch out and take on something new.

I can remember the feelings that I had when Daniel first asked me to take over the teen group at Faith Baptist Church. I can remember thinking that I would never be able to cope and that I would not be able to teach the teens effectively about God. I look back now and think how I was just thinking of myself and my own feeling rather than the bigger picture. The bigger picture being that God wanted me to change what I was doing to make sure that I continued to grow. I was looking at my life and thinking that I could just carry on doing the same old stuff.

When God calls out for us to do something new we are not always the ones that are listening; in fact we are normally the ones that are not listening because we are engrossed in our own things. Abraham was a man who was willing to listen and not only that but also willing to get up and follow God’s instructions! If we are not focused on God to begin with then we are going to be the ones missing out on His next call; being focused on God means making sure that we are working close with Him to start with. Working with God does not necessarily mean being out there preaching in church or children’s meetings but what it does mean is that we should already be listening out for what God would have us do. Abraham was already listening for God and therefore had no problem answering God immediately. Our speed of answering could be seen as a measure of our commitment...

Points to Ponder:
Do you think you are willing?

Are you already listening to God?

Saturday Reading: 1 Peter 2 21-25

Key Verse: 1 Peter 2 22
22  He who did no sin, nor was guile found in His mouth,

Devotion:
What an example to live up to! Well, we will never be able to live up to the example Christ has shown us because we know sin. Christ did not sin. He was able to live His life without sin. Does that mean we should give up before we start, knowing that we have already sinned? Certainly not! Christ went to that cross so that we would have our sins forgiven and that we can start afresh; He has already made that possible so that we can continue walking forward – that is what He wants us to do, that is what He has called us to do.

We do need to keep in mind how Christ lived His life because it is the template that is laid down for us to try to live up to. Now we know we are sinners so all we can hope to do is to try to not sin. But we do know that Christ also showed us many other attributes such as not always trying to get even with others when they do things against us. Christ faced all sorts of people in His last days that did things physically against Him, and yet He held His peace and held His temper. That in itself should encourage us to know that it is possible; not because we can be anything like Him but rather that we have the same God helping us when we ask! If Christ could do everything through God the Father then why should we expect anything less?

We may well be like sheep that have gone astray in that we have wondered far from God’s will at times in our lives, but when we place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ we have God with us. We have the Holy Spirit who is within us just as Christ has promised. With Him in us we should always be mindful of what God would have us to do because if we do run off and follow the world, we are dragging the Holy Spirit with us. Just what are we doing when we do that? God, who knows no sin, is being backed up into a small corner in our lives just because we are selfish enough to think that we can do things without thinking of the consequences! Don’t go there or you will be taking God with you!

Points to Ponder:
Are you walking away from God?

Are you grieving the Holy Spirit?

Friday Reading: 1 Peter 2 13-17

Key Verse: 1 Peter 2 15
15  For such is the will of God, doing good to silence the ignorance of foolish men;

Devotion:
When you are asked if you should follow the law of the land, what is your answer? Is it that you would not follow the law of the land but rather follow God’s laws? Well, just maybe you have not read your bible properly! God teaches us that we do need to follow the law of the land despite what we may think. Yes, if the law of the land is that we work against God then we have a problem because we have to follow God first of all; but keeping within the local law is a big part of being a Christian. If we show that we are not willing to follow simple rules, then how are people going to believe us that we will follow Christ’s rules?

People often say to me that they have to do something wrong in order to do things right. My answer to them is that they have not spent enough time thinking about the problem in the first place because there is always a way of doing things right – the right way! If we have not thought things through then we too will try to take the shortest route out and that may well involve breaking a few local rules. That is the fools way out because we simply do not know the whole situation yet.

God warns us that we will face many things in our lives but He also makes sure that we should always be able to find the right way of doing things. He is never going to allow things to be in our way when there is no way out. Yes we may well think that there is no way out because we have trapped ourselves and admitting the truth will get us into trouble – but the truth is always the way out. If we have been bad and broken rules then we should be willing to face the consequence of those actions. We knew the rules, we face the punishment! But we also have to know God’s rules and know the punishment for our sin. Christ is the one who has come forward and allows us to be given a new lease of life – life eternal through Him!

Points to Ponder:
Do you break rules?

Are you grieving the Holy Spirit?