Saturday Reading: Matthew 6 25-34

Key Verse: Matthew 6 25
25  Therefore I say to you, Do not be anxious for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Devotion:
It seems very easy for someone who has got many things to be able to say to others who do not have “don’t worry” because they do have so much in comparison to the person who has little. I have been in the highs and the lows and I have learned, the hard way, to be anxious for nothing because no matter how much you worry about something, the worry will bring you nothing apart from pain and sorrow. Yes we do need to look out for what we have and what we do not have but there are only some things that we can do in order to change the outcome that lies ahead.

God has given each one of us a path to follow so that we will be able to gain the most out of what He has in store for us. He wants us to be able to realise that what lies ahead may well not be what we want but rather that which He wants in our lives. So turning your back on the things that He wants you to have and striving for your own wants and desires will bring you nothing. Yes you may well make a lot of money but is it bringing you happiness – not just happiness for that moment or hour but a happiness that you can look forward to in your life.

There are things that I stress about but each time I do catch myself beginning to stress I set time aside to make sure that I take that straight to God. The stress that I build up is nothing more that stress that I am piling up on myself; all it does is make me weary and tired and brings on the headaches and all the rest of those stressful ailments. God would rather that we be aware of His will, secure in His arms and sure of our dependence on Him so that we need not worry about tomorrow. If we are not worried then we can be a much better witness to others that He is our God and that He does in fact take care of us...

Points to Ponder:
What do you stress about?

Have you told God about your worries?

Friday Reading: Matthew 6 22-24

Key Verse: Matthew 6 22
22  The light of the body is the eye. Therefore if your eye is sound, your whole body shall be full of light.

Devotion:
It is hard to focus on something when you are surrounded by all manner of other things going on... Can you imagine trying to read from a small book whilst you are sitting in a storm with the rain pouring down and the wind blowing a gale? And that is how we expect ourselves to be able to seek God when we fill our lives with all the junk that we allow into it! If we want to be able to be closer to God then we have to spend more time being apart from our other distractions in life so that we can draw close to Him!

No matter how much we say that we do with God, as long as we continue to focus on the world we allow the world to fill our lives. Being able to look at the world and see God in it and being able to see what God has done in this world will allow you to focus on God whilst you walk through the world; so it is by no means impossible to live with God even though we live in the world. We just don’t need to spend all our time focusing on the world... If you are trying to fill a glass with water from a outside tap whilst it is raining we will of course get rain water in the glass – but it does not mean that we need to turn away from that tap just because water is freely falling from the sky!

God wants us to be able to fill our lives with all that He gives us and that means being able to focus on Him more of the time. It does not mean that we have to close ourselves away from everything else – but if that is what it is going to take to get our minds focused on Him in the first place then that is exactly what we need to do first of all! Once we have got our eyes focused on Him then we will be able to do other things whilst still listening to and obeying Him. We cannot ever hope to be able to listen to both man and God at the same time because there is only a certain amount of information that we can let in at a time. Allow God to be the fulfilling part of your life and then the earth will just be that small distraction – don’t allow the earth to be the fulfilling part and God that minor distraction!

Points to Ponder:
Do you find it difficult to focus on things?

Just how much do you allow God to do in your life?

Thursday Reading: Matthew 6 19-21

Key Verse: Matthew 6 21
21  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Devotion:
This has got to be one of the most simple things that Christ told us to do and yet one of the hardest that we struggle to actually do. No matter how much we try to turn away from the trimmings of this earth we fall into their trap and we are tempted by them; if it is not the electronic goodies then it’s the excess in food, if it’s not the bright and shiny things then it’s the dark and forbidden things. We seem to be trapped by all manner of things around us and we give in to them far too easily. By giving in to them we are admitting defeat and admitting that we would rather follow after them than stand fast with God...

You may be jumping up and down now and saying that you would much rather be doing things for God and that you cannot help it but you are the one who has made the choice. That is the thing about temptations – they are temptations. We do not have to give in to them but we do. Satan has done such a good job at hiding the truth about them that we follow on in Eve’s footsteps and take a bite to see what happens. By doing so we are then trusting in those earthly things to see what happens. Well, guess what... Things happen! If you are going to test the ice you should not be too surprised to find that it breaks!

Even if we are able to find what we think is solid ground we can be sure that what we have found is a temporary solution unless it is based in God. We like to think that this planet we live on offers firm ground upon which we can build our houses – but that ground is floating upon a lava base and it shifts and breaks now and again. We cannot rely on anything in this earth 100% because it just isn’t 100% foolproof. The only thing we can rely on is God because He has been here from the beginning and He will be here even after this earth crumbles. We need to base our lives in Christ and not on His creation. The creator is far greater than His creation!

Points to Ponder:
What do you hanker after?

Is Christ your focus?

Wednesday Reading: John 11 39-45

Key Verse: John 11 40
40  Jesus answered her, Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?

Devotion:
What will it take you to believe the truth? What extraordinary event has to happen before you will believe that Christ is God and that He is real? When I talk to some people I think that maybe they will require an event like this before they too will believe in Christ – sadly they have missed the boat on personally seeing Jesus raise people up out of the grave... but never lose sight on God because He can and does do marvellous things!

We look back on stories like these and wish that we were there to see the miracles that Christ did just because we think it is better to see than to read about it! We like to see things unfold rather than having to wait and read about them in the paper the next day – we want to be there with the events as they unfold... That is the extent by which our world has changed and it is not only for the good things that happen but for those disasters as well. People have a need to see all manner of things just so that they can experience what is going on! What has happened to simple faith? What has happened to believing what you hear? Lies and rumours have happened!

Jesus wanted people to see that God is all powerful and that He can and will help those who are genuinely seeking Him. He could have raised Lazarus from the tomb without people being there. He could have simply whisked him out and away. What Jesus chose to do was to give God all the glory and allow the people around Him to see that that is what is necessary in all of our lives. We need to make sure that God comes first and that we hold Him up in the glorified position that is right and true for Him to be in. No other being, entity, whatever is worthy of our praise such as God is. He has us firmly in His grip and we need to make sure that we allow others to see just how much we do trust Him for everything.

Points to Ponder:
Are you trusting God?

Are you really trusting Him?