Tuesday 5 Apr 2011

Tuesday Reading: Psalms 96 1-6

Key Verse: Psalms 96 5
5  For all the gods of the nations are idols; but Jehovah made the heavens.

Devotion:
The one thing that I get asked about is why there is a difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament – but when you read things like this from the Old Testament we then being to see just how much they go together, just how much the Old Testament bears witness to the New Testament and how much the New Testament refers back to the Old Testament. God has given us His Word as a whole and not as separate parts.

I can remember getting a bible that had the New Testament and the Psalms in it and wondered why they had only given these parts – then I got into seeing just how much was written down in the Old Testament and began to realise why this had been done. Whether we get part of His Word or the whole of it it is not something that we should be ignoring. The more that I am able to read His Word (albeit slowly) the more I am able to understand all that God is, all that He has done and all that He has promised.

God has given us His Word so that we can know about Him, about what He has done, about the past and about the future... This is signified through verses like this foretelling of the day when we would all sing a new song to Jesus after seeing what He has done for us. We need to read our New Testaments to see all that Jesus the Son of God did for us. We need to read our Old Testaments to see all that God the Father did and promised. We need to read them together to see just how God’s promises were fulfilled through Jesus and then we need to stand on the promises that are still to come. Thank God for His marvellous Word!

Points to Ponder:
What part of the bible do you like the most?

How do you use God’s Word?

Monday 4 Apr 2011

Monday Reading: 2 Chronicles 20 20-21

Key Verse: 2 Chronicles 20 21
21  And he consulted with the people, and he appointed singers to The LORD and praisers to praise the beauty of holiness as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise The LORD, for His mercy endures forever.

Devotion:
How often do you buckle under pressure when the pressure gets too much and how often do you stand your ground and try to fight? As we see it, those seem to be our only two choices, to stay and fight or to run and lose. But with God there is always a third choice, or should I say a first choice because this is our choice that we should take first. Trusting God can be a difficult thing when we see the world around us looming bigger than our imagination!

When we see what seem like insurmountable odds building up against us we should be strengthening our position with God. When we come to face those adversities we should know already that God is in front of us and He will take care of us. It is God who has created everything and therefore God who can do anything with that which He has created! Just because we cannot see a way forward does not mean that God has not already planned our way forward. Yes we will face those times when things just go wrong. Yes we will face times when we think that God has missed something that we can see – but if truth be told, we have missed many things which God has already planned.

When Israel was facing odds stacked up against them they were told to go into battle and watch as God fought for them because the battle is Gods. When we face our world around us we must know that God has set things in this manner to take care of us. The problem we have is that nobody around us is going to listen to God so we will be fighting in amongst chaos; but it is a chaos in which God can still do anything. Trusting God to continue to do what is best in our lives is difficult when we see our lives falling apart. We need to build up our strength and relationship with God whilst the times are good so that we can be strong enough to walk with Him when the times are rough. That is when we will see the glory of our awesome God!

Points to Ponder:
How quickly do you give in to the world around you?

Are you strong enough to walk with God yet?

Sunday 3 Apr 2011

Sunday Reading: Psalms 29 1-2

Key Verse: Psalms 29 2
2  Give to The LORD the glory due to His name; worship The LORD in the beauty of holiness.

Devotion:
No matter how you look at it, God alone is the one who should get all the glory and honour that we can offer Him. It should not matter whether we are kings, queens, leaders, followers, scholars or even the people that nobody else notices; God has created this world for us all to live on and we need to remember that. The bigger and more powerful the leader the more respect they demand and the greater the weight that they seem to throw around. Unfortunately most of them have completely forgotten just who it is that put them there in the first place.

As a youth leader the only time that I ask for respect is when I am teaching God’s Word; but as a leader I respect all others at all time – or at least I try my best to. That does not mean that I bow down to anyone but rather respect them for being one of God’s creations – and anything that God has created has got to demand respect from me. If I were not to respect God’s creation then how could I respect God or visa versa? God is the one that gets the glory and honour in my life and I give that to Him as much as I can remember to... which does remind me of the times that I do not give Him the respect due and when those times are reminded of me I bring the forward in repentance to Him.

But it should not just be church leaders that give glory to God but every living thing! God has given us to the positions that we now have for a reason and that reason is so that we can glorify Him. How else are others to know just how wonderful our God is unless we can glorify Him in everything we do? I know that I make mistakes so I cannot blame others for doing the same. I know that I have my faults so I cannot point out the faults in others. But I can lift up my God. I can give Him glory. I can praise God. I can give others a reason to look for God and to look up to Him. Will you join me?

Points to Ponder:
How often do you praise others?

How often do you praise God?

Saturday 2 Apr 2011


Saturday Reading: Matthew 19 28-30

Key Verse: Matthew 19 30
30  But many who are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.

Devotion:
How many times have you been pushed past, pushed back, left behind or simply ignored just because you were trying to be kind? I am sure that I am not the only one who gives way to others just because they don’t know what they are doing – or at least I hope I am not alone! Christ does not want us to be the over-achievers or self-centred upstarts that society seems to demand should be put forward. Christ wants us to show Christian love to everyone around us and not just to those we think deserve it. Oh it is very hard to step back and let some loud-mouthed hooligan take centre stage just because they think they deserve it, but if that is going to show them Christ’s love in any way, then that is what we need to do.

Fighting just because we disagree with what someone does or says does seem to be a bit ridiculous but it is something that countries get involved with every day. Just because a country makes a stand that looks right but is not righteous according to God does not mean that we can go ahead and make that same stance. We need to focus on God and not on the leaders of our land. We need to lift up God so that our leaders will see God and His ways. When we see people putting us down just because we are being Christians we should not take to arms and fight back but rather turn the other cheek to show them that their actions have no foundations other than their own pride and greed.

When it comes down to it most of society works in pride, greed and lust rather than righteousness. That does not give us the right to follow them instead of God’s Word. God has given us plenty or warnings, plenty of scripture and plenty of time to get things right. If we don’t do it soon it will be too late – just how much time we do have left is very much up for debate at this time with so many wars and natural disasters going on all round the world. Show people God’s love now before it is too late for them as well – it is never too late until Christ says so!

Points to Ponder:
Are you always trying to be first?

Isn’t it time to put God first?


Friday 1 Apr 2011

Friday Reading: Job 15 31

Key Verse: Job 15 31
31  Let not he being deceived trust in vanity; for vanity shall be his reward.

Devotion:
No matter how much you think that you are not being deceived by the world at large, you are being deceived. If it is not by Satan then it is by one of his followers or even one of the people who don’t know that Satan has got his grip on them. Satan is the great deceiver and he will continue to do so until he is finally locked away. But it is not the in-your-face deceptions that we have to worry about but rather the subtle changes that we do not notice because that is the time when he gains his foothold.

If you can imagine yourself on a mountainside (strange dreams again) and you are climbing with a friend. What happens when you get to a place where you have to sit and have a break for a bit and in doing so you drop a vital part of your equipment over the edge? Do you make a mad rush to grab it and risk going over the edge or do you just panic knowing that what you have dropped is vital to your safety? We could lunge for it and hope that we don’t fall or we could take a minute and figure out what we can do without it. What is most likely to happen is going to be based on your vanity and pride; a scary thought but oh so true! You may not want your friend to see you as being foolish and make a lunge – only to fall over the edge yourself... I know this is over simplifying things but that is what happens in our lives – our pride and vanity get in the way and we start to do stupid things!

If we are going to follow of vain ways then the only reward that we will receive is recognition of that vanity. Others may well say that we were committed or brave or some other great words; but they are only words... What we need is a surety in our lives so that we know what will happen to us if we do slip and fall over the edge. If we go mountain climbing then we face the risk of falling – don’t think that you are going to be safe just because you have the safety equipment because it may not be you who makes the mistake. Be aware of others and make sure you do not let your pride and vanity get in their way, never mind your own.

Points to Ponder:
Are you a proud person?

How far does your pride take you?