Monday Reading: Proverbs 27 23-27
 
Key Verse: Proverbs 27 27
27  And you shall have goats' milk enough for your food, for the food of your household, and a living for your young women.
 
Devotion:
One thing that we have to remember is that God has given us time on earth for a reason. That reason is certainly not to sit idle and do nothing, waiting for His return. That reason is to make sure that our time on earth is profitable for God. As long as we aim to work for the glory of God, He will continue to supply our daily needs for us and for our families.

Nothing that we can build up here on earth is going to be able to be taken with us when we go to be with Him so we should not aim to build up our earthly reserves, deposits or treasures for anything other than God’s ministry. There is certainly nothing wrong with earning money and our bibles teach us that we have to be good stewards with everything that God does allow into our lives. That means that if we do earn a lot we should make sure that we are looking after that which we do earn – it is a gift from God. The harder we work the more we will be able to earn – but working hard to aim for nothing more than a better life for our own selves is a bit short sighted!

We do not know when God will require us to go back to be with Him. By working for ourselves we are leaving His work undone and unfinished. Should we then find we are called back earlier than we imagined, we may well have to answer for all the work that we have yet to complete! God has given us a ministry here on earth. We may not know what that ministry is until He unfolds it gently before us but we always need to make sure that we are ready for what He would have us to do. We can do this by working in His will and in His house. We can do this by working with Him and with His servants. There are so many ways in which we can be working with Him right now that it is foolish to believe that He has not given us work to be doing right now.

Be a willing servant and live for God right here, right now!

Points to Ponder:
Who do you work for?

Are you leaving God out of your work?

Sunday Reading: Isaiah 57 11
 
Key Verse: Isaiah 57 11
11  And of whom have you been afraid or feared, that you have lied and have not remembered Me, nor laid it to your heart? Have I not been silent, even from forever, and you did not fear Me?

Devotion:
It is a sad thing when people call themselves Christians when they should not. We like to think of the western world as being Christian but in truth there are far many more people in the western world that do not accept Christ as their Saviour. Yes many may well believe that there is a God and that the earth must have been created because her complexity is far too great for a random event but in reality a Christian is someone who fears God.

To fear God is not just to be afraid of ‘the guy upstairs’ or of someone who is more powerful than you. To fear God means to have a fervent fear that He is powerful enough to say ‘NO!’ to you when you demand to get into heaven! We may think that we have done enough good things so that we can obtain a free pass into heaven. We may think that we have not been bad enough to be excluded from heaven. We may even think that we are such a nice person that God could never say no to us. But He is JUST. That means that He will make no exceptions, not even for you.

Yes, Christ did come into this world to die on the cross for everyone’s sins, but unless we are willing to believe that that is what He has actually done for us in our hearts and to give Him reason for Him to believe that we do believe, then how can we really and truthfully say that we know Christ? How can we then turn round and call ourselves Christians?

Christ has not been constantly blaming you for all that you have done wrong. He has not been broadcasting to the whole world how wicked you are. He has not shown others what you do wrong... That has all been your own doing. He has been patiently waiting for you to come home and say sorry and then move on in your life with Him at the centre! Remember God!

Points to Ponder:
Who do you fear?

Do you actually show God respect?

Saturday Reading: John 6 45-51
 
Key Verse: John 6 48
48  I am the Bread of life.

Devotion:
There is a big difference between the physical food that we get and the spiritual food that we get. The physical food is good for us and it sustains us whilst we have it. As we eat it it disappears and is absorbed into our bodies, that is the end of that food. The effects of that food last longer than the food because it is able to build us up so that we may last a bit longer and be able to do more. The spiritual food that we get does not fade over time unless we let go of it.

We are like containers having good things placed inside of us. All those things that are being placed inside of us can be used, not once, but over and over again as required. It is like a supply drop being added to our lives when we think there is nothing more to count on. God continues to give us these supply drops each and every day so that we can continue to survive in the wilderness in which we live. Those supply drops that He gives us are a mixture of the physical and spiritual so that we can survive physically but continue to get built up spiritually. The stronger we become in His word the more that we will be able to be used by Him and the more that we can encourage others to find Him.

Christ was willing to give His own life for us so that we would be able to obtain the spiritual food without end. Imagine how it would be if we have to work for our physical food as we as work for our spiritual food. Not only would we be physically tired at the end of each day but we would be spiritually exhausted as well. God gives us the spiritual food without question, without us having to work at it. Yes, we do have to go and get it because we are the ones making the choice that we want it, but we don’t have to break and arm or leg in order to get it – it is God’s free gift to us. Take His gift daily and be strengthened more each day...

Points to Ponder:
How much do you have to work to get paid?

How much do you have to read of God’s Word to get blessed?

Friday Reading: Matthew 16 17

Key Verse: Matthew 16 17
17  Jesus answered and said to him, You are blessed, Simon, son of Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal it to you, but My Father in Heaven.

Devotion:
There are times when I wish that I should be able to be more like Jesus by being able to talk about God in the ways that He could. He was able to tell people about God but in a way that would stick with them forever. The disciples were able to recall much of their lives with Christ and then write down those experiences for us to learn from; but the way they are written gives us an insight into how Christ would teach them. He used their own lives and experiences to give them the insight that each one needed to live for God. He gave them examples from their own lives that would allow them to see just how awesome God really is.

The best part is that we do have the Holy Spirit who can lead us through our lives and do exactly the same for us. It is not a human thing that can be taught, learned or picked up but something that comes straight from God! Jesus pointed this fact out to Simon Peter by reminding him that these teachings came from God and not from man. If we were to rely on man for our learning then we would never be able to lift ourselves any higher than man himself – we would be stuck on earth with absolutely no future to go to! Instead we have God who was willing to allow His own Son to come to us and teach us at ground level to look up to heaven and learn straight from Him instead.

Jesus pointed out to His disciples that they were human (Simon, son of Jonas) and that they were destined to remain as humans – but the most important part was that they could learn from God and pass on that knowledge to others. They had the opportunity of learning from our Heavenly Father; the only stipulation being that they must believe that He is God and that anything is possible through Him. If we limit ourselves to human limits then we cannot see the awesomeness of God. If we limit ourselves whatsoever we are keeping ourselves back from God’s ways (righteous ways) and His limits (or which there are none).

Points to Ponder:
What limits you?

Are you allowing God to expand your learning?