Saturday Reading: Isaiah 43 25-26
 
Key Verse: Isaiah 43 25
25  I, I am He who blots out your sins for My own sake, and will not remember your sins.

Devotion:
Some dreams that we have are very strange and don’t seem to make much sense apart from at the time of the dream when you are in it. Many times we cannot remember our dreams other than a few minutes after we wake up because they are released from our minds. When we try to forget something we cannot forget as quickly or as easily as we tend to forget dreams – maybe it’s because we are the ones trying to forget. So when we get told that God will forget our sins we sometimes have a hard time with that... but take a look at how easy it is to forget your dreams. Yes, you may be able to recall parts of it at a later stage when you bring it back to try and tell someone but the impact of that dream is gone.

God wants to put aside all of our sins in that same manner. He cannot abide sin so wants us to be free from sin so that we can commune with Him. If we are willing to pass those sins over to Christ and trust Him to forget about them then we will be in that place where we can commune with God. Christ is the one who wants to take those sins away so that we can be set free, but in order to do that He has to be told about them; we have to admit those sins to Him. He has promised to forgive us of those sins and that promise has been set forth long before Christ actually came to earth in Human form. Isaiah reminds us that we have to bring those sins to His notice so that He can carry out that promise that He promised from the beginning of time.

No matter how bad a nightmare is or how weird a dream is, it is only that. It cannot physically affect our lives because it is only a dream – we may let it affect us mentally but that is our problem. Christ does not want our sins to affect our eternal life with Him so He is willing to forget those sins as long as we bring them to Him. Just like it may comfort us to tell someone about a dream we had, we will be comforted when we bring our sins to Christ and place them at His feet. That fact alone shows me how much He loves me and makes me want to go out and love others for His sake!

Points to Ponder:
Do you remember your dreams?

Do you bring your sins to Christ?

Friday Reading: Hebrews 13 15

Key Verse: Hebrews 13 15
15  By Him, then, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, confessing His name.

Devotion:
How many times have you stayed just a little bit longer in bed because it was too dark, cold or early? How many times have you known that you should be getting up in time but just given in and spent a few more minutes? How many times have those few minutes turned into a few hours? I’m sure that we have all been there at some stage and it certainly was my time today! So it is no wonder that this is a few minutes late today and that God made me sit and read just that little bit more of His word before He gave me the right words to say!

There are so many times in our lives when we think that things are just not the way that we want them to be so we give life or the world a little bit more time to see if things will change. Well, guess what... the world moves on and we find ourselves in ‘catch-up’ mode once again! This is not the way that God wants us to live our lives. This does not mean that we have to keep a constant diary about what is happening when and how – though to be honest it would be good to know instead of trying to find those lost memories that should be reminding you of that appointment you are now missing! He would rather we plan our lives with Him in mind and with His will in mind. That way we will always be walking with Him.

When we are able to look forward in our lives and know that we praising God with the way that we are living then we can know that we are living a life that God would want us to. Our lives should not be lived on the edge with God being a last minute thing but rather God being the centre and the focus of our lives. We need to let everyone around us know that we are taking God seriously because we want Him to take us seriously. When we can talk to Him honestly then we know we are finally in a relationship with Him. Make a change in your life before it is too late – walk with God!

Points to Ponder:
Are you lazy?

Is God hard work or part of your life?

Thursday Reading: Ecclesiastes 6 1-2
 
Key Verse: Ecclesiastes 6 2
2  a man to whom God has given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he lacks nothing for his soul of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to eat of it, but a stranger eats it. This is vanity, and it is an evil disease.

Devotion:
What is the use of having something if you are not going to use it? I’m afraid that I am not a person who will buy something just so that it can be placed on the shelf or in a cabinet – when I buy something it has to be of some use otherwise by definition it is useless! I know there are people that will say that buying something as an investment is good business sense and that we should lay up various things for possible use later if required and there are a few things that I may do that with, but I am more in line with buying what I can use now rather than later.

We have various passages in our bibles that tell us that laying up treasures is not good sense because we do not know when we will go to be with the Lord. I had a dream this morning that I was in a car crash and the things that I had bought and kept were useless after that crash; instead I had to rely on what other people had despite my good intentions. We need to focus on the things that are going to be of use to us even after we have had our accident, downfalls or setbacks in life. The things of God are always going to remain firm and fresh and those are the things that God wants us to focus on in our lives.

Yes we are still going to have to spend money on all those things that we wish we would not have to but they are essentials for living. But God would rather have us focus on His treasures so that He can guide us to have the earthly essentials that we need rather than those we desire. If I were to follow my earthly desires then I should be in a whole lot of trouble not just with God but with others as well. I know that I am weak and that is why I tend to shy away from certain things in life – because I know that my strength is in God and He does not want me to focus on those things in my life any more. God continue to give me all sorts of things in my life but my focus has got to be on Him first of all – that way I know that the treasures I am building up will last through eternity and not be left behind for waste.

Points to Ponder:
What do you collect?

How do you rate God’s Word?

Wednesday Reading: Jeremiah 31 3
 
Key Verse: Jeremiah 31 3
3  Jehovah has appeared to me from afar, saying, Yea, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness I have drawn you.

Devotion:
The one thing that we can be absolutely certain of is that Christ will always try to draw us near, no matter how far we have gone away from Him. We could be at the very depth of depression or the depth of our hatred for all things religious and He will still stretch out His hand for us to grab. What an AWESOME God we have!

The more that I go over my life and see how “topsey turvey” I was the more I am certain that God loves me because I can see that He has always been there watching over me and always been there trying to get me to come back to Him since that very first time I asked Him into my life when I was younger. We do not have to worry that we have done too much for God to forgive us, nor do we have to worry about how long it has taken us to come back to Him. The important fact is that we have made it back in time! There will not always be time to make a decision because we are living in a finite world with a finite lifespan – we do not know how long we actually do have to live but you can bet anything you like that God is knocking on your door patiently waiting...

The love that God has for us is not a love that has a time span like our does. We can fall in love with someone and it is only from that time until we die that our love will last. Notice I did not say fall out of love because if you are truly in love then nothing will ever change your heart. God’s love has been there for and with us from before we could realise it and it will remain even after we die – He loves our very souls and nothing will change that. Why else would such an awesome God be so mindful of us, mere specks in the world, less than dust in the universe, but thoroughly loved for who we are! It’s like we think that He has forgotten one of our prayers suddenly we get a phone call and everything is sorted out. God is faithful. God is just. He is here, always!

Points to Ponder:
Are you wondering?
 
Are you watching out for His grip?