Wednesday Reading: 1 Corinthians 1 26-29
 
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 1 29
29  so that no flesh should glory in His presence.

Devotion:
If there is one thing that we have to learn over and over again it is that we should not lift ourselves up but rather lift up God. As soon as we get caught up in our own imaginations we tend to think so much more of our own selves and our own doing than we should and at that point we start to lift up ourselves when we know we should be praising God for what He has allowed in our lives. We look at the world around us and people are actively encouraged to boast or lift themselves up so that they can feel better. Well that does work for a short while whilst we do things and they work, but as soon as we start to falter and things begin to fall down around us we then find that we have a longer fall than we first feared because we have absolutely nothing to hold on to – we were the anchor.

We do not have to all be scientists of great renown in order to be happy. We don’t all have to have a couple of discoveries under our belts to know that we are safe. God is the one who has given us this world in which to live. He is the one who has provided so much for us and through whom we can look forward to so much in our lives. He is our anchor and He is our rock. As long as we are sure of that and keep that in our minds we are sure to be able to hang on to Him whenever things get tough. But the best part is that as long as we trust Him, He is the one holding on to us – so we don’t even have to fear that we will lose our grip because He has a firm grip on us.

God chooses the people that He knows are best for various things in life. Those choices will often amaze us because we look at what man can do rather than remember what our Lord can do. Nothing is impossible through Him and all things through Him are certain – we just have to listen to what He wants in our lives. That means that we do have to submit to His will rather than thinking we can do things by ourselves. We have to be patient and trust Him to do in our lives His will rather than ours. As easy as it sounds it is not easy to do when we are faced with so much disruption in our lives. Trust in Him.

Points to Ponder:
What are your strengths?
 
Do you trust God with your strengths?

Tuesday Reading: Galatians 5 16-17
 
Key Verse: Galatians 5 16
16  I say, then, Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh.

Devotion:
So much attention is given to some points in our walk with Christ that I thought I would start to look under the skin as it were to find out some of the things that we miss every day. The first point to look at is our walk with Christ itself. It is correct that He has given us freedom of choice and that we are the ones that have to chose Him to come into our lives but He already chose us in the beginning – that is why we have Christmas and Easter, because He already made the first choice and that choice was to love us! So when we say that we then have a choice it is a choice that we make for our own selves and not for God. His choice has already been made.

When we then say that we have made a choice to ask Him into our lives we are the ones acknowledging the fact that He has made that choice in the beginning – we are showing our first steps of faith in believing that He has done it all. But just because we have made that choice does not mean that we will leave all our earthly baggage behind. Yes God will show us the way and He will remove the lusts and desires that we had so that we can be free to make our choice to follow Him. But we still have that freedom of choice. That is where our sin nature kicks back because far too often we turn round and pick up the baggage that we were relieved of because we just don’t want to let go.

Letting go of our earthly lives and walking with God is not as easy as it seems unless we are going to place our trust in Christ always. As soon as we start to doubt or as soon as we look for our own support we then find that we pick up the baggage that should be left behind. We then start to falter because of the weight of that baggage and we even start to doubt further. Satan is the one who is encouraging us to turn back and pick up the baggage, Christ is the one encouraging us to fully trust in Him. We still have to make the choice – but the choice should be obvious!

Points to Ponder:
What earthly baggage do you hold on to?

What makes you doubt God’s support?

Monday Reading: Revelation 1 3
 
Key Verse: Revelation 1 3
3  Blessed is the one who reads and hears the words of this prophecy, and the ones keeping the things written in it, for the time is near.
 
Devotion:
When is the best time to surprise someone, when they are watching and waiting or when they are unawares, daydreaming or looking for something else? Obviously the best surprise reaction we will get is when someone is not expecting the surprise in the first place – whether that is a snowball being thrown or a life-changing action the fact that someone is not expecting it will make them more surprised. Does that mean that we should be jumping out from behind walls and lampposts so that we can frighten our friends? Not really, though it is good fun at the time!

If we don't want to almost die of fright when something happens to us each day then we should be prepared for certain things in our lives. If we want to be able to work effectively then we have to be ready for things to go wrong as well as go right – that way we are prepared for the possible outcome. So if we are told that something is going to happen, then ignoring that advice and continuing on regardless is just plain stupid... or at least that is what you would think! If we have new people visiting or if we are visiting new people then we have to be prepared for the unknown. Whilst it is impossible to prepare for every eventuality it is prudent to prepare for those we might foresee.

God continues to give us advanced warning of things that are going to happen in our world and in our lives. He has given us our bibles to tell us of the events that are still to happen in the future. The bible is a historical record of things that have happened in the past as well as evidence of things that were foretold that did eventually happen as well. So when that same book tell us that Christ is going to return one day – we had better be prepared! Don't continue putting it off. Find out the details now so that you can be prepared too...

Points to Ponder:
Do you like surprises?

Are you ready for Christ to return?