Friday 10 Dec 2010

Friday Reading: Isaiah 9 6-7

Key Verse: Isaiah 9 6
6  For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be on His shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Devotion:
When Isaiah preached these words that God had given him, many must have wondered at what this would mean at first. Many must have wondered why all the commotion and why all the bloodshed in order that a just, righteous and awesome God could give us someone so special. But when we look back on things we begin to realise just how special this occasion actually was. We now know the truth, that Jesus was born of the line of David, came into this world as our Lord and King, lived and taught us, and then willingly laid His own life down for our sakes. We now know why.

We can look back on things and understand what and why and when. We cannot look forward with such certainty though. We know that all of this was written down many years before Christ was born, and then He was born. We know we can trust this Word. So we know that many things are still going to happen in this world. We know that there will be wars and all manner of natural disasters that will be in many places. We know all these things because that same Word that gave us the truth about Jesus is telling us of these things still to come. We know we can trust it!

But what so many people do forget is the gravity of what is going to happen. So many people do not understand that the choices we make now will be with us for the rest of our lives. I was not one to look too far into my future and there are times where I paid the price for ignoring what was being told to me. But God has seen it fit to keep me going and to allow me to focus on His Word as given to us through His many prophets and Apostles. I thank God that He has set this all in motion and that I have the privilege of being able to tell you about my Awesome God!

Points to Ponder:
Where will you be tomorrow?

Are you listening to what God has said?

Oh, Go on then...

Thursday Reading: Isaiah 8 11-13
 
Key Verse: Isaiah 8 13
13  Sanctify Jehovah of Hosts Himself, and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.

Devotion:
“Oh go on then...”

How many times have you said that before? How many times have you given in to those around you just to keep the peace? How many of those times have you turned you back on God just to try and keep the peace with those around you? I’m not talking about turning round and saying to God that you don’t like Him or don’t want to listen to Him but something as simple as agreeing within someone when you know that that is not what God has in mind, when you know that is not what God’s Word says! We can look back at the way that Peter denied Jesus 3 times and we can say that we would never do that, but if you look back on your life and you be honest with yourself there are going to be many more times than just 3 when we did actually turn our backs on God...

What we need to do is to remember just who Christ is. We need to remember just who God is. God is not just the ‘big guy upstairs’ or the ‘boss’ or the ‘one who looks after heaven’. God is our creator. He is our keeper. He is our father. He is our everything. If we do not show Him the uttermost respect at all times then we are guilty of turning our backs on Him. That does not mean that we have to have a stiff upper lip at all times and never enjoy ourselves again – far from it. God has created everything around us for our enjoyment. He has given us the amazing bodies, souls and spirits that we have so that we can make the most of our time here on earth – the place He created just for us! God wants us to be happy and the best possible way to achieve that is to live our lives with Him instead of in spite of Him! Going with the flow of all the people around us is not going to impress Him. Giving in to temptations, going further than we should, none of that is going to impress Him because not only has He seen it all before but we are turning away from Him when we do... God has loved us from the beginning. He has given a love to us that we can share so that we too can be happy in Him.

Points to Ponder:
Are you flexible?

Do you treat God’s Word as flexible?

Wednesday 8 Dec 2010

Wednesday Reading: Psalms 19 7-10
 
Key Verse: Psalms 19 10
10  more to be desired than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

Devotion:
When we find a good thing we like to be able to know that we can come back to it when we need to. Sometimes we find something that is so special that we try to hide it in fear of others taking it away. Other times we find something that we just need to share with others. But how many times have you looked at what you have in your life to see what fits into these categories?

The more that I (slowly) read God’s Word the more I find within it that makes my heart sing. The more that I am lifted up by His Word the more that I want others to know about it – this is something that is just too good to hide away from anyone. We can look into our lives and think of all the special times that we have had; they are now but memories. We can look forward in our lives and wonder at what is ahead; they are but dreams and imaginations. We can look at our lives right now and know whether we are happy with our lot or not. But without God in our lives we have nothing to really compare anything against. Yes we can compare ourselves with others, but how do we know if they are happy inside?

If we want to know a fulfilling life then we need God in our lives! Once we have Christ in our lives we begin to compare our lives with His and with the things that we have in His Word. We could ignore His Word and go and haplessly hoping that things will continue to be good, or we could anchor ourselves firmly in His grip and know that we have a certain future ahead! Life is not about living the here and now but about building towards eternity. If we chose to forget about what lies ahead then we are not preparing ourselves for a life with God. God’s Word is a treasure chest full of everything we need to know about Him and about our potential futures. God’s Word gives us hope for the future, peace about the past and certainty about the here and now.

Points to Ponder:
How much do you read?
 
How much of God’s Word do you read?

Tuesday 7 Dec 2010

Tuesday Reading: Psalms 119 101-103
 
Key Verse: Psalms 119 103
103  How sweet are Your Words to my taste! More than honey to my mouth!

Devotion:
If you want to be able to do good things then you are going to have to know the difference between good and bad to start with. If you consistently focus on the bad things of this world, then it would not be a big surprise that you get mixed up in those bad things because that is what you are focusing on! God knows how easily we are led astray and He knows how we will give in to all manner of temptations so what He has given us is an instruction manual that will show us how we can both learn about the good and learn about the bad; that instruction manual is the bible.

God wants us to be able to focus on the good things in life and to be able to see what is good. He does warn us about all the bad things but does not dwell on them otherwise we would most likely be drawn aside by those bad things. Instead He wants us to see things His way so that we can try to stay away from sin. He does not expect us to grow up without sin. He already knows that we will sin. Why else did He allow Jesus do die on the cross for us but to wash away those sins in our lives. When we do release those sins from our lives we are more able to stay away from them in future – as long as we continue to follow His Word. We cannot live a sinless life so therefore we need Christ in our lives so that we can be forgiven of those sins that we do commit.

When we do see that we are sinners and we do ask Him for forgiveness we are then able to see His Word in a very different way. We then get to see just how wonderful His Word is because of the advantage that it gives us should we do the right thing and believe it. The more we are able to see the truth, the more we like it and the more strength we can actually gain from it. The more we gain from it the more we are able to work with God to avoid the sin in our lives. We cannot do it by ourselves because we are inherently weak – but with Christ, nothing is impossible!

Points to Ponder:
What do you look for in God’s Word?

Are you trusting His Word?

Monday 6 Dec 2010

Monday Reading: Jeremiah 15 16
 
Key Verse: Jeremiah 15 16
16  Your Words were found, and I ate them; and Your Word was to me the joy and gladness of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O Jehovah, the God of Hosts.
 
Devotion:
How many times have you been through a day where one thing kept on coming up over and over again, maybe just a thought, and idea or a particular phrase? Well, on those days just maybe you should be taking note of what is occurring! God has ways in which He attracts our attention and it may not be the ways in which you expect to hear from Him, in fact it may not be what you expected at all. Those times are the times when we need to sit down with God’s Word and figure out what it is that He is trying to tell us.

How else are you going to know if it is coming from God unless you know what God’s Word actually says? How else are you going to differentiate between what the world wants you to know (i.e. what Satan is constantly buffeting you with) and what God wants you to silently listen to? The world is going to make so much fuss and noise that you will give in to that unless you are able to see that it goes against God’s Word. The people around you may well be caught up in those things already and may be spreading that same noise themselves without knowing it. The evil one has so many ways of throwing us a curve ball that we will just not see it coming until it has hit us square between the eyes.

God’s Word is our daily bread. It is food for us because it will sustain us during the times that we are not sat in front of it. It will give us the strength to face that uphill struggle. It will also protect us from the famine that is out there. When we feed on His Word we will find the grace and comfort that only God can show us; it will be happiness to the very marrow of our bones. Our souls and spirits will be uplifted by it... The only thing the world will uplift is our bodies for a short while. God has called each one of us to listen to Him through His Word. He has given each one of us His Word so that we can discern right from wrong. He wants each one of us to come to Him so that He can give us the happiness and peace that He wants to show us.

Points to Ponder
:
Do you have food each day?

Are you keeping up with a good diet from God?