Firday 1 Oct 2010

Friday Reading: Psalms 118 22

Key Verse: Psalms 118 22
22  The Stone which the builders refused has become the Head of the corner.

Devotion:
I used to love watching episodes of series such as McGuiver or The ‘A’ Team where they had to make the most of what they had – and some of those contraptions they made seemed very impressive at the time. Each one of us as we look at the things around us start to formulate things based on what we see, hear and are caught up in. Whether we like it or not we are heavily influenced by our surroundings. We now have the choice as to what we are going to use from our surroundings and what we are going to do with those things. Sadly our focus remains on earthly things most of the time and we miss out on so much because of that failing.

This is not something new in society but something that has plagued man from the beginning. We give in to things around us because it is easier to do than to have to lift up our hands and work at doing something right. We should not have to be paid just to do something right. We should not have to be told just to do something right. We should want to take a stand against all that is wrong just to do something right! Sadly we still give in to the peer pressure that surrounds us and we find ourselves getting caught up in all the wrong stuff instead of lifting up God.

This one sentence in this Psalms summarises the outcome of our failing all throughout our lives. Just because we do not take that initial step that is right, that one step that looks like it does not matter in the big picture of things... we lose it all... Just because people refuse to take that one small step in acknowledging God as God, they never make it to the end because they can never build the house because their corner stone is missing. If we want to have a relationship with God then we have to start by placing that corner stone, Jesus Christ, in the right place so that we can build everything on that point of strength.

Points to Ponder:
What do you like doing?

Do you take God with you?

Thursday 30 Sep 2010

Thursday Reading: Psalms 115 3-8
 
Key Verse: Psalms 115 6a
6  they have ears, but they do not hear;...

Devotion:
It is said that you can find out a lot about someone by the company they keep. Well, you may well know that that is not always the way because some people go out of their way to be with some pretty strange people. But we can find out a lot about a person by the god (or God) that they keep or follow. If they are genuine about their god (or God) then we will be able to know what they are like – or will we? If you knew that someone was a liar would you be able to find out anything from them?

There are many things that people treat like gods and there are many people that follow those gods of this earth; but that is all they are, gods made up from this earth, stuck to this earth, of this earth and certainly not doing anything about pretty much anything! So what of the people that follow those gods? Well we always like to generalise and we start to put people into pigeon holes. We over-generalise many things and we exclude many from our lives or minds because we have placed them in with a bunch of people who are not pleasant. We do have to be very careful about how we look at others because judging is wrong but is so easy to do!

But think about those gods... sports, money, greed, lust, but to name a few... It is not just those religions that have false gods that we are talking about here but rather various ways of life. If we are taking those ways of life before God then we are taking those ways of life as our god! Those gods are nothing but earthly creations. They do not listen to our  prayers and they certainly do not answer them! We know they do not take care of us but rather wind us up. We know they do not see us because they cannot see. And yet we lift them up as gods for some reason. Why should we even think about getting into a relationship when we know the other side is not going to respond to anything! Aim for the truth. Aim for the only real God. Aim to please Him because He has done so much for you already!

Points to Ponder:
What is most important in your life?

Are you really God’s friend?

Wednesday 29 Sep 2010

Wednesday Reading: James 4 3
 
Key Verse: James 4 3
3  You ask and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it upon your lusts.

Devotion:
How many times would you continue to ask your parents for something whilst you were out shopping? How many times would you have to be told ‘no’ before you believed it? I can remember asking for things and being told that we would have to behave before we got them; pretty soon we learned that we must start behaving right away or we would not be getting anything. So what makes our life with God any different to our life with our parents? Why should we continue to ask for things that we know we should not get or that we know we do not deserve?

God has proven time and time again that His love for us goes a whole lot further than we expect. He has shown us by giving us many things that we know that we do not deserve. Because of that we like to think that He will continue to give us things even when He has already said no! There may be times when we can change our parents minds by going out of our way to do things for them or by giving them a really big hug but God knows us from the inside out; if we are not going to change on the inside then we should not expect Him to change and give us things!

God already knows what is best for us and He knows what life we should be living to get the most out of it. He has already set in motion the things that will allow us to achieve the best in our life. He has already set out the ways in which we can give Him the glory that He deserves. We do have the choice as to whether we follow that design or whether we rebel against Him once again. It is in our best interest to follow His design for our lives because He does know what is best. Taking time out to submit to those ways and to His will in our life is important and cannot be stressed enough by me. When our ‘wants’ in our lives start to fall in line with His will in our lives then we will start to see our ‘needs’ being fulfilled. You will be surprised by how much God can do in your life and by how much He cares for each of us. His love knows no bounds but that does not give us the right to test it every step of the way!

Points to Ponder
:
How often do you complain?
 
How often do you listen to God?

Tuesday 28 Sep 2010


Tuesday Reading: Zechariah 7 8-14
 
Key Verse: Zechariah 7 11
11  But they refused to listen, and gave a stubborn shoulder, and made heavy their ears from hearing.

Devotion:
We may think that we are unique in the way that modern society seems to be ignoring God and working ill to its own devices; but truth be told man has been guilty of pride and greed for so much longer than that. Why else would God do such a loving and unselfish thing as to allow His only Son to come and die for our sins? Why would God give us a free ticket for eternal life? Because He knows our weaknesses and He knows that ways that we will give in. If He had not done so then we would still be fighting a losing battle and laying waste to even more than we do now!

How can we say that this world is in the state that it is in now because of sin? Through history shown to us through God’s Word. We can see just how man has continued to turn away from God and how man has continued to lay waste to earth as he does that. God was the one who promised and supplied the Land of Milk and Honey. God is the one who supplied the Garden of Eden. God is the one who gave everything to us only to watch us turn away from Him and destroy our gifts that He had given us. It is not nice watching someone destroy a gift that you have given them and we may never be able to understand just how much our sin has affected God who has given us so much...

But we can change things... We do not have to continue ignoring God. We do not have to continue ignoring His ways. When we look at all that God has done and is doing we will see a wonderful and fulfilling world that we can be part of. We can see a future that is sure, eternal and more than we could have ever hoped for. All we need to do is to listen to His guidance, obey His Word and follow His commandments. Those simple steps will allow us to make the most of all that He is giving to us... He has given us all these gifts so that we can make the most of them. He gives us His love so that we can accept it and enjoy it... Why turn our backs on His free gifts?

Points to Ponder:
Do you like getting presents?

Do you accept God’s gifts?

Monday 27 Sep 2010

Monday Reading: Acts 7 51-53
 
Key Verse: Acts 7 51
51  O stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so you do.
 
Devotion:
How long would you try to teach someone the right way before you gave up and turned round and told them off for doing things wrong? As a parent I can honestly say that there was many a time when I gave in a shouted instead of continuing to try and show what was right. Sometimes we will be up against people that will not want to hear the truth or people that have rejected the truth all their lives and will continue to reject it. Stephen broke off from his words and rebuked those around him for being stiff necked, stubborn or obstinate; they continued to reject Christ even though He had gone to the cross and shown them the truth. These were the people who upheld the law as it was given to Moses or at least that is what they believed they were doing.

Sometimes we get so tied up in our own ways that we will not open our eyes to any other ways around us. We close off the rest of the world because we think that it is wrong. We close in our view of what is right and limit our view to the things that we want to keep in view, blocking out everything else. The people around Stephen knew that the law showed them that a Messiah would come to save the people from their sins and yet they did not want to believe that Christ was the Messiah because that would show them up for the sinners that they were. They had taken the law to the extreme and assumed that they were right and that Christ was wrong. If we continue to close off everything around us then we may well miss out on what God would have us to see!

What we do have to be very careful for is the ways of the devil because he will use all means possible to persuade us that certain things are indeed ok when they are clearly not. As long as we are willing to compare everything in our lives with what God’s Word tell us then we will remain safe in God’s arms. God’s Word is the truth...

Points to Ponder:
Do you limit your view of the world?

Are you overriding God’s limits with your own?