Sunday Reading: Galatians 3 23-26
 
Key Verse: Galatians 3 25
25  But faith coming, we are no longer under a trainer.

Devotion:
We have God’s Word for a purpose. It is not just a book that will tell us about God in the hopes that we will find our way to Him. It is a book that will show us God’s will and God’s ways. It is a book that will show us God’s laws and His rules. It is a book that will show us that we do do things wrong and that we do need to change our lives. It is a book that will tell us of the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ. It is a book that will tell us of the wonderful things that God has done and the amazing love that He has shown through Jesus on the cross. It is a book that will teach us many things and a book that will tell us to have faith.

That faith is based on what God said in the beginning because everything that He has said has come to pass or will still come to pass at the appointed time. Our faith is based on the facts as they are recorded in God’s Word. Our faith should not be based on anything that God has shown us but on His promises through His Word. Our faith should be based on what God says and not what others do around us or what we get up to. God wants our faith to be a personal covenant between Him and us and not through the rest of the world. Because Christ has already been to earth once and He has already made it possible for us to base our faith on something substantial, we need to look directly to Him.

We are described as being sons of God now because we live in the period when Christ has already paid for our sins and has already done all that is necessary for us to come before God as His children. If we do accept those facts and live through His Word following His instruction then we will come to accept Him as our Lord and God – because that is His way. When we do bring Him into our lives He lifts us up to the position of being His children and there He will keep us and love us forever, even when we do things wrong and have to beg for His mercy. We are no longer tied to this world but set free from it through what Christ has done for us. Believe Him. Trust Him. Accept Him. Live for Him.

Points to Ponder:
Where do you look for the truth?

Are you living with God’s truth?

Saturday Reading: Ephesians 12 13-14
 
Key Verse: Ephesians 12 13
13  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God, and keep His commandments. For this is the whole duty of man.

Devotion:
The more that you find out that things in life are not as good as you first thought the more that you will realise that you are just chasing a dream. The more that you see that life deals it’s bitter blows the more that you will try to find something that does not deal that blow. Well, unless you are willing to put aside your life and aim for something that is worth more than your earthly life then you will be forever trapped in your own little cycle of seeking things that are based in vanity and pride.

When man is young he always looks forward to the things that are still to come because he sees them as the things that are better. When man grows old he looks back on the life previous to the things that he thinks were better. When man is in the prime of his life he still looks for things that are better because he is not satisfied with the lot he has. That about sums up mans ways of life – always seeking better than he has. Is there anything wrong with that? Not really because we always do seek better ways; but unless we are willing to put aside the ways of the world and focus on the ways of God then we are going to be caught up in the world instead of with God.

Solomon spent much of his life trying to find something that would make him happy and yet despite all the wisdom and wealth that he had he could not find anything that could replace God. There is nothing. God is the pinnacle of our life and the sooner we realise that the sooner we will be able to reach that pinnacle! God wants us to see the truth and He allows us to find all manner of things in this world so that we will recognise the world for the world that it is and Him for the Awesome God that He is! Our aim, our goal, our life must be that we live for God, that we fear Him for He is God, that we obey His commandments because He is God and that we stick to that way in our life – because that is the only true way.

Points to Ponder:
What have you found in life so far?

Are you aiming for God or still trapped in the world?

Friday Reading: Ecclesiastes 6 7-9

Key Verse: Ecclesiastes 6 7
7  All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.

Devotion:
How many times have you read through passages from the book of Ecclesiastes? How many of those times have you felt a bit depressed after reading through them? If we take the words of Solomon as they are written and apply them in our own lives we may well feel a bit down after reading through them because that is the way that we see them. But today I want you to think of things in a different light, not one of seeing all the vanity of everything that we do but to see the truth about our own goals and to move on from there.

So much of our life and of our world is taken up by the want and need to earn money so that we can purchase goods with that money. So much of our existence seems to point to a working society that revolves around money. Well, money has been around for a very long time because that is one of the ways that were set in motion in order to reward those that work well so that they can live a better life. As society moved from everyone having to do their own work to work being shared amongst people we had to have a method of sharing the rewards for hard work – hence money.

But no matter how hard you work and how much money you earn, none of that is going to fulfil the soul because the soul needs a lot more than empty money. Now money itself can do wonderful things and many use their money to help out others so that they can do things for others and for God. But to make money the focus of your life is just foolish because you cannot do anything with that money when it is your time to meet Christ face to face! It is far better that we make use of what we have now and not to build up useless stores or even spend what we do not have. Christ wants us to be honest with our own lives as well as being honest with Him. If we do not spend our gains fruitfully then we are no better off than someone who is forced to watch every penny because of a lack of money because we will not gain those good and fulfilling things in life that Christ would want us to have!

Points to Ponder:
Do you have enough money?

Do you use your money the way God intended?

Thursday Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4 1-7
 
Key Verse: 1 Thessalonians 4 7
7  For God has not called us to uncleanness, but in sanctification.

Devotion:
One thing that we can be certain of is that God will not tell us to do things that are wrong. No matter how much we think that we are being told to do something that is wrong, it will not be God. Everything that God requires of us is good and clean and just. God has given us His law through His Word. God has described the things that He requires of us. God guides us through His Word and through teachers of His Word; but that does not necessarily mean that the teachers will always get things right because we are human and we do make mistakes. I am convinced that God is always right and will always be righteous; therefore I know that what God say goes and what I should be doing is following Him faithfully.

We like to think that we can bend the rules a little here and there to make life more bearable or to get things going our own way but as soon as we do that we are falling away from God’s ways. We cannot assume anything of God because that would then mean that our ways are based on assumptions instead of on God’s ways. We cannot teach things from our own mind but rather from God’s Word; it is the final and absolute authority!

There have been times when I have tried to get my own way with God by bending the rules a little, but it has never worked because He has always shown me that it is not my will but His will that has to be done. No matter how much I want something in my life to happen I must wait on God for the final say. No matter how much I want it to happen now, I must wait on His timing because that way I will be sure that the timing and actions are entirely in His will and not my own desires. I have always wondered why God gave me such a love for the song “To God be the Glory” several years ago at camp when others thought it so plain. I do know now and I love it even more!

Points to Ponder:
Are you trying your own ways?

Is it to glorify you or God?