Wednesday 1 Sep 2010

Wednesday Reading: 1 Corinthians 6 9-12
 
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 6 12
12  All things are lawful to me, but not all things profit. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

Devotion:
If you were invited out for a posh diner where you had to wear a jacket and tie, would you try to turn up in jeans and T-shirt or would you get ready properly and suit up for the event? Obviously if the invite says jacket and tie we will have to wear them or we will not be allowed in. So why do we think that we can get away with our lifestyles when we are reminded so many times that God does not abide sin? Of course there are some restaurants that will loan you a jacket and tie just so that you can get in but that is not going to happen when we try to get into heaven.

Fortunately we do have someone who is already one step ahead of us, and He has already made us the suit and tie and has already made it available for us as a gift. It is not a temporary loan but a permanent gift that is also free! But just because we have been given the suit and tie, does that mean that we will be able to behave ourselves on the way there? There will be no issue about us behaving when we are there but the journey through the rest of our lives before we get there is not as straight forward as we first think. Just because we have the outfit does not mean that we act like it. We are still ourselves even though we are dressed up.

That is where God comes in again because He is the one who is trying to guide us all along the way. He is the one who knows how we should be acting and has even given us the rule book – that is the big one we have to read! Yes God’s word is a fair size but it is so because there is a lot of information that God wants us to know. But the most amazing thing is that it all hinges on a few points, the most important being that we love our neighbour as ourselves. If we are going to stick to that rule then we will have no problem sticking to God’s other commandments. Upholding others means that we are upholding God’s people, we are glorifying His people and thereby glorifying Him. We may be given the right stuff but we do still have to do our bit which means leaving all the “normal stuff” we used to do behind and moving forward with Christ.

Points to Ponder:
Are you dressed up?
 
Does God see you acting the fool still?

Tuesday 31 Aug 2010

Tuesday Reading: 1 Timothy 5 1-2
 
Key Verse: 1 Timothy 5 2
2  older women as mothers, the younger as sisters in all purity.

Devotion:
The last time we looked at these two verses I talked about the elderly and how they often get the rough end of the stick. Today I want to focus on the youth and the way that they treat each other; not because I am older now and look back on youth but because I want them to open their eyes to reality! It’s not a case of I am old and can see the difference between how children treat each other now to how I treated my friends when I was younger because I know what was going through my head back then and I know that the difference is only in that it is more public now.

No matter how much our parents drilled into us the importance of treating others in a manner that you would like to be treated we continued to push the boundaries as far as we could. I see the same happening now just like we did. So why the warning about it now? Well, that’s the easy part, this verse stuck in my head after reading it, in particular those last three words, “in all purity”. You don’t get to think much of those kind of words now through the life that we live because of open media culture with things like facebook making peoples thoughts heard all round the world instead of them staying in their heads. Is social media then to blame? No it’s still the people that are to blame...

When God says that He wants us to treat younger boys and girls like brothers and sisters it is because we are not ready for the full on relationships that we insist on trying out at that age. No, we don’t need all the practice we can get to that we get it right in the end... What we need to do is to treat each other in all purity so that we can really get to know each other before we start doing things like getting involved with each other. I am not trying to be old fashioned – this is simply God’s wish for us in our lives. We can look back and think “if only I had the knowledge then that I do now” and lament at how we should have done things or we can go out and teach people of God’s ways, the right ways, the pure ways and allow our children to not have to lament like we do.

Points to Ponder:
How do you think of others?

So you think God agrees with your personal thoughts?

Monday 30 Aug 2010

Monday Reading: Psalms 57 6-9
 
Key Verse: Psalms 57 8
8  Wake up, my soul! Wake up, harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn.
 
Devotion:
I’m sure we have all been there when we have felt trapped, or even known that we have been trapped and thought that there is no way out. One such instance springs to mind in my life and my immediate reaction was to get down on my knees as pray. My reaction probably scared those around me at the time but I knew that that was what was required. The peace and security that we find in God is above anything that you can imagine and something that has to be known and not described to you.

The Psalms of David try to give us an insight into how much David trusted in God and how much he called on Him any time of day or night. They show us how faithful God was to answer his prayers and to protect him from the like of Saul. Even though they are just words, they are very powerful words because they are there so that we may understand that we can do the same at any time. We don’t have to wait until we are cornered or wait until we are feeling at our lowest point to pray, God is always there!

How we go about our prayer is a demonstration of our commitment to God. If we beg Him as though He has never helped us before then we are showing Him that we don’t think that we need Him until times are really rough. If we demand things from Him then we may well find out the hard way that God is certainly not our servant! If we come before Him humbly then we are acknowledging Him as our God and King. But David goes one step further and praises Him. It is not a small thing that the Lord’s Prayer itself lifts up God to His rightful place before requests are made of Him. We need to praise our Awesome God, not just when things are going well for us but at all times showing Him that we do acknowledge that it is He that is in control of our lives and that we are submitting to Him and Him alone.

Points to Ponder:
How would you show someone they mean everything to you?

How do you treat God in your life?

Sunday 29 Aug 2010

Sunday Reading: Ephesians 4 1-6
 
Key Verse: Ephesians 4 6
6  one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all.

Devotion:
How I love to see the differences between us; those little things that make us unique, those quirks that make you stand out, those times that you are just you and nobody else. There are things about each one of us that do make us different from everyone else, but there are things that make us the same. God is our creator and He is the one that has made us the way that we are but we are the ones that can make things different. God has given us the choice as to whether we do follow Him or go our own ways and sadly too many people choose to go their own ways.

God created us as humans and He created us to love Him. He started the ball rolling by showing us how much He loved us and continues to show us how much He cares; all we should have to do is to acknowledge that fact and to act upon it... sounds so simple... so why don’t we? Well, we all like to think that we can control our own destiny because we find that a great boost to our own egos. We like to think that we can change the very course that we live and become stronger and better through the things that we do. But what we have not thought about is the fact that God had a plan in the beginning to give us the best things in life and to make us better than we could hope for – then we come along and spoil it all by doing what we want instead!

There is only one God. There is only one creator. He is God, our Father, above all, Creator, Saviour, Redeemer, Friend – the list is endless. We need to remember that and to lift Him up for what He is because we can then see us for what we are; His people, His servants, His friends, His children. God’s plan is the only plan that has an end that we will like. Our plan does have a beginning and it does have an end – the end, we do not know of other than the warnings the bible tells us of; but still we insist that we can make it work. God’s way is the only way. That is why He has done everything exactly the way He has. Let us embrace His ways and His life in our life so that we can love each other that way He intended!

Points to Ponder:
What do you aim for for yourself?

Have you thought of God’s plan?

Saturday 28 Aug 2010

Saturday Reading: Ephesians 2 8-10
 
Key Verse: Ephesians 2 8
8  For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God,

Devotion:
When we think of ourselves as workers for Christ we must never get carried away and think that the more that we can achieve the better off we will be. Yes Christ is going to reward us for work that we do but we should not work in order to seek that reward. Yesterday we looked at being willing servants. Today we must remember that we should be willing to be those servants and not have it as a requirement for compensation of some kind from God! We are here because Christ has deemed it so. We are saved through His grace and not through anything that we can do. The same goes for any rewards that He would want to give to us. We will get rewards when He thinks we deserve them and not because we think so for what we have done!

The more that we get caught up in the ways of the world the more that we will find that sin takes a hold in our lives. The ways of the world are towards sins. The ways of God are righteous and those are the paths that we should be seeking to walk on. We work for money and reward because that is right. Whether we do get what we deserve or not is not up to us but up to the person in charge. Just because we have unions who try to make sure that we all get a fair deal for pay does not mean that we actually deserve that pay. God on the other hand is just and will always make sure that we get what we deserve.

It should not take the brain of a rocket scientist to realise that the only thing that we deserve after all that we have done is death and separation from Christ. But it is because of God’s grace that we have been given a sure way through which we can be forgive of those things that we have done wrong and so take up our place besides Christ in heaven. It is because of His grace and His choice that we get His reward. Our choice is simply to believe in Him and to receive the free gift offered to us all!

Points to Ponder:
What do you expect for work that you do?

What do you expect from God?