Tuesday Reading: Job 5 19
 
Key Verse: Job 5 19
19  He will deliver you in six troubles; yea, in seven no evil shall touch you.

Devotion:
When Job lost everything in his life a couple of friends came over to try to comfort him and to figure out what had happened. This is something normal and something we have to expect – when things go wrong we try to figure out some sort of closure so we can either apportion blame of at least know that there is no blame to be held. When Eliphaz answered Job he turned the blame back on Job saying that Job must have sinned in order for God to bring all these things upon him; but if he had listened to himself he would have realised that what he was doing was wrong...

God is not the one who will give evil things to us. God is the one who protects us from evil. Yes, there are going to be time when we just want to blame someone and if God is in it then we often turn to blame Him instead of thinking about what is happening. Job’s friends immediately thought that Job must have done something wrong for all this to happen to him and they wanted him to repent and get things right with God again – they blamed God even though they told Job that God would not give him evil.

Satan is the author of evil because he is the one who has it all wrapped up and ready to use against everything that God gives us. If we are not careful we allow him into our lives and he then dishes the evil out to us without limit. But if we are careful to continue trusting in God, the God is the one who will deliver us from that evil. Evil is a part of life because so many people allow it in; we then will also be affected by that evil because we stick with our friends. We should not turn our backs on our friends but rather bring God into their lives so they too can receive His constant care and attention. Evil things happen. Life is not a bed of roses. But God can give us comfort and strength to stand against anything Satan lets loose in our lives.

Points to Ponder:
Who do you tend to blame when things go wrong?

Are you depending on God for everything?

Monday Reading: Micah 6 6-8
 
Key Verse: Micah 6 8
8  He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does Jehovah require of you but to do justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God?
 
Devotion:
The more that we try to figure out what things we have done wrong in our lives the more skeletons we will find in our cupboards. The more that we try to figure out what God wants in our lives the more that we will realise that we can never live up to God’s standards. At that point in our lives we need to stop and think about how we can dig ourselves out of the hole that we have so cunningly dug for ourselves. There is only one way and that way is through Jesus Christ. The more we fight it the more confused we become. The more we question it, the more guilty we feel. Christ has given every one of us the opportunity to come to Him and to ask for forgiveness because He alone has taken on the sins of the world... But that does not mean we can step back and do nothing...

No amount of sacrifice from us can ever atone for all the sins we have done and no matter how we go about it nothing will make a difference until we have come to Christ. After that point we are safe in His grip – a grip that will never let go and will never falter! But once we are in His grip we need to do things in our lives to show others that we are in His grip. What good would it be to continue on in our life of sin? Would we not be encouraging others to walk in sin instead of walking with Christ? Our lives need to change to reflect the fact that we now have a Saviour who we stand by.

These words in Micah always come back to me when I think of what I should be doing. We need to love mercy and walk humbly with God. Christ stood for justice. He did nothing wrong and yet the world found Him guilty... It is now our turn to stand up for Christ and to make sure the world know about true justice, true mercy and our most awesome God! Show someone today just how much God means to you by showing them a part of His love.

Points to Ponder:
How often do you talk about God?

How many people know that you know Christ?

Sunday Reading: Hebrews 2 9
 
Key Verse: Hebrews 2 9
9  But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour, that He by the grace of God should taste death for all.

Devotion:
We all like to be able to be placed in charge of some things or told that we can have our own way or given an important position at times, but not many of us will like to be placed in a position where everyone would look down at us. I am not talking about a class system or people being more important than others here but rather those few things in life that we just do not ever want to have to do – just because that is the way we are! None of us would like to be told to go and do those tasks... But how many of us would go forward and do those tasks if we knew that our friends lives depended on it... How many of us would go willingly forward if we knew that our enemies lives depended on it?

Jesus is God. He came down to be born as a baby and to live a life as a baby just so that we could get to know how much He loves us. If you think about all the things that we have done wrong in our lives, the things that we have done against Him in our lives and then you think of the simple fact that He willingly came forward to be born as just another human... just so that we could get out of the bother that we are in! When we read His law and we find out that we have done so many things wrong and yet He still chose to come and do the lowest job just for us, then we can start to know just how much He loves us.

Christ had the choice as to whether He should come down and pick up the simple life of a carpenter to launch He perfect bid for human life. Christ had the choice as to whether He should listen to His heavenly Father without fear. Christ had the choice as to whether He should show us His love in the most amazing way ever. He had the choice as to whether He should take the sins of the whole world on His own shoulders. He knew that He had to do it because that was His Father’s will and so He willingly chose to lay His life down just so that God could give us a way of being forgiven in a perfect way so that we could be with Him.

Points to Ponder:
What things do you really hate to do?

Would you willingly do that for God?

Saturday Reading: Hebrews 2 7
 
Key Verse: Hebrews 2 7
7  You have made him a little lower than the angels. You crowned him with glory and honour and set him over the works of Your hands.

Devotion:
Being able to say that you are in charge of something or indeed being placed in charge of something is mostly an honour and one that we all like to receive now and again. Being told that we have the right to choose which way we want things to happen from now on is great because we can then place our wishes into action. But with each appointment also comes greater responsibility. We are then looked up to and others will expect us to do what is right and not to become a tyrant!

Too many people take the power that is given them and corrupt and rule with an iron fist from then on. Too many people forget just who is actually in charge. God does not want us to be under any delusion that we have the right to destroy anything and everything; He is the one that has created everything and when we go about destroying things we are destroying His creation. God has given us a very privileged position on this plant as caretakers; He expects us to act like caretakers and not destroyers!

I’m not talking about just physical things here because the physical things are here today and gone tomorrow. What I am talking about is the spiritual things that God has allowed into our lives. He continues to give us friends and family with which we can share so much. He continues to allow us to meet people with which we can share the joys of our God. He continues to allow us to grow in Him and we encourage others to find Him. God has given to us an amazing and awesome position in life. He has given a unique position to each one of us. He has made sure that each of us is in the position we are in because He knows that that is the best position for us to make the most of our life with Him. Take the name of Jesus with you and spread His happiness today!

Points to Ponder:
Do you like being in charge of things?

What are you doing with God’s gift?