Thursday Reading: Matthew 13 16-17
 
Key Verse: Matthew 13 16
16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.

Devotion:
These verses are echoed in Luke 10 23-24 and were written down for us to remember just how privileged the disciples and people of that time were to be able to look upon the person of Christ. They were the ones who saw the miracles, heard the doctrine and learned from our Master and King in person. They are the ones who have written down their experiences so that we are more able to understand the ways of our Lord. They are the ones who have written down God’s word for us to follow.

No matter how we look at life we will always see the blessings that Christ has given to each one of us at some time. These disciples were fortunate enough to experience them face to face and to be able to write about those experiences. Christ wants each one of us to be able to look upon these things as the culmination of many promises from the Old Testament so that we can know that we can depend on His promises at all times and forever more. We may not be first hand witnesses to the miracles and we may wish that we were there, but we can look back and know that this is all true and that Christ cares for us more than we know.

We find it hard to explain the mysteries of grace unless we can experience such things first hand. Once we have had some experience we then begin to understand just how awesome our God is. Men have been seeking grace throughout history and these disciples were able to witness and experience it first hand – how many of us would wish to be there for such wisdom! The men from the Old Testament saw Christ in their prophecies and promises; men such as Abraham, Jacob, David and Solomon to name but a few. They looked forward with faith. We see Him in our history books and our bibles and must look back in faith. Those few disciples saw Christ face to face as witnesses for us all.

Points to Ponder:
What part of Christ’s life would you like to have seen face to face?

Are you keeping Him close in your life?

Wednesday Reading: Hebrews 11 39-40
 
Key Verse: Hebrews 11 39
39  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, did not receive the promise,

Devotion:
How many things have you been promised and having been promised have gone forward knowing that it was a sure thing that would come later? I’m sure that we have all experienced a promise that has come true, one that we have depended on before it did come true; but how many would have stood by the promise of a Saviour to come when it was only a promise?

We can look back several thousand years and wonder why the people did not believe in the Saviour to come because we have seen His coming two thousand years ago. We can look back in time and wonder why they had doubts knowing that Christ has been and has already given His life on the cross. So why are there so many people nowadays who still refuse to believe that Christ is our Saviour? The answer lies within each one of us. Each of us has doubts that grow within us like weeds in a garden; no matter how hard we try to rid our gardens of the weeds they still pop up out of nowhere!

What it all comes down to is faith. Do you have the faith to believe a promise that was promised to our forefathers so many years ago? Do you have the faith to continue believing what has already happened so many years ago? We may think we have but many of us will buckle under the strain of the temptations that will surround us when we take up that faith. Many of us will give in to the thoughts of the world around us rather than uphold the truth in sight of such adversity. Our promise is a more sure things because we have witness of the events that have been. Our promise of things to come is backed up by so much... yet we face even more temptations than they did in the past. Our faith can be based on a solid rock for as long as we look up to that solid rock of Christ our Saviour!

Points to Ponder:
Do you make many promises?
 
Do you live in Christ’s promises?

Tuesday Reading: Hebrews 11 24-26
 
Key Verse: Hebrews 11 24
24  Having become great, Moses by faith refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,

Devotion:
Is faith something you have or have not or are there varying degrees of faith? That is a difficult question to answer because both sides of the argument seem to be true. When we look at someone who we think has great faith we think of ourselves as having little faith but on the other hand you either have faith in Christ or you do not. Faith is something that grows with us and that we exercise every day in what we do. Christ reminded the disciples that if they had faith the size of a mustard seed they would be able to move mountains. Hebrews 11 shows us many forms of faith and reminds us that faith is as important now as it has always been.

Moses seemed to have it all being in charge of so much during the times when the Pharaohs were at their richest. And yet he gave that all up to follow his God, our God. In this world and time that we live in we are surrounded by so much that tempts us away from God and towards sin; just like Moses we have to make the choice between following those desires and that sin or turning around and following God. That is where faith comes in because we do not have a person who we can physically turn to and who will tell us to follow Him; but we know He is there and we have to make that same choice.

Our rewards are in heaven with Christ and not with man on earth. Yes there are so many things that we can and do enjoy that God has given to us on this earth, but we must always remember that they come from Him. Whether it be people, possessions or other comforts, we must always know that Christ is the author of our lives. Because we can know that, we can have faith in the unseen because we can see the results. God has given us so much and we need to turn to Him in faith and know that He is always there.

Points to Ponder:
What would you give up to follow Christ?

Do you tell Him how much He means to you?

Monday Reading: 1 Corinthians 6 19-20
 
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 6 19
19  Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit in you, whom you have of God? And you are not your own,
 
Devotion:
Each one of us has been bought for a price – Christ laid down His own life for our lives and He did it willingly. Furthermore He ensured that we would have the Holy Spirit to dwell within us after He went back to be with God the Father in heaven... And He did this all for us just because He loved us so. As I look back on various things in my life and how my mother continued to encourage us every step of the way I begin to see just how God can use someone who is willing to listen to Him.

It is all very well hearing people say things like that and knowing that it is true but to suddenly have your eyes opened to how much Christ is doing in your own life and how much He has accomplished through those around you is something special. We take so many things for granted in our lives when we should be standing still and taking them in awe! When we go into a large temple, church, cathedral or other amazing building, we stand still for a moment and take in the immensity and sheer grandeur of the building before we go about doing what we came to do. Each one of us is a temple for Christ and as such should we not be able to make people stop and stare in awe at what Christ can do through us?

There are so many things that we do with our lives, our bodies and even our minds that corrupt us in some manner. Many of these things we do are by choice. Many of these things may glorify God but some of these things do not. We do have a choice as to whether we use our temples to glorify God or whether we allow corruption to spread through them. We would not fill a church or cathedral with hateful and corrupt things, so why should we allow those things into our lives? We are still a temple for Christ and as such we need to maintain ourselves in a manner befitting our design. To God be the glory for great things He has done!

Points to Ponder:
What do you get up to each day?

What do you think Christ thinks of your temple?