Tuesday Reading: Matthew 15 1-9
 
Key Verse: Matthew 15 8
8  "This people draws near to Me with their mouth, and honours Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.

Devotion:
It is amazing how we bend the rules as we go along and how we justify those changes is always proven in some manner so that we can look good in our new law... But just how much of God’s law do we leave behind when we do that? The Jews had already made changes to God’s law and Jesus was trying to open their eyes to those changes. The change He picked on at this stage was the commandment to honour our parents. All we need to do is to look around us nowadays and we see just how far man has wandered from that single law. The honour that children had towards their parents only a couple of hundred years ago seems to have all but disappeared from society today; instead it is replaced with rebellion.

We may not think of that as such a big issue until we start to study just how far that has penetrated through society as a whole and not just between us and our parents. You may think of this as something that has only happened in the last few decades rather than centuries but to see the rotten core that runs through people of all ages makes you realise that the rot set in before we saw it happening. That is what Christ was trying to make people see back then as well. When we grow weak in our hearts the inevitable happens slowly but surely in the background... We need to remain firm in Christ’s grip and remain strong in His law otherwise our hearts become weak and we then contribute towards the downturn without realising it.

This is not something that started a short while back but something that has been there right from the beginning and Satan has picked up on that and used it against us and against God in every way that he can. As Christ put it, we need to start to make sure our hearts are right first and then things will fall into place. As long as our hearts are in it to start with then we will continue on in the right direction but as soon as we lose heart, we lose our way too. God has given us His Word for a reason, not for us to change it at our will but to follow it and burn it in our hearts...

Points to Ponder:
Do you think you follow the rules?

How do you really treat others?

Monday Reading: Numbers 32 23
 
Key Verse: Numbers 32 23
23  But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against Jehovah. And be sure your sin will find you out.
 
Devotion:
No matter how hard we try to hide the things that we do wrong the truth always manages to find its way out. God created things in a certain manner but the longer that we have them in our charge the more that we corrupt things and make them to look bad. The more that things go wrong the more people start to talk about them and the worse we think things are. We eventually get to the stage that we are affected by the things that others do wrong around us and others are affected by the things that we do wrong – Is this the way to act before a God who is all powerful and all knowing and just?

We do like to hide things and even make believe that things are not as bad as they are or that we have not done things wrong. But the longer that we do that the more that those things will build up and the harder we will find that it is to cover them up. It may seem easy to cover up a small lie but the longer you do the more you find that you have to lie and do things wrong to continue to cover it up. Your lie will find you out because you cannot cover up the mess that you build up around it to try and cover it!

Just about every week we find a bit more out about some other politician who has subverted the laws or man or more often the laws of God. This is not the sort of leadership that we asked for or voted for but that is what we get because of mans sin nature. Just because we see this going on with the people around us it does not mean that we should follow on in their example. We need to stand firm in God’s Word and stand up as proud Christians, willing to do right in God’s eyes. We need to be examples by which others will be encouraged and not discouraged. Christ has already shown us the right way and has already given His life so that we may have our sins forgiven as long as we admit them to Him! But God is also willing and able to guide us away from sin when we ask before we do sin...

Points to Ponder:
What skeletons do you try to hide?

Do you know God already knows?

Sunday Reading: John 3 18-21
 
Key Verse: John 3 20
20  For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, lest his deeds should be exposed.

Devotion:
If you have done something that is wrong, the last thing that you want is a spotlight shining on you so that everyone can see and hear about what you have done; but that is the way of the world, when we find out something wrong we want to expose it and let everyone know about it! The news media goes mad when there is some gossip to be had that they can spread around the world. People want to be able to pass the blame on to someone else as soon as possible so that they will not remain in the spotlight... So if we know this, why then do we continue to do wrong? The simple answer is that we never think of the consequences of our actions until it is too late!

Too many people around the world are not thinking of the consequences of not believing God. They have their eyes closed and hide from the truth or hide the truth from themselves just so that they can have another day of ‘fun in the sun’. What they do not realise is that God already knows what they are up to and He is the one that is in charge, not themselves! When the time comes He is not going to wait for people to turn to Him before He passes judgement; we have had more than enough time to make up our minds and come to our senses. God’s judgement is going to be final and swift. Those that have chosen not to believe are going to have to accept the consequences – because it will be final...

God allows His light to shine so that we can all see our mistakes. When we see our mistakes we need to bring them forward to Him right then and not to try and hide them in a shadow somewhere because on that final day there will no longer be any shadows to hide in! We need to treat our lives as though there are no shadows right now so that we are totally prepared for that day when it comes.

Points to Ponder:
Where do you hide things?
 
Do you really think you can hide things from God?

Saturday Reading: John 12 34-36
 
Key Verse: John 12 35
35  Then Jesus said to them, Yet a little while the Light is with you. Walk while you have the Light, lest darkness come upon you. For he who walks in darkness does not know where he goes.

Devotion:
I’m sure we have all heard of the saying “make hay while the sun shines” which comes from the farmers and harvest time... whilst the sun is shining you have a very short window to make you hay in England because of the threat of rain ever present. Many times we find ourselves in a good time or having good weather and we think that it should last forever because it is good but forgetting that things do change rapidly and we may lose more than we hoped for if we are not careful! That was so for the disciples (and others) when they were learning from Christ. They had Him with them and they were getting quite comfortable with the fact that He was there and things were so good whist He was there! What they had neglected was the scriptures reminding them that Christ would have to die – something they did not want to contemplate during the good times.

We get to be like that in our lives too. Whilst we have good times we don’t want to have to think about bad times. We don’t want to think about a time when we will no longer be here and no longer have the chance to witness to others. We get comfortable with our lives with Christ and we tend to forget about what lies ahead.

Yes we are all going to die at some stage because we cannot live forever in human form because our bodies and this earth were not built to last forever. We don’t want to think of a time when we may not be here for our loved ones and our friends. We don’t want to contemplate the idea that we may run out of time... But sadly that is what lies ahead. Christ warned the disciples then and He want us to remember this now – we need to make hay whilst the sun shines! We need to take His word with us everywhere and tell others now because we may not see tomorrow. God loves us and wants us to know the truth – help spread it right now...

Points to Ponder:
Do you know how long you will live?

Christ knows our lives and He wants us to make full use of them right now!