Saturday 22 May 2010

Saturday Reading: Deuteronomy 8 1-3
 
Key Verse: Deuteronomy 8 2
2  And you shall remember all the way which Jehovah your God led you these forty years in the wilderness in order to humble you, to prove you, to know what is in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.

Devotion:
For us to be able to live successfully in our society we have to follow the rules of our society. If we do not then we are not going to last very long because people will no longer want us to be part of that society. The rules are there for a reason and that reason is so that everyone can try to have the same outlook. If we do not have the right attitude to have that same outlook then we are going to find that we want to either change the rules or break them because we are fighting against the core of that society. That is going to be true in any group of people no matter where...

When God took the children of Israel out of Egypt He did so to make people stand up and take notice. Too many people had broken the rules and continued to fight against the ways of God. He took them out of Egypt to focus their minds on Him again. If we want to change but we continue to do the same things as we have always done, then changing is going to be hard because we cannot see what is right and wrong because we are surrounded by so many things that others are doing that we just get carried away and go with the flow. The more we stick with that life the more we will be buried in that way of life and the less we will find out about the truth.

God has given us the commandments so that we will know the rules to start with. What we need to do is to compare what we are doing with those rules all the time to find out if we are headed in the right direction or whether we are continuing to flounder in the mire that surrounds us. Harsh words? I think not! God’s ways are far and above over all other ways and anything else is doing to pale into insignificance when we face Him face to face. We need to get our ways right now so that we can focus on Him and not on the world around us. We may not like being told off in the beginning, but we will see why in the end!

Points to Ponder:
Do you always remember what your parents tell you?
 
How then are you to remember what God tells you unless you read about it?
 

Friday 21 May 2010

Friday Reading: Psalms 139 23-24

Key Verse: Psalms 139 23
23  Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts,

Devotion:
Are you brave enough to learn the truth about yourself? Most people think that they know themselves but they only know themselves in the light of their own lives because they do not have much to compare themselves to. There are some who will travel the world and find out so many cultures and experiences that they then think that they can find their true selves within. But what people so often forget is the basic scientific principles by which humanity says they exist – or should exist. In order to have any comparison we have to have a base-line with which we can compare things with. As most scientists will tell you, unless you know that that base-line is solid, then anything that you suppose after that point is now invalid!

How long will man continue to hold up to principles that are built on nothing less that supposition and theory? We need to make sure that we do start with the truth and the only proof that we have that anything is the proof in the beginning is God’s Word. Everything else stems from that or is written by man in opposition to it. Should we therefore not start with that base-line? And if we are starting with that base-line then should we not be following it?

No matter how we look at life and humanity we must always come back to the premise that there is a God and that God is the one who knows us rather than the other way round. We continue to search for things in our lives whereas God already know those things and all the imaginations in our minds. If we want to be able to seek out our ways then we have to simply compare them with God’s ways as written down in His Word. When we do that we will very quickly realise that we are the ones doing things wrong and that we need Him in our lives to search out what we do wrong and to help with putting things right. Our ways should be His ways. Our searching should be done through His guidance. Our world needs to be based on His truth. Only then can we find out what our lives should be like because He designed them in the beginning!

Points to Ponder:
Do you know yourself?

Do you compare yourself with God’s ways?

Thursday 20 May 2010

Thursday Reading: 2 Corinthians 2 1-4
 
Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 2 4
4  For out of much trouble and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have more abundantly to you.

Devotion:
Nobody likes to be the bearer of bad news. None of us likes to bring others down intentionally. God has given to each one of us a heart that loves others and anything else that we may have has been learned through our interaction with the world around us. We may look at some people in despair and wonder how they can have so much love for others; the truth is that they have never let go of their love that Christ gave them to begin with whereas most of us do let go. It is then not a small thing to regain that love for others – but through Christ we can.

There is no need for any of us to rush in and bring despair or sadness to others when we can wait on God for a better time. He is the Father of time and knows what is best for us and when it is best. He alone knows our futures and we should be depending on Him for those futures. If we are willing to allow Him to guide us through our live in time then He will do exactly that and give us the best opportunities that are possible. We don’t have to bring sadness to others because God can give us love to bring to them instead.

Fools will rush in thinking that they can make the most of any situation. The wise will wait on God for the perfect time and through that He will give them love. There is nothing wrong with letting others know that you are not feeling on top of the world because through that they will be able to ask God to give you the guidance that you need; and boy do we need guidance sometimes. Many a time I will cringe at the thought of what lies ahead of me but I always know that when I place my trust firmly in God’s hands He will deliver me at the right time to make the most impact on my life and on others. He is our God. Trust Him alone as your God!

Points to Ponder:
Do you find it hard to look up sometimes?

Are you resting in His arms yet?

Wednesday 19 May 2010

Wednesday Reading: Numbers 20 7-12
 
Key Verse: Numbers 20 8
8  Take the rod, and gather the assembly, you and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes. And it shall give forth its water, and you shall bring forth to them water out of the rock. So you shall give the congregation and their animals drink.

Devotion:
How many times does God have to do something before you will believe that He is in it? How many times does He have to allow you to see that you have to depend on Him before you will depend on Him? How many times will it take before you simply believe Him?

For the Children of Israel as they wandered through the desert they came to several points along their journey when they questioned Moses and Aaron as to whether they were leading them astray or whether God was in it. Each time God had to make a public example so that the people would believe and each time they learned the hard way. We do not have to learn things the hard way because we do have God’s Word. We don’t have to fall flat on our faces before we can know that God is real; we just have to read about it and believe it. Is it that hard? Well, it must be because so many people have questioned God’s existence and His love towards us. Is it little wonder then that we should have to face other people that question why we believe?

When Moses and Aaron were faced this time they enquired from God what they should be doing. God gave them the instructions above, to take the rod and to talk to the stone from which the water would flow. Even Moses must have had a niggling doubt because he took his rod and then he hit the rock twice. God does not want us to do everything the hard way all the time; He just wants us to believe Him and obey Him. Is it that hard to trust and obey His Word? Is it that hard to believe that God can do things just through us talking to Him? If God can talk the universe into existence why should we think that there has to be some cataclysmic event before anything can happen?

Points to Ponder:
Are you growing weary of your daily challenges?
 
How much do you depend on God?

Tuesday 18 May 2010

Tuesday Reading: Genesis 4 3-7
 
Key Verse: Genesis 4 5
5  but He did not have respect to Cain and to his offering. And Cain glowed with anger, and his face fell.

Devotion:
One thing I could not figure out when I was younger was what I should be giving to the Lord. As I saw it He would give us things and we would give Him things; but what we should give Him was never explained until I was taught from these verses. When we think of getting gifts for others we do sometimes struggle, after all, what can you give to someone who has everything already! After much careful thinking we can normally work out something suitable to give to most people including giving something that you have personally made to people close to you where it would be warmly accepted. That is our human way of thinking and one which Cain surely followed.

His thinking was probably along the lines of “what could possibly be better than the best that I can make with my hands?” Normally that would be considered to be the best but it is not when seen through God’s eyes. No, it’s not a case of God thinking that we are all amateurs and that we cannot make anything good enough to be a gift – far from that because He has given to many of us the skills to do wonderful work with our hands. It’s more a case of what we should know is the best that we can give.

The best that we can give is going to be the best that we get. Think about that. The best that we receive is the best that we have because it is a gift and we have not had to work for it. That then must be the best that we could give because it would be our treasure. We must be willing to give back to God the best that we receive. The best that we receive is not actually the best that we can make but the best that we receive from Him. Giving back the best that we have is the uttermost ark of respect and that is what God was looking for in Cain and Abel’s offerings. So if you are wanting to know what to give to God, give Him something that He has designed for you not something that you have designed for Him.

Points to Ponder:
What is the best thing that God has given you?

Are you willing to let Him have that?