Friday 7 May 2010

Friday Reading: Matthew 7 21-23

Key Verse: Matthew 7 22
22  Many will say to Me in that day, Lord! Lord! Did we not prophesy in Your name, and through Your name throw out demons, and through Your name do many wonderful works?

Devotion:
How many times have you seen someone (or maybe even yourself) say one thing and then go off and do the opposite, or say not to do something and then go off and do it anyway? I’m sure we are all guilty of that at some stage because we often say things before thinking... and then we go off and do things before thinking... If only we would think before we acted :-)

The Lord knows that we do this and He great thing is that He knows what is within our hearts rather than the exterior picture we like to hang in front of us. We may be able to fool many people most of the time but we will never fool God! When it comes to having a personal relationship with Him it is exactly that, a personal thing between Him and you. Nobody else needs to know; but it would be good to allow others to know how good your relationship is with Him. Nobody else has to be involved; but it is good to get others involved so they too can know the truth. But being open and honest is what counts.

Because God can see right through us we have no excuse to be anything but totally honest with Him. The only one we are fooling when we are not honest is ourselves because that is the only person that will be affected by our own pretence. If we pretend to be a Christian then we may well be helping others to the truth but we are digging a bigger hole between us and God all the time that we pretend; because we are not being truthful with God. He wants us to be honest, even if that means that we admit to the things we do wrong in front of Him – that is exactly what He is after; for us to be able to admit to our faults so that we can work with Him to correct those faults. If we are not honest we fool nobody but ourselves! No matter how hard we work at correcting things, about hiding things and about doing our own stuff, none of it is going to count for anything unless Christ is behind it!

Points to Ponder:
Who do you think you are?

Do you admit the real you to Christ?

Thursday 6 May 2010

Thursday Reading: 2 Kings 15 12-13
 
Key Verse: 2 Kings 15 13
13  Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the thirty-ninth year of Uzziah king of Judah. And he reigned in Samaria a full month.

Devotion:
When we look at the kings of Israel we see a recurring theme in which the leaders continued to ignore God and leave Him out of just about everything. They went as far as building temples to other gods and even sacrificing their children to other gods – all to no avail other than to build up God’s wrath against them. Even in those times God was speaking to the people through the priests and prophets telling them that they were headed in the wrong direction most of the time. When kings came in to reign and they did what was right in God’s eyes then they had a good kingdom and God blessed them and the people. As soon as the king turned his back on God the whole country suffered... How easy it is to see from the outside looking in, but how confused the people must have been being told one thing and seeing another.

As we go to the polls today in the UK to elect another government we are faced with the selection of many unbelieving people. Oh for one that would stand up and be counted for God! In the last few days of election campaigning we have seen many politicians turning their backs on those that they used to call their friends. We have seen them fighting within themselves. We have see lies and all manner of things happening in the open as the media sucks up all the garbage that these people are spewing out... and we are told that we have to vote for one of them...

Well, just as in the days of the kings, God has a plan. We cannot see what that plan is nor can we understand His ways. What we do know is that we can depend on His ways and His Word. So long as we lift Him up to glory He will be the one looking after us and blessing us. Oh the dishonest people may well have their minute to stand up and be counted but we will have eternity to stand up with Christ and be blessed. Do not be discouraged but lift up God above all else.

Points to Ponder:
What sort of kingdom would you like to live in?

Are you ready for the eternal Kingdom of Christ?

Wednesday 5 May 2010

Wednesday Reading: Isaiah 41 10
 
Key Verse: Isaiah 41 10
10  Do not fear; for I am with you; be not dismayed; for I am your God. I will make you strong; yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of My righteousness.

Devotion:
What a wonderful verse to sum up God’s love protection and guidance especially when you may be feeling down. When (or if) you are feeling a bit down and dejected there is nothing better that someone coming round with all honesty and telling you that they are there to support you and to encourage you just because they care for you. Maybe they are not there with you but just able to send you a letter, email or text to say that they care; it all counts... And this is something that we all too often forget about God, the fact that He has already written us that letter, He has already told us and He has already shown us that He cares for us.

When God says that He is with us it is not only the fact that He is here but the fact that He can give us grace beyond our comprehension. When someone you love tells you that they are there for you it gives you a special feeling, but when God says that He is with us it gives us more than a special feeling because we have that grace that gives us even more comfort. If we want to be strengthened then we do need to know that there is always going to be someone there for us and whilst we do what we can to be there for each other we cannot ever take the place of our God.

So do we ever have anything to be discouraged by? Yes, there are many thing that are going to discourage us in life but we will always be able to be uplifted by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no reason for us to ever feel broken inside because we have our eternal Father. There is no reason why we should feel weak when we know He is there behind us all the way... But still we do... And that is why He reminds us that He is there, so that we can know it and can be comforted by that very fact when we do feel down.

Points to Ponder:
Do you feel down?
 
Are you calling on Christ to lift you up?

Tuesday 4 May 2010

Tuesday Reading: Psalms 94 18-19
 
Key Verse: Psalms 94 18
18  When I said, My foot slips; Your mercy, O Jehovah, held me up.

Devotion:
One thing we all have to do is to learn from what we do wrong because if we do not then we will always continue to get worse and worse; this is true in all walks of life and is true no matter what age we are. Unfortunately for us as we get older we get more set in our ways and we don’t like to change that is why we have to learn from our mistakes as soon as possible. This should not be taken as an invitation to do wrong just so that we can learn because learning before we make those mistakes is even better. However, God knows that we are going to make mistakes and that He will also have to straighten us out at some stage!

Just because He straightens us out with a bit of discipline does not mean that He no longer loves us. On the contrary, He is trying to straighten us out because He loves us and wants us to grow up in the best possible way! If He did not straighten us up there and then when we did our mistakes then we would find it harder to learn from those mistakes. So next time your parents or teacher stops you from doing something just think of all the time that could have been wasted as you tried to learn that mistake by yourself!

God shows us mercy beyond that which we would show to others. We tend to grow impatient and even get upset with others when they do not do what we want them to. When that happens we take it out on those closest to us and cause all manner of upset. God on the other hand will try to point out the correction and the way forward without getting distraught with others. The great thing about God is that whilst we are willing to learn He will continue to make sure that our paths are safe and that we walk steadily. Whilst we try to walk in His will He will continue to order our minds so that we will make the most use of our time, effort and love giving us the most delight out of our lives. He is not going to give us a party every night but will give us happiness within our souls that no party can give us!

Points to Ponder:
Do you listen when you’re told off?

How well do you listen to God?

Monday 3 May 2010

Monday Reading: Psalms 37 21-24
 
Key Verse: Psalms 37 23
23  The steps of a good man are ordered by Jehovah; and He delights in his way.
 
Devotion:
As I have been reading through the history of the kings of Judah and Israel I have been drawn to try and look deeper into the reasons why things got as bad as they did. Could it be just down to the greed of the kings at the time? Could is just be down to them wanting to do things by their own rules? God had seen what was going to happen and yet He allowed man to be totally unruly according to His promises to man in the beginning. He gave us free will to start with and He continues to uphold that value no matter what we get up to. Yes there have been many times when He has tried to persuade us into doing things the right way but we continue to ignore those instructions. I speak as the human race here and not as individuals because it is not a single instance we can put this down to but the continued, recurring idol worshipping and breaking of God’s commandments.

When Josiah came into power he was read the Book of the Law and he realised just how bad things had got. He immediately turned his ways round and tried to do as much as possible to get the people to realise how bad they had got in God’s eyes. Yet all that he did came to nothing because his sons did evil in the sight of Jehovah God. We may look at people and judge them to be evil by the physical things that they do such as stealing and killing but God is the one who is willing to show mercy towards even them. I say even them because that is how man views them in society. Jesus reminded us that there is no sin that is any worse than any other apart from the unforgivable sin; every other sin can be forgiven by Him through what Jesus has done for us. So what is the unforgivable sin? Unbelief!

God shows us how to live through His word. He shows us what is wrong through His word. He shows us how to get straight with Him. He has given us everything on a plate – all we need do is to accept the truth! Believe in Jesus Christ and you shall be saved!

Points to Ponder:
What evil do you see around you?

Do you see yourself as good in God’s eyes?