Tuesday Reading: Psalms 73 1-14
 
Key Verse: Psalms 73 3
3  For I was jealous of the proud, when I saw the peace of the wicked.

Devotion:
Be honest... How many times have you been jealous of others because of the positions they hold or the lives they seem to lead. As soon as we start to look at people and think in their own ways then we begin to lose sight of our cause and God in our lives. No matter how much we try to avoid this sort of thing we always seem to come to a point where we look at them and think “why can’t I be like that”. But hopefully you continue to look up to God and to look to Him for you strength and guidance; for so many of those around us are ignoring what God has already said.

Even people who wrote God’s word down for us had to admit to having jealous thoughts about others and had to refocus on God. Here we hear the lamentations of a man who clearly thought that he was getting the rough end of the stick and that those around him were not. But as long as we continue to read we continue to find out that these are just fleeting voices that we hear and nothing more. These wicked people who seem to live a life of luxury and contentment are certainly not content within because they have had to fight for their life all the way. They may well have had to do some pretty horrible things to get there too. Could you live with yourself if you had to break so many of God’s law just to get a bit of creature comfort?

The peace of the wicked is nothing more than a facade that they hold up to show others that they are better off than they are. In reality they may well look at content Christians and think “why can’t I be like that”... What use is a short life of physical pleasure when you have an eternity of torment ahead of you? I would rather put up with a little torment now than have to face an eternity of it later. The peace that God gives us is a peace that stays within, something that the world is constantly seeking and constantly missing because they do not look to God.

Points to Ponder:
What life would you like to live?

Is it worth leaving God out of your life just for that?

Monday Reading: Proverbs 23 17-18
 
Key Verse: Proverbs 23 17
17  Do not let your heart envy sinners; but be in the fear of The LORD all the day long.
 
Devotion:
One thing we all do is to look at the success of those around us and sometimes we do envy the positions that they are in. But we always need to look closely at other people’s positions because they are not always what they seem. If you ever want to see someone age quickly put them in charge of something. Most prime ministers and presidents do seem to age quite quickly when they are in office – little wonder with all the stress that they have to live under. But that is not what God would have us to live like because He wants us always to rest in Him.

Look carefully at those that you think are in a good position; unless they are trusting in Christ their position is not at all what it seems. Think of the foolish man who built his house upon the sand. No matter how wonderful a dwelling we build up, if it is not grounded on the solid rock of Christ then it is going to fail just as quickly as any shabbily built house when the sands move. There is absolutely nothing that will stand up to God’s judgement apart from those of us who put our faith and trust in Christ to start with. We are the one whose houses are built on the Solid Rock. We are the ones who will find that He keeps us safe!

As long as we look to God as our rock and refuge we will not have to seek anything else. Everything else that is manmade will not stand up when Christ’s feet touch the earth again. Men may build themselves up into positions of power all the days that they live on earth, but they can do nothing to us in comparison to our Christ and King. We need to place our faith and trust firmly in His grip where we can be sure that we will remain secure for eternity.

Points to Ponder:
Which leaders do you look up to?

Can they compare to Christ?

Sunday Reading: Proverbs 28 13-14
 
Key Verse: Proverbs 28 13
13  He who covers his sins shall not be blessed; but whoever confesses and leaves them shall have mercy.

Devotion:
It is a totally amazing thing that God would want to cover our sins; the love He has for us is so great that He is willing to simply take the blame away from us when we come to Him. Yet so many people still think that they can take that blame away from themselves, by redeeming themselves through good works or by passing that blame onto someone else. That is just something that we cannot do! God is Omnipresent. He is with us wherever we are so trying to hide something from Him is just not going to happen!

God covers our sins because of His unending grace. Through that fact we can see His grace and can glorify that grace through what He does for us. If we try to take that on ourselves we will do nothing but make it a filthy task because we cannot take away someone else’s sins, never mind our own! Does that mean we should shout about all that we do wrong so everyone can know? No. What we should be doing is to admit those sins to God and make sure that we continue our walk with Him. If we want to be able to put those sins behind us and move forward, we need Him to bury those sins for us to start with.

God continues to make sure that we do know that He is just and merciful to forgive us of those sins that we bring before Him. He continues to want us to know that He is also not going to forget those sins that we try to hide because all we are doing is deceiving ourselves and those around us. What God would have us to do is to recognise that we are under His watchful eyes so that we will be more encouraged to remember His ways and follow them instead of our own ways. God is watching. Don’t ever forget that.

Points to Ponder:
Do you watch over others when you care for them?

Do you know God is caring for you?

Saturday Reading: 2 Peter 2 17-21
 
Key Verse: 2 Peter 2 21
21  For it would have been better for them not to have fully known the way of righteousness, than fully knowing it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.

Devotion:
How many times have you said to yourself something like “I wish I had not done that” or “I wish I had never known that”. Well, as Christians we have now learned the truth; we know about God, we know God and we have no excuses anymore for doing what we do that is not in God’s will. Sounds a bit too scary when you say it like that but that is basically the strength of it. We no longer have the excuse of ignorance to rely upon. Just like getting caught at doing something a second time we have no more excuses – so why do we do it?

Sadly we are surrounded by people who do not believe in God or who are not willing to submit to Him. We, unfortunately, seem always willing to give in to their ways... But no matter how much they build up their ways in life, no matter how much they try to elevate themselves above others, unless they are working for God they work against Him. When we are seduced by their ways we are giving in to their ways and giving up on God, turning our backs on Him in favour of what man is doing instead... Just like rushing after a mirage in the desert, when we get there we will be sorry that we went there!

But the best part of all of this is that we have a God that is willing to forgive us and bring us back into His arms. We have a God that has seen it all before and has endured that unimaginable pain on the cross just so that we may be forgiven now and forever. Even if we do do something stupid like turn our backs on Him after knowing Him, He is just and faithful to forgive us when we do come back to say sorry. How many people do we know that will actually take us back after we have done something terrible in their eyes? How many people will accept us back fully when we do say sorry? With God it’s not a case of “yes you can come back but don’t get too close anymore” but rather a case of “Come close to me for I have always loved you without end”.

Points to Ponder:
What do you give in to?
 
Do you rest in Christ’s arms?