Monday Reading: Deuteronomy 6 6-9
 
Key Verse: Deuteronomy 6 6
6  And these words which I command you this day shall be in your heart.
 
Devotion:
In order to maintain your relationship with Christ you have to be willing to do some things as a matter of course each and every day. Just as you would have exercise at regular intervals in order to maintain a level of fitness, so should you be exercising in God’s Word so that you will maintain your relationship with Him. The first step is one that is remembered in several places in our bibles and that is to meditate on God’s Word. It is no good just having a quick read and then forgetting about it for the rest of the day; no, to get the most out of reading you have to think about what you are reading and compare it with what you carry in your heart...

Then we are to teach our children and peers; how else would the word of God get to reach so many people unless we are willing to take it with us wherever we go. If we do not take God’s Word with us then we are not taking Him with us. If we leave Him behind then we are saying that we don’t need Him all the time... If He is willing to say that He will never leave us nor forsake us then should we not be willing to have Him with us wherever we go? Which means that we not only have to share His Word but to read it too. How else are we going to know it unless we read it regularly?

But this is not something we should just do because that is what the bible says so. This is something that we should be doing because God has said so and because we want to obey God. It is something that we should do because we want to be closer to God. It is something that we should do because we want to be more like Jesus! It is something that we need to take seriously and to keep it with due reverence. He is our God. He is our Creator. Christ is our Saviour! Remember who we serve and serve Him alone with an open, willing and humble heart.

Points to Ponder:
How do you help others?

How do you serve God?

Sunday Reading: Joshua 24 11-14
 
Key Verse: Joshua 24 14
14  Now, then, fear Jehovah, and serve Him in sincerity and truth. And put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt, and serve The LORD.

Devotion:
No matter how far we get in our lives and no matter how much we have accomplished for God, our work for Him must never end. The more that we are able to do for Him the more that that should encourage us to go out and do for Him. The more we are able the more we should. But, as humans, we get weary and we fade with time. That is why we have been blessed with so many things over time. Here Joshua reminds us of all that God has done for His people; not because they had done so much for Him but because He wanted to bless them and care for them.

We always seek reward for things that we do because that is how we are brought up. Believe you me, God is stacking up the treasures for those who do continue to work for Him; we will not necessarily get any reward here on earth but we certainly will in heaven because that is what He has promised us. We must not expect treasures here but rather accept them with humility, grace and gladness when God sees fit to reward us here for our work for Him. God is the power behind us when we go forward in His name. It is not what we can do for Him but what we can do with Him. If we are willing to go forward with God then He is willing to give us the work to do.

In order for us to do our best for Him, He may well give us many blessings so that we can accomplish more in His name; those are the blessing that we need to remember are for His work and not just a reward for what we can do! We don’t have to wait until we meet in church to be able to do work with God; each and every minute of every day can be used to work with Him and for Him. Think back on what God has allowed you to receive over the years and think about how much more you can do for Him...

Points to Ponder:
When do you work for God?

Are you willing to do more for Him?

Saturday Reading: Matthew 4 1-10
 
Key Verse: Matthew 4 10
10  Then Jesus said to him, Go, Satan! For it is written, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve."

Devotion:
If ever there were a lesson for us to remember it is this one where Christ was tempted by Satan. No matter what Satan threw at Christ He was able to quote scripture to knock him back down again. If we are willing to stand by God’s Word in that same manner then we do not have anything to fear. But we do have to be careful in the way we go about things – far too often we go forward in our own strength thinking that God is going to come to our rescue no matter what... Well, Jesus did not presume to have God’s backing for His own safety. He would not jump off the spire just to test to see whether God would send angels to catch Him because that would have been provoking God into an answer. We need to be patient in waiting for our answers from God!

He has given us His Word so that we can find out those answers. We have His Word so that we can find His guidance. If He had wanted us to know everything from the beginning then He would have given us that knowledge. Instead He has given us the choice as to which way we want to approach things. He has given us the choice to freely follow Him and to depend on Him. Just as we must not provoke God into doing our bidding, we must not provoke Him into giving us answers. We have His complete Word from which we are able to learn all we need to know – but we are the ones who have to get to grips with our bibles and learn what it is He wants us to know!

And then we must never assume that God is going to glorify anything that we do because we serve Him and not the other way round. He is our Master, our King and our Saviour. We need to trust in Him and Him alone. There must never be any other god before Him and we must never lift anything up in stead of Him. All glory and honour be to Him and Him alone.

Points to Ponder:
What would be your weakest temptation?
 
Are you seeking guidance from God’s Word?

Friday Reading: 1 Corinthians 6 9-12

Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 6 12
12  All things are lawful to me, but not all things profit. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

Devotion:
There is always going to be a time in your life when temptation gets the better of you! Adam and Eve proved that from the beginning when they gave in to the temptation of the serpent and went against God’s law. What we need to remember is that God’s Law is not difficult to follow if we are following it willingly; but when we start to give in to the things around us it becomes an issue. The more we look at the things that go on around us and the more that we think they are not so bad, the more we start to believe that they are not that bad and the easier it becomes for us to give in to them! How do you think Satan gets his way?

The law quite clearly states that sinners will not be able to come to God because He has no sin within Him and cannot abide sin. Christ has already gone to the cross to pay for our sins but that payment has to come from Him which means that we must place our faith and trust in Him to do so. If we don’t believe that He can do that then we are not accepting Him as our Saviour. God has given us all the choice as to whether we want to go down that path or run off by ourselves. He has given us the Law so that we may know when we do do things against His will. He has given us our bibles so that we can know what we should be doing. He has given us every opportunity to do things right – but we are the ones who have to make the choice.

We are allowed to go and do anything but there are going to be consequences for doing some things. We can physically put our fingers into a pan of hot oil but there will be consequences (believe me, I know!) but as long as we do heed warnings and follow what is right, we can live a life by Christ’s side and He will present us blameless before God when the time comes. We are not under Satan’s power, we just give in to his suggestions too many times...

Points to Ponder:
Do you give in to temptations?

Are you trusting in Christ?