Saturday Reading: Psalms 118 1-18
 
Key Verse: Psalms 118 14
14  The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.

Devotion:
David is described as being a man of God by everyone. He is lifted up as a man who walked with God, a man who's heart followed God, a man who sought God continually. Oh to be like him! It does not take a whole lot of reading to see that David had his weaknesses just like the rest of us. But, equally, it does not take too long to read about how he gave everything to The Lord. He knew that there was nothing that he could hide from God and he made sure that he admitted all his problems straight to God. This time, I suppose, was after he had done just that and was awaiting the armies that surrounded him.

Many would describe David's position as hopeless when looked at strategically. He was continually surrounded by many armies and had to find refuge in caves all the time. Yet he was able to continue doing so right under the eyes of the kings army. He had put his hopeless position in God's hands, and God continued to deliver him day after day. Little wonder that David was able to shout about God's unfailing love for him. His trust was no in other men, neither in princes nor kings, but in God alone.

I'm sure he had his moments of doubt, but whenever he did, he took those doubts to God and asked God to handle his problems. Each time he did that, God was faithful to bring him out of his troubles. God did that because David was able to give it all to Him, to fully trust Him, to place his very life back in God's hands. He did this in spite of the hardships he had to endure.
His trust was built on fact because he had been faithful to place his well-being back in God's hands and God had delivered on His promises.

Points to Ponder:
Why do we find it hard to believe promises from others?
 
Do you ever doubt God’s promises?

Friday Reading: Psalms 73 22-26

Key Verse: Psalms 73 26
26  My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart, and my part forever.

Devotion:
Have you ever looked at someone and thought how they were acting more like an animal rather than the human that they are? Well can you imagine what God would think of us with some of the things that we get up to in His presence? Just like that person that we think is more like an animal does not know that he looks like that, we do not know what we look like before God until we start to compare ourselves with what God would like us to be like; then we may well acknowledge the fact that we may look like an animal to Him too! So foolish are we, and we certainly do not know it!

Thankfully God is always with us and is always willing to guide us in the righteous path, in the right ways of living our lives. Through His word He can lead us along the right path and teach us the right things to do. In every walk of life we will continue to meet people who are walking the other way or are doing things that make them look more like animals or doing things against God; but that does not give us the right to go along with them. Remember that God is with us always!

There should not be things on this earth that we desire more than God because He is the one that made everything in the first place. There is nothing that He has held back from us that He does not want us to experience. He knows we are going to get things wrong sometimes but He still encourages us in the right ways. He knows we will get weak and fail, but He still stands up and holds out His hand to guide us. When we feel weak, we really do need Him. When we feel strong, we probably need Him more because those are the times when we are more likely to go the other way!

Points to Ponder:
Do you always do things the right way?
 
Don’t ever doubt that God is with you!

Thursday Reading: Lamentations 3 22-26
 
Key Verse: Lamentations 3 25
25  Jehovah is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.

Devotion:
If you start reading from the beginning of this chapter in Lamentations this passage bring on even more meaning. Every day we may feel like things are going wrong, every day we may feel like God has rejected us or ignored us but as we read through His Word we are reminded of the fact that His mercy is everlasting. As the writer puts it in verse 23 “They are new every morning”. Each day we get up we can be assured that it is a fresh new day with just as much mercy from God as there was yesterday and the day before and the day before that. When we get ourselves down we very often forget that and begin to feel like God has rejected us – He never will!

If we look at what man gets up to each day we can really wonder at how we have not destroyed ourselves already. The latest band-wagon that everyone is on is global warming. If you look at some of the evidence that they are putting forward we should have destroyed ourselves many years ago! But God has not finished with us yet; He still wants us to be saved because He is merciful and loving. How can we not have hope in Him when we know just how rotten we are and look at what He has already done for us. God has set in motion His will and His way and we are part of His plan. He will not suddenly change His mind and leave us in the lurch – despite what we may think!

We don’t need to jump up and down in the isles, we don’t need to shout about God in the streets, we can close ourselves off in a closet and turn our love to Him; so long as we do turn our love to Him. He does not want us to show off in front of others because that would lift ourselves up. He does not want us to feel dejected because that would show unbelief. He wants us to be in a relationship with Him knowing that that relationship is going to be forever and is held together, thankfully, by Him and not us!

Points to Ponder:
Do you blame winter for getting you down?

Are you lifting God up in your heart?

Wednesday Reading: Romans 5 1-5
 
Key Verse: Romans 5 1
1  Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Devotion:
When you are feeling upset or down the whole world seems to be an uncomfortable place to be and yet when you are happy things are so very different. To most people that sums up their position, they are either happy or sad and everything else falls into place around that. But as Christians we have more; we have the peace of God that is given to us continually through the Holy Spirit. What God gives us is not just peace in our hearts but peace in our lives with what is going on around us. With that peace we are given hope because God has promised us so much more than just this life we live here and now.

I don’t know how some people continue to exist not knowing that they have eternal life after this life on earth. I could not be happy in anything I did unless I knew that God had something more for me to do. I could not be at peace unless I knew God and He knew me! That peace may not be able to make us happy all the time as we go through various trials but that hope that we have will carry us through and make us stronger people after those trials. It is not what we can get out of life here and now but rather what we lay up in heaven for the here-after. That is what gives me my hope.

Christ has promised each one of us a place where our hope will be realised. He has delivered on His promises and continues to do so every day. That hope gives us the strength to face what may come our way and patience to go through those things. That patience works in us to strengthen us through the experience that we gain. Just maybe we have gone through it so we can help someone else, someone who God knows will need a helping hand. God’s love is real. God’s love endures. God’s love gives us hope!

Points to Ponder:
Are you feeling up or down?
 
Are you allowing Christ to lift you up?