Saturday Reading: 1 Peter 1 13-16
 
Key Verse: 1 Peter 1 15
15  But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

Devotion:
The more that you look into how the word holy is used in our bibles the more that you realise just how serious God is about the word. God is holy. That means that He is perfect, without blemish, without fault; that also means that He cannot abide sin. If He did accept any sin then He would no longer be without fault because He would have sin somewhere. That then causes us a problem because we are born in sin and we live in it...

When God inspired the people to write His Word He made sure that we would know just how important it is that there is a perfect separation between us and Him. He wants us to know that heaven is a place where there is no sin, no guile, and no faults. He wants us to know that we should be aiming to get there too. Many will give up and say that they have sinned too much and that there is no hope for them; but that is where they are completely wrong.

God knew what would have to be done for us to be accepted back into heaven and so He allowed Jesus Christ to come to earth to be born and live and then finally to be offered up as a perfectly clean, blameless sacrifice that would cover all of our sins forever! Once Christ had completed that task and rose again from the grave He overcame the death penalty that overhung each one of us. So long as we come to Him and ask His forgiveness believing that He is the Son of God, then we will be able to be presented blameless, faultless and perfect before our God. That is the only way we can get to heaven and the way to encourage others to find this out is by living a life that they will look up to like people looked up to Christ. We cannot pay for our sin debt but we can point the way to our Saviour who can...

Points to Ponder:
Do people look at you as being different, or just another person?
 
Are you pointing the way to Christ?

Friday Reading: John 1 29-36

Key Verse: John 1 36
36  And looking upon Jesus as He walked, he says, Behold the Lamb of God!

Devotion:
John’s mission was to stay and preach repentance to all who were willing to listen. He also knew that there would come a day when he would be able to see Jesus. When that day came he knew he was looking at Christ because he saw The Holy Spirit descend from heaven above onto Christ as He approached. The very presence of Christ was a awe inspiring sight for him that he had looked forward to for his whole life so far.

John knew that he was a teacher, a preacher, a man sent to give the truth of God to all who would listen. His aim was to tell people that Christ was coming, that each of us is a sinner and that we need Him in our lives. His mission was to tell people that their sins were going to find them out and that they would have to face God with those sins at some stage. There is no hiding from the truth...

Jesus came to earth not as a punisher to bring punishment on all sinners but He came instead to bring forgiveness to all who are willing to listen. He came to save us from a terrible judgement that will face each one who refuses to believe. John knew what was ahead and he wanted people to know that Christ was coming and that people needed to be aware of just who He is! Who else would God proclaim as His Son other than His Son? Who else would have the power over death than God’s own offspring? Christ came to take on the punishment for our sins so that we could live; John wanted everyone to know that before it was too late for them. We need to be more like John and make sure people do know the truth because they will see it in the end...

Points to Ponder:
Do you tell others of good news when you hear it?
 
Are you telling other about Christ?

Thursday Reading: John 6 22-27
 
Key Verse: John 6 27
27  Do not labour for the food that perishes, but for that food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you. For God the Father sealed Him.

Devotion:
When things happen in our lives we seem to allow them to take over for a while and we go with the flow. I am not necessarily talking about going out to party because everyone else is, nor other things which we will look back on a sins. I am rather talking about things which we may consider to be good and fruitful such as work. When we have something to do we gather up steam to do it and off we go, full steam ahead and nothing is going to stop us...

Consider now the people who were seeking Jesus. They had just witnessed a miraculous meal that was supplied to them by God through Jesus. He had fed them well with virtually no food to start with. We would then think that the people trying their utmost to find Jesus so that they could listen to Him more would be a good thing. What we don’t know, but Christ knew, is the attitude to which they approached their task. They probably all came out without food again thinking that it would not be a problem, presuming that Christ would supply their physical needs and putting those needs before their spiritual needs.

Our spiritual needs are many and they are important. If we do not fulfil our spiritual needs then the physical needs that we have fulfilled will be of no effect because they will lead to death and not life. Our spiritual needs are to get to know Christ and for Him to know us – we need to be in a relationship with Him that will stand the test of time and eternity afterwards. Doing the here and now work is important, but keeping in mind the eternal spiritual work is what we should be striving for. Keep up your relationship with God and everything else will fall into place...

Points to Ponder:
What exercise do you do?

Are you remembering Christ today?

Wednesday Reading: Colossians 1 16-20
 
Key Verse: Colossians 1 16
16  For all things were created in Him, the things in the heavens, and the things on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created through Him and for Him.

Devotion:
We must not acknowledge God as a god such as some people do but we must acknowledge Him as our One True God. We must not make statues and convince ourselves that what we have made is a god. We must not just look upon God as a god who we must worship because many people before us have done so. We need to see God in the three persons that He is and know that He is One through God The Father, God The Son and God The Holy Spirit.

When we do see Him for all that He is we must see that He is our Creator and our Keeper. Everything exists because He has made it so. He created us in the beginning and continues to make sure that we do survive against all that we do to ourselves. We wage wars within ourselves and with our neighbours and yet we continue to survive as a race. When just one family continued to believe in Him He allowed the human race to survive through that family.

He does have the power and might to make us disappear as quickly as He created us and yet He has given us so much and even allowed His Son to pay for our sins that we do. Christ willingly took on our sin debt so that we could live. He laid down peace through His actions so that we could find that peace. He continues to show His mercy and peace through all things that happen to us and around us even when we seem intent on destroying everything around us. What love He has. What compassion He shows. What peace He gives. Our God is an Awesome God!

Points to Ponder:
What impresses you most in life?
 
Is it not He that gave us that life?