Sunday Reading: Psalm 37:22-27
 
Key Verse: Psalms 37 25
25  I have been young, and am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, or his seed begging bread.

Devotion:
The more we hear about and see the effects of unjust people the more we should realise that the unjust will not get away with things. What we do not focus on though is the fact that there are some people who are just do all the right things. Yes it may well be hard to continue doing what is right when all around we see people buckling and overturning under the unjust; but that is is what God requires of us. We need to look around and see what is actually going on and try to uphold God’s laws above all else.

He is here to continually guide and strengthen us and through His power and might we are able to continue following His laws – but we have to choose to do that! It is not just ourselves that we effect when we do things wrong because we are affecting those around us too. It is not just ourselves that we have to keep on the right track because those around us will like to follow on in our footsteps if they see us enjoying ourselves. We do need to enjoy ourselves and we do need to keep God in our lives; doing both is the best way we can encourage others to find out more about Him.

He has shown us time and time again how He is willing to look after us when we are willing to walk with Him in our lives. Don’t you think we would have learned the truth by now? Sadly we have so much more going on around us that does not pertain to God that we get side-tracked and live our own lives instead. We drift away silently from Him and then wonder why things start to go wrong. Just like having a life-line thrown out to you in a storm, it may not be an easy ride back, but so long as we do not let go we can be assured that we are safe and will end  up in His arms where we belong!

Points to Ponder:
Who do you think is getting the most enjoyment out of life?
 
Are you on God’s side?

Saturday Reading: Matthew 5 43-47
 
Key Verse: Matthew 5 44
44  But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you,

Devotion:
One thing that is hard to do is to love your enemies; but through God we can have that grace and strength to do exactly that! When God gave the commandments and law to Moses He taught the people to love their enemies through laws such as in Exodus 23 where they are commanded to help their enemies. Right through our bibles we have God’s Word reminding us to respect our enemies and to treat them as you would your friends. That does not mean that we have to invite them in for dinner but it does mean that if they need help, we must not close off our help to them just because they are what we call our enemies. We are all God’s creation and that means we need to look after each other.

Enemies will only stay enemies for as long as they agree to be enemies. Being a one-sided enemy is quite difficult! Someone has to start off the cycle of getting to be friends though because as long as you treat each other as enemies you will stay that way with neither side wishing to make the first move. A simple act of showing someone that you care for them as a person even if you do not care for their ways will allow them to see a truth inside you that God will be able to build on. We will probably not be able to convince our enemies that they can be our friends, but God can do that!

It is no use jumping on the band wagon and acting like all other people otherwise we will be seen as ‘normal people’ who have their fair share of enemies. But if we are willing to listen to God’s guidance and to show other respect when they do not expect it, we will be showing them that we have a far greater respect for our God who’s laws we are trying to uphold. Let them know why you do what you do. Let them know it is because God has commanded it and that we know just how powerful our God is! Let them know that God loves them more than we can...

Points to Ponder:
Do you show everyone respect?
 
Are you working for God?

Friday Reading: Matthew 5 38-42

Key Verse: Matthew 5 41
41  And whoever shall compel you to go a mile, go with him two.

Devotion:
When we do start walking in the light we will see things in a very different manner. One of the things that God teaches us to have is kindness alongside love; something that can be very difficult to uphold when we are seemingly surrounded by so much hatred to start with. Many people are simply looking for a fight when they bring conflict up against us and we should not rise to that occasion! Many are just looking for ways in which they can trip you up and stop you acting like a Christian!

There are going to be many physical and social troubles that we will face and we will have to face them; God is not always going to keep us from every little thing because we certainly do not always walk by His side. If a child is walking next to their parent and holding on to their hand, when they trip the parent can hold on to them a prevent them from hitting the ground. But if that child walks a few steps behind or even in front of them they cannot prevent them from hitting the ground when they do trip.

So, as Christians, we need to do many things. We need to walk closely with God so that He can help us as much as possible. We need to face up to things that will happen when they do. We need to show others that we are different and let them know why we are different. It is one thing to live a secret life but another thing entirely to live that life out in the open. When we do live it out in the open we will face extraordinary odds so that is when we need to make sure that we are walking in His arms where we will be safest of all. When we are closest to Him we can see the things He does for others and we can follow on in that example. Allow others to see that God is wonderful, loving, kind, merciful and above all the truth. Allow others to see that they too can walk in His arms and leave the strife behind.

Points to Ponder:
How do others see you?
 
Are you close to God’s side?

Thursday Reading: John 11 7-10
 
Key Verse: John 11 10
10  But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles because there is no light in him.

Devotion:
How many times have you tripped over something or stepped in something whilst walking along in the dark or with your eyes closed? No matter how clever we think we are or how good we think our memories are, there are always things that we either forget or remember incorrectly. If we want to be able to know things then we have to learn about them and we have to do that in a good environment or with our eyes open! Unless we continue to learn and re-learn then we could go through life believing something that is false.

When Jesus said that He was going back to Judea the disciples were a bit worried because the Jews had already tried to have Him stoned. To us, going back into a dangerous situation is not too clever. To an army person, going back into danger is close to normal; but they will only go back if they know that the odds are for them and not against them. It would be useless going back into danger if you knew you had no chance of survival because the outcome would be certain death. That is what separates Christ from us. He knew exactly what was going to happen, but He also knew that He had a little more time to go and raise Lazarus from the dead. He was walking back into the situation with His eyes wide open and a knowledge of what lay ahead.

When Christ says that we need to trust Him it is because He does know what lies ahead for each one of us. He knows the best way through the situations and He knows what is best for us during this time as well. Trusting Him may seem like a hard thing to do when we cannot see what lies ahead; that is why we have our bibles so that we can see that He has always done what is right and best. Trust Him to be your guide right now.

Points to Ponder:
How well do you see with your eyes closed?

Do you trust Jesus to lead you forward when you cannot see?