Monday Reading: Matthew 6 5-13
 
Key Verse: Matthew 6 7
7  But when you pray, do not babble vain words, as the nations. For they think that in their much speaking they shall be heard.
 
Devotion:
What do you think about when you speak to others? Are you thinking about strange ideas whilst trying to carry on an intelligent conversation with your friends or do you think about what you are talking about? If we are sincere in our conversation with others then we are normally thinking about what we are saying and we say what we mean and don’t rabbit on about other random stuff; there is no point to the rabbiting on!

Why then should we count our conversation with God any different? When we are praying we are conversing with God; He does not want to hear us rabbiting on about all sorts of things but rather praying about the things that matter and the things on our minds. There is nothing wrong with asking God for things as long as you are giving Him the glory; but don’t turn round and ask Him to exclude others so that you may have glory! We would not ask our friends to abandon their friends just so that they can do something for us; why should we think that of God?

Christ’s example prayer that He has given us is simple, to the point and heaped in meaning. So long as we pray earnestly there is no reason why we need to pray for anything longer than this prayer. It is not an abundance of words that will get us any closer to having our prayers answered – when have you ever taken any notice of a huge book of instructions when you need only know how to switch something on? Yes we do need to be mindful of all things, especially other people, but we do not need to try to out-do anyone in the hopes that God will get to us first. He listens to sincerity. He listens to what is on your heart. Speak plainly and receive His blessings openly.

Points to Ponder:
Do you use excessive words in every conversation?

What is your conversation like with God?

Sunday Reading: Revelation 19 1-6
 
Key Verse: Revelation 19 6
6  And I heard as the sound of a great multitude, and as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of strong thunders, saying, Hallelujah! For the Lord God omnipotent reigns!

Devotion:
One can only imagine the sights that were seen by John as God chose to show him parts of heaven so that we would know what we can expect for our future. God made sure that John was given an insight into what lay ahead for all of us, not just his generation, not just this generation but future generations for over 1000 years! Whenever things start happening we know we still have 1000 years ahead of that before things get really messy so anyone who comes along and says the end of the world is nigh has not read their bibles recently.

I don’t want to focus on the facts about what is going to happen in what order but rather on the response of the enumerable being that John heard praising God already. The fact that we know there are already many in heaven who are praising God should give us the encouragement that we need to be able to go forward knowing that we can share a place in heaven with Christ. God is not going to allow Satan to get away with anything; there will be a time when Satan will be loosed for a short while but that is all under God’s control. God will make sure that we are safe before anything can happen – that in itself should be enough to praise Him for.

 But after the voice came from the throne saying that we should all praise God there arose such a great multitude of beings praising God that John described it as “the sound of many waters or “the sound of many thunders”! I don’t know if you have had the pleasure of being able to see, hear and feel the thunderous roar that a mighty waterfall makes when you are up close but it is truly awesome! If that many people are already enjoying heaven imagine how marvellous it will be to be in that number making a joyful noise!

Points to Ponder:
Are you inviting people to come to join your Sunday Worship?
 
Is God being glorified today where you are?

Saturday Reading: Romans 13 1-5
 
Key Verse: Romans 13 5
5  Therefore you must be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake.

Devotion:
There is no getting round the fact that there are rules or laws that we have to obey. Some may not agree with those laws but we do have to follow them because they make up the law. Why should we have to follow the law when we don’t like it? Think about who has allowed that authority to get into power; but not only that, think about what that authority stands for...

When we start to look into figures of authority we quickly find that there are two extremes: those that will try to stick to the law themselves and rule as justly as they can and those that make their own rules and rule by fear. There is nothing new in that these types of rulers have been around from the beginning. What we do with that information will cause us to be very different people. As long as we acknowledge that the highest authority is God and that all people must be under His authority then we have a head start. We do need to remember that God has allowed people to get where they are for His reasons; if we work against His will then we are not recognising His authority. If rulers are working against God’s will then they are not recognising His authority and are therefore working for themselves.

That is our downfall; we work for ourselves far too often instead of working for God. There should be no disguising the fact that we are working for God because pretending to do things any other way will be encouraging others to not work for God either. If we work against God in any way then we must expect to face His wrath for disobeying His authority. We have been given a conscience so that we can work for God and not against Him. Use that conscience more and depend less on the fear of the law because the law is there to guide our conscience that God has given us so that we will not try to make our own conscience up...

Points to Ponder:
Do you obey the laws?
 
Are you working against God?

Friday Reading: Luke 19 26-27

Key Verse: Luke 19 26
26  For I say to you that to everyone who has, more will be given. And from him who has not, even that which he has will be taken from him.

Devotion:
This is the end of the parable about the man who leaves his money with his servants and then comes back after a time to see what they have done with the money; needless to say the servant who simply kept the money and waited for his return did not get anything in the end. Jesus told us this parable so that we could understand that we are now being left in charge of His flock until His return. What we do with His flock is the important thing.

We could be reckless and live a riotous life only to find that The Lord could return whilst we are being riotous; how would you explain that away? We could live a quiet life and keep to ourselves just to make sure that nobody could corrupt us with their evil ways only to find that when Christ does return we have nothing more than when we first got to know Him; what use are we? But what God would have us to do is to share the gospel with others in a way that will bring a good return.

It is no good shouting out the gospel in a crowd where people will hear but forget because they are having too much fun. It is no good reading it out to people who are not listening. What we need to do is to get people together who want to hear God’s Word and give it to them in plain English so that they can understand – but it needs to be God’s Word and not our own. Going to church and listening to someone giving a life lesson may be useful but that is not spreading God’s Word. Going to church and receiving God’s Word with a life lesson would be far more advantageous to all of us; that way God’s Word is on the increase and when He returns He will be pleased with what we have been able to do for Him.

We also need to go to church with the right attitude because if we go to hear a good orator we go for human purposes; if we go to hear God’s Word we go for Christ.

Points to Ponder:
What do you hear at church?
 
Do you hear God’s Word or just someone speaking?