Thursday 3 Sep 2009

Thursday Reading: Luke 10 17-21
 
Key Verse: Luke 10 20
20  Yet do not rejoice in this, that the evil spirits are subject to you, rather rejoice because your names are written in Heaven.

Devotion:
What sort of thing encourages you to go to church? Is it because they sing good songs, keep it short, lots of other people go, makes you feel good, they give you what you want to hear? We like to pick and choose where we go to church based on how it fits in with us and how we feel about the church, the church leaders and the preacher. Are religions therefore based on what people think or are they based on fact. Sadly more churches seem to be turning to a good experience to try and attract people back into church whereas what we need to be doing is focusing on God and trusting in Him to bring His people in!

Jesus chose seventy people to go out into the cities as missionaries totally trusting in Him for their wellbeing and He gave them authority over various things so that they could heal people in His name. He wanted them to see that there are people who are willing to give back to God through what they can do for others whilst taking His message out to the people in the surrounding cities. When we go out to take God’s message with us we are going to face people who are willing to listen as well as people who are not. How we take that message out is very important!

If we go out to get people happy and comfortable whilst giving them a half hearted message then they will get the impression that God is half hearted too. If we go out telling all sorts of strange miracles and never show anyone anything then they will think God is not true either. If we go out and tell people how it is and allow them to respond to the truth then they will at least be given the chance at hearing the truth as it is and not as we think they should hear it. It’s not about what we can do but rather that we can give them the truth based on the fact that we have a safe place in heaven just waiting for us because that is what Christ has promised us.

Points to Ponder:
Why do you go to your church?

What position does Christ have in your church?

Wednesday 2 Sep 2009

Wednesday Reading: Hebrews 13 15-17
 
Key Verse: Hebrews 13 15
15  By Him, then, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, confessing His name.

Devotion:
Jesus was the One who came willingly to lay down His perfect life for our sins. He did this according to the law that had been laid down by God and according to His scriptures. He was taken outside the gate to be hung on the cross just like a blood sacrifice would be taken outside the gate before being burned. He did this because of His love for us. What should we then do for Him; what can we do?

We may compare our lives to His and think that there is absolutely nothing we can offer because we are full of sin; but there is! Christ would like us to show our respect for Him in various manners all of which are given to us through the gospel. Here we have but a few ways in which we can show our love for Him, but important ways... Through praising Him for everything in our lives we are showing others and Him that we acknowledge that He is the Creator and that He is in control and that we bow to Him in everything; making sure that we know that it is Christ and none others that has done this for us.

What we must not forget to do either is the things which Christ showed us to do whilst He was here on earth. Never forget to do good when you are able. Christ never turned His back on anyone that approached Him. What He did on the cross was for everyone that is willing to listen and not just a chosen few – that list would have been incredibly short otherwise! Showing respect for those in charge will allow them to see that we respect authority even though the ultimate authority is in Christ. Doing things with an unwilling heart does not benefit anyone. We need to look after our souls because they are eternal and making sure that they are safe in Christ hands rather than the evil ones will show God that we acknowledge Him as our King.

Points to Ponder:
What are you willing to do for others?
 
What are you doing for God?

Tuesday 1 Sep 2009

Tuesday Reading: Mark 7 14-16
 
Key Verse: Mark 7 15
15  There is nothing from outside a man which entering into him can defile him. But the things which come out of him, those are the ones that defile the man.

Devotion:
There are arguments all the time about whether it is wrong to watch films that portray violence etc and the argument will continue to go on for a very long time; what we have to remember is that it is not what comes in but what we do with what comes in... There have been many studies to confirm that we do not always seem to have full control over what we do with what comes in though. Subliminal messages have been proven to change people’s minds simply by showing them things they are not aware of and that is exactly the sort of thing we do have to watch out for.

It is not the fact that we are watching movies or consuming strange foods but the fact that we then go on to think about those things afterwards. What comes in does not defile us, but what we then think about afterwards is what is going to give us the problems! The obvious thing is to limit what comes in so that we do have some control over what our minds get up to. That is then the point of conflict for many because they still want to be able to let their minds loose on many things...

There is sound doctrine that we do need to focus on and that is the doctrine that we read in God’s Word. That we do have to take care of and we do need to think about it too. If we flood ourselves full of other garbage all the time and do not spend time filling ourselves with the gospel then we should not be surprised when we find ourselves thinking about all the other things that we watch and do rather than what God would have us to think and do! It’s all about balancing your intake, much like balancing your diet – too much garbage and watch the waistline go out the window! Just like we need our regular fruit and veg. We need our regular intake of the gospel too!

Points to Ponder:
Are you thinking of dieting?

Are you including your gospel intake?

Monday 31 Aug 2009

Monday Reading: Matthew 11 13-15
 
Key Verse: Matthew 11 13
13  For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.
 
Devotion:
The doctrine of John the Baptist needed to be upheld more than any other prophet because his doctrine that he was teaching was not that the coming of the Messiah was still to come sometime in the future, but was now! His prophecy was that the Messiah was already among men and would show Himself soon. Since that time when John was prophesying, there have been no further prophets...

Why would God change things around so much? So that we would realise just how important Jesus Christ was – and yet so many people rejected Him then and still many more reject Him now. Most of that rejection is not because of not believing the truth but rather not knowing the truth and hence not being able to discern the truth. God’s Word may well be being taught in churches all over the world, but so few people are coming to hear God’s Word that the world is living in times of ignorance!

The Old Testament foretold of one last great prophet like Elijah who would come to tell the people of the coming of the Messiah. John was that last prophet and yet so many chose not to believe because they expected or wanted Elijah to come in person rather than one like Elijah. John himself said that he was not Elijah the Tishbite; yet he knew that he was there to proclaim Jesus Christ as the Messiah and so he did when the time was right.

We must not put aside the fact that Christ was the one speaking these words and reminding people directly that not everyone would believe; “He who has ears to hear, let him hear”. So many people simply choose not to believe so that they can continue on in their own ways rather than turning to God’s ways. We need to hear God’s Word, understand His Word and believe His Word – then we can be made complete...

Points to Ponder:
How often do you question others peoples word?

Are you listening to God’s Word?

Sunday 30 Aug 2009

Sunday Reading: Matthew 11 7-11
 
Key Verse: Matthew 11 11
11  Truly I say to you, Among those who have been born of women there has not risen a greater one than John the Baptist. But the least in the kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.

Devotion:
Jesus asked the disciples a set of simple questions to make them think about why they were following John; not to trip them up, nor to discourage them but to make sure that they were doing it for the glory of God. We need to ask ourselves that same question about why we go to church too...

Some people will go to various religious meetings in order to try and see if the person leading the meeting will stumble or slip up in some way... just as we might go along to a stock car race to see great crashes. Some people may go along to see the spectacle of all the religious leaders dressed up in wonderful clothes. Others may go just to be a part of the spectacle so that others may notice that they have done so...

John’s ministry was one where he did not lift himself up but rather made sure that everyone knew that there was One coming who was greater than all before and that One was Jesus Christ. John did not dress up in wonderful clothes, nor did he build the most wonderful building to meet in. John was a preacher that made sure that people heard the truth and did not get distracted by all the ceremonies that the Jews seemed to be sticking to rather than going to worship God.

We should be going to church to worship our Saviour; the One who died on the cross for our sins. We need not meet in the biggest temple we can find, nor wear the most glorious clothes we have. But we do need to come before God with the utmost respect; how we show that respect will differ from person to person. But what we need to do is direct all of our respect towards God and not to our surroundings or ourselves. Lift up God today in church and He will lift you up!

Points to Ponder:
How often do you meet with other Christians?
 
Is God the one being glorified in your meetings?