Friday Reading: 1 Samuel 16 7

Key Verse: 1 Samuel 16 7
7  But Jehovah said to Samuel, Do not look on his face, nor on his height, because I have refused him. For He does not see as man sees. For man looks on the outward appearance, but Jehovah looks on the heart.

Devotion:
Yes we have all been there; looked at something and made our mind up before we even get to know it or check it out properly! That seems to be a recurring theme in our lives... we go through life deciding what people are like by their initial appearance rather than getting to know them. If life was that easy we would be able to get along fine with the people we wanted to – but each one of us is a hidden gem to others, waiting to be exposed and then enjoyed.

The Jews, including Samuel, had looked at Saul and thought that he must be a good king because he was a large man and also comely and majestic; yet what lay underneath only exposed itself after he took office as king. God knew what he would be like but succumbed to the people so that they may learn not to judge by outward appearance because their next king was not someone who looked like he should be king! There were some sons of Jesse who looked like they should be king because of their stature, but that is not what God was guiding Samuel to pick!

David was just a shepherd boy at the time, out in the field tending to the sheep. God saw the goodness in David’s heart. He saw respect for others and a love for all. He also knew that David would have his faults just as we do, but he knew that he was the best choice for a king to lead the people in righteousness. God does not look upon us as good looking, ugly, tall, short, thin or fat; He looks on us as people who have a varying degree of love and respect for Him. He looks on us as people tending to the bodies that He has given us whilst our souls live here on earth. He looks at us from the inside out where we cannot hide anything from Him.

Points to Ponder:
Are you always honest with others?
 
How honest are you with God?

Thursday Reading: 2 Corinthians 10 7-11
 
Key Verse: 2 Corinthians 10 11
11  Let such a one think this, that, such as we are in word by letters, being absent, such we will be also in deed when we are present.

Devotion:
How many times have you said that you are good because you get good grades at school or because you have a degree or some other piece of paper extolling your academic achievements? How many times have you also turned round and said that you would never do something when you were watching people do it? Today we touch briefly on our so called humanity – what sets us aside from others...

When we find ourselves doing something wrong we often blame it on our sin nature or the fact that we are after all human. But when we see someone else doing something we blame them for giving in to the temptation rather that saying they are just human. We have standards by which we see others and we have a different set of standards by which we class ourselves and sometimes our close friends by. One thing we do really need to remember is that we are all under the same Christ and we all live according to what He has done for us. This being true, we then see that we are all under the same rules and we cannot and should not try to get around those rules by any means possible to us.

We like to think that we are better than others because of what we do or have done. In truth, we are all under the same rules which we have all broken so we are nothing different from one another. We cannot in truth uphold our own virtues because we have managed to uphold a few more rules than someone else. Just like two people working in a company; one has a wealth of experience under the belt and the other has several degrees but is still fresh on the job... who is best? Is it the person who has proven themselves through a track record or the person that has built up more theory so they can apply it to the job later? We need only compare ourselves with what Christ expects from us and that is all!

Points to Ponder:
Are you or were you top of the class?

Are you listening to Christ?

Wednesday Reading: Psalm 85:7-9
 
Key Verse: Psalms 85 8
8  I will hear what God Jehovah will speak; for He will speak peace to His people, and to His saints; but let them not turn again to folly.

Devotion:
People the world over have been praying for and receiving God’s grace and mercy for as long as man has been living in sin. The grace of God comes to us through Christ Jesus; the grace that was promised to great men of our bibles like Abraham. Some of those people have had to wait patiently for that grace. Some have given up on that waiting and turned to other ways only to be reminded that God has not given up on them yet; we too need to be patient...

It is only through what Jesus has done for us that we do get true salvation by Him and that is the hope that we have to look forward to and pray for always. So long as we are praying for it God will answer our prayers and we will hear those answers in ways that may well be totally unexpected. With those answers we will also find the peace that only God can give; a peace that is above all others and endures against all others. He gives His peace to all of His saints – all those that believe in Him and trust in Him.

If we are truly listening then we will hear the encouragement that will turn us away from the follies of life and those around us who do not believe. God will continue to encourage us through the Holy Spirit so that we can continue to give Him the glory for all that He does do for us when we do fear Him. When we look up to Him with the honour and respect that He deserves He is more than willing to remind us of the fact that He came to us as a servant of God through Jesus Christ so that we may join Him in heaven. If we are watching without praying we may well find that we do miss out on the grace, mercy and peace that is on offer because we will get distracted by the world around us...

Points to Ponder:
How easy is it to get distracted when you are not participating?
 
Are you participating in your relationship with Christ?

Tuesday Reading: Habakkuk 2 1-4
 
Key Verse: Habakkuk 2 1
1  I will stand on my watch and set myself on the tower, and will watch to see what He will say to me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.

Devotion:
How impatient are you? All of us have a very different view on how impatient we are than others have on us. We may think that we are the most patient people around whilst others think we are not; or it may be the other way round... But somehow I don’t think many of us will openly admit to being impatient with God; even though we are!

We lift up our prayers and supplications to Him and expect an immediate answer; if not immediate then pretty quick anyway! That is just the way we are. We are used to asking people for things to be done and expecting an answer or action pretty much immediately. This is all because we live within time and are governed by time; it is something we must all be aware of and something we all have to live by. God created time! He is certainly not governed by it. Why then should we seek to have Him stick by time as we do? Well, that’s just the way we are...

When we feel like we are all in a storm with no way out much like the disciples must have felt being tossed about in the storm, we must remember that Christ is close at hand. He is the one that we need to have faith in because He alone is able to take care of our storms. It does not mean that He is going to take care of then there and then; He was asleep in the boat when the disciples feared that it would sink. We need to take care in what we do so that we will not be distracted away from watching out for His answer when it does come. As Habakkuk wrote, we need to get up in a tower above everything so we can look out and see His answer when it comes. Far too often we bury ourselves in the here and now and don’t wait for God to answer in His own time... He has given us the bibles so that we can gain insight, gain answers, gain guidance... all because He has already supplied them to us!

Points to Ponder:
Are you patient?

How long do you wait for God before giving up?