Thursday 23 Jul 2009

Thursday Reading: Luke 18 18-23
 
Key Verse: Luke 18 22
22  And when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, Yet you lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you shall have treasure in Heaven. And come, follow Me.

Devotion:
What will you do when you are asked to give up something in your life that is really important to you? I’m not talking about food and water and the likes, but rather something that you think is important because you think it makes you happy. I say think because there are many things in our lives that we think are important but we know that we could actually survive if we did not have them, but we sure do not want to give them up! There are those things in life like luxuries that we know we can do without but we really do not want to have to give them up...

It only takes a few moments to be able to see how many people in life do not have the luxuries that we do have and they have been living without them for many years. We could go and visit a third world country and see the vast difference between their lifestyles and out own; but would that actually make a difference to us? The fact is that we do not want to have to give up our lifestyles just so that others can have a better lifestyle!

Christianity is not just about doing the right thing and allowing others to see you doing the right thing; it is also about being willing to give up your time and even your belongings so that others will be given a chance. Doing that is hard and will not always make you feel good nor may it seem like it brings great rewards – or at least that is how we see it whilst we are here on earth. That is when we turn round and ask the question, if it is not making a difference to me, then why should I do it? That is our downfall. It does not have to be us all the time. It does not have to make a difference to us. It may well be that God wants us to make a difference in someone else’s life so that they can be given a chance.

Points to Ponder:
How many things do you do for yourself?

How many things do you do for God?

Wednesday 22 Jul 2009

Wednesday Reading: 2 Peter 1 5-9
 
Key Verse: 2 Peter 1 9
9  For he in whom these things are not present is blind and cannot see afar off and has forgotten that he was purged from his sins in the past.

Devotion:
How often do you get tired or bored of doing something so you take to some short cuts instead of doing the job properly? How many of those times have you then found out that taking short cuts is not as good as you thought and you had to go back and re-do what should have been done properly in the first place? There are so many things in our lives where we need to be diligent in carrying out the work properly and no more so that in our work for God. It is so easy to not do the whole thing and take time off to go off and do something else instead, but unless we continue to be diligent we will eventually find that what we have done may not be good enough!

I’m not talking about anything you can do to get to heaven, because Jesus Christ is the only way. I am talking about how you live your life after you get to know Him. What sort of relationship would you have if you did not uphold your side of it by being faithful to Him? These words are so self explanatory in that sense that all you have to do is to read them through a few times to remember them – that will be enough to make you think about what you can do...

The reminder comes in the last verse in this section which is our key verse today... Anyone who has not approached their relationship with Christ with diligence is going to find shortcomings in their relationship because that is the base of our relationship with Christ. Unless we are ready to submit to His authority and follow His Word, then we are not ready for a relationship with Him... That does sound harsh but it is sadly true. Too many people want to be called Christians but do not want to have to do what Christians do – love God. Loving Him is not just about saying it is so but doing it!

Points to Ponder:
Do you think you do your work diligently?
 
Are you sincere about your relationship with Christ?

Tuesday 21 Jul 2009

Tuesday Reading: Psalm 119:17-19
 
Key Verse: Psalms 119 19
19  I am a stranger in the earth; do not hide Your Commandments from me.

Devotion:
Isn’t it extraordinary that we are all so very different, and yet we are all the same? I’m not talking about how different you are from your best friend but how so very different we are from people on the other side of the world, and yet we are still human and we still have the same diseases affecting us around the world. It’s not only the diseases but the sin as well because people from every walk in life around every corner on our planet all sin before God; and because we see others do a little sin, we think we can get away with it as well!

Christ had to go through everything that He did because of that state of mind that the human race has; us included! But in order for us to be able to live our lives more like Christ would have us to live them we need encouragement... We are weak and we do give in to things so easily, so by having some encouragement we are strengthened enough to resist various things in life. That encouragement comes continually from God, but we can also encourage one another.

We do not have to conform to the way of the world just so that we fit in with them because in most things man has already gone far off track and needs to find his way back. Why conform to that that is already wrong? We need to take a stand and be sure that God will continue to keep His promises to us to support and encourage us in our walk with Him. Strangers are not always accepted into society with open arms; why not be a stranger to the world so that we will not be encouraged to live in sin but rather to live apart from it as best we can.

Points to Ponder:
Do you do anything you want?

How much of what you do is approved by God?

Monday 20 Jul 2009

Monday Reading: Hebrews 11 13-16
 
Key Verse: Hebrews 11 13
13  These all died by way of faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off. And they were persuaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
 
Devotion:
This chapter in Hebrews is often referred to as the faith chapter because it lists many of the people from the bible who showed faith. We often look back at the Old Testament and think that they may not have had to have so much faith because they had the prophets who did hear from God or they themselves may have heard from God. What we do not always remember is that their promises were not just for them but for future generations; Abrahams promise was for a future kingdom. They did have to have faith because things don’t just happen overnight!

Faith is not about waking up one morning and finding that everything is just the way you want it. Faith is not about asking God to set things right overnight. Faith is about asking things of God and then patiently waiting for His answer; not sitting around wondering if God will answer, but patiently waiting for Him to answer as He has promised He will. Each one of these people knew that God would answer their prayers and they depended upon that fact. That is what we have to do in our lives with God.

He has declared that He has created us a wonderful place in heaven for each of us who trust in Him. He has done everything that has to be done so that we can have that place as promised. It is no longer blind hope but faith that will get us there. We no longer have to wonder if we will get there, just when we will get there! We need not be ashamed that we believe this because it is a promise from God. We need not wonder if, just when...

Points to Ponder:
Do you wonder if your friends will support you?

Are you depending on God’s support?

Sunday 19 Jul 2009

Sunday Reading: 1 Peter 1 3-9
 
Key Verse: 1 Peter 1 9
9  obtaining the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Devotion:
The hope of the world is just that, hope. But we, through Jesus Christ, have a hope that is far beyond hope because it is a surety; we call it hope because we cannot see it until we can know it and that only comes when we go to be with God. Yes we can be sure in that Christ promised us eternal life and that He gave His life for us so that we could obtain life through Him, but to us it remains hope because we cannot see Him yet.

We have this hope not because Jesus died for us, but because He arose from the dead to be with God the Father. Through that single act He has demonstrated to us that we too will be raised from our death beds to be in Jesus’ arms so long as we live our lives with the blessed hope that He has shown us. Our belief means that we do have that hope and that assurance!

Our hope does not hide itself under bushes nor behind rocks but shows itself before others so that they may know that they too can have that same hope. Our hope is not in the dead, not in any object, not in any act and not in any ceremony but in a Living God; a God who saw fit for us to be able to obtain eternal life through Him just by believing in Him.

We do not see Him yet we love Him, because He first loved us. We do not hear Him out loud but we do hear Him within because He gave us His Word for us to listen to. Our faith is tried every day by all manner of things around us; things that we fear will break us. But remaining sure in our faith ensures that God will continue to look after us even if it means we have to go through the mill so that we come out the other side a bit more useful than we went in.

Points to Ponder:
Do you ever doubt your faith?
 
God will never doubt your sincerity!