Tuesday 19 May 2009


Tuesday Reading: Romans 15 1-7
 
Key Verse: Romans 15 7
7  Therefore receive one another as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.

Devotion:
One thing that will get drilled into you when you play a team sport is that you must play as a team and not as individuals. If each player went out to make themselves look good rather than playing with the team then you would have a whole bunch of individual teams running round the field rather than one team; the result would not be as good as it should be. We definitely need to look at our lives in a similar manner and work for each other rather than just working for yourself.

As Christians we come together as a single church where we need to make sure that we do uphold each other and support each other whenever we can. If we all worked for our own glory then God would be left out of our lives and we would no longer be a church. If, however, we all worked together to ensure that God is the one getting the glory and that God is the focal point of the church then we will find that we are all working together rather than for ourselves.

Christ gave us an extraordinary example by showing us that He was willing to make Himself nothing more than one of us so that He could work with us for God’s glory. He did not lift Himself up and rule as a lord over the land but came as a servant of God who was willing to do things for His fellow men. He took on our punishment just to show us how much God loves us. He has made sure that we have all these things written down so that we can remember the example that He was and is. We also need to have patience to stop running ahead of ourselves and staying with the team making sure that we keep with like-minded Christians so that God will get all the glory that He alone deserves.

We are members of one church, God’s church. We need to make sure that we support each other in everything that we do. We don’t need prima-donnas to follow blindly around; we need to keep our eyes firmly focused on God and we have His word to do that.

Points to Ponder:
Do you like showing off?

Are you working with your fellow Christians?

Monday 18 May 2009

Monday Reading: Romans 11 22-25
 
Key Verse: Romans 11 22
22  Behold then the kindness, and the severity of God; on those having fallen, severity; but on you, kindness, if you continue in the kindness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.
 
Devotion:
Despite there being many laws and various people that are here to keep, maintain and uphold those laws, people still get mixed up in breaking those laws. Why? Because they think that they can get away with it and do not believe that they will have to face the full force of the law. The one thing that we have to be aware of is that no matter how corrupt our government and law departments get, God will never go down that same route. We can see corruption in so many walks of life and we see many people taking full advantage of that corruption because people before them have taken advantage of that corruption. That does not make what they are doing right...

God’s laws have not changed over time and they will never change. This means that the same laws that were set down in the beginning are still valid for us. Those laws are there for us to recognise that we are falling short of those laws – how else would we recognise that we are doing wrong unless the laws are there? Jesus came to uphold the laws, not to change them. He came to show us that the law of God is real. He came to show us that justice must be followed through. What He also did was to show us mercy and give us a way of surviving the law by asking for His forgiveness. If we believe that to be true then we have been grafted into the church and we share in the goodness that He supplies.

Once we are grafted in we will continue to receive His mercy; but all those who refuse to believe will not receive that same mercy. This text was originally written as an encouragement to the gentiles as well as a warning to the Jews. We do not have to be Jews to be in the church because God has invited all of us in. But, likewise, to be invited in we do have to believe what Jesus has done for us otherwise we will have to face the consequences of being left behind...

Points to Ponder:
Do you find it hard to follow the law?

Are you trusting Christ to help you?

Sunday 17 May 2009

Sunday Reading: Romans 11 17-21
 
Key Verse: Romans 11 20
20  Well, because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be high-minded, but fear.

Devotion:
One thing we have to remember as Christians is that we all came from the same place... not in that we are all ancestors of the Jews but that we are Christians because of our belief in God. No matter what church you go to or come from, so long as you believe in God and His word, then you have hope. The Gentiles received hope through what was taught to them by God’s chosen people. It was not the fact that they found God by themselves, but that they received that knowledge through others that believed in God.

Yes there are many Christian based religions nowadays but sticking to the truth which is God’s Word is what counts. If we do not draw our strength, wisdom and knowledge from God’s own word, then we are trying to raise it from man’s word. The two can never compete because man’s word will always lift himself up, but God’s word will always lift God up. If you go to a church where they are lifting themselves up to make themselves happy rather than lifting God up, then maybe you are in the wrong place. There is nothing wrong with being happy because that is what God wants us to be. He wants to give us happiness and comfort and He wants to be the one supplying it too.

There are going to be many who will hear the same word spoken as you do but they will reject that same word. Because they are rejecting it they will not receive the goodness therein and that is their choice. We need to choose to accept God’s Word as the truth and to rely on it always; that way He will be able to give us the most support and the closest guidance. Don’t be swayed by what other people are in to but be confident in knowing that you are following the truth – God’s own word!

Points to Ponder:
Do you listen to God’s Word?
 
Are you hearing God’s Word?

Saturday 16 May 2009

Saturday Reading: Romans 8 26-28
 
Key Verse: Romans 8 28
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

Devotion:
As we get to know God's Word more, we also get to know just how many problems we have. That may sound very discouraging to start with but we have to remember that Christ is the one who wants us to know about our problems so that He can in fact help us! By allowing us to see our true selves, He allows us to see that we do need help and He is standing there patiently waiting for us to ask for that help...

The more we get to know God's Word, the more we get to know just how much we do not know but through that we also get to know just how much He can in fact help us. His promises and His love are shown throughout the gospels and there should never be anything more we want other than to know Him. We may not know how we should go about things, but by asking Him, He will allow us to find the answers. It does not mean that he will stand over us with a huge bill-board so that we do not miss the answer because that would then weaken us by always giving us everything. He would rather we do a little searching so that we find out more than what we ask for!

There is no way that we will ever get to know what He knows is best for us in the short time that we have here on earth... but by listening to Him and finding out more about Him we can always get going in the right direction. We will always continue to trip up on many things in our lives as the book of Romans has reminded us this week, but He will always be there willing to help us and guide as for as long as we are asking Him. There will also be thing that happen in our lives that we do not understand, but He is the author of our lives and we are privileged to have someone as Loving and Just as God Himself looking into our lives!

Points to Ponder:
Do you always get what you ask for in life?
 
How much trust do you place in God's hands?

Friday 15 May 2009

Friday Reading: Romans 8 1-9

Key Verse: Romans 8 6
6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Devotion:
How many times have you been in a position where someone else has doubted your sincerity or has not believed you when you have told the truth? How did that make you feel to know that you were being doubted or blamed for something wrong? Would it not have been better for the other person to accept the truth and believe you? It is not a nice feeling being blamed for something when you know that you should not be blamed for it because you feel like you have been condemned for something that you should not have been. Now, on the other hand, when you are condemned for something that was your fault you have got to accept that condemnation even if you don’t like it... Now what if someone else were to step forward and support you and inform the other person that you are in fact not to blame? Would that make you feel a whole lot better knowing that you have support and someone else on your side?

As we continue to read through the book of Romans we are given a logical path of deduction showing us that we are sinners and that we have to own up to that fact. We are then given hope through the idea that someone else could support us and allow us to come through looking squeaky clean rather than tarnished by sin as we should be. It does not mean that we are going to absolutely clean because we still have that sin nature within us that is just bursting to get out at any opportunity. What is does mean is that someone else is willing to take our blame and say that we should be innocent... so long as we trust Him to do exactly that.

Once we believe that Jesus Christ is willing to lift that blame from us because He has already taken on that blame the truth will be able to set us free. Once we know that Christ has already set us free, all we need do is receive that free gift and walk with Him in our lives. We cannot please God unless we walk with Christ in our lives...

Points to Ponder:
Do you like being blamed?
 
Will you let Christ take you blame?