Sunday Reading: 1 Peter 2 18-25
 
Key Verse: 1 Peter 2 20
20  For what glory is it if you patiently endure while sinning and being buffeted? But if you suffer while doing good, and patiently endure, this is a grace from God.

Devotion:
The apostles were trying to get people to realise that they could be a good Christian example by following Christ’s example. One of ways in which we can do this is one that many would not find pleasing to do and that is to serve those who are above you no matter how much of a tyrant they are. There are obviously limits that must be set on this because we are to serve God first of all, but all that is our reasonable service to do should be done.

Just because someone else is behaving in a sinful way towards us does not give us the right to start sinning against them. Just because we are not being treated in the right way does not give us the right to start treating them in the wrong way. God allows us to be in certain places and in certain positions at time that seem to be more than we should get, but when He allows us to be there, He will also give us the grace to accept that position and also to continue doing His will above the position that we find ourselves in.

Christ was the ultimate example in this way. He did not sin, nor did He behave unseemly towards others, nor did He curse and swear at them... and yet all of these things were done to Him. He went through an enormous amount of suffering and yet He did not take revenge upon those that persecuted Him; that He left up to God until He was lifted back to His rightful position as Judge over us. But Christ’s death was not just as a great example to us, He also bore our sins and took the punishment for them. Through that divine step He allows us to seek and obtain forgiveness to such an extent as to appear sinless before God. We wander off and bring sin upon ourselves, but we always have a way back to God through what Christ has done for us!

Points to Ponder:
How do you react to others?
 
Do you think about how Christ reacted before reacting yourself?

Saturday Reading: Acts 8 27-38
 
Key Verse: Acts 8 30
30  And Philip ran there to him and heard him read the prophet Isaiah, and said, Do you indeed understand what you are reading?

Devotion:
There are always going to be times in our lives that no matter how hard we try we cannot seem to find the right way or the right path; at those times we need someone to help us out. They may not have to explain everything in great detail but just to point us in the right direction; but that does not change the fact that we do need help from others. One time that we do need help is when we read God’s Word... There is so much wisdom and knowledge in our bibles that is missed because we either flip through it or we skip the parts that we don’t quite understand.

God has given us our bibles as a complete source of what we need to know in order to know Him. It is His Word that will convince us of the truth about Him, Christ and the Holy Spirit. It is His Word that will allow us to see that we have sinned against Him and it is His Word that gives us the hope that we have because of what Christ has done for us on Calvary.

The Ethiopian eunuch was clearly a man who had a great position in Ethiopia and yet he had found God’s Word so compelling that he was on his way to worship in Jerusalem. Quite often people find themselves in positions like that where they have come to the point of finding out about God but cannot quite put everything together to see how Jesus was the fulfilment of the Old Testament. We are lucky enough now to have our New Testaments where this is all explained to us... and yet so many people cannot come to grips with the truth that is held within – just because nobody is taking the time to talk to them.

We need to be ready to try and help anyone who is interested in finding out more about God. There are many people out there who will do nothing more because they have hit a stumbling block and just need someone to point them in the right direction. Take a verse or two with you and be prepared to share them...

Points to Ponder:
How often are you confused by things?
 
How often do you require help from God?

Friday Reading: 1 John 2 3-7

Key Verse: 1 John 2 7
7  Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.

Devotion:
When we find a method or recipe that works we will try to remember that or keep it so that we can use it again. When we find the truth, again we will try to keep it and use it again in the future when we may need it. There are many things that we do nowadays that are based on things that man learned a very long time ago and they are still used because they work. Yes man has now got machine to do all manner of things, but if those machine should break the old ways would have to be used or nothing would be done!

The thing that we must remember is not that we have new and better ways of doing things nowadays but that those ways are built on sound principals that have stood the test of time year after year. People do find better ways of doing things, faster ways of doing them and sometimes come up with new ways as well; but they are all based on knowledge that has been passed down generation through generation.

We have some pretty marvellous ways of doing things now; these Bread by Faith devotions have been sent out for over 5 years now through many computers talking to each other – something man would not have dreamed of a few hundred years ago. I can search through God’s Word in a few seconds with my computer knowing that it would have taken someone many days or months a short time ago. God’s Word has not changed for thousands of years; its presentation to us certainly has, but the content has not! God’s commandments have stood for even longer than our bibles because they were passed on by word of mouth before we had our bibles. If we do believe that He is our God then surely we must show Him by continuing to uphold His commandments as best we can not because they are written in stone but because we want to show Him our love and respect...

Points to Ponder:
How do you read God’s Word?
 
Are you obeying God’s Word?

Thursday Reading: Acts 3 19-26
 
Key Verse: Acts 3 20-21
20-21  And He shall send Jesus Christ, who before was proclaimed to you, whom Heaven truly needs to receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of His holy prophets since the world began.

Devotion:
Each of us is faced with a choice as to what we want to believe in and what we want to do about that belief. Depending on where in the world you live you may find that a choice has been thrust upon you from the people around you. We seem to have a natural aversion to rejecting things that are thrust upon us because we do know that we have a choice that is ours to make. How would you like to have to make a choice between two things when you have not been given enough information about either choice – not so hard unless we know it as a life and death choice!

As man continues to find his way on earth there are those who feel the need to remain in power or have some controlling power over us. That need is not based on anything more than some sort of personal greed; a need to feel superior to others in some way. Just because some can talk the hind leg off of a donkey or can put over their point of view in a manner that sounds impressive, it does not mean that they are in fact right – it just means they can talk well! There are many things that we are taught in school that do not have any real proof behind them. There are even things we may have been taught about that were not the truth... And yet we take what we are taught without argument, just because it is taught in school...

I’m not going to make a long list of the bad things that I have been taught at school but give you an alternative. Right from the beginning of time we have been told that one day Jesus Christ would come to earth to defeat evil. We now know that just over 2000 years ago Jesus did in fact come to do exactly that. Throughout the years that led up to His coming the prophets have been warning people of the event. How can it not be the truth when it is recorded in history as having happened? Now that that has been and gone we wait for the next promise to come true. A promise we must surely believe because all of the previous ones have come to pass...

Points to Ponder:
What do you base your choices on?

How much do you know about Jesus?