Saturday 4 Apr 2009

Saturday Reading: 2 Timothy 4 6-8
 
Key Verse: 2 Timothy 4 7
7  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.

Devotion:
What better words could we say to others than those Paul wrote here to Timothy? The martyrs had given their lives for the cause of Christ. Paul knew that as a Christian he had done what he could and could quite safely say that he had fought the good fight right up to the end. It was not about how much he had changed or about how much he could show others how good he was, but simply being satisfied that what he had done was his best for Christ!

Once Paul had got to know Christ as his Saviour his life changed from being the evil anti-Christian that he was to being the servant of God. As a servant he had done God’s bidding whenever it was required. He had turned his back on his old ways and turned to embrace the ways of Christ through faith in what he knew from the gospel as well as what others had told him about Jesus. Because of his faith he had a comfort from Christ that exceeded that that he had known through his former self.

What we gain as Christians is not through what we can do but what Christ has given us. If it were through what we could do then we would have to fear death because that would mean the end of what we could do; instead, because we gain everything through what Christ has already done for us, we can rest assured that when our time does come we too can know that we have fought the good fight. As a believer in an evil world we still have the face the same things as others will face; we face sickness, pain, poverty and even death. But as a believer we can face it all squarely in the face and know that Christ is by our sides and that He has already paid our price so that we can join Him in heaven. Is it not fair then that we do what we can here and now to give Him thanks for all that He has already done for us?

Points to Ponder:
What sort of things do the face in life?
 
What has Christ already prepared for you in heaven?

Friday 3 Apr 2009

Friday Reading: Matthew 24 42-47

Key Verse: Matthew 24 46
46  Blessed is that servant whom his Lord shall find him doing so when He comes.

Devotion:
If you are going to be surprised by someone arriving unexpectedly, what sort of thing would you like them to think that you do all the time? Isn’t it horrible when you do something different and someone sees you; you know that that is not what you normally do but they have just happened to turn up at the time when you did it. You suddenly make yourself look bad in front of that person because they begin to think that this is what you may well be doing all the time! You would also be ashamed that they have caught you unawares and in a possibly compromising position.

To watch for Christ’s coming is not just to know that He is going to come and to make sure that you have said your prayers, that He has forgiven you and that you have been to church... it would be just our luck that He would return just as we try something different to see what it is like! To watch for Christ is to make sure that you are always doing what you should be doing so that when He does surprise you, you will not be ashamed at receiving Him.

We do not know when He is going to come back; although we have been told that many things are going to happen such as natural disasters, political unrest and financial and health troubles. We can see those sorts of things happening around us and yet the world still does not worry about Christ suddenly appearing. The world is in a state of unbelief because they have become too engrossed in all the things of this earth and have left Christ out of the equation.

We need to be sure that we are ready by making sure that we are going about our lives in a manner that Christ would approve of. We can do that by following His Word and keeping His Commandments.

Points to Ponder:
Have you ever been caught out?
 
What could Christ catch you out doing in your life?

Thursday 2 Apr 2009

Thursday Reading: Ecclesiastes 12 1-7
 
Key Verse: Ecclesiastes 12 1
1  Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, while the evil days do not come, nor the years draw near, when you shall say, I have no pleasure in them.

Devotion:
How many times have you looked back and wondered why you did not do something or why you went about things the wrong way? We all do tend to do that – look back and wonder why; but how many times in that wondering do you stand up and change your life now to be more like what you thought it should have been like then? It is easy to look back with hind-sight and wonder, but it is another thing to change now to prepare for the future. We all need to take a long, careful look at passages like this to bring it to mind that we will face times ahead when we will look back and wonder...

It’s not about regrets about not doing things when you had the time, it really does come down to the fact that as we get older we will be less able to do more for Christ! It is a fact of life; when we get older we start to lose the ability to do various things! I would not think twice about going for a 20 or 30 minute run when I was at senior school just to make sure that I was keeping fit – now it is a different matter! I could see minute details up close and would enjoy doing fine work with my hands like trying to fix watches and the like – now it is a different matter trying to hold the small things far away so my eyes can focus!

It is never too late to work with Christ, but if you want to know when the best time to start working with Him is, it is when you are young! We are faced with all manner of infirmities when we grow old; things that we do not even think about when we are young. Those infirmities will take our minds away from concentrating on Christ and what we can do for Him. It is not by chance that we go to school when we are young for those are the best days to learn new things. We need to find out the truth when we are young so that we are prepared for the future. Living with God as a youngster will give us a better understanding of Him when we are older. Don’t look back and wonder why – look forward in hope instead...

Points to Ponder:
What would you have done differently in your life?

Are you walking with God now?

Wednesday 1 Apr 2009

Wednesday Reading: Matthew 23 1-12
 
Key Verse: Matthew 23 12
12  And whoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he who shall humble himself shall be exalted.

Devotion:
We all like to feel important at some stage in our lives. When we are babies we try to gain our parents attention by crying and quickly learn that if they give in we can get attention by crying. We take that further on in childhood, learning how to get our own ways and then on to adulthood where we begin to see how children start to use us as well. So long as we continue in those ways, we will continue to have a certain stigma attached to us.

The Scribes and Pharisees certainly had a stigma attached to them. The people were trusting them totally (though I am sure that some were starting to question whether what they were doing was right) and believing what they had to say. But as Jesus had pointed out already, saying one thing and doing another was not going to endear them to anyone. Jesus had just pointed this out to everyone and now that the Scribes and Pharisees had left, the people were feeling a bit lost as to what to believe. His words to them were simple, listen to what the word of God has to say and trust in it; but do not trust in what people do because what they do and what they say may well be different.

Jesus was labelling the Scribes and Pharisees as hypocrites because they enforced the law on others, but not themselves. We lift ourselves up and make ourselves seem more important than what we are just so that others will look up to us. Pride will take you further than you should go and pride will be what brings you down – even though you cannot see it. When someone is more proud than they should, all around them can see that fact but they themselves cannot – that is the trap that pride is and why Christ would have us turn our backs on pride. Pride in your work and what you do is good to encourage you and those around, but overstepping that pride will destroy so much more than you can ever imagine – and it will be broken in a blink of an eye.

Points to Ponder:
How proud are you of what you do?
 
Is your pride hurting others?

Tuesday 31 Mar 2009

Tuesday Reading: Isaiah 62 10-12
 
Key Verse: Isaiah 62 11
11  Behold, The Lord has sent a message to the end of the earth, Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold, your salvation comes. Behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him.

Devotion:
Going back a few more hundred years before Zechariah wrote the words from yesterday’s devotion, todays were written by Isaiah giving news of the coming of our Saviour. Not just news that we would receive a Saviour, but news that we need to be able to remind people of what has already been and what is still to come. Isaiah’s words are not aimed at the Jews to keep open the gates of Jerusalem or any other city, but the gates of the church; we need to keep our church gates open to show people that we still want them to come to know our Lord. We still want people to get to know Him and the way to do that is to allow them to hear God’s Word.

If we want people to know that we do have a Saviour and that He wants them to know the truth, then we have to show them that we are willing and able to invite them to hear about that truth from us. We need to show everyone that we will give them the time to talk about God and to get to know why we do what we do as Christians. Christ came into this world and went all over the place telling people of the truth. He gave wisdom to the disciples so that they could then go out into other places and tell them of the truth too. He gave Paul a great commission to go out to the gentiles and tell them of the truth as well; making sure that everyone would get a chance to hear about God and not just the Jews.

Each person that does get to know the truth about God will find a reward that no other words could ever give them. They will find peace and understanding when all around are struggling to come to grips with what is happening. When we came back to Christ (because He found us first) we began to realise just how much He had done for us. The more that we do find out, the more we learn to love Him more. The more we know of, the more we can tell others of His love, compassion and redemption.

Points to Ponder:
Are you willing and able?

Do others know you are willing and able to tell them about Christ?