Thursday Reading: 1 Timothy 1 15-16
 
Key Verse: 1 Timothy 1 15
15  Faithful is the Word and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

Devotion:
No matter how much we resist change or how much we go with change, the one overriding fact is that we have to trust God’s Word as the truth. Whatever we do in our lives must agree with God’s Word otherwise it is not going to be in God’s Will. The more that we do read His Word, the more we will be able to understand how we should act in more circumstances and the less of a fool we will make of ourselves. If we go with the flow instead of comparing that with what God would have us to do we may well find out that we are doing things wrong and have to make a U-turn in our lives to bring us back on course; but the more we read the more likely we will be able to stay on course with God.

There is no getting away from the fact that we will all make mistakes and there is no getting away from the fact that we all start out making some rather big mistakes before we learn the difference between right and wrong. But we do learn and that is what is important. Learning how to stay in God’s Will is important not just for us, but for those around us too. Jesus gave us the ultimate example by living a sinless life and then allowing Himself to be used as a sacrifice for all of our sins. He was able to encourage all of those who saw Him by showing them God’s Will was the most important thing in His life. He continued to tell people that He did God’s will and not His own. He continued to show people that finding out the truth and acting on that truth was important.

God wants each of us to learn from Christ’s example and to be able to go forward as Christians upholding His Word for all to see. Yes people may try to knock us down and even to mock us, but we remain secure in the knowledge that what we are doing is the right way and that we are setting an example for others to follow. Trust in Him, believe in Him and try to be more like Him.

Points to Ponder:
Do you think you are living right?

Are you following God’s Will in your life?

Wednesday Reading: Mark 2 18-22
 
Key Verse: Mark 2 18
18  The disciples of John and those of the Pharisees were fasting. And they came and said to Him, Why do John's disciples and those of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?

Devotion:
If you are blessed enough to be in a situation where you know a lot more than the people around you, it may well be the case that you start to blame those around you for not doing what you think they should. The disciples of John and the Pharisees had indeed learned a lot and they would fast often; they came to Jesus to ask why His disciples were not fasting like they thought they should be. Christ’s answer to them was to compare His disciples with children from the bride chamber; which meant that it was not suitable for them to fast at that time.

This lesson was one to show the disciples of John and the Pharisees that things do change over time and there will be times where you will be doing things which are different to what you are used to. These times will be those times where things are not under your control but require you to do things just a little different to what you are used to. The underlying theme has got to be that you are working for the good of things to come rather than stagnating on what you are used to. Our world is always changing and as it changes we have to look at each situation and work for the good of things to come.

Christ does not want us to be bogged down with habits or ceremony but to look forward to what lies ahead and work with Him to make changes that will work. When He talked about sewing new material onto an old garment He wants us to know that some things will change and we may have to let them change rather than trying to force our normal ways upon things. When He talked about the new wine in the old skins He wants us to know that when something new comes our way we may have to go with the difference and make a place for that in our lives rather than thinking that we will be able to put those changes back in our normal ways. Change can be a good thing – but we need to change with God and not against Him.

Points to Ponder:
Do you like change?
 
Do you fight change when it comes from God?

Tuesday Reading: Matthew 5 17-19
 
Key Verse: Matthew 5 17
17  Do not think that I have come to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to destroy but to fulfil.

Devotion:
One thing that Jesus made sure of was that nobody was in any doubt about the Old Testament having to be upheld just as His new commandments to go out and spread the gospel to everyone. He made sure that they realised that He was the fulfilment of the Old Testament – when it talked about a perfect lamb being offered for the sins of the world, it is Him. He knew that people had read the Law of Moses and had come up with their own interpretations of it and He knew that it had to be set right again according to the law and not according to man. That is what He was trying to do and that is one of the reasons why many did reject Him – because He was re-applying the law in its true spirit and not according to the whim of mankind.

Man has a propensity to pervert the law for his own good or for his own encouragement. Even a verse that says that nothing will change has been corrupted by some translations of the bible to make man feel better about what happened those many years ago. The jot (or jod) is the least significant letter in the Hebrew alphabet (showing us the original language of the law) and Jesus said that not even this should change from the law because it is God’s Law and not mans to change.

We are not here to discuss whether the Old Testament is relevant or not, Christ already gives us the answer here – He came to fulfil the Old Testament and to make sure that we never change one bit of it because it is the whole truth and nothing but the truth. How can we argue against our Lord and Saviour? He wants us to show others that we uphold His writings from the beginning right through to the end. We have to be discerners of His Word, reading it, learning it and knowing it so that we can encourage others by it as well. He is our God. He is our King. Praise Him! Believe Him and believe His Word. If you are worried about whether what you are reading is the truth, continue reading because everything in God’s Word is supported by something else in His Word – you will know the truth when you see it...

Points to Ponder:
Do you take your own take on what others say?

Do you try to adjust God’s Word for your own delight?

Monday Reading: Ephesians 2 1-7
 
Key Verse: Ephesians 2 7
7  so that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
 
Devotion:
Oh how easy it is to say when someone else has done something wrong, but how hard it is to admit to doing something wrong yourself… We live our lives making a path that we will walk on thinking that what w e are doing is making the right path and we end up walking on that path in the “knowledge” that we are doing the right stuff. When someone comes along and tells us that we have not got it right or points us in a direction that differs from our path we often get upset and will even rebel against what they have told us too. What we need to do instead is to look carefully at the path that we are walking and find out if it is the right path…

We can look at our lives and think that what we are doing is actually OK or right in our own eyes. We can even compare our lives to others and say that we are better than them. But the only way that w are going to see if we are in fact walking the right path is to compare our lives with the truth! We need to get to grips with God’s Word and compare what we are doing with what it says. You may look at others and think how good they are or how much they do for society, but unless they are walking according to God’s Laws and wishes, then they too are walking astray in the world. We all start out by walking the way of the world because we are born into it and we live by its rules – doing so makes us choose a path that is of this world and not of God’s will.

We could look at the Old Testament and do things according to every rule laid out in that, but that may make us ignore what Christ has done for us because there are many people that have done exactly that. We could look at the New Testament and ignore the rules that God initially laid down for us as do many thinking that they are no longer constrained by the old ways. But what we need to remember is that God has given us the Whole Bible so that we can know the Whole Truth. We need to then follow that Whole Truth and apply it in our lives. Only then can we begin to think we may be walking in the right direction…

Points to Ponder:
Do you like being told what to do?

Do you accept God’s Word?