Tuesday 10 Mar 2009

Tuesday Reading: 2 Chronicles 20 6-9
 
Key Verse: 2 Chronicles 20 9
9  If evil comes on us, whether the sword, judgment, or plague, or famine, and we stand before this house and in Your presence (for Your name is in this house) and cry to You in our affliction, then You will hear and help.

Devotion:
Have you ever compared the leaders of the past with modern day leaders? Have you ever wondered whether the leaders of the past had to decide whether they were going to follow in God’s Word or whether they would continue to do things according to the people? It seems like leaders today have swung back to trying to do things to please the people rather than doing what is right or correct; politicians seem to be in it for the popularity stakes rather than the country or the people… How I long to see a leader that will be willing to stand up for God instead of showing the people that they are just trying to please them instead.

If we are thinking along the lines of these thoughts then we should also be thinking that if we wanted the leaders to please us then we are the one that have to tell them that we want to follow God and not have Him shut up and hidden behind all manner of political correctness. We are the ones that have to stand up and ask the politicians and leaders why they have forsaken our God. We are the ones that need to remind them that they have a duty to lead us in God’s Will and not their own. Any revival or turn back to God has got to start with the people that are still following and trusting in Him; we are the ones that can highlight the fact that God is real and continues to watch over us. The simple act of allowing others to know that we depend on God will allow them to see that we have a leader that they need to take notice of too!

God has always given us His Word that He will continue to protect us for as long as we ask Him to. He has continued to promise us that we are just to ask if we want something and He will answer us… When we ask our parents, we do not always like the answer, but they do what they think is best for us in the circumstances. When we ask things of God, we should expect nothing less than Him to answer us in the way that He knows is best for us… and answer He does…

Points to Ponder:
Do you pray for our countries leaders?

Do you show them who God is?

Monday 9 Mar 2009

Monday Reading: Romans 9 19-21
 
Key Verse: Romans 9 19
19  You will then say to me, Why does He yet find fault? For who has resisted His will?
 
Devotion:
Have you ever had to try and defend anyone from a seemingly unstoppable force or enemy? Have you ever had to face odds that were clearly stacked against you? Have you ever been able to defend yourself because you have stood up for the truth rather than giving in to those seemingly unstoppable forces? It must be good to be able to stand up in a court or law and come out the victor because you have been the one standing up for the truth…

But that is the sort of thing that we actually face up to each day in our normal lives; we are continually standing up against the forces of evil. We may well seem like just a pawn in the middle of a large battleground, but we are the ones strengthening the cause because we dare to stand up for what is right! When push comes to shove we will realise that we have a force behind us that is without fault and will always win. We are the ones standing up for the truth that is going to overcome in the end. It may well seem like we are fighting a loosing battle because we see small skirmishes being won every day through things being done against God, but the victory is already His.

No matter how hard the forces of evil will try to change the outcome of the battle, it is already won and we can rest assured in that fact. It does not mean that we must give in and let God fight alone – we need to stand by Him and show our support for Him, otherwise how would others get to know that He is the one wining? We cannot change the outcome of the battle ourselves either, but we can change the hearts of some of them fighting against us so that they too can see the truth. Yes, we have been created by God; but He created us so that we can make a difference whilst we are serving Him here on earth.

Is ways may confound us. His way may seem impossible. His ways may elude us… But we can rest assured that the battle has been won and tat we are on the winning side.

Points to Ponder:
Do you get discouraged by others?

Are you standing up to defend with God?

Sunday 8 Mar 2009

Sunday Reading: Ecclesiastes 7 11-14
 
Key Verse: Ecclesiastes 7 13
13  Consider the work of God; for who can make straight what He has made crooked?

Devotion:
One thing that we all strive for in life is to gain wisdom; whether we are doing it consciously or unconsciously, we are striving for wisdom in almost everything that we do. As we learn from doing things or learn from others we start to be able to do our elected tasks with more confidence and hopefully with better results too. The only problem is that that wisdom is only good for those tasks or for when we can use it… it is no good learning all about fish if you are going to try and find a job as a builder…

What we learn can be used in so many ways too. We may learn something unique and what we consider being very useful and not actually get to use that new-found skill until later in life. We may put aside knowledge of some other things and then one day regret not learning those skills when we had the chance to. But each of those skills is only good for the time that we are actually alive and able to use them! What is going to happen when we die? We need to know about God before that day comes otherwise we will be the ones wondering why we did not learn about Him when we had the time!

There is so many things in our world that we struggle to fathom out because we do not have the wisdom that God has; He is the one that has created all things and by Him all things continue to exist. That does not mean that we have to find out all of those things before we can spend time with Him. A child does not have to grow up before they can learn from a parent. We have to be willing to come forward to God and accept His teaching so that we can be with Him and be ready for that day when we need that wisdom. It is no good putting things off just because we can enjoy ourselves at this time, we need to be able to understand what God wants us to do now rather than wait until it is too late. Read all about it!

He has given us priests, pastors, teachers and friends so that we can learn from them. He has given us His Word so we can learn from that. We have all the time and the utilities to be able to learn about Him and apply that wisdom into our lives right now. Let us do that so that we can also help others.

Points to Ponder:
Can you quote a bible verse?
 
How often do you read God’s Word?

Saturday 7 Mar 2009

Saturday Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5 6-11
 
Key Verse: 1 Thessalonians 5 9
9  For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

Devotion:
The more news we see and the more we hear about, the more that we see that the world seems to be going a bit bonkers at times like this! We see so much street violence and so many youths being drawn into drinking, fighting and general bad behaviour and we wonder why.  They do not normally come out in the daylight and do these deeds but rather at night time when they think they are hidden from others; yet still we see them on the news and hear about them through the papers... They have been drawn further into their lifestyle than they think.

If God’s Word had not been so hidden from them in their lives they may have a chance at finding out what actually lays ahead. If God’s Word were presented to them now they would rebuke it because they are so entrenched in their lifestyles. When God’s Word is finally presented to them it may well be too late for many of them... but that does not mean that we should not try to give them the truth now whilst there still is time! God has created this world for us so that we can get to know Him. He created Eden so that Adam and Eve could walk with Him and get to know Him in person. It is our evil thoughts that have let us down and have drawn us into things that we ought not to be involved with. Once drawn in we tend to stay with those ways as well...

Jesus came to earth so that we would have a way of escaping from the deep holes that we have dug for ourselves knowing that we would not be able to dig our own way out. Jesus came and presented Himself and the gospel so that we would know the truth. He knows our ways and He has watched us over time as we continue to be trapped into evil through giving in to temptations passed our way by the evil one; but He still reaches out His hands saying “grab hold and you will be saved”. It only takes that first reaching out to realise that we are reaching out to safety, from then on we know the truth...

Points to Ponder:
Are you reaching for safety?
 
Are you reaching out to sure safety or still trying to get out by yourself?

Friday 6 Mar 2009

Friday Reading: Hebrews 3 7-13

Key Verse: Hebrews 3 13
13  But exhort one another daily, while it is called today, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

Devotion:
“One thing led to another...” How many times have you heard people say that or even use it as some sort of excuse for something that they have done. We could look into each one of our lives and see just how many times we have been guilty of falling into that same trap where we have let one thing lead to another and have ended up doing things that do not please God. We can read through our bibles and see that this has happened throughout history too, so we are not alone!

As we let one thing into our lives, we open a door for something else to come in. We start to become de-sensitised toward things that are not right and we continue to allow more and more into our lives until we are living a life that is no longer following in God’s will. The more we allow in, the more we tempt God or provoke Him because the more we try to justify through our own eyes rather than through His Word. The Children of Israel did exactly that and a full generation were not allowed to enter into the Holy Land because of their provocation towards God.

When we harden our hearts against Christian values we start to lose sight of the importance that God wants us to hold on those values. As we lose sight of those values, we lose sight of what God wants us to focus on and we then unknowingly invite more sin into our lives, thus provoking God. This sort of thing is almost impossible to defend against when you keep to yourself because you will give in as your burden gets heavier; relying on others and especially God to help with your burden will encourage you to remain strong and allow God to continue working in your life. God does not want to destroy everything just to get rid of sin because He knows we have the chance to turn away from sin and turn to Him. That is where He wants us, by His side, depending on Him.

Points to Ponder:
Do you give in to things easily?
 
Are you gaining strength through working together with God?