Wednesday Reading: Daniel 6 7-11
 
Key Verse: Daniel 6 10
10  And when he had learned that the document was signed, Daniel went to his house. And his windows were open in his roof room toward Jerusalem; and he kneeled on his knees three times a day and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did before.

Devotion:
Is there a time in your busy day that you set aside for prayers with your God? Is there a time when you stop focusing on the world around you and give your undivided attention to God? Daniel was faithful to do exactly that, even in the face of adversity when the local law makers had made a decree that nobody should pray to any god except that they pray to the king... Just how is a king going to hear the prayers of thousands of people all round the country?

We need to remember that there is only one God. A powerful, loving, but just God who has given us the instruction and now awaits our actions to His Commandments. He is all powerful; He alone made the heaven and earth and created every living being so that we would have a wonderful place in which we can commune with and praise Him. He is all loving and has repeatedly show us that with the culmination of sending His Son to die for our sins so that we may not have to pay the terrible price that His law says is payable for sin. He is just... His law has been written and it will stand throughout time. Nothing we can do will ever be enough to pay for our sins other than our death... But if we die before we believe in Him, then how do we ever get to believe in Him to accept His wonderful gift?

Daniel made sure that He spent His time with God so that God would know just how much he depended on Him and just how much he loved God too. If you want someone to know that you love them then you have to do or say something so that they will know! Yes it is true that God is all knowing, but that does not excuse us from coming to Him in prayer and demonstrating our commitment to Him. He has already demonstrated His commitment to us through everything He does for us; let us show Him that we do love Him this year!

Points to Ponder:
How do you show people you love them?
 
How do you show your God that you love Him?

Tuesday Reading: Romans 12 1-3
 
Key Verse: Romans 12 3
3  For I say, through the grace given to me, to every one who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. But set your mind to be right-minded, even as God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.

Devotion:
What did Jesus do when He came to earth? He became man... He lowered Himself down to our level, just so that He could save us. That is a true sign of His love for us; that He was willing to give up a position in heaven just so that He could prove His love and then lay His life down for our sakes. He knew the perfect manner in which He could achieve things and He went forward and did it.

What manner of things can we do to show our love for Christ? How can we then show Him with all sincerity that we do love Him? The answer is surprisingly simple, but it’s not that easy for us to do... We are born with sin and pride embedded in our lives. We do have all of God’s Word so that we can know what it is that He wants and we do have guidance from Him if we are willing to listen. Everything that He has given us tells us that we need to obey Him, and these few verses sum it up perfectly – we need to give our lives back to Him. We need to make a stand, just as He did. We need to do something that is going to count; something that is going to make a difference. He has shown us what He is willing to do for us – we need to show Him what we are willing to do for Him...

He has given us the grace to live our lives in the right manner. He has extended His mercy and love towards us, in that whilst we still go about our sinful lives, He is willing to love and forgive us. If He is willing to lower Himself to be our servant, then why should we think anything of being His servants? We do not have to be priests or bishops or even deacons to be able to do God’s will because He has a position for each and every one of us in His church. No matter what condition we are in, He has work for us to do because we are fighting a sinful world. Use God’s Word. Listen to His instruction. Live your life for Him. Live your life with Him.

Points to Ponder:
Do you like doing things for others?

Are you doing things for God or for yourself?

Monday Reading: 1 Corinthians 4 7-11
 
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 4 10
10  We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are honourable, but we are despised.
 
Devotion:
How often do you compare yourself to others, thinking about how much better they are than you, or even you are than them? We all do compare ourselves to others at some stage – but how often do you really look at the spiritual side of your life when you make those comparisons? And if you do, what is your conclusion? It is easy to think that you are doing all the right things so you must be good... That is the world in which we live in; our success is a show of our dedication to doing the work that lies before us... But sometimes the work that you do does not show up as a great success in your life!

Paul lays down the notion that he is nothing compared to others. He knows full well of all the things that he does in Christ’s name and all the things that people look up to him for... but he tries to use simple words to describe his dedication to Christ rather than to the outside world. We try to measure our good works for Christ by how much we have done and how many people compliment us on the work that we do whereas what we should be doing is getting on with Christ’s work and not caring for the earthly response.

Paul described himself as being a fool, weak and despised. That seemed to be the view that earthly people had made of him and he quite gladly accepted that because he knew that he was doing what Christ wanted and not what man wanted. You see, when we focus on the rewards as if they come from man, then we are going to do what man wants... but if we focus on the reward as from Christ, then we are going to do what Christ wants. When we do that, we can be assured that He is just and willing to give us the reward that we deserve when it is best for us – our eternal life with Him. Why should we care for what the world thinks of us when it cannot pay us for what we do?

Points to Ponder:
What rewards do you look for?

Are you still working for Christ?

Sunday Reading: Matthew 4 1-11
 
Key Verse: Matthew 4 4
4  But He answered and said, It is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God."

Devotion:
How many things in your life tempt you to do bad things? It is not always apparent just how much we do give in to temptations until we do sit down and really think about what is going on in our lives. You will be surprised at just how many things we give in to each day... Jesus allowed Satan to tempt Him but what He did in return is what we should be doing – each time He was tempted, He used God’s Word to rebuke Satan. Each time the devil tried to get Christ to do something through a lie, Christ exposed that lie through God’s truth.

Have you ever noticed that this temptation of Christ came immediately after He was baptised and declared as the Son of God? The evil one is going to try and attack us each time we do something for God because he does not want God to get the glory. Each time we feel like we have done something right for God, we can probably expect the evil one to do something. But as Christ reminded us, there is no temptation that God will allow that we cannot endure. How many things God is actually protecting us from we shall probably never know.

When we come to Christ and He declares us to be one of the fold, we can expect to be sorely tempted by Satan; but we can rest assured that we are safe in Christ’s hands. That does not mean that temptation will not come our way because we see it every day. What it does mean is that our faith in God’s Word will be put to the test. Christ gave us the example by showing that even He stood on God’s Word. He wants us to do the same and exercise our faith by showing that we fully believe His Word! Yes, we will still be pulled aside by our own lust for earthly things all the time, but each time we stand up for Jesus, we are able to strengthen our faith again evil and for God. We may well provoke God to leave us to our own devices when we cannot see a way out... That does not stop Him from patiently waiting for us to depend on His Word again. Take the name of Jesus with you. Take the Word of God with you. It is your truth...

Points to Ponder:
How easily are you tempted?
 
How much do you recall God’s Word during temptations?