Friday 3 Oct 2008

Friday Reading: 1 John 1 5-10

Key Verse: 1 John 1 7
7  But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Devotion:
The most important thing that we need to remember about God is that He cannot and will not abide sin. There is no way that we can take sin with us to heaven and there is no way that we can atone for all of our sins by ourselves. If we say that we have a relationship with Him and yet we continue to walk in sin and live in our sinful world, then we are living a lie and are not practising the truth. That would be like walking into a dark room after the lights have gone out and telling everyone that you have a torch when you do not have one; or even if you do have a torch and do not switch it on. What use is it going to be unless that light is used effectively?

It is one thing to say that we are Christians, but it is a whole new world to live as a Christian. What use are we to anyone if we do not live as Christians do? What example are we going to be if we do not live for God? Who do you think you are going to fool if you do not live as Christ would have you to live? The people around you will see you for what you are – how you are behaving and not what you think you are. What sort of impression are you then giving by saying you are one thing and acting differently? What sort of impression are you making with God? The only one we are actually fooling for one instant is ourselves...

It is the blood of Jesus Christ that has already been shed on that cross for us that is able to cleanse us from our sin – nothing less... and certainly nothing more required! He who knew no sin was willing to give up His perfect life on that cross just for us. How do you think He felt when He took on your sins at that moment on the cross? He willingly took them on just so that we would not be found guilty – it is our free gift to take! But, just as any gift, we are the ones that have to take it. Just as any gift, we are the ones that have to then look after it. We do that by living for Christ and not living for the world! We show our faith by living by it and showing others that we can certainly depend on it!

Points to Ponder:
How often do you say one thing and do another?
 
How often are you turning you back on God’s ways?
 

Thursday 2 Oct 2008

Thursday Reading: 1 John 2 1-2
 
Key Verse: 1 John 2 1
1  My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

Devotion:
If you look up advocate in a dictionary or even on-line you will get a definition not dissimilar to this: “An advocate is one who speaks on behalf of another person. Implicit in the concept is the notion that the represented lacks the knowledge, skill, ability, or standing to speak for themselves.” In other words when we talk of Jesus as our Advocate, we are saying that He is the knowledgeable one who is able to plead for our case with God. If we were to stand up and try and defend ourselves we would very quickly find ourselves condemned to death because of all of our sins.

How can He do that? How can He (Jesus Christ) stand up there and say that we are not guilty when we clearly are? The next word we need to study is “propitiation”. That means that Jesus is willing to placate or overcome distrust with God the Father on our behalf. Because Christ cannot lie, when He tells God that we are innocent, He must mean it. This is done because when we take our sins to Christ, He is able to say to God the Father that we are no longer guilty because our sins have been paid for already by Him. In other words, the punishment has already been carried out on our behalf.

How can that be when we had not even been born yet? That comes in the last phrase of the 2nd verse “but also concerning the sins of all the world.” Christ did not go to the cross just to die for the sins of the people around Him but on behalf of every person born on this world. Christ made a single, absolute atonement for our sins by giving his life for our sins. He had not sinned and yet He was willing to give up His perfect human life to make sure that we were able to follow Him to heaven because of that fact. All we have to do is to believe that that is what He did and to remember it... and try to act like it!

Points to Ponder:
How do you feel about someone taking your punishment?

How do you feel about Christ taking your death sentence?
 

Wednesday 1 Oct 2008

Wednesday Reading: Hebrews 12 1-4
 
Key Verse: Hebrews 12 2
2  looking to Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right of the throne of God.

Devotion:
We have a task set before us as did the Hebrews at the time of this writing. The task before them was to continue in obedience to their faith in Jesus Christ so that they would gain their crown of glory – everlasting life. That same task is before us nowadays too; we need to strive to be obedient to our faith in Christ too and not to give in to the sins that come our way. It is so easy to give in to sin when it is right in your face, especially if you are apt to think that nobody is watching or will ever know about it... That is our weakness – giving in to sin because it looms before us.

When we are faced with sin we should be remembering just what Christ has done for us. He is the one that did not sin even when tempted just as we are. He is the one that stood firm and took on our sin debt even though He did not deserve it. He is the one that shed the blood because of what we do... We are not the ones paying for our sins with blood because He has already done that. He did not give up in His obedience to God even though He had to pay for the sin with blood. We give in so easily when we compare what we do against that which Christ has already faced. When we are faced with sin we need to bring this to mind so that we can gain strength and face it.

While we allow sin to be part of our lives, we give it the power to continue in our lives. While we do not turn our backs on sin, we give it strength to continue. The more that we feed our sins, the more they will take over and the more they will discourage us. We need to be steadfast and refuse sin before it takes hold in our lives. Let us not give in to carnal desires but gain spiritual strength by depending on our faith in Christ – who has already done for us what we cannot do!

Points to Ponder:
Do you find it hard to say no?
 
Are you forgetting all that Christ has already done?
 

Tuesday 30 Sep 2008

Tuesday Reading: James 5 19-20
 
Key Verse: James 5 20
20  know that he who turns back the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

Devotion:
No matter how wise or holy we may think we are, it does not make us free from error. We can think about all the good things that we do, but there are still things that we do that we are not supposed to do. None of us are anywhere near perfect and we all need to make sure that we remember that! If we try to hide our errors, they will find us out. If we continue to allow bad things to happen in our lives we may well get used to them and begin to think they are not so bad, even good in the end... but that does not make them good.

When Christ told us to love our neighbours as ourselves, He wanted us to keep in mind these things too. If we are able to see the errors that we do through reading His Word, then we must surely show others that same word if they are doing what we did. We are not judging others but showing them God’s Word which in itself is able to make men see their faults. If we are able to allow others to turn from their own ways and turn back to God’s will, then we are beginning to walk in His will too. The only way that we are going to hide our sin is by giving it to Christ and turning our backs on it – this also means helping others to give theirs to Christ and turn their backs on it too.

What good is it to be able to save or take a life when it is not going to make a difference to that person’s eternal destiny? We need to move towards making sure that people know their destiny as dictated by their actions and their belief (or unbelief) and that is what God’s Word is for. God’s Word alone is what will allow us and our friends to see what we do wrong and to admit to those offences against God. Only then can we bring them to Him in humility and ask for the forgiveness that He has promised to give to us when we do. Only then in our new-found belief can we find eternal life through Jesus Christ.

Points to Ponder:
How else can you learn what you do wrong other than by someone telling you?

Do you read God’s Word to find out what you do wrong?
 

Monday 29 Sep 2008

Monday Reading: Proverbs 17 9-10
 
Key Verse: Proverbs 17 10
10  A reproof enters more into a wise man than a thousand stripes into a fool.
 
Devotion:
Being able to forgive someone for something that they have done to or against you is the start of a friendship. When that person accepts that forgiveness and moves away from doing that wrong again, they return that friendship. But what happens when the wrong-doing seems to go a bit far or it is something that is not normally overlooked? It is easy to forgive someone for dropping a cup or something that belonged to you, but what if they did something horrific like killed your friend? Would you be so willing to stretch out your hand of forgiveness then? We like to live by limits and we set those limits according to our own feelings rather than any given set of rules. Those feelings change between people too.

When we do wrong to others, how do we show them that we are sorry for what we have done? Are we willing to admit our mistake and ask for forgiveness, or do we try to hide it from them in the hopes that they will not find out? What could be worse that finding out your friend had actually done something wrong many years ago and refused to tell you? How would you think that they could live with that guilt for all those years? Would it not be better to accept the just punishment up front and move on that to have to face the music after lying for so long? If we are willing to graciously accept our punishment we will be able to move on quicker in our lives; but taking note why that punishment was given out and reacting accordingly to move away from doing wrong again will make us better people too.

The true mark of love above friendship is the ability to forgive and forget when an apology has been present. What more love can God show us that to forgive us of all of our sins when we bring them to Him in repentance? What better friend can we ask for that for someone who willingly died for us and continues to forgive us even though we continue to sin against Him? Being sorry for our sins and trying not to go there again will show Him some of our love for Him...

Points to Ponder:
Do you admit to your mistakes or try to hide them?

Do you really think God cannot see all of your sins?