Wednesday 27 Aug 2008

Wednesday Reading: Galatians 1 1-7
 
Key Verse: Galatians 1 6
6  I marvel that you so soon are being moved away from Him who called you into the grace of Christ, to another gospel,

Devotion:
How easily do you get side-tracked? There are so many things in this world that can side track us away from the things that we should be doing that it is a wonder that we can stay on track for some things – but those things that you do like doing, those are the things that you will be least likely to be tempted away from... There are chores which we all have to do and they tend to get put aside as soon as anything comes along! But there are certain things which you cannot put aside because your life (or livelihood) depends on it or them. Where do you place your relationship with Christ?

We all get excited when we first get saved because we can see how important it is and we are all eager to show God that we are happy for everything that He did, does and will do in our lives. But as soon as things are going along smoothly we tend to forget that importance of our eagerness just because everything seems to be being taken care of. Our relationship starts to suffer because we are not upholding it in the position we should be. That is when others will come into our lives and tell us of the things which are important in their lives and we will be tempted away from God and may well follow their gods – I say gods because they will be treating what is important in their lives like a god because it comes first, before God.

The churches in Galatia had done exactly that. They did not have the disciples with them at the time and so someone else came along with something that sounded better. They may well have been doing it saying that it was coming from God, and we will face people like that too. But if it is not written in God’s Word, then it is most likely to have come from man and not God. That has got to be the defining line – if it comes from God it will be written down. He has already declared that we do have everything written down and that we do not need more – why should we seek for more? The only reason can be that we are seeking pleasure for ourselves and not for God. We like it so much we leave God out of it...

Points to Ponder:
What do you uphold first in your life?

Is God being given the position He deserves in your life?
 

Tuesday 26 Aug 2008

Tuesday Reading: Matthew 9 1-8
 
Key Verse: Matthew 9 8
8  But when the crowds saw, they marvelled and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

Devotion:
The faith of the paralytic versus the religion of the scribes... Not much of a context when viewed in God’s eyes, but a huge difference when viewed in mans eyes! The local law was maintained by the higher members of the Jews; it was upheld and controlled by them. Yes, they did have all of the laws given to them by God through Moses and they were continuing to try and maintain them, but they were ignoring the truth about Jesus being the Messiah and did not want to lose control. They were the ones that had the good positions in society because of what they had to do. They were the ones that should have been looking out for all off the prophecies coming true and proclaiming Christ as King...

We do like to keep control of our situations and of as much of the world around us as we can – or that is what we like to think that we can do... These men that brought the paralytic were doing it because they believed that Jesus would be able to heal the man. They did that by bowing to His superior position as their Messiah. That faith allowed the man to be forgiven of his sins. This single thing did not then allow the man to get up and run off... because he was not paralysed because of his sins! We do not have natural things happen to us in our lives because of our sins – they happen because that is the world that we live in, a world where things like this happen! This man was forgiven of his sins because Christ knew that he believed in Him through coming to see Him face to face.

The scribes may not have done anything if Jesus has simply healed the man, but Jesus knew what they were after in their minds and forgave his sins first. That got them a bit upset thinking that someone was usurping their position. After that Jesus did what the man and his companions had wanted; he healed the man and sent him on his way. When Christ answers prayers, they will be answered in a way that He will be glorified and without limit – simply because of His awesome love for us!

Points to Ponder:
What sort of things do you ask of your friends?

What sort of things do you bring to God?
 

Monday 25 Aug 2008


Monday Reading: Isaiah 6 1-8

 

Key Verse: Isaiah 6 5

5  Then I said, Woe is me! For I am undone; for I am a man of unclean
lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes
have seen the King, Jehovah of Hosts.

 

Devotion:

This is a short bit of text from Isaiah describing a vision that he had
that made him truly realise just how much of a sinner he was. Here,
Isaiah, one of the prophets we always think of as being a true man of
God, sees just how far short of the mark he falls because of his
realisation at just who God is. He realised his fear of God. This is
not a knee trembling fear but the uttermost respect for the most high.
If this is the way that Isaiah saw himself, then how should we be
looking at ourselves? We who are just people, who attend a church, just
people who try to do our bit, just people who believe in this Very
God... When is it that we will realise just who we are in the sight of
God?



This is also a vision that looks forward to God’s church. His church is
not the buildings and certainly not an organisation, but a body of
believers who all bow down before our God in reverence and fear. Just
as the temple was filled with the smoke, so our bodies are filled with
The Holy Ghost when we profess to believe in Jesus Christ and ask Him
to forgive us of our sins. From that moment on we are regarded as being
without sin – yet we continue to sin again almost immediately... what a
loving God we have that is willing to listen to the endless string of
excuses and wait for us to admit to our sins so that He is able to
forgive us once again...



If there were not a mediator between us and God, we would not even make
it to the bottom of the stairs. We are simply not worthy to approach
God in any way. Yet, with Christ as our mediator, we are able to
approach God as sinless people as Christ has taken on all of our sins
on that cross that He willingly laid His own life down on! Each one of
us can go forward with uttermost confidence in knowing that Christ will
stand up and declare us clean in front of God the Father! What an
Awesome God we have!



Points to Ponder:

Just when do you feel guilty?



Do you have to wait for Christ to catch you first?

Sunday 24 Aug 2008


Sunday Reading: Romans 15 8-13

 

Key Verse: Romans 15 13

13  And may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in
believing, that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy
Spirit.



Devotion:

For so many years the Jews waited for the one that would fulfil the
prophecies. They waited for their Messiah; and many still wait. But as
we look back on the life of Christ we can see how He fulfilled every
prophecy and did so much more. How then can they not see Christ as the
Messiah? There is no excuse left for them to try and use other than the
fact that they do not want to believe!



As it is now with all non-Jews, we have no excuse left that we can
bring up to say that Christ is not the Messiah. The only excuse that
any man can have is that he has not heard the gospel at all – and there
are not many people left who have not heard about Jesus Christ being
crucified for them. Unfortunately many do not understand because the
story has never been told to them in all its glory. For once we hear
the truth, we too have no excuse not to believe it... It is already
written that all nations will praise His Holy name – that is a fact.



The one thing that sets Christ apart from any other religion, sect or
way of life is that with our belief in Him we have the joy and peace
that surpasses all other. When we put our faith and trust in Him we do
find a joy and peace that goes far beyond any other we can find.
Nothing in our lives will ever be able to give us that same joy or
peace. Nothing we create or do can ever replace Christ. Nothing can
ever live up to the power of God, our Creator, our Sustainer and our
King; because God is the power behind us all. He loves us so much that
He gave us His Son and He demonstrated His love for us by laying down
His life on the cross. His continued love can be experienced day by day
through living with The Holy Spirit, the one whom He gave us to give us
Joy and Peace every day of our lives. How can we turn our backs on such
a wonderful, loving, just God who has done everything for us already –
yet continues to do things for us when we continue to trip up and
falter from His ways.



Points to Ponder:

Does your best friend wind you up or make you happy?

 

Are you seeking Christ to find your joy and peace?

Saturday 23 Aug 2008

Saturday Reading: Psalm 39:1-7
 
Key Verse: Psalms 39 7
7  And now, Lord, what do I wait for? My hope is in You.

Devotion:
How many times have you caught yourself thinking an evil thought or even blurting out an evil sentence? We like to think that we have a control on our tongues, but if truth be told, they do tend to talk a whole lot quicker than we tend to think; most times getting ourselves into trouble before we know it! But where do those words come from? Why do we let them out?

If we look at ourselves with all honesty, we will see where those words come from. We do tend to think those words a whole lot more than we let them go. If we are constantly thinking about them, is it any wonder then that they come out? We need to be at the stage when we can spot when we are thinking about them and try to suppress them at that stage; without suppression, they will come out! The more we think about evil things, the more we get into the habit of those thoughts; and as with any habit, it does tend to let itself come to the surface without you realising just how much.

If we cannot control our mouths, then a good exercise would be to be totally silent. Just stop saying anything. Give your mouth a rest and allow your brain to catch up... If we did do that regularly then we may well find that we can then start to control our mouths because we are allowing our minds to realise what is going on before our mouths let loose. Above all, don’t be impatient. For as long as you are impatient, your mind is not able to catch up with your feelings and your mouth!

We don’t know how long we do have to live. We don’t know how soon our time is going to be up. So why do we insist on letting things ride? Why do we insist on allowing our mouths to get the better of us when we know that if we took a few seconds to think, we could end the day on a good note rather than in a strop with someone! What eats at you more than being annoyed with someone overnight? What would cause you to think more bad thoughts that being annoyed at the time when you cannot make amends? Life is too short to get caught up in vain words!

Points to Ponder:
How often do you let loose with your mouth?
 
Have you tried calling on God to calm your thoughts before speaking?