Thursday 7 Aug 2008

Thursday Reading: John 1 5-10" href="http://kjv.fbcuk.org/index.php?keyword=1+John+1:5-10">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:
“How do we get a message from The LORD?”
“Simple! We accept it!”
“What do you mean we accept it?”
“Well, have you read your bible lately?”

A message from our Lord Jesus Christ is waiting for each one of us in His Word. He has been trying to get us to read our bibles for so long, and yet we continue to forget, put aside, refuse, can’t be bothered… Each time we are missing out on a special message from Him. For those of you who do read your bibles regularly will know what I am talking about – you read a passage one day and the Lord gives you understanding. You the same passage another day and He gives you further understanding. You read it another and He may well give you understanding in something related to that… As long as we are willing to accept His Word daily, we will be fed on a daily basis. It is like turning on a light in your dark life – you begin to see things that you never knew were there; the more you look, the more you see!

If we are going to ignore His Word, then we are turning off that light and we will not be able to see anything. We may know that things are there because we saw them once, but as long as that light remains off, you tend to forget about what was there and where it was. We forget the details more and more until it fades to such an extent that we would describe it in a way that is incorrect – and yet that is what we think it looks like…

We need to constantly go over God’s Word so that we can understand Him more but also so that we can shed a bit of light in other peoples lives. If we pretend that we have a photographic mind and that we can remember everything we have been taught, then we deceive ourselves. But if we then try to teach others from what we remember, we may begin to deceive them without knowing it. Let us all make sure that we do keep up to date with God’s Word so that we can share our knowledge and know what is real!

Points to Ponder:
How many things have you lost in the dark?

Have you lost God’s Word in the darkness of life?

Wednesday 6 Aug 2008

Wednesday Reading: Ephesians 5 15-21
 
Key Verse: Ephesians 5 17
17  Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
 
Devotion:
Have you ever sat down and tried to work out when the most likely time for you to sin is? Is it when you are with non-Christians? Is it when you are alone? Is it when you are enjoying yourself? If you sit down and think about it, you may well be able to work out the circumstances that surround you when you are most likely to give in to sin. With that knowledge in hand, you should be able to either try and avoid those times, or work against your sin nature at those times. Either way, you are changing the way you live so that you can walk closer to God because God is the one that cannot abide the sin.
 
The harder we try to make our lives less full of sin, the stronger we will be able to become in our work against sin. This will also give us a new found strength in Christ because we will fell a whole lot closer to Him. How are we going to have any chance at understanding what God’s Will is in our lives if we are going to be tuned in to the world and all it’s disturbances, noise, temptations and other junk that we are surrounded by? How can we concentrate on God when we have so much pollution in our lives?
 
We are the ones that have to make the first step away from the clutter in our lives so that we can once again pick up on the simple truth that God has been trying to tell us for such a long time! If we make our lives a better habitation for The Holy Spirit, we are more likely to be able to hear Him when He tries to speak to us! If you want birds to come into your garden you have to make your garden a better habitation for the birds; only then will they come forward and be seen in your garden.
 
When we change our lives to be more centred on God, He will be more willing to be more open with us because He will not have to fight for attention against all the sin that we allow into our lives. Think about God more of the time by bringing more stuff into your life that He would like to see in it. Don’t chase Him away, invite Him in!
 
Points to Ponder:
Would you try to do homework in the rain?
 
Why then do we try to do God’s Will in a sinful life?

Tuesday 5 Aug 2008

Tuesday Reading: Isaiah 12 1-6
 
Key Verse: Isaiah 12 4
4  And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.
 
Devotion:
Can you remember the day that you accepted Christ as your Saviour? Can you remember how you felt? This passage goes some way into describing the relief and subsequent praise after knowing that God forgave you when you asked it of Him. But it also reminds us of a few more things…
 
Our anger against God for allowing things into our lives melted away. No longer were we at odds against God because we now know that He loves us and comforts us. It was us all along that brought things upon ourselves because we were the ones not listening!
 
He showed us His strength by giving us that hope when we had none. He became our new song of Hope and our new centre of strength. His strength, love, mercy and grace know no bounds so we can continue to draw on them like pulling water out of a well.
 
He gave us a new heart so that we would go to others and show them how wonderful a God we do have. We told others that His name was above all names, giving them hope too.
 
He put a song in our hearts that brightened up our whole lives and not just that moment. Isn’t it amazing how His love can brighten up the dullest situation when we give Him the glory?
 
He gave us a promise that He would be with us for the rest of eternity. Who else in our lives could ever promise such a thing?
 
You see, when God comes into our lives, our lives change. Our new life with Him begins from that moment on. Now we can put it aside and go back to our old ways, but in doing that, we drag the Holy Spirit with us. Or we can put aside the old ways and move forward the way that God has ordained it so. It is not something new since Christ, but the way that God has ordained it from the beginning of time. He wants us to be in a permanent relationship with Him so that our lives will reflect that fact!
 
Points to Ponder:
Do you change when you meet someone you like?
 
How has your life changed when you met Christ?

Monday 4 Aug 2008

Monday Reading: Psalm 145:1-9
 
Key Verse: Psalms 145 3
3  Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.
 
Devotion:
The one thing that we are good at is asking for mercy and grace when we are down and out. We know how to plead when we need to and we know how to be humble when we have nothing left. It is then that we see the wonderful, loving grace and power of our Wonderful God. We have no problem giving Him the praise when He shows us grace or kindness. We have no problem praising Him when He has blessed us in some manner… But how many times do we continue with that praise when we have the blessings and we no longer find ourselves in trouble? How many times do we forget just who is the one behind the blessings?
 
When we, under troubles and temptations, abound in prayer, we shall, in a while, abound in grateful praise because we know that He is just and true to His Word to support and bless us by answering our prayers. But we need to continue in prayer and praise of our most Awesome God when we are in trouble and when we are not. We need to continue our praise when we are in good times just as much as when we are in the doldrums. Nothing quite shows our love for our God that continued prayer and praise!
 
He is the one that is full of compassion, full of goodness and full of grace; not just in Words but in Works as well. He promised that He would give us a Saviour and that is exactly what He did by coming to the cross to die for our sins. He promised that He would show us love and grace and He did exactly that through blessing those around Him. Not only that but He continues to show that love and grace by continuing to bless people everywhere who are willing to trust wholly in His Name!
 
We will never be able to search out all that God has done because He continues to do things every day. We will never be able to understand fully why He does it because we cannot fathom the extent of His love for us. His boundless graciousness, compassion, love and mercy are without end!
 
Points to Ponder:
How often do you turn to God when things are bad?
 
How often do you turn to God when things are good?

Sunday 3 Aug 2008

Sunday Reading: Acts 28 17-24
 
Key Verse: Acts 28 24
24  And some indeed believed the things that were said, others did not believe.
 
Devotion:
Just how much would you hold fast to God whilst you were persecuted? How much would you be willing to put up with just because you believe in Christ? For Paul it meant having to be bound in chains and jailed for more than 2 years, having to face up to questioning from the Jews and from the Romans, having to be smuggled around the country for fear of certain Jews killing him and even sent out to see in a ship that finally was wrecked on a small island… and then to be further kept in bonds! But throughout all of this he stood fast in proclaiming that Jesus raised from the dead and that he is our Saviour. He knew the Old Testament inside out and used it to convince people of the validity of Christ’s life, death and His resurrection – all whilst being bound. How many days would it have been before you cracked?
 
It is a hard thing to accept that we will be persecuted for telling the truth and for upholding God’s laws. It is a hard thing to stand up against the lawyers and judges and proclaim a simple truth about Jesus when they have so much knowledge to work against you. But that is where faith comes in. If we are willing to give over our problems, our persecutions to Christ, He is willing to guide us in ways that we thought not possible so that we can give out the Gospel to those that need it most. Those that need it most will be the ones that are the most willing to persecute us!
 
It is easy to tell someone about Christ when they are willing to listen, but it is not so easy when they are rebelling. When someone wants to find out about Christ they will ask questions and we can answer them – all we have to do is to make sure that we do not answer lightly thinking that they will see the truth easily. We still need to make sure that we give them the truth in a manner where they can see it clearly and not be tempted away. When people are eager to listen they will be listening to everything, both the truth and the temptations. If we are weak and show them temptations as well as the truth, they will learn from the temptations because they are so much easier! Paul continued to show the actual truth no matter how much it was costing his private life…
 
Points to Ponder:
Are you easily persuaded?
 
How easy do you make it for others to see Christ through you?