Friday Reading: Ephesians 4 22-24

 

Key Verse: Ephesians 4 22
22  For you ought to put off the old man (according to your way of living before) who is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,

 

Devotion:
Do you think that you have changed at all after becoming a Christian? Are you still the same old you or do you feel like a different person? There are so many arguments about whether you should can or even if you can change after becoming a Christian; even in Paul’s letters he tries to encourage people to change from their old ways to the new ways. Our bibles try to encourage us to do that that is right; that often will mean stopping doing things that we used to do – not because other people tell you to do so, but because it is what you want to do to please God.

 

When we obey our parents, we know that it will please them. When they tell us things that we should not be doing and we change or ways to not do that, we are showing our parents that we are pleased to do what they think should be done so that we can show them that we love them. But when Christ said that we should love our neighbours as ourselves, He wanted us to start to think about what we do to others and in front of others. We don’t like it when people say or do things against us, so we should not do or say things against others… but it’s not as straight-forward as that… As we know, many of the things we do are based on our hearts as well as our minds. If we are not willing to change our hearts to love one another, then how will we ever change our physical to show that love?

 

If we are going to change, that change has to start in our hearts. That change has to start because we want it to. That change will happen, one way or the other. Why will it happen? Well, when we invite Christ back into our lives, we invite someone special in to live with us forever; by doing that, we now have someone loving, just and righteous with us always. If we continue to be our own old selves we may just find that we are troubling our guest every day through what we do in front of Him. We need to think about our closest neighbour and that is the Holy Spirit who is with us always…

 

Points to Ponder:
How often do you do things to please others?
 
How often do you do things that you think will upset God?

Thursday Reading: Proverbs 3 7-12
 
Key Verse: Proverbs 3 12
12  for whom Jehovah loves He corrects, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.

 

Devotion:
One of our biggest problems within ourselves is the fact that we think we know it all and we don’t like to admit that maybe we can be wrong. Whilst there is nothing wrong with self confidence, self-conceit of our own wisdom is the thing that will bring you down. We need to always remember that whatever we think we know, God knows more! We don’t have the wisdom to create life, nor the wisdom to create worlds; in fact we struggle to cure some sick people and to know what make up the atoms of the universe… but God knows it all. There is no way we can be an astronaut, brain surgeon, computer wiz, avid farmer, veterinarian and a wonderful person all at the same time because we need to focus on one things at a time. It’s not just the brain we need to consider but the heart as well because most of our interaction with people will be done from our hearts. Wisdom is the collection of everything that you mind and heart has learned – without both, we are nothing.

 

That is why we need the direction of someone who has all of the knowledge of the universe and all of the love as well. Once we realise that we can learn from others, we need to seek out that wisdom and learn from it all the time. As soon as we figure that we know better than that wisdom, we falter! Whilst we are still children, listening to our parents and other adults allows us to pick up an enormous amount of wisdom that we can then apply to our lives. We never stop learning because we can continue to learn from both the right and the wrong that we can pick up on.

 

God needs us to listen because there is so much ‘noise’ out there that will distract us away from that true wisdom that He alone can give. When we go against His will, we should not be surprised to find that He tries to correct us just as our parents would correct us when we do wrong in their eyes. Don’t ignore that correction! Instead, use that wisdom to correct ourselves both in our knowledge and our hearts so that we can bring forward actions that will please God and give Him all the glory!

 

Points to Ponder:
How often do you regret not listening to others?

 

Do you realise how long you may regret not listening to God?

Wednesday Reading: Luke 6 37-38
 
Key Verse: Luke 6 38
38  Give, and it shall be given to you, good measure pressed down and shaken together and running over, they shall give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you measure, it shall be measured to you again.

 

Devotion:
Have you ever tried to keep the law all the time? Have you ever tried to do every single thing as the law states it should be done? How far did you get before you found that you had once again bent at least one of the rules before completing a task? Just from that very fact that we cannot always keep the law, no matter how hard we try, we should be willing to see that in others too. If we try our hardest and cannot keep the law, then should we expect others to be able to keep that same law no matter how hard they try? The key should be the fact that they are trying… just like we try.

 

Being able to accept people for what they are and to be able to live with them will allow us to make for a more peaceful society. If we are willing to allow people to work at being good at their own pace rather than expecting them to be perfect, we will be a lot better off. There is nothing wrong in encouraging people to follow the law, just don’t be too disappointed when you find that they cannot keep the law either!

 

Our example to others should be a solid example that they can look to for encouragement. If we are judging others every time we see something wrong, then they are going to see someone who thinks that they are above anyone else. If, however, we are able to accept people the way they are but with sound biblical encouragement, they will see in us the Christian we hope to be! When they see that sort of example, we then are going to be treated in the way that we hope we can treat others. We are the ones that have to start the ball rolling because it will not start to roll by itself…

 

If we can give to others the same love that God has already show us, then just maybe they will see in us a bit of that love; just maybe they will be encouraged by it and seek Him out in the way that He wants them to. That is the will of God.

 

Points to Ponder:
How often do you break rules?
 
Do you expect others to be better than you at keeping the rules?

Tuesday Reading: Isaiah 56 3-8
 
Key Verse: Isaiah 56 5
5  even to them will I give within My house and within My walls a hand and a name better than of sons and of daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.

 

Devotion:
No matter how small our ‘unbelief’ is, it will rise at the most inopportune moments to throw all manner of things our way so that we will be discouraged in our belief in God. God has expressly told us that this will happen and that we should not drop out guard against such things. One of the most important ways of guarding against it is to make sure that we mix with other Christians so that we can all help each other to build up our strength. What better way that to follow God’s commandments and keep the Sabbath day holy? The way to look at it is to remember that our spiritual blessings that we will get are going to be better than having sons and daughters. I cannot express just how wonderful it is to have a son and a daughter; but God has promised us that our spiritual blessings are going to be far better than that!

 

Our sons and daughters may be the most wonderful things in our lives, but they will only last as long as either we do or they do. All of us have a finite lifespan against which we have no power. We can extend it slightly by looking after our bodies and being careful, but there is always an end. Our spiritual blessings, on the other hand, have no end!

 

The closer we draw to God, the more we realise that doing His will is not grievous; there is no hardship in doing God’s will when we compare it to the blessings that we will have. We can look at our children (something to look forward to for those who are young) and we can remember the good time and remember the bad times, but those bad times all seem worth it when we can hold them in our arms. Nothing will compare to being in God’s hands in heaven! When we are reminded to keep God’s Commandments, we should look forward to doing exactly that because of the awesome blessings that lie ahead for us in heaven.

 

Points to Ponder:
What has been one of the highlights of your life?

 

Can you imagine feeling better than that - always?