Wednesday Reading: Acts 13 32-37
 
Key Verse: Acts 13 37
37  But He whom God raised again saw no corruption.

 

Devotion:
The resurrection of Christ is the one great proof that we have that Christ was and is the Son of God. Death was the means by which He was able to achieve so much, and death could not hold Him back because He was raised up from the dead before His body started to decay. For any normal human, the body starts to decay as soon as we die and it shows that by starting to smell around the third day. Christ’s body, on the other hand, did not get to see death for long enough to see any physical corruption.

 

He was the one that God is heaven above said of “This is My Son, the Beloved, hear Him.” He is the one that gave us the promises made from the times of David. He is the one that made sure that we were given all of those promises. Even someone as great as David was buried and consumed by earthly things; yet Jesus Christ was able to raise Himself from the grave to give us the eternal hope that we have.

 

When we are born we have to learn to survive within the society that surrounds us; we have to work for those around us of the same generation. Christ was born and died for all generations from Adam and Eve through to the last man alive. We need to live up to that hope that He has given us. We need to live by faith in all that He has accomplished at the cross. We need to trust in Him because He alone is our living God. He alone has the power to deliver on the promises made of old. He alone is the One to fulfil those promises as He has done all throughout history.

 

We have the oldest history books through to the promises of the future all held within our bibles. It is all the wisdom of God that we have to know in order to know Him. Once we get to know Him there is no turning back because once we accept Him, we can say that we have joined Him in heaven already because that is what He has promised.

 

Points to Ponder:
What one thing stands out in history for you?
 
What one thing that Christ did stands out for you?

Tuesday Reading: Psalm 71:14-18
 
Key Verse: Psalms 71 17
17  O God, You have taught me from my youth; and before now I have declared Your wonderful works.

 

Devotion:
If we do accept that there is no greater power than God, then we must accept that whatever comes our way is His will. To make sure that we continue to support, praise and fear God, we must make sure that we continue in His Will. Part of that will is to make sure that we continue to spread the gospel as Christ Himself reminded us. When we display the hope without end that we have in Christ, we are spreading The Word. But more than that, we should be willing to tell others what is held within our bibles. We may not be able to find the words to tell them about Christ, but if we repeat Christ’s Words to them, then they will be willing to listen as we did once. It is not the description of others that will convince us, but the Word of God itself that will convince us that God is real.

 

We have to then make sure that we are willing to repeat God’s Word to those around us. We must be willing to recount the gospel in part. There is no way that we are all going to be like A. Scourby who was able to record the whole King James bible for people to listen to, but we can give people an insight by being able to recount a verse or two.

 

Why? Because when we are able to recount God’s Word it will show others that it means something to us. When we hear people recount poems it is because it means something to them. When we show others that God’s Word mean something to us, it will allow them to know that it is real and they will not push it aside as quickly as if we had to read it from a piece of paper or book.

 

It does not stop after we have told one person about God. We need to continue to be willing to show people about God and to encourage others. No matter how many generations there are between us and the hearer, be it our grand parents or our grand children, we need to be able to show them we care about God’s Word.

 

Points to Ponder:
How often do you read to someone?

 

How often is it about God?

Monday Reading: Isaiah 45 20-25
 
Key Verse: Isaiah 45 23
23  I have sworn by Myself, the word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.
 
Devotion:
How many cultures around the world can you think of that bow down towards small statues of their gods? How many people willingly carve a figurine that depicts their god so that they can worship before it? There are people all around the world that do exactly that and many of them will make statues of Jesus too; but what we cannot know without talking to them is who they are actually praying to. It is interesting to look into different cultures to see how they worship their gods and to get to know something about the gods that they worship. Our bibles tell us that there is only one God and that He is the creator of everything. The record in our bibles comes from the people that have recorded things that have happened. These scriptures have been passed down generation after generation so that people can be told the truth.

 

It is when fear approaches that many will turn to a god for support; it is at that time that many will bring out a statue or symbol that depicts their god in the hopes that that will in some how conquer the fear. What we have here is a reminder sent to us via the prophet Isaiah that God alone is the one true God and that He alone in our Creator and Saviour. He reminds us that He has made a promise to everyone (including following generations) that every knee will bow down before Him at the appointed time. This does not mean that we have to tremble with fear that He is going to come and force us to our knees, but that when we see the truth we will willingly bow down before Him.

 

In other words, there is no other god that will show him or herself in a manner depicting our Very God because there is nothing that will not bow down to Him. There is no other. All others are either figments of peoples desires for a supporting god or false gods that will themselves bow down before God on His return. I am glad that I have been introduced to God and that He is willing to allow me to join Him in heaven just because He already loved me first!

 

Points to Ponder:
Who or what would you bow or curtsey to?

 

How much do you know about God, Christ and the Holy Spirit?

Sunday Reading: Ephesians 5 18-21
 
Key Verse: Ephesians 5 19
19  Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

 

Devotion:
Drinking to get drunk is a sin. Why? Because what we do is to voluntarily drink excessively so that our minds are impaired; thus we have given in to either a habit or desire and opened ourselves up to all manner of things for which our mind no longer has control. We have given our bodies over to almost anything that may come our way! You may think that it would not matter once or twice, but what is actually happening?

 

You are abusing your body; it is God’s gift to you and His dwelling place if you are saved. You are closing yourself off from God because you are not being honest with yourself. Your mind is being hurt, your memory lost and your judgment impaired. It is depriving you of reason and setting yourself as a fool. It wastes your estate, makes you unfit for any duty, exposes you to shame… and we could carry on for a while. But it’s not just drinking I want to talk about. I want to highlight every sin in our lives that we willingly let in.

 

If we want to be able to stand up against these sins, then we have to have some way of constantly reminding ourselves about the follies of such sin. We have to have a constant reminder of all that is good. But we don’t like to listen to anyone who nags us continually, so we are the ones that have to remind ourselves. How are we supposed to do that? One of the best ways is to remind yourself in songs, psalms, poems or other thoughts where you can involve God in your thought process. You don’t have to embarrass yourself by singing out loud (with a voice like mine you don’t want me to sing out loud) but with the God’s Words going through you mind (instead of random thoughts) you will be able to focus on things that are righteous.

 

Give Him the praise. Give Him the glory. Remind yourself just who is in charge. Remind yourself who your friends are and keep them close. Live together in fear of the Lord and He will continue to be your guide.

 

Points to Ponder:
How often do you sing?
 
How often do those songs praise God?