Friday 9 May 2008

Friday Reading: 2 Samuel 11 1-5

Key Verse: 2 Samuel 11 2
2  And it happened one evening, David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king's house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing. And the woman was very beautiful to look upon.

Devotion:
So many times we fall into temptation. If we look back at every time we should be able to identify a few steps that allowed us to trip up. Temptation is not something that just happens but rather something that we allow into our lives through our weaknesses. No matter how hard we do try to avoid temptations, they will continue to be there and continue to trip us up… So how can we go about avoiding them?

Let’s look at David’s example of adultery here; whilst we cannot know for sure, we can raise a few questions. First we see that David is staying in Jerusalem. Was it that he should have been about his normal business which would have taken him away? What was he doing only getting up out of his bed in the evening? Our love for everything easy in our lives will allow us to loose focus on life. Many of us will also admit to a wandering eye; having a look where we should not be looking. And lastly was he abusing his position of power or what!

If we are going to be honest about the sins in our own lives, we will be able to show up a few points of our own too. We will be able to identify where we are firstly not walking by Christ’s side. He is not the one that wanders off away from us, but us from Him. It is not always easy to continue to do God’s will and far too often we choose the easy way out rather than digging in and doing what is necessary. We have His Word. We have the bible. Should we not be reading it and keeping close to His commandments? We know that we are weak. We know that we give in. Why then should we think we can get away with taking the easy way out? Are we not told that the easy way out is laid before us by the evil one? Why then do we make bad choices?

… Because it is easy to do so…

Points to Ponder:
How often do you give in to things?
 
How often do you search for strength in God’s Word?

Thursday 8 May 2008

Thursday Reading: Acts 8 5-13
 
Key Verse: Acts 8 9
9  But a certain man called Simon had long been conjuring in the city, and amazing the nation of Samaria, claiming himself to be some great one.
 
Devotion:
It is amazing to watch some ‘magicians’ do their work, but in reality most of them are illusionists rather than magicians. But when we are faced with someone who does seem to do things that defy any rational explanation we are made uncomfortable. These sort of people will demand a great audience and even gain great respect because they can do things others cannot.
 
When Philip was preaching Christ in Samaria, he was faced with all sorts of things which he was able to work against because of his dependence on the Word of God. The apostles were given the ability to heal and do great things in the name of Christ – but only in the name of Christ. The people in Samaria were faced with two ‘powers’. Firstly the power they had come to know, that of Simon the conjurer. They were so amazed by his abilities that they even thought that Simon had the power of God; until, that is, they were faced with the power of God delivered through Philip. It was then easy to make the comparison and find out the truth.
 
When we are faced with situations that amaze or confuse us, we need to make a direct comparison with God’s Word to find out whether what we see is true or not. We cannot say whether a piece of paper is truly white until we hold it up against another that is white – we can then see the small imperfections. When we hold up things in our life to Christ’s Word, we will then see the things that are right and the things that are wrong. This is something we have to continually do because we will get sidetracked slowly and our impressions will fade – unless we make sure that we read our bibles regularly to ensure that we keep up with God’s Word.
 
Points to Ponder:
How often have you been fooled by something new in your life?
 
How often do you compare things with the truth?

Wednesday 7 May 2008

Wednesday Reading: 2 Peter 2 17-22
 
Key Verse: 2 Peter 2 18
18  For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they lure through the lusts of the flesh, by unbridled lust, the ones who were escaping from those who live in error;
 
Devotion:
It is a wonderful thing to have good eyesight and is something that you never think about until you do not have it anymore! Being able to see clearly is something that we all want in our lives, but how many of us think about being able to see the truth clearly? We are all able to be persuaded by people (otherwise there would not be sale people in the world) but how much we are persuaded depends on how much we are willing to listen.
 
No matter what a sales person is selling to you, you will always be able to find out what they gain from their sale is you are willing to listen. But too many of us listen to the glitz and glamour and do not listen to the actual words. We are taken in by advertisements for things because we do not read the small print. We are taken in by people because we do not listen to the whole truth. Adam and Eve were taken in by the serpent because they did not listen properly. Listening properly is not just about hearing or reading the words, it’s about comparing those words with what you know to be the truth and making a decision.
 
If we simply took what others said and applied that to our lives, we would not get very far. Taking what people say and comparing that to what we know is the truth will then allow us to figure out whether we can trust this person. If they keep asking us to make assumptions then they are not telling us anything based on truth but on assumptions. If you take assumptions you can quite easily prove that 1 = 2!
 
People who spread this darkness into our world that is struggling to see the light can not expect anything other than a life of darkness in the next life! Nothing is hopeless though because Christ did die for everyone. Even the darkest can turn to light by letting Christ into their lives; just don’t let them bring darkness into your life…
 
Points to Ponder:
Do you look in the dark to find something?
 
Why look away from Christ to find the truth?

Tuesday 6 May 2008

Tuesday Reading: Galatians 3 1-5
 
Key Verse: Galatians 3 1
1  O foolish Galatians, who bewitched you not to obey the truth, to whom before your eyes Jesus Christ was written among you crucified?
 
Devotion:
Could you imagine going to university to learn how to be an accountant, spending a lot of time and effort learning how to do things right… and then starting up an accountancy business but ignoring everything you have learned and making up your own rules. Your business is still called an accountancy business. People know you know how to do accounts because you have learned it. Yet you are not actually doing things right when you come to apply things to your clients’ accounts… I don’t think your business would last too long before your customers went away or before the tax man descended upon you with a hard hand!
 
How did we come to believe in Christ? Was it not by finding out the truth and applying that in our lives? If we then move forward in our lives by applying our own truths instead of the truth from God’s Word, are we then any different from a wayward accountant? Have we not then turned our backs on the truth and on God?
 
Did not Adam and Eve know the truth in the beginning? Yes. So how did they get it so wrong? They got it wrong by simply by believing in something or someone that made a problem look simple at the time. We are going to come up against Satan and his workers all the time. They will try to convince us of things that they can say are simple or don’t take a lot of faith. They can convince us to lust or desire after things because of our own lust and greed. They can trip us up unless we are willing to stand up for the Truth!
 
God’s Word is true. We can study it as much as we like to find out just how true every part of it is. We can depend on it just as our forefathers have done for thousands of years. We need to make sure that we do read it so that we can see that it is the truth. How else can we defend the truth unless we know the truth!
 
Points to Ponder:
Do you believe things that loads of other people believe?
 
Are you willing to believe the truth even though many will not?

Monday 5 May 2008

Monday Reading: Psalm 102:25-27
 
Key Verse: Psalms 102 27
27  but You are He, and Your years shall have no end.
 
Devotion:
No matter how fit we think we are, there always seems to be something that will get us down. It is at that stage when we do realise that we are mortal, we have a finite lifespan, we are frail. A common cold can make you feel so down that you don’t want to do anything. A headache will keep you in bed. A simple twist of an ankle can stop you from doing your normal work. But this is what we have to expect. Athletes are prone to various weaknesses from over exerting parts of their bodies. We are prone to illnesses that we don’t even know about – doctors regularly diagnose patients as having a virus… all good and well, but that does not go to explain much from the patient’s point of view.
 
We have made amazing medical strides over the past few years where we have now got ways of fighting cancer and even some forms of AIDS. But just like everything in life, there is a limit. We do not know that limit. It may come today, or it may come way past our expected lifespan. Only God knows the lifespan that each of us will live to. Only He knows everything about us. We may look at ourselves as an old rag, falling apart, not much use… but He can see in us a cloth that is to be used for an exacting task some time in the future – one that only you can fill.
 
We come and go. Time flies by. Days, weeks, month, years pass on. Eventually we will pass on too. But God will never. He has been there from before time began – try getting your head round that… He is with us as we live, but He is not bound by our time. He will be there after our bodies die. He will be there to take us into glory with Him if we are willing and able to put our trust and faith in Him. We need to grow with the earth around us knowing that He is waiting for us when He knows our time is right. We need to continue working with Him in a world that looks like it is falling apart – we still have work to do!
 
Points to Ponder:
Do you think the world around you is looking old?
 
Are you still working with God?