Saturday 19 Apr 2008

Saturday Reading: Jeremiah 31 31-34
 
Key Verse: Jeremiah 31 34
34  And they shall no more teach each man his neighbour and each man his brother, saying, Know Jehovah; for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says Jehovah. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more.
 
Devotion:
What do you think of someone who promises to do something and carries it out? Do you trust them to continue to do what they say they will, or do you simply forget about what has happened and continue without further trust? Sadly the way society is going, people are being brought up to trust in nobody but themselves. They will not trust in people even though they have had good experiences from them in the past.
 
Throughout history we have had governments that have promised one thing, tried to do another and ended up doing something entirely different. We have governments that have brought countries to their knees… We have had leaders caught out doing what they say must not be done… Is it little wonder then that we do not trust others?
 
With Christ we have something so special that we cannot ignore Him! We have someone who has given us a wonderful place to live. He then has laid down the law in no uncertain terms. He warned what would happen if the law was broken and had to carry out that promise when it was broken. He then chose a race to be an example and saved them from slavery, laying down a whole set of laws expanding on the original. He then had to continue punishing men that broken that law continually giving man warnings about what was to come. He then sent Jesus to come to earth as a man so that He could fulfil what was written down and told to everyone. He came to uphold the promises made. Through His death He gave us a way by which we could join Him in heaven without the previous heartache of man. He continues to fulfil His promises day by day – yet man continues to ignore the truth! We know the truth, we read about the truth, we see the truth – we need to show others that we believe and trust in the truth!
 
Points to Ponder:
Do you find it hard to trust people?
 
Do you think God should be able to trust you?

Friday 18 Apr 2008

Friday Reading: John 17 1-5
 
Key Verse: John 17 3
3  And this is life eternal, that they might know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
 
Devotion:
This is one of the amazing places recorded where Jesus showed Himself to be truly man and God. He prayed here as a man and yet He spoke with the authority of God, one being equal with God. If ever there was something that should stand out as being a prayer that should turn people’s hearts, then this should be it. But to non-Christians, this may well seem like the ramblings of a man who thought too much of himself. But when we get to know God in our personal relationship with Him, we know just what He was saying here!
 
The more that we get to know the bible, the more we are able to be more confident in it as being the whole truth and nothing but the truth. The more that we are willing to live our lives aiming towards that truth, the more we will see just how precious our relationship should be with Him. We are not a religion but a group of people each of whom have a very personal relationship with God. Each one of us has the right to air our sins before God so that we can gain forgiveness as He has promised He will do. Each one of us has the promise that the way to heaven is through Jesus Christ because of what He has done for us.
 
Jesus knew what lay ahead. He knew what was to be done. He knew that the only way to give us salvation was to demonstrate His amazing love for us by giving His own perfect life in payment for our sin debt. This was a debt that He did not owe, but one He willingly paid for us. If that is not the basis of a perfect relationship, then what is? Even throughout this, Jesus made sure that everything was working towards the glory of God. Nothing would detract Him from making sure that God came first. Nothing would break His relationship with God until it came time to take on our sins. That was the wedge that temporarily separated Jesus from God. Sin. I praise Him for doing that for me!
 
Points to Ponder:
How much have your parents done for you over the years?
 
How much more has God to do for you?

Thursday 17 Apr 2008

Thursday Reading: Psalm 119:161-165
 
Key Verse: Psalms 119 165
165  Great peace is to those who love Your Law, and there is no stumbling block for them.
 
Devotion:
It is a sad fact that we live in a world where telling lies is a common fact of life for so many people. We continue to see world leaders doing things that we think are not right because they crave the power their position gives them. We continue to see people in our lives tell lies to try and further their life in some way. But we also continue to see the vexation that such lies causes to one and all. The trouble that is brought on to the person telling the lie when it is found out. The trouble brought on others when that lie is told. The trouble wrought between God and that person…
 
We need to make sure that our hearts are set upon God’s Word so that we will know His commandments. The bible gives us a way of living that is a secure and just way of living. It gives us a way of living that will not conflict with itself! A lie told will eventually come back on itself and conflict with itself… God’s Word is perfect and cannot! So long as we are willing to give in to God’s ways and not to give in to the ways of the world, we are building up the strength of our relationship with God. Whenever we bring sin into our lives, we are driving a wedge between us and God; a wedge that has to be removed by Him through His forgiveness after we are willing to admit to that sin.
 
By God’s Word we have so much to gain. Against God’s Word, we are nothing. Allowing one ant into your kitchen may not seem a big thing, but pretty soon thousands upon thousands of ants will be running wild. Sin is like that in our lives; allow one in and we open the door to so many more. Lies are a prime example of that! They may not seem bad when told one at a time, but before long one will have to lead to another two and those to others, swamping us before too long. Sticking with God’s laws means that we cannot go wrong…
 
Points to Ponder:
How often do you tell or think a lie?
 
How long would God’s Word have lasted if there was a single lie in it?

Wednesday 16 Apr 2008

Wednesday Reading: Hebrews 3 14-19
 
Key Verse: Hebrews 3 19
19  So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
 
Devotion:
It is our privilege to be partakers of Christ, that is to say, to be able to live with The Holy Spirit who will guide us in our lives. When we accept God into our lives and ask Him for His forgiveness through what Jesus Christ has done for us, He is faithful and just to stand by us for the rest of our lives until we meet Him in heaven. If He is so faithful toward us, then we should be showing faith in Him by being steadfast to the end. That alone will show the sincerity of our faith. If we are not willing to stick by Him, then did we actually mean what we said in the beginning?
 
We can see so many examples of people who have said that they believe but have not followed through with things. Take the Children of Israel when they were released from the hands of the Egyptians after the plagues that were set on the locals. They started out on their journey with a fervent belief – can you imagine not believing when you walk between two walls of water crossing the sea? But then their faith dwindled and they started asking questions when they thought it was time to be delivered!
 
One thing that we have to remember is that when we put our faith in God, we have to stick with it through all the trials we will face as well as through the good times. He wants us to be able to go through things in our lives so that we will be able to stand up to further trials when they come. He wants us to be able to stand firm, showing others that we depend on a God that delivers! He wants us to show our faith by standing form ourselves…
 
God saw through the hearts of those Israelites that did not believe and did not allow them to enter into the Promised Land. God sees through our hearts and will not allow us to enter into heaven unless we do believe. Stand up for your faith. Stand up for Jesus!
 
Points to Ponder:
Do your parents see through the pretences that you lay up?
 
How much more does God see through your ways?

Tuesday 15 Apr 2008

Tuesday Reading: Lamentations 3 1-26
 
Key Verse: Lamentations 3 26
26  It is good that one should hope for the salvation of The LORD, even in silence.
 
Devotion:
Oh how we can get depressed and revel in our depressions. How we can get stuck in and really feel sorry for ourselves! And boy do we enjoy it sometimes… I am sure we have all been there at some stage, wondering just how bad things can get and then complaining evermore when they do seem bad. But notice the first three words… “I the man”.
 
All our worries and all our ailments are brought on our human selves. It is the human part that we complain about, the human part that we feel sorry for, the human part which feels like it is going to fall apart at any moment… Our human parts are feeble! The temptations are giving into by our human bodies. But what of us? What of the real you and me?
 
No matter how bad things may seem to get it is through God’s mercy that we know that they are not any worse than they are. No matter what we think of the things falling apart around us, we know that God’s compassions will never fail. No matter how physical our lives may get, God’s compassion will always be there; His mercies will never fail. No matter how things break down and how rotten things may get, God will always be there as He has done before time began!
 
It is our duty to wait patiently on God for His mercy and compassion. It is our hope that He will deliver us from our ailments. It is our knowledge that He is in control no matter how much we get out of control. Our afflictions will, and do work for the good of God. We find strength in coming through our afflictions. We find that even when we seem to break down physically, God will and is always there giving us the strength and hope that we need. He humbles us so that we can know He is real. He allows things through our lives to prepare us in some way for what lies ahead.
 
If tribulation works patience, that patience works experience and through that experience a hope that makes us not ashamed. God gets the glory!
 
Points to Ponder:
How much have you been through?
 
How much has God strengthened you?