October 10: Romans 11 28-33
Key Verse: Romans 11 32
For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.
Devotion:
When we take God’s Word literally we find there are people whom we should avoid and keep clear of; those people being the ones who do not want to believe in God. What we should be ensuring is that we do not allow their ways of life to pollute our ways as we follow God... But that does not mean God does not love them! How would we have got to know God if He did not love us when we were like that? How would we have got past the barrier which is set up to prevent sin from getting to heaven? There is absolutely no way we can span that barrier without Jesus Christ.
God does not look down and think about how sorry He is for giving us a way of getting to heaven even though we are sinners. He does not look back with regret because of the sinful lives we still live – even though we proclaim ourselves to be Christian. Instead, His mercy covers our indiscretions! If we had always believed in God, we would not truly know His mercy; we would not know the extent of His amazing love for us. Instead He has allowed us to find out just how much of a sinful bunch we are and then extended His mercy towards us.
God wants us to know just how much we have done against Him so we will come humbly in repentance before Him. Then He will be able to show us the all-covering mercy that He has towards us. Then we will begin to understand the extent of His love towards us! Does this mean He has caused us to sin in the first place? Far from it! We chose the sinful path we trod; He allowed us to make our own choices. He tried to show us right from wrong, but we rejected Him. He continued to love us even when we turned our backs on Him. When we turn back to Him, we too can find just how much He loves us and how much He has already done for us without us knowing about it... Without Him, we are eternally trapped by our own sins...
Points to Ponder:
Have you ever felt really bad about what someone else has done?
How must God feel about our lives?
October 9: 1 Corinthians 10 23-33
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 10 31
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
Devotion:
It is very easy to be drawn into discussions or even arguments over whether things are right or wrong according to scriptures. It is also very easy to get side-tracked into reading other things when trying to find out the truth... But what we should be doing is seeking that truth and showing it to others. When people have a little knowledge of the bible, it can be a bad thing. Let us take an over simplified example. If we read the first part of Romans 6 23 we find the phrase “for the wages of sin is death”. If someone were just to have that in their knowledge, they may well hate God or someone else for telling them those words. But if they were to also know the second phrase from that verse they would find the truth “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Just as a little knowledge of Christianity can discourage people; it can also be used against us. In our passage today we see phrases which could be used against Christians if they were taken out of context from the whole passage; but far worse a cause would be that it would trip up the unbeliever and cause them to stray further from God. For this reason we are warned in this passage to try and not offend others by going against their beliefs just because we do not agree with their beliefs; how upset would we be if they went against us just because they did not believe in Christ? To take our phrases from Romans: it is no use telling people they are going to die unless you can also tell them about God’s wonderful gift!
Whilst it is true that everything on earth is God’s and He has given it as a place for us to live and told us to “subdue it” and “have dominion over” everything; He did not mean that it gives us free will to do absolutely anything we like. If we exercise our absolute free will we will quite quickly come to the point where we are no longer giving God the glory for everything but rejecting Him. We do need to care for what we do and we need to allow others to see we do – so that God will get the glory!
Points to Ponder:
What do you like doing best of all?
How does that give glory to God?
October 8: Zechariah 7 1-7
Key Verse: Zechariah 7 5
“Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?
Devotion:
Whilst we do live in a time of God’s grace (because we live after God has shown us His grace by allowing His Son to give His life on the cross), we must always remember the scriptures of old because it is from them that we find all God has given to man to prepare us for His grace. How could we fully understand His grace without first knowing the history of the law and come to terms with how much of our life conflicts with the law? It is certainly good to know the law because it is the law which will show us we do fall far short of the mark whereby we will be accepted into heaven. Now we know what Christ has done for us, we also know we have a sure-footed path whereby we can be one with our Saviour.
But there are always questions and doubts which we need answers to, so we can move forward. This is the reason why we have the whole bible, so we can seek out those answers and know God is real! What use is a bunch of rules to follow if we do not know why we are following them? Why should we live in a particular way if we do not know why we are living in that manner? That is why we have our bibles – so we can know all that God requires us to know...
But, just reading our bibles like a novel is not enough. We need to consult our bibles and seek further understanding... Whether we seek that from others, ministers or from God is up to us; we will get different levels of understanding from each. What we do with God’s Word is important! If we are going to read it and put it aside, it is most likely not going to help us. If we simply follow the rules, it is most likely not going to help us... But if we read, meditate and follow it from within our hearts, we surely have started to walk the sure-footed path! We need to make sure we do what we do for the right reasons and not just because it is written down...
Points to Ponder:
Do you like to know “why”?
Do you know why you should follow God’s Word?
October 7: Luke 1 46-55
Key Verse: Luke 1 46
And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord…
Devotion:
What could be more encouraging than to talk to each other about the blessings which God continues to give to each of us? What can be more uplifting than reminding each other about God’s mercies He shows each of us? This is exactly what Mary was doing with Elisabeth; each of them encouraging and blessing each other. But Mary saves the most for God, the one who has made this all possible and the one who is to get all the glory.
Mary knew certain things. She knew that God was and is the one and only true God and that her life was in His hands. She also knew she was a sinner because she admitted to needing a Saviour. She also knew she bowed down to God alone and worshipped Him alone in fear and humility. She also knew she had a wonderful blessing and would be remembered forever for carrying Jesus Christ within her. She also knew God had already done and would still do many wonderful things for her. She also remembered all that had happened and glorified God for His mercy; not just to her but to all the generations which had gone before her too.
What an example! Not only do we see someone who upholds God, His name and all He has done; but someone who is willing to tell another about this all. And then, on top of that, to show what wonderful things happen to those who fully trust in God. Mary had placed her life in God’s hands. She had realised her need for a Saviour. She knew God was the only one who could save her. She knew God was the one who always looked out for her. She knew God was the one looking out for all of them too. All that peace and understanding had come from God because of what she had done; simply placing her life back in the capable hands of God...
We need to take a leaf from Mary’s life and bless God for all He does in our lives. We need to remember Him for what He really is and count our many blessings we receive from our wonderful, loving, merciful Saviour!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you tell others of the good things that happen to you?
How often do you tell others of the good things God does for you?
October 6: Psalms 103 13-18
Key Verse: Psalms 103 17
But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children
Devotion:
So many places in our bibles remind us of how much God has done for mankind, right from the beginning of time. As bad as we may think things are, or as bad as things actually do get, it is owing to the mercy of God that they are not any worse than they are. He does continue to watch over us and He does care for us. We only need to look at each situation and we will see how much He does do; we may be surrounded by bad things and things going wrong, but when we look closely, we do see His hand in everything as He takes care of the most unexpected things. God’s compassion knows no ends; it is like we are given a new bucket-full every morning to last us each day.
Just as the people of Israel gathered manna each morning and each found that they had exactly enough to last the day, we too are shown exactly the right amount of care and compassion from God to see us through. No matter how long we continue to depend on God, He will continue to support us just the right amount to keep us going. When we build up our portions here on earth, they will eventually perish; but God’s portions will last forever, each being given at the right moment and exactly by measure.
With our knowledge that God will provide for our souls, we need to place our dependence firmly in His hands. We know we can depend on Him because of His promises and all that has happened in the past; we must therefore trust in Him with faith, knowing He will take care of our souls. He has promised us eternal life when we do trust Him. He has not let anyone down yet. How can we even think He will let us down; it is only our own earthly weaknesses which allows those thoughts to dwell in our minds. Put those thoughts aside and live in faith. We don’t have to shout about our faith from the mountain-tops because our demonstration of faith is something that exists between us and God. Trust in Him, always.
Points to Ponder:
How do you show others you trust them
Are you showing God that you trust Him?