Wednesday Reading: Psalm 135:5-7
 
Key Verse: Psalms 135 5
5  For I know that Jehovah is great, and our LORD is above all gods.

 

Devotion:
How many times have you watched nature programs about the sea? I have seen a fair few in my time and it is amazing how they are changing over time. The more that man is able to descend into the ocean deeps, the more that he is learning about a whole new world under the ocean. We discovered how deep the ocean floor was quite some time ago, but we still have not been able to explore those depths at our will. We have crafts that will now make it down there, but the expense is so great that we cannot simply go down for a browse around.

 

There are many places on top of the water that we cannot simply go and look at either because of the extreme of the weather too. Yet we like to think that we know so much about the planet. Truth be told, we actually know a lot due to people who are willing to make it their life’s work to go and find information and make films for us to watch. But we can only learn about what they find out. Unfortunately as they find out more, they like to come up with weird and wonderful explanations about how the unknown looks or came to be. More unfortunate are the powers that be that then tell us that this must be the truth and teach it to us in our schools.

 

Why must we know everything? Why must we go out of our ways to try and explain everything in scientific terms? The truth has been told to us for thousands of years and still we refuse to believe it all. God has continued to give us all manner of clues from the deepest ocean to the highest mountain. He is our Creator. He is our God. He exists! We even celebrate holidays for His birth, death and resurrection! Why do we then refuse to come to Him and acknowledge Him as our God? Pride, arrogance and lust… nothing more…

 

Points to Ponder:
What do you see when you watch a nature program?
 
Do you remind people about who actually created this planet?

Tuesday Reading: Job 12 6-11
 
Key Verse: Job 12 7
7  But now ask the animals, and they shall teach you; and the birds of the air, and they shall tell you;

 

Devotion:
Do you ever think that some people are just too clever for their own good or too something-or-other anyway! Sometimes we look at others and ask ourselves, why on earth are they able to get away with that! We look at people ruining other countries, we look at people ruining their own lives, we look at people that don’t see to care… and we think… why? Why can’t they see what is going on? Why can’t they look around themselves and see what is real? As Job says here, we only need look at the animals around us to figure out just how wonderful a God we have. We don’t need to go on a 10 year research trip to find out if there is a God. We just need to open our eyes!

 

But then we start to look at thieves and robbers and ask why they can prosper. We look at the evil and impious and ask why they are allowed to prosper. What are we actually looking at? What are we seeing? We are looking at the prosperity of one or two individuals in a world of billions. We are looking at the monetary gain of a few people when God is looking at the whole picture. Just like we might not be able to understand why the hummingbird seemingly expends so much energy to gain a small amount, we do not fully understand this world that we live in.

 

Take a look around and see the many wonderful things that God gives us. Not just the money in our pockets but the grass on the ground, the trees, the birds, the deer and even the scores of rabbits. He is the one that is allowing each one of those things to prosper for a reason. He is the one that is allowing each of us to prosper. He is the one that is allowing the evil and impious to survive and even prosper whilst on earth… for a reason… If we cannot understand the simplicity of nature, then how can we hope to understand the complexity of the universe! God is in control! We just need to realise it!

 

Points to Ponder:
How often do you marvel at nature?

 

How often do you thank God for nature?

Monday Reading: Proverbs 30 24-28
 
Key Verse: Proverbs 30 25
25  the ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their food in the summer;
 
Devotion:
You don’t have to go and find the biggest and best in order to find wisdom for there is so much wisdom in God’s creation – all we need do is look around us. What could be weaker than an ant? You can stand on them and kill them without even knowing about it. It is little wonder that people use ant as a proverb to describe someone’s utter weakness. And yet to watch them you would wonder about their intelligence. You can marvel at the amount that they are able to do, the size of objects they are able to pick up and even the way they gather together. Yet God has given these creatures the ability to go out and gather all that is required in the summer months so that they can survive the winter. What an awesome God we have!

 

Coneys, rock-rabbits, rock-badgers, whatever you would want to call them are another surprise that we overlook all the time. What else would make it’s home in the midst of rocks? Yet that is the place that God has given them to have their homes, knowing that that is the best possible protection for them from those they seek them as food. They feed on the things that God has given them amongst the rocks and have a fruitful life.

 

Locusts seem to be in a world of their own. Seeking one is nothing special, but when faced with a huge swarm of them, nothing is going to survive. Who is the one guiding them as they swarm, for they have no leader. Who is the one that gives them direction? Why do they gather is such numbers as to seemingly cover the face of the earth? Again, a small and insignificant animal or insect, but one that can cause havoc or cause us to marvel.

 

The humble lizard can be found almost anywhere in warm climates. From the rocks out in the country to the kings’ palaces, they can be found anywhere – just as spiders are found everywhere. Who, but our Creator, can keep an eye on all of these for us to marvel at. What an awesome God we have!

 

Points to Ponder:
How often do you stop to watch nature?

 

How often do you think about God’s Creation?

Sunday 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:
How many of us will go and get changed when our clothes get dirty? How many will change when we get wet? How many will change if our clothes are torn? Unless we have good reason not to, all of us would at least wish to get changed out of the clothes that are damaged or spoiled and put on new clothes so we would feel more comfortable – that is leaving out modern trends for going round in “pre-torn” jeans! We like to be comfortable and “right”. Even as far as our houses… if they are damaged, then we would seek a place to stay where we will be comfortable and safe again. We don’t like to have to put up with things that we can change.

 

So why should our spiritual lives be any different to our physical lives? Why should we have to put up with the dirt and damaged spiritual things that we have in our lives? Why do we not turn away from them and turn towards something that is “right”… Well, just like the “pre-torn” jeans that we have in our lives, we see things that are not spiritual and think that they are in some way better than what we have. I mean, logically, torn jeans should be mended or thrown away because they no longer supply the protection that they were design for in the first place. But society has now deemed it “cool” to have jeans that look like they are older than us!

 

Just like a small child may find it difficult to change out of their dirty clothes, we will find it difficult to change out of our damaged or unclean spiritual lives. We need someone to help us to change. We need someone to point out when we are dirty because we may not think about the dirt because of all the fun we are having. Isn’t Satan wily! He continues to get us into situation where we will not see the damage we have done spiritually until it is too late. We need to keep Christ close to us so that He can help us to stay clean even when we are having fun!

 

Points to Ponder:
How many times a day do you change clothes?
 
How many times a day do you bring things to Christ?