October 5: Psalms 89 1-4
Key Verse: Psalms 89 2
I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.
Devotion:
How many times have you been disappointed by thing that have happened in your life? How many times have you hoped for things but have been discouraged when they did not go according to your plan? It happens to us a lot of the time; we build up ideas or ideals in our heads and when they do not happen as we want, we get discouraged. This is part of life and part of being human. None of us are perfect and we will either build up ideas more than we can reasonably expect, or we based one idea on top of another idea and when something breaks in between we get discouraged.
Let us never think anything like this about God’s love and mercy for us. If we find that something has not gone the right way, then maybe God is showing us there is a way which is better where He will allow us to remember He is actually still in charge. Far too often when we get our own way, or we have a lot of success, we start to think we are the ones making it all happen and forget about how much God does do for us. If we do keep God in mind in everything that we do then we are more likely to remember His mercy, His love and His faithfulness towards us. The more we tell each other about God’s work in our lives, the more we will all be encouraged and the more we are actually singing His praises.
Just like trying to build a huge tower, we can only go up so far before things start to fall down. The more we build that tower whilst trying to keep it up ourselves, the less successful we actually become as we get higher. However, if we start our tower on solid ground, then we are able to build that bit higher. If we strengthen that tower as we go by use of the right materials, we can reach even higher. We need to start our relationship with God on a Rock – that is Jesus Christ. We then need to keep God in our lives as we continue to make sure we remain firm on His Foundation. Then we need to tell others about how we have done it, so they can too...
Points to Ponder:
Could you build a high tower from cards if you used glue?
Do you keep God in your life?
October 4: Psalms 100 1-5
Key Verse: Psalms 100 3
Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Devotion:
If ever you need encouragement to sing praises to our God, then this is one of the psalms you should read. There is coming a day when every person will know that Jesus Christ is our one true God and at that time we need to be sure we know Him before He has to turn His back on us and say He does not know us. There is so much in this world scientists are still yet to find out about, but the more they seek out solutions for everything, the more detail they find and the more complex the design of nature becomes. With this sort of complexity it is amazing they do not begin to realise there simply must be intelligent design behind everything and not a case of chance.
When we come to worship God, we need to make sure we do so humbly with reverence and fear; but as this Psalms reminds us, we also need to do it with love and joy! God wants each one of us to be happy in Him. He wants us to come worshipping with happiness because of all the things He continues to do for us. When we get down about things, it is the peace of God which will bring us back up again. When we fall away, He encourages us back again just like a faithful shepherd will do for his sheep.
We, each of us, has to know exactly what God is to us. We can do that through our personal relationship with Him. Consider the importance of having God in your life. Consider the importance of His Word and apply it in your life. He is our maker. He is our keeper. We are His people and we are His sheep in the pastures He has created for us. Know this. His word, His truth has stood the test of time because it is the truth. Trust in it. Depend on it. Come gladly to worship Him in truthfulness and love just as He continues to look after us faithfully, in truthfulness and love. Praise Him alone for His goodness and mercy that He has shown and continues to show each and every generation.
Points to Ponder:
How do you like to celebrate?
How do you celebrate your relationship with God?
October 3: John 12 35-36
Key Verse: John 12 35
Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going.
Devotion:
The most important thing we need to remember about God is that He cannot and will not abide sin. There is no way we can take sin with us to heaven and there is no way we can pay for all of our sins by ourselves. If we say we have a relationship with Him and yet we continue to walk in sin and live in our sinful world, then we are living a lie and are not practising the truth; we are lost in the darkness. That would be like walking into a dark room after the lights have gone out and telling everyone you have a torch when you do not have one; or you do have a torch but do not switch it on. What use is it going to be unless that light is used effectively?
It is one thing to say we are Christians, but it is a whole new world to live as a Christian. What use are we to anyone if we do not live as Christians do? What example are we going to be if we do not live for God? Who do you think you are going to fool if you do not live as Christ would have you to live? The people around you will see you for what you are – how you are behaving and not what you think you are. What sort of impression are you then giving by saying you are one thing and acting differently? What sort of impression are you making with God? The only one we are actually fooling for one instant is ourselves...
It is the blood of Jesus Christ which has already been shed on that cross for us which is able to cleanse us from our sin – nothing less... and certainly nothing more required! He who knew no sin was willing to give up His perfect life on that cross just for us. How do you think He felt when He took on your sins on the cross? He willingly took them on just so we would not be found guilty – it is our free gift to take! But, just as any gift, we are the ones that have to take it. Just as any gift, we are the ones that have to then look after it. We do that by living for Christ and not living for the world! We show our faith by living by it and showing others that we can certainly depend on it!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you say one thing and do another?
How often are you turning you back on God’s ways?
October 2: 1 John 2 1-2
Key Verse: 1 John 2 1
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
Devotion:
If you look up advocate in a dictionary or even on-line you will get a definition not dissimilar to this: “An advocate is one who speaks on behalf of another person. Implicit in the concept is the notion that the represented lacks the knowledge, skill, ability, or standing to speak for themselves.” In other words when we talk of Jesus as our Advocate, we are saying He is the knowledgeable one who is able to plead for our case with God. If we were to stand up and try and defend ourselves we would very quickly find ourselves condemned to death because of all of our sins. We do not know the answers, but Jesus does!
How can He do that? How can He (Jesus Christ) stand up there and say we are not guilty when we clearly are? The next word we need to study is “propitiation”. That means Jesus is willing to placate or overcome distrust with God the Father on our behalf. Because Christ cannot lie, when He tells God that we are innocent, He must mean it. This is done because when we take our sins to Christ, He is able to say to God the Father that we are no longer guilty because our sins have been paid for already by Him. In other words, the punishment has already been carried out on our behalf.
How can that be when we had not even been born yet? That comes in the last phrase of the 2nd verse “but also concerning the sins of all the world.” Christ did not go to the cross just to die for the sins of the people around Him but on behalf of every person born on this world. Christ made a single, absolute atonement for our sins by giving his life for our sins. He had not sinned and yet He was willing to give up His perfect human life to make sure that we were able to follow Him to heaven because of that fact. All we have to do is to believe that that is what He did and to remember it... and try to act like it!
Points to Ponder:
How do you feel about someone taking your punishment?
How do you feel about Christ taking your death sentence?
October 1: Matthew 12 1-4
Key Verse: Matthew 12 2
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Devotion:
We have a task set before us as did the Hebrews at the time of this writing. The task before them was to continue in obedience to their faith in Jesus Christ so they would gain their crown of glory – everlasting life. That same task is before us nowadays too; we need to strive to be obedient to our faith in Christ too and not to give in to the sins which come our way. It is so easy to give in to sin when it is right in your face, especially if you are apt to think nobody is watching or will ever know about it... That is our weakness – giving in to sin because it looms before us.
When we are faced with sin we should be remembering just what Christ has done for us. He is the one who did not sin even when tempted just as we are. He is the one who stood firm and took on our sin debt even though He did not deserve it. He is the one who shed His blood because of what we do... We are not the ones paying for our sins with blood because He has already done that. He did not give up in His obedience to God even though He had to pay for the sin with blood. We give in so easily when we compare what we do against that which Christ has already faced. When we are faced with sin we need to bring this to mind so that we can gain strength and face it.
While we allow sin to be part of our lives, we give it the power to continue in our lives. While we do not turn our backs on sin, we give it strength to continue. The more we feed our sins, the more they will take over and the more they will discourage us. We need to be steadfast and refuse sin before it takes hold in our lives. Let us not give in to carnal desires but gain spiritual strength by depending on our faith in Christ – who has already done for us what we cannot do!
Points to Ponder:
Do you find it hard to say no?
Are you forgetting all that Christ has already done?