Monday Reading: Proverbs 29 25-26
 
Key Verse: Proverbs 29 25
25  The fear of man brings a snare: but whoever putts his trust in the LORD shall be safe.
 
Devotion:
Isn't it sad to see so many people not owning up to knowing Christ. When people get into positions of trust, power or importance, they would rather say that they trust in other people than admitting to trusting in Christ. And when they start to do that, their life in Christ starts to suffer too – the more that they tell others of their convictions, the more that they will tend to believe it themselves. Pretty soon they find that they are trusting more in man than in God!

 

It is not something that is limited to people in important positions – this same reasoning can be applied to people in any walk in life. The less that we admit to knowing Christ, the more that we are hiding Him from others... including ourselves. The less that we walk with Christ, the less we are going to fell and be safe. The only sure way of making sure that we remain safe in Christ's arms is to be there always. The more that we show others that we are willing and able to openly trust Christ, the more they will want to know why. Try it... hold back some piece of information from someone and they will come running to find out what it is you are holding back... so long as they know you are holding something in the first place. If you do not allow them to see that you have inside information, they will simply ignore you.

 

The more we put our faith and trust in the people around us, the more likely we are to face a hard fall when push comes to shove. When people are finally put in a position where they have to admit to the truth, they will not hold back on saying just who else was around at the time – it is human nature. When they have to face God in their final judgement, they will certainly be telling the truth... Do you want to have to face up to scrutiny just because you let things ride when it suited you? There is no way that any man can judge another in fairness because we are all guilty to start with. Christ alone is the judge and all judgement must be left to Him!

 

Points to Ponder:
How often do you trust other people?

 

How often do you trust God?

Sunday Reading: 1 Corinthians 4 7-13
 
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 4 7
7  For who makes you to differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

 

Devotion:
Isn't it amazing how pride works in our lives. We become proud of what we achieve and what we can do. We become proud about how we can help others. But then we let pride get in our way and our pride begins to separate us from our friends. Our pride gets the better of us even when things go wrong for us! If we look at the good times in our lives, we see how we show pride in how good things get for us. Then when things get rough, we show pride in how bad things get for us... we boast about who has the worst time!

 

How little we realise just how much God is actually in our lives and how much God is trying to allow us to see that He is! When we start to get overconfident about ourselves, we often stumble and fall – how else do we get saying such as “pride comes before a fall”.  We have all things in our lives because of the grace of God. It is through the richness of God's grace that we are allowed things in our lives. If we start to make others believe that it is anything other than that, then we can expect things to go wrong. If we are not glorifying God for things that we have or do, then we are not trusting in the truth and not passing that truth on to others. How can we take credit for the things that are not our.

 

If we think that we have it bad, we can look back to the apostles lives and see just how good we have thing sin comparison. We can look at people in other countries and see how peaceful and safe our lives are. When we see how good things are going and start to boast about how good we are, we are deceiving ourselves because we know that it is through God's grace that we are allowed what we have. We need to work honestly under God's grace and make sure that our work not only reflects God's wishes, but also glorifies God for what He has allowed into our lives. No matter whether we are in the best or worst times – we need to let others know how God can change their lives too.

 

Points to Ponder:
Do you find yourself boasting without thinking about it?
 
How often do you let others know that God is behind you?

Saturday Reading: Acts 18 1-4
 
Key Verse: Acts 18 3
3  And because he was of the same trade, he stayed and worked with them; for they were tent makers by occupation.

 

Devotion:
At this stage in Paul's life, he was out planting churches. He probably got regular support from those that he had already planted, but that was not what rested on. He knew that people would support him, but he was still willing and able to continue with his trade, that of a tent maker. He did not want to be seen to sponge off the churches and more certainly would want to mix with people so that he could learn more about them. Being with people allows you to learn where they are in life and also to show them how a Christian lives. There would be no better time to encourage people than in the place of work where he could show them his love and support.

 

Setting a good example will work more than giving a good speech. People will listen to you talk but may well forget about it the next day. But showing them a good example will last in their memories more than any talk. People learn by example and are more willing to learn when they can be involved with things than having to sit down and listen. A good school teacher will always have something up their sleeve that will encourage the pupils to learn; they may even organise after school activities so that they will get to know their pupils better and know what they need.

 

If we want to make a difference in other peoples lives, then we should be willing to go forward and help others, to go and get involved in things and to bring the Christian way of living into other peoples lives. Cutting yourself off from society may well allow you to grow in your relationship with Christ, but mixing with others will allow you to share that relationship in front of others – encouraging them as well. Don't close yourself off with only the people from your church, but also allow yourself to mix with others when you get the chance to; just make sure you are packing Christ when you go out!

 

Points to Ponder:
Do you like mixing with others?
 
Do you take Christ wherever you go?

Friday Reading: Titus 3 8-9

 

Key Verse: Titus 3:8
8  Faithful is the Word, and as to these things, I desire that you strongly affirm that those believing God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.

 

Devotion:
One thing we must not forget is that just because we are saved from our sins and believe in Christ, it does not mean that we can now go out and do anything we like because it will be forgiven! We should still strive to uphold the written law whenever we can. It  was written for our own good as a way that we can live in peace and harmony with others. To go and destroy that way of living just because you can makes you worse than any sinner who does not know Christ; because now you do not have an excuse to do those things!

 

But we do see many people go to the other extent where they will do things written in the law in spite of others! We need to remember that we can go too far and dissuade people from coming to know Christ through the things we do. I am not saying that we need to bend the rules to allow us to get on with others, but to not try and extract more from God's laws than He has expounded to us! People try to see more in His Word than is actually written and tell people that that are wrong because they cannot see the points they make. If God has not inspired it to be written down, then God has not deemed it required of us. Making up our own rules to suit ourselves is just as bad as breaking God's rules!

 

We are allowed to live through God's grace. Because of His love we are shown many mercies. Because He cares for us, we can live with Him. Making your own rules and subjecting others to them means that you are trying to act like God. It does not mean that you are showing mercy nor grace, nor does it mean that you are showing others you love them. God's law stands! Anything else is man made and will not survive...

 

Points to Ponder:
Do you like others to do what you say?
 
Do you actually follow what God says?