Wednesday Reading: Romans 1 24-25
 
Key Verse: Romans 1 25
25  For they changed the truth of God into a lie, and they worshipped and served the created thing more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

 

Devotion:
Many people make the excuse that “God made them this way” so that they can continue to go off and do what they will. They blame their supposed sexuality on being “created like this”. Well, the truth be told, we were all created the same way, we were all created by God and nothing more and nothing less. God created us to have a free spirit and has given each one of us a choice as to what we do with ourselves – the choices we make are our own to make. He will try to guide us, but only so far as if we are willing to listen!

 

God does not put in us any vile thoughts, no guile, no hatred, no uncleanness... we are the ones that choose to take on those properties. God is simply allowing us to live out our free will. He will not stop us from exercising our free will even if it is hurting Him to watch us destroy ourselves. We are polluted by the very nature that we think is around us and we take on whatever social form we think we can handle. It is our choice. It is our own destruction. We see the temptations surrounding us and we give in to them. We lust after the lifestyles we see others have and go for what we can. We are the ones that change the glory of God and dishonour Him through what we do in our scandalous lifestyles.

 

The truth of the Gospel will continue to stand forever, but we continue to ignore it when it suits us. If we read it, we will see the truth and defend that truth – but only if we do sit down and read it! Once we are acquainted with God, He will never leave us again but instead will open our eyes to the things that we previously ignored. He will allow us to see just how far we have gone astray and give us the choice of coming back or continuing to walk our wicked ways. Just because we upheld something else in our lives, it does not mean that God has gone away – He is simply giving us the choice...

 

Points to Ponder:
Do you think you are easily lead?
 
How far do you go before admitting you are the one that changed the rules?

Tuesday Reading: Romans 1 18-23
 
Key Verse: Romans 1 22
22  Professing to be wise, they became fools

 

Devotion:
No matter what walk of life we are from, be it the most humble servant to the highest king or president, we all need God's gospel because it is the only way that we will learn of His Salvation. There is no other way that we can be saved – that has been proven throughout the years as people tried to buy their way through life only falling short of the mark. Nobody can escape the wrath of God through anything that they do. No matter how good we think we are, none of us can ever think or claim that we are good enough to make it to heaven without Christ's forgiveness before us.

 

What better way to describe hell than it being the wrath of God. For if we are not for Him, then we are against Him and then we have to face His wrath. He is our Creator and His creation is show all around us for all of us to see. We know it is His creation but many refuse to accept it because it would then mean that they too have to give in to God's will in their lives. They too would have to give up their ways and follow Christ. There is no excuse by which we can say, “but I did not know”, because we are born with certain knowledge and through that we are able to know that we do have a God. Finding out just who He is is our destiny.

 

When people do not acknowledge God, they are darkening their hearts and turning themselves into fools. They will continue to fight against that which is true and that which is right. They will continue to try to prove themselves correct against all odds. One day they will realise that they can no longer hide the truth... I only hope that that day is not the day they die and find out that they face the extreme wrath of God! God cannot be corrupted because there is no guile in Him. He cannot lie because He is the truth. We must either face up to His truth, or face up to our own lies.

 

Points to Ponder:
Do you always try to prove that you are right?

 

How many times have you faced God in a speaking contest?

Monday Reading: Proverbs 29 19
 
Key Verse: Proverbs 29 19
19  A servant will not be corrected by words, for though he understands, he will not answer.
 
Devotion:
It is difficult to explain to someone who has never known a servant that there is a difference between a slave and a servant. A servant is a willing helper that is being paid for the work that they do whereas a slave is one who is not working willingly whether they are being paid or not. A servant (in the above context) is someone who has willingly come forward to fill the job vacancy. A servant can be anything from a home help to a qualified nurse – they are in the same position. But how that servant conducts themselves is of the greatest importance.

 

If you were to take on a position at a company and work with a willing heart and work honestly, then they will continue to want you to work for them. But if you were to be dishonest and never complete you work, you would not last long. A servant is expected to do a certain amount of work, which they should be willing to do honestly and willingly. It is when they start refusing to do that work that the master will become upset and start to rule with a rod instead of words – it may be the only thing that servant understands.

 

It is false thinking to think that a servant who has come forward for work knows better than the master what the master wants. Before long, the servant will understand what the master wants. If that servant will not do what that master wants, then the master is likely to get aggravated with the servant. We need to remember that we are servants of God. We are not His slaves. We need to remember that we should be willing workers in His camp. We need to remember that we have the knowledge of what is right and wrong – He has given us the bible so that we should learn. We need to do His work willingly. When He asks, we should reply in words as well as in will and work. We can live a wonderful life as Christ's servants – so long as we are willing to listen and obey!

 

Points to Ponder:
Would you take on a position as a servant?

 

Are you willing to be Christ's servant?

Sunday Reading: John 3 13-16
 
Key Verse: John 3 16
16  For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

 

Devotion:
It is difficult for us to understand how God could be in heaven and on earth, away from us and with us. Christ's words here showed that He was still God, that He had always been God and that He was able to descend from heaven and then ascend to heaven at the time that He chose. This must have been a bit of a brain strain on the disciples until they learned why Jesus died and remembered this passage that He had spoken. They had remembrance of the scriptures that told them of how the serpent was made and lifted up for everyone to see and that everyone who looked up at it would be saved from the lethal snake bites.

 

We still have that same choice now. Christ has been lifted up onto the cross to die. We need just look up and recognise what He has done, believing that He has done that and that He is the Son of God. That is all we have to do. He has already been lifted up and died for us. He has accomplished all that has to be accomplished. He has fulfilled the scriptures. It is all there in black and white...

 

God has done what has been done out of His love for us. He has showed us that He loved us so much that He was willing to allow His Son to die for us, to take on our sentence so that we would be allowed to be set free from our sins. His loves was shown to all people of the world, no matter how good or evil. It was not thus shown to the angels because they were expected to follow Him no matter what. We, on the other hand do have the choice that we can turn back from our evil ways and turn to Him once more. Once we have made that simple choice, we will be saved forever. Once we have accepted God back into our lives, we are with Him forever more. What a wonderful, wonderful gift!

 

Points to Ponder:
Do you like getting presents?
 
Why do so many people refuse to open His free gift to us all?