August 26: Matthew 9 1-8
Key Verse: Matthew 9 8
When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to man.
Devotion:
The faith of the man who was paralysed versus the religion of the scribes... Not much of a context when viewed in God’s eyes, but a huge difference when viewed in man’s eyes! The local law was maintained by the people appointed as scribe, people who were held as higher members of society; it was upheld and even controlled by them. Yes, they did have all of the same laws given to them by God through Moses and they were continuing to try and maintain them, but they were ignoring the truth about Jesus being the Messiah, maybe because they did not want to lose control. They were the ones who had the good positions in society because of what they had to do. They were the ones who should have been looking out for all off the prophecies coming true and proclaiming Christ as King...
We do like to keep control of our situations and of as much of the world around us as we can – or that is what we like to think we can do... These men who brought the paralytic were doing it because they believed Jesus would be able to heal the man. They did so by bowing to His superior position as their Messiah. That faith allowed the man to be forgiven of his sins. This single thing did not then allow the man to get up and run off; he was not paralysed because of his sins! We do not have natural things happen to us in our lives because of our sins – they happen because this is the world we live in, a world where things like this happen! This man was forgiven of his sins because Christ knew he believed in Him through coming to see Him face to face.
The scribes may not have done anything if Jesus has simply healed the man, but Jesus knew what they were after in their minds and forgave his sins first. That got them a bit upset thinking that someone was usurping their position. After that Jesus did what the man and his companions had wanted; he healed him and sent him on his way. When Christ answers prayers, they will be answered in a way where He will be glorified and without limit – simply because of His awesome love for us!
Points to Ponder:
What sort of things do you ask of your friends?
What sort of things do you bring to God?
August 25: Isaiah 6 1-8
Key Verse: Isaiah 6 5
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”
Devotion:
This is a short bit of text from Isaiah describing a vision he had which made him truly realise just how much of a sinner he was. Here, Isaiah, one of the prophets we always think of as being a true man of God, sees just how far short of the mark he falls because of his realisation at who God is. He realised his fear of God. This is not a knee trembling fear but the uttermost respect for the Most High God. If this is the way Isaiah saw himself, then how should we be looking at ourselves? We who are mere people, who may attend a church, who try to do our bit, just people who believe in this same Very God... When is it that we will realise who we are in the sight of God?
This is also a vision which looks forward to God’s church. His church is not the buildings and certainly not an organisation, but a body of believers who all bow down before our God in reverence and fear. Just as the temple was filled with the smoke, so our bodies are filled with The Holy Ghost when we profess to believe in Jesus Christ and ask Him to forgive us of our sins. From that moment onward Christ is willing to present us to God the Father as blameless, sinless; and yet we do continue to sin again – almost immediately after accepting Him as Saviour! What a loving God we have who is willing to listen to the endless string of excuses and wait for us to admit to our sins so He is able to forgive us once again...
If there were not a mediator between us and God, we would not even make it to the bottom of the stairs. We are simply not worthy to approach God in any way. Yet, with Christ as our mediator, we are able to approach God as sinless people because Christ has taken on all of our sins when He submitted Himself to the cross to lay His own life down for us! Each one of us can go forward with uttermost confidence in knowing Christ will stand up and declare us clean in front of God the Father! What an Awesome God we have!
Points to Ponder:
What does it take to make you feel guilty?
Do you have to wait for Christ to catch you first?
August 24: Romans 15 8-13
Key Verse: Romans 15 13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Devotion:
For so many years the Jews waited for the one who would fulfil the prophecies. They waited for their Messiah; and many still wait because they don’t want to believe Christ could be born as a mere human being. But as we look back on the life of Christ we can see how He fulfilled every prophecy and did so much more. How then can they not see Christ as the Messiah? There is no excuse left for them to try and use other than the fact they do not want to believe!
As it is now with all non-Jews, we have no excuse left which we can bring up to say that Christ is not the Messiah. The only excuse any man can have is that he has not heard the gospel at all – and there are not many people left who have not heard about Jesus Christ being crucified for them. Unfortunately, many do not understand because the story has never been told to them in all its glory. For once we hear the truth, we too have no excuse not to believe it... It is already written that all nations will praise His Holy name – that is a fact.
The one thing which sets Christ apart from any other religion, sect or way of life is that with our belief in Him we have a joy and peace surpassing all others. When we put our faith and trust in Him we do find a joy and peace that goes far beyond any other we can find. Nothing in our lives will ever be able to give us that same joy and peace. Nothing we create or do can ever replace Christ. Nothing can ever live up to the power of God, our Creator, our Sustainer and our King; because God is the power behind us all. He loves us so much He gave us His Son and He demonstrated His love for us by laying down His life on the cross. His continued love can be experienced day by day through living with The Holy Spirit, the one whom He gave us to give us Joy and Peace every day of our lives. How can we turn our backs on such a wonderful, loving, just God who has done so much for us already – yet continues to do things for us even when we continue to trip up and falter from His ways.
Points to Ponder:
Does your best friend wind you up or make you happy?
Are you seeking Christ to find your joy and peace?
August 23: Psalms 39 1-7
Key Verse: Psalms 38 7
But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.
Devotion:
How many times have you caught yourself thinking an evil thought or even blurting out an evil sentence? We like to think we have a control on our tongues, but if truth be told, they do tend to talk a whole lot quicker than we tend to think; most times getting ourselves into trouble before we know it! But where do those words come from? Why do we let them out?
If we look at ourselves with all honesty, we will see where those words come from. We do tend to think those words a whole lot more than we let them go. If we are constantly thinking about them, is it any wonder then they come out? One day we should be at the stage we can spot when we are thinking about them and try to suppress them before they come out; when we get into that habit, we will think of them less and it will be less likely they come out in the first place! The more we think about evil things, the more we get into the habit of those thoughts; and as with any habit, it does tend to let itself come to the surface without you realising just how much.
If we cannot control our mouths, then a good exercise would be to be totally silent. Just stop saying anything. Give your mouth a rest and allow your brain to catch up... If we did do that regularly, we may well find we can start to control our mouths because we are allowing our minds to realise what is going on before our mouths let loose. Above all, don’t be impatient. For as long as you are impatient, your mind is not able to catch up with your feelings and your mouth!
We don’t know how long we do have to live. We don’t know how soon our time is going to be up. So why do we insist on letting things ride? Why do we insist on allowing our mouths to get the better of us when we know that if we took a few seconds to think, we could end the day on a good note rather than in a strop with someone! What eats at you more than being annoyed with someone overnight? What would cause you to think more bad thoughts than being annoyed at the time when you cannot make amends? Life is too short to get caught up in vain words!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you let loose with your mouth?
Have you tried calling on God to calm your thoughts before speaking?
August 22: 2 Peter 1 19-21
Key Verse: 2 Peter 1 20
Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things.
Devotion:
Many people may try to tell you about the day the earth is going to end, the sun explode or melt us or some other cataclysmic event. All of this is conjecture on their part because they have come to this conclusion on their own. They will try to back it up with some very excellent theories, science, politics and all manner of things; some will even use the bible to try and back up their claims. But what we need to do is to remember what Christ had told the disciples – I don’t even know the time, only God The Father knows.
There are a lot of prophecies in our bibles we can look out for and then know times are getting closer, but when it comes down to predicting a time, a date or even a year, this will only be in man’s own head! There have been many stories told already and dates predicted; none of these have happened because they have all passed. But I see nothing in my bible which tells me that Christ is going to return when a specific event happens which they have all depended on. Whilst it may be true that some remarkable things will happen or have happened when all the planets line up or when there are a series of natural events, none of this proves a second coming of Christ! Yes, my bible tells me of natural events and human events happening, but still we cannot predict an actual date.
Bible prophecies have never come forward because man wanted them. Prophecies have never come forward because earthly events happened. Prophecies come from God when He alone uses men of God to show or warn others about an event which is going to happen. My bible tells me we should be ready for Christ’s second coming at all times. It tells me the date is not known and will not be known by any man. How can man therefore come up with a date for something that Christ has already told us is going to be at an unknown time?
God does not want us to sit around and do nothing until the day before He comes back! He wants us to be ready all the time! That is why He has not given us an exact date…
Points to Ponder:
Do you leave things until the day before they need to be done?
Are you leaving God’s work until the day before?