August 6: Ephesians 5 15-21
Key Verse: Ephesians 5 17
Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
Devotion:
Have you ever sat down and tried to work out when the most likely time for you to sin is? Is it when you are with non-Christians? Is it when you are alone? Is it when you are enjoying yourself? If you sit down and think about it, you may well be able to work out the circumstances which surround you when you are most likely to give in to sin. With that knowledge in hand, you should be able to either try and avoid those times, or work against your sin nature at those times. Either way, you are changing the way you live so you can walk closer to God because God is the one who cannot abide the sin.
The harder we try to make our lives less full of sin, the stronger we will be able to become in our work against sin. This will also give us a new-found strength in Christ because we will feel a whole lot closer to Him. How are we going to have any chance at understanding what God’s will is in our lives if we are going to be tuned in to the world and all its disturbances, noise, temptations and other junk we are surrounded by? How can we concentrate on God when we have so much pollution in our lives?
We are the ones who have to make the first step away from the clutter in our lives so we can once again pick up on the simple truth that God has been trying to tell us for such a long time! If we make our lives a better habitation for The Holy Spirit, we are more likely to be able to hear Him when He tries to speak to us! If you want birds to come into your garden you have to make your garden a better habitation for the birds; only then will they come forward and be seen in your garden.
When we change our lives to be more centred on God, He will be more willing to be more open with us because He will not have to fight for attention against all the sin we allow into our lives. Think about God more of the time by bringing more stuff into your life that He would like to see in it. Don’t chase Him away, invite Him in!
Points to Ponder:
Would you try to do homework outside in the rain?
Why then do we try to do God’s will in a sinful life?
August 5: Isaiah 12 1-6
Key Verse: Isaiah 12 4
In that day you will say: “Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.
Devotion:
Can you remember the day you accepted Christ as your Saviour? Can you remember how you felt? This passage goes some way into describing the relief and subsequent praise after knowing God forgave you when you asked it of Him. But it also reminds us of a few more things…
Our anger against God for allowing things into our lives melted away. No longer were we at odds against God because we now know He loves us and comforts us. It was us who brought many things upon ourselves because we were the ones not listening!
He showed us His strength by giving us that hope when we had none. He became our new song of Hope and our new centre of strength. His strength, love, mercy and grace know no bounds, so we can continue to draw on them like pulling water out of a well.
He gave us a new heart so we would go to others and show them how wonderful a God we do have. We told others His name was above all names, giving them hope.
He put a song in our hearts which brightened up our whole lives. Isn’t it amazing how His love can brighten up the dullest situation when we give Him the glory?
He gave us a promise He would be with us for the rest of eternity. Who else in our lives could ever promise such a thing?
You see, when God comes into our lives, our lives change. Our new life with Him begins from that moment on. Now we can put it aside and go back to our old ways, but in doing so, we drag the Holy Spirit with us. Or we can put aside the old ways and move forward the way God wants it. It is not something new since Christ, but the way God made it from the beginning of time. He wants us to be in a permanent relationship with Him so our lives will reflect that fact!
Points to Ponder:
Do you change when you meet someone you like?
How has your life changed when you met Christ?
August 4: Psalms 145 1-9
Key Verse: Psalms 145 3
Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.
Devotion:
The one thing we can be good at is asking for mercy and grace when we are caught in a difficult spot. We know how to plead when we need to, and we know how to be humble when we have nothing left. It is then we see the wonderful, loving grace and power of our Wonderful God. We have no problem giving Him the praise when He shows us grace or kindness. We have no problem praising Him when He has blessed us in some manner… But how many times do we continue with that praise when we have the blessings and we no longer find ourselves in trouble? How many times do we forget just who is the one behind the blessings?
When we, under troubles and temptations, abound in prayer, we shall, in a while, abound in grateful praise because we know He is just and true to His Word to support and bless us by answering our prayers. But we need to continue in prayer and praise of our most Awesome God when we are in trouble and when we are not. We need to continue our praise when we are in good times just as much as when we are in the doldrums. Nothing quite shows our love for our God that continued prayer and praise!
He is the one who is full of compassion, full of goodness and full of grace; not just in Words but in Works as well. He promised He would give us a Saviour and that is exactly what He did by coming to the cross to die for our sins. He promised He would show us love and grace and He did exactly that through blessing those around Him. Now He continues to show never-ending love and grace by continuing to bless people everywhere who are willing to trust wholly in His Name!
We will never be able to search out all that God has done because He continues to do things every day. We will never be able to understand fully why He does it because we cannot fathom the extent of His love for us. His boundless graciousness, compassion, love and mercy are without end!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you turn to God when things are bad?
How often do you turn to God when things are good?
August 3: Acts 28 17-24
Key Verse: Acts 28 24
Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe.
Devotion:
Just how much would you hold fast to God whilst you were persecuted? How much would you be willing to put up with just because you believe in Christ? For Paul it meant having to be bound in chains and jailed for more than 2 years, having to face up to questioning from the Jews and from the Romans, having to be smuggled around the country for fear of certain Jews killing him and even sent out to sea in a ship which finally was wrecked on a small island… and then to be further kept in bonds! But throughout all of this he stood fast in proclaiming that Jesus raised from the dead and He is our Saviour. He knew the Old Testament inside out and used it to convince people of the validity of Christ’s life, death and His resurrection – all whilst being bound. How many days would it have been before you cracked?
It is a hard thing to accept we will be persecuted for telling the truth and for upholding God’s laws. It is a hard thing to stand up against the lawyers and judges and proclaim a simple truth about Jesus when they have so much knowledge to work against you. But that is where faith comes in. If we are willing to give over our problems, our persecutions to Christ, He is willing to guide us in ways we thought not possible so we can give out the Gospel to those who need it most. Those who need it most will be the ones that are the most willing to persecute us!
It is easy to tell someone about Christ when they are willing to listen, but it is not so easy when they are rebelling. When someone wants to find out about Christ they will ask questions and we can answer them – all we have to do is to make sure we do not answer lightly thinking they will see the truth easily. We still need to make sure we give them the truth in a manner where they can see it clearly and not be tempted away. When people are eager to listen they will be listening to everything, both the truth and the temptations. If we are weak and show them temptations as well as the truth, they will learn from the temptations because they are so much easier! Paul continued to show the actual truth no matter how much it was costing his private life…
Points to Ponder:
Are you easily persuaded?
How easy do you make it for others to see Christ through you?
August 2: Psalms 47 1-9
Key Verse: Psalms 47 2
For the Lord Most High is awesome, the great King over all the earth.
Devotion:
How often do we praise God for all He is and all He does? How often do we lift Him up as the Awesome God He is? Never enough!
Isn’t it funny that when things go wrong we turn to God and plead with Him to make things right; and yet when things go right we turn around and say how wonderful we are! The first thing which crops into our minds when things go right has got to change from being the “hey, I was great!” call to the “Praise God!” call. We need to make sure God is above all, before all and always all in everything we do in our lives. We need to make sure He is praised as our God and not just someone who is called upon when things get tough!
When you were small, how many times would you say your dad would beat up the other kid’s dad? How many times did we praise our parents without thinking? And yet, how many times do we lift up God as our strength and redeemer? Not often enough! We do not have a problem upholding the physical as we see it but our faith wanes when we should be holding up our unseen God. When we are amongst other Christians we uphold God and we all know how wonderful He is, and yet when we are amongst non-believers we tend to keep quiet about the wonders of our Saviour and King.
We need to be bolder. We need to be more confident. We need to show others we do know our God is real and He is our Awesome, Most High, Greatest Redeemer, Saviour and King. How else will they be encouraged to find out more about Him but to know He is real through what we do and how we speak about Him? We need to learn about our God so that we can speak about Him with authority and wisdom. What better place to learn that with talking things over with your friends and family whilst reading God’s Word which He has given us for that exacting purpose!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you show others that you believe in your parents?
How often do you show others that you believe in your God?