August 1: Matthew 21 28-32
Key Verse: Matthew 21 31
“Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.”
Devotion:
One of the things you could absolutely count on with Jesus was He would plainly tell the truth in ways you would remember. How many times have you told a lie in the past few days; it may not have been a whopper, it may have been saying something which would lead others to believe something else… What about your actions? Have you done something just so others will get an impression of you which is not strictly true? That is one thing most of us do all the time without thinking about it. We do something just so people will get an impression we are either doing something good or so it looks like we even do it all the time!
A lie is a lie in any words or actions you care to put it in. There is no going round the fact you are telling a lie verbally or physically. We even think them through before doing or saying them; premeditated or what! And yet we sweep them under the carpet as if we have not told a lie before!
Jesus’ parable was quite simple. The one son plainly said “no” to his father’s request but after a while felt guilty about not doing what his father had asked and decided to go and do the work after all. He may not have pleased his father in the beginning, but he did not lie as to his intentions at the time. The second son said “yes” and did not even go anywhere near the work. He was the one who lied through his teeth just so his father would think good of him. How long do you think it would have been before his father found out the truth? Just like that, our sins may well go unnoticed for a while; but you can count on them being brought to light before too long and when they are brought to light, who is the one who is going to have to face up to the consequences?
There are many people in this world who were criminals but who have since repented of their lifestyles and begun to follow Christ. But how many more people are there who make it look like they follow Christ but are not living the life He would have us and maybe do not even believe in Him?
Points to Ponder:
Do you live out lies?
Do you really think God cannot see the lie brewing in your mind?
July 31: Matthew 21 18-22
Key Verse: Matthew 21 19
Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.
Devotion:
Faith is much the same as a fruit tree which is planted in that it does grow if it is able to obtain nourishment from somewhere. But if it does not have enough goodness supplied to it, it may well not give you any fruit. The simple fact is the tree needs to be supplied with nutrients in order to grow and must have enough in order for the fruit to be bountiful. Our faith is nothing different because we need to have a source from which we can obtain our nutrients – that is God’s Word. We also have to make sure we do obtain those nutrients at regular intervals…
How many times have you expected someone to be able to do something because they have talked about it for so long; only to find out they cannot carry it out? We come forward and profess ourselves to be Christians. If we tell others we are a Christian, they will expect various things from us: commitment, attitude, behaviour, honesty, kindness and endurance to name but a few. If they do not find those qualities in us, then we are going to disappoint them in some way. How are others supposed to obtain fruit from us if we are not bothered to feed ourselves?
We are given everything we need in order for us to be able to be fruitful and to be able to support others. Whether we are able to or not is going to depend on whether we have been growing with the nutrients we have been given. If we allow ourselves to have our supply of nutrients cut off then we will not continue to grow; we may have a wonderful start as a Christian, but if we are not willing to continue growing, we are not going to be of much use. If we reject Christ, then we are like the barren fig tree that Christ rejected. If we are not strong in our faith we may well find the first hurdle we have to face will be the one which breaks us and cuts off our supply of nutrients so that we cannot grow. Christ is more than able to strengthen us to make sure we can withstand any hurdle we face in life so long as we put our faith and trust in Him!
Points to Ponder:
Have you ever had a plant die on you because it could not stand up to the weather?
Will you have faith enough to allow Christ to strengthen you properly?
July 30: Psalms 1 1-6
Key Verse: Psalms 1 3
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.
Devotion:
How long did it take you to learn to read? Well, I’m still learning… If you are going to be honest with yourself as well, then you too will admit to still learning new words. They seem to come up with new words just about every day which we have to get to know. Once we have the basics of learning to read, we can apply those basics to most words and have a good go at reading them. Understanding them becomes the next stage – a stage which continues to move!
I’m sure you will agree it was that first stage, learning the basics, which was the most important and allowed you to then move forward. If you did not take the first stage too seriously, then the next stage seems to be harder and you continue to struggle. Getting the most from the first stage allows you to have a solid foundation upon which you can be sure everything else is going to be based. Don’t be afraid about having messed up that first stage because there is absolutely no reason why you cannot go back and revisit it again and again until you are satisfied.
Just like that important first stage in reading, we have to take our first and most important stage in being a Christian. I’m not talking about the first choice of becoming a Christian but rather the key stage of learning about Christ. There is no substitute for learning about Christ. Without our knowledge about Christ we would never learn of His extraordinary love for us nor His total commitment to us. We have to read God’s Word in order to find these things out. But just reading through your bible like a novel is going to get you about as far as any other novel does… it will bring a smile to your face but not a whole lot more! We need to be able to read and think about what we have read. When we eat food our bodies take time to digest the food so that we can get the most out of it. When we read our bibles, we need to take time our for our minds to think about what we are reading about so that we can get the most out of God’s precious word!
Points to Ponder:
How well do you read?
How well do you remember what you read?
July 29: Galatians 6 6-10
Key Verse: Galatians 6 7
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows
Devotion:
How many people do you know who will make a fuss about going to church and about being seen at church and then when it comes down to working outside church times, they don’t seem to be around? I’m sure we have all met that sort of person and we begin to question whether they are actually faithful in their works toward God. It’s not like we think they are lazy or that we think they should be doing something when they are not; it’s just the fact they have built up an expectation and don’t seem to follow it through. These sorts of people may well be able to fool us into believing they are God’s children when they are not, but they are never going to be able to fool God because He is able to look straight into their hearts.
God cannot be deceived, nor can He be mocked. He is all seeing, and He knows our very thoughts. Whatever we do, He is going to be able to know exactly what is on our hearts and on our minds without us having to tell Him. If we are then going to try to hide that from Him, the only ones we are deceiving are ourselves! If we are going to go out there and work for ourselves, then all we will get is rewards from ourselves. If we go out there to make a good name for ourselves, the only lasting recognition we will get is from ourselves. Yet if we are willing to go forward and work for our God with all honesty and openness, then we are going to get rewards from Him!
No matter how hard we try to keep going at full steam for Christ, we will all get to a point where we feel like we cannot do any more. It is at that stage we have to dig in and try a bit harder because it is at that point we have reached our own endurance. Moving forward from there means we then have to depend on Christ – and that is exactly what He is trying to make us realise… we need to depend on Him!
Points to Ponder:
How quickly do you tire when you work for God?
How much do you really rely on Him?
July 28: Luke 9 51-56
Key Verse: Luke 9 56
Then he and his disciples went to another village.
Devotion:
Is it right to kill in the name of religion? What a loaded question! There are many who would answer “yes” without thinking and some of those are going to be Christians too! But Christ, during the days before He was crucified, was making His way slowly back to Jerusalem where He would send disciples into villages and cities before Him to see if they would be willing to take them in for the night and even to listen to the gospel being preached. The Samaritans were a steadfast bunch who refused to accept Christ and would not even allow Christ and the disciples to come to their cities simply because they were on their way to Jerusalem.
The disciples were all ready to show them God’s power by calling on fire to be rained down from above just like Elijah had done. However, the circumstances were very different. God had been challenged personally in the case of Elijah and Elijah simply did what God commanded him to do. God was the one who rained down the fire and God is the one who did the judging. We do not have the right to judge others because we do so many things wrong and so do not have the right to call for death because of religion. In the case where we are at war against others, we do have the right to defend ourselves and some of that defence will be to kill others simply to stop them destroying us.
Jesus reminded them in no uncertain terms, He had come to save mankind and not to destroy mankind. If He had wanted people to bow down before Him like slaves, then He could have destroyed a few along the way to get others to be frightened. Instead, He wants each of us to know the truth and to make up our own mind about whether we are going to believe in Him. He does not want us to go out and frighten people into believing in Him either… He wants us to tell others of the truth and allow them to come to their own conclusions. He will allow them to see the truth as long as we are willing to open other people’s eyes as to there being a truth which is built around God.
Points to Ponder:
Do you ever get angry with others because they don’t believe?
How often do you get to tell others that God is real?