July 12: Proverbs 3 1-6
Key Verse: Proverbs 3 5
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
Devotion:
What better summary of the past week’s devotions can there be than this passage. Would you rather live in constant disagreement with those around you, or would you rather fit in and be happy? That is a loaded question because most of us will look at it from our human perspective. We like to make sure we are not rubbing people up the wrong way so we can live more in harmony than in friction! But at what cost? How many times do we actually look at the cost of what we do?
If we go along with what others are doing around us, are we going against God? If we do what pleases man, are we doing what pleases God? Most often the two are opposing each other because what man does and what God would have us do are different. What we have to remember is that we are only together with man for a short while, but our life with God is eternal. We need to focus on our eternal life and do what is right in God’s sight. When we do that, we will begin to find doing God’s will becomes part of our lives and living with God and His rules becomes a whole lot easier.
But you know what the strange thing is… people around are going to see a change in you. They may not like the change at first because it makes you different. But if you are willing and able to stick with God’s will and His commandments, they will then see in you a new strength which allows you to stay with what you believe. That change will impress them more than someone who gives in to their surroundings. They may not say it at first, but that is what they think – I can remember thinking this about other Christians. People will not like it if you tell them how much of a sinner they are or how they are doing it all wrong, but if you simply stand up and say you want to do things the right way – that will make them think about what they do without personally confronting them. We cannot judge people and we cannot tell them how to run their lives. What we can do is to judge our own actions against God’s laws and correct how we live our lives. That change will allow others to see they don’t have to give in to temptations either.
Points to Ponder:
How often do you “go along with it” to have fun?
Ask God for direction and listen to what He tells you!
July 11: Psalms 73 21-26
Key Verse: Psalms 73 24
You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.
Devotion:
Do animals listen to you? I’m not talking about your dog which has been with you for many years but, let’s say, a deer in the forest… Wild animals do not listen to requests from humans but rather go about their business in whatever way they think best. We do not know what goes on in their minds, but we can observe them and wonder at their movements and intentions. Place a wild animal in a new home and it is totally lost; it will have to spend time finding its way and getting to know its surroundings.
We are much like that on earth. We have been placed here and we have to get to know our surroundings. We have our family and friends who will do their best to teach us the right ways and lead us until we can find our own way. But that does not necessarily mean we know where we are going. If we get dropped off many miles from home in the countryside (without a satnav), we may well struggle to get home – even more so if we do not have transport. We will be surrounded by things we do not recognise and maybe people we do not know. Unless we have a good idea of where we should be heading, it may well take us a long time to start going in the right direction!
We need guidance in our lives. We need direction. We need to know we have a goal to seek and that we have a reason to be. Without these we are as lost as a wild animal in a new park. We have learned we can sustain ourselves through God, but unless we are willing to follow His guidance, we may well be walking off in the wrong direction when we start! We may find we live to be a lot older than all our friends and even family, proving we do not have a reliance on anything here. Rather we have to rely on God and His guidance. We need to seek His counsel. That means we need to find out what He wants in our lives. Before that we obviously need to find Him. As I look back in my life I can see so many things which happened that were guiding me back to Christ and yet I ignored too many of them. Don’t ignore instruction otherwise you will not be able to find God’s direction in your life!
Points to Ponder:
Do you constantly ignore instructions and rules?
How much of God’s instruction are you ignoring?
July 10: Ezekiel 15 1-8
Key Verse: Ezekiel 15 2
Son of man, how is the wood of a vine different from that of a branch from any of the trees in the forest?
Devotion:
We often think of Jesus as being the one who introduced us to the idea of Israel being like a vine and branches; but we can go back into our Old Testament scriptures and see the same words as expressed here as He inspired the prophets to write those words. Here, Ezekiel was impressed to write about the value of a vine which is fruitful against the value of a vine that no longer bears fruit. If you have done any studying of caring for vines or even watched a film where they care for vines at some stage, you probably would have picked up on the fact a vine needs constant care and constant pruning.
If a vine is left to grow by itself, it will very quickly take over the place where it is growing and choke itself so that it will not bear as much fruit as previous seasons. Unless you are willing to be quite harsh with the vine and cut it back when it gets unruly, you may well be left with less fruit than the previous season. However, when you keep it in constant check by pruning, it will deliver more fruit season after season. However, if you simply cut back and do not care for it such as watering in the right ways, it will not bear as much as it can. Unless you nurture it, the fruit-bearing capacity will not be as great as it can be.
God continues to try and make sure we and well kept for at every stage. He continues to prune us when we go wayward. Yet He also makes sure we are cared for as long as we want to be. With that combination of love and care what else can we do but grown fruitfully when we walk with Him?
We are all capable of bearing fruit – as is any vine. We are all capable of being useful. We are all also capable of ignoring God and ending up on the pile which will be burned as useless wood. The choice as to where we would rather be is ours to make. The care that we receive if we decide to walk with God will be second to none!
Points to Ponder:
Do you feel like you have a fruitful life?
How much do you listen to God in His desire to give you a fruitful life?
July 9: John 15 1-8
Key Verse: John 15 4
Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
Devotion:
It seems pretty obvious to us that when we go to the shops and buy a bunch of grapes we will not get any more grapes growing from the branch after we have eaten them. If you take a close look at the branch, everything seems ok on the first day, but by the second day the branch is already withering. Leave it another day and the branch may even look like it has been in a desert for a few weeks as all the goodness is drawn out of it by the grapes. After that, you’re going to be left with grapes which start turning to raisins! No matter how big the branch, the same thing is going to happen and eventually the grapes will not get any goodness from the branch.
Each branch needs to be sustained in some manner and that manner is by it depending on another branch or on the trunk itself. The trunk has a similar problem; without the roots it is not able to survive. Take out the roots from the equation and you have a dead tree or bush just waiting to happen. The more fruit and leaves it is bearing the more quickly it will seem to wither and die. In essence, the branches and trunk are witness to the fact the unseen roots are there, that they are real and in good condition. We would know something was wrong when we started to see things wither. There is a big difference between withering and a lean year for fruit. In a lean year, the bush may not give forth much fruit but you can see that it is still in good health.
Why did Jesus compare Himself and God to the trunk and branches? Well the answer should be fairly obvious now that we have had a quick nature lesson! Without Christ in our lives we are not going to be able to bear fruit. We may look good with a bit of fruit, but if we do not continue to depend in Christ, we are not going to be able to feed our fruit for long. We will wither and fade away before we know it! But whilst we are in Christ, He is in us as He feeds us intravenously – sometimes we don’t know how we get that food, but we get it! We know it has come from God because we continue to get it!
Points to Ponder:
Have you ever tried to grow a plant without roots?
We cannot even start to grow without God!
July 8: Acts 9 36-43
Key Verse: Acts 9 36
n Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor.
Devotion:
I think this is one miracle which is often overlooked, but I want to have a look at it here because of how it happened. Tabitha was a disciple, or, in other words, she was a Christian; she believed in Christ and followed His teachings. Not only that though, for she was known for her good works and kind deeds; so much so that when she died, they were showing all the things she had made for others whilst she was being mourned. She had truly touched the hearts of many people around her.
Peter was called from nearby Joppa to come to them because of the importance of this single life in their community. When he heard about Tabitha’s death, he came immediately; meaning he had probably heard all about her too. When he got there, he had everyone leave the room so he could pray to God with just the two of them. And that is all he did. He prayed and then demonstrated his faith in Christ that He would answer his prayer by telling Tabitha to rise up. Peter knew how important it was to have someone in the community who could hold them together in love and kindness. He knew there was nobody like Tabitha yet who would take over and he wanted God to allow her to continue with her ministry for a bit longer.
It was not Peter’s words which made Tabitha come back to life but the power of Christ through his spoken words which did it. When we focus on doing things for God we need to remember that when God is behind it, nothing can stop His will. We have to remember God is all powerful. We have to demonstrate our faith in Him alone by believing He will do things which will bring glory to His name. As long as we bring our prayers to Him with the knowledge that He will get the glory, we can know He will answer our prayers without question. Peter may not have had such a good start whilst Christ was alive, but he made up for it with his faith afterwards. It is never too late to show our faith for Christ.
Points to Ponder:
Do you wish you could do wonderful things?
Who are you actually thinking about when you wish that?