July 2: Hebrews 11 32-40
Key Verse: Hebrew 11:39
These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised
Devotion:
After specific people have been mentioned to show their individual faith, this chapter is ended with a testimony of some of the other believers who have gone before us in the times before Christ came to earth as a man. None of the people mentioned in this chapter saw Christ come as our Saviour, none could read of the coming in a book like we can, none had so much proof as we now have; and yet all showed faith by continuing to believe in God and the coming Messiah through all the trials they had to face. What an example we have to follow and to be encouraged by!
The promise that they would have a Saviour who would come to save them was just that, a promise. Just like we have our promise Christ is going to return one day to take us home. They had the knowledge God existed in three parts just like we do. They had past experiences of their own which they could look back on though none could claim to have lived a pure life; yet all have been received into Christ’s kingdom because He is the one who paid for their sin debt just as He has paid for ours. They had to face trials which would strengthen each of them so they could be those examples which we look up to and follow. God continues to use men and women throughout history in all walks of life to ensure He does get the glory as He rightly deserves.
We have our promises to look forward to from Christ; not just that He will return for us one day but He will save us from our deserved death if we trust in Him. We may well not see His actual return because we cannot work out when He will return (for no man knows that time). We may not have a life which is blessed with all manner of earthly comforts because that may make us weak and our faith may fail because of doubts. We may not live to be old and wrinkly because we do not know the time God has appointed for us to die. But we can be sure that God is real, and His promises stand no matter what we believe… We need to be on His side so that He can take us home where we belong.
Points to Ponder:
Are you still waiting for someone to do something they said they would do?
Trust in God and He will make you whole…
July 1: Hebrews 11 1-3
Key Verse: Hebrews 11 3
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
Devotion:
If there is one thing which should set us apart from others, it should be our faith. Jesus described how having faith the size of a mustard seed would allow us to move a mountain; yet we never think of our faith as being much else than the belief in something we cannot see. If we are to have faith in Christ, then it must be an absolute faith that He is able and willing to do anything in our lives. If we are willing to glorify Him through what we do, then nothing is going to be impossible… that is the part which we all too often fall down on – we do not give Him all the glory for things He does in our lives!
If our faith is real, it then is the substance of things hoped for, or to put it in other words, it is the real part, where our hopes become reality (not if, but when). We don’t have to wait for something to become real before we can believe in it because our faith should be such that we know it will become real. So many people have gone before us and have shown us it is all real and we have the written evidence to back it up… yet when it comes down to something for us, we begin to have doubts…
Is it because we lack belief, proof or faith? Well most often it is none of the above because we do believe – why else would we be praying to God, trusting in Him and allowing others to see Him through what we do? If we lacked belief we would have turned away from God in the beginning… Is it then the lack of proof? Far from it for we have so much proof in our bibles and in other people’s lives throughout time. Is it then our lack of faith? Normally not. We do have faith because we continue to hope for things in Christ’s name. What is it then? It is not what but whom… Satan continues to throw things in our path which will make us stumble and make us doubt. It is nothing more than interference being run by him that makes us think we do not have faith or that God does not listen or that we do not fully believe. Follow in Christ’s example and push Satan’s stumbling blocks aside and rest on the Rock that is Christ.
Points to Ponder:
What is the easiest way to make you doubt things?
When was the last time you backed the bible instead of a friend?
June 30: 1 Thessalonians 5 16-22
Key Verse: 1 Thessalonians 5 19
Do not quench the Spirit.
Devotion:
We only have to take a look around us to see just how much God has created for us, has given us, and continues to bless us with. Yes, we do break a lot of it and we do many things wrong, but we must never forget just who supplied everything in the first place. We like to think we have created, invented and done so much, but in reality, if we were to compare it with the single task of creating a man, we have got a long, long way to go! That is why we need to rejoice and be glad for all that God has done for us.
Whilst we may well rejoice in our creature comforts, praying is as essential too. Without us continuing in prayer to God, we would not be thanking Him for our comforts. How else do we thank Him if not through prayer? When we walk in God’s will, we will see the comforts and the blessings that He continues to give us. When we walk by ourselves, we tend to think we are the ones in control and think we have done so much for ourselves… How wrong can we be? With God by our sides, the Holy Spirit within us, do we dare to think we are in control? We need to remember God is in control and He has made sure the Holy Spirit continues to guide us every minute of every day – whether we listen or not is what we do…
We need to remember to thank Him, praise Him and rejoice in everything that comes our way. We do not know what lies ahead and He is the one preparing the way for us. If we are going through trials it is because God has allowed those trial to reach us; it is not Him creating the trials or the hardships, they are typically man made or dropped in by the evil one! Maybe He is allowing something in our lives so someone else will see Him through what we do or how we react. People will certainly see evil through us if we do evil and so they will see good through us when we do good. If we can show people we are relying on God all of the time, then we have shown them a bit more of God through us. Rejoice and be glad for He knows our ways!
Points to Ponder:
How do you go about impressing people?
Christ wants us to be our true Christian selves?
June 29: Ephesians 4 30
Key Verse: Ephesians 4 30
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Devotion:
How many times do you do things without thinking about the consequences? I’m not talking about just the really bad things, I’m talking about everything we do… do you always think about the consequences before you do things? I know I don’t! How many times have you done something you thought was just fine and it turned out to be the absolute opposite?
Ok. So let’s think about things which we do every day. How many times a day do you join in conversations between other friends? How many of those conversations have involved a bit of strong language? How many times have you gone along with doing something that ended up hurting someone else – even when it was someone you thought probably deserved it anyway!
You see, we continue to get caught up into doing, saying or thinking about things that we ultimately know are actually wrong. We like to think they do not harm anyone and that there is no harm in a bit of fun. But do you actually know just what it is doing to someone else? When was the last time that you really got hurt by something someone else said? Did they know that it was going to affect you that much? Did they actually ever find out that it did hurt you that much?
When we are saved, we get a wonderful gift of eternal life; but we also get a wonderful guide who comes to live with us, in us – the Holy Spirit. Each and every time we do, say, or think wrong or get caught up in, we take the Holy Spirit along with us! Would you take your friend into a place you knew they absolutely hated just because you wanted to go there? Why then should we take the Holy Spirit to places that He cannot abide?
How would you like to be held captive in a small cell that has nothing in it that you liked, but everything that you did not like?
Points to Ponder:
How often do you do before you think?
How often do you think about what you have done?
June 28: 1 Peter 1 3-9
Key Verse: 1 Peter 1 6
In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
Devotion:
How many times have you read a letter and kind of skipped past the first few sentences to try and find the ‘good stuff’? Have you then gone back over the letter and found just how much is usually in those first few sentences? In this epistle we find so much to think about in our first few sentences that it definitely has to be read over again more carefully. The theme has got to be our faith, our living hope, our eternal gift. It should not be read as something we might have if we hope hard enough, but something which we have because we have believed in the beginning!
Because Christ went to that cross, we have hope. That hope is not just for anyone who is a Christian, but for everybody! It does not mean we all get a free ticket to heaven, but it does mean we all have access to that free ticket if we are willing to just pick it up! Can you imagine being told you had a free ticket to fly anywhere in the world for free (and being assured that it was not a gimmick)? Would you think twice about going to pick up that sort of gift? Our hope has not died with Jesus on the cross, but lives forever because Christ rose from the grave. Our hope continues to live until He returns without any strings attached.
It does not mean we will have a group of body guards who will protect us from everything thereafter for we still live in a corrupt world where we are tempted and where we go astray. But it does mean we no longer have to fear ever not getting our prize because it does not depend on us having to maintain or do anything after we have been saved. Nobody can take that gift away from us, no matter what trial they may push in our way, we no longer have to fear ever losing that gift. God may well allow some of those trials to get through to us to reinforce our faith when it begins to dwindle, or even to reinforce someone else’s faith when theirs begins to dwindle. Every trial will be for a purpose, but none can ever separate us from our God!
Points to Ponder:
How many times do you read letters just to make sure you don’t miss things?
How much do you read God’s Word so that you don’t miss things?