May 13: Nehemiah 4 7-9
Key Verse: Nehemiah 4 9
But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.
Devotion:
What do you do when the people around you work against you as a Christian? Do you do what Peter did and deny being a part of Christ’s church, or do you stand and fight? It is very easy to say “oh, I’ll fight all the way” but when we actually face up to the very real threat, many of us are going to give in just as Peter did. Don’t panic! God knows your heart and He knows the things you have to face!
But, that does not mean we roll over and give in every time because the people around will see us doing that and they will doubt our faith, our commitment and our truthfulness as well. God wants us to stand firm and call on His name for the strength and the guidance. When He answers, though, it may not be exactly what we hoped for or what we asked for. God has a habit of giving us what we need and not what we think is good for us!
Sometimes the answer coming back from God is going to be for us to dig in and hold the line; that is where our strength alone will fail, but His strength can carry us through. Sometimes the answer is going to be something we do not like and we may doubt things ourselves; but he does know what is best for us!
Doing what God wants is going to be an act of faith in itself many times because we may not see the logic in fighting a battle when we cannot see any way of winning; He has already won the war, but it’s these pesky battles and skirmishes which we have to face up to, proving we are part of His glorious army! Don’t panic if you don’t like the front line – they need support and prayers to keep going, which means a whole lot of people in the background doing work which is not always seen by people. Keep going, keep praying and keep doing what God has called you to do – it is important!
Points to Ponder:
Do you look for thanks for the work you do?
Or do you give thank for the work you can do?
May 12: 1 Corinthians 9 7-12
Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 9 12
If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.
Devotion:
I recently came up against people demanding what they thought was their right to things which I had to question in my own mind and heart as to whether they were demanding the right things. But the more I read up on things, the more I realise how much the bible teaches us on both sides of the argument. Yes we do have the right to many things, and certainly to some things we don’t realise!
God wanted the people who were doing the work to have some recompense from the work they were involved in – just as He wanted animals to have recompense for the work they do. Life has got to be fair about things and that is where much of society seems to go wrong. If we have the ability to love and support those around us, then we ought to do that without question – this is what God wants.
If people are willing to do something, they should get recognition for what they are doing. It does not necessarily follow they have to be rewarded for everything they do, but life should be fair – we have the ability to ensure it is.
Does this mean we should be going out of our way to demand recompense for everything we do? No! Far from it. God wants us to be able to do things for people because we want to and not because we can get something out of it. The apostles went round doing a lot of gospel work without asking for support. People were willing to give them support in most cases, but they did not demand it. We should be doing likewise in our lives – being willing to share what we have and not expect everyone to share everything they have in return.
Points to Ponder:
Do you only work for money?
Does Christ demand your life just because He gave His?
May 11: Acts 2 1-4
Key Verse: Acts 2 4
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Devotion:
Can you imagine being able to speak a different language, fluently? I know that most of us go through school and do learn another language. Some of us are even brought up in homes where we do have two languages. But each of these instances requires a long period of learning and some period of applying what has been learned too. Here in the book of Acts we hear about the day of Pentecost when the disciples were given the gift to be able to speak in different languages. Whether this is the speaking in tongues or just speaking in other worldly languages is not too clearly written, so that is not up for discussion here.
Can you imagine that though? Being able to suddenly speak fluently in another language whereby other people can understand what you are saying! What a joy that would be when you go on holiday to another place! When my brother and I went to France some time ago, we slept on the beach and had a few things stolen whilst we slept. We then had to go to the local police to tell them what had happened. Unfortunately, we were in a smallish town where they could not speak English and I had to use my very broken French I had learned in school! Eventually someone came in and overheard us and offered to translate. It was then I found out that I was apparently telling them we had slept on the beach and our stuff had flown away in the night! Boy, talk about a red face!
There are so many things in our lives we will be faced with where we will not be able to cope by ourselves. We need to remember that wherever we are and whatever we are doing, God is going to be with us and is willing to be our aide. We need to exercise that by allowing Him to control the situation rather than through us trying to make the most of what we can do. It is only when we break things that we realise we cannot do everything… but if we are willing to allow Him to help us from the start, then we will find things can go a lot more smoothly!
Points to Ponder:
Do you always try and ‘go it alone’?
How often do you really give it over to God?
May 10: John 1 44-47
Key Verse: John 1 46
“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip.
Devotion:
How do you pick your friends? Do you go out and meet with people who you think are going to be the right fit in your social world, or do you wait and see who you meet, or do you go out of your way to meet people from different social worlds and make friends? As part of an Eden team (The Message Trust based) we go into communities where we know there is trouble and live with the people to give them hope.
Jesus went out of His own social world and met with people who God knew would make amazing disciples who would make a difference. When we look at the people He chose, it is not a list of scholars as we might pick, not a list of popular people as we may think are needed, but a mixture of people from socially awkward places. I’m sure many people went to get fish from the fishermen who caught the fish but hanging out with them was not something on most people’s minds. Just as a tax collector was to be avoided at all costs!
Jesus wants us to put aside our views and take on the people He suggest are going to be the most useful to spread the gospel. We need to put aside our impressions and listen to the truth from Christ. I know, first hand, that this is hard to do; and going against the perceived view of friends who are not in the same boat as you is difficult. But God knows so much more than we do and knows the people who will make the biggest impressions on the local societies.
God’s view of us is very different from our view. We see what is happening here and now and base our impressions on what has happened in the near and distant past. God bases His decisions on what He knows can happen in the future. I say what can happen, because if we do not pick up the mantle and follow God’s instructions, how are those people going to get to know God. He has chosen us to do strange things – listen and obey.
Points to Ponder:
Do you ever mix with people outside your circle of friends?
Will you make an effort to make a friend for God?
May 9: Ephesians 4 14-16
Key Verse: Ephesians 4 15
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.
Devotion:
As we grow with Christ we are changed, maybe not in physical appearance, but certainly in spiritual appearance. Christ wants us to show the fruits of the Spirit whom He promised would be a constant part of our lives; but if we do not allow Him to be an integral part of our lives, we are left wandering aimlessly without a real goal in life. By living with the Holy Spirit each and every day we continue to show how much we want Go to be in our lives.
When we come together with other Christians in other walks in life, we should find we have a common goal, spreading and sharing the gospel. Christ came to be the centre of the church and should be what holds us all together. If people are meeting together and leaving Christ out of their gathering, then are they really a church? On the other hand, when we meet with friends in whatever we are doing, if we are including Christ in our gathering, are we then a church gathering? Let’s not get into arguments of whether we are church or not because people all have very different ideas of what church should be. Suffice to say, we simply should be including Christ in everything we do!
I do love being able to talk to God no matter where I am, be it driving down the motorway, in church or even playing computer games; if I am including Christ in my life at all times, I feel a whole lot better! The more time we spend with Him, the more time we want to spend with Him.
This does not mean leaving people out of your life just because they don’t believe the same things as you; the more people we open up to our life with God, the more people have the potential of being added into our church with Christ at the centre! Each of us is a part of the church and, just like a real building, we are not all the same. We have to have our differences so we can make up the church; this is the way God designed us to be!
Points to Ponder:
Do you feel an integral part of the church?
Are you actually including yourself by wanting to be with Christ more?