February 27: Isaiah 40 12-17
Key Verse: Isaiah 40 17
Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.
Devotion:
If we try to compare anything which God has created to our Creator we always come to the same conclusion. God is greatest! There is no one thing that can compare to God because through Him everything was created. No matter how brilliant we may think our scientists are, their combined knowledge over thousands of years does not even add up to a drop in the ocean compared to God. We may like to theorize at the number of stars in the sky, but that number seems to increase every time we are enabled to see further with better telescopes – there is no limit we can really understand to the universe.
When God created the heavens and the earth, nobody was there to direct Him in which way things should be or to give advice about what should be done first or even how it should all hang together. Nobody can take in the enormity of the task which God had in hand during creation because we continue to see new things each day we are alive. Throughout our lives we will continue to try and grasp the basic understanding of what happened. This knowledge will continue to be passed down from generation to generation, but none will get close to understanding how… unless they accept the basic truth God in fact created everything!
When we start to accept just how much God has created and look into what creation involves, we begin to understand how much He really does love us. When we look out at the beauty of a sunset, the harmony of a quiet forest, the silence of a desert or the thunderous roar of a huge waterfall, we can begin to see the beauty of His creation. Understanding what is involved with that beauty then gives us some understanding of His endless love for us. What a wonderful God we have!
Points to Ponder:
Do you like watching nature programs?
Have you ever thought of the creation behind nature?
February 26: Job 38 1-41
Key Verse: Job 38 4
Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.
Devotion:
If you do have the time, read through this chapter and think about each of the things God raises for Job to think about. We tend to think we do know a lot, more than we actually do. That is probably based on the fact that we have the ability to reason, to be able to think beyond the things we know so that we can understand more. An animal has to learn from repetition of certain things; unless it learns humans are something to be afraid of, it will not run away from a hunter. We have the ability to see things and deduce whether we should be afraid or not. Some of us tend to overlook some dangers whilst others look at most things as dangerous – but we have the ability to figure things out… so we tend to believe we know more than we actually do.
We know the wave will stop when it hits the shore. We know that the earth revolves on its own axis to produce day and night. We know the earth revolves around the sun to produce summer and winter. We know the moon revolves around the earth to produce tides… but how did it all start? Scientists will tell you how the distance between various planets is changing yet the figures do not seem to agree with a catastrophic explosion they think created things. The plain fact is, we can figure out why things are the way they are now, but we cannot figure out how they got that way in the beginning – but we can believe our bibles.
No matter what we do, we will not change the seasons. No matter what we do, we will not change day and night. No matter what we do, light will always be there penetrating into the darkness without end. Birds will continue to know how to gather food; lions will continue to know how to hunt; bears will continue to know how to fish… because God has set things up the way that they are! Take a look around and marvel at just how great a God we have!
Points to Ponder:
Do you tell others why the earth is the way it is?
Do you listen to God’s account of why things are?
February 25: Proverbs 30 1-6
Key Verse: Proverbs 30 4
Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Whose hands have gathered up the wind? Who has wrapped up the waters in a cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is the name of his son? Surely you know!
Devotion:
Agur’s words may have seemed strange at the time they were written, but now that we know what Jesus has done for us, we know more about what his words mean. Agur compares himself to an animal in his understanding of both life and the scriptures, but he knows what he is writing is of great importance. He obviously was beginning to have an understanding of the scriptures and what was to come before his revelation of just Who was to come!
The more we come to know about the scriptures, the more we find out we do not know and the more we wish we were able to understand more! As long as we continue to know that there is more, and we are simply students, then we will continue to grow. We must never grow weary of learning about God and never give up trying to find out more; because with that knowledge we are able to give others some understanding and to encourage others. Agur thought nothing of his own position, yet we read his words with awe.
Every word which comes from God and which has been recorded over time is for our benefit. Every word is the truth and will give us wisdom and understanding. Every word is for our guidance. Why should we ever think we can add to it by inventing our own rules and regulations? Why should we ever think we can do anything better than the God who is the knowledge of everything? We need to read His Word and accept it as the truth that it is, accept it for what it is – God’s Word!
Points to Ponder:
How often do you read or listen to things to find out more information?
How much of that time is for learning more about God?
February 24: John 14 28-31
Key Verse: John 14 31
but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me. “Come now; let us leave.”
Devotion:
Each one of us needs to think more along the line of what Christ was doing here than we do in our lives. We all think about how long we may live and what we will do when we get there. We all think about how we have a certain number of years ahead of us based on the average lifespan of humans. Whilst that may well be so for the average person, we should not be living like the average person.
We need to be separating ourselves from this world by showing people that we dare to be different – like Daniel showing everyone he would continue to praise God in the face of anything. We need to show people we are willing to do God's work in the face of anything. Stand up and be proud to be a Christian knowing that when you do, you are lifting Christ up to be glorified and nobody else. We need to make sure He is the focus of our attentions and not the things of this earth that surround us.
There will be times when the things of this earth overshadow us or trap us into doing things. There will certainly be times when the things of this earth tempt us away from Christ. Each of these times we have to remember just who our focus should be on. We need to remember who should be in the centre of our lives. We need to lift Christ up to show we have a mission in life. That mission should be exactly what Christ has told us to do: “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to everyone”.
Christ continued to make sure everyone understood that He did things because God bid it, not because He wanted it Himself. We must cast aside our selfishness and lift God up in our lives...
Points to Ponder:
How many years do you think you have to live?
Would you have done enough for God if He called you home tonight?
February 23: John 14 25-27
Key Verse: John 14 27
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Devotion:
Have you ever been in a situation where someone told you that they could do something for you, but you insisted on trying to get things sorted out yourself. Finally, in frustration after not being able to fix things, you go back to them and they fix it within a few minutes or even seconds! I certainly have been. It's our pride or conceit which stops us from listening to people who can actually do things for us, and even want to do things for us!
Can you now imagine just how frustrated Christ gets with us! He has continued to tell us we can depend on Him for anything and how we must do – and yet we continue to tell Him we can manage it by ourselves! We continue to think we are in control and understand all things, when, truth be told, we fail miserably most of the time! God understood that in the beginning and gave us the opportunity to have someone come to help us out; first Christ, then the Holy Spirit.
Christ plainly reminded us He would leave the Holy Spirit to indwell us when we believe in Him. He reminds us here that the Holy Spirit will not only be with us but will help us to remember things about His teachings. In other words, we may well not be able to remember all the things we read from the bible, but the Holy Spirit certainly will be able to help you remember them when we need to... all we must do is listen!
If we had listened to that person who told us they could fix things in the beginning, we would have got things done a whole lot quicker. If we listen to Christ now and believe He is able to help us, then we will be able to move forward in His will a whole lot quicker... We just have to listen! He wants to guide us. He wants to help us. He wants to protect us. Why not let Him?
Points to Ponder:
Are you too proud to accept help?
How well do you actually listen to God?